Year: 1864

The Democracy of San Francisco held a
meeting on the Thursday evening, 18th inst,
and after a number of speeches were made,
marked by boldness and vigor, the assem-
blage formed in procession and marched to
the residence of Col. G. l.. Weller We
give the following report from the Demo-
cratic Press:


When the crowd arrived at the house, Col.
w. appeared upon balcony. He was
greeted with loud, long and welcoming
cheers.


Mr. Slocumb, in behalf of the Tenth Dis
trict Democratic Club called the crowd to
order, and welcomed Colonel w. back from
incarceration in that odious bastile where
military despotism had confined him; in the
name of his Democratic friends throughout
the city, be bid him welcome, thrice welcome
to his home and family. When the cheer.
ing had somewhat subsded, Col. w. began
to speak in voice that trembled slightly
with emotion. AS he advanced, however,
the wrongs he had suffered, and the mental
and physical torture he had endured at the
hands of those now clothed in little brief
authority, rose up before him, and his voice
assumed its woned boldness and vigor, and
his eye flashed with defiance to chains and
bastes.


My FR1ENDs-I can say with unfeigned
Joy, am glad to see you. The occasion is
one full of real pleasure to me, and trust to
you also. Whilst it might not be entirely
objectionable in me to appropriate part of
the compliment of this demonstration to
myself personally, yet am aware that your
attendance here tonight is properly attribu-
table TO higher and holier motive. You
are led to assemble here by your devotion to
those heaven'born principles of Liberty and
Freedom, the basis and pillar of good gov-
ernment-to manifest your joy at the tri'
umph of right over wrong, and thus to
express your undying devotion to the prnc'
pies Of the Constitution. You have seen the
violent hand of despotism ruthessy laid
upon the dearest rights Of the citizen, and
you have come to express your indignant
disapprobation. You have seen the sanctity
of lreeman's domicil outraged, and have
come to express your disapprobation of the
act. That Threshold there (ponting to the
door from whence he was taken) you have
seen unlawlully passed by mere military
power, and a free citizen, untainted with
crime, violently wrested from his peaceful
family and incarcerated in prison erected
by military despotism, and you have come
TO see the return of citizen over the same
threshhold, still untainted with crime, rel
stored to the happy embrace of his wife and
little ones, and bearing with him the evil
dence Of bis prosecutors TO the fasity of the
ground of the outrage. You have seen the
happiness of an innocent family invaded and
| changed 10 distress, without good cause, and
| you have come to witness the restoration of
that happiness by the triumph of truth and
justice. The tears of misery forced by
brutal act of wrong, you come to see give
place to tears of joy and gladness, expressing
consciousness of innocence. You come in
all the freedom Of manhood to manifest your
determination to retain for yourselves, and
preserve and transmit to your posterity that
great right Of "free speech" You come
with the welfare of the Union in your hearts,
and the sheet anchor of American freedom
the Constitution of Washington-in your
hands. May God Almighty preserve them
from the vandalism of the spirit abroad in
the land.


My, friends, am but the symbol in testi
mony of the invasion of your rights, as well
as my own, and of the wrongs committed
upon good government by an ambitious and
unscrupulous political party. On the 25th
day OF July last, my house was surrounded
and entered, without warrant or color of law,
and was forcibly carried off by the satraps
Of military power, disguised i'm the clothing
of gentlemen. was put into a SMALL un-
safe row'boat and kept wandering about in
one of San Francisco's fogs all night upon
the Bay in vain search for that Bastile called
| Alcatraz, which in after years will be looked
upon as monument of the infamy of the
present Administration. A just Providence
thus frowned upon the beginning of this
drama of despotism, and in my liberty, free
from condemnation, has also denounced the
whole act as one of unjustifiable tyranny.
For twenty-five hours my stomach was with
out sustenance, but my mind was overloaded
with food, which, when more fully digested,
| intend to pour out upon the tyrants who
outraged my personal liberties From the
day was first locked up in that horrd hole
of iniquity until my release-twenty. three
days-I labored, and so did my good friends
(Mr. Bryan and Mr.. Highton) to obtain from
General Mcdowell, who pretended to have
them, the charges upon which was arrest
ed, but all in vain. He dared not give an
opportunity to refute the charges; and you
see me here tonight, after my long incarcer-
alton, totally ignorant, except by mere ru.
NOR, of the allegations against me. And |
now challenge General Mcdowell to give me
the charges he says he possesses against me,
and if | do not disprove them to the salts.
faction of any Judge in San Francisco, and
prove that have committed no act in viola
tion of the Constitution and the laws in
pursuance thereof, will voluntarily 60 back
to Alcatraz and remain until the Presiden
tial election, the time for which General
Mcdowell originally intended to bold me.


But, my friends, I have no intention Of