ington and his compatriots; if we can come out of it with our free and matchless Constitution maintained substantially in all its parts; if we can come out of it and still boast of our American nationality; if we can come out of it with the farther boast that, though we have passed through these great trials, we have not only saved our Constitution and Union but we have caused the sun of freedom to shine on an additional four millions of human beings; and if the old ship can once more be righted, and set sail on calmer seas, smooth and tranquil, where is the man who feels a just pride of country and who cannot realize the great influence which the American Republic with freer institutions and a broader Christian civilization shall exert on downtrodden humanity in every land and beyond every sea? Ay, sir, let OURS be the chosen land, let OURS be the land whither the weary wanderer shall direct his footsteps and where he can enjoy the blessings of peace and freedom. Let ours be the "bright particular star," next to the star that led the shepherds to Bethlehem, that shall guide the downtrodden and oppressed of all the world into a harbor of peace, security, and happiness. And let us, kneeling around the altar, all thank God that although we have had our trials we have saved our country; that although we have been guilty of sins we have wiped them out; and that we at length stand up a great and powerful people, honored by all the earth, " redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled by the genius of UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION.”

Speech at the Sherman Banquet in St. Louis, on the 20th of July, 1865.

The second regular Toast, "The Army and Navy of the United States," was responded to by Mr. ROLLINS as follows:

Mr. Chairman: It was but a few moments ago that my friend Colonel Broadhead informed me that I should be called upon to respond to the sentiment that has just been read. I regret, sir, that this pleasing duty has not devolved upon some one of the distinguished military gentlemen who have honored this occasion with their presence. But, sir, as the duty is imposed upon me, I rise to make a very few remarks.

The dissolution of the American Union, the downfall of the great Republic, if such a thing had happened, would have been the most distressing catastrophe and the severest blow to the cause of free institutions that had ever been felt in the history of our race. For the preservation of our Government and this blessed Union we are mainly indebted to the heroic achievements of the Army and Navy of the United States. The fame of that Army and that Navy has been established by the earnest, unselfish, and devoted patriotism of our soldiers and our sailors, and they have added imperishable glory to both these arms of the public service.

It is a pleasing reflection to every cultivated and sensitive heart, that during this terrible rebellion this great effort on the one hand to destroy, and on the other to preserve, the nation's life- this unprecedented conflict of arms between millions of men engaged upon either side that throughout the struggle, not one single solitary act of insubordination has occurred, nor has one effort been made, on the part of the high military and naval men who have conducted successfully this great revolution, with any other view than to promote the glory, the success, and the safety of our free country. In the Army and the Navy, all unworthy ambition, all objects, personal and selfish, have given way to a pure and elevated love of country; this is the motive that has guided our generals and our soldiers, and to their unselfish aims are we largely indebted for the triumphant success that crowned their efforts, and which causes the heart of the nation to swell with gratitude to our. brave defenders.

Mr. Chairman, the war is over. It was, sir, a necessary war. It was a war that could not be avoided. In the whole history of our race no man can point to a solitary case where an attempt was made to overthrow a government and mutilate its territory without an effort on the part of that government to maintain itself. Nations fight upon a sole point of national honor.

Nations often declare war in order to uphold the rights of a single citizen. Nations quarrel and sometimes fight to maintain the integrity of their territorial dominion, though barely worth possessing. A few years ago we were almost involved in a war with Great Britain in reference to a small strip, not larger than a few counties, in the northeastern part of our territory. At another time we hear the war-cry of "Fifty-four forty, or fight!" And all remember our complications with the same power in regard to a small island on our northwestern coast, the title to which was more than doubtful, and which at best was hardly worth owning. With instances like these before us, how could any man of sense reason for a moment that a great Government like ours would permit itself to be cut in twain and despoiled of the fairest and richest portion of its beautiful heritage, to have planted upon its border a hostile and powerful people, to have its commerce swept from us and to surrender the splendid harbors stretching along its coast for 3000 miles, from the Chesapeake to the Rio Grande, including the mouth of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, without a struggle more persistent and terrible than any hitherto witnessed among men since the "morning stars sang together"? No, sir; however reluctant the nation felt, we were compelled to fight or to stand a dishonored and disgraced people; and if from any cause the people had shrunk from the contest, I believe that the gallant Army and Navy would have struck the blow and saved us from the national humiliation and disgrace. But, sir, the people were like the Army and the Navy they loved their country, and nowhere in human history have any people been so lavish of their wealth, their efforts, and their blood to uphold the right, to maintain territorial integrity and the national honor.

And now, sir, that the war is over, and the white-winged messenger of peace has again spread her wings over the continent, it is a reflection no less pleasing than honorable that the men who have been actively engaged in the war are the most earnest advocates of peace, and only those would continue the strife who have never fired a musket or seen a fort!

The distinguished citizen and soldier whom we all delight to honor on this occasion has added fresher laurels to his brow, because from the time he accepted a colonelcy in the Regular Army until the firing of the last gun he has been the most consistent, earnest, generous, and gracious advocate of peace. He followed war because he was in truth the child of the Republic, because he owed it to his country to sacrifice his life, if need be, in his efforts to save it. He struck no unnecessary or vengeful blow whilst he wielded his sword, and when the enemy succumbed, yielding to his superior prowess, he at once set an example of moderation, of liberality, and of justice in dealing with a fallen foe, best calculated to insure an immediate and lasting peace, and worthy the imitation of the most enlightened Christian philanthropists and statesmen.

Mr. Chairman, I know that I am likely to weary this audience. [Cries of "Go on! go on!"] It would be in bad taste on my part to continue these desultory remarks, when I know that you are all, like myself, impatient to hear from General Sherman himself. But, sir, in doing honor to the great and distinguished men who have made the American name still more illustrious amongst men, let us not forget on this festal occasion the rank and file of the American Army-the common soldiers-God bless them! Without them we should have had no Sherman and no Grant; but, sustained by them, the military genius of the country has been developed, and our military annals enriched with names that will never die. As long as free government has a votary upon this continent, and liberty is prized amongst men, besides the great captains whose names I have just mentioned, the recollection of the glorious services of Thomas and Sheridan, of McClellan and Meade, of Hancock and Hooker, of Pope and Schofield, of Dodge and McPherson, of Blair and Lyon, of Terry and Logan, and a host of other brave officers, will remain ever green and fresh in the memory of the American people. In honoring our illustrious guest to-night we honor at the same time every officer who has performed well his part in the great struggle, and every soldier who has worn honorably the uniform of the American army. We honor the famous institution where many of these distinguished officers were so well taught, and we claim that whatever recreancy to country may have been shown by some of the graduates of that institution, the brilliant conduct and heroic achievements of those who remained true to the flag must ever henceforth make West Point a favorite institution with the American people. But we honor to-night in a special manner every bronzed man of war who followed our distinguished friend from Pittsburg Landing to Vicksburg, from Vicksburg to Chattanooga, from Chattanooga to Atlanta, from Atlanta to the Sea, from Savannah to Charleston, and from Charleston to Washington. Richmond, for a time, was in fact the rebellion. It rested upon the four props of Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington. And without intending any invidious comparison betwixt our honored guest and others who have performed their part so nobly, it is proper to say that it was in that grand and unprecedented march, a march unequaled in the history of warfare amongst men throughout the world, that these props were struck down, and the infamous rebellion fell, crushed to atoms beneath the weight of wickedness and folly which had inaugurated it and had sustained it for four long years. All honor, I again say, to the rank and file of Sherman's army.

The poor, brave soldier ne'er despise,

Nor treat him as a stranger;

Remember he 's his country's stay

In the day and hour of danger.

Nor will we forget on this or on any similar occasion the great exploits of the American Navy. The Army and the Navy, in honor, in fame, in imperishable deeds, must forever be indissolubly linked together. You cannot honor the one without at the same time awarding praise to the other. They are our twin defenders. They are the offspring of a common parent; they sprang out of the great and patriotic heart of the American people. In this rebellion, what the Army failed to accomplish, the Navy did; and what the Navy did not do, the Army accomplished. The Navy went where the Army could not go, and to do it entire justice it went almost wherever the Army did go! It defied the enemy on the seas, and the music of its artillery drove away the danger along the shores of our great rivers. The common soldier and the common sailor vied with each other in storming fortresses thought to be impregnable, and they often perished side by side in upholding the sacred and beautiful banner of the Republic. We will not forget to shed a tear of sorrow over the bier of the immortal Foote, who for a while in the early part of the rebellion was a citizen of St. Louis; and by the side of the illustrious names that I have already mentioned will stand forever those of Farragut, of Porter, of Dahlgren, of Du Pont, of Worden, and of Winslow, throwing a still brighter halo over each unfading page of American history. We will never forget how those men have sustained the fame and the power of the American name. Since these great achievements we have a right to dispute the "trident" with that powerful nation hitherto regarded as the mistress of the seas; and in the future it will be for us to appropriate the beautiful quatrain of her own immortal bard

Columbia needs no bulwark,

No towers along the steep,

Her march is o'er the mountain wave,

Her home is on the deep.

Mr. Rollins offered the following sentiment, which was cordially responded to:

The Supremacy of the Civil Law: The surest guarantee of the Liberty and the Safety of the Citizen.