Semi-weekly news., 1865-05-04
The Great Mass Meeting.

Souft-Aoooc SIuoie III pAueA " WIZ
ness tho proceedings of the great
meeting. The number of soldiers
present could not have been less than
two thousand, most of them men
who had fought gallsntly OH a hun
dred battle e-felds, and had. by their
heroic achievements, given indubta-
BILE evidence of their devotion to
the great cause OF Southern indie
pendence.
There were present, also. Gen. e.
K. Smith, Lieut.. Gen. S Il. Buck
ner, Naj.-Gen. Sterling Price and
Brigadier Generals Harry Hays,
Hawthorne, McNair, and Hunt
Gov Allen, of Lou siana, Gov. Rey-
nolds, of Missouri. Judge Ochiltree,
of Texas, and very large number
Of officers of the army, who may be
said truly to be among the leading
spirits in this Department.
President. II. W. Allen, Governor
Of louisiana Vice Presidents, G Gens.
Smith. Buckner. Price, Hunt, Judge
Land, Judge Jones. Judge Ochiltrss
and others; Secretaries, DR.. N. Es-
tss and others.
At the appointed hour Gov. Allen,
the President. called upon the Rev.
Mr.. Smith to open the meeting with
prayer. which he did in brief but
appropriate petition to the throne of
Heaven for the Divine blessing upon
our labors. Gov Allen then read an
address which the Committee on
Resolutions had proposed. designed
as a public exposition of the views
and sentiments of the meeting in the
present situation of the country.
Gov. Allen then proceeded in a
strain of tervid eloquence to state
that tho military situation so far from
being hopeless, as some had sup.
posed. was eminently hopeful. and
nothing was required but little pa
tienee and perseverance, bringing into
requisition all our available strength
to secure the great end of the strug-
gle. viz: the independence of our
country.
He stated in glowing language the
barbarous conduct of the enemy in
this State, and said that he had the
evidence of this before him, in a
volume just issued from the press in
this city. and which had been pre-
pared at his request by competen,
persons acting under oath.
The Governor gave the anecdote
of Ethan Allen when he de mand ed
the surrender of Ticonderoga. The
commander of the fort demanded to
know by what authority he acted.
His memorable reply was, that he
acted ION the authority of Almighty
God and the Continental Congress.
He. the Governor, if asked by the
Federals by what authority he acted,
he would answer "by tho authority
of Almighty God and the Confede.
rate authorities
In conclusion. the Governor stated
that should fortune frown upon our
efforts. should the cause become
hopeless, which he did not by any
means admit, he would struggle to
the last and, rather than live under
an abolition northern government, he
would abandon the country never to
return to it again, unless it was to
fight the enemies of his country.
At the close of his remarks tie
Governor introduced the first speaker
BRIG. GEN. HARRY +. HAYS.
Gen. Hays stated that if he had
consulted his own feelings he would
have remained silent, but as he had
been selected by the committee as
one of the speakers on the occasion,
it was his duty to comply. He stated
that we were in crisis, the crisis of
our revolution, but the people should
remember that if dark clouds lower
over the horizon of our country, that
behind these clouds the sun shone as
brightly as ever. Those who e1-
pected to pass through a great revo-
luton like this without frequent and
severe disaster, had read history to
but little profit. Other nations had