recently as its Governor; as a member of the Senate of the United States, in which he first took his seat forty-six years ago; as a member of the Cabinet of more than one President; and finally as a Representative in Congress, an office which, like 'our own Adams, he felt it no compromise of his dignity to accept and hold as the closing honor of his life, he was everywhere distinguished, admired, respected, and beloved. Whatever differences of opinion may, from time to time, have been entertained as to any particular measures which he proposed or advocated, his patriotism was never doubted, nor his devoted and disinterested fidelity to his conscience and his country ever impeached. In the sad struggles which have grown out of the present unholy rebellion, he was called on to play a part of no doubtful or secondary importance. Whether the precise measure of adjustment which he proposed, in order to arrest the unnatural blow which was aimed at the American Union, ought to have been, or could have been, adopted, and how far it would have been successful in accomplishing its object, if it had been adopted, are questions on which there will never, probably, be a perfect unanimity of opinion. But the name of Mr. Crittenden will not the less proudly be associated, in all time to come, with an honest, earnest, and strenuous effort to avert the dread calamities of civil war, and to preserve unbroken the Union and domestic peace of his beloved country. As the leading statesman of the border States, his course was full of delicacy and difficulty. It is hardly too much to say, that had he failed or faltered in sustaining the cause of the government and of the Union, or had he sustained it on any other grounds, or in any other way, than he did, the State of Kentucky might have been lost to that cause. Nor can any one doubt that the loyal and noble attitude of that honored Commonwealth at the present hour, on which the best hopes of the Union may even now hang, is in a large degree owing to his powerful influence, his inspiring appeals, and his unwavering patriotism. This is not the occasion for speaking of the personal qualities which so endeared Mr. Crittenden to his friends, and which made friends for him of all who knew him. Others have possessed faculties more adapted for commanding and enforcing a com pliance with their wishes, their ambition, or their will; but no one of our day or generation, certainly, had more of that magnetic attraction, which secured the willing sympathy, confidence, and co-operation of all within its reach. The charm of his manner, the cordiality and generosity of his whole nature, the music of his voice, and the magic power of his eloquence, as well in conversation as in formal discourse, will be among the lasting traditions of the circles in which he moved; and his death will be long felt, not only as a great public loss at such a period of his country's need, but as a personal sorrow to all who have enjoyed the privilege of his friendship. CONCORDIA. A SPEECH MADE AT THE TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL OF THE MASSACHUSETTS I THANK you, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, for this kind notice. I thank you still more for the privilege of being present here on this occasion, and of taking my seat at your table not merely as an invited guest, but as one of those honorary members to whom you have so kindly alluded. Let me congratulate you, in their name as well as in my own, on the recurrence of your Anniversary under so many gratifying circumstances. The arrival of your Association at the ripe age of threescore years is happily signalized by the fact, that you have not only been able to lend a commodious and beautiful building to our municipal councils, during the erection of their new City Hall, but have been able to furnish a man from your own ranks, and for the second time, to preside over those councils. For the second time, did I say? I referred only to the fact that our worthy Mayor, having once withdrawn, after several successful terms of most acceptable and faithful service, had now again been called on to occupy the Municipal chair. I did not forget the portraits on yonder wall would not have permitted me to forget that at least three of his predecessors in the mayoralty an Armstrong, a Wells, and a Wightman - had also been taken from the ranks of your Association. Each one of them rendered valuable service in his turn; yet it may well be the peculiar pride of our excellent friend that he has been allowed to conduct the city safely through one of the most perilous periods of its history; and that, under his administration, renewed evidence has been given, that, however odious or onerous any particular Act of Congress may be, its execution and enforce[561] 36 ment are not to be prevented or delayed by lawless violence. It is no small matter at this moment to have proved afresh, in the face of friend and foe, at home and abroad, that the American Liberty Cap is not a Mob Cap! Sir, we are accustomed to talk of Boston as a great commercial city. And so it is; and we are all justly proud of those enterprising, sagacious, and munificent merchants who have done so much to make our city known and honored in our own and in other lands. Their names are as familiar as household words to you all. Many of them are inscribed on your own honorary roll. But Boston is a great Mechanic City, as well as a great Mercantile City; and no class of its citizens has done more to build it upI do not mean materially only, but morally, socially, politically, historically than that of which your Association is composed. And there is one service which the mechanics of Boston rendered long ago, not indeed to our own city alone, nor to our own Commonwealth only, but to our whole country and to mankind, which, at this moment of all others, must not be, and cannot be, forgotten. I allude, as you may have anticipated, to the leading and decisive part which they played, just three-quarters of a century ago, in securing the adoption of the Constitution of the United States by the Convention of Massachusetts. You all, I am sure, remember the story. There is nothing more worthy of remembrance in the history of Boston mechanics. You all remember that meeting at the old Green Dragon, in January, 1788, and those resolutions which were transmitted to Samuel Adams, for the special instruction of himself and John Hancock, by the hand of your first President, Paul Revere. Yes, sir, both Samuel Adams and John Hancock needed the instruction of the Boston mechanics at that day; and they received it and conformed to it. It is hardly too much to say, that but for those resolutions, then and there passed by the Patriot Mechanics of '88, the adoption of the Federal Constitution would have failed. And need I add, that of all the mighty and marvellous enginery, to the invention or to the operation of which the mechanic mind or the mechanic arm has ever contributed, the Constitution of the United States is still the master-piece. For, sir, when I speak of the Constitution, I speak of the Union which was its direct and designed result. There could have been no effective and permanent Union without that Constitution. There could have been none at that day. There can be none at this. True, Mr. President, it is no simple machine. It is somewhat complex in its construction. It has wheels within wheels, which may sometimes get clogged, and sometimes be thrown out of gear. And like every thing else of merely mortal mould, it is not proof against such wanton and wicked attempts to obstruct its operation, and destroy its checks and balances, and overthrow its entire organization, as those from which we are now suffering. Yet, taken for all in all, tested by its practical operation for more than threescore years and ten, the world has seen nothing wiser or better, nothing so wise or so good; and the most earnest effort and the most fervent prayer of each one of us should be, that it may come out safely from the great trial to which it is now subjected, and be once more restored to us in all its original proportions and in all its matchless symmetry. I do not forget, Mr. President, that this restoration must primarily be accomplished by force of arms. We must fight, and fight on, and woe unto us if we do not fight, with all our might, against those who are striving to break up this great machine of Free Government! There is no alternative, and no substitute at this moment for hard blows in its defence. We must sustain the powers that be, in re-enforcing the military arm of the nation, and in bringing it down with the whole strength of the loyal States on the head of the insurgents. Most heartily do I wish that any word of mine could aid in animating my fellow-countrymen to such a united and vigorous onset as might overwhelm this unholy rebellion at once and for ever. Most heartily do I wish that the whole population of the loyal States could be seen rising at last as one man, without regard to present politics or to future policies, and resolving that the military power of the rebellion should be overthrown at any and every cost. We ought at least to achieve such success, without further delay, as shall enable us to defy foreign intervention and dictate our own terms of peace. Let me not, however, be misunderstood. I am not one of those, if any such there be, who believe that nothing besides hard blows is required for the restoration of our beloved Union. A re-en |