The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-12 00:00:00

TUE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING-s, SEPTEMBER 12, 1860.

BANQUET TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON.

In reply to the speech of the Mayor of New York
in proposing his health, the President spoke as fol-
lows :

"Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens--I thank you for the
honour conferred upon me, under circumstances which are
so gratifying to me, and in saying 'gratifying' I will not
indulge in any panegyric. If I were to say less I should not
speak the truth, and it is always best to speak the truth when
we give utterance to our feelings and sentiments. I thank
you from the bottom of my heart for the cordial greeting
you have extended to me throughout the day, and for the
reception that I have meet here this evening. My lips can
hardly find utterance to respond to you in fitting terms for
what has been said and done, Oh, believe me, that upon
this occasion warm is my heart, and 'willing is my tongue
'to speak, and I would to God it were in my power to give
utterance to my feelings and emotions. I shall not attempt
to respond to what has been said here, nor to the manifes-
tations that have been exhibited elsewhere. Ido not in-
tend to make a speech or an argument, but my intention is
simply to give utterance to the feelings of my heart. Wo
have lately passed, fellow-citizens, through a long and
bloody war, and those who have prominently shared in that
struggle are present here to-night. (Applause.) Yes, the
army on the one hand (bowing to Gon. Grant), and the navy
on the other (pointing to Admiral Farragut), have performed
their part in restoring the Government. (Loud applause.)
And the Secretary of State—(cheers)--has also well per-
formed his part ; and, so far as the humble individual who
addresses you is concerned, and who has been so cordially
welcomed by you to-day, he trusts he has done his duty.
(Loud applause.) And I will say in summing up, that I
feel the entire Government has performed its duty. But,
though the Government has discharged its duty, the work
is not yet done. Yet, while we have passed through the
shock of battle, while we have been compelled to gaze
on fields of carnage and blood, and have so far been suc-
cessful, there is much more for us to do. I must be

permitted, and I hope I shall not trespass on your
attention—(cries of 'Go on, go on)—to remark in
this connection that the suppression of this rebellion

was for the purpose of preserving the union of these
States. (Applause.) The rebellion has been suppressed,
and has established the great fact that these States had
neither the power nor the right, by force or by peaceable
means, to separate themselves from us. Now, this ques-
tion having been settled by the armies and navies of the
United States and one of tho departments of the Govern-
ment, another department of your Government has prac-
tically declared and assumed, and carried out the doctrine

up to the present time, that the Government is dissolved.
We contended for the opposite doctrine years ago, that no
State had a right even peaceably to secede. One of the
means of peaceable secession was that a State could with-
draw its representatives from the Congress of the United
States, and that that would be an admission of their right
to do so. We, on the other hand, denied that they had a
. . . .

right to do that; and now, when the doctrine is esta-
blished that they cannot Withdraw, and the rebellion is at
an end, and the States again resume their position and
renew their relations with the Federal Government, we
find they are excluded from Congress in express violation
of that sacred instrument, the Constitution of the United
States. (Applause.) We find that it is in violation of the
express terms of the constitution, as well as in its spirit,
that States now in this Union are denied representation in
the Senate and in the House of Representatives. Now,
shall we submit to this ? Will the American people submit
to this doctrine ? (Shouts of No, no.') Why, if they do
so far as representation is concerned, it is practically a
dissolution of the Union. Are we prepared now, after
having passed through this fearful rebellion—are we

prepared now, , after shedding the immense amount of
blood and treasure, and after all the calamities that
have been visited upon our people North and South, to

continue to exclude those States ? (Shouts of Never,
never.') I will ask this intelligent audience, not in the
language of declamation, but in a spirit-of Christian kind--
nets, are we prepared to renew the scenes through which
we have passed ? (No, no.) Are we prepared to see one
portion of this Government arrayed against the other,
North against South and South against North ? Are we
prepared in this, the most enlightened country on earth, to
see brother fighting against brother ? Are we prepared to
see this land again drenched in brothers' blood ? (No,
no.) Or, are we prepared to bring balm from Gilead--a
balm healing in its character, to pour into our wounds ?

Now, as an illustration of this, have we not often seen
two individuals becoming the most implacable enemies,
yet when they came together and coolly talked the
matter over, without passion or prejudice, the
quarrel was made up, and affection and kindness once
more existed between them. The Southern people are
our brethren. (Good, good.) They are our fellow-.
citizens ; they are part of ourselves ; they are bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh. (Loud and prolonged applause.)
They have lived with us and been part of us from the be-
ginning of our Government and the commencement of the
rebellion. They are identified with this country, with its
history and prosperity, in every sense of the word. (Cheers.)
We have now come together again, both sides understand-
ing what the difficulty was, the great apple, of discord
having been removed. Nov, what has been said with re-
ference to the gentlemen from the South who met in Con-
vention at Philadelphia with their Northern brethren and
pronounced upon the condition of the country ? Why, it
has been asserted that these men's professions of patriotism
are doubtful, and that they ought not to be believed. What
better evidence can you have of loyalty and devotion to
the Government than profession and action? If we have
reached the point that all confidence is lost in man, then
I tell you that the Government is not so strong as a rope
of sand—its own weight will crush it to pieces. Why
should a Southern man not be believed ? I do not say so
because I am a Southern man, and first saw the light of
heaven in a Southern State ; and while I say I am a
Southern man I am a Northern man—that is to say, I am
a citizen of the United States, and am willing to concede
to all other citizens what I claim for myself. Now, the
reason why the Southern States demanded secession was
that they feared their rights under the constitution would

not be preserved to them. But this was a separation, and
against the Union. And I took my position in the Senate
of the United States, as I have ever done since, that this
Union was perpetual—that it was a great magic circle never

to be broken. But the reason the South gave was that
the constitution could not now be carried out, and so they
attempted to separate ; but while the question was proceed-
ing they established a form of government, and what kind
of government was it ? What kind of constitution did
they adopt ? Why, it was with some variations the same
as that contemplated by the constitution of the United
States. They made the experiment to separate, imagining

they could live under such a constitution and enforce its
provisions. We said, 'No, you cannot separate ; you must
remain with us ; the constitution shall be preserved and
remain in force.' The rebellion has ceased, and when their
armies were put down by the army and navy of the United
States, they accepted the terms of the government. And
what were they ? We said to them before the termination
of the rebellion : Disband your armies, return to your ori-
ginal position in the government, and we will receive you
back with open arms.' (Loud cheers.) And the time came
when their armies were disbanded under the lead of my
distinguished friend upon the right (General Grant)—
(vociferous cheers)—and by the navy under Admiral Far-
ragut. (Renewed applause.) What were the terms of the
capitulation? They accepted the propositions of the Go-
vernment, and what did they say ? Why, we will return
to our allegiance, for we have been deceived by designing
men.' Others said, We selected the arbitrament of the
sword to settle this question ; the arbiter has decided it
against us, and that being so, as honourable and magna-
nimous men, we accept the terms you have offered us.'
Now, the query comes up, will they be accepted? We do
not want to ruin them. I have said this, and I repeat it
here to-night, I do not want them to come back into this
Union degraded and debased. (Cheers.) Are they fit to
be a part of this great American family, degraded and
debased ? I want, if they come back, that they shall con-
stitute a part of this great whole, that they shall form a
part of the American people in all their strength and man-
hood. Then they are fit, and not otherwise, to be a
part of the United States. (Applause.) But in coming
back why should we distrust them? I have just called
your attention to the constitution under which they were
desirous to live, and that was the constitution of their
fathers ; yet they wanted a separate constitution. Having
lost the institution of slavery, the great apple of discord,
now, in returning, they take up the constitution under
which they lived before the one they wanted to establish
themselves. Where, then, is the cause for distrust ? Where,
then, is the cause for want of confidence ? Is there any ?
(No, no.) I do not-come here to-night to apologise for the
persons who have destroyed this Government—I refer par-
ticularly to the leadersr and not to the rank and file who
were led astray by them. While Davis and others of that
class were talking about secession in the South, there was
another class in the shape of Phillips and Garrison talk-
ing of dissolution in the North. I thought that at ono time
there was a party in the South trying to break up this Go-
vernment, but now we find a party in the North equally
anxious to consummate that end. lam against all those
who are opposed to the Union. lam for the Union, the
whole Union, and nothing but the Union. (Cheers.) Gen.
Grant and myself have fought secession on one end of the
line, and I tell you we are ready to fight it out on the other.
(Applause.) It is a contest and a struggle for the union of
these States. The North cannot get along without the
South, and the South cannot get along without the North.
(Applause.) I have heard it remarked,
Why, if you let
these Southern States in, you will have the Government
controlled by rebels.' No ; we want to let loyal men in. If
they came in with their 58 disloyal members, how could
they control 208 ? Are we to be carried off with the cla-
mour that, if 58 men come in from the South, the Govern-
ment goes down to nothing ? Are we a people ? Are we
all cowards ? Had they any more power than they had be-
fore ? Certainly not, Further, let me tell you, that the in-
terest on the three thousand million of bonds will never be
paid except by a complete union of these States. You
that fall into this great heresy will reap the same re-
ward. You that do that now will destroy the Go-
vernment. We should unite the Government and increase
the national capacity. He was proud to say to the people
of New York that he was glad to see them that night, and