any draft, and history will still record of old Massachusetts, that she was second to no other State in defending that Union, which all the world knows she was second to no other State in establishing.

In conclusion, let us all remember, my friends, that it is the Union, and nothing more nor less nor other than the Union, for which we are contending. Let us keep ever in mind those excellent words of Mr. Seward, that it is enough for us now to strain every nerve in putting down the Demon of Rebellion, without stopping to quarrel among ourselves about any lesser demons, whether imaginary or real.

Let us keep ever in mind that noble, and still more recent and emphatic declaration of our patriotic President, that if there be any man who would not save the Union unless he could either destroy or save something besides the Union, no matter what it is, he is not of that man's party.

Let us remember that we are not engaged in a war of the North against the South, but a war of the Nation against those who have risen up to destroy it. Let us keep our eyes and our hearts steadily fixed upon the old flag of our fathers, the same to-day as when it was first lifted in triumph at Saratoga, or first struck down in madness at Sumter. That flag tells our whole story: We must do whatever we do, and whatever is necessary to be done, with the paramount purpose of preserving it, untorn and untarnished, in all its radiance and in all its just significance. We must be true to every tint of its red, white, and blue. Behold it at this moment streaming from every window and watch-tower and cupola of our fair city. It has a star for every State. Let us resolve that there shall still be a State for every star. Let this be our watchword, in speech and in song, and still more in the whole civil and military policy of the war,-A STAR FOR EVERY STATE, AND A STATE FOR EVERY STAR, and, by the blessing of God, and our own strong arms, we may once more see that flag waving in triumph from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

But let us not forget that the time is short, that what we have to do must be done quickly; and let us make a short, sharp, strenuous effort, and finish the work at whatever immediate sacri

fice of treasure or of blood. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to all the world, to bring this terrible struggle to a decisive issue with the least possible delay. "Now or never," was the legend upon one of the banners which just caught my eye. It is now or never with the Union; now or never with the Constitution; now or never with the wide arch of our ranged Republic. Let us take a lesson of desperate energy from the rebels themselves, -yes, or from the Prince of Rebels, as he cries to his apostate host in the immortal epic, " Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen."

IRISH RECRUITS.

A SPEECH MADE AT A MEETING FOR ENLISTING A NEW IRISH REGIMENT AT FANEUIL HALL, SEPTEMBER 9, 1862.

I HAVE Come, fellow-citizens, to say a few words to you this evening, not because I have any confidence that I can say any thing worth your hearing, — and still less from an idea that any thing would remain to be said after Mr. Everett had spoken, but because I was unwilling to decline any service which the Committee of Arrangements for this occasion have thought me. capable of rendering to the cause in which you are assembled.

I need hardly say that I am not here as an Irishman. I may be pardoned for remembering, however, in this presence, that if there be any little Irish blood in my veins, and very little there is, I know, it is of a sort not to be disowned or ashamed of; coming as it does-remotely and sluggishly, I confess, but still directly from the same old family fountain with that which coursed along the arteries and kindled at the heart of one who loved his country "not wisely, perhaps, but too well,"-your own patriot martyr, Emmett.

I wish I had a fuller measure of his fervid eloquence for meeting such a call as this. But with such measure as I have, I am here, as a Bostonian, to unite with the Mayor and our fellowcitizens generally, in expressing the deep sense we all entertain of the noble part which has been taken by so many of our Irish brethren in the unhappy national struggle in which we are engaged, and the hearty sympathy we all feel in the efforts they are making to organize still another Irish regiment.

And now, my friends of the Emerald Isle, I need enter into no consideration of the condition of your adopted land, that land which has so long been the hope and the refuge of the oppressed

of every clime. You all know too well the history of the past year. You all know too well the circumstances of the present hour. Your own gallant Corcoran, who has as few superiors in using the tongue as he has in wielding the sword, and who seems to possess the art of raising regiments, - yes, of raising brigades and legions, as well as of commanding them, he has told you the whole state of the case in terms more felicitous and more forcible than any which I can employ.

Indeed, if any Irishman desires to know this night the cause in which he is called to enlist, he will find it illustrated in full by the words and by the deeds of his own compatriots. If it is not enough to tell him that it is the cause in which the heroic Corcoran endured that long and cruel imprisonment, and came out a more unyielding defender of it than ever before; tell him, too, that it is the cause in which Meagher and Mulligan and Shields have perilled their lives, and in which our lamented Cass has just gone down to a hero's grave. And if he needs still farther information, tell him it is the cause in which the venerable and eloquent Archbishop of New York traversed a wintry ocean to confront the prejudices of the Old World, not officially, indeed, but with an authority more imposing and impressive than that of any commissioned diplomatist, and returned to render an account of his mission in-a public discourse, whose trumpet tones ought to find an echo, and I trust have found an echo, in every Irish heart throughout the land.

What Irishman, or what American, desires better testimony, or worthier witnesses than these? They have each presented to you the simple facts that the American Union has been wantonly and wickedly assailed; that the best and most beneficent Constitution and laws which the world has ever witnessed have been causelessly and treacherously set at defiance; that the old flag of our fathers has been madly torn down and trampled in the dust by those who were bound by every tie of duty and of honor to defend it. They have each exhorted you to discard all party prejudices, to renounce all sectional issues, and to rally without delay to the rescue of that flag, and to the restoration of the national authority which it has so long and so proudly repre

sented.

And if they were here with us to-night, they would tell you that the demand for your services is greater and more urgent than ever before; that the enemy are even now thundering at the gates of our capital; that their advanced battalions are already far along within the lines of Maryland, and their scouts and pickets hovering along the borders of Pennsylvania. And they would add that the moment had at last arrived, when, if we could only succeed in striking a sharp, sudden, vigorous, united blow, we might sever the very neck of the rebellion, and leave it gasping in the bed of the Potomac or the Susquehanna; but that delay, hesitation, half-way and halting measures might cost us the best and even the last hopes of a united country.

And what more can any one tell you? What other incitement could you have to rush to arms, to close up your ranks, and to march forward to the great decisive battle of the Republic?

I have sometimes heard it whispered, indeed, and even more than whispered, that we needed a new watchword and a new warcry, that the old appeals for the Union and the Constitution and the Stars and Stripes had lost their magic spell, and would no longer wake the souls of the people. Away with all such suggestions, emanating, as they so often do, from those whose wish is father to the thought! As soon would I believe that the green banner of Erin had lost its charm.over those who had once been privileged to hail it as their own! Away with such sugges tions! there is no place for them in Faneuil Hall. They cannot abide the visible frown even of these pictured patriots. How would they endure the living presence of a Washington or a Webster! From every one of these honest Irish and American hearts, which are beating here to-night in perfect accord to the music of the Union, I hear the cry,-Away with all such suggestions at an hour like this!

This is not the time, my friends, as I think, and as I know you think, for advancing any policy except the single, simple, straightforward policy of standing by the flag and defending the country. More especially is it not a time for attempting or agitating any policy which may aggravate or complicate still further the exist ing burdens and responsibilities of the Border States. Heaven knows they have load enough to carry at this moment. The