The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-04-26
AuorroN SAILS MONDAY.
The Dislen. Banquet.
srEEcH OF HENRY .. RAYMOND.

Of you, that the press Of America ought to
respond, at this moment, through some sppro'
pirate organ, TO The noble and generous sent-
ments expressed by our guest tonight ! have
no commission and no claim, and no right to
speak for the press Of the United States.
sO S eDv oc yIH 10 sneak for section se
ment Of that great press No, no; " but on
behalf OF that section, and think with the assen.
Of the whole press with which that section
is so closely, so constantly, SO intimately
and 30 proudly connected, / may say
that we deem it an honor to us, the press
of New York and the press of America, that we
have had an opportunity to greet on this occasion
the guest who sits at my left tonight. bravo,
bravo.) The press OF New York, from its geo.
graphical position. 10 say nothing else, maintains
quasi predominanee among the press Of the
country. That press has maintained an independ-
ent existence. not only In itself, but through an
organization. For many years, (H | may say
many in speaking OF the years during which j
have been connected with it, it has had an organ
ization in form a Press Club and it is among
the most pleasant Of my recollections 10 cOnnec-
ton with the press OF New York that in that form
and by that club it has been our good fortune, at
various tines TO greet as guests, and TO entertain,
with whatever Of hospitality we could extend them
gentlemen Of distinction and position, who did US
the nonor TO visit Us from the countries Of Europe
remember the first Of those occasions, when that
truly great man, then recently driven from the
Ofice OF governor of Hungary, Kossuth, the exile,
(spplause,) came TO this country, and charmed 80
many of our people by the ses shore, and in the
depths Of the densest wildeTnesses Of the West and
in great cities and everywhere he went, by the
silver voice in which he uttered such sweet words
in behalf Of liberty aud freedom, and by that sad,
solemn eye with which, as our eloquent orator,
Rufus ChOate, has said, he seemed always 10 be
beholding the sad procession of unnamed dem-
gods who had died for his and their native land.
He was one of the frst and most h0nored guests
of the New York Press. Then came to Us. and
hoDored Us by his presence as he has honored
England aud the world by his services, that great
In. turning +.
Dickens now honor they honor few among
their dead or liyiDg-Richard Golden. Great
appause.) Then, too, came TO US, and greeted
US with the right hand OF brotherhood, your great
brother in literature, William NJ. Thackeray
(Renewed applause.) Aud may say that of the
many things that, falling In such sweet tones
from his lips touched the hearts Of our people,
none touched them more nearly, or struck home
closely than the feeling and eloquent words Of
the heart in which he spoke to of his brother in
letters, Charles Dickens. (Great cheering.) We
did not need, sir, that he should tell us how much
that name was cherished by the lovers Of hu-
manity all over the world, wherever the English
tongue was spoken or read; but he never said
one word, Of all the many that he did say in
praise Of that name, that did not meet WITH as
hearty a response here as human words ever
brought from human hearts. He told us then
what was true then, and what has been growing
more and more true ever since, that the writings
of that ilusiri0us brother Of his 10 the world OF
letters had done more Than anything else which
be could call TO mind TO make the men of the
world feel that they were brothers, that they had
common interests, that they were all the sons OF
one Father, striving and marching toward
one end, and that each deserved and ought
TO have the love, the sympathy, the cordiel
good Offices and kindly feeling OF every other.
(Applause.) These, sir, have been among the
ieliciiies OF the New York press. The press of
other parts OF the country have enjoyed them
also TO greater or less extent, aud know they
have al sympethized with the feelings which per-
Vaded our hearts at our good fortune in meeting
such men, and hearing them speak such words Of
brOtherly Kindness and love. The president -our
honorable, distinguished and honored president
on this occasion, tapplause) has spoken in words
which l know came from his heart, "a they
reached all hearts, OF the service rendered the
cause Of humanity by him who is our guest this
evening. We are all laboring in that common
think IL may be truly asid that the press, the
free press, all over the world, has but one COM
mon mission-to elevate humanity. IL takes the
side of the humble the lowly and the poor-al-
ways Of necessity, by necessity Of its own ex-
istence-as against those who from mere position
and power hold in their hands the destinies Ct the
l0wly and the poor, for whom and by whom the
press exists. We are all OF us more or less d.
Tecty. more or less exclusively. connected with
the movements Of acknowledgements Of
various FORMS In different parts of the world, and
through different agencies and ways. in that CON-
mon effort TO elevate the great mass OF our fellow
men, to improve their material condition, and
give them a higher ground to stand upon
and frmer heart 10 go through the weary
task that all OF us, in some degree, have to
undergo before we fulhll our pilgrimage here on
earth. But il often strikes me, when think Of
the labors of governments and the labors of those
who try 10 aid governments. and when contrast
them with the fruits Of the efforts and the ma
chinery through which literary men labor for the
same common end-it often strikes me how coarse
and rude and ineffective Is the whole machinery
OF government to accomplish the great end of
elevating humanity. II is not through machinery
il is not through organizations, through FORMS
fhrauUh a wa hat VS.
the real springs Of human acton. (App,ause.) II
Is not through those agencies that We learn whatit
Is that elevates humanity, whatjt is that purfes
il, what IL is that brings all men TO think them
selves brothers, and TO act towards each other as
brothers. IL is those who deal with the secret
springs Of action who through the channels of
fiction or OF congenial and sympathetic human
history, touch the springs of the human heart. and
make US feel as well as convince our inteects il
is those who do most 20 carry the world on 10
what We ell believe 10 be its ultimate destina.
ton. (Applause.) And certainly in the press,
or out OF the press, In government or ont OF
government, nowhere on the face OF the earth, in
any form or in any shape, or through any agency,
have there lived many men-I might make il
stronger, If did not dislike TO appear extrava-
gant-have there lived many men who have
touched so nearly The secret springs of action
and Of character IN the human heart, aud have
done so much in that way to bring about the una
nimity OF human feeling, that cordially Of hu-
man brotherhood, as the distinguished guest whom
we have here tonight. Everything that he has
ever written, say Il without the slightest ex-
ception Of single book, single page, or a single
word that has ever proceeded from his pen
has been calculated TO infuse into every
human heart the feeling that every man was his
brother, and that the highest duly he could do to
the world, and the highest pleasure he could con-
fer upon himself and the greatest service he could
render to humanity, was 10 bring that other heart
whether high or low, as close to his own az nos.
sble. (Applause.) What he has accomplished in
that way, how many human hearts ne has thus
brought together how much Of kind feeling he has
infused throughout society, among all men, Of all
classes, high aud lOvs rich and poor, powerful
and wesk-hOw much he has done to infuse into
them ell the spirit Of brotherhood. know to well
the poverty Of any language IcOuld use to attempt
10 describe. (Applause.) But know that there
is not man here, and there is not man any
where known 20 any man here who knows any
thing Of his writings, who has made himself IA
miisr with their spirit, or has yielded TO their in
huence, who has not made thereby a better as
well as q wiser, kinder and a more useful
man. loud eheering.l Excuse the prolixity into