The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-03 00:00:00

THE AMERICANS IN PARIS.

(From Galignani's Messenger.)
A most important meeting of American citizens
took place on Wednesday, at noon, in the great hall
of the Hotel du Louvre, very nearly 200 persons

being present. On entering the room one could
have imagined that the reunion was for a purely
festive purpose, .as three tables loaded with plate
cat-glass, flowers, and other objects recreative to'
the eye, ran down the whole length of the immense
room. The intention was to breakfast pleasantly
first, and then to express sentiments and pass reso-
-lutions on the secession which has so unfortunately
arisen in the United States. At the end of the room

floated the Freneh flag over a bust of the Enspe_
rer, and on either side that of the United States,
displaying its well-known Stars and Stripes.
When all the company were seated, as a great num-
ber of young and elegantly dressed women were pre-
sent, the coup-d'ceil was most striking. An excel
lent breakfast having been duly honoured,
Dr. T. W. EVANS rose and proposed that the
office of President of the day should be filled by
Mr. E. C. Cowdin, of New York.
The motion having been passed by acclamation,
Mr. COWDIN took the chair, and after the ap-
plause which greeted his appearance had subsided
rose and said :—Fellow-countrymen, ladies, and
gentlemen,—Let me thank you most heartily for
the honour you have done me in calling upon me
to preside on this occasion. Forgetting all consi-
derations of interest, of party, and of section, we
meet as Americans, citizens of the United States,
desiring no higher appellation. Granting, as I
must, that the time for speech-making has passed
and the time for action has come, it is well, never-
theless, that we have met together to-day to listen
to words of wisdom from our illustrious country-
men, to whom, in your name, I bid a cordial wel-
come. (Applause.) This large and distinguished
assemblage, here in this great capital, far from our
native land, is a happy augury of the deep in-
terest entertained by all, in sustaining the Govern-
ment in its determination to maintain the consti-
tution, the laws, and the liberties of our com-
mon country. Our national union, the result of
the world's progress,. was not formed for ourselves
alone, but for the whole family of man. He, there-
fore, who by word or deed does aught towards de-
stroying that union is not only a traitor to his
country, but an enemy to his race. (Cheers.) The
Carthaginian general brought his child to the altar
to take an oath of ceaseless vengeance against the
enemies of his country. Be ours a higher, a nobler,
a holier duty—to declare our undying attachment
to the great principles of liberty and justice upon
which our Government was founded, and if need be,
in the spirit of our fathers, to pledge onr lives, our
fortunes, and our seared honour to uphold and de-
fend them. (Cheers.) It was a remark of the illus-
trious Washington (whose very grave is desecrated)
" that the value of liberty was enhanced in our
estimation by the difficulty of its attainment ; and
the worth of character appreciated by the trial of
adversity." So will it ever be ; and when this con-
flict is over, the Union will stand forth purged and
purified, the wonder and admiration of the world.

(Applause.) Nay more, the great characters which
the exigencies will call forth are destined to be re-
corded upon the pages of history as among the
brightest heroes of the 19th century. (Hear.)
The struggle we have entered upon is a momentous
one The rebels are bold, daring, desperate ; deter-
mined to rule or ruin, deeming with Satin that it is
_ t' Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."

But, my countrymen, be not dismayed. Relying
upon the justice of our cause, the unanimity of the
people, and the protection of a righteous God, we
have nothing to fear. (Applause.) Traitors have
inaugurated war to establish tyranny, and can we
shrink from it in defence of liberty ? They have
sown the wind—they shall reap the whirlwind.
Whatever is necessary, either of money or of men,
is at our commas d ; 20,000,000 of people are aroused
in behalf of this sacred cause—the protection of
our common parent—our beloved country, at whose
very vitals treason is aiming its deadly thrusts.
Already the decree has gone forth, " Let Freedom's
blow, as it must be terrible, be therefore quick, hard,
decisive." Let there be no cessation of war ;no
halting at the Capitol, nor at Richmond, nor at
Charleston, nor at Montgomery, nor anywhere,
until Freedom's troops shall have replanted Free-
dom's Stars and Stripes on every arsenal and every
fort and every edifice from which a sacrilegi-
ous and infuriated mob has hauled them down.
(Hear, hear.) In such a struggle there may be
danger; but, on the one hand, there is danger ac-
companied with lasting honour and inevitable suc-
cess, and, on the other, there is danger with
indelible shame and utter destruction. It is said that
Lord Byron, when a boy, prevented his comrades
from demolishing his schoolroom by showing them
their fathers' names on the walls. Shall we be less
wise, less grateful than schoolboys ? Shall we hesi-
tate to preserve and defend the Temple of Freedom,
reared by our fathers, upon the walls of which are
inscribed the names of Washington and Adams,
Jefferson and Hamilton, Madison and Gay, Henry
and Otis, Pinckney and Hamilton. (Loud cheers.)
Permanently dissolve our National Union ! Replace
the banner of freedom with the black flag of piracy !
Break up our Federal Government ! Trample under
foot the countless blessings which our fathers pur-
chased for us at so dear a rate and with so much im-