K ‘ ‘
(aim .4

».,m.~§w “

   

Phonogrnphically Reported by S. W. BURNHAM,
' BARTLETT.

and A.

L.

CITY
CELEBRATION

'l‘HE ANNIVE]E{f$ARY OF TI.-1133

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE,

A1‘
L.A.FA7i’ETTE SQU¢lRE, “

'I~{Fe~3\7=v C:>:r;-lc::.:~:L:1;:1_:;:s, L:£z..,

.]l..?LY -uh, 1.m‘;;—;.

4-»:-.—u.....‘.‘._........4..»...«._._g Q, .....»—...--—..q.o-..~o......._.........

NEW ORLEANS:
PRI>I’l‘.ED M 'ri~uc 3211:.-x ;<_='r1a:.-mt 1ao<:»Ic. ANI) JOB <s1+‘1«~1<‘:1«;,

1864.

COMMITTEE 03‘ ARRANGEMEN’.l‘S._
 S'L‘.EPI*IEN I:IOY’1‘, G1m’i‘L'x11eu1.
GEO. Z1-‘.£0BI%N"SON,

Se<:.1'<=:t::m'ic2s.
F.  S(30’1‘T,

JU.D(.}‘E DU RELL, JUI)G~-E Ii[UGrHES,
GEO. A. I‘-‘OSDIOK, PLACIDE BIENVENU,
E. H. CHADW']UK., . \V. R. FISH,

T. C. A. DEXTER, . R. K. CUTLER,

I). S. DEWTEES,  C. HILLS,

D. L. C51~I%BBfI<]NS,‘ F. A. W'OOL1<‘LEY.

JOHN" F. COLLINS,

Chiczf .7lIa~r.9h.al.

" THE CELEBRATIN

539 THE

  OF  ieea,
   

....-.
—r——..y-—~

W

Ea1~1_y in the morning the streets aud the Square itself began to
711 up with people, audat the hour for commencement of the cute:-~
cises the Square was crowded.

The arrangements made were very complete 5 on the Camp
street side of the Square a large '13l£1l_3l‘O1‘_1]"1 had been; erected for the
use of the speakers and the accommodation of the ladies and the

efficers of the City and State. Seats haclbcen arrang'ecl both in .

fl'Ci]l3 and ‘on each side, enabling thousands to sit down and listeii
to the speakers. To the 1'i,ght of this and in front of it a.large plat-
form had been erected to hold the Bands, and in the rear of this
plaltformiwere planted the 17th Ohio Battery, Capt. C. 8. Rice,
and 15th Massachusetts Battery, Capt. T. Pearson, w11cAw'ere to as-
sist in the music. i - it

The music consisted of the City Baud, under the leadership of
Cliarles J aege1* ; the Port Hudson Poet Band, under John Lafliu,
and the Drum Corps, lst United States Infantry, under Drum Ma»
jcr Chas. D. Beyer. The Whole was under the direction of Capt.
F. N. Scott.

The speakers’ stand was haudsem_elydecc1°ated with flags; and
houquets of flowers, soon after the commencement of the speeches,
hegjaii to accumulate on the speakers’ tahle.

About 9 o’clock the music struck up “ Hail to the Chief,”
during which a Major Gren.e1'a1’s salute of 18 guns was introduced in
tiiuewith the music, and the procession, headed by Gov. Hahn,
bega11 toifileccut«jfrcm=~th-e;Mayo1*’slParlor in the ‘Executive htiilding,

6

Among; others Were Generals Banks and Siekles, with their Staffs,
Mayor Hoyt, O. W; Hornor, hEsq.,---—one of the orators of the
day--—the City and State Ofieers, members of the Convention and
others. After they had all taken their seats on the "platform, Gov.
IE[ahn stepped forward and adclressecli the assembled nmltitude 
follows : V A if

ADDRESS Br aov. HA1-IN.
LADIES AND CirElNTLE.”tIF3N:

In selecting me to presicle over this flSSCfl1blttgG on this inter-
esting; occasion, the Committee of A1*1‘ai1ge111e11ts did not impose
upon me the task cyftlwelliiig on the glorious recollections of this an-
nliversary. or to arouse in your breasts the pleasurable emotions
incident to oeeasious of this lzind. That cluty has been appropriately
assignecl to others, who, from their known talents or eminent

i public services, are admirably iitte<;l for it, and in Whose keeping l

gladly leave that interesting portion of our exe1'eises. %

I cannot, however, resist the expression of the pleasure which
I experience in Vtritiiessiiigg; among us, at a time like this, when
“gi'in1~vis2tg'ecl war” is ruthlessly stalltirrg; ever the lancl, the eonti~
nuecl existence of that patriotism whieli has l_)1'<ing;l1t us tc>getln1e1‘ to
day. While our brethren all over the North, in aerorclanee with
the honored customs of their fathers, are eelaebrating this clay, so
mexnorable in our annals, we, the citizens of New Ol‘l88.llt5, at this
extreme end of our extenclecl country, are e11g;a.gecl in the same noble
work. We who have felt and still feel the effects of tliis war, who
have suffered and made sacrifices in the cause of our helove<nl Union,
and who fully appreciate its glories, prosperity a11(l}I.)C)'W€1‘,fi3Etl11101‘€3
than an ordinary interest in the propcer celebration of this (lay.

Ladies and gentlemen, while we inclulge to-clay in the festivities of
a %Fourth of July celebration, and iineuleate a love for the more than
Spartan virtues of the sages of the revolution, let us also indulge in
the patriotic hope that the War which is new ar1'ayi11gb1'otl1e1* against
brother, may be brought to a speedy terniination, and that We may

7

again be a united and powerful people. When our swords are heat
into iplowehares _ end our spears into }31‘ll11l13g‘-l100l{S, our fields:
will again he covered with elnindant Aliasrveete, a spirit of i111p1'oi:e—
ment will grow up—-—11eW lands will he opened, and We will enjoy
2. larger Sl1€L1‘0 of prosperity than has ever been alloted to any
other people. Then every citizen will see the importance of a pie
eervation of this Union, not only for our own welfare, zmd that of
our posterity, but also for the success of repnhlica.n doctrines else
where. Then We shell liexsie not 0111;’

“ A Union of lakes, in Union of lands,

A Union of States none can sever,"
but will also liave that which is equellyii1nportant--—

‘F A "Union of hearts, a Union of hands,

And the flag of our Union forever.’~‘

The exercises of this day will now eonmienee with a. prayer
hy. the Rev. Dr. Guion. A A

MUsI0—-Na.ti.one.l Airs, directed by Capt. Scott.

PRAYER---BY REV. ELIJAH GUION.

Ahnighty Fittllel‘, Whose neiiie is excellerit in all the emth
and whose glory is above the highest lieevens ; who, as on this Anni-

versary of our National Independence, didet inspire the hearts of

our Delegates in Congress to lay the fO1l1lCl{LlLl.Oi.l of our politi-
cal edifice of civil and 1'eligions liberty, graiit that we inny receive
with gratitude the rich i1lh01‘2ll.‘-£11100 bequeathed unto us by our an-
cestors, and that we 1na.y trzmsniit it, unimpaired, to those who
shall come after us, reinexnhering that the o11ly Security for the
welfare and mosperity of our land and its inlielaitaiite eonetiets in a,
devout ecltiiowleclgexiieiit of Thee,  the Hl§_.‘_;l’1 and Mighty Ruler
of the Universe, and a i‘aithl’ul and obedient walking in thy laws
and ordinances. ~

Give grace and wi.sdoin to the President of the United States,

8

the . Gielvernor of this State, and to our xnunieipal a11thorriti.es‘;

that under them the people of thi.s land may enjoy the protection
of wiseand equalillaws; and that they may be enabled, so to dis—
eharge the arduous dntiesl otiytheir stations that peace and ha.ppiness,
truth and justice, religirm and piety may he established an1oing
us for all generations. , . ‘

l?resper our Institutions for the e;x'ereise and promotion of pure
and undefiled religion ; of sound learnin and true seienee ; and
for the relief of s11fi’e1*ing' humanity ; that the wilderness and the
solitary place may be glad for them ;« and the desert rejoice and
blossom as the rose.

We Commend to thy Almighty care and protection those who
have gone forth, and are now risking; their lrit‘es;.andLs sheclcling their‘
blood in the defence of those principles which form the basis of our
happiness and prosperity. Thou sittest in“ the throne jndgizag right,
and We therefore make our address to the Divine Majesty, in this
our necessity, that Thou wouldst take the cause into thine own hand,
and hring this contest to a speedy and happy issue. And may the
time be near at hand when men shall beat their swords into plow-
shares, and their spears into pruning-hoolzsg When“ nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither learn War anymore ; hut
they shall sit every men under his vine and under his fig-tree, and
none shall malze them afraid.

Be with us new in the exercise" and employment in‘Whieh we
areahout to engage. Preserve us from an abuse or perversion of
our hlessings and privileges ; and may we so improve our faculties
and endowments» as shall hest suhserve the grand object of our
being, Aiid when We-shall have finished our course on earth, may
We be received into the mansionsof everlasting’ rest, freed from
the pollutions of sin, and made meet for an inheritarlce among the
saints in light, th1'ong;l1 the merits and mediation or our Lord and
Saviour; Jesus Christ, towhom, with the Father and Holy Gvl1es"tt,
be all honor and g;lory,'lWo1-ldi without end. Amen.

MUsIe———s<:~.leetionsi from Trovatore, “Misex-ere”-—~Oity Band...

s t Glbv. Hahn‘ introducedi J udge Leaurnent, saying :

9

“The Declaration of Independence will now be read to you by
Judge Leauinont, a creole of this city, well known to you for his
patriotisni and loyalty.” ,

Judge Leaunnont prefaced the 1*eadine,' of the Declaration of
Independence with the following remarks :

./f2nrze~2~'zTca7zs-——I11 corinnemoration of that eventful day which
eiglity-eigllt years ago sealed American freedom, I think it not rim»
proper that you should hear a specimen of our father’s wisdom, con—
tained in the declaration of our everlasting independence. As I
read these Words, an idea flashed across my mind, and I asked my-
self and all of you why the so—called Confederate States have not
their declaration of independence? Why have they not set forth
in burning; WO1‘ClS the cause of complaint agaiiist our elected Gov-
ernment‘? Why have they not in decent respect to the opinions of
the rest of mankind, told the wrongs which our Government put
upon them? I Will tell you, Americans, it was because they could
not do it. They might liave said something against Northern
‘I’11(3I1-"ililéiy 1nigl.'1t have said something against the Northern States,
but they could have said a nothing against the General Grovernnnent,
which would not have been a ClOW1l1‘lg‘ll.i'», unqualified and unmitiga—~
ted lie, 8,g‘£Ll1lSi7 which the world and the history of the past would
have stood as Witnesses. [ Applause. ]

Their rebellion was as canseless as it is senseless, for every one
familiar with the history of the Aiinerican nation must know full
well that the South had ever been the petted child of the General
lovernment. With these preliminary remarks I shall now pro-
ceed to read to you the Declaration of Independence, which con-
tains our causes of complaint against Great Britain, in order that
you may see and jucl,s__3;e for yourselves whether or not in the causes
therein ,assig'ned you can find any justification for the present
rebellion. [Applause]

MUsIo——-Geri. Banks’ Quickstep, (new) introducing the airs

“ Vive 1’A1nerica” and “Battle Cry of Freedom.”

ti-"

10
ADDRESS or 0. W. nonnon, Esq,

FELLOW Omzsnsz

On this day, eighty-eight years ago, after a long and exciting
debate, not however upon the propriety, but upon the er;1iedienc_y
of instant action, as the hours of the day passed away and the sha-

dows of evening began to prevail, there was passed the celebrated

Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. Prcsided
over by John Hancock, warmed by the debates of Adams, Jefi"erson,

Franlclin, Rutledge, Livingston and others, this small assembly of

less than sixty men, congregated in the State House on Ohcsnut
street, in Philadelphia, speaking the almost undivided opinion of
their countrymen, gave to the World this celebrated declaration of
therights of man, and inaugurated a great social and political re-
volution, Whose waves have ever since lashed round the thrones
of kingsand tyrants, and submerged many of them forever. That
impress upon society and government still continues to deepen, as
time rolls on ; and on the unalterable truth of its principles, as a
basis,.rests the entire superstructure of American freedom.

_ The principles are exceedingly plain and clear. They are
laid down in no ambiguous phrases. They are, in the very lan-
guage of the Declaration itself, selfevident. “ We hold these
truths to belself-evident, that all men are created equal ; that the_y
 endowed by. their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that
among these are life, libert_y, and the pursuit of happiness; that,
to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,

deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ;
that, vvheneverany form of government becomes destructive of

these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to aholishit, and
to institute a new goveriiinent, layiiig its foundations on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall
seem most likely to eiiect their sa'l’et,v and happiness.”

Here we find tirst and foremost enunciated that thndamental
doctrine so detestcd by the privilegccl classes~—-—-the equality of all
manl;incl—~against the truth of which the stiff-necl~:ed race of men
are eternally collidinrr. In the eye of God and of an enlightened

11

and far-reaeliing humanity, all men are created equal 5 and upon
this basis all new societies are erected. It has been Well said that
“the State is constituted justice; that established justice is the
State.” The mission of the State is to cause justice to be respected
by force, in conformity to the idea inherent in the idea of justice,
that injustice should not only be repressed but punished. The
State regards the man as he is capable of committing or suffering
a wrong, as being shackled or shackling other men, by fraud or
violence, in the free and voluntary exercise of their activity. From
this arise all legal rights and all legal duties. The sole legal right

7 is to be respected in the peaceful exercise of liberty ; the sole duty,

or at least the first and chief of duties is to respect the liberty of
others. Justice is nothing but ‘this; justice is the upholder and
supporter of reciprocal liberty. The State does not restrict liberty,

as is sometimes said; but it developes it; it makes it sure and

steadfast. Besides, in early societies, all men are necessarily un-
equal by their Wants, their sentiments, their physical, moral and
intellectual faculties ; but before the State, which considers men
merely as persons,ias free beings, all men are equal, for equality is
equal to liberty, and is its only type and standard of comparison.
Hence equality, with liberty, is the basis of legal order and of this
political world 3 a far more Wonderful creation of man’s genius

than the actual industrial World, when compared to the world in a,

state of nature. .

The men that framed our declaration, were good and great
men. They acted in the crisis as became them and the young na-
tion they Were bringing into life. They bared their hearts to the
keenest gaze of all manlazind. It Was not a time for cant, subter-
fuge or hypocrisy. Theclash of resounding arms had already been
heard from the fields of Boston. An eager people, on the tiptoc of
expectation, awaited the solemn tidings. The delegates themselves
vouched for the truth of their principles by a solemn appeal to the
Supreme Judge of the world, and mutually pledged to each other
their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. And ever since
that day, until a recent epoch, its anniversary hasbeen a holiday,
on which the love of the people for the American Union and their

12

gratitude to God for the inestimable blessings of civil liberty have
annually ascended to heaven from the hearts of millions of human
beings. That man must be bold and recl~:less—-—in all respects re-
creant to his American citizensliip-—-who will now dare to deny the
truth of the principles of that Decla "ation of "Independence of the
thirteen United States of America.

But a true principle of political science necessarily meets little
or no recognition from its adversaries when first introduced to the
notice of the world. So in this case. Our fathers went to war to
test the truth of their principles; for war, the solemn appeal to
brute force to decide a truth, is the sole arbiter, new and for ever,
between contendin,q; ideas. Our fathers enunciated their political
principles and threw down the gauntlet to Great Britain, who
promptly took it up. There was something; great, heroic and glo-
rious in the contest of our fathers. A weak and scattered band of
colonists, spread over a new continent,sprung from the loins of the
old mother country, “men who had dashed into the waves with the
charter of their freedom in their teeth, for the torch andthe faggot
were burning behind them,” thus bidding defiance to the foremost
nation of all the world, with mighty armies and navy, and all the
appliances of modern wealth and civilization. Yet the contest was
never doubtful for a moment. The idea that all men are created
equal, and the antagonistic idea, that all men are not created equal,
metin the throes of various battles, and the judgment of God pro-
nounced, as it always does, in favor of the 1~iglit.

r This contest was, however, the fight of pigmies when compared
to that which necessarily resulted from it----the American idea of
equality before the law passed from the New World to the Old.

Franklin, its embodiment, and who had aided in the prepara-p
tion of the Declaration, went to France ; Lafayette, who from a
sincere love of freedom, had taken part in our revolutionary st1'uggle
unfolded its workings to his fellow-citizens 3 and, lo! in a few
months of an unparalleled movement in history, the French nation
abolish nobility, clergy, aristocracy, and all the evils of privileged
classes, and elialleiige all Europe in arms to test the truth of the
principles of our and their declaration. Out of that contest, even

13

after the final overthrow of the great general at Waterloo, came
the Constitutional Chart, the very first article of which proclaims
the truth of the principle of equality, established by our Declara~
tion. ,

Years pass away, and America sees slowly and silently the
growth of a privileged class in her very midst. It allies itself with
democracy, and for long, weary years chokes the party and stran-
gles the country. Like the foul cancer that fastens on the fairest
part of the human body, it seizes upon our Republican institutions,
which it controls for its special interest.   It sways the freedom of
the press both South and North,so that the great bulwark of our
liberty is swept away ; it stalks into the pulpit, and converts the
sacred truths of scripture into bitter moclzeries and delusions. Even
in the Catholic church, the mother of all the Christian sects, from

whence the revolutionary fathers derived the principle of human ,

equality and gave it to the world in the same manner that Moses
dragged from the inmost recesses of the Egyptian temples the doc-
trine of our God and gaveit to the Jcw—~..cven here, in the most
ancient church, the doctrines were changed to meet the exigencies

of the most detestable class of aristocrats that ever disgraced the  

world. Slowly the American car drank in the poison ; slowly the
American heart beat to the music of groans and sighs, the clanking
of chains, the scourges of lashes, the hopeless imprisonment, the
bitter, dark, deep despair of countless victims. Slowly the Ameri-
can judgment and brain adopted the conclusion, that men were not
created equal ; and in the glorious unbroken sunshine of national
prosperity, men little dreamed of the puny cloud just above the
horizon, not bigger than a man’s hand, that was so soon to fill the
whole canopy of heaven with black cloud and lurid light, and over
whelm the whole country in a bloody war.

The first glcams of that lurid light, the first mutterings of the
thunder of that storm, were seen and heard in the cannon shot at
Fort Sumter. That, as has been well said, was the yell of pirates
against the Declaration of Independence. The loud and clamorous
cry, “your human equality is a lie, our human bondage is the only
truth 5” and from that time to this, the two ideas have been wrest-

14

ling together in the death struggle, in which one of them must ne-
cessarily be overcome. it

Revolutions have been likened to earthquakes, in which the
subterranean elements toil and travail for admission to the upper
air. Sometimes they seek the old outlets and craters; sometimes the
earth craclts, and through the fissures the explosive gas finds vent.
Thus the explosions of revolution find their vent through the old
institutions of theeountry, which like the craters and chimneys of
tlievolcano, from their dirt and incumbrances, offer more or less
resistance to the escape of liuinan passions involved in the conflict.
Thus in France the nobility and the clergy were the first to feel
tlielveffects of the revolutionary blast. In our country there was
but one chimney, one crater, one institution that required burning
out to render the countryunitepd,prosperous and happy. 4 Marl: the

events of this revolution, as it has progressed. '1‘heicannon shot

at Fort Sumter heralded the secession of twelve of the States
of this Union; and the so-called Confederacy burst upon the

World as a bright and shining light, amonigthe, luminary nations of

the earth. But ever since its light has burned out, until it sheds
but a flickering glare over the small remaining territory Where its

‘piratical flag still floats. Before that time, the tdoors'had' been

peremptorily barred against theslaves ; all hope of freedom had
been denied them ; theablack spot upon the National escutcheon
became more and more intense, and What with our cotton raising,
our sugar growing, our tobacco culture, ‘our humanity was fast
oozing away. The vvarcry of the nation resounded through the
land, and behold the prison of slavery is shaken to its foundations ;
it rocks, it sways, it trcmbles ; crevices appear in the doors and
hinges, and the wretched inmates catch inspiration and hope from
the brief glimpses of the land of freedom, without ; seen, very soon the
prison doors are throvvnwide open, and by the grace of God they
see the flag of a free country waving over their entrance to the new
American world, into Whicli they step, no longer slaves, but men ;
the dragon’s teeth the rebels sowed in their madness, strut forth
in the shape of men armed for their destrnc,tion.i   W ‘

15

'1‘l1anl~ic God I thank God 1 the dirty chimney or crater of the
revolution of freedom has already nearly burned out. Thank God
that the only Aincrican institution of which Americans had reason
to blush for shame, has proved sufiicient to carry off the heat, the
phrenzy and the bad pa.ssions of the combatants, and the subter-
ranean fire of this political volcano. Henccforth We must progress
without slavery. It is the solemn, unalterable decree of our na-
tional destiny. Let us embrace it with warm hearts and cool hands,
with judgment and justice, with will and intellect, as the supremely
good and supremely true.   Though shadows, clouds and clarkncss
rest upon the future, let us Walk bravely up to it and into it ; reso-
lutely seeking for the right, valiantly combatting the Wronrr. And
when the snioke of this contest shall have passed away ; when our
childrcn and their children’s children shall read the exciting events
of this rebellion, may they rejoice to find that we, their progenitors,

itl1i*ougl1 all the perils of the times, stoodiinrnovably firm on the basis

of universal freedom and ‘the capacity of man for self—g'overnment ;
that we, in our trials, became no recreant Anuericans-«traitors to

God and our country, with its free and glorious institutions ; that

we reniained true to our republican principles, and tlianlsted God to
the latest hour of our lives, that we-~—-that, we, too were American
citizens.

K"”‘\

4
./
la‘

/’

( Gov. I-Ialin then introduced Gen. Sickes, as follows:

Fniiirlow CITIZENS :

You will now be aclclrcssecl by one whose public services in
rvarious capacities as a civilian liare been brilliant, but whose lofty
patriotism and noble, self-sac1~ificing spirit on many bloody fields of
battle, and especially at the battle of Gettysbur,g', just one year ago
today, [g1*cata};>pla11sc] have covered his brow with imclying lau-
rcls. [applatisel I have the honor of introducing to you Major
General Daniel E. riiclcles. [Long and G11llll.1:’-3,laSl.l(."i applause and
Waving of flags, hats, ctc.j

/”   , 15

ADDRESS BY MAJ. G-EN. SICKLES-

Govnsuoa, 0I'l‘IZENS,.SOLD1ERS AND FRIENDS:

g This celebration of the anniversary of our independence has a
significance to me which every other occasion of the kind has lacked.
Until this rebellion, the issue of the great struggle of the revolution
had in all truth and soberness been an experiment. VVe had hoped
and trusted our success was sure; but we had not before under-
gone the supreme test of national vitality and endurance. g The Be-
public had already proved itself capable of repelling foreign inva-
sion and Vindicating the national honor from assaults Without ; but
ithad yet to establish for itself in the judgment of mankind the
proof thatit was capable of protecting itself from assault Within.
from a revolt more formidable than any nation, or people or system
of government, had ever yet encountered. This scene which I Wit.-
ness to-day ; this presence in which I stand, is itself the vindication
that the friends of freedom and humanity looked for, and it tells me
ofa restored Union, of a regenerated State, of a vindicated flag.
In what presence do I stand? The Governor of Louisiana is here.
[Applause] The rightful Governor, the elect of the people, and
himself a man of the people The Commanding General of the
Union army in this Department is here. [Great applause.] The
soldier, the orator and the statesman. He whose rule typifies the
vigor, the justice, the magnanimity and the beneficence of his Gov-
ernment. The laboring 1nen,—--they for whoin this great battle is
fought are here. The soldiers of the nation, the hope of the ‘Re-
public are here. [Applause] Why are all these soldiers on this
soil ? Are they here as im>*aders? No. For one I would not
come here for such a purpose, and I know my connrades would not.
We are here to restore order and re-establish tranquillity ; to assist
the loyal men of Louisiana to put down insurrection, to restore to
you and yours the proud heritage of Republican liberty that de-

scended to you from yourfifathers. [Cheers] I Is this subjugation ‘?

N o, no. Has any coercion brought around us today these thou~

I7

sands of loyal hearts‘? N o 3 you are here as Ioyaimen, . Youare

hereto attest and reaffirin your’ afiection for our dear old flag,
[ohee1~s.] Where do Ipsee the proofs olfFedera1authorilty DoI
see them in acts ofviolence against, unarrnped men? . Do I see them
in the torture of the stake and the halter for those who cliffer in
sentiment and conviction from loyal men? p N o. I see the author-
ity of 1n_v Grovernrnent in the efibrt made to restore prosperity, and
thrift, and order, and hapipiness throughout your borders. [Ap-
plause] I see the authority of my country blended with magna-
nimity in the forgiveness which it extends p even to those guilty of
the foul crime of rebellion aygainst our libelrty. I see it in the
schools re-establislied and inan,g'u1'atecl th1'oug11o11t this metropolis
of the South. I see it in freedom extended to those who have

shown their Willingxiess to take up arms and give their lives to the '

cause which We light for. [Applause.]

I see with pleasure and pride that wevare honored today also
with the presence of many of the xnernbers of yourConventionvvhich
sits in yonder hall. That Convention has met to revise and modify
the fundamental law of your Oominontvealtli. Its labors have
attracted no little attention not only here, butelsewhere. How
will that Constitution, so far as We can now judge of its features,
differ’ fronil the old one ? It will differ in just thatessential feature
which distinguishes a republican g'oive1*nment, pure and simple, from
a g;overnn1ent that in soifar as it decrees the servitude of man, is not
republican. [Appla.use.]

My friends, it has no doubt seerned to you, as to myself, so1:ne-- ,

what st1'ang;e—~at all events asdese1~ving' of a passing thought, that
we should be here today ccleb1*atipn,g? the triumph of one rebellion,
while we are Wading througli seas of blood to put down another
rebellion. It is true that those in arms against nsclaiin that the
rebellion of 1776 is both a p1'ecled'e11t and a justification ; Inany,

living Within the Unionlines advocate peace and thelrecognition of I

the Confederacy under the saline delusion ;and thousands in Eu»

rope arraign us for inconsistency because we filg'l1tiratl1er than yield I

to the demands of those who say they have followed only in the

3

 

18

footsteps of the fathers of the revolution. If this assertion be true,
then indeed We have been Wrong in this War; then indeed Wemust
submit to the rebuke which at home and abroad comes to us so often
and which on a very recent occasion received the eminent sanction
of Lord John Russell, British minister for foreigii affairs. In a
speech recently delivered in the House of Lords, which will a.t-
tract a great deal of attention in this country as well as his own,
his lordship laments “ that thousands are being slaughtered for the
purpose of preventing the Southern statesmen acting on those very
principles of independence which in 1776 were asserted by the
Whole of America against this country.” I feel that it behooves
me, as a citizen and a soldier, to enter my protest against thisdoc-
trine, let it come from whatever Cpsxarter it may. [Applause]

It is indeed startling to hear a man like Lord Russelhhimself,
in his writings, in his political labors, in his historical disquisitions
and in his illustrious family, a representative of free principles and
a most accomplished philosphical historian and statesman---—-it is
startling to read declarations of so eminent an authority in affirma-
tion of so lamentable and absolute an error.

You were told a few minutes ago with great aptness and feli-
city by the gentleman who read to you the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, that the Southern Confederacy, when it announced itself to
the world, was silent upon the causes which impelled them to a
separation; theywere dumb as to the grievances which they had
endured from the Grovernment they had repudiated.

N o, my friends, the Government established by Wasliiiigtoii,
Hamilton and J eflerson, was a government which had freedom, en-
franchisement and liberty for its foundations, [applause] and in
which oppression, servitude and slavery were unavoidable and un-
fortunate incidents and accidents. The government established
by J etferson Davis and Slidell, is a governinent-——if it shall ever at-
tain actual existence and recognition——-in which liberty will be an
accident and incident, and slavery the foundation and the sub-
stance. [Great applause.] , ' ,

Never shalllit be said by any man that there is the least anal-

19

, ogybetween the cause in which Washington drew his consecrated

sword, and the conspiracy in which the traitor Floyd drew his in-
famous weapon. No! When a flaw in the diamond shall give

value to the jewel—-when poison, instead of being a subtle destroyer,

shall become a conservator and promoter oflife and health~———when
the spots on the sun and not the sun itself shall give light and heat
and culture to the earth---then it may be said with truth, and not
until then, that the cause enshrined forever on the Fourth of July,
1776, is identical with that for which the rebellion is new in arms.

[Applause .] A A

It is said by the enemies of free government that this rebellion

, has impeached the capacity of men for self-government ; that it has

impeached our Constitution, in showing its lack of vigor for the
preservation of order and national unity ; that in our career as in
the history of Greece, Rome, and the Republics of the Middle ages,
the Republican theory of government has signally failed ; and that
it is only what is called the strong arm of monarchy or despotism
that can give perpetuity to a nation.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is an occasion when it is proper to
protest also against that delusion. I would afiirrn, with the hearti-
est confidence, that revolution and rebellion are not peculiar to re-
publics. We have only to look at China today, the oldest of the
nations of the earth, to hehold there a rebellion of years in dura«
tion, to see that convulsions are not peculiar to young nations. We
have only to recur to the struggle of Poland and Hungary to under-
stand that rehellions are not easily put down by the most despotic
and austere of governments ; and we find in the history of England,
our peculiar monitor and instructor in these days, as to our duties
with regard to our rebellion----we have, I say, only to look at Eng-
lish history to see that there is scarcely any portion of her vast do-
main, that has not, at one period or another, set at naught and defied
her authority and drawn the sword for independence. Scotland,
Ireland, and India, to say nothing of our own thirteen colonies,
should recall to '.Britislc1 recollection her own "vulnerability. It
might with much more truth be afi"1r1ned that this ‘rebellion is*no-

20

, thing more or less than a continuation of that old struggle, World-

‘ power, between the oppressor and the oppressed, between the desire
of man for free gjoirernnient and ynntrairnmeled rights, and the e

wideand as ancient asjlthe race” and history, between privilegze and

of the aristocratic few for peculiar priVil.eges and powers. There
is but one aristocratic feature left in our Constitution and system
of governinent framed by the fatliers whose WOi‘l{ we are celebrat-
ing; today. That aristocratic feature I may state in a few words.
In the several States where slavery existed, men were represented

in in Congress Who did n"otlvlote-A-—\lvl1ose votes were cast by others——

by those Who owned them. The labor which was relied upon for
the cultivation of the soil, was! not admitted to the elective
franchise, was not entitled to education, was denied the free offiees
of religion. That was the aristocratic element in the framework

  
 

of our Govermnent. It is that aristocratic element which is now ,

st1‘i1gglin,e; for domination and supremacy. [Applan‘se.] If it is
snecessfnl,t then it will extend itself t.hroug'hont the length and
breadth of this continent, and stamp every where the acts, the policy,
the administration and the C-lrovernnient of this country. Labor
no longer will be its own master. Labor will be no long'e1' enti-
tled to choose its ownrepresenta.tires.   Limited suffrage, restricted

education and all the ideas l,tlirect.ly a11t8g0Dl,Sl3lC€1l/[O American
ideas, will become the ordinary and accepted principles, dominating

in our society and controlling;. this continent.

It is here then, my friends, that you see and appreciate what 
involved in this war. One of these two forces must establish its
superiority, It is for you, for the men of your day and generation
to decide and settle this question, so full of import and hope on the
one hand, so dark and drear for these who believe in the‘righteons-

ness of free institutions on the other.

 

My friends : United, We are like the mountains, im~'nlne1-able,
iinmortal. [applause,] but divided, We are like the sands of the sea,
leaxriiig no” trace or track behind them. A man, or masses of men,
havebnt little significance in tlieigreat march of civilization. As

they are merged in lnationality, itiis as nations that they fulfill the

21

great decrees of Providence in the attainment of human progress.
it isas a nation then that we must survive with honor in history,
or go’ do,,Wn to the future in contempt; As Americans, our pride,
our hopeis in our nationality; we l1g){(_3.I1O future unless we unite
and perpetuate our C0l1,l7li.Ii‘y,h and with that united, we have a des—
tiny, brighter, grreater, than ever beckoned on a pe le in the
st1'ug_qle for ininnortality. We are fighting‘ today for i * s noble,
as pure, asinspired, as heaver.—blessed as any ever submitted to the
arbitrarnent of battle. In this sacred, hour—,—~—sacred to the recollec-
tions, the ist1'ug<rles, thesacrifices of our i'athers—-let us here record
in heaven a solemn oath, that We will never lay down our arms,
that We will never cease, with hand and heart and ballot and
bayonet, to stt'11ggl;'le on against this rebellion, untillthat old flag
shall be inviolate througliout the land and saluted with honor or
every sea. [Enthusiastic applause.]

 

After the conclusion of General Sickles’ remarlcst the band
agaiii struck up and the ceremonies were terminated by 1~unni11g up
the  of the clifierent nations over the musicians’ platform, the
national melodv being performed, and salutes fired in time with xhe
music. ‘

First czinie the ensign ofE11glaud, saluted with a 1Tll6CllG_'y’ com
posed of “God save the Queen,” “Scots wha he,” and “St. Patrick’s
Day.” Then followed the flag of France, the band playing‘ "Pour la
Syria ;” and then the standards of Spain, Russia, Deninazrk, Italy,
C~}ermauy, and lastly the Stars and Stripes, while the bands played
“Hail Columbia.” and “Our Flag is there,” with full artillery accom-
paui_ment.

WWW

The day was celebrated in the most beeo11'1ing; manner through-
out. It was in realitv a gala day; all classes of our citizens
entering" into the festivities with that spirit and demeanor which
marked it as a (lav of no ordinary occurrence. It was the birthday
of American Independence ; and as such, our people met and of-

  
 

29.

fered up their hallelujahs in token of their love of liberty-l—rational
liberty—that kind of liberty which is intended to confer upon all
alike the blessings of good governinent-—-representative government.
This was what the fathers and sages of theirevolution of 1776
struggled and battled for, and this is what their descendents of
the present day are contending, for when they rally around the old
Flaig and fight the battle of the Union. In the evening there was
a. prorniseuous gathering of all classes in Jackson Square, where
the roses and jessainihes flourish, and sweet scented flowers are
cultivated--~-where J ackson~———the immortal J ackson——seated upon his
dashing war steed, keeps watch to reniind us of the glories of the
past. Here our people met in the evening to hear Jaeger’s Band
discourse sweet music. 6 Many of our bestnational airs were played
to the delight and ainusenient of the vast multitude present. As
the sun hid his golden face in the folds of the distant west, and
twilight commenced stealing softly upon the Crescent City, the
bells of the old Cathedral, opposite Jackson Square, sent forth their
concord of sweet sounds, signifying" the closing of the ceremonies
of the day. The same gay scene was witnessed at" Coliseum Square,
where hundreds of our people had also gathered to enjoy the cool
evening breeze, and listen to the pla._ying.o.in1auy of our popular
national airs, by a band of musicians ‘provided for the occasion. In
fact the day wound up most gloriously and will long be remeiubered
ed by our good citizens. At night, rockets might be seen penetra-
ting the heavens in different directions until a late hour.

At Liberty Hall, a select and full audience listened for over
an hour to Col. Thorpe’s remarks. The ineetiiig was called to or-
der by Dr. Gribbens, and in the absencelof Judge Durell, Dr. Dostie
was called to the chair. Dr. Dostie in introducing Col. Thorpe to
the audience, stated that numbers of members of the Convention
having wished to hear from him sornething about the increase
of Union sentiment since the ‘first arrival of the Federal forces
in this city, the Colonel would now give some of his experiences.

In addressing the audience, Col. Thorpe stated he knew that he

93

was laboring under many disadvantages ; first, owing to the in-
clementstate of the wveather, and second, that the 1na_jority of the
audience had probably listened to better speakers already on that
day ; but as he had been induced by his friends to give a descrip-
tion of the first attempts to instill Union sentiments into the people
of New Orleans, he would be satistiediif he only started one single
spark of patrioticfeeling on this 88th anniversary of National In-
dependence. Ancient nations had their festivals, but although they
were made up of more outward show, there was less intellectual en»
joyment than in our own; He then madea comparison between
the three anniversaries of the Fourth of July which had passed
since the first arrival of the Union forces in this city. How on the
first, the city was gloomy, the levee a ruin, and the people not only
surly and unpatriotic, but thoroughly rebellious. How on the second
there was an attempt made by the laboring classes to get up a
torchlight procession; but the Whole only tended to show how little
patriotism therewas in it. Today, all was changed. Men, Women
and children were to be seen all over the city gaily dressed. A
gallant soldier and a brilliant orator had addressed the people to-
day, and their much respected and honored Chief Magistrate had
taken part in these exercises.

Among the many evidence of progress, he alluded to the re-
cently passed ordinance of emancipation by the people   ‘
He said that few, even of the lprofoundest thought, fut»)
hended the importance of that act. Strange as it might  ar it
had created an epoch in the worlds history. There was
to its moral and political effect. If, said the orator, W
the record of the last eighteen hundred years, We would 7
few prominent points or headlands there were standing on om
the general level to make startling eras in the history of man, and
yet so sublime did he consider the passage of the ordinance of
emancipation, that in future times it will stand only second in im-
portance to the advent of the Saviour of mankind. It was thepri-
mary, and will, therefore, ever be considered the grandest step.
Maryland had followed the example of Louisiana ; Kentucky Would

  
   
 
 

24

soon enroll herself ‘in such good company ; then ufould follouf otl1er '
Southern States ; but Louisiana was first at the goal in the Olynr
pian race ; she wore the wreath of the first victory, and all others
must follow. To Gen. Banks, just history will accord the credit of
the fact; And how Well he may be proud of the great actlof his
public life we can learn by 1*eading' the motto recently placed under
the Canal street statue of Henry Clay. Said that great statesman
in the palrniest days of his intellect, “If I could relieve Kentucky of
slavery, I would think that honor grander than any   that can be
Worn by the conquerer’s brow.” Gen. Banks has done more, for
under his administration he has given frelecloine to Louisiana, and
prepared the way for the redemption of the nation at large.

In this manner the speaker kept the audience listen"ing'" atten-
tively for over an hour, being frequently interrupted by applause.

The streets all tlirougth the city were a festive appearance ;

most of our business houses closed earlytinl the The banks V

and insurance offices, as Well as all public oflices, were closed in
honor of the day. C_arondelet‘street, frointhe number of consular
oflioes therein, was  with bunting; ; on no occasion liave We seen
thexndisplayed in such nunibers.‘ l

The shipping in the harbor also displayed their flags, soniel of

the Vessels  covered ufith thorn.