The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-01
LATTER.
THE GRAND RECEPTION.

AS we write, the grand reception of the heroes
OF the war for the Union is progressing In In
dependence Square, where the scene presented
Is one that will not soon be forgotten by those
participating in 1t and witnessing 1t. The
Square and its surroundings is one vast, surg
ing sea of enthusiasm.
The meeting of the veterans was called to
order about O'Clock. by General Charles Il. T.
Coils, who thereupon introduced his Honor,
Morton McMichael, the Mayor of the city. The
Mayor then addressed the assemblage as fol-.
lows:-
Address of Welcome by the Mayor.
Soldiers and Sailors: Standing in the shadow of
this venerable edtce, to the consecrated Hall
in which the foundations of our Republic
tablfshed, on the halowed spot where the Declara-
tion of Independence first publicly proclaimed,
and surrounded by these tokens of vindicated ma
tionaty, / proffer to you, in behalf of the loyal
people Of Philadelphia, who reverence and cherish
the Union YOU manfully defended, an earnest and
heartfelt welcome. That welcome has already been
expressed in the booming cannon that announced
your ARRIVAL in the long professions of your former
the jubilant strains Of mdsc that eniivened your
progress IN the mute but eloquent emblems that
sparkled with memorials of your merits; in the
masses of sympathizing men and women that
surged along the streets over which you passed; in
the radiant smiles that were showered upon you,
and in the Understanding huzzas that still linger
in your ears; and in comparison with these, any
words might utter would seem tame and spirtlesS.
Happily, however, even apart from these enthu-
siastic demonstrations, words not needed to
assure you of the pleasure feel in having
you with US, or of the purpose we hold to give
you hospitable reception and entertainment. Many
of you have seen, and all of you have heard,
that while the war of the rebellion lasted it was
privilege, in unusual degree, TO cheer the Boys
in Blue on their march; TO provide for them food
and rest and helpful comforts; to solace them with
tender attentions when sick, and when God willed
that they should die here, away from the friends
who loved them and the homes which they loved,
to soohe their passage to the grave by gentle min
istrations and atfectionate sOlicitude. And now
that the actual war has been succeeded by war of
ideas, recognizing, as we do, in the motives that
have brought you the same patriotic impulses that
then inspired you, and believing that the influence
of your presence will largely aid in achieving
moral triumph not less important than the triumph
that crowned your arms, we rejoice in your coming,
and gladly render you thanks and courtesy and
service.
Veterans: They who sought to dampen your
energies and cripple your efforts in the field; they
who denounced the holy war in which you were en-
gagged as an impious aggression, and, in the pc
riod of Its highest glories, pronounced 1t failure;
they who in the midst of your tolls and sacrifices
fans; they who would have left you to starye in
squalid prisons and allowed your dead comrades TO
rot unburied where they fell, and withheld from
their widows and orphans the means of a scanty
subsistence; they now dare to charge that You
"falsely pretend to be soldiers" and that the
political crime of which freemen can be
guilty. Insolent audacity! Unparalleled eflron-
teryl But / scorn to waste breath in repelling
such a calumny. Let the universal acclaim with
testimonials of admiration and respect which have
been this day paid TO you; let the Governors and
the Governors Of the loyal States who unite in
this celebTatiOn let the delegations of eminent
civilians who have come from distant places TO do
you honor, and above all, let your own mutlated