The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-09-04

OouH ", ADDTCKS, Chairman,
a, Nj. WALKITSHAw, Secretary
'"These are Giants in these Days"-The
Intellect in our City.
WE are accustomed to view with admiration
the assemblies of intellect which graced the
meetings of statesmen in the earlier days OF
the Republic, and glancing down the vista of
years, TO behold with awe the mental giants
who met to take counsel together for the
nations good. But if we dispel the clouds of
time which enable the statesmen of the past
to appear more able than those of the present,
and view in the calm level of criticism all
the political gatherings which have ever met
in our land, we may safely place the one
which met yesterday in our city above all its
predecessors. Nor do we make this statement
under the influence Of any sympathy for that
body, for although our whole heart goes out
to welcome and bid God-speed to the Con-
vention, yet were it composed of our polti-
cal foes we would give it the same credit.
To look at the list OF names is sufficient
proof to justify any high encomium on the
mental powers Of it's members.
There are two distinct classes found in
that body, who, while united in principles
and common sympathy, are utterly dssmilar
in all other qualities. The one, and that one
to which most interest attaches itself, is com
posed Of tried Unonsts of the Soutb-men
who have come out Of the fiery furnace un-
scathed, who have dared every peril, sacri-
feed every comfort, and to whom belongs the
welcome of Good servant, well donep There
nIoac of fn Srhon n hon
and enthusiastic welcome is due, to whom
SHOULD be given the best gifts in the hands
of the nation, and to whom should be allotted
the spoils which always come to the share
of the victors. They have had their
day Of suffering; they have borne
the cross, and it is time that they should wear
the crown. The great majority OF them are
men of whom we have never heard. Nor do
we hesitate to acknowledge that but few of
them have any national reputation. That
such is the case is the best evidence Of their
devotion to the cause of the Union and their
consistent adherence TO the principles of free
dom. living as they did in a country in which
none could rise who did not bow to the Baal
of slavery and who since the war commenced
had not taken an active part on the side of
treason. in 1851 there were not ten right
eous men in the Southern Sodom. With the
exception of John Minor Bolts, of Virginia
A, j. Hamilton, of Texas, and the late Judge
Pettigru, of South Carolina, we can recall
no leading Southern man who five years ago
was true to the Union cause. All the states
men of the South we're men of the
proslavery Democracy, and formed a
clique from which all others were excluded
Hence, there need be no cause for surprise
that the tried elements who are now meeting
in our midst were never allowed an oppor-
tunity to be heard in the good days OF old"
They are the rising men to-day, and before
another decade is past will be in position to
WELD that influence which is theirs by right
OF consistency.
On the other side, we have the Northern
honorary members, who, having had an OPP
portunity of showing their ability, have nearly
all achieved a national reputation. We must
speak of them in classes, and they comprise
all the professions, and the greatest ornaments
OF our country. There is hardly man in
letters or politics in the Northern States, who
is known on both sides Of the Atlantic as a
man of great ability, who is not here.
In literature we fand such men as r. w.
Emerson, o. W. Holmes, John G.. Whittier,
Parsons, Gilmore, and host OF lights OF
which we are Justly proud. Nearly every
loyal Governor Is found among them, and a
host of ex-Governors Of every shade OF politi-
cal opinion. If Mr.. President Foster was to
stand in the Continental, and with a blow OF
his gavel call the United States Senate to
order, he would find more than quorum
present. AS the vast procession passed before
us we recognized many faces last seen on the
floor of the upper House. There was the
venerable Senator from Indiana, the Hon
Henry S. Lane a man, than whom nj
abler has for years adorned our Senate
patriot of the most unfinching kind, al
orator of the first class, and a statesman OF un
questioned ability. There was Governo
Morgan, and Senator Harris, of New York
gentlemen OF national reputation for loyalt
and talent. But we cannot prolong the list
Nearly every loyal senator is here, while
President Lincoln's Cabinet, Messrs. Harlan
Dennison. and Speed either are present, o
will shortly come, In fact, after examinin