Weekly Trinity journal., 1863-08-01
A speech from Gen. Meagher.

Copperheads generally:
He said he should be doing disbonor to the
dead if he admitted for moment, that those who
had fallen had not fallen in war sanctioned By
our obligations of fcternal good will to those from
whose patriotism, love of liberty aud deep inter
IS, in humanity, this Republic took shape and
dt trived its wondrous fidelity. [Cbeers.l What
swindl ng bypocrite, What brazcn knavp, what
paltry bastard, what scnrvy politician, called for
peace? We must prUs cute This war till the in
surrection is suppressed [Cheers The company
rising and waving handkerCbieis. War he ad
m,tted was calamity. But, be continued, there
is something infinitely more grievous TO people
than war-than civil war itself, with its appalling
progeny OF evls-tbe loss of public virtue, the
spread Of falsehOod, the reign Of treachery, the
prosperity of the mean and vicious, the eXaltaton
TO places Of honor and respectfully of the illit-
crate the vulgar, the sordid aud rapaciOus. the
depreciation of manhood and all its liberal i'm
pulses ard grand attributes, the extinction or
decay Of that faith in its righteousness and pow
cr which is the life of nation and have nerved
the smallest communities to cope with empires
and successfully resist them, and which, us it is
ever its ornament OF purest gold never fails to be
in the hour Of danger its shield Of adamant-
these are evils that far surpass in destruciveness
those to which in even its most lavish riotousness
war gives birth. [Cheers.l The havoc that war
make will be repaired. Industry, art, ambition
survive, though whole regions are laid desolate.
grander proportions from its embers, and its
restored bells proclaim joyful resurrection
Nature herself ever compassionate and beautiful,
heals the wounds and obliterates the sears which
the deadlest strife has left and in the shade Of
her ample leaves, underneath her sweetest flowers
and the green field which she kindles into waving
gold, will wash away the stains and dictate to
peace the broken weapons of the fight; whilst
man himself chastencd by the Scourge, ennobled
10y the exercise of patience, f0rttude, courage,
the observance of strict obedience and fidelity
30 duty, the dispensation of courtises. charity
and tenderness, TO the captured and wounded will
sheathe the sword and return to bis home wiser,
gentler. nober citizen [Appause.l Such is
not the fruits Of peace, when peace is paramount
10 the sanctty of the laws, and the authority Of
the Government, to the political consequence and
historic dignity Of the nation and its apostles
urge it regardless of the irreparable detrimen
to the national life and reputation it involves
TGreat cheerng1 Better thousand times, that
Il o taxes should be multiplied, that trade ehould
stand still, that commerce should be paralyzed
or limp lazily along, that mulitudes should per-
ish OH the field with their cOuntry's flag pointed
towards the sun, and the glory Of the martyrs :;
that gayety should put on mourning that luxury
should get dow n upon its knees and beg crust :;
that the bittern aDd cormorant should usurp the
warehouse and palace and the fate Of Tyre and
Baabec be its visilation-better all this, a thous
and times, than that the people, for the sake of
having glut Of foreign importations, Of being
corpulent and at ease, should, at the bidding Of
craven or audacious demagngues clamor for and
insist upon peace which would annihiate their
sovereignty, closing their history with the crime
of SUICIDE, and an irrevocHble sentence of inef-
fable disgrace. Tremendous cheering, the aud
ience rising to their feet and waving handker-
chiefs Shall this be so? ["No, mol Shall
the prayers Of the wicked prevail? E. Never,
uevern] Shall base conspiracy, with hymn
nj he npY1n IN Inns nd bo Graf Of f1,.
pnt at its core, prove superior to the law, the
The army, and the inspiration Of the land? I'VE
hement cries OF " Nevcrhl Heaven forbid
should that infamy betall the nation. let not a
statue, nor a column in attesatiOn Of The founders
Of the Republic stand to be the scotf Of tie
traitors who shall hold sway. Against peace
scandalously, there is not a survivor Of the
lrsh Brigade who will not Indignantly, with in
tense scOrn, with the fercest mpetu0sitY protest.
Three cheers for Meagher, and continued APP
planse] In reprobation Of such pcace-the
perverted text Of the hypocrite, the fictitious
capital Of the swindlng speculator in politics,
Kisses a voice " Fernando Wood j The last
refuge in which the bankrupt demagogue seeks
10 recover his lost ground and resusctate his
shriveled fortunes Laughter and immense en-
thusiaSnl lin Reproduction Of such peace every
soldier in the Army oi the Potomac, every sol
dlcr in the army Of the Mississippi, every soldier
East and West, under arms for the Union, will
set his teeth and bring bis bayonet to the charge.
Tremendous cheering Talk to the returned
regiments, and see if they do not to a man, scout
this opprobiOus proposition, some Of the noisest
and most ta9lant advocates Of which were among
the very first TO ncile the Democracy to arms
and urge the war. TCIies of - Hear, hear. "
Proceed still further. Interrogate the heroic
dead. Cic ro denou cling one of the greatest out
laws of Rome, appeal, 10 the graves and altars,
10 the lakes and mounds dedicated to the gods
heseechng them to attest TO the justice of the
death, violent as it was, which intercepted his
career Of sacrilege, repine and sedition. Let
the orator of our day, in whose heart burns the
desire to be enrolled among tie savers of the
Republic appeal to the shades of Mount Vernon,
10 the ancient walls that witnessed the signing
of the Declaration of Independence, to the
toombs in the garden of Hermitage, to the granite
hills of New Hampshire and Massachusetts and
10 the utter confusion Of traitors, invoke the il
lusilious men to whose purity and greatness of
soul mankind is indebted fer the example of this
Commonwealth. [Cheersl Last of all listen
to the adjuration Of thousands who within the
last twO.years, have been laid to rest ia the har
IS Of battle on the field which their herosm
las made magnifccntly famous, and over whose
graves, uniuscribed though they be, the fires OF
heaven hJ night and by day maintain for the
chivalry Of the republic a perpetual guard
tGreat cbeeIing.J 1t comes to us in darkness, il
comes 10 Us in the sunshine il outstrips the
IT, einess of tue wind on The prairie, il transcends
ihe tight Of the eagle; the echoes Of the Allie
ghanies trausmit it to the Sierras from the
towering forests Of Oregon, blending with the
tuhmesI symphonies of netuTe, it rolls along the
rivers OF the West it is heard above the war Of
the ~ hing wa ers of Niagara it is heard above
NE IbunderS OF the storm on Huron or Ontario );
1t is everywhere heard throughout the land /; il
is the voice OF the living though il breaks from
the lips OF the dead it is the prayer of the hour
answered by eternity; aud by it, we, of this day
and generation, are conjurod never to make peace
win the armed enemies of the United States
Three cheers for General Meagher enthusiastic
"rphusel Never to confer with them an instant
NE parties to any unworthy settlement com
promise never to desist instant from the
prosecution Of the war with the relentless vigor
with which Andrew Jackson would have pressed
II Lcheersl never, until the image Of liberty
no" ascending the dome of the capitol, shall, for
lhe permanent happiness aud glory of America
E'etch lorth the protecting hand and dispense its
r,UI.. iii Al. a..