Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1863-04-22
dREAr sPGEoH oH
GENERAL BUTLER
NEW YORK.

lNllAln Wills lil -Nf-N bIN 1lAs- 1T
Tribune says III was Il grand ouipourin;
of the determined loyalty of this empo
rium-a tribute from the heart of New
York to one of the country's ahlest anC
most effective defenders"
Mai Gen. Wool, upon advancing tC
take his seat upon the platform, wa!
greeted with warm applause, which the
veteran acknowledged in few firm ant
patriotic words Upon the appearance o
the Hero of the Gulf the enthusiasm
knew no bounds, and it was some time
before the Introductory address of Mayor
Opdyke could be made. When the May
or had concluded, Gen. Butler, who was
in citizens dress, advanced, and after the
tumultuous applause with which he was
again greeted had subsidized, he said
MR. MAYOR With the proloundest
gratitude for the too tlattering commen,
dation of my administration of the vari-
Gus trusts committed TO me 10y the Gov
ernment, which, in behalf of your assOci,
ates you have been pleased to tender me,
| | ask you to receive my most heartfelt
thanks. To the citizens of New York
here assembled in kind appreciation OF
my services supposed to have been rem
dered to the country, tender the deep
est acknowledgements. Applause. i
accept it all; not for myself, but for my
brave comrades of the Army of the Gulf.
Renewed Applause. receive it as an
earnest of your devotion to the country,
an evidence of loyalty to the Constitution
under which you live and under which
YOU hole to die. In order that the acts
of the Army of the Gulf may be under
stood, perhaps it would be well, at Il lit
tie length, with your permission, that
some detail should be given to the thesis
upon which we administer our duties.-
The first question then to be ascertained
is, what is this contest in which the coun-
~ is engaged. At the risk even of call
ing your attention 10 what might seem
otherwise too elementary, | propose TO
run down through the history of the con-
test to see what it is that the whole coun-
try is about at this day and this hour
That we are in the midst of civil cOmmo-
tion. all know. And what is that cOmmo-
ton? Is it a riot? Is it an insurreclion?
Is il a rebellion? Or is it revolution?
And pray, Sir, although it may seem still
more elementary, What is a riot? A riot,
if understand it, is simply an OutburSt
of the passion of men for the moment in
breach of the law, to be put down and
subdued by the civil authorities; if it
goes further, to be dealt with by the mil
itary authorities. But you say, Sir, why
treat US to definition of riot upon this
occasion? Why of all things, should you
undertake to instruct n New York audi
ence in what riot is?" Laughter. To
that answer, because the Administration
of Mr.. Buchanan dealt with this great
change of affairs as if it were riot be-
cause his Government officer gave the
opinion that in Charleston it was but a
riot; and as there was no civil authority
there to call out the military, therefore
Sumter must be given over to the rioters;
and that was the beginning of this strug
gle. Let US see how it grew up. | deal
not now in causes but in etfects-in facts.
Directly after the guns of the rebels had
turned upon Sumter, the various States |
of the South in Convention assembled, |
a series of movements which |
took out from the Union divers States !: |
and as each was attempted to be taken |
out, the riot was no longer found in them
but they became insurrectionary and |
the Administration upon the 18th of |
a April, 1861, dealt with II as an lnsurrec- |
ton, and called out the militia of the |
United States to subdue an insurrectiOn. |
| was called at that time into the service, |
to administer the laws in putting down |
an insurrection. | found riot at Balti- |
more. They burned bridges; but they |
had hardly arisen TO the dignity of an
because the State had not |
moved as an organized community. A
few men were rioting in Baltimore: and |
as | marched there at the head of United |
States troops, the question came up be-
fore me, what have l before me. You
will remember that | offered then to put |
down all kind of instructions so long as
the State of Maryland remained loyal to
the United States. Transferred from
thence to a wider sphere at Fortress Mon
roe, found that the State of Virginia
through its organization had taken itself
out of the Union, and was endeavoring
TO erect for itself an independent Gov
ernment; and | dealt with that State as
being in rebellion, and thought the prop
arty of the rebels, of whatever name or
nature, should be dealt with as rebelliOus
and contraband. Great APP
plause. l have been thus careful in
stating the various steps, because although
through your kindness replying to eulo-
", am here answering every charge of
and wrong of intention for
ny acts done before the country. Wrong
n judgment may have been; but in
list, wrong in intention or inconsistent,
never. Upon the same theory upon which
felt myself bound to put down insur-
ection in Maryland, while it remained
oyal, whether that insurrection consisted
# blacks or whites, by the same loyalty
o the Constitution and laws, felt bound &;
o conhscate slave property in the rebel
ious State of Virginia. Applause. Fl
Pardon me, Sir, if right here | say that {
IN a little sensitive upon this subject {
am an old-fashioned Andrew jackson
Democrat of twenty years Standing {
Applause. A voice: The second hero {
# New Orleans" Renewed applause 1
in three cheers. And so far {
5 know, l have never sweryed, so help
ne God, from one of his teachings [
Great applause. Up to the time that l
lisunion took place, went as far as the
in sustaining the constitutional 1
ights of the States, however bitter or
IoweYer distasteful were the obligations 5
ur fathers had made for me in the COM !
romises of the Constitution, and among I
hem it was not for ME to pick out the t
weet from the bitter; and fellow Demo- S
rats took them all loud cheers be- c
ause they were constitutional obligations; a
applausel and taking them all, l stood
Y the South and Southern rights under t
he Constitution until l advanced and a
,oked into the very pit of disunion, and G
OF liking the prospect l quietly with G
rev. Immense applause and laughter. Y
md we were from that hour apart, and t
ow far apart you can judge when l tell {
on that on the 18th of December, 1860, i
shook hands on terms of personal g
iendship with Jefferson Davis, and on r
ne 2Sth of December, 1862, | had the r
leasure of reading his proclamation that n
was to be hanged at sight. Great ap- '
lause and laughter. And now, my d
lends, if you will allow me to pass on s
II a moment in this line of thought, as t
e come up to the point of time when il
leir mon laid down their Constitutional il
Dligations. What were nv rights and e