renewed country, purified by blood and fire, will resume her institutions and be free.

Such, Mr. Chairman, are, I am sure, the wishes and the expectations of the American people; and this, I am bound to presume, would be the answer, if he were free to speak, of the President of the United States.

CONGRATULATIONS OVER VICTORIES.

SPEECH AT UNION SQUARE, NEW YORK, MARCH 6, 1865.-After the retaking of Charleston, in the winter of 1865, a mass-meeting for congratulation was held in Union Square, at which Mr. Field made the address which follows.

On the 27th of March the Secretary of War issued the following order, by direction of the President of the United States:

"GENERAL ORDERS No. 50.

"WAR DEPARTment, WashinGTON, March 27.

"Ordered: First. That at the hour of noon on the 14th day of April, 1865, Brevet Major-General Anderson will raise and plant upon the ruins of Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, the same United States flag that floated over the battlements of that fort during the rebel assault, and which was lowered and saluted by him and the small force of his command when the works were evacuated, on the 14th day of April, 1861.

"Second. That the flag, when raised, be saluted by one hundred guns from Fort Sumter, and by a national salute from every fort and naval battery that fired upon Fort Sumter.

"Third. That suitable ceremonies be had upon the occasion, under the direction of Major-General W. T. Sherman, whose military operations compelled the rebels to evacuate Charleston, or, in his absence, under the charge of Major-General Q. A. Gillmore, commanding the department. Among the ceremonies will be the delivery of a public address by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.

"Fourth. That the naval forces at Charleston, and their commander on that station, be invited to participate in the ceremonies of the occasion."

ALTHOUGH We can not yet say that the rebellion is entirely subdued; although a large and formidable rebel army still confronts us in the defenses of Richmond, and another on the plains of the Carolinas, we have nevertheless arrived at that stage of the war when we may indulge in mutual congratulations upon the successes we have achieved, receive the lesson which the history teaches, and pledge ourselves anew for the work which remains before us.

The reasons for congratulation are abundant: Four years ago the nation seemed to the world to be dying; seven States were in open revolt, others stood ready to follow, and all were agitated by dissensions. The people were filled with distrust and apprehension. Nothing had been done to vindicate the

national authority, and the country appeared to be drifting into hopeless anarchy. Men exclaimed to each other with dismay, "Is this great nation to fall without a blow struck in its defense?" Then ensued weeks of indecision and painful suspense, till the flash of a hostile gun in the harbor of Charleston awoke the nation as from a long and troubled dream.

In what rapid succession events followed; how armies were mustered on both sides and dashed against each other; how, for a time, the tide of battle ebbed and flowed; how, nevertheless, the loyal army regained, one by one, the fortresses, the cities, the States, that had been ingulfed in the rebellion; how the national standard, the symbol of union and of glory, was gradually advanced, sometimes hidden in the clouds of war, then emerging into the unclouded light, till it was replanted in every State from which it had been excluded; how the whole maritime frontier this side of the Mississippi has been restored, till not a single rebel flag is flaunted from the land to the sea-all these things are written in the history of the four intervening years.

Well may we rejoice over these achievements, though we regret the waste of war and mourn for the precious lives sacrificed to their country.

We rejoice to-day, not in the spirit of party, not because this or that leader has been chosen, but because the nation stands erect again, having retaken the fortresses of which it was treacherously despoiled, from the last to the first.

I hope, nevertheless, to see another and more memorable solemnity on the anniversary of the fall of Sumter. You remember the simple, touching dispatch which the gallant general who stands by my side sent to the Secretary of War announcing the surrender, closing with these words: "I marched out of the fort Sunday afternoon, the 14th instant, with colors flying and drums beating, bringing away company and private property, and saluting our flag with fifty guns." [Loud applause, and calls for General Anderson, who came forward and was greeted with vociferous cheers, the band playing "Hail to the Chief," after which Mr. Field proceeded.]

This surrender was on the 14th of April, 1861. Let him be sent back on the 14th of April, 1865, with as many of his

gallant comrades as survive to share his glory; let him go in one of those mailed ships of war which the rebellion has brought forth; let him replace the same flag on the same spot with all the pomp of war and all the solemnity of an act of religion; and as the southern wind kisses that standard, never more to be removed, let a hundred guns salute it from fort and ship, and island and city, as with the voices of a great people, proclaiming their majesty on the site of the first treason against it.

In our rejoicing, let us lay to heart the great lesson which this history teaches, that avenging justice sooner or later overtakes the crimes of communities and of nations, as of individuals.

This rebellion was a crime; it had no plausible excuse, no decent pretext. The Government against which it rose was a government of the people, mild and beneficent. If it erred, its errors were easy to discover and not impossible or even difficult to remedy. If it was not always wise, it was not more unwise than the best of other governments. In its gentle sway it had displayed so little of force, that it seemed fallen into weakness; and they who rebelled against it, thought it had not strength enough to repel aggression. They were mistaken: the power which seemed to be dead was alive; it only slept, and when it awoke it smote the rebels with the strength of a giant. From the Potomac to the Rio Grande, on the bayous of Louisiana, across the plains of Alabama, the mountains of Georgia, in the defiles of Tennessee, and along the magnificent rivers of Virginia, the conflict has raged with incessant fury, till the rebel armies are driven back into the two States which were the last to enter into the revolt.

The crime of the rebellion was the offspring of another and a greater crime which had flourished for many years and grown strong and arrogant in its strength-the crime of human slavery. What mortal eye foresaw the doom that was impending over it? Who, but the Omniscient, could have seen that the strength of slavery was its weakness; its pride the source of its dishonor; its arrogance the cause of its overthrow? The stain which had fallen upon the American name has been washed with blood and burned with fire, till nothing

remains, except in history, for a memento of man's wrong and God's justice.

While thus reflecting upon what we have passed through, let us pledge ourselves to our country, to each other, and to posterity, that we will not rest nor falter till the wrong is entirely righted, till the rebellion is utterly overthrown, and till there shall be one flag, one heart, and one hope, for all who dwell between the eastern and the western oceans.

The work which remains before us is hardly less difficult than that which we have already performed. We have not only the war to finish, but we have the still greater task of pacification. This great nation of thirty-six States is to be made united, peaceful, and prosperous, with the rights of the States and the rights of individuals as clearly defined and as firmly secured as the rights of the nation. Here is a field for the statesman's art-his most consummate art. Justice, not vengeance should be his motto; he should look more to the future than to the past. Some things may have been done--I think some things have been done-in this war, even on our side, which must be remembered only to be avoided. But this is not the time to dwell upon them. Let us devote ourselves to the work now in hand. Let us struggle with all our might, first to scatter the last armed rebel battalion, and then to bring in the reign of peace, order, and law. Let us build up defenses that no man can break, and let us transmit to our descendants the nation and the States, with all their rights, all their guarantees, as we would have them remain through innumerable ages.