Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1866-09-06
SPEECH OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
Upon Receiving tho Proceedings of
the National Union Convention.
WASHINGTON, Aug. IS, 1866.

ASiINGTON, EuS. 10, iOOO.
The committee, consisting of two dele
gates from each State, appointed by the
National Union Convention to wait upon
the President with an official copy of the
proceedings of the Convention, called upon
the President at one o'clock to-day, and
after the presentation address by Hon.
Reverdy johnson, the President said:
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen Of tie
Committee +: Language is inadequate to ex-
press the emotions and feelings produced
by this occasion. Perhaps | could ex-
press more by permitting silence to speak,
and you to infer what l might and ought
To say | confess, that notwithstanding
the experience l have had in public life,
and the audiences l have addressed, this
occasion and this assemblage are well cal
culated to, and do overwhelm me.
AsI have said, 1 have not language to
convey adequately my present feelings and
emotions. In listening to the addresses
which your eloquent and distinguished
chairman has just delivered, the proceed
ings of the convention, as they transpired, :,
recurred to my mind. Seemingly l par
took Of the inspiration that prevailed in
the convention, when | received a des-
patch, sent by two of its distinguished
members, conveying in terms the scene
which has Just been described, of South
Carolina and Massachusetts, arm in arm,
marching into that vast assemblage, and
thus giving evidence that the two extremes
had come together again, and that, for the
future, they were united, as they had been
in the past, for the preservation of the
Union.
When the despatch informed me that,
in that body OF men, distinguished for in
tellect and wisdom, every eye was sui
fused with tears on beholding the scene,
1 could not finish reading the despatch TO
one associated with me in the Office, for
my own feelings overcame me. APP
plause think we may justly conclude
that we are moving under proper inspi-
ration, and that we need not be mistaken
that finger of an overruling and uner-
ring Providence is III this matter. The
nation is in peril. We have just passed
through a mighty, bloody, momentous
ordeal, and do not yet find ourselves free
| from the difficulties and dangers that at
| first surrounded us.
While our brave men have performed
| their duty-both officers and men-(turn-
| ing 10 General Grant, who stood at his
right)-while they have won laurels i'm
perishable, there are still greater and more
important duties TO perform and while
we have had their cooperation in the field,
we now need their support in our efforts
to perpetuate peace. Applause. St
! far as the Executive Department Of the
Government is concerned, the effort ha;
been made to restore the Union, to hea
the breach, to pour oil into the wounds
which were consequent upon the struggle
and, to speak in common phrase, to pre-.
pare, as the learned and wise physician
would, plaster healing in character ant
co-extensive with the wound Applause
We thought, and yet think, that we hat
partially succeeded. But as the WORK
progressed, as reconciliation seemed to bC
taking place, and the country becoming