Year: 1866




Mr.. PREsIDENT-The citizens of De
troit, who have already offered to you
through their municipal authorities
the hospitalities of the city, have as
signed to me the honorable duty O.
presenting to yea,- and to the distin
guished gentlemen who accompany
you, their respectful salutations. Ir
the name of the thousands who are
before you in this place, and Of tn,
thousands who throng these streets,
bid you a heartfelt welcome here. ?
Nothing that i can say can adequate
ly express the qualification with which
the people of this city have assembled
on this occasion, to greet and honor
the Chief Magistrate, the eminent
members of the Cabinet, the illustri
Gus leaders under whom the army an6
the navy have successfully defended
the Union, and the representatives oi
foreign nations, whose presence here
reminds us that the Republic is al
peace with the world.


The City of Detroit, which offers
you this welcome, is not one Of the
youngest cities of the land. The sub
jects of Louis XIV, seeking the pos
session and dominion of the North
west more than century and hall
ago, settled upon this spot, and plant
ed here the banner of France. The
descendants of those early colonists
still form part of the populatin of
Michigan, and still speak the language
and illustrate the virtues of their an
cestors. The rule Of France was sue
ceeded here by the authority of Eng
land, but it was not long before the
successful issue of the war of the Re
volution gave the territory to the Fed
eral Union. Under the protection of
that Union all the growth and all the
prosperity of this State have been
achieved. The progress Of your jour
ney will bring before your eyes the re-
suits of that growth and the abund-
ance of that prosperity. The feeble
trading post has become a wealthy
and an enterprising metropolis. The
energy of American civilization has
opened through the State great high
ways of communication with the far
ther West. A hardy and industrious
population, drawn hither by the man
fold attractions of the climate and the
soil, have found here the amplest re-
wards of their labos The fruits of
our agriculture and our traffic, the pro
duco of our forests and our mines,
have made the name of Michigan
Around ''"V,S VI the worl1
merce floats upon waters scarcely 1865
majestic than the Atlantic and Pacific
seas. Our institutions of learning and
religion foster the intelligence and vir-
tue which are the foundations of the
order and contentment Of the COM
monwealth. And all this Mr.. Presi-
dent, we gratefully acknowledge, the
people Of Michigan have accomplish
cd under the protection of the Union,
which has given to US as to the people
of every State, the security and liberty
which are the condition Of true pros
perity.


As we meet you at this gate Of the
Northwest, Mr. President, we think
of the chief purpose Of your journey
hither with peculiar.satislactiou. You
come to Join in an act of honor to n
departed statesman, whose name will
be cherished by the people Of the
Northwest as long as the skies shall
bend above her prairies, or the waters
of her rivers flow downward to the
main. Taken away too soon for his
country, he had lived long enough for
glory. The people Of the State, which
he loved and served so well, are to
testify their affection by erecting, in
the great city which will be forever
associated with his fame, lasting
memorial of his services and patriot
ism. All the dignity and all the inn
pressiveness which the presence of the
Chief Magistrate Of the nation can
lend to that solemn ceremony, will be
only Just tribute to the memory of a
statesman whose whole public life was
inspired by an ardent devotion to the
Union, and whose dying words were
an invocation to his countrymen to be
united and resolute in its defense.-
Through you, Mr.. President, the hom-
age and sorrow of the people will be
laid, a reverent offering, upon the cor
ner-stone of monument which no
marble can make moro enduring than
the memory and the fame of DoUGLAs.



The extent Of the territory embrac-
ed. within the limits of the Federal
Union, no less than the labors and
duties which detain him at the seat of
Government, render the frequent
presence of the Chief Magistrate
among the people difficult, if not i'm
possible; and whenever a journey like
that upon which you have entered is
undertaken, the people cannot fail to
regard it as an acknowledgment by
the Executive that he is always de-
pendent, for the successful admins
tration Of the Government, upon the
popular favor and confidence. Reli-
ance upon the people, and a willing
ness to appeal to the people, have been
the conspicuous features of a public
career which has borne you, through
every graduation of civil service, up to
that high place where you have been
called, in the providence of God, to
protect the interests, to WELD :hepow-
er, and to guard the honor of thirty
millions of people. Your assumption
Of the Presidency took place at great
crisis in the history Of the Republic.
The integrity of tho Union had been
vindicated by the victorious closing of
war which was undertaken solely
for the defense of the Union. The
peace which brought Joy and relief to
the people imposed upon you ankle
ties, labors and cares equal to those Of
any of your predecessors. You were
required, by the imperative necessi-
ties of your position, to determine the
principles and to fix the policy which,
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