Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-10-07
The Boys in Blue.
CoNvENTIoN N PHILADELPHIA.

last Week twenty thousand veterans
had come together 70 show by unequivo-
cal signs low the soldiers Will vote in No
vember.
Distinguished Generals, Burnside, Sick
les, Howard, Fitzpatrick, and hosts of others
were there. Sheridan, kept away by duty,
sent word to the Boys in Blue that it was as
essential to have political victory this Fall
as it to have Appomattox in '65.
Governors and Ex-Govern0rs of States helped
TO swell the throng. Immense delegations Of
the rank and file from New England, from
New York. from the West, and greatest of all
from lie doubtful regions of the keystone
State, were there, marching in line as Of old
and giving renewed assurances Of their love
for the Union they fought to save.
Philadelphia was all ablaze with excite
ment; her citizens made it a holiday the
waving of flags, the booming of guns and the
joy Of the populace wildly recalled the most
stirring scenes of the war. The principal
streets were impass able from the crowds :;
the Volunteer Refreshment Associations re-
newed their youth, and from the old cooper
shops. so kindly remembered by hundreds of
thousands, dispensed the profuse hospitality
Of days gone by. Banners and Transparent
cies of cunning device and skilful execution
adorned the principal buildings, while above
all the tumultuous JOY could be heard the
steady tramp, different delegations re-
ported their arrival.
Mayor McMichael delivered the following
address of welcome
SOLDIERS AND SAILORS Standing in the
shadow of this venerable edifice, near to the
cOnsecrated hall in which the foundations of
our Republic were established on this hal
lowed spot where the Declaration of indie
pcnicnce was first publicly proclaimed, and
- surrounded by these tokens of vindica ted
nationality, prefer To YOU in behalf of the
loyal people Of Philadelphia, who reve rently
cherish the Union that ypu manfully defend
ed. an earnest and heartfelt welcome. That
welcome has already been expressed in the
booming of the cannon that announced your
arrival and in long professions of your
socrates by whom You were conducted hIther
IN iubilant strains of music that enlivened
your progress; in mute bat eloquent en-
blems that spanked with memorials of your
merits: in masses Of sympathizing men and
women that surged along the streets over
which you passed. il radiant smiles that
ing huzzas that still liner IN ynnr ears
and in comparison with these, any words |
tiiat | might utter would seem tame and
>piritIess Happily, however, even apart
from these enthusiastic demonstrations, |
words are not needed u assure you of the |
pleasure we feel in having you with US, or
the purpose we hold To give you a hospitable !
reception and entertainment. Many of you
have seen. and all have heard that while the
war of the rebellion lasted, it was our prlvl-
ege In an unusual degree To cheer the g Boys
in Blue :" on the march to provide tor them
food and rest. and helpful comforts to so
lace them with tender attentions when sick.
and when God wIled that they should die
here-awav from friends who loved them,
and homes they loved--tO sOothe their pas
sage to the grave by gentle ministrations and
atfectionate soIicitude. And now that actual
war has been succeeded by war of ideas, |
recognizing. as we do, in the motives that
have brought you, the same patriotic Impul-
scs that then inspired YOU, and believing
TINT the influence Of your presence will
ilrrelv aid in achieving the moral triumph,
aat Hess important than that triumph that
crowned your arms. we rejoice in your COM
ing, and gladly render You thanks and cour-
ts9v. and service. Veterans They who
ought to dampen your energies and cripple
YOUR efforts in the field; they who denounced
the h0lv war in which you were engaged as
an impious aggression, and in the period of
IL highest glories, pronounced it failure
they who in the midst of your tolls and sac
rlices Knocked at and reviled you as hirelings
and ruiIians they who would have left you
u -tsrve in squalid prisons, and allowed
vour dead comrades To rot unburied where
thev fell, and withhold from their widows
aud orphans means of scanty subsistence.
they now dare to charge you that you falsely
pretend to be soldiers, and that the object of
your visit Is u perpetrate the worst political |
crime Of which freemen can be guilty. In
s)ient audacsty, unparalleled efrontry,
scOrn to waste breath in such calumny Let
the universal acclaim with which you have
been greeted ; let the glowing testimonial OF
admiration and respect which has been this
day paid To you let the governors and ex-
governors Of loyal states vino unite in this
celebration let the delegations of the eminent
civilians who have come from distant places
70 DO you honor, and above all, let your own
mutilated forms. and your SCARED visages, |
and your own swelling bosoms, in which i'm
perishable memories of suffering and success |
in the past are mingled with sentiments OF
Just indignation in the present and purposes
of stern retribution in the future be an all |
sufficient answer.
Soldiers and sailors, speaking for the ma
IOritv of nv fellow-citizens, L say TO you that |
Notwithstanding these base Inscriptions, we
regard your presence here as no less honorable |
To Yourselves no less ominous to the foe that
was in YOUR presence at those great battles
bv sea and by land to which your valor and |
the valor of those who wrought and won with
YOU have given YOU a world wide and endur-
Inr renown When the insane fury of the
Rebellion attempted by military force to des-
troy the national government, you freely
offered your lives for its protection and now
that the insane fury of defeated Rebels, slim |
ulated and sustained by odious indictments
of Northern allies, once more menaces its in I
tegrity, YOU are anxious to attest your de- |
termination to maintain it at any legitimate |
cost and every necessary hazard. 1t is well
that this is So 1t is well that the gallant
nation when the fire and sword were employed
against it should again be among Its most
Jealous defenders when false doctrines and
evil teachings and revolutionary plottings
threaten it with violent disturbance And
with such an array on the side of the right, |
who can doubt the issue of the conflict. As |
/ gaze on this vast assemblage, composed, az |
it is of men who stormed Donelson. and /
scaled Lookout, and penetrated the thick 1
Iungles of the Wilderness men who marched |
with Sherman, and rode with Sheridan, and |
bled with Sickles, and conquered with Meade: |
men who sailed and fought with Dupont and
Farragut, and Porter, and Worden-men |
who, along the windings of Western rivers,
and amid rocky clefts. and wooded ravines of
centra' mountains, and among swampy hol-