The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1865-02-07


sent Business in<he city WILL we pre-
sumo, be Generally suspended. The
people from the surrounding country arr
invited 10 be present.
Public MEETING AT THE AFRICAN
CHuRcu.-In response to the call OF
Governor Smith, Of Virginia, to meet
him at the African Church, the greatest
concourse Of people assembled in thai
building last evening that ever before
were at one time collected under its roof
The meeting was. advertised to be held
at halfpast : o'clock. Before s o'clock
every seat and position where man
could stand was occupied. and with each
moment the crowd became greater by
additional arrivals, until at last what had
been q crowd became jam. The gal
ier!es were so closely packed that serious
fears were entertained that they would
give way under their weight and crush all
beneath them. TWAS gratifying to see
this immense attendance of meeting
whose object was to hurl back into Lin.
coins teeth the insult put upon the
Southern people by his answer to the
Confederate commissioners sent to con-
fer with him on the subject of a peace
between the two countries. Standing in
that immense assemblage, and hearing
the patriotic expressions of the citizens
and soldiers there gathered together, one
was involuntarily carried back, by the
sight and by the eager spirit that ami
mated all present, to the first days of
secession. Never before has the war
spirit burned so fiercely and steadily
The firm resolve to resist to the very
death the demands Of the Northern ty-
rant that now ani1nates the whole South
ern people was plainly visible in that
meetn;
About seven o'clock Governor Smith. |
attended by President Davis and several |
distinguished citizens, came upon the
stand. The proceedings were opened
with prayer by the Rev. DR.. Burrows, CT
the Baptist. Church. The Governor
addressed the multitude in a patriotic +
and soul-strring speech, during which
he was frequently Interrupted by thun-
ders Of applause. He was followed by
President Davis in an address Of about |.
three>quarters of an hour, during which
he was frequently interrupted with the
widest outbursts of applause. Upon
the subject of tire recent peace commits
sion, President Davis. said he himself
had never entertained much hope of eE
fecting honorable terms so long as our
c ,use was meeting with reverscs but.
under the circumstances, when semi
official representatives had so frequently ,
visited our Government, intimating that i,
negotiations might result in salts /
factory adjustment Of our difficulties, c
md when it was plain that the suffer t
ngs OF the people dictated that every il
effort, on his part, should be made to v
bring about . cessation of hostilities, he J
elt it his duty, as he had always done, to Q
appoint those whom he regarded as
among the best men we had, who were
most calculated to heal the existing v
preach which severed us, and OBJ
ain that independence for the Con-
oderacy from the Federal Govern q
leIIt WHICH uO Ob0CT 1OWcT OI1 tue n
ace of the earth but the Yankees :
vould think of denying. AS to the con-
iions of peace, President Davis en- ]
'hatically asserted that mono save the g
of the Corfederacy could Y
yer receive his sanction. He had EN-. =
,arked in this cause with full know g
edge of the tremendous odds against :;
% but, with the approval ola just Pro Il
idence, which he conscientiously believ- y.
dwas on our side, and the united resolve =
4 our people, he doubted not that victory :
Fould yet crown our labors. In his cor q,
with Lincoln, that func i,
lonary had always spoken of the United .,
tates and the Confederacy- as our "
ffiicted country; but in his replies he u,
he speaker had never failed to refer to -
hem rs separate and distinct govern. ..
tents, and sooner than we shout. ever -
united again, he would be willing to e. e.
ED UP everything he has on earth :"
ID, Il It were possible, would sacrifice l.
lousand lives before be would succumb o e
was impossible 1t the late hour when OF o.
resident Davis concluded to give any 20
Ing like An accurate summary Of bis !.
marks. Suffice it to say, that it was "a.
which might have been ex- WI
I'D