The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-09-01

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without light s. q
Two lighted candles were then brought
out, and one held on each Side OF the Presi-
dent The President addressed the crowd as
follows:- E
The Presidents speech.
Fellow Citizens--In being here tonight it
is not for the purpose Of making speech, in
the common acceptation Of the term | am
here tonight on my way to the West for the
purpose of participating. in or witnessing the
laying of the chief corner stone to one OF our
distinguished statesmen who passed from time
to eternity a short time since--the lion Ste
phen A. Douglas Bnt ii, making the tour to
| tbs West for the purpose stated have been
| rendered Inequalities and kindness by the va
rious public authorities oi the cities, and now
have received a similar honor from the eti-
zens Of this State and your municipal author
tiles. On approaching Albany, the seat of
your State government, | might say Of the
great State of New York, q welcome ha' been
rendered me as citizen-a welcome, very
cordial welcome has been rendered me by
your worthy Mayor. While he approached
and rendered to me welcome and the hosPi-
talities of the citizens as q citizen, he at the
! same time welcomed me as the Chief Magis-
trate of the United States, which was due to
the position. Yes, he rendered Inequalities
to me as citizen of the States composing this
glorious confederacy Of ours. And now in
being before you do not appear in an Off
cial character. l appearI-5and thank God
can 80 state it-as fellow citzen and as a
citizen of one of the United States. -4 +"
The Mayor did not simply tender to me
| the Inequalities of Albany as the Executive
| 90 ~ Int n,
as | believe you all are, as his fellow-citizen
and countryman on his way to the West.
Applause and three cheers.) In standing
before you tonight do SO as an American
citizen, claiming protection and respect as
citizen of the United States, Cries of .. You
shall have it,'J | know, felowctizens, that
SANDER and calumny, the foul whelps of sin,
and mercenary and subsidized press has at
tempted to poison the public mind in adj
vance Of those who are coming among you
and prepare the public mind for an unfavora-
BILE reception. IA voice-'They can't do it
here Fellow citizens of the United States
what is it have done to thus expose me?
IA voice. Nothing. What crime have l
committed If my crime consists in sup
porting the Constitution of the country
stand before you tonight confessedly guilty
If vindicating the Constitution and the Union
formed under it is a crime, repeat, | stand
before you tonight confesaedly guilty. "a
voice, "You are not guilty.'') If opposing
those who were arrayed against the Union of
the States and the Constitution be a crime |
am guilty. l care not for the opponents of
the Constitution, whether they come from
the South or the North, am opposed to
them. (Applause) And let me tell you, my
fellow citizens, that while you have enemies
to the perpetuation of the States in the South,
you have got some enemies to the Union in
the North. "a voice, '''rhat's So" While
some in the South were contendinS for the
separation or disintegration of the States,
others were contending in the North for the
} absorption and consolidation of all powers
in in the Observation-Disclosures because
with the aid OF your own distinguished SON
Applause and others of my Cabinet, have
arrayed themselves against the encroach-
ments Of the Executive Department, and
against the attempt to consolidate the Gov
eminent in the Legislative Department, they
are called traitors If this be crime they
are guilty. But have no objection, and am
willing to place my case before you as a jury
Voices GU are not guilty-''you are doing
right.
From my early life | have always been
willing for the American people to be my
triers (Applause.) 1t is upon them in the
past have relied. 1t is ON them I'now rely
A voce-"We'll see you through In
them l always had an abiding faith l have
always relied on their intelligence, honesty
and sound Judgment to preserve the Union.
We have just passed through a long and
wasting civil war, and when we come to ex-
anime the object for which we weot into the
fight, what did we declare? That it was for
the purpose of suppressing the rebellion
The rebellion being suppressed, the people of
the States that went into the rebellion have
accepted the terms you have proposed But
now, while we are trying to cement the States
insep arably and forever, and the war has
been declared at an end, and while Farragut
-(applause) under the direction of the Sec
rotary of the Navy, has done his duty on the
high seas, and while Grant cheers) with
his brave compatriots has done his duty
(cheers) land while the Secretary of State
(cheersl has well performed his duty, and
may be permitted to say that while the
Executive has tried to do his duty, (cheers)
what is in the way of reconciliation What
remains to be done2 A voice, Hang Tbad
Stevens" Laughter and applause) will
tell you what remains to be done. There is
one duty to be performed. "a voice, "IIang
Thad Stevens" General laughter) What
is the duty to be performed You have one
department of your government throwing
every impeachment in the way, while the
others are trying to restore and heal the
breach which was made by the war We
have come to the point, the time is approach
ing for some other persons to do their duty.
The bayonet and the bullet have done their
duty in the field, and the time has come for
the lovers of the people to do their duty at
the ballot-bo4. Cries of f'Well do it; de-