Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1859-12-29
Union Meeting in New York
SDeech Of Or. BetNune

/ Df. BGtEuHc Will DC Iefu anu aIpINh tA ~ wv
ry friend OF the Union:
| There we're ui erie: for DR.. Bethune, who
was seen among the gentlemen on the platform;
and, after some III omen:s, the reverend gentle
man came forward and taid:
Mr.. PEEsIpENr.-I rise, sir not because l
have the presumption to suppose thatl can com
mand thu attention Of so vast an assembl at this
late hour Of the evening, and after sueh splendid
eocutiUnary Efforts have been beard from
some most able gen tlemen, but come before the
audience for the single purpose Of sho"ing my
self loud cheeTs.) insignificant, as person
ally may be--(cries Of No, you are n"tJ--a-
mong the millions of this land and weak in III
auence as my voice may be, whenever tins voice
is called for, and there is a question wiich its
sound can reach, | wish it to be known that !
| am to be rech0ned With the union-(great cheer
ng)-now aud while live. (Renewed applause,
and cries OF Good good, good. And when l
say that it il with wish that II the Union is to
perish may die first (Great applause and
roaring morse Sir, there have been many things
said here this c, ening with which have not
| fully conceded But | am not going into all
| these questions. l do not intend to read law to
| you, for it is not my profession; and must be
| excused If do not &C into the theology OF ZONE
| gentlemen who have !nSA'cd uIlna. (theers and
| iaughter) But when saw the call for this meet
| ing said | must be there. Hear, hear, and
"good.") Never never have before attended
IL public meeting in any way political in my life
| -lcheersl-and l can say with fair conscience
! that no man ever heard me, in any position of
| lIic, utter ii single word in regnri to party poll
tics. (Cheers.( . am by my calling and by my
VOW n minister Of the Gospel Of peace, ichrers,)
and it is as minister ofpeace that | am among
you tonight (Grcat cheering.j Its time that
this should be SO, when the pulpits of the land
are desecrated by appeals to the widest tanati-
ri SIN that men can conceive. CHE most ire
mendous applause here followed, enduring Tor
several seconds
A Voice from the second tier of boIes the
ri ght man in the right place this time.
Another Voice on the plattorm-that's go.
De. BErnusE.--W hen men are praised and
hon red because they have shown the courage of
the bulldog, with the boOdthirstin's Oi the IL
ger, (cheers again and again, lit is high time then
that men who feel Il emselsts impetled Ivy the
belief that the Gospel is peace ON Garth and good
will towards men, should act up to the spiiit of
TINT teaching (Applouse) l am not going to
enter, RS said before, into questions which !
trust may be parIoned for saying, has beer.
toisted into this meeting this evening. l hive
! heard of Lersons who have disputed about the
calls Of the meeting, and some had said that they
would stay away because one call WAS formal and
! the other was informal. 1.aughter.l Now, the
calls matter very little TO me. never read thru
| the whole Of either Of these calls. All saw in
either Of them Was the word UuiQn-( great cheer
| ingl-and that was enough. prolonged np.
pause.) | remember on one occasion there WAS
IN honest Governor Of Pennsylvania who was
| applied to for the pardon OF II man who had muir
dered his wife, and when the application was
! brought before lin in the usual form backed by
all the influence that could be brought to bear
On the case, the honest old man sa!d-"Nhnt.
pardon IL man for crime like that? For tuki &
| II woman to his home. after having promised and
| sworn to love, honor and cherish her, and then
| take and murder her-why, he ought to be ash
/ of Lnself T. e - and luuphtyr. !
| And so is it here tonight. II any man. in get
| ting up this meeting, Ind any thought of repub-
lcan or democrat. or whig, or American, and
not of the Union, why he ought to be ashamed
! of himself. Great cheering. And what ID more
| | don't want to have anything 10 do with him.
except meet him in repentance in sackcloth
and ashes. rcheers.l The speeches this evening
! have been mostly on the hypothesis OF the dis
solution of the Uniun. 1t was always "lt the
| Union should be dissolved; :" "when the Union
is dissolved" and other phases of similar pur.
port. Now this is all wrong. For my part Ire
gard the dissolution, as we !ogicinns say as an
impossible hyputhe >is. tChrefs.( III Union il
II OF going TO be dissoiv ID and of this YOU may
secure. You may remember that once in old
Rome there was gr.nt gulf opened, and SO wide
and ngerUus did il every day become, that it
threatened to swallow up the whole OF the impe
rial city when one Quintus CHrtius mounted his
steed, iull armed and rode slowly and res Lutte
ly toward the cavern and leaped into the gulf,
willing victem to save his beloved Rome. Should
such chasm open in our midst, there is not one,
but ten thousand oflivng Curtii-aye and a hun
Dir d times ten thousand-to leap into it To save
this blessed and glorious Union Cheat applause
Dissolve the Union? where are you going to draw
the line?
A vocc--Mason and Dixons.
DIR. BETHuHE-Mhson and Dixon! There can
b, no line drawn there. But if there should un-
hippily ever be such separations, know where
| should go, with that part which clirgs to tina
Constitution and to the Union Ms II Is and ms Ii
has been. (Greatappause.) II any man has II
right to be proud of his native place, it is the
man who now speaks to you, tor AIN proud to
saw was born in New York. Cheers But,
sir, what is New York? What is the East-what
is the West what is the North-or what is the
South? Take away the Union, and we are no
where; We would be worse than nothing-re-
duced into the chaos of rude, crumbling flag
ments. Where, l ask, will you draw the line
viii you divide the Mis- issippi in two? "A voice,
"Yes") Then try it. (Roars OF laughter.) Are
YOU going to divide the Union by the assumed
rights or quilts of slavery? They grow cotton
| at the South, but where do they manufacture itz
| l.Here, here" i'm mense and vehement applause.)
On one occasson 1t occurred in Liverpool that
| an actor came on the stage too tipst to act his
part well, ond when he approached the footllghts
| the audience began TO hiss him. Feeling indig-
nant Mt being thus treated, he endeavored to
! straeh ten himself and said, What, you hiss
| George tfcuerlcR Sophe, WHeu YOU
| the blood of slaves between every two bricks of
your housei" Now, as far MS know, there
were never any slaves in Liverpool, but the re-
| mark of the actor was not the less opposite,
| for while they had no slaycR themselves, they
prof,ed by slavery, and bought aud sold slaves.
| Applause J The .amething may be well said in
re gard to this country. In some secti' ms OF our
| land where the loudest cry is heard on this ques-
ton, men have grown rich by the manufacture OF
cotton grown by slaves. (tries Of That's So
and l,ud applause.) The sweat of the slave, so
to speak, is betwe every tw bricks Of their spa
c,ous palaces, and yet they are the londest to
complain Men may call it what they please
| / call it hypocrisy, Vehement applause Where
will the line be drawn? To do so ,you must ren't
asunder and ride through the dearest affections.
We are one family--one people The man VII"
| lives in Aristook may at any time have brotber
| on the Rio Grandc. tCheers.l The mother in
the North has given her child to the Southern
plnn ter and the Southern pla tier bows IN thank
| fulnces to God for the daughter of the North
whom he has to cheer his home. taPplause.
Would you dissolve this Union loud cries OF
| "No, mol ! need not ask that question. on
cannot do so. 1t is far different with you than
! it was with the Sabines and Romans. GU nave
no Violently taken the women of the South, but
the North and the South have exchanged with
! each other in relations of marriage and ties oil
contanguinity. WhatGod has joined together,
therefore, let no man attempt to put asunder.-
| TGreat cheering.l I have not said all that l
would say on this subject, and must hasten to
close.
Voices. Go on /; go on all night II you like.
DR.. bR1HuNE-This ie not Q time for dry met
aphvs:cs. believe In main.vining the inherit.