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 P UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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HONORS 
 
 Andrew Gregg Curtin. 
 
 Homo Populi. 
 
 PHILADELPH lA: 
 KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 607 SANSOM STREET. 
 
 MDCCCLXIX. 
 

r 
 
 RECEPTION 
 
 Independence Hall. 
 
 On the 20th day of May, A. D. 1869, the 
 
 following preamble and resolution was presented 
 
 in the Select Council of the City of Philadel- 
 phia, by Mr. King ; 
 
 RESOLUTION 
 
 TENDERING THE USE OF INDEPENDENCE HALL 
 TO HON. ANDREW G. CURTIN. 
 
 Whereas, Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, the honored 
 late Chief Magistrate of this Commonwealth, is about 
 to absent himself from among us, on a highly impor- 
 tant Diplomatic Mission, 
 
 Resolved by the Select and Common Councils of the City 
 of Philadelphia^ That the Mayor of the City is hereby 
 authorized and requested to tender to him the use of 
 
 (^0 
 
4 Reception to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 
 
 Independence Hall for the purpose of receiving the 
 farewells of our citizens, at such time as may be con- 
 venient to him. 
 
 The resolution was unanimously adopted by 
 both branches of the Councils, and was trans- 
 mitted to Governor Curtin by His Honor Mayor 
 Fox, with the following letter: 
 
 Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, 
 
 May 26, 1869. 
 HON. ANDREW G. CURTIN: 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 It gives me pleasure to comply with the resolution of Councils 
 of Philadelphia, (a copy of which is hereto annexed,) to tender 
 you the use of Independence Hall for the purpose of receiving 
 the farewell of our citizens, at such time as may. be most con- 
 venient to you. 
 
 There are many who would like to embrace the opportunity 
 of paying a farewell visit to the " honored late Chief Magistrate 
 of the Commonwealth," now about to absent himself from among 
 us on a highly important diplomatic mission, and I trust you will 
 name some time for this purpose, the arrangements for which 
 shall be made in such manner as will best promote the purpose 
 of the reception, and be most agreeable to yourself. I have the 
 honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 DANIEL M. FOX, 
 
 Mayor of Philadelphia. 
 
Receptioji to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirthi. 5 
 
 On receipt of Mayor Fox's letter. Governor 
 CuRTiN replied as follows : 
 
 Bellefonte, June 2, i86g. 
 HON. DANIEL M. FOX, 
 
 Mayor of Philadelphia : 
 Dear Sir : 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
 26th of May, in which, in obedience to a resolution of the City 
 Council, you tender me the use of Independence Hall for the 
 purpose of receiving the farewell of the citizens of Philadelphia, 
 previous to my departure from the country. 
 
 I am deeply sensible of the honor conferred upon me, by the 
 offer from the city authorities, to use that historic and sacred hall 
 for the purpose of meeting the citizens of Philadelphia, who may 
 please to call and give me the satisfaction of bidding them farewell, 
 and I am under many obligations to you, as the Chief Magistrate of 
 the City, for the kind and complimentary language in which you 
 offer me this distinction. 
 
 Saturday, the 12th of June, between the hours of 2 and 4 
 o'clock p. M., will answer my arrangements, and I name that time 
 for the occasion. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. G. CURTIN. 
 
 Mayor Fox transmitted the correspondence to 
 the Councils with the following communication : 
 
6 Reception to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, 
 
 June 3, 1869. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 I have the pleasure of transmitting to you the correspondence 
 between myself and Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, in relation to 
 the tender by the city authorities of Independence Hall to our 
 Minister to Russia, for the purpose of giving an opportunity to the 
 citizens of this city and the friends of Mr. Curtin, to bid him 
 farewell, upon his departure from the United States. 
 
 He has fixed the 12th of June, between 2 and 4 o'clock p. m., 
 as the time for the reception. 
 
 It only remains for me to say, that I am confident that your 
 honorable bodies will perfect all necessary arrangements for the 
 occasion, and unite with the many friends of the late distinguished 
 Chief Magistrate of this Commonwealth, in giving him good cause 
 to bear to the ice-bound and snow-clad empire to which he goes, 
 the warm and sunny recollection of a genial farewell. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 DANIEL M. FOX, 
 
 Mayor of Philadelphia. 
 
 On the 4th day of June, on motion of 
 Mr. Robert M. Evans, of the Common Council, a 
 resolution was passed, and concurred in by the Select 
 Council, directing the appointment of a joint com- 
 mittee of five from each chamber, to carry into effect 
 
Reception to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. j 
 
 the action of the city authorities, and to receive 
 Governor Curtin officially as the guest of the City 
 of Philadelphia, and accompany him to New York 
 on his journey to Russia. 
 
 The following named gentlemen were appointed 
 on said Committee : 
 
 Of Select Council — Messrs. A. M. Fox, John 
 A. Shermer, Thomas A. Barlow, Charles Thomson 
 Jones, and E. A. Shallcross. 
 
 Of Common Council — Messrs. Robert M. Evans, 
 Chairman^ D. W. Stockham, James M. Sellers, 
 Henry C. Oram, and G. B. Stockdale. 
 
 At the time appointed Gov. Curtin, in charge 
 of the city authorities, appeared in Independence 
 Hall, and was greeted by a vast multitude of the 
 citizens of Philadelphia. Men of all classes thronged 
 the avenues about the sacred building, to bid a 
 sincere farewell, to one who stands high over all in 
 the affections of the people of Pennsylvania. The 
 soldiers came in a body and paid their grateful 
 homage to their devoted advocate and faithful guar- 
 dian, and many hard bronzed faces were moistened 
 
8 Reception to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 
 
 with tears, as they bid adieu to the " Soldiers' Friend." 
 For two hours the crowd was unabated, and Governor 
 CuRTiN was compelled to leave hundreds with a 
 general farewell, as his tall form moved away amid 
 the hearty plaudits of his fellow-citizens. 
 
Banquet to Ho?i. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 BANQUET TO HON. ANDREW G. CURTIN. 
 
 The many friends of Governor Curtin in 
 Pennsylvania desiring to testify their high apprecia- 
 tion of his pubhc services and personal worth, decided 
 to tender him the compliment of a Grand Banquet 
 at the Academy of Music, before "his departure for 
 Russia. Accordingly the following letter was ad- 
 dressed to him : 
 
 Philadelphia, May 27, 1869. 
 HON. ANDREW G. CURTIN; 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 Your appointment by the President to one of the most important 
 diplomatic positions in the gift of the Government, will soon call 
 you away from the State that has freely conferred its highest honors 
 upon you, and whose brightest and noblest records are inseparably 
 associated with your name and fame. 
 
 Not only because of our individual appreciation of your public 
 efforts and personal worth, but also to give expression to the gen- 
 eral wishes of your friends in Pennsylvania, we ask your accept- 
 ance of a public dinner, at such time as may suit your convenience, 
 where the citizens of the Commonwealth can meet with you 
 before your departure for Russia. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 Henry C. Carey, Daniel B. Smith, 
 
 William D. Lewis, E. W. Clarke, 
 
lo Batiquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 George H. Boker, 
 Ed. H. Trotter, 
 Ward B. Hazeltine, 
 Morton McMichael, 
 Wm. G. Moorhead, 
 Jay Cooke, 
 Jas. L. Claghorn, 
 A. J. Drexel, 
 Thomas A. Scott, 
 C. Cope, 
 Joseph Bullock, 
 C. Macalester, 
 
 C. COLKET, 
 
 s. h. horstmann, 
 
 John B. Parker, 
 
 Thomas T. Tasker, Jr., 
 
 Samuel B. Thomas, 
 
 F. Fraley, 
 
 John W. Forney, 
 
 Edward Gratz, 
 
 Jacob Raiguel, 
 
 John C. Cresson, 
 
 John Horn, 
 
 S. D. Gross, 
 
 George M. Lauman, 
 
 J. C. BoMBERGER, Hamsburg, 
 
 James Worrell, Harrisburg, 
 
 H. B. SwoPE, Clearfield, 
 
 Wm. Lilley, Carbon co., 
 
 Thos. E. Cochran, York, 
 
 John Tucker, 
 
 James H. Orne, 
 
 Charles S. Ogden, 
 
 N. B. Browne, 
 
 Daniel Dougherty, 
 
 Stephen Morris, 
 
 John Rice, 
 
 Joseph Harrison, 
 
 Joseph William Miller, 
 
 Joseph F. Tobias, 
 
 John P. Verree, 
 
 Benjamin L. Berry, 
 
 David S. Brown, 
 
 Matthew Baird, 
 
 William M. Watts, 
 
 John Price Wetherill, 
 
 William Sellers, 
 
 Barton H. Jenks, 
 
 Henry Disston, 
 
 Wm. W. Harding, 
 
 H.W. McCallister, Bellefonte, 
 
 Gideon J. Ball, Erie co., 
 
 Henry Souther, Elk co,, 
 
 Isaac Eckert, Reading, 
 
 Diller Luther, Reading, 
 
 S. G. Lane, Chambersburg, 
 
 Jas. L. Reynolds, Lancaster, 
 
 David Thomas, Catasauqua, 
 
 C. M. Jackson, 
 
 Harry White, Indiana. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 1 1 
 
 Governor Curtin accepted the proffered honor by 
 the subjoined letter; 
 
 Philadelphia, May 28, 1869. 
 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
 
 the 27th of May, in which you offer me the high compliment of 
 
 a public dinner, and ask me to fix a day for the event. 
 
 I accept your invitation with much pride and pleasure, and if it 
 
 suits your convenience, will name Saturday the 12th of June, 
 
 being a few days before I leave the country. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. G. CURTIN. 
 To Messrs. H. C. Carey, and others. 
 
 Arrangements were promptly made for the pro- 
 posed Banquet, and so general was the desire to 
 participate in honors to Gov. Curtin, that the 
 Academy of Music was selected, and the parquette 
 floored over, so that five hundred persons could be 
 seated at the tables extending over the entire par- 
 quette and front part of the stage. The vast and 
 brilliant room was gorgeously decorated with flags 
 and wreaths, and conspicuous among the colors dis- 
 played was that of the ever-friendly government of 
 Russia. The stage was laid out with the beautiful 
 "Sicilian Vespers" scene, and Hassler's celebrated 
 orchestra discoursed delightful music. 
 
1 2 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 At the hour appointed, Governor Curtin, 
 supported by Hon. Henry C. Carey, Count 
 BoDisco, Russian Minister, Hon. M. Russell 
 Thayer, and Secretary Danzas, of the Russian 
 Legation, entered the Banquet hall, followed by 
 the invited guests. 
 
 When seated, the company consisted of five 
 hundred persons, including many of the most 
 distinguished citizens of Pennsylvania and adjoining 
 States. 
 
 Hon. M. Russell Thayer presided, with 
 Governor Curtin on his right, and the Russian 
 Minister on his left. 
 
 The entertainment was a most sumptuous 
 one, furnished under the superintendence of Mr. 
 Kingsley, of the Continental Hotel. 
 
 The bill of fare was as follows : 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 13 
 BILL OF FARE. 
 
 CLAMS ON SHELL. 
 
 GREEN TURTLE. BOILED SALMON, LOBSTER SAUCE. 
 
 ^emobes. 
 
 BOILED CAPONS, TRUFFLE SAUCE. 
 
 ROAST FILLET OF BEEF, WITH MUSHROOMS. 
 
 ROAST LAMB, MINT SAUCE. 
 
 BONED TURKEY. MAYONNAISE OF CHICKEN. LOBSTER SALAD. 
 
 BCEUF A LA MODE. ROAST HAM. 
 
 ©ntucg. 
 
 SWEET BREADS, LARDED, WITH GREEN PEAS. 
 
 CHICKEN CROQUETTES, 1 LA DUCHESSE. 
 
 iOtgetables. 
 
 BOILED BERMUDA POTATOES. STRING BEANS. 
 
 GREEN PEAS. ASPARAGUS. 
 
 §ess£rt. 
 
 CHARLOTTE RUSSE. VANILLA ICE CREAM. LEMON ICE CREAM. 
 
 ASSORTED CAKE. ROMAN PUNCH. JELLIES. 
 
 FRUIT. COFFEE. 
 
H 
 
 Banquet to Hon, Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 At seven and a half o'clock the doors were 
 opened, and the parquette and dress circle were at 
 once crowded with ladies and gentlemen who were 
 anxious to participate in the high tribute of respect 
 to Governor Curtin, and hear his farewell address 
 to his countrymen. 
 
 The following is a list of the sentiments pro- 
 posed, with the names of the speakers who responded 
 to them : 
 
 1. SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT . 
 
 2. OUR DISTINGUISHED GUEST . 
 
 3. THE PRESIDENT 
 
 4. RUSSIA 
 
 5. THE GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 6. THE STATE OF NEW YORK . 
 
 7. PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 8. THE YOUNG REPUBLICAN LEADERS OF 
 
 9. PHILADELPHIA . 
 
 10. RUSSIA AND AMERICA 
 
 11. THE JUDICIARY. 
 
 12. THE ARMY . 
 
 13. THE NAVY . 
 
 14. WOMAN 
 
 15. THE PRESS . 
 
 HQN. M. RUSSEtL THAYER. 
 
 HON. ANDREW G. CURTIN, 
 
 HON. JOHN SCOTT. 
 
 . COUNT BODISCO. 
 
 HON. F. JORDAN. 
 . HON. CYRUS W. FIELD. 
 
 HON. JAMES POLLOCK. 
 860. HON. A. K. m'cLURE. 
 
 HON. J. PRICE WETHERILL. 
 
 GEN. JOSHUA T. OWEN. 
 
 HON. WM. HENRY RAWLE. 
 . MAJOR A. R. CALHOUN. 
 . CAPT. ALEX. MURRAY. 
 . GEN. A. T. TORBERT. 
 
 HON. THOS. E. COCHRAN. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 1 5 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. M. RUSSELL THAYER. 
 
 Fellow-Citizens : — And I suppose I should add — in 
 view of the brilliant assemblage which graces the balcony 
 and galleries of this beautiful edifice — Ladies and 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 We are assembled this evening to do honor to a true 
 Son of Pennsylvania and the Union. We are not 
 assembled for any mere party purpose, or for the pro- 
 mulgation or discussion of any mere party principles. 
 The occasion of our assembling is of a more personal 
 character. It is to make a public declaration of our 
 respect for one who has deserved well of the State. It is 
 to express, in a public manner, our appreciation of the 
 valuable services which he has rendered to the country, 
 and our esteem for his character. 
 
 It was the fortune of the gentleman, who is our dis- 
 tinguished guest to-night, to hold the reins of government 
 in this great and populous State, at a time of great public 
 peril and anxiety. The country was convulsed by civil 
 war — a war in which, on both sides, two millions of 
 soldiers were engaged. The scene of active operations 
 extended over an area of many thousands of square 
 miles. The resources called into action were vast and 
 almost without example. The principles and passions 
 which animated and sustained the contest were of the 
 
1 6 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 most determined and unyielding character. Our exist- 
 ence as a nation depended upon the result of the war. 
 It was a great human crisis upon which, for the time, 
 seemed to depend the liberty and self-government which 
 our ancestors had planted in this Western World. If we 
 triumphed, our political system was to be renovated and 
 perpetual. If we failed, the past was to be filled with 
 reproaches and the future with shame. 
 
 How well Governor Curtin discharged the sacred 
 trust committed to his hands by the people of Penn- 
 sylvania, during that trying period, has passed into the 
 history of the country. It is written there, and is safe 
 from question or denial. His public services aided, 
 in no small degree, in carrying the State safely and 
 victoriously through the war. His administration 
 maintained the honor, the dignity and the power of 
 Pennsylvania, in that tremendous struggle. He was 
 faithful to the obligations of his high office. He was the 
 vigilant guardian of the honor of the State, and her 
 intrepid leader in the march for the rescue of the Union. 
 For this Pennsylvania is grateful. As long as her history 
 shall endure, his name will be inseparably associated with 
 the proud record made by Pennsylvania, in the great war 
 for the preservation of the Union. 
 
 These events are of too recent occurrence to require at 
 my hands any more detailed illustration. We all know 
 how faithfully he stood by this great cause, and how ably 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G, Cur tin. \j 
 
 he championed this powerful and leading Commonwealth 
 in that fearful struggle for the maintenance of free gov- 
 ernment upon this continent. His zeal and his activity 
 in the discharge of his duties, were not confined to the 
 Executive chamber. They extended to the camp and to 
 the hospital, and were conspicuous in laborious and 
 increasing efforts to promote the health, the welfare and 
 the comfort of the soldiers, who had taken up arms in 
 defence of their country; and in alleviating the misery 
 and sufferings of war. Those were dark days. They 
 were days of gloomy apprehension and foreboding. 
 They were days in which we scarcely expected so soon 
 to behold and enjoy, that delicious sunshine of universal 
 peace, which now, by the blessing of God, covers the 
 whole land with its gracious and benign influence. They 
 were days in which faith and patriotism were tried, in 
 which public men were tried, and especially those public 
 men who filled the Executive offices of the State and 
 the Nation ; for upon them depended, in great measure, 
 the development of the resources and the power, which 
 were necessary to crush the public enemy, and reestablish 
 the authority of the Constitution and the Nation. 
 
 At that momentous period of our history, when 
 Pennsylvania was the barrier against which the fury of the 
 rebellion was to dash itself to pieces, Governor Curtin 
 was entrusted with the authority and the responsibility 
 of her Chief Magistrate. How vigorously he discharged 
 
1 8 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 the grave duties which were imposed upon him is a part 
 of the public history of the time. It is witnessed by the 
 three hundred and sixty-two thousand soldiers sent into 
 the service of the United States by Pennsylvania. It is 
 witnessed by the steadfastness and fidelity with which she 
 supported the National cause, and by the weight and 
 patriotic ardor which she brought into the struggle. 
 
 The President of the United States has appropriately 
 recognized the services rendered to the country by 
 Governor Curtin during the war, by appointing him to 
 represent the Government of the United States at the 
 Court of our great and august friend the Emperor of 
 Russia, who, I am happy to say, is represented here 
 to-night by Mr. Bodisco, the distinguished Charge 
 d' Affairs of Russia to the United States. Long may the 
 ancient friendship which has existed between Russia and 
 the United States continue. It is eminently proper, 
 under these circumstances, that Governor Curtin, on 
 the eve of his departure to assume the new and respon- 
 sible duties which have been imposed upon him, should 
 meet his fellow-citizens upon an occasion like the present, 
 and receive from their own lips, this public expression of 
 their confidence and esteem. We desire in this manner, 
 to express to him our respect for his character, and the 
 value we place upon his public services. 
 
 On your behalf therefore. Gentlemen, and I think I 
 am authorized to say, on behalf of all the inhabitants of 
 
Banquet to Hon, Andrew G. Cur tin. 19 
 
 this great city, to whom the welfare, the prosperity and 
 the glory of our common country are dear, I welcome 
 Governor Curtin here to-night. We receive you. Sir, 
 with warm and grateful hearts, and we send you abroad 
 invoking God's blessing and protection upon your life, 
 and praying for your continued health and happiness. 
 
 The speaker was frequently applauded, and 
 concluded by proposing the health of 
 
 OUR DISTINGUISHED GUEST. 
 
 ANDREW GREGG CURTIN. 
 
20 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 
 
 SPEECH OF GOVERNOR CURTIN. 
 
 Governor Curtin rose to respond, and the vast 
 audience greeted him with deafening and protracted 
 applause. When order was restored, he said : 
 
 Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 I am not insensible to the comphment of this ovation, 
 and am deeply grateful for the warmth of your 
 reception. 
 
 Notwithstanding your flattering encouragement, deep 
 and conflicting emotions perplex me in rising to address 
 you. The occasion excites the liveliest feelings of the 
 heart; and the great measure of pride, that I am deemed 
 worthy of such a demonstration by the people of my 
 native State, is saddened by the thought that it is a fare- 
 well, and that I am now about to leave my friends and 
 home, for a foreign land. No matter how much flattered 
 by fortune, or in what position of life, it is always sad 
 to sever the ties which bind us to our private circles, to 
 friends who have been faithful ^like in sunshine and 
 shadow, in prosperity and adversity, and who become 
 closer and more sacred, as time chastens the attachment 
 to the sincere, and shortens the brief days allotted for 
 their enjoyment. With me the feelings, excited by the 
 surroundings in v/hich I stand to-night, reach far beyond 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 21 
 
 the circle of individuals, grateful as my memory must 
 ever be of them. I could not find language to express 
 all I owe to this great city, and to our honored and 
 mighty Commonwealth and her free people. 
 
 In the memorable struggle which associated my 
 humble name with the imperishable honor of the State, 
 Philadelphia was generous and steadfast in her attach- 
 ment to me. Her voice was largely instrumental in 
 making me a candidate for Governor, and throughout 
 the six years of my service as Chief Executive, her 
 people kindly sustained me, and no sacrifice was deemed 
 too great to vindicate her National Government when 
 assailed ; and who can forget, who can fail to remember 
 forever with pride, that Pennsylvania was the first and 
 the grandest of all the States in her offerings to her 
 Government, and the most heroic in her suffering-s? 
 When others doubted or hesitated, her faithful people 
 were unfaltering in their fidelity, and now the satisfaction 
 to claim American citizenship all over the world, is 
 magnified by the title Pennsvlvanian, wherever the 
 martial virtues command homage and respect. 
 
 It was the pleasure of the people of Pennsylvania, to 
 call me to the Executive office, just as the heavy clouds 
 of war were gathering to burst upon our country and 
 threaten the destruction of our Government. In my 
 office I earnestly labored for peace; no measure of con- 
 ciliation consistent with public duty was left untried, to 
 
22 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 
 
 heal the discord which threatened the impending strife. 
 Oar State stood pre-eminent, morally and physically, in 
 every phase of the troubles and angry passions which led 
 to the war, in generous concessions for peace. Her 
 voice was for peace, and while she offered no threat or 
 menace, she was the first to declare officially, that if 
 fraternal war must come, all her forces in men and 
 money would be given to sustain the national life. 
 When v/ar was forced upon us, I accepted the great 
 duties imposed upon me. How solemn and exacting 
 those duties were — how ceaseless, how exhausting at all 
 times, how intricate and perilous, not to a man, but to 
 a country, but few can ever know. 
 
 To superintend the organization of three hundred and 
 sixty thousand troops furnished the National Government, 
 was a task of no common magnitude; and when it is con- 
 sidered, that to the calamities of war, must be added the 
 perils of discord and turbulence in our midst, the dangers 
 of invasion from year to year, the devastation committed 
 by the enemy on our own borders, and the dark days of 
 gloom which followed each succeeding sacrifice of life, I 
 need not say that the position w,as one, whose honors 
 were won Vv'ith incalculable care and toil; nor did the 
 duties end with defending our State, preserving its inter- 
 nal quiet, and filling its quota of troops. It was then, 
 that the most arduous duties began. More than a hun- 
 dred thousand families in our State, were represented in 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 23 
 
 the gallant armies of the Republic : and the appeals of 
 affection for the sick and the wounded and the long 
 absent, told the stories of anxious solicitude to the 
 Executive — the only power that could serve them. The 
 General Government was charged with the preservation 
 of the life of the Republic. It had to accept war as It 
 is — pitiless, relentless, and deaf, to the just claim of a 
 volunteer soldiery. It was unable to give adequate care 
 to the sick and the wounded, or to appropriate the rites 
 of Christian burial to the dead. It could not minister to 
 the bereaved homes and sustain the widow and the father- 
 less. It did all, and even more, than any nation ever did 
 for its defenders; but upon the State Executive devolved 
 the sacred obligation, of giving the silver lining to the 
 cloud, which hung like a dead pall over our homes. I 
 am proud to-night to say, that Pennsylvania was the 
 first State to approach the stature of justice. In vin- 
 dicating the claims of the soldiers who preserved our 
 inheritance of civil and religious liberty. I say approach, 
 for we are still far short of full justice to the disabled, 
 to the sick, and the bereaved of the war. We see our 
 maimed and haggard heroes, mendicants upon our streets. 
 Some are Inmates of our almshouses and our poorhouses; 
 and while some are Indebted to the voluntary contribu- 
 tions of the benevolent, you have been pained even for 
 Pennsylvania, whose achievements were so brilliant In 
 preserving the unity of our Government. 
 
24 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtln. 
 
 We all feel proud that Pennsylvania, in the exercise 
 of heaven-directed benevolence and charity, has gathered 
 together the helpless and destitute orphans of the war, 
 and made them the children of the Commonwealth. The 
 disabled soldiers of the war, should be alike strangers to 
 want. It is true the National Government has done 
 much for them. Lands have been purchased and build- 
 ings erected; but provision has not been made for all 
 of that class of our citizens, and I sincerely trust, that 
 positive demand will be made by the people of the State, 
 at the next session of the Legislature, for liberal measures 
 to be enacted for their support. Let it be part of the 
 proud history of this great State, that, accepting the war 
 as a necessity, she gave to it freely her best blood, and 
 that now, the orphan made destitute by the war, is pro- 
 vided for and educated, and that the maimed and sick 
 man is maintained and made comfortable, not as a pauper, 
 but as a soldier of the Republic — that she at least, to her 
 glory and honor, is just to the living and the dead. 
 
 Pennsylvania was the first to send her humane repre- 
 sentatives, to every camp where her soldiers were to be 
 found; the first to give them her o\yn flag, to charge them 
 with the honor of the State; the first to furnish systematic 
 aid and kind ministrations to the sick and wounded; the 
 first to send her agent to the National Capital, as the 
 advocate of the soldier in every hour of need, and the first 
 to find the means for the humblest in the land, to devote 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 25 
 
 the last sad appeals of affection, and to bury their mar- 
 tyred dead, at home amid their kindred. In these efforts 
 to inspire our brethren in the field, and to soften the 
 sorrows of war among the people, our sister States gen- 
 erally, either emulated the example of Pennsylvania, or 
 accomplished the like results, by means of a kindred 
 character. I rejoice that her noble deeds have gladdened 
 so many hearts, and made so much atonement to the 
 innumerable host, upon whom fell the earliest sacrifices 
 of her country. It pleased Providence, to so direct this 
 great people in their heroic struggles to maintain their 
 free government, that the war culminated in Pennsylvania, 
 and within her borders, on the historic field of Gettys- 
 burg, the blood of the people of eighteen States sunk 
 into her soil, and it seemed as if the red covenant there 
 made, was to seal the unity of the States, for ours and 
 for generations yet to come. 
 
 I am surrounded to-night, by men who know full well, 
 with what alacrity the people of the State, responded to 
 the call of the Executive for domestic protection, and it 
 is part of the history of this State, that eighty-seven 
 thousand of her people were armed and organized to 
 resist the invasion of that and the previous year, and we 
 have the satisfaction of knowing that the President ot 
 the United States, and the generals in command of the 
 national armies, freely acknowledged the value of such 
 service, and gave expression to their thanks in words 
 
26 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin, 
 
 warmed by gratitude. I could not, if I would, forget 
 on this occasion, to remind you and congratulate you, 
 on the willing support and the liberal oiferings made 
 by the people at home, for the comfort of the soldiers 
 in the field, not only through the instrumentality of the 
 Sanitary and Christian Commissions, but with the 
 voluntary contributions of all classes of our people, in 
 which the rich and the poor exhibited a patriotic rivalry ; 
 and we must ever hold in pride, the ministrations of the 
 pious, benevolent, and good women of the State. 
 
 It is true, my friends, that I go abroad charged with a 
 high commission from my Government, given to me 
 voluntarily by the President, for what the people of the 
 State did when the Nation was in agony and distress, and 
 that I go accredited to a government, that has ever been 
 friendly to us. It is somewhat anomalous^ that the freest 
 and strongest government in the New World, should 
 have maintained the most amicable relations, with the 
 most absolute monarchy and the strongest government 
 of the Old World. America and Russia have never had 
 an interruption of their friendly relations. It is my 
 earnest prayer, that during my residence at the Court of 
 the Autocrat of all the Russias, nothing will occur to 
 break these relations. It will certainly not occur by any 
 act of mine. It is a subject of congratulation, that our 
 country is restored to peace, and that the war is over ; 
 and I do sincerely trust that it will please Providence to 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 27 
 
 answer the earnest prayer of our President to " Let us 
 have peace." 
 
 When I return to you, I hope I may find this a nation 
 of homogenous people, with all the bitterness of angry 
 feeling, which caused the war and all its vicissitudes, 
 forgotten, and that we may be in the enjoyment of that 
 fraternal feeling, which alone can make a nation great and 
 respected, and a people happy and prosperous. The war 
 has left its impress upon our institutions. The great and 
 discordant element has been obliterated forever, and the 
 lessons of the struggle will soon make us a nation of 
 freemen, indeed ; and here, at least, virtue will meet its 
 reward, where all humanity is raised to a common level. 
 
 The President of the United States, whose peerless 
 services in the field to preserve the Government, give such 
 a brilliant guarantee of his ability to guide her destinies, 
 should be sustained with the confidence and willing 
 support of all the people, thus strengthening him in his 
 high ofiice. Believing as we all do, in the purity of his 
 purposes, in his lofty patriotism, and unspotted integrity, 
 we can confidently predict that his civic career, will adorn 
 and illustrate the glories of his achievements in the field. 
 
 He knows full well how much the war magnified the 
 power, developed the great resources, and enhanced the 
 respect for the nation abroad, and that its vast sacrifices 
 have raised to living light, the fundamental principles of 
 liberty, first declared to the world by its fathers in this 
 
28 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 
 
 classic city. When our history is truly written, future 
 generations will be amazed at the story of what we did to 
 preserve liberty and elevate humanity. I will be par- 
 doned for saying so much of the war. I could not part 
 from the people of Pennsylvania, without speaking of 
 that important and eventful period of our history with 
 which, through their partiality, I was so largely identified. 
 With the ardent prayer, that our Government may 
 remain an everlasting unit, and that this great Common- 
 wealth may maintain her lofty position in the sisterhood 
 of States, I bid you farewell; and as the hard word 
 falls from my lips, I add my thanks to the people of 
 Philadelphia, to the people of the whole State, for their 
 unvarying kindness, their unfaltering support, and for 
 the thousand evidences of affection tendered me at this 
 parting moment. 
 
 During the delivery of the address he was 
 repeatedly interrupted, and several times the entire 
 audience rose and greeted him with cheers. 
 
 The next sentiment proposed was — 
 THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 The toast was received with tumultuous ap- 
 plause, and Hon. John Scott was also welcomed 
 with hearty approbation when he rose to respond. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 29 
 
 SPEECH OF SENATOR SCOTT. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 The response which your hearts have already given 
 to the sentiment, "The President of the United States," 
 admonishes me that any reply I can give in words, will 
 be weak indeed, in comparison with that which is given 
 by the hearts of the American people. 
 
 Associating as we all do, the incumbent, with the office 
 to which this sentiment is offered, the admonition comes 
 suggestively, that few words will be appropriate in re- 
 sponding to it. Let these few be prompted by the scene, 
 the circumstances, and the sentiment. 
 
 We are assembled in the city and State founded by 
 Penn, the apostle of peace; surrounded by citizens of that 
 Commonwealth, coming from the counties which stretch 
 from the lake to the Delaware, and representing all 
 branches of industry. Commerce, agriculture, manufac- 
 tures, the arts, learning, the highways which traverse our 
 valleys and climb our mountains, and carry the products 
 of farm and forest, and mine and forge, all are here pres- 
 ent by their representatives, in honor of a citizen, who 
 stood for six of the most perilous and eventful years of 
 our history, at the helm of our State government, and 
 who now goes abroad the representative of the nation at 
 
30 Banquet to Hon. Andi'ew G. Cur tin. 
 
 one of the most powerful courts of Europe. Thus 
 assembled we receive with enthusiasm the toast, "The 
 President of the United States." 
 
 May I not, under these circumstances, advert for a 
 moment, to how nearly the principles of Penn find their 
 realization in the existing state of things under this Presi- 
 dent, and how nearly the man of peace and the leader of 
 armies, unite in expressing the same devotion to popular 
 government? 
 
 William Penn, claiming liberty of conscience to wor- 
 ship God, was drawn by natural sympathy to Algernon 
 Sidney, the advocate of republicanism. The Quaker 
 found it in his conscience not only to go to the hustings, 
 but to advocate his friend's election to Parliament. The 
 ejection of the republican from his seat by royal influence, 
 sent the Quaker to America: coming, as he said, "to bear 
 witness to the world that there is in human nature virtue 
 sufficient for self-government." He came, announcing 
 "that every man should have liberty of conscience and 
 a fair share of political power;" that "every Christian 
 man of twenty-one years, unstained by crime, should be 
 eligible to elect, or be elected, a member of the Colonial 
 Parliament." ' 
 
 Fixing no unbending details, he established a frame of 
 government essentially democratic in its basis, and left 
 time and events to mould it in accordance with the 
 popular will. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 3 1 
 
 Is it not a coincidence, that assembled as we are to-night 
 in the Commonwealth thus founded, after the lapse of 
 almost two centuries since the expression of these senti- 
 ments, and in honor of an ex-Governcr of the State, the 
 President of the United States, although a man of few 
 words, is one who has uttered these words: "New 
 political issues not foreseen are constantly arising, the 
 views of the public on all subjects are constantly changing, 
 and a purely administrative officer should always be left 
 free to execute the will of the people. I have always 
 respected that will, and always shall." 
 
 And when assuming the duties of his high office he 
 ■ again said, " I shall on all subjects have a policy to recom- 
 mend, but none to enforce against the will of the people." 
 "The question of suffrage is one which is likely to agitate 
 the public so long as a portion of the citizens of the 
 nation are excluded from its privileges in any State. It 
 seems to me very desirable that this question should be 
 settled now, and I entertain the hope and express the 
 desire that it may be by the ratification of the fifteenth 
 amendment to the Constitution." 
 
 The will of the people, expressed by impartial suffrage, 
 was the fundamental principle of the government pro- 
 posed by Penn. It prescribes the policy of the Gov- 
 ernment, administered to-day by the President of the 
 United States. 
 
 Of the President, what further need I say? If mine 
 
32 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 were the disposition to offer, it is not his to relish adula- 
 tion. The deeds of his past life are the best guarantee 
 of the success of his policy, both domestic and foreign. 
 
 There are landmarks of the war against which the waves 
 of rebellion broke, and from which the increasing tide of 
 debt rolled back. 
 
 Donaldson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Peters- 
 burg, and Appomattox, were at once the graves of treason 
 and the barriers of debt. These landmarks of the war 
 will have their counterparts, in his civil administration of 
 that government whose life was preserved by the valor of 
 the armies which he led. 
 
 The wholesome sentiment of his inaugural, ^'that no 
 repudiator of one farthing of our national debt shall be 
 trusted in public place," was fully followed by an enact- 
 ment, declarino; the sacredness alike of the national honor 
 and the national debt. This, coupled with an unyielding 
 determination that the revenues shall be honestly assessed, 
 collected, and paid into the Treasury, and with that legis- 
 lation which Pennsylvania will surely demand, and which 
 a sound national policy requires to encourage our indus- 
 tries, will, as the successive periods of his administration 
 elapse, just as certainly mark the reduction of the 
 national debt and the increase of national prosperity, as 
 his victories in the field marked the decay of the treason 
 of caste, and the strength of the Government of the 
 people. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 33 
 
 And this man of the people is a safe custodian of the 
 nation's honor in her relations with other governments. 
 His qualities command the confidence of the American 
 people, and their confidence is more to be desired than 
 their admiration. The prowess and glory of the chieftain, 
 the brilliancy of genius, the learning of the scholar, the 
 eloquence of the orator, the wisdom of the statesman, if 
 all combined in one man, would not of themselves secure 
 that unwavering trust, which the whole people this day 
 repose, in the clear head and resolute purpose of an 
 honest man. 
 
 And to such a man, is committed the guidance of our 
 public afi^airs. Do we distrust the result of the feeling 
 manifest in England, over the questions which to-day 
 exist, and which recent events have brought prominently 
 before the world? Wherefore? why this excitement? Is 
 it because we have rejected the Johnson-Clarendon treaty 
 — a treaty simply providing for the adjustment of the 
 claims of Englishmen against the United States, and of 
 citizens of the United States against England? Have 
 British subjects claims, to enforce which, their govern- 
 ment proposes to make war upon us? Nobody dreams 
 of that. Has Mr. Sumner said, did the Senate say, has 
 the Administration said, does anybody say, that our 
 Government proposes to make war upon Great Britain 
 to enforce the claims of our citizens, or the claims of 
 our Government? Nothing of the kind. Mr. Sumner 
 
34 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in 
 
 has simply stated the case which we could make out, and 
 the demand which, upon that case, v/e might in justice 
 make against England. He did not say, the Senate did 
 not say, we would make it, and stand upon it, in all its 
 length and breadth, and declare war if it was not acceded 
 to. So far from it, the next act after the rejection of 
 the treaty was to send a minister to the Court of St. 
 James. That Court does not reject him, the English 
 people do not receive him in a hostile spirit, or even 
 coldly. Why then talk of war? We believe we are in 
 the right upon the question of international law, and we 
 can afford to stand upon the right, to satisfy our own 
 citizens, and leave time and events and sober reason 
 to vindicate principle. Can England afford to await 
 time and events, with her own exposition of international 
 law to be quoted against her? The answer is for her. 
 Our interests are safe in the hands of a ruler who asks 
 for peace, who shrinks not from war if it must come; 
 whose honesty prompts him to render and demand 
 justice, and begets that fearlessness which will prevent 
 the encroachments of wrong. 
 
 But I am forgetting my promise. Words are multi- 
 plying and I must check myself. ' 
 
 Our ministers all go hence, bearing the olive branch. 
 We send no messengers of discord abroad. We are 
 pursuing the arts of peace at home. We seek to draw 
 closer the ties which bind man to his fellow, and nation 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 35 
 
 to nation. We throw wide open upon each shore of the 
 continent the gates of access to all the world, and through 
 them all the world is pouring in upon us a flood of 
 nations and tribes and tongues and peoples, so that ere 
 long, a war with us would be a civil war of the world, for 
 we could have war with no nation in which some of our 
 citizens would not fight their own blood. 
 
 But we want no war. We have in the opening months 
 of this President's administration, through the bounty 
 of the Government and the energy of our people, com- 
 pleted a highway which spans the continent with the iron 
 rai], and over it to-day are speeding the messengers of 
 "Peace on earth and good-will to men." We have done 
 more than the Persian monarch who vainly cast his iron 
 links into the sea to still the waves that he might build a 
 way across it. Casting the iron rail into the wave of the 
 Atlantic, it stretches across plain, and river, and prairie, 
 and mountain, until it again m.eets the salt tide of the 
 Pacific, and binds in a tie of peace and concord, and 
 brings into close communion the communities whose very 
 distance would have increased estrangements, and swelled 
 trifles into the wild waves of passion. May our prayers 
 and efi^orts, ever tend to draw closer together, the ties 
 which should bind us as a nation; so that, from year to 
 year, as our people gather together in social and political 
 life throughout all this land, East, West, North, and 
 South, the time may never come when there shall not 
 
36 Bajiqiiet to Hon. Andrew G. Cnrtin. 
 
 be a hearty response to the sentiment, "The President 
 of the United States." 
 
 The band played a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. 
 
 The next toast proposed was — 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 Count BoDisco, the Russian Minister, rose to 
 respond, and the entire audience rose to their feet 
 and greeted him with three cheers for Russia. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 37 
 
 SPEECH OF COUNT BODISCO. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
 
 Honored by your invitation to attend this magnificent 
 banquet, extended as a farewell compliment to your 
 distinguished fellow-citizen, the newly-appointed Minister 
 of the United States to the Court of St. Petersburg, 
 I have accepted your kind summons, but with feelings 
 of deep emotion, which calls upon me to respond to the 
 kind sentiment in honor of my sovereign. For me to 
 attempt to make a speech would be a rash act in this 
 vast assemblage, for I do not possess the oratorical 
 powers for which you Americans are so justly noted. 
 
 You will, therefore, permit me, gentlemen, to confine 
 myself to a few remarks, which I think will be in harmony 
 with the object that you have proposed in gathering 
 around this board. The relations between the United 
 States and Russia, I am happy to say, and to corroborate 
 the statement of Governor Curtin, have from their very 
 infancy up to the present time, been characterized by 
 mutual friendship and good-will. I trust that this happy 
 condition of things may endure forever. 
 
 One of your most prominent public men, has been 
 selected to represent this country at the imperial court, 
 and he is on the eve of proceeding to Russia. He has 
 alluded, in most touching and eloquent language, to the 
 
38 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 emotions that are conflicting in his bosom upon leaving 
 his native land; but I can assure him, as a stranger in 
 Russia, the very moment he steps upon Russian soil, he 
 will meet with and be surrounded by friends, that are the 
 friends of the American people. His reputation, merited 
 as a statesman, precedes him to my country, for he is 
 remembered there for the energy and ability and patriot- 
 ism, which he displayed as Governor of the Keystone 
 State of this Republic — of Pennsylvania — through that 
 eventful struggle. 
 
 The sentiments which were prevalent in Russia at that 
 time, were in favor of the maintenance of the Federal 
 Union and the speedy return of peace. Those senti- 
 ments, gentlemen, are too well known for me to dilate 
 upon at this moment, but in order that it may be 
 properly understood and shown to have grown in 
 strength, I have on this occasion to read to you a trans- 
 lation of a despatch from Prince Gorstchakoff, which it 
 has been my duty to communicate to the Secretary of 
 State. This despatch contains words, which prove my 
 statement, to the Chief Magistrate of this nation as well 
 as to the American people, and in reading them I think 
 I am acting in conformity with the intentions and wishes 
 of the author. 
 
 They are to this effect: 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 39 
 
 To Count Bodisco, 
 
 Charge de Affaires : 
 
 Sir : — The sympathies of our august Sovereign towards the 
 American people, and for their destinies, are too active and too 
 sincere, to permit his Majesty, not once again to experience the 
 desire to express them, on the advent of General Grant to the 
 Presidency of the Federal Union. By order of the Emperor, you 
 are instructed to become the interpreter of these sentiments near 
 the President. The services which General Grant has rendered 
 to his country under such circumstances, warrants auspicious 
 auguries of the future and of the great work to which he had the 
 glory to contribute in a manner so efficient. 
 
 This work of pacification and of national prosperity has not met 
 with, and will not anywhere meet with, more cordial and more 
 steadfast sympathies than in Russia. 
 
 NICHOLAS II., 
 
 Czar of Russia. 
 
 In conclusion, I hope Mr. Curtin's mission will be a 
 labor of love, and be productive of results mutually 
 beneficial to the principal interests of both the countries 
 so closely allied. I wish him a prosperous journey, and 
 can assure him that, notwithstanding the coldness of our 
 climate, the heart of every Russian is warm. 
 
40 Banqtiei to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 When Minister Bodisco read his instructions 
 from the Russian Government to congratulate Presi- 
 dent Grant on his election, and assure him of the 
 continued interest of Russia in the prosperity of the 
 United States, the sentiments of the Czar were 
 responded to with the loudest enthusiasm. 
 
 The President next proposed — 
 
 THE GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 41 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. F. JORDAN. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 Much has been said here this evening about the grave 
 and responsible duties of Governor; and of the great 
 services that were rendered the country and the world, by 
 the patriotism and prowess of our citizen-soldiers, in our 
 recent struggle for national life. Since the war, all oar 
 meetings, for whatever purpose, seem involuntarily to 
 assume a military, or quasi-military character ; and those 
 who conduct them claim the right, at any time, to make 
 requisition on any man, for anything. Hence it is, I 
 presume, that I have been called upon, thus unexpectedly, 
 to respond to this toast. 
 
 I early learned, in the military service, that the very 
 first duty of a soldier, is to obey the orders of his 
 superiors, asking no questions ; and though he may not 
 always be able to do all expected of him, he can do his 
 best, and neither saints or angels can do any more. 
 
 I have had my heart warmed within me, here to-night, 
 by eloquent and patriotic sentiments, from judges, states- 
 men, governors, senators, and I much regret " The 
 Governor of Pennsylvania," has not such a spokesman 
 here to respond for him. I am very sure, however, he 
 has many friends here, who have the heart to speak for 
 him, although they may lack much of the eloquence and 
 
42 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin.. 
 
 ability of those who have already addressed you. I am 
 
 associated with him as an humble member of the State 
 
 administration, and I am proud of the fact. Dare I 
 
 ask a Pennsylvania audience, who is John W. Geary ? 
 
 Among all the brilliant victories mentioned here this 
 
 evening, among all the military glories of the last eight 
 
 years, he has always been found " keeping step to the 
 
 music of the Union," and marching straight forward in 
 
 the pathway of duty, under the flag of his country. 
 
 When the sanguinary battles of Cedar Mountain and 
 
 Chancellorsville were fought, he was there, and shed his 
 
 blood on those illustrious fields. When the rebellion 
 
 had its backbone broken, at the ever memorable and 
 
 glorious field of Gettysburg, John W. Geary was there ; 
 
 and his name and fame will be honorably associated with 
 
 it until Round Top and Gulp's Hill shall perish in the 
 
 final conflagration of all things In the bloody night 
 
 struggle of Wauhatchie, he offered up his first-born son 
 
 on the altar of his country. When Lookout Mountain, 
 
 reared its horrid front and giant form, as an impassable 
 
 obstruction In the pathway of our triumphs, and when 
 
 all attempts to flank it had been bloodily repulsed, and 
 
 its capture by assault became a necessity, " Fighting Joe 
 
 Hooker," from our vast patriot army, selected John W. 
 
 Geary, as the man to lead the desperate charge. The 
 
 bristling -mountain was scaled. Its fortifications were 
 
 stormed, and the enemies of our country were slain or 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 43 
 
 captured, away up in the clouds, and the remnant fled in 
 terror, as if pursued by the destroying angel. When 
 Sherman, made his grand march to the sea, John W. 
 Geary, at the head of his legions, marched with him. 
 But why enumerate further. He has during the whole 
 war, and at all times, done his duty. He has imperilled 
 his life, he has shed his blood, he has offered up his first- 
 born in the cause of his country ; and he wears on the 
 front of his manly form, and must wear to his grave, the 
 battle-scars inflicted by the enemies of liberty. Surely, 
 the name and fame of such a man are precious; and the 
 memory of them must ever find a place in the hearts 
 and affections of the people of our State and country, 
 until patriotism itself is dead, until our battle-fields are 
 forgotten, and until history and traditions shall perish 
 from the recollections of men. 
 
 The people of this great Commonwealth, in patriotic 
 appreciation of these services, elected him Governor. 
 Of his civil administration, this is, perhaps, not the 
 place, nor I the person to speak, because of the official 
 relations I sustain. I will say, however, you have an 
 administration which endeavors to do its duty. How 
 far that endeavor has been successful, is not for me to 
 say. In the nature of things, and like its long line of 
 "illustrious predecessors," it must make its own record, 
 and by that record must stand or fall. The antecedents 
 of the Executive have inspired confidence; and I know 
 
44 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, 
 
 of no official act, or decision, not consistent with his past 
 life. Let not final judgment be passed, until the record 
 is fully made up. "Let not him that putteth on his 
 armor, boast as him that taketh it off." Happy will it 
 be for all concerned, if, when our short period of public 
 service shall have ended, fair ladies, and patriotic, intelli- 
 gent, and liberty-loving men, can rally around the retiring 
 public servant, as we do here to-night around the man 
 whom we are convened to honor, with our mouths and 
 our hearts full of the exclamation: "Well done, good 
 and faithful servant." 
 
 I would not, Mr. Chairman, and fellow-citizens, whilst 
 responding to this toast, ignore the occasion which has 
 brought us together. We are here to do honor to the 
 guest of the evening. We rejoice that President Grant, 
 in his patriotism and wisdom, has given to our State, 
 and our distinguished fellow-citizen, this mark of his 
 confidence and regard. All men will recognize it as well 
 deserved, because of patriotic and faithful service to our 
 State and country, in the hour of their greatest peril. 
 We are here to ratify and endorse this selection; and we 
 send him abroad as our representative to the greatest of 
 nations in the European world; and bid him God-speed 
 on his mission of peace and good will. We bear in mind 
 too, that it was Russia which stood by us with a warm 
 and honest sympathy, from first to last, during all the 
 dark days of our recent trials. Under the guise of a 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 45 
 
 pretended neutrality, no pirates ever departed from her 
 ports to destroy our commerce, or paralyze the uplifted 
 arm of our power. Although her form of government 
 is known in history as an absolute monarchy, it is a 
 model of its kind, and in its administration; and is 
 presided over by a patriotic, wise, and large-hearted 
 monarch, who, out of an intelligent and unselfish regard 
 for the rights and liberties of man, voluntarily relin- 
 quished much of his hereditary power, and gave to the 
 world the illustrious example of universal emancipation. 
 I rejoice to-night that we are here assembled to bring 
 up the recollections of these great and happy events. 
 I congratulate you all, that we live in this intelligent 
 and progressive age of the world, when Empires and 
 Republics can agree upon and acknowledge, the great, 
 essential, and inalienable rights of man. 
 
 Let our Minister go abroad in the plentitude of the 
 power and greatness of the country he represents, in the 
 spirit of the age in which we live, and as the faithful 
 exponent of the nation whose honor has been placed 
 in his hands. Let him proclaim to Russia, how grandly 
 we have followed and improved upon her noble pre- 
 cedent of liberty. Let him strive to cement a lasting 
 friendship, and a perpetual peace; and to cultivate a 
 more intelligent liberality among the nations of the 
 earth, and a more just regard for the rights of individual 
 man. 
 
46 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 With hearty thanks to all for respectful attention, I 
 will trespass no further upon the rights of those whose 
 names are on the programme, and who are expected to 
 follow me. 
 
 The next sentiment proposed was — • 
 
 THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 The President then said : There is here 
 to-night, Gentlemen, a distinguished citizen of 
 the great State of New York — a citizen whose 
 name, has on more occasions than one, sent an 
 electric thrill through the civilized world — Mr. 
 Cyrus W. Field ; and I call upon him to answer 
 to the toast — ''The State of New York." 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 47 
 
 SPEECH OF CYRUS W. FIELD. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 I came here to pay my respects to your distinguished 
 guest, and to listen to the many eloquent speeches which 
 I was sure I should hear on this interesting occasion, 
 and I regret more than words can express, that my 
 official duties deprive me of the pleasure of speaking 
 to you. You are aware that I am connected with an 
 enterprise in which it is my duty to receive the thoughts, 
 the desires, and the wishes of persons on both sides of 
 the Atlantic, and to see that these are transmitted; but 
 on no account to divulge one word. I am sure there 
 is no lady or gentleman in this assemblage that would 
 wish I should break this wise rule commanding silence, 
 and I shall not. 
 
 The next sentiment proposed was- 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
48 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. JAMES POLLOCK. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: 
 
 The lateness of the hour admonishes to brevity. 
 Pennsylvanians are usually prompt, and promptness 
 includes brevity. In responding to the sentiment pro- 
 posed, I desire to practice that Pennsylvania virtue. 
 What can I say for our good old Commonwealth ? Her 
 history, which is her eulogy, has been oft repeated 
 to-night, in language more eloquent than I can utter. 
 Her history is that of our common country, at least so 
 identified with it as to be inseparable. Upon every page 
 we see Pennsylvania in the fulness of her patriotism, and 
 the grandeur of her virtue. The motto inscribed upon 
 her coat of arms, " Virtue, Liberty, and Independence," 
 at once announces and illustrates her true position and 
 character. First in the assertion and defence of the great 
 and essential principles of civil and religious liberty — 
 identified with all that was noble and self-sacrificing in the 
 great first struggle for American freedom and nationality 
 — true to treaty, covenant and law — alike faithful to the 
 Indian and the white man — by 'industry and energy 
 developing her material wealth and greatness — by her 
 schools and colleges making her citizens men, and 
 developing their moral and intellectual strength, she has 
 furnished an example of high virtue and honorable success 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 49 
 
 to her sister States : and one that the crowned heads of 
 Europe, in the government of their empires, would do 
 well to imitate. 
 
 Ought I to speak of, or for Pennsylvania now, and in 
 this presence ? New York has been silent. My honored 
 friend, her representative, (Cyrus W. Field, Esq.,) who 
 sits by my side, " who with the lightning talks," and 
 talks by lightning — with the invisible yet invincible 
 energy of the electric forces at his command, flashing 
 thought through ocean depths from continent to conti- 
 nent, binding empires and nations together in peace and 
 brotherhood, he has been silent on this occasion, and. has 
 broken that silence, only to say, that the law of the tele- 
 graph forbids the revelation of its despatches — a law, 
 the breach of which, at this time, would have been more 
 honored than its observance. But thought will speak 
 and be heard. Achievement, grand in its conception 
 and results, has a voice that the world can hear ; and 
 although you. Sir, (to Mr. Field,) have not spoken long 
 to us, in this audience, we have heard the voice of your 
 magic and magnetic wire speaking to the world, and 
 telling the hour and power of progress — of liberty and 
 manhood meeting together — of the coming day when 
 nations will hold high jubilee, and proclaim " Peace and 
 good will to men." Sir, the progress of the hour is the 
 voice of destiny — the voice of an all-wise Ruler mar- 
 shalling the forces of universal humanity for conquest and 
 
50 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 
 
 victory. The march of science and wondrous achieve- 
 ment, of skill and art, of knowledge, truth and virtue, 
 is but the march of empires to greatness — the world to 
 freedom — humanity to God. 
 
 I rejoice that Pennsylvania is true to the progress of 
 the hour; that her citizens feel and know its inspiration ; 
 that our State and nation will not blush when my friend 
 — the honored guest of the evening. Minister Curtin, 
 stands in the presence of the Czar of Russia, amid the 
 envoys of other nations, the representative of liberty and 
 law, of recognized manhood, made and marked by 
 American liberty and progress. He may proudly stand 
 among the representatives of thrones, because he is a 
 man, a freeman, the representative and portion of a 
 sovereignty greater than kings, more powerful than 
 dynasties. 
 
 My relations, personal and official, in days gone by, 
 to our new Minister, add to my pleasure on this occasion. 
 I know, that in the spirit of true devotion to his country, 
 he will represent her interests and her honor in the Court 
 to which he is accredited. Our firm friend, the Emperor 
 of the Russias, will learn from him, what perchance he 
 already fully knows, that his sympathies for us, and our 
 endangered country, in the hour of our trouble, the 
 hour of a nation's struggle for a nation's life, will ever 
 be appreciated and remembered, by a free and grateful 
 people. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 51 
 
 Go, then, my honored friend, on your mission of 
 peace. Bear with you our best wishes for your safety 
 and success. Remember, when in the presence of 
 kings and nobles of other lands, that you are an 
 American citizen, an honor equal to a crown ; and 
 whilst honoring all in authority, honor your country 
 by a true life and manhood. She is worthy the heart's 
 warmest affection — the life's truest devotion. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 THE YOUNG REPUBLICAN LEADERS OF i860. 
 
52 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. A. K. M'CLURE. 
 
 Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 I rise with mingled feelings of pride and embarrass- 
 ment, to respond to the sentiment recalling us to the 
 Young Republican Leaders of i860. It is no common 
 task to assume to speak for the many able, ardent, and 
 fearless young men, who were so conspicuous in that 
 great political revolution ; but to have a name, however 
 humble, in that brilliant phalanx of freedom's votaries, 
 is to have achieved something, at least, in man's bravest 
 struggle for mankind. 
 
 In that memorable conflict, Pennsylvania was the 
 battle-ground of the Republic. Her voice was to be 
 potential, her verdict decisive, in moulding the solemn 
 demand of the nation, that bondage must be exceptional 
 in the policy of the Government. Many of our oldest 
 and ablest statesmen, and many also of our ripest and 
 most respected citizens, were unequal to the occasion. 
 It had brought new duties, as new occasions ever do, and 
 the landmarks of our fathers, sacred to the compromises 
 of the past, were deemed equally sacred in pointing to 
 perpetual compromise with a wrong that had grown to 
 colossal power, and finally aimed to subvert the very 
 genius of our free institutions. 
 
 It v/as such an occasion that called the young men 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 53 
 
 upon the theatre of political action. They quickened 
 the impulses of the Republican National Convention, 
 and gave victory to the banner of Abraham Lincoln. 
 They had organized early in Pennsylvania, and had 
 chosen their chieftain. They had much to contend 
 with , their bold, aggressive policy, made the timid fall 
 by the wayside, and venerable leaders, averse to pro- 
 gress, bowed reluctantly to the command of earnest 
 men. Mean ambition, with its mean exactions, con- 
 fronted them, and sought to destroy what it could not 
 pervert to ignoble ends; but the people, patriotic in 
 their purpose, and devoted to their convictions, 
 struggled for the disenthralment of a continent. 
 
 The selection of a standard-bearer was made, with a 
 just appreciation of the perils to be encountered and the 
 qualities essential to success. The young men of the 
 State rallied, and infused a strange enthusiasm in the 
 primary contests of the party. Here and there, local 
 preferences and local importunities outweighed the general 
 issue, and now and then, political strategy was successful 
 at the cost of the popular will ; but at last the great 
 heart of Philadelphia gave utterance to the hopes and 
 affections of her people, and named as our leader, our 
 distinguished guest, Andrew G. Curtin. The wisdom 
 of that choice is now more than vindicated, alike by the 
 thrilling history of the past and by the vast concourse 
 of people before us, whose plaudits grow deafening at the 
 
54 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 mention of his name. He accepted his high trust from 
 the convention, and his matchless eloquence called the 
 people to the new duties the grave issues imposed upon 
 them. It was a fairly fought battle, and our cause and 
 its champion triumphed, without a stain to dim the 
 lustre of our victory. Rhode Island had opened the 
 national campaign with disaster, and Philadelphia had 
 faltered in May. The August elections sent no words 
 of cheer to strengthen our hopes in this commanding 
 citadel of political power. The second Tuesday of 
 October was the day of destiny, and its mandate had to 
 be fashioned by tireless energy in educating the people to 
 comprehend the danger which threatened our national 
 unity. With a heroism and ability peculiar to himself, 
 our leader struggled for the right, and he brought back 
 our banner from the desperate conflict with victory 
 streaming upon its folds. He was chosen Governor by 
 over 32,000, and the national contest was ended. The 
 verdict of that day made Abraham Lincoln President, 
 and redeemed a nation of 30,000,000 from the thraldom 
 of the oppressor. 
 
 Causeless war came with its boundless desolation. 
 Our new State Executi\^e exhausted every measure of 
 conciliation, consistent with patriotism, but the arbitra- 
 ment of the sword was presented as the only tribunal 
 whose judgment treason would obey. He called upon 
 his people to maintain their Government, and how nobly 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. c^^ 
 
 they responded is attested by the bereavements that still 
 shadow every household. Their blood crimsoned almost 
 every battle-field of the war, and their graves ridged the 
 hill-sides of every rebellious State. Faithful as was 
 their devotion to the cause for which they offered their 
 lives, they were quickened in their zeal by a common 
 inspiration. Disaster at times chilled the ardor of our 
 most heroic men ; disease thinned the ranks and weak- 
 ened the hearts of our defenders ; hope was often almost 
 veiled in despair as our armies were unable to give battle 
 for want of recruits, and there was wide-spread grici at 
 home and in the camp for fallen loved ones. But in the 
 sorest trials there was with all the grateful assurance that 
 one, highest in power in the Commonwealth, was ever 
 the "Soldier's Friend." It was no clap-trap title — no 
 cunning invention of the politician — it was the creation 
 of the mess, of the hospital, of the sorrowing around 
 the untimely dead. Under his administration, our State 
 was made conspicuous for its beneficent care of our 
 soldiers, and its agents were the first at the Capital, and 
 on the field in the mission of mercy. Philanthropic 
 men were his representatives wherever the bivouac of the 
 Pennsylvania warrior was found. Their wants were 
 supplied; their communication with friends and home 
 facilitated, and their wrongs were redressed. "When 
 disease or wounds laid them low, there were kind hearts 
 and tender hands to minister to them. When the golden 
 
56 Banquet to Hon. Afidrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 bowl was broken, the patriotic dead were brought back to 
 sleep in honor with their kindred; and the fatherless — 
 the orphans of the Republic — were made the accepted 
 charge of the State. With our people, wherever there 
 has been sacrifice upon the altar of our common country, 
 there the name of Andrew G. Curtin is lisped with 
 reverence and affection. 
 
 He was one of the few men of the nation who appre- 
 ciated the power and magnitude of the rebellion, and the 
 prompt march of the Pennsylvania Reserves, to save the 
 National Capital when defeat appalled the country, was 
 a testimonial to his wisdom as conspicuous as their 
 gallantry has made it memorable. The first call upon 
 the State was answered by a general uprising of the 
 people. Our quota was promptly filled, and there were 
 thousands to spare. Major-General Patterson, com- 
 manding in Pennsylvania, made a requisition for 25,000 
 three years' men, and they were being rapidly organized 
 when the national authorities revoked the order, denied 
 the commander's authority, and refused to accept the 
 troops, because not needed. Our State was threatened 
 and defenceless, and the Reserve Corps was authorized 
 after a painful and desperate st'ruggle with united 
 imbecility and infidelity. It has made its own proud 
 record, and deeply baptized it in its richest blood. 
 
 Before the close of his official term his shattered health 
 gave painful admonition of the necessity for his retire- 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. ^-j 
 
 ment. I bore to him from President Lincoln, an 
 autograph letter tendering him a position of the highest 
 honor abroad. It was accepted in good faith, and eyes 
 brightened around his hearth at the promise of prolonged 
 life and relief from harassing public cares. His declina- 
 tion was publicly given, but there was one tribunal that 
 would not entertain it. It was the high tribunal of the 
 people. They answered by a positive demand that he 
 should again become their standard-bearer. He was not 
 without accusers. There were those who hated him 
 because the people loved him, but they rendered the 
 State a service by making his acceptance of a renomina- 
 tion an imperious duty to himself I sav/ the final 
 decision made, and few can ever know the profound 
 reluctance with which It was given. He was prostrated 
 by disease, and bowed by incessant physical and mental 
 toil, and It involved the surrender of the hope of health, 
 and probably life itself And his enemies called this 
 ambition! The contest was not one of promise. Nearly 
 100,000 soldiers were disfranchised, and faction, tireless 
 as it was malignant, was confident of his discomfiture. 
 But the people fought his battle. His cause was their 
 cause, and they made even his enemies laborers for his 
 success. The soldierswere voiceless, but not powerless 
 in the struggle. From every camp came earnest appeals 
 to fathers, brothers, and friends, to forget party obliga- 
 tions, and sustain him who was ever mindful of the 
 
58 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 
 
 heroes he had given to the nation. Silent and unseen, 
 but felt in almost every home, were the efforts of the 
 gallant warriors for their benefactor, and they gave him 
 more than thrice the 15,000 by which he triumphed. 
 
 For months after the contest he was unable to dis- 
 charge his official duties, but dangers thickened around 
 our flag, and he felt that he must not abandon his high 
 trust. Our armies were reduced, and could not follow 
 up the victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and the 
 monster of disorder ruled in portions of the North. He 
 gave days and nights of exhausting, painful labor, when 
 he could labor at all, to fill the broken ranks and sustain 
 them in their sacrifices, until victory closed the bloody 
 ■drama of rebellion. Our triumphant soldiers were 
 welcomed back by the Executive to the enjoyment of the 
 nationality they had so nobly preserved ; but he was 
 compelled to leave them in their rejoicing, to seek health 
 and rest in a foreign clime. There are those present 
 to-night who bade him farewell in this city with emotions 
 they illy concealed, and apprehensions they dared not to 
 express. Many devoted hearts would that day have 
 leaped with joy could this night have been anticipated, 
 with our distinguished guest restored in health, and 
 wearing the highest honors accorded to the State. A 
 merciful Providence preserved him for riper usefulness 
 and greener laurels. He returned still an invalid, and 
 was met with a semi-official tender of a foreign appoint- 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 59 
 
 ment. The President and Congress were not then in 
 positive antagonism. The era of vetoes had not yet 
 dawned, and many of our most trusted leaders had faith 
 in the fidelity of the National Executive. The position 
 tendered him promised ease, honor, and the greater boon 
 of health, and many appeals were made to him to trust 
 to the history he had written for his State by patriotic 
 deeds, to vindicate his acceptance of it. I recognize 
 valued friends in our midst who were consulted, and with 
 one accord, concurred with him in the conviction that he 
 could not become the recipient of official favor from 
 Andrew Johnson. He could sacrifice everything but 
 the consistency of a record that is interwoven with the 
 brightest annals of the Commonwealth, and he served 
 his official term to its close, and retired honored and 
 beloved by the people he had so faithfully represented. 
 Since then they have had no great honors to bestow 
 that were not their honest offering to Andrew G. 
 CuRTiN. With great unanimity they asked his nomina- 
 tion for the second office of the National Government, 
 and the President has paid a voluntary and just tribute 
 to their wishes by selecting him as the representative of 
 the Republic to the most friendly, and one of the most 
 powerful nations of the Old World. He was appointed 
 without solicitation, and received the prompt approval 
 of the Senate. True, he was assailed, but popular 
 reprobation shamed the tongue that assailed him into a 
 
6o Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 denial of its own infirmities. He is now about to depart 
 to accept his new duties, and we are here to testify our 
 appreciation of the distinction conferred upon our State. 
 With grateful pride for his honors, mingled with regrets 
 that he goes out from amongst us, this people bid him a 
 sincere farewell ; and earnest will be the prayers, and 
 rich the blessings which will go with him to the great 
 capital of the North. 
 
 Nine years ago the young Republicans of Pennsylvania 
 made him their chieftain, and since then he has had no 
 rival in their confidence and love. Through evil and 
 good report, whether in power or sceptreless, with them 
 *' where sits MacDonald, there is the head of the table." 
 Others have brightened and faded, have climbed and 
 fallen, but his name and his record have inspired the 
 earnest men in every conflict. The retrospect of their 
 achievements covers less than a decade. They have had 
 perpetual battle. Whoever gathered the laurels of their 
 victories — whether worthily conferred, or won in dishonor 
 and worn in shame — it was their task to complete the 
 work they had so bravely begun. They have fought 
 the great fight, until the full fruition of the country's 
 sacrifices in war is realized, in the sublimest fabric of 
 human government ever reared by man, or blessed 
 by heaven. It was a mighty struggle, and priceless 
 were the ofi*erings on the altar of freedom. By scores 
 of thousands we count our dead, our maimed, our 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 6 1 
 
 v/idowed, and our fatherless ; and among those who 
 enjoy with us the blessings for which our martyrs died, 
 how sadly eyes are dimmed, how deeply brows are fur- 
 rowed, how locks are silvered, and strong forms bowed 
 by the crucible of a nation's redemption. Sooner for 
 some, later for others, and not long hence for all, we 
 shall surrender our now unstained inheritance to those 
 who will preserve, in growing power and grandeur, our 
 perfected Liberty and Justice for future generations. 
 There will be noble names recorded with noble deeds, 
 to inspire those who come after us with the highest 
 devotion to free institutions; and even the humble and 
 forgotten In the pages of man's most illustrious annals, 
 have the proud reward that they filled the measure of 
 their duty in maintaining, " that government of the 
 people, by the people, and for the people, shall not 
 perish from the earth." 
 
 The next sentiment proposed was — 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
62 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 SPEECH OF JOHN PRICE WETHERILL. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 I notice by the printed programme, that the Mayor of 
 the City was very properly selected to respond to the 
 sentiment just proposed, but on account of his unavoid- 
 able absence, I have been called upon to act in his stead. 
 This was unexpected to me; therefore I hope you will 
 understand, that the brief remarks I am about to make 
 have been hastily thrown together, and are not as fitting 
 as they should be, either for the theme or the occasion; 
 and when I remember, that I speak for Philadelphia 
 to-night, to an audience composed of her representative 
 men, who are here to do honor to one, whose past acts 
 are held by them in grateful remembrance, I feel that no 
 words of mine concerning the success, the prosperity, 
 the past record, or the future prospects of our City 
 can add anything to what is already so well known, 
 and so fully understood by those who are here assembled. 
 When, therefore, I allude to this City as the second 
 City in the Union, that here Liberty was cradled, that 
 here the political institutions of tlie country were first 
 formed, I rejoice to know that the merchants of this 
 City, so largely represented here this evening, with a 
 reputation unsurpassed for their integrity and their fair 
 dealing, have by their enterprise done so much to make 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G, Cur tin. 63 
 
 this City what It is. When I remember what our 
 manufacturers and skilled mechanics have done, using 
 the superior advantages so largely possessed by them, 
 through their activity, their energy and zeal, they too 
 have contributed their full share to make this City, in 
 its varied and diversified industries, the largest manu- 
 facturing City in the land. When I reflect upon all the 
 advantages which as a City we enjoy, and of all that has 
 been done by the great interests to which I have alluded, 
 to place our City in the prominent position she now 
 occupies, I assure you, I cannot but esteem it an 
 honor to respond to the sentiment you have just pro- 
 posed ; yet in doing so, I do not forget that in thus 
 alluding to these advantages, and to the results which 
 their proper use has secured to us, and the benefits 
 derived therefrom, I speak upon a subject with which 
 you are all familiar. My reason, however, for thus 
 presenting them is this : — We to-night offer this ova- 
 tion to one of Pennsylvania's most deserving sons, the 
 leading men engaged in the pursuits to which I have 
 referred are present with us, and as such, honor our 
 distinguished guest, who through his past acts has done 
 so much for this City and State. They are here on 
 the eve of his departure upon his important mission, 
 to bid him farewell, to wish him a prosperous voyage, 
 to hope that his mission may be crowned with success, 
 
64 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 and to promise him, on his return to his native land, 
 a warm and heartfelt welcome. 
 
 Allusion has been made to-night, in words of glowing 
 eloquence, to the glorious record made by the brave men 
 of Pennsylvania during the rebellion, to the number of 
 soldiers she sent to the frontj to their gallant bearing, to 
 their heroic deeds. I rejoice to know that of that 
 number Philadelphia sent her full proportion, and that 
 the gallantry and heroism of her soldiers added largely 
 to the bright record of Pennsylvania's history. In 
 that trying hour, when the future was dark, when 
 hearts were sad and hope seemed to fail us, this City, 
 through her patriotic people, sent forth her gallant sons, 
 freely poured out her treasure, and with party lines 
 obliterated and all of one mind, used her best exertions 
 to contribute all in her power of men and means to crush 
 out the rebellion. Through the war, in every battle 
 field, this City was represented, her beloved dead are 
 found among the graves of fallen heroes everywhere 
 throughout the land. Did her people promise the 
 soldier that in his absence his family would be cared 
 for ? Faithfully was that promise kept. Can the 
 soldiers of our mighty army ever forget that in passing 
 through our City, kind hearts met them on every side, 
 willing hands were ready to relieve their wants, and our 
 refreshment saloons, so well known throughout the land, 
 were ever open to supply their necessities ? But it is 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 65 
 
 not my purpose to-night to longer dwell on, or to further 
 praise, the good deeds of the people of Philadelphia ; this 
 is unnecessary; they are a part of the nation's history, and 
 I refer to them with pride and pleasure on this occasion, 
 because during the rebellion no man was more identified 
 with our State history than our distinguished guest. 
 How fitting, therefore, that this State ovation to her 
 former Governor should be given here, and that our 
 people, large in numbers, and representing so many 
 varied interests, should thus assemble, and to-night, bid 
 him God-speed on his journey, and sincerely wish for 
 him the prosperity and success he so well deserves. 
 
 The next sentiment proposed was — ; 
 RUSSIA AND AMERICA. 
 
66 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 SPEECH OF GENERAL JOSHUA T. OWEN. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 We are preeminently a practical people. We waste 
 no time in dreams, and pay little regard .to mere senti- 
 ment. "Cui bono" is the challenge with which we 
 salute every approaching event, and upon the response 
 depends our support or opposition to innovations. 
 
 War does not satisfy our national longings. The 
 tremendous energy which it awakens may gratify us, but 
 we lament the exertion of so much power to the accom- 
 plishment of so much evil, and by instinct purely 
 American, we devise means of putting this energy to 
 some practical use. No sooner was the great war of the 
 rebellion ended, than our irrepressible activity sought 
 employment in the far West ; and lo! the Pacific Rail- 
 road spans the continent, and the locomotive breaks 
 the silence of ages which has brooded over the Rocky 
 Mountain regions. 
 
 We stand on the shores of the Pacific, and cast 
 wistful eyes over its expanse of waters, to see if any 
 kindred people will join us in girdling the globe with 
 a tramway of iron, over which shall pass the com- 
 merce of the world. We say to the nations, " though 
 we are the youngest born of you all, yet we have 
 discovered that true glory is only to be attained through 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 67 
 
 the performance of great deeds, which tend to advance 
 civilization, develop the material wealth of peoples, and 
 make permanent the principles of truth and justice." In 
 pursuance of these noble objects we have discarded war, 
 although we had organized the greatest war power of 
 ancient or modern times, and we have said in good faith 
 to the rest of the world, through our greatest soldier, 
 "Let us have Peace." 
 
 Who are our natural allies in the Old World, in the 
 prosecution of this grand design ? Not the English, for 
 they are our commercial rivals — not the French, for they 
 are jealous of our Democratic institutions — not the 
 Prussians, for we have nothing in common, except, 
 perhaps it be, our common dislike of the over-reaching 
 influence of France and England. 
 
 Russia and America are allies by the inevitable law 
 of interest. The Russians have become simultaneously 
 with us, the champions of freedom by emancipating 
 their slaves; and the Emperor Alexander and President 
 Abraham Lincoln, stand together upon the noblest 
 pedestal which Fame has ever constructed. However 
 much common origin, common language, and common 
 religion, or some grand sentiment may unite peoples, 
 the greatest bond is a community of interest and identity 
 of destiny. 
 
 We are the Northmen of the Western continent, as 
 the Russians are of the Eastern. We own continuous 
 territory from ocean to ocean ; so do the Russians. We 
 
68 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 
 
 possess the right of way around one-half the globe. So 
 do the Russians. Together we can so engirt the northern 
 portion of the globe with our system of railroads and 
 telegraphs, as to monopolize the commerce and control 
 the destiny of the tropics. 
 
 Let Alexander construct a grand trunk railway from 
 the Baltic to the Sea of Ochotsk of like gauge with our 
 Pacific Central, and he will maintain his firm hold on 
 his vast dominions, and outflank the movement made 
 by France and England, for predominance in the 
 East through the Suez Canal; and America and Russia, 
 can dictate peace to the world from their several Capitals, 
 St. Petersburg: and Washino;ton. 
 
 I think it highly gratifying, that at this time, so 
 practical a representative of American thought and sen- 
 timent should have been chosen to represent our country 
 at St. Petersburg. Mr. Curtin has never failed to 
 apprehend the wants of his countrymen, and to put 
 himself in full accord with them. I congratulate the 
 President upon his skill in selecting the right man for 
 the right place; and I also rejoice that his Imperial 
 Highness, the Czar of all the Russias, will have near 
 his person, so good a type of the "American," which 
 forms now the subject of his profound study. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 THE JUDICIARY. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 69 
 
 SPEECH OF WILLIAM HENRY RAWLE. 
 
 With submission to your Honor — I beg your pardon, 
 I meant to say Mr. President, but the accustomed 
 words found their ready way to my lips — when, only 
 a few hours ago, I was desired to respond to-night to 
 the toast of " The Judiciary," it at first puzzled me a 
 little to know why one of the bar should have been 
 selected for such an honor instead of one of themselves. 
 But a moment's reflection showed me the delicacy of 
 the^ choice, for none of the judiciary could say of them- 
 selves that which we can with such utter truth say of 
 them ; and this, apart from that chief merit which has 
 contributed to make up the name of "a Philadelphia 
 lawyer" — I mean bashfulness. 
 
 Mr. President: — We are told in the Book of 
 Ecclesiastes that " For all things there is a reason, and 
 a time for every purpose under the sun." There is 
 always a propriety in the toast of " The Judiciary " 
 whenever, on occasions such as this, men meet to do 
 honor to men ; but there is a peculiar propriety in it 
 to-night, for Mr. Curtin, the man whom we delight to 
 honor, and who has always been cailed — who has been 
 called to-night, and who always will be called — "The 
 friend of the soldier," had yet another title to our 
 respect — he was the friend of the judiciary. True, the 
 
70 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 relations between the executive and the judicial functions 
 of our Government are, for good or for ill, it matters not 
 here, less intimate and less dependent than before the 
 amendment to our State Constitution ; but still they are, 
 and always must be, more or less intimate. And in the 
 appointments to the judiciary, which our guest has from 
 time to time been called on to make, he has vindicated 
 to our State the belief that upon the judiciary depends 
 ultimately the welfare of the Commonwealth, and our 
 people have responded to him, for never did they fail 
 to confirm by their votes an appointment which he has 
 made. 
 
 "The Judiciary !" What can I say of them ? Who 
 but ourselves, who see them daily and almost nightly, 
 can tell of the anxieties and care which hover round 
 a conscientious discharge of their duties — of the little 
 petty annoyances which beset their daily life, from the 
 juryman, who, for any and for every reason, from deaf- 
 ness to paralysis, desires to be excused, to the tipstave, 
 who himself makes more of a row in trying to enforce 
 silence than all the audience together ; of the grave 
 responsibility which hangs upon the exercise of judg- 
 ment — affecting property, affecting liberty, affecting life 
 itself — none of us even, none but yourself, Mr. Presi- 
 dent, and such as you, can tell how anxious and grave 
 is the life which this office entails. And I desire to 
 profit by the chance which this toast has given me to 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 71 
 
 say, now and here, that our judiciary are overworked 
 and underpaid. It may seem indelicate, it may seem 
 even coarse, to allude to such a topic on such an occa- 
 sion, but I am speaking in the presence of those who 
 are powers in our land, of those who make, of those 
 who interpret, and those who execute our laws, and I 
 want them to hear once more — they cannot hear it too 
 often — that our judiciary must be fostered and cherished 
 as never they have been before. In a few days, our 
 guest and myself will both leave our own country, and 
 go to that from which we have derived our origin and 
 our laws, and then I shall see, as I have seen, members 
 of the judiciary in England — shall see them on the 
 bench and in their homes — men whom the nation delight 
 to honor, — men who, in the fulness of their practice, 
 have left it, with its triumphs and its glories, because 
 they could afford to leave all these ; and when I see 
 them, I shall think of what takes place in my own 
 country. Those judges whose sands of life have run 
 out all too short and soon, because of the eating care 
 as to what should become of their families ; of others 
 who have left the bench and come back to the strifes 
 of the bar, content to die in its harness, because they 
 have felt they had no right to do otherwise. Oh ! let 
 not this be ! Excuse me. Sir, for having alluded to such 
 a subject; but I pray that the allusion may have its 
 effect. 
 
72 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 
 
 And now, a word more as to our guest. It makes 
 us glad to see him among us, even though we meet to 
 part. And, for myself, I can never forget the time I 
 first met him, when, excessively dirty, and in a very 
 shabby uniform, and only a sergeant at that, I fought 
 my way into the Governor's mansion, and told him 
 what I wanted him to do for our little battery ; and he 
 did it, for he was always the soldier's friend. But I 
 little thought then of what would happen to us to-night, 
 for it was three weeks after the battle of Gettysburg had 
 been fought and won by General Meade, who is to 
 respond to the next toast on your list this evening. 
 
 The next toast was — • 
 
 THE ARMY. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 73 
 
 SPEECH OF MAJOR A. R. CALHOUN. 
 
 Mr. President: 
 
 I am quite taken by surprise at your call. I see by 
 the list before me that General Meade was to have 
 responded to this toast. In his case it would have been 
 eminently fitting, for who could better reply to the 
 sentiment than Pennsylvania's most distinguished soldier, 
 the Wellington of Gettysburg, the commander of the 
 immortal Army of the Potomac. We all regret his 
 absence on this occasion, though there are other able 
 soldiers here who have carved their names in the Union's 
 history with their sword. I see the gallant Torbert, 
 whose exploits in the saddle have made him the Murat 
 of the Shenandoah, and whose tongue is now as eloquent 
 as his sabre was then sharp. Here are Generals Clark 
 and Gregory, soldiers whom the Nation and State delight 
 to honor; and my friends Forbes, and Funk, and 
 Parker, and Nevins, men whose names are more closely 
 blended than mine with the history of our nation's 
 heroism, and the record of whose valor form the most 
 glowing pages in Pennsylvania's annals. But, at a ban- 
 quet given to this State's War Governor, it may not 
 be inappropriate for the most humble soldier present 
 to respond to '* The Army" in the presence of "The 
 Soldier's Friend." 
 
74 Banquet to Ho?i. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 In our country to-day, when we mention the Army, 
 we scarcely think of the thirty-five thousand gallant, 
 well-officered men scattered throughout our vast terri- 
 tory, and who form but a nucleus for the mighty forces 
 which a week could assemble were the nation's honor or 
 vitality threatened. "The Army" rather suggests to 
 us the grand legions who rallied to the defence of the 
 Union in days gone past — the men who, in response 
 to Lincoln's call for aid, dropped hammer, and pen, 
 and plough, and shuttle, to grasp the rifle, and confront 
 the monster of treason in the stronghold of slavery. In 
 my mind's eye, that army is pictured now. Prouder 
 it stands than any of the forces, the recital of whose 
 exploits was wont to dazzle us on the pages of history. 
 The very territory from which it sprang is greater in its 
 area than the fields of Alexander's conquests, and its 
 victories were more decisive, and the lines of its march 
 more extended, than those that placed the world at the 
 feet ot Imperial Rome. The Numidian horse of 
 Hannibal, and later the Mamelukes, Cossacks, and Pon- 
 sonby's famous brigade have been our ideal horsemen ; 
 but when we measure their exploits with the sweeping 
 raids of Grierson, Stanley, and Kilpatrick, and the 
 irresistible charges of Sheridan, Custer, and Torbert, 
 we turn from the historic ideal, and, with a pardonable 
 vanity, we hurrah for the American horsemen, the most 
 effective in the world. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. y^ 
 
 The retreat of Thomas from Atlanta to Nashville 
 was more ably managed, and with a superior force to 
 that of Xenophon, and the terrible blow he dealt the 
 pursuing enemy was a climax to the exploit, which is 
 wanting in the Greek prototype. The stubborn stand 
 made by Meade at Gettysburg, and the wonderful 
 endurance of the men, who, under a July sun, fought 
 superior numbers for seventy-two hours, and snatched 
 glorious victory from apparent defeat, shows in itself 
 a heroism sufficient to establish the character of an army, 
 and place a nation foremost among the powers of the 
 earth. I remember long ago the impression made on 
 me when I read of the daring of Cortez in burning his 
 ships, and with no friendly base to fall back on, and no 
 avenue for escape in case of defeat, he relied on the 
 valor of his men and pushed on, till the Capital of 
 Montezuma lay 'neath his heel. But how insignificant 
 that act seems compared with the campaign of Sherman 
 in Georgia. Fighting for two hundred miles, through 
 mountain fastnesses and across deep and guarded rivers, 
 into the very heart of the enemy's country, then destroy- 
 ing his base and avenue of supplies, and with his 
 bronzed legions sweeping down to the' sea, and seizing, 
 despite the valor of the foe, the keys of the Atlantic 
 seaboard. When we turn to Grant, we look in vain 
 over the records of the past for a parallel. Others may 
 have equalled him in ability and valor ; but, in 
 
76 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 the sublimity of his victories, the brilliancy of his cam- 
 paigns, the effect of his success on mankind for good, 
 and the modesty with which he bears his honors, he 
 stands out in history alone. 
 
 When we speak of the American Army, we forget 
 State lines, for the men from Pennsylvania brigaded 
 with those from Kentucky, and Michigan and Rhode 
 Island stood side by side in the corps. No victory, 
 fortunately, is the property of any State ; no battle 
 was won by the unaided efforts of one section, and yet, 
 from their geographical position and wealth, some States 
 necessarily took a more conspicuous position than others. 
 Governor Curtin told us to-night that, at his summons, 
 in obedience to Mr. Lincoln's call, three hundred and 
 sixty-six thousand men left Pennsylvania for the battle's 
 front, and forty thousand armed men stood in reserve 
 to guard the State. Four hundred thousand men ral- 
 lied at the order of the man we gather here to honor, 
 and were his contribution to the suppression of the 
 rebellion. In the hearts of the survivors of this mighty 
 army, there is to-day a warm place for the man, who, 
 by his noble devotion and untiring energy, won the 
 proud name of "The Soldier's Friend." After the 
 war, the Army laid down its arms, and the soldiers of 
 Pennsylvania, like those of other States, resumed their 
 peaceful callings. I have seen them in the shadow of 
 the Rocky Mountains, and by the camp-fire; I have 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. jj 
 
 heard a bronzed veteran speak of Gettysburg — his eyes 
 flashed as he told me he belonged to the Reserves, and 
 he bared his throat to show me where a rebel bullet 
 struck. Then, he added, with the glow of a soldier's 
 pride on his brown face, "Come to my ranche to-morrow, 
 and I will show you my commission, signed by Andrew 
 G. Curtin!" In a thousand homes those commissions 
 adorn the best-room walls, and the soldiers lift their 
 little ones to read the testimony of their father's valor, 
 and to spell out the name, already familiar, which gave 
 the commission authority. The honor conferred upon 
 Governor Curtin, the soldiers must look upon as a 
 compliment to them. First, because the war Governor 
 was necessarily a comrade, and then, because that com- 
 rade is sent as envoy to a Government, whose heart 
 was truly in sympathy with us in the hour of our 
 greatest trial. The soldiers cannot soon forget that 
 while we were struggling along the Mississippi, and 
 toiling through Virginia, France was contemplating the 
 recognition of our foes ; and taking advantage of our 
 weakness, she tried to crush out our sister Republic to 
 the South. Then, the ruling classes of England were 
 in sympathy with the rebellion, and floating the Southern 
 cross over English ships, British seamen swept our 
 commerce from the seas. The Army cannot soon forget 
 this, nor the fact, that Russia alone occupied no ambigu- 
 ous position. We feel warmly towards the Czar and 
 
78 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 his people, and thankful that to his Court goes the 
 " Soldier's Friend," at the request of the soldier's 
 Chieftain. 
 
 In the name of my comrades, I say to Governor 
 CuRTiN, farewell ! We shall pray for pleasant winds 
 at sea, and sunny days in travel, and a happy time 
 abroad. We shall anxiously watch your movements, 
 and prayerfully await your return ; assuring you that 
 the remnant of the Army, which you and other loyal 
 Governors called out, stands ready to rally to the defence 
 of the Union, should treason again raise its head in 
 our midst, or a foreign foe attempt to deprive us of 
 our rights, or cast a stain on America's honor. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 THE NAVY. 
 
Banquel: to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 79 
 
 SPEECH OF CAPTAIN ALEX. MURRAY. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
 
 This occasion, which will be a memorable one, with 
 its peculiar surroundings, adds much to the natural 
 embarrassment with which I rise, in response to the 
 toast by which you have been pleased to honor the 
 Navy. 
 
 This grateful duty has rarely before been mine. I 
 would now it were that of another, who could better 
 illustrate the profession, or add somewhat to the interest 
 of these festivities. Of course, Mr. President, the Navy 
 is always ready to respond, in some shape or another, 
 as best we know how, either to compliments or blows; 
 and, I believe, it is generally admitted, that if we some- 
 times fail in doing justice to the compliments, we make 
 it up when we come to return the blows, in consideration 
 of which, I hope, sir, to be forgiven any failure, and 
 that the kindly spirit so manifest here to-night will 
 receive the effort for the deed. 
 
 I thank you, Mr. President, for the manner in 
 which you have introduced my profession ; I thank 
 you, gentlemen, from my inmost depths, for the way 
 in which you have received it ; I thank you, one and 
 all, not in the name of those illustrious officers who 
 have leaped from our modest circle, and placed them- 
 
8o Banquet to Hon. Aiidrew G. Curtin. 
 
 selves side by side with the honored ones of the nation 
 — they have expressed their thanks by deeds — but in 
 behalf of that undistinguished body, of which I am an 
 humble member, and which is the Navy of these 
 United States. If not individually, I will claim for 
 them, as a body, the merit of possessing an aggregate 
 of patriotism, unselfish zeal, and personal integrity, 
 which any community might be proud to possess, and 
 which an experience of thirty-four years has taught me 
 to respect, and, on this occasion, not, I hope, with an 
 unbecoming pride to boast of 
 
 But, I apprehend. Sir, we are not here for the purpose 
 of vaunting; it is the gathering of friends, with hearts 
 saddened by the contemplation of an approaching sepa- 
 ration, a reluctant severance of a treasured association 
 from one who will carry with him, and keep by him, 
 as cherished trophies, our conquered affections. God 
 speed him, and give him a safe return. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 WOMAN,. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 81 
 
 SPEECH OF GENERAL A. T. TORBERT. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 I am specially gratified in being present to-night to 
 assist in doing honor to the War Governor, the man 
 whom Pennsylvania and the General Government delight 
 to honor; but my post was intended to be a silent one, 
 and to be thus unexpectedly called upon to respond to 
 this sentiment, I can truly say, that I am sorry that 
 you have such a poor substitute for Mr, Dougherty, 
 who was to have responded. However, this is always 
 a pleasing sentiment, and from what has been said 
 to-night, I naturally associate the women of the country 
 with their labors for those who risked life and limb in 
 the defence of their country in her recent troubles. It 
 was not only in the halls of legislation that a ready 
 response was made to the many appeals in behalf of 
 the defenders of our country, but the people every- 
 where displayed unfailing sympathy with the men in 
 the field, and no class exhibited it more strongly than 
 did the women of the Republic. They were immedi- 
 ately related to the army in the field. Hardly a woman 
 in the land but who had a father, brother, cousin, or 
 husband in the camp, and, of course, they were pro- 
 foundly solicitous for their comfort. And they were 
 not slow to display that solicitude ; for, before a single 
 
82 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
 regiment had left for the field, in 1861, nimble fingers 
 were engaged in fashioning articles of convenience and 
 comfort for those preparing to march. Nor was this 
 impulse any less general than it was spontaneous. The 
 soldier, above all others, knew that they were genuine 
 sisters of mercy ; that they were inspired with a zeal 
 and enthusiasm, in behalf of those who went forth in 
 their stead, seldom, if ever, equalled. We can never 
 forget their early organized movements In 1861, for the 
 purpose of preparing necessary comforts for the volun- 
 teers, and I am glad to know that women of all classes 
 of society were alike interested in, and contributed to, 
 these organizations. No, we never can forget the many 
 methods of army relief instituted and employed by the 
 patriotic women of this country. 
 
 And as they have always been partial to a patriot, 
 and our guest being one of the best, I have no doubt 
 they will join with me in wishing him a pleasant 
 journey, a successful mission, and a safe return. 
 
 The last sentiment proposed was — ■ 
 THE PRESS. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 8 3 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. THOMAS E. COCHRAN. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 I appreciate the honor of being called on to respond 
 on behalf of " "The Pressr It is a great power in the 
 State, and has been well styled "the conservator of 
 public liberty." While it remains free, pure, and inde- 
 pendent, the institutions of the country will continue 
 to be safe under its vigilant guardianship. Should it 
 become corrupt, time-serving, and mercenary, we may 
 expect the decadence of the Republic, and tremble 
 lest it fall. 
 
 It has not been my lot to touch the key-note of the 
 great popular organ — the daily press of the commercial 
 cities. For many years I was associated with the 
 country newspaper — the voice and oracle of the rural 
 districts — and suffered the disasters of defeat, or assisted 
 to raise "the earthquake shout of victory." It pene- 
 trates the deepest recesses of the Commonwealth, where 
 human habitations are found, and forms, or gathers and 
 reflects, the public sentiment, which prevails among the 
 broad valleys, and along the wooded mountain sides of 
 Pennsylvania. It will perform no more welcome office 
 than when it lays before its readers a report of this 
 worthy and impressive tribute of respect paid by the 
 people of this great city to your and our guest this 
 
84 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 evening; and every expression of regard and attachment 
 to his person and character, and recognition of his 
 public services, will meet a warm response, especially 
 wherever a widowed heart still melts at the memory 
 of its bereavement by the war to save the life of the 
 nation ; wherever the patriotic soldier's orphan shares 
 the provision made by the State, at the instance of his 
 untiring advocate, whom we greet to-night, for his 
 support and education, or the surviving hero of the 
 great struggle recalls the unwearied labors of the War 
 Governor in his behalf, and consecrates, with an undying 
 affection, the name of him who wears unchallenged the 
 proud title of " The Soldier's Friend." 
 
 We, Sir, who are here from the interior of this State, 
 to unite with you in this tribute to manly worth and 
 official fidelity, claim a special and peculiar interest and 
 property in the distinguished gentleman whom we have 
 delighted to assemble and honor. He is " native and 
 to the manor born" of the rural districts of this Com- 
 monwealth. We yielded him to the public service 
 when his name was called, and we cherish an honest 
 pride in the meed of honor and applause which has 
 followed his discharge of the responsible and trying 
 duties of the Chief Executive Magistrate of Pennsyl- 
 vania in "the troublous times." We have followed 
 his white plume in many a heavy and doubtful contest 
 through glory to victory. We cherished the unselfish 
 
Banquet to Hon. Afidrew G. Cur tin. 85 
 
 hope that here at home some eminent position would 
 have enjoyed the advantage of his admirable faculties 
 and his patriotic service. The voice of his country, 
 through the President and Senate, calls him to represent 
 her honor and dignity at the Court of the great and 
 friendly monarch, who wished well, and failed in no 
 devoir of act or word, to this Republic during her grand 
 contest for liberty, law, and the rights of humanity. 
 We come now to unite with you in saying to our 
 guest and friend the sad word, Farewell ! Farewell, 
 gallant knight, without fear and without reproach, who 
 faltered not in your brave career for the cause of patri- 
 otism, Union, and freedom ! Farewell, noble Governor, 
 who maintained the untarnished honor of your native 
 State in all emergencies, and so wielded her power as 
 to vindicate her right to be called " The Keystone of 
 the Federal Arch !" Farewell, friend of the soldier, who 
 spared not yourself, your comfort, or your health, to 
 give him aid, and succor, and support on the bivouac, 
 the picket-line, the battle-field, in the hospital, when he 
 pined in sickness or from the torture of wounds, or 
 in the still more terrible rebel prison, where cruelty 
 practised its fiercest refinements to make his life a 
 ceaseless suffering, and to bring on death in its sharpest 
 agonies ! Farewell, chivalrous champion of the widow, 
 the orphan, and the maimed and mutilated hero, who 
 ceasest not yet to demand the country's fullest provision 
 
86 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Cur tin. 
 
 of grateful comfort and relief for the men who saved 
 her from her overthrow in the direst days of armed 
 and boasting treason ! Farewell, friend, companion, 
 brother, though you cross the wide ocean, and its 
 storms and perils roll between, we follow you there 
 with our tribute of affection, and our warm aspirations 
 for your health, happiness, and prosperity. " Many 
 waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown 
 it." We shall await with impatience the day when we 
 can shout your welcome home to your own Pennsyl- 
 vania, crowned with new honors, and to her people, who 
 surround you with the best defence — that of their own 
 loving and grateful hearts. Until then, salve et vale — 
 hail, and farewell 1 
 
 All the speakers were frequently interrupted 
 with applause, and especially when they referred to 
 the character and public services of Gov. Curtin. 
 At a late hour the Banquet adjourned, with three 
 cheers for Gov. Curtin, three more for Russia, and 
 three cheers for the Union. Altogether it was the 
 most conspicuous testimonia,l ever given in the City 
 of Philadelphia to a citizen of the State, and it left 
 nothing undone to assure the distinguished guest of 
 the occasion, that he bears with him to a foreign 
 land the sincere affection of the people he has so 
 faithfully served. 
 
Letters of Regret, 87 
 
 LETTERS OF REGRET. 
 
 The following letters and despatches were 
 received by the Chairman of the Committee on 
 Invitations from the distinguished gentlemen 
 whose names are thereto given : 
 
 FROM PRESIDENT GRANT. 
 
 Executive Mansion, 
 
 June 7, 1869. 
 
 The President regrets that previous engagements deprive 
 him of the pleasure of attending the public dinner, given to the 
 Hon. A. G. CuRTiN, on the eve of his departure for Russia. 
 
 FROM SECRETARY FISH. 
 
 Department of State, 
 
 Washington, June 4, 1869. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 If my engagements here would allow, I should be glad to 
 accept the invitation you have been pleased to extend to me, to 
 the dinner to be given to the Hon. A. G. Curtin on the 12th 
 instant, and join in the compliment to which his devoted loyalty 
 and his eminent services justly entitle him. I regret, however. 
 
88 Letters of Regret. 
 
 that it will not be in my power to be present with you. I shall 
 at least unite with you and his other friends, in best wishes for his 
 health and happiness, and his success in the important mission he 
 enters upon. With great respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 HAMILTON FISH. 
 John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM HON. A. E. BORIE. 
 
 Washington, 'June 9, 1869. 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 I regret exceedingly that my official engagements must deprive 
 me of the pleasure of participating personally in the splendid 
 farewell banquet, to be offered so very properly, to Hon. A. G. 
 CuRTiN, our late most loyal and patriotic Governor, and now 
 our Minister to Russia. His active zeal during our civil war, 
 particularly In raising troops, in the care of our gallant soldiers 
 in the field and hospital, and of their bereaved orphans, ever must 
 entitle him to the best thanks of every lover of his country, and 
 to their best wishes for his health an(^ happiness. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. E. BORIE. 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
Letters of Regret. 89 
 
 FROM SECRETARY COX. 
 
 Department of the Interior, 
 
 Washington, June 9, 1869. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I greatly regret that circumstances put It out of my power to 
 accept the invitation of your Committee, to be present at the 
 Banquet given to the Hon. A. G. Curtin. 
 
 It would be a real pleasure to me to join in this expression 
 of regard for the distinguished gentleman whose patriotic career 
 has honored your State and the Nation. 
 
 Very respectfully and truly. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. D. COX. 
 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM GENERAL SHERMAN. 
 
 Headquarters Army of the United States, 
 
 Washington, June 10., 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I had the honor to receive this morning the card of invitation 
 to the Banquet, to be given at the Academy of Music, on the 
 
90 Letters of Regret. 
 
 1 2th inst., to the Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, Envoy to St. 
 Petersburg. I thank you kindly for the honor of this card, and 
 regret exceedingly that I am unable to attend. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 Yours truly 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, General. 
 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM GENERAL MEADE. 
 
 Headquarters Military Division of the Atlantic, 
 
 Philadelphia, June 9, 1869. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the invitation 
 to be present at the Banquet, to be given on the 12th inst., to 
 the Hon. A. G. Curtin, and which it would afford me great 
 pleasure to unite with my fellow-citizens on this occasion. I 
 regret that pre-engagements will prevent me from doing so. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 GEO. G. MEADE, 
 
 Maj. Gen., U. S. A. 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairinan. 
 
Letters of Regret, 9 1 
 
 FROM GOVERNOR GEARY. 
 
 Executive Chamber, 
 
 Harrisburg, Pa., June ii, 1869. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 I regret that my engagements are such that I find it Imprac- 
 ticable to accept your invitation to attend the Banquet, to be 
 given to morrow, at the Academy of Music, in honor of Ex- 
 Governor Andrew G. Curtin, which I certainly regard as a 
 well-deserved compliment to a gentleman whose patriotic and 
 valuable services entitle him to the admiration of his fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 JOHN W. GEARY. 
 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM JUDGE READ. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 10, i86g. 
 Dear Sir : 
 I regret that it is not in my power to accept your invitation to 
 the public dinner, to be given to the Hon. A. G. Curtin, on the 
 eve of his departure for Russia. 
 
 The people of Pennsylvania owe a deep debt of gratitude to 
 Governor Curtin for his able and patriotic administration of her 
 affairs during a rebellion of unparalleled magnitude, threatening 
 
92 Letters of Regret. 
 
 the dissolution of our glorious Union. His constant and unre- 
 mitting care of our soldiers and sailors, and of their widows and 
 orphans, have endeared him to every Pennsylvanian. 
 
 Governor Curtin had most able assistants, and among them, as 
 his legal adviser, the most accomplished lawyer of our bar, dis- 
 tinguished for his learning, his ability, his stern integrity, his pure 
 patriotism, and love of country. 
 
 I am, with great respect, 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 JOHN M, READ. 
 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM JUDGE AGNEW. 
 
 Beaver, June 7, 1S69. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Yours of the 3d inst., enclosing an invitation to a Banquet, to 
 be given to the Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, on the evening of the 
 1 2th inst., was forwarded to me frop Harrisburg. 
 
 It would give me great pleasure to be present on this interesting 
 occasion, and to contribute in paying to him that measure of 
 respect he so well deserves at the hands of all loyal Pennsylva- 
 nians, and which he so well earned during the dark and trying 
 period when he was the Governor of this State. 
 
Letters of Regret. 93 
 
 I am sorry that oiEcial duties are now so engrossing, I shall not 
 be able to leave home soon. 
 
 With great regard, I am, 
 
 Truly yours, &c., 
 
 DANIEL AGNEW. 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM JUDGE WILLIAMS. 
 
 Pittsburg, June 8, 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I regret that it will not be in my power, owing to other engage- 
 ments here, to accept the very kind invitation of the Committee 
 on Invitation to be present at the Banquet to Hon. A. G. Curtin, 
 Envoy to St. Petersburg, to be given by his friends, on the eve of 
 his departure for Russia, at the Academy of Music, on Saturday, 
 the 1 2th of June next. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 H. W. WILLIAMS. 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM MAYOR FOX. 
 
 Office of the Mayor, 
 
 Philadelphia, June 10, 1869. 
 Sir: 
 
 Your very kind note, in relation to the Banquet in honor of 
 Ex-Governor Curtin, is just handed me. 
 
94 Letters of Regret. 
 
 I am so engrossed with official cares that I am not able to 
 promise myself the pleasure of being with you, especially so as I 
 have appointed Saturday evening for consultation with some of 
 my officers in relation to police matters of much moment to the 
 community. 
 
 With my thanks and good wishes, I am, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 D. M. FOX. 
 
 Hon. John Price Wetherill, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM HON. HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 New York, 'June 8, 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I deeply regret that an imperative duty precludes my attendance 
 at the dinner to the Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, on Saturday 
 evening next. The country remembers with gratitude, and will 
 not soon forget, his eminent services as one of the famous Gov- 
 ernors of 1 86 1 to 1865, and how efficiently energetic and inspiring 
 was his conduct throughout our great trial. The people know 
 how threatening was the attitude, and the need of such Governors 
 to the life of the Republic. I ask the privilege of uniting with 
 you all in wishing health, prosperity, and long life to Andrew G. 
 Curtin, the patriotic Governor, to' whom, in her extremity, the 
 nation looked for aid from Pennsylvania, and never in vain. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
Letters of Regret. 95 
 
 FROM HON. WILLIAM M. MEREDITH. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 10, 1869. 
 My dear Sir : 
 
 I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your note, with a compli- 
 mentary ticket for the Curtin Banquet, and to express to yourself 
 and the Committee my sense of this courtesy, and my regret that 
 the state of my health will prevent me from availing myself of 
 the invitation. 
 
 With great esteem, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 W. M. MEREDITH. 
 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM COMMODORE MARCHAND. 
 
 Commandant's Office, U. S. Navy Yard, 
 
 Philadelphia, June 8, 1869. 
 Sir : 
 
 I have the pleasure to receive your invitation to a Banquet, 
 offered to the Hon. A. G. Curtin, on his departure for the 
 Russian mission. 
 
 I have to regret my inability to attend, and give expression to 
 our temporary loss by the absence of a patriot and statesman, to 
 whom our country and State are so much indebted. 
 
 His mission abroad will, without doubt, be as glorious for our 
 
96 Letters of Regret. 
 
 country as his self-sacrificing exertions during the rebellion, in 
 
 illustrating the stability of our institutions. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 J. B. MARCHAND. 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM HENRY D. MOORE. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 5, 1869. 
 My dear Sir : 
 
 I am in receipt of your kind invitation to the " Banquet" to 
 be given to Ex-Governor Curtin, on the 12th inst., and w^ill 
 with pleasure be present on that occasion, if not prevented by 
 circumstances beyond my control. The honor you thus propose 
 to confer on him, on the eve of his departure from our country, 
 is most appropriate, and well deserved by him, for the invaluable 
 services he rendered his State and country in the dark days of the 
 Rebellion. I have reason to know something of those services, 
 for it was my pleasure to be associated with him in official duties 
 at Harrisburg at the commencement of the war, and in the 
 discharge ot those duties, I was necessarily brought into close 
 and intimate relations with him, and know of the many sleepless 
 nights, and days and months of anxious solicitude, he passed 
 through, while the clouds above and around our country were so 
 dark and impenetrable. The services which Pennsylvania ren- 
 dered our country in those trying times of its history, are too well 
 known to need repetition by me. Every battle-field of the war 
 attests those services, and upon many of those fields of strife, 
 that glorious band of martyrs from our State, the Pennsylvania 
 
Letters of Regret. 97 
 
 Reserves, erected of their dead bodies monuments to Constitu- 
 tional liberty and freedom, and rolled back the tide of desolation 
 which was threatening, at the commencement of the war, to 
 overwhelm us in ruins ; and to Governor Curtin, more than 
 any other man, is due the successful organization and equipment 
 of that glorious band of heroes. And so on, through the whole 
 war, whenever Pennsylvania was called on, through him, for a 
 fresh supply of troops, those calls were responded to with an 
 alacrity and zeal equalled by i^w^^ and surpassed by no other State 
 in the Union. And another feature of the war which should be, 
 and will be, remembered in the history of our State, is the fact, 
 that at its commencement, and in the darkest hours of its history, 
 when our National Treasury was almost bankrupt, Pennsylvania, 
 the first State in the Union to negotiate a loan, was furnished by 
 her patriotic citizens with three millions of dollars, at par, at a 
 time when the bonds of our National Government were sellino- 
 in the market at a discount of fourteen and fifteen per cent. 
 And this was accomplished also under the administration of him 
 whom you propose to honor by this banquet. And, notwith- 
 standing this loan of three millions, and the enormous expenses 
 incident to the war, the public debt of our State was reduced, 
 and was less at the close of the administration of Governor 
 Curtin than it was at the commencement of his term. I repeat, 
 therefore, that it is proper and appropriate for you thus to recog- 
 nize his invaluable services to his State and country. 
 Hoping to be with you on that occasion, I remain. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 HENRY D. MOORE. 
 
 To John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
98 Letters of Regret. 
 
 FROM ASSISTANT SURGEON GENERAL LANE. 
 
 Chambersburg, June 8, 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I very much regret that I am unable to participate in the 
 ceremonies you are holding in honor of your distinguished guest. 
 Nothing could afford me greater gratification than to unite in a 
 public demonstration of respect to Governor Curtin, who has 
 served his State and country so faithfully and so brilliantly. 
 
 The love and admiration I cherish for him are not narrowed 
 to personal attachment, however much his private virtues and 
 engaging social qualities have attracted me. Nor do I found my 
 regard for him chiefly upon the magnificent service he rendered 
 the National Government during the long, dark hours of the 
 Rebellion, in heightening the spirit of loyalty in the breasts of 
 Pennsylvanians, in strengthening the purposes of our rulers in 
 times that tried the faith and hopes of the most steadfast, in 
 inspiriting sister States to patriotic exertions by his own glowing 
 example, or even in sending so many thousands of the choicest 
 sons of the Commonwealth to the rescue of the Republic. 
 
 Great as we know all these services were, I find a more 
 pleasing source of esteem for the great War Governor in the 
 tender affection with which he followed into the field the troops 
 he furnished our armies, and the 'keen solicitude he ever felt in 
 " their welfare or their woe." They were always to him as 
 children : their prowess was his pride, their triumph his joy, their 
 suffering his own bitter anguish ; he watched over them with 
 paternal anxiety, and they looked up to him with filial dependence. 
 I shared this grateful trustfulness with the heroic men amid the 
 
Letters of Regret. 99 
 
 perils of the camp and the battle-field, and know how general it 
 was, and how encouraging. But it was when a subordinate on 
 his staff that I appreciated how earnest and devoted were his love 
 and care for his soldiers, and how he well deserved the name of 
 *' friend." As Assistant Surgeon General of the State, I was 
 brought into daily intercommunication between Governor Curtin 
 and the sick and wounded of our regiments. It was one of my 
 duties to visit the hospitals, and look after their comfort. Then 
 I realized the strong hold he had upon the affections of the men. 
 
 At his name, the dull eye brightened and the weary heart 
 throbbed with renewed animation. They recognized him as their 
 fond guardian. Into his willing ears they poured the tide of their 
 complaints ; him they were constantly importuning for favors ; 
 they asked his intercession for transfers, furloughs, discharges, for 
 the revocation of sentences of courts-martial, for the recovery of 
 bounties, back pay, and the like, for the gratification of the num- 
 berless wants that are proverbial among soldiers. Every mail to 
 Harrisburg was laden with letters to him, containing some request 
 from the soldiers or their friends. And I had official knowledge 
 that it was the Governor's wish that every such letter should be 
 punctually answered, and its request granted, if possible. His 
 heart was full of their interests. Is it to be wondered that such 
 zeal for his soldiers should have been observed by the men of 
 other States, and that the Executive of the Keystone should have 
 become the ideal of a patriarchal Governor ? 
 
 Through his inciting efforts, largely, loyal thousands left their 
 peaceful homes to share the imminent deadly dangers of the field; 
 through his sagacity, in a great degree, they were placed under 
 the command of able officers ; through his solicitude, in good 
 measure, they were watched over and cared for when at the front; 
 
loo Letters of Regret. 
 
 through his consideration, particularly, they were supplied with 
 comforts and attention in the hospital ; through his providence, 
 mainly, facilities were afforded to beloved and affectionate rela- 
 tives, unable of their own resources to visit the couch of suffering; 
 through his exertions only, born of piety and of justice, the Com- 
 monwealth, the generous mother of heroes unexampled in legend 
 or in fable, brought back for sepulture the remains of the dead 
 which would have lain unhonored upon the theatre of war ; 
 through his sympathy, untiring, earnest, almost fanatical, the 
 orphans of her soldiers became the orphans of the State, and 
 have been provided with means of culture and support. And is 
 not his eloquent voice now ringing stirringly in the hearts of our 
 people, in behalf of the mutilated and disabled heroes, whose 
 necessities drive them to precarious and reproaching means of 
 livelihood, and to whom he charges that the State's promises have 
 been unfulfilled ? 
 
 These are the attributes and services that make the peculiar 
 charm of Governor Curtin's character and history, in my eyes. 
 In these there 
 
 "Are more 
 Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore," 
 
 And now that he leaves the land he loves, and has served so 
 well, to go as its trusted envoy to one of the farthest foreign 
 capitals in distance, though the nearest in friendship, it would be 
 exceedingly grateful to me to help to swell your voice of appro- 
 bation, which shall cheer him upon his long and perilous voyage, 
 and herald his advent to the new scene of his patriotic labors. 
 
 I am sure he will represent, nobly and wisely, the genuine 
 
Letters of Regret, loi 
 
 Democracy of the New World at the Court of the most absolute 
 Autocracy of the Old. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 SAMUEL G. LANE. 
 
 Hon. John Price Wetherill, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM HON. ALEXANDER KING. 
 
 Bedford, June 2, 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
 of the 29th ult., inviting me to participate in a public dinner, 
 to be given to Governor Curtin, at the Academy of Music, 
 in your city, on the eve of his departure to the Court of St. 
 Petersburg. 
 
 It may, possibly, not be in my power to join the friends of this 
 distinguished patriot in the proposed demonstration of respect, but 
 if I can, I will. At all events, my warmest sympathies will be 
 with you in doing deserved honor to one, whose eminent services, 
 during the Rebellion, contributed so much to the success of the 
 Union Army in that time of peril, and shed so much lustre on 
 our good old Commonwealth. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. KING. 
 Hon. John Price Wetherill, 
 
 Chairman, 
 
I02 Letters of Regret. 
 
 FROM GENERAL H. WALBRIDGE. 
 
 New York, June 12, 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I am unexpectedly prevented from coming, and therefore send 
 you the following sentiment : 
 
 Andrew G. Curtin — the worthy representative of the whole 
 country, and of the truly National Administration which has 
 entrusted him with confidence and power; having faithfully served 
 his country in integrity and fidelity at home, he will justly repre- 
 sent her honor and interest abroad. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 H. WALBRIDGE. 
 John Price Wetherill, Esq., 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 FROM HON. JOHN W. FORNEY. 
 
 Washington, ^une ir, 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I much regret that business will prevent my being in Phila- 
 delphia to attend the Banquet to Governor Curtin. 
 
 J. W. FORNEY. 
 Hon. John Price Wetherii.l, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
Letters of Regret. 103 
 
 FROM GENERAL WM. LILLY. 
 
 Mauch Chunk, June 12, 1869. 
 Dear Sir: 
 I deeply regret that I cannot be with you to do honor to Gov- 
 ernor CuRTiN in person, as I will be in heart and spirit. 
 
 WILLIAM LILLY. 
 
 Hen. John Price Wetherill, 
 
 Ck 
 
 ^airmail. 
 
 FROM HON. JAMES SILL. 
 
 Erie, Pa., June 2, 1869. 
 Dear Sir : 
 It would afford me great pleasure to unite with the friends of 
 Governor Curtin in the dinner to be given on the 12th, but 
 circumstances beyond my control will compel me to deny myself 
 the pleasure. 
 
 I beg you to present to Governor Curtin the cordial good will 
 with which his friends in Erie will regard the interesting occasion, 
 which their remote position will in a measure compel them to 
 express by proxy. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 JAMES SILL. 
 Hon. John Price Wetherill, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
I04 Letters of Regret. 
 
 FROM HON. GIDEON J. BALL. 
 
 Erie, June 8, 1869. 
 Sir : 
 
 I have just returned to Erie, and have before me your letter, 
 inviting me to a public dinner, to be given to Governor Curtin, 
 in Philadelphia, on the 12th instant. I am sorry, but it is now 
 too late to change business engagements previously made ; in 
 consequence, I cannot join you on that interesting occasion. It 
 vi^ill be, indeed, a reunion of many old friends, and I would be 
 happy to meet them. 
 
 I am reminded of the fact that " I was the author of the 
 Reserve Bill — the law under which the Pennsylvania Reserves 
 were organized. And you also allude to the desperate struggle 
 against faction and treason that gave success to that most 
 important measure." 
 
 It is to be remembered that the change was quick from the 
 quiet of peace to the alarms of war. The public mind was 
 excited. The emergency was great, and it called for measures 
 equal to the wants of the time. A heavy responsibility was 
 thrust on Governor Curtin. The gloomy surroundings, and 
 the anxiety that pressed upon him at the outbreak of the rebel- 
 lion, cannot well be measured or understood by persons who were 
 not, by day and by night, on duty with him. Great dangers 
 were impending. It was the declared intent of the rebel leaders 
 to involve Maryland in the Rebellion. This exposed the inhab- 
 itants of Southern and Eastern Pennsylvania to injury. They 
 would be ruined by war j their situation was both critical and 
 dangerous. Our territory and people must be protected ; but 
 
Letters of Regret. 105 
 
 how, and by whom ? The power of the United States seemed 
 broken. Faction, with fiendish purpose, everywhere abounded. 
 
 A remembrance of the wants, disappointments, and struggles 
 of that period of gloom recalls to mind, that when Sherman's 
 famed battery. United States Light Artillery, arrived from the 
 West, a request by telegraph to Governor Curtin preceded it, 
 asking him to provide and have ready a supply of fixed ammuni- 
 tion, as the battery had none. 
 
 To the surprise of the Governor, and the alarm of many, it 
 was discovered that the required ammunition could not be 
 obtained. A call to furnish it was made on the United States 
 Arsenals, located in this State, but the response was, " We have 
 none." It was on a Sunday, late in the month of April, 1861, 
 that Major — now General — W. T. Sherman arrived with his 
 battery in Harrisburg. When informed that the ammunition he 
 wanted was not to be had in Pennsylvania, that we had no military 
 organization, and no military stores, that gallant officer exclaimed, 
 " How defenceless ! A small body of organized troops can 
 ravage your State, and of what use is my battery without ammu- 
 nition ?" It was at this time, and amidst such surroundings, that 
 the law was prepared to raise, organize, and equip, for State 
 defence, that effective body of troops known as the Pennsylvania 
 Reserves, with a provision that they were to be mustered into the 
 service of the United States in case the President should call on 
 the State for more soldiers. That subsequently, and at a period 
 of great danger to the nation, they were hurried to the Capital, 
 and mustered into the service of the United States, saving Wash- 
 ington City from probable capture, is now a matter of history. 
 
 Fortunately, that dark period, with its days and nights of care, 
 alarm, anxiety, hard work, and watchfulness, is past. I remember 
 
1 o6 Letters of' Regret. 
 
 that, at that time, the calls from our own people on the Governor 
 for protection and aid were incessant. Sister States, evincing a 
 deep solicitude, asked what Pennsylvania Intended to do. It 
 seemed to me then, and I so think to-day, that the decision and 
 action of Pennsylvania, influenced for good the action of others. 
 The doings of Pennsylvania furnishes the key to much that was 
 well done elsewhere. 
 
 There were no authorities or precedents to refer to for aid and 
 instruction in that hour of trial. Patriotism pointed out the duty 
 to be performed ; but the pathway was beset with jealousies, 
 heart-burning distrusts, and faction. In view of all the difficul- 
 ties, the wonder Is, that so much good work was so well done j 
 and now that it Is done, let harmony prevail. 
 
 In conclusion, I may properly add, that while the people know 
 the record of Governor Curtin, they do not know of his trials 
 in achieving his great work for the State and Nation. 
 I have the honor to be, with consideration and regard, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 GIDEON J. BALL. 
 Hon. John Price Wetherill, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Ajidrew G. Curtin. 1 07 
 
 DINNER BY THE UNION LEAGUE. 
 
 The Directors of the Union League of Phila- 
 delphia, met on the 9th of June, 1869, and in their 
 official capacity, invited Governor Curtin to dine 
 v^ith them as their guest. It was the first invitation 
 of the kind ever given to a citizen of the State, 
 and was tendered in the following complimentary 
 terms : 
 
 Union League House, 
 
 Philadelphia, June 9, 1869. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 The Directors of the Union League, holding in high estimation 
 the efficient services rendered by you to the country, during your 
 term of office as Governor of Pennsylvania, and desiring to 
 tender to you some tribute of their personal regard, before your 
 departure for Europe, have instructed the undersigned to invite 
 you to dine with them, as the guest of the League, on Monday 
 next, the 14th instant, at 6 o'clock p. m. 
 The favor of an early answer is requested. 
 We are, very respectfully. 
 Your friends, 
 
 DANIEL SMITH, Jr., 
 CH. GIBBONS, 
 JOHN P. VERREE. 
 Hon. Andrew G. Curtin. 
 
I08 Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Curt in. 
 
 Governor Curtin accepted the invitation by 
 the following letter : 
 
 GOVERNOR CURTIN'S REPLY. 
 
 Philadelphia, June lo, 1869. 
 Gentlemen : 
 On my arrival in the city this morning, I received your letter 
 inviting me to dine with the Directors of the Union League, on 
 Monday evening next. 
 
 The eventful period of my official life is so blended with the 
 good works of the League, that I was anxious for a fitting oppor- 
 tunity to meet the representative men of the body, and to say 
 farewell to them before leaving the country. 
 
 I, therefore, accept your invitation with great pleasure, and it 
 will be most agreeable to me to meet you, and spend an evening 
 with you in the absence of all ostentatious ceremony, and to 
 separate from you as my friends, alike in office or private life. 
 
 I am, very truly, your friend, 
 
 A. G. CURTIN. 
 
 To Daniel Smith, Jr., 
 Hon. Charles Gibbons, 
 John P. Verree. 
 
Banquet to Hon. Andrew G. Ciirtin. 1 09 
 
 At the time named, the full Board of Directors 
 of the League, sat down with Governor Curtin, 
 and his Secretaries, Hon. T. J. Coffey and Robert 
 H. Gratz, Esq., to the bountiful repast. It was 
 a private entertainment, and free and pleasant 
 conversation took the place of speech making. 
 
 At a late hour the select company adjourned, 
 after each had bid a kind farewell with the dis- 
 tinguished guest, upon whom they had conferred 
 their highest honor. 
 
no Departure for Russia. 
 
 DEPARTURE FOR RUSSIA. 
 
 On the 1 6th day of June, A. D. 1869, Gov- 
 ernor CuRTiN and family left Philadelphia for New 
 York, accompanied by the Joint Committee of 
 Councils, and a number of personal friends in a 
 special car. 
 
 While at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, he was 
 called upon by Hon. Charles Sumner, Hon. 
 Horace Greeley, and a large number of dis- 
 tinguished citizens of New York, and visitors in the 
 city. At eleven o'clock the Committee of the 
 Councils, accompanied by some fifty Pennsylvanians, 
 called in a body to pay their respects to Mrs. 
 CuRTiN, after which, the party embarked on a 
 revenue cutter, placed at the disposal of the 
 company by Surveyor Cornell, to join the steamer 
 Douno, in the lower bay. 
 
Departure for Russia. 1 1 1 
 
 REMARKS OF HON. RUFUS F. ANDREWS. 
 
 Mr. RuFus F. Andrews, late Surveyor of the Port 
 of New York, was called upon to express the sentiments 
 of the citizens of New York on the occasion. 
 
 He said: "It was with mingled feelings of pleasure and 
 sadness that he responded to the request— of pleasure, 
 because it gave him an opportunity to congratulate his 
 old and valued friend, Governor Curtin, upon his 
 appointment to the distinguished and honorable trust of 
 Representative of the United States to the Empire of 
 Russia, the truest friend to our Government during its 
 struggles to suppress Rebellion and maintain its National 
 existence — and of sadness, because he was about to part, 
 perhaps for years, with one whom he so much loved and 
 esteemed; a representative, not of Pennsylvania alone, 
 but of the whole United States, and one to whom every 
 American soldier, from General Grant down to the 
 humblest private, has reason to be thankful. 
 
 " It is true that the events of the war, great and all- 
 absorbing as they were, during its continuance, have 
 almost ceased to interest the people of the United States. 
 We are an excitable people, and throw aside the events 
 and issues of yesterday to grapple with those of to- 
 morrow. Ever onward is the progressive struggle of 
 
1 1 2 Departure for Russia. 
 
 our age, and ^Excelsior'' has become especially the motto 
 of our citizens, without distinction of race or color. 
 
 " But it is well, at times, to take a retrospective view 
 of the struggles and victories through which we have 
 passed, and especially is it so on an occasion like the 
 present. It will be acknowledged that, while all the 
 Governors of the Loyal States put forth their best 
 exertions to suppress the rebellion, the people throughout 
 the country recognized Curtin and Andrew, the Gov- 
 ernors of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, as the two 
 leading lights in supporting the Government. And 
 this I say without any intention of detracting from the 
 merits of their colleagues. 
 
 "Our Government sends to Russia a fit representative 
 of the age in which he lives ; not an old fogy, with musty 
 and discarded ideas, but a live man of the people, and a 
 representative American. All parties, Democratic and 
 Republican, are gratified with the selection. He will go 
 to Russia to watch the interests of the whole country ; 
 and we may safely believe that his influence, which was 
 so potent in our late struggle, and so widely felt and 
 acknowledged since the restoration of peace, will be 
 usefully exerted, not only in Russia, but in England, 
 France, and throughout the Continent. 
 
 "The people of New York, therefore, join with you 
 of Pennsylvania, in wishing Governor Curtin a pleasant 
 voyage, and a successful diplomatic career." 
 
Departure for Russia. 1 1 3 
 
 Loud calls were made for Col. Wm. B. Mann, 
 who responded as follows: 
 
 SPEECH OF COL. WM. B. MANN. 
 
 Minister Curtin : 
 
 You have been accompanied here by a number of your 
 friends from Pennsylvania, who determined to delay the 
 time for bidding you farewell until the last possible 
 moment. We of Pennsylvania feel that we are bereaved 
 in losing from our midst " Our Pennsylvanian," our 
 representative man, who has shared with us alike the 
 triumphs and disasters of the State, and who has won for 
 us no small share of our National glory. 
 
 Your entrance into public life was at the opportune 
 moment, when just such abilities as you possess were 
 needed, and it was indeed fortunate that the helm of the 
 ship of State was in your hands during the terrible crisis 
 of '61 and '6c^. 
 
 True it is that the cares and anxieties of that memor- 
 able period have weighed heavily upon your health and 
 strength, — and your locks are whiter and your form less 
 erect than of old ; but neither care nor time has lessened 
 your faith in those you have loved ; and doubtless you 
 find some slight recompense in the fact, that of all the 
 friends who gathered around you through that ordeal 
 there are no deserters, while their numbers have been 
 hourly strengthened by hosts of others who delight to 
 
1 1 4 Departure for Russia. 
 
 admire and applaud your services. Let it be a source 
 of unceasing pleasure to you to know that, in addition 
 to all this, there is not a bereaved family in the State, 
 mourning the loss of its patriot father, son or brother, 
 who, recollecting your devotion to the volunteers, will 
 not offer up supplications for your safe return. 
 
 The full appreciation of your loss. Sir, will not be 
 confined to your thousands of personal friends, or to 
 the widows and the orphans of our fallen braves ; but 
 to the great loyal party of Pennsylvania which yielded 
 to you the undisputed baton of her leadership. That 
 great party will sadly miss your wise counsel and 
 inspiring utterances in the coming contest for the 
 Executive chair, and if the fates should decree that for a 
 time we should be cast down and thrown into confusion, 
 in vain shall we look for the " white plumes " around 
 which to rally our desponding forces. 
 
 But let us hope that this separation may be but for a 
 time, and that by and by you will return to us a giant 
 refreshed, to grapple with the old enemy, to fight again 
 the well-fought field, and win fresh triumphs in the old 
 Keystone State. Then once more your bugle will be 
 sounded, summoning around you your trusted friends, 
 and your voice again be heard, the sure precursor of 
 success. 
 
 In our bereavement at the temporary loss we are about 
 to sustain, we find some consolation in the fact that your 
 
Departure for Russia. 1 1 5 
 
 errand is one of peace and good will to a noble, true and 
 friendly power. It will be remembered that during the 
 most trying hours of the rebellion, a fleet of twenty 
 Russian vessels of war rode at anchor in these very 
 waters, ready to aid us even in the day of direst 
 adversity. Well do we remember that when the heavens 
 were the darkest, when the war cloud lowered most 
 angrily, the Russian lights tinging the horizon were the 
 warmest to cheer our hearts. They were our friends 
 indeed, for then we needed friends. 
 
 As our brave boys in blue pursued their beaten enemy, 
 and gathered the trophies of their hard fought fields, no 
 muskets lay strewn amongst the dead to tell us that the 
 anvil or the hammer of Russia's mechanics were busy for 
 our destruction. While the deadly rebel missiles shrieked 
 above the heads of our gallant volunteers, there was a 
 consciousness that, at all events, they were not the 
 contribution of any Russian arsenal. And our gallant 
 tars of the merchant marine never manned the lookout 
 in search of a Russian privateer. It is, therefore, 
 difficult to fully comprehend the warm attachment which 
 exists between that great Empire and free America. 
 We know that Russia is our friend, and that we are hers, 
 and when you extend to her representative the right hand 
 of friendship, you will feel in return the grasp of the hand 
 of one who represents a government which observes its 
 treaties, enforces its laws, and keeps its faith. 
 
ii6 Departure for Russia. 
 
 GOVERNOR CURTIN'S REPLY. 
 
 Governor Curtin rose to respond, evidently 
 deeply affected by the occasion. He said : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 I would have been quite satisfied with the commission 
 I bear from my country, without any such evidence of 
 affection as I receive to-day from the people of my 
 State. The honor of the place would have been a 
 compensation for any services I really have rendered 
 the country, without what it has pleased the eloquent 
 gentlemen to say to me ; but the evidences of confidence 
 and regard, which I have received from the citizens of 
 Pennsylvania, of all classes, and all shades of political 
 opinion, overpower me. 
 
 A life of some experience has satisfied me that the cold 
 calculations of the head, in the moment of separation, of 
 joy or of distress, fall far short of the feelings which 
 flow up direct from the heart. In all my experience, in 
 public or private, I have found it always safe to trust the 
 inspirations of the heart to determine what is right and 
 what is wrong. I could not but feel honored that 
 Philadelphia, that noble city of proud memories, was 
 pleased, by the action of its authorities, to regard me as 
 of sufficient consequence to tender me a public reception 
 
Departure for Russia. 117 
 
 in the classic Hall of Independence, and I must ever, 
 through the remainder of my days, cherish the most 
 grateful recollections of the farewell demonstration in the 
 Academy of Music on the evening of the same day. 
 Indeed, from the time that I accepted the responsible 
 trust confided to me by the voluntary action of the 
 President, I have been overwhelmed with manifestations 
 of kindness at every step, by the people of the great 
 State, whose interests and whose fame have ever been 
 nearest my heart, and whose people have been unfaltering 
 in the support of my humble efforts to promote the 
 peace and prosperity of Pennsylvania and the Union. 
 
 And now, when I am about to bid farewell to friends 
 and country for a season, surrounded by those whose 
 devotion has cheered me to the last moment of separa- 
 tion, ambition and honors sink into insignificance. It is 
 not the Minister to Russia that receives the homage of 
 life-long friends, and responds with the liveliest emotions 
 the heart can cherish. We meet here, with our beloved 
 country fast receding behind us, and the trackless ocean 
 before us, as men and brethren, bound by mutual ties of 
 affection which have been cemented by the dark trials of 
 the past, by which many individual destinies were 
 inseparably interwoven ^yith our country's triumph. 
 Forget then, my friends, as I do, that responsible trusts 
 and honors, worthy of any ambition, are invoked in our 
 separation, and we will part only as the friends of olden 
 
ii8 Departure for Russia. 
 
 times. I am profoundly grateful to God that my humble 
 efforts have been so highly appreciated by my State, and 
 especially by those who, from my youth, have sustained 
 me. Here on this vessel are some of the earliest 
 associates of my life, who are faithful now as then. 
 Time and its mutations, and the struggles of ambition, 
 have not lost me one of those who, in my first dreams 
 of advancement, were by my side, and I will bear to my 
 grave the liveliest appreciation of them — one and all. 
 
 I am justly proud of my State, and justly proud that 
 I am an American citizen. The dark clouds which 
 appalled our country and scattered bereavement and 
 sorrow throughout our beloved land, have passed away, 
 and I leave my country at peace with all the world. Our 
 brave soldiers made peace at home, and reared monu- 
 ments of heroism and sacrifice to preserve our free 
 institutions, such as the world has never before witnessed, 
 and as I bid adieu to home, and the people I so much 
 love, I bear in mind the brave defenders of our honored 
 flag, who have, as one of your speakers has stated, called 
 me their friend. It is, indeed, the proudest tonsolation 
 of my public life, that I was in a position to temper the 
 cruel sacrffices of war, and I shall feel that it is the glory 
 of my career, and my consolation in death, if the soldiers 
 of the Republic shall deem me worthy of the title of the 
 " Soldiers' Friend." 
 
Departure for Russia. 119 
 
 SPEECH OF R. M. EVANS. 
 
 Robert M. Evans, Chairman of the Phila- 
 delphia Councils Committee, said: 
 
 Minister Curtin: 
 
 As the Representative of the City of Philadelphia, I 
 am here to bid you God speed in your mission. You 
 bear with you to His Imperial Majesty, the Czar of 
 Russia, not only the compliments of the nation at 
 large, but especially the kindly feelings of the citizens of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Mr. Evans concluded by bidding farewell to the 
 Minister, and adding that Pennsylvania would tolerate 
 his absence in the expectation of the good results to 
 follow to the nation, and in the hope of his safe 
 return. 
 
I 20 Departure for Russia, 
 
 RESPONSE OF GOVERNOR CURTIN. 
 
 Gentlemen of the City Councils : 
 
 What more can I say ? You surprised me v/ith the 
 resolution tendering me the high compliment of a recep- 
 tion under your official auspices, and with greater 
 surprise I found that I was to remain your guest during 
 the journey to, and my stay in New York. Your 
 courtesy is not merely to me, but I accept it as a tribute 
 to the important trust confided to me by our Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 I owe much to Philadelphia. I have had much 
 intercourse with her people, both as a public officer and 
 as a private citizen, and your action is therefore the more 
 gratifying to me. It may be years before I return again 
 to our State, but I shall never cease to be mindful 
 of the kindness ever manifested toward me by the City 
 of Brotherly Love. I beg you to return my sincere 
 thanks to the authorities and people of Philadelphia. 
 
 It is true, as has been remarked here, that I go to a 
 friendly people, and it is a strange anomaly in the history 
 of these two nations, that Russia should have been our 
 faithful friend. Here the people govern themselves — 
 make and depose their rulers — there is the reign of 
 absolute monarchy. Yet these two nations, a people of 
 such opposite usages, are now, and shall remain, if it is 
 
Departure for Russia. 121 
 
 in my power to accomplish it, devoted friends. No act 
 of mine shall break the tie, or even impair the devotion 
 of Russia for the great Republic of the New World. 
 May God bless our country, and her people. May it 
 be His pleasure that our noble Union shall be perpetual, 
 and that peace shall ever be our happy destiny. I pray 
 that the trials and wounds of our civil war shall soon be 
 healed, and that as our fortifications moulder, all angry 
 and sectional passions will moulder with them ; and that 
 upon my return, I will find you a happy, homogeneous, 
 and prosperous people, with Liberty, Justice, and Fra- 
 ternity established in North, South, East, and West. 
 Most earnestly do I desire that war shall never again 
 invade our peaceful life, but that our pride and glory 
 shall be the development of our vast resources, com- 
 manding the respect of the nations of the whole world 
 by the established success of self-government. 
 
 Invoking again the blessing of Heaven upon you, my 
 friends, and upon our common country, I bid you fare- 
 well, and commit myself to the God who notes the 
 falling of the sparrow, and rules the tempest of the sea. 
 
 At the conclusion of the Address the entire 
 company united in singing "Auld Lang Syne,'' 
 and on the arrival of the steamship, the Minister 
 
122 Departure for Russia. 
 
 and suite were received with a salute, and while 
 standing on the deck w^ere given a series of 
 parting cheers. The steamship then proceeded on 
 her course, and the revenue cutter, with the 
 Philadelphians on board, returned to the Battery, 
 the Philadelphians leaving for home that evening. 
 
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