Savannah daily herald. (Savannah, Ga.) 1865-1866, April 23, 1865, Image 1

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SAVANNAH DAILY HERALD. VOL. I—NO. 84. The Savannah Daily Herald (MORNING AND EVENING} IS PUBLISHED BY a W. MASON «fc CO., Ax 111 Bat Street, Savannah, Geobcia. ■ . : - xebhs: ' • Per Copy. .Five Cents. Per Hundred. $3 60. per Year $lO 00, . ADVERTISING} Two Dollars per Square of Ten Lines for flrtt In sertion i One Dollar for each subsequent one. Ad vertirements inserted in the morning, will, if desired, appear in tfie evening without extra charge. . JOB PRINTING every style, neatly and promptly done. TIIE GREAT MEETING YES TERDAY. Appropriate Decorations. Speeches by Gen. Littlefield, Gen. Wnshburne, Col. Wood ford, Mr. A, D, Brown and Others, , ' ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS. The great meeting in Johnson Square yes terday afternoon was one of tie largest,most successful and most important meetings of the kind yet held in this, or we venture to say, in any other Southern city,. returned into tne possession of the. National forces. The meeting was called for the purpose of giving to the loyal citizens of the United Slates an opportunity to express their pro found grief at the death of President Lincoln in an adequate and ftjng manner. The affair was taken in hand by committees of .energetic and public-spirited'gentlemen, who spared uo effort to make the occasion one of marked impressiveness. A number of ear nest and eloquent speeches were made,suited to the occasion, and producing a telling effect, a report of which we give below. _ • THE STAND DECORATIONS. . A capacious stand was erected east of the Greene Monument in Johnson Square, whieh was carpeted and furnished with seats for about fifty persons. The stand was appro priately draped in festoons' of black and white, and decked with a profusion of flow ers ; and upon tho corners were fixed regi mental colors, furled and muffled in black. Overhead the trees were festooned with ths sable tokens of grief, and the following ap propriate mottoes upon white bands were stretched from branch to branch: “How are the Mighty “He died, but his work still lives.” “The memory of the past is blessed.” “ Lincoln—lover of his country, lover of kisrace.” . The monumeht was also decked in flags and mourniDg, and in the fear of the stand waved a large flag striped with black. It was through: the exertions of the follow ing named ladies and gentlemen that the ' stand was thus tastefully and appropriately decorated. Rev S W Magill, of Conn.; Chaplain B F Rogers, III,; Mis J. B Cahill, III.; Mrs Ives, Penn ; Mrs Wiley, Mass ; Miss H C Bullard, Miss L A Capron, Miss JA-J Armstrong,N Y; Miss S A Jenness, NH; Miss FE Miner, Vtrmont. • Among the distinguished guests upon the platform was Maj.-Geu. Grover. COMMITTEE BY WHICH THE MEETING WAS - - CALLED. •' C. P. Leslie, Chairman, J B Cahill, John M Glidtler, S D Waddell, Thos T Wright, Capt S S Starr, Lieut Col R P York, Lt Col Alfred Neafie, L A Dodge. v ' Mr. C. P. Leslie called the meeting to or der, and announced the following as TUB ORGANIZATION. • President —Robert P- York, Lieut. Col. 75th N. Y. Yols. and Provost Marshal. Vick Presidents— Sidney S. Starr, Post Q. M.; 9. B. Luce, Lieut. Com.; Hon. R. D. Ar nold, Mayor; Edward Padelford, Lieut. £. B. Webster, Henry D. Weed, Dr. A*. W. vost, Dr T T WilUs, Dr -F Y Clark, A H Hol way, C K Osgood, John S.Rogers,.Lt Wil cox, A B Marvin, E P Tunison,. Sheldon Wight, TbomaCs Pepper,Piiymasie |H T Skel ding, Lt J H Chariot,T T Wright,C.P Leslie, Capt J P Baker, Lieut T C Otis, John Sedg wick, J#hn M Qlidden, Maj R F Wilkinson, James G Mills, Col A L Harris, L S Bennett, Liet Geo A Niles, Noble A Hardee, Capt JE Thorndike, A W.Stone, Capt C H Cox, Col J B -Cahill, Acting Master-Geo F Winslow, S M Kranson, Lieut A P Ketchum, Dudley Baldwin, D Wadley, H Brigham, Wm H Stark, Edward Lovell, Capt O.iver Matthews, George Gott, J H I-Uain, Eben Parsons, Jr., Provost Judge, W R' Dowling, J R Fay, Secretaries— F-D Jordan, Henry Isham, Dr E Henry. Simon Gerstman.W F Holland, H A Richmond,'W P Means,. T M Mason, J E. Hernandez, Alexander Fawcett, A Backer, J M Prentiss, Major C F Allen, Major J B Lockwood, U S A, Major Wm F Fleming, tT S A, Capt A Stearns, Capt D Lord, Capt N H Oglesbee, C N Bellows, F P Halsey. prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Fowler, chaplain, at the re ,uest of the President. M. Ltsl e reported the following from the Committee. They were read is a very die tinct manner by Capt. S. S. Starr, Clret Quartermaster. THE RESOLUTIONS. Whereas, the people in, and of Savannah, and throughout this laud, have learned with deep sorrow and profound regret that the President of the United States was cruelly assassinated on the evening of the 14th inst., and that at about the same hour the assas sins attempted the lives of the Secretary of State and of his assistant; and whereas, for the purpose of expressing our horror and de testation of these cruel, barbarous and un paralleled atrocities, both on account of the heinousness of the crime and of the irrepar able loss sustained by the nation, of his ser vices, advice, and counsel at this crisis, when our country is passing from War to Peace, we have met here to denounce the perpetrated crime; and it is ala<7 most fit and proper that the people here assembled should in a becom ing maimer acknowledge the magnitude and importance of his public services rendered in the past few eventful years; therefore, be it ...» s' Resolved, That in the death of the President of the United States the people not only mourn the loss of a great, wise and good man, but they feel it to be a great national bereavement, sensibly felt by the country to which the best years of his life were devoted, and that .hia administration of public affairs, both foreign and domestic, has won credit from the one and done justice to the other.— First, a member of tbe Legislature of Illinois, then its Representative in Congress, subse quently the Chief Magistrate of the nation, again elected to that highest position in the gift of the American people, Abraham Lin coln discharged the duties of these several stations with a readiness and ability which few may expect to equal; in all of these maintaining the honor and best iuterests of the nation. ' Resolved, That from tbe depths of our hearts we regret that our Chief Magistrate could not have lived to realize the consum mation of his labors, the earnest wish of bis heart—the restoration, reunion and per fect harmony of all the States—one flag, one country, one pfrople. Resolved, That words cannot express our execration of the spirit that suggested the conspiracy for this brutal and cowardly assas sination. We tee in it the culmination of trea son and not only brand the perpetrator and his immediate aiders and abettors with in famy, as the enemies of maukind; but we go fartber, and lay the foul crime at the door of those Inglorious authors of treason, secesssion and rebellion, who by their teachings, edu cated the villian who perpetrated the act.— And tbit in the perpetration of this crime against the lives of two of- its statesmen, we recognize a blow struck not only at the Liberty and Union of the Nation, but at its Honor. Resolved, That while we lament, most deeply, the loss of the Head of the Nation, we feel it our duty to pledge ourselves anew to the great cause for which he lived, and worked, and died, and to tender our hearty and unqualified support, in this trying emer gency, to the Ruler who has been Constitu tionally elevated to the vacant chair. Resolved, That for the benefit of the coun try we earnestly pray that Providenee will spare the life of the • Secretary of State, and that to the bereaved family of the deceased we extend our most sincere and heartfelt sympathy: their loss is only exceeded by the loss of the Nation. Rtsolved, That the thanks of this meeting are due and are herereby tendered to Brig adier Gen. M. 9. Littlefield and Brg Gen W asbburh and Col. Woodford for the hon noring this meeting with their presence an for their patriotic addresses on this occasion.^ That the thanks of this meeting are also due to Col, York and Capt. Starr for the zeal and energy which they have contributed towards assisting the Committee of Ar range mutes—in the preparation of suitable means for holding their meeting . Resolved, That the Chairman of thL meet ing be requested to send to-the afflicted Family a copy of these resolutions. The Resolutions were unanimously adopted. Col. York then, ‘fffter the performance o f the National Hymn, by the 14th Me. Band, mtroduced Brig.-Gen. Littlefield. ADDRESS OF Brio. GEN. LITTLEFIELD. We have met together this afternoon to pay an humble tribute of respect to the mem ory of the purest Patriot and noblest man of modern times. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, is Dead! he has been stricken down in the full bloom of manhood, in the prime of life, when he was full high advanced npon the proudest monument of fame, by the cruel hand of an assassin. Scarce had the glad tidings which filled every loyal heart from the Apfcntic to the Pacific, from, the Lakes to the Gu!f of Mexi co with joy and gladness died away, when the mournful intelligence fell upon our ears that our chosen leader and honored chieftain had gone forever. Yesterday we inscribed Victory upon our banners, to-day we write President on the President’s grave. SAVANNAH, GA., SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 1865. Oh! the terrible grief of this hour! we mourn a loss irreparable. The soldier hrs left the ranks, the sailor has dropped fcis anchor, the trader has cleared his mart, (he farther has stopped his plough, the merry ring of the anvil and the hum of business are hushed and still, that allgsay prostrate them selves around his band in hand and eye suffused, bathe «ar land in tears.— When after a few brief moments to rise from our bed of sorrow to swear before God and high heaven to meet out to unrepenting trai tors deatii, and to the assassin the assassin s doom. A crime has been committed which has no parallel in the annals of Republican history. Humanity has been outraged, aud the great soul of the Nation is shocked with emotion from centre to circumference. Four years ago the political leaders, those in the councils of the Nation, sought to de stroy the Government for the single reason that they refused, in the great election of 1860, to keep them longer in power. It was their determination, as they could rule no longer, to destroy this couutry and erect upon the ruin 9 a despotic government, that they could rule or ruin, according to their caprice or fancy. There was in the contest of 1860 no.more than there had been in the various elections that had preceded it—party lines were drawn tight, but had they not been so before ? The war was no revolution, as the people had no right to contend for, but what they all received-under the old flag, nor had they any grievance to redress. The first great cause of all this war can be found in the ungratified ambition of a few. partizan leaders. All other interests were lqgt sight of, it was such a cause for war, that, had the people of the North said to them, “ Come and rule us," they would have been satisfied. When the Democratic Convention met in the city of Charleston, S. C., 1860, William L. Yancey, of Alabama, was regarded tbe leader of the “fire eaters.” Col. J. Knox Walker, of Tennessee, represented the inter ests of Stephen A. Douglass. • After con tinual battling, the friends of Senator Doug lass became convinced that he could not be nominated, and telegraphed him to that ef fect. Senator Douglass replied: “If they will adopt the Clnoinnatti platform, or the principles therein endorsed, you may with draw my name from the convention and pledge my hearty purport for any man they might Walker, when he re ceived this, sought Mr. Yancey, and showed him the despatch. Mr. Yancey replied, :‘I may as well be frank with you first as last, and I tell you that any proposition that will be acceptable to Senator Douglass or his friends, is thereby in itself unacceptable to us —I mean disunion. Twice have I beeu before my constituency advocating it ; twice have I been defeated,but now I shall succeed.” And let the people and parties go as they wish, we care not; our organization is such that we will drag out all who will not go peace ably. Thus, as we lift the veil of the past four years, we can find the real cause of this war. I ask you, people of the South, what was the cause as stated by them to you ? what means did these heartless leaders take to arouse the passions and prejudices of the inhabitants ? Did they, its men and patriots, state to you the facts upon which they based all their resistance to the established author ity? Was it not rather by traducing Abra ham Lincoln, by arraigning him before the people as one of the vilest of the vile, and actually charging him of committing nearly every crime tn the criminal calendar? Now let us follow briefly the pathway of the great man, to hear the verdict of his neighbors and friends and see what- truth there is in this ridiculous statement. Bom in Harden county, Kentucky, in the 12th day of Februa.y, 1809. He was of humble and lowly birth, away from schools and the benefits of an early education, yet like the' great Father of our Country the seeds of future greatness were soon sown in bis mind bv a Christian mother; the oft re peated and never to be forgotten story of Washington and the “Hatchet” was readjo him, leaving a deep impression and strange to say. History has fonud, in the early life of our late President, its counteract. A Mr. Crawford, one of the early settlers in the ueigbeorbood where young Lincoln resided, opened a school in his log cabin; with a raccoon cap and a buckskin suit and an old arithmetic found for him, he commenced his studies for the “Higher Branches.” Mr. Crawford ient him a copy of Ramsey’s Life of Washington. During, a severe storm Abraham improved his leisure by reading his book. One night he laid it down carefully, as he thought,'' and the next morning be found it soaked through. TbA wind had changed ; the storm had beaten in through a crack in the logs and the appearance of the book was ruined. How could he face the owner under such circumstances? He had no money to offer as a return, but heUook the book, went di rectly to Mr. Crawford, showed him the irre parable injury, and frankly and honestly offered to work for him until he should be satisfied. Mr. Crawford accepted the offer aud gave Abraham the book for his own in return for three days labor in pulling fodder.” Thus we find .the first recorded act of the illustrious maa, winning by his manliness and straight forwardness, the love and esteem of all his neighbors, thus the incidents of his boyhood, all foreshadowing the Interest and integrity which has characterised him so in later life. Little else took place in his career till 1830. when Thomas Lincoln, his father, moved to Decatur, Illinois- Mr. .Lincoln was now twenty-one years of age, but did not go from home to act independently until he had help ed his father locate his family, break the ground for corn, and make a rail fence round the farm. We next hear of him as a volun teer in a company raised in Manard county, Illinois, for the Black Hawk war, he was was made a Captain. He served out hia en listment with houor and distinction. His courage and patriotism shrunk from no dan ger or hardship. From hia kindness of heart, honesty of purpose, and most excellent judg ment, he became the Mend of all who knew him ; and the judge, to whom was referred all difficulties and disputes arising between the soldiers,and he here received his historical name of “Honest Abe.” At the close of the war he returned to civil life, and studied and practised surveying. In 1834 he wa9 sent to the legislature of Illinois, where he laid the foundation of his future career as a statesman. In April, he removed to Springfield, Illinois, and com menced the practice of law. With the ex ception of two terms in the Illinois Legisla ture aud one term In Congress, he lived as an humble citizen with the people, loved and honored by all who were favored with bis acquaintance. The children all speak his name with rev erence, the aged find much in him to love and cherish, but nothing to condemn. It has been my good fortune to share the friendship, to mingle with him in private life, I have seen him under all circumstances, and never have I heard his name mentioned, as a man, but in terms of praise and respect. Os his public career I will not speak. There his record stands, and there it will stand, while the sun winds her course thro’ the Heavens, as an illustrious example of purity and patriotism. No ruler ever met more fully the highest hopes of the People ; those who at first tho’t him Blow, found in good time that he best comprehended the great issue. His own party met but to record iu convention the popular verdict of the man for the hour, and all lovers of their country acknowledge the wisdom of his re-election. Feeling these high expectations, Sherman marched triumphantly through the Confeder acy. Gillmore raised the old flag over the shattered cradle of secession, and Grant in a single grasp compressed the Capital and vet eran army of the rebellion. The country is tumultuous with joy and every heart over flows with gratitude the brave offleers and soldiers and the chief; mingled love I 'ana reverence are his as the savior of his country, more heartily ac? corded because he declines it for himself.— To the army he gives the praise, to God the glory! Proudly the old ship of State in all her magnificent proportions enters the haven of peace with Lincoln at the helm. In the fury of the storm the great Captain cut away slavery, making the Constitution what our Fathers intended—the Charter of Liberty.— When bad mortal more reason to be proud of success? When had any people greater motives to embalm In their hearts a Chief Magistrate ? In Such an hour the assassin strikes down this great and good man, pierc ing every heart with grief. As we recover from the shock we seek some motive for the atrocious crime. It was not to tarnish his proud fame, for that was secured beyond mortal power to harm. It wa9 not to de stroy the country, for his counsels had se cured that also. But it was that spirit of hell conceived in the interest of slavery, born in the peijured bath to support the con stitution nurtured in the fiendish torture of Union prisoners christened in this lust mur derous crime, that should appal our hearts and paralize our conquering armies. Shall it succeed ? No! a thousand times no!! 1 appeal to you who met these men at the ballot-box—who roused them on the battle field-risking your lives, not that traitors might die, but that your Country might live. If they retreat to the lurking place of the' assassin, shall not: these same bands, tri umphant in honorable warfare, prove God’s swift messengers vengeance. We have sworn to obey the President of the United States* against all enemies whom soever, and over his crimson bier we renew that oath. By the holy reverence we bear his name— by our love for our Country—by all that is sacred to Liberty, we will main tain that oath. This we do swear, lamented chieftain, in reverence to thee, to preserve our Country the proudest monument of your wisdom and glory. PRICE. 5 CENTS Our father, our leader, our friend,‘has gone to rest. It is well for us that his destroyer did not complete his work before. He has been spared by an All-Wise Providence, to carry us thro jgh the darkest hours of our Country's gloom; and with one voice we accord to him tbe welcome plaudit of “Well done good and faithful servant.” Spirit of the Patriots bid him welcome, as he comes fresh from the fields of glory; Pilgrims, in your dusty beds make room for him, our Country’s idol. REMARKS OF 8810.-OEN. WASHBURN. Gen. Washburn was then introduced. He said he came there to join his tears with those of the audience at the sad news of the President's death, but he felt like rejoicing also, on account of the glorious news of vic tory upon victory, and coming peace. He reviewed the condition of affairs briefly, and indicated the heelings of the army as favorable of kindness and mercy for those who repent, but death to all traitors hereafter. He said we all had many things to learn, aud the Southern people had one important thing to learn; that was that the colored chattel of yesterday is the human being of to-day. (Cheers.) The colored people also had one important thing to lesm— that was, that freedom does not mean laziness They also had another lesson to learn, jvhicb. was, that freedom does not necessarily mean social equality. (Applause.) He would charge them, it they wished (o be respected, to earu by industry that respect which by somebody’s fault they had lost. He closed by saying that when the goddess of liberty crowns herself with a coronal of stars, tho brightest of the diamonds will be the names of Washington and Lincoln the Father and 9avior of their country. (Applause ) The speech wa9 one of the best of the day, but being given in that spontaneous style of Western eloquence, was so difficult to report with-justice that we have given a brief ab stract. ( The band then played the Star Spangled Banner. , REMARKS OF A. W. STONE. An unexpected and terrible calamity has fallen upon the nation. Our. rejoicing Is turned into mourning, and the whole nation is “contracted in one brow of woe.” ‘ But yesterday the loyal heart of the people re joiced at tho surrender of General Lee and his army in the hope of a speedy peace: to day our rejoicing U turned into mourning, and a nation is in tears. The Chief Magis trate of the nation is stricken down by tho hand of an assassin, and we have met here to give public expression to qur feelings upon this-dreadful event. Who is equsl' to' tho task ? . .. ' Called to preside over the nation, when the sky was dark,and threatening andgather ing blackness.ovp'- "very brow.eveq to reach Capital of the nation he was forced to disguise'himself for protection againstjhreat eifed assassination. A reckless mob of agsas* sins paraded the streets of Baltimore, thirst ing for his blood, aided and encouraged by the influential secessionists of that dty. It was said by the rebels all over the South that he should never be inaugurated. “ And threats'against his life have even |ineo been made, and the Press of the South have even advertised and offered a reward for tho coward who would undertake' the task of assassination. Evcfn here in the city of Savannah; per haps on this veiy ttfee, under whose shadows I am now speaking, he was hung in efflgy. But the Providence of God preserved him, and for four years he succeSsfttlly guided our Ship of State amid the whirlpool of secession and rebellion. His honest heart and conser vative policy, have endeared him to the peo ple, and by their almost unanimous volte ha was called to fill a secoud tertn; which ha had just entered upon, and as that old Ship he had so successfully guided was just .reach ing the haven of peace, he " was cruelly * snatched from the helm. ' / We all anxiously ask; Who shall fill bis place "In the hearts of the people and in tba administration of the' affairs of this nation t He seemed raised up by Providence, from ‘the common ranks of life, to lead us through this unnatural and bloody conflict. What Moses was to the children of Israel, Abraham Lincoln wire to this people, and they had learned to think of him as Hamlet of bis father—He was a man, take him for all ia U** wo shall not look upon his like again.” He bad a proper appreciation of the great issues at stake, and os the breakers of rebel lion lathed with fury by the tempest of secession were receding, he was the man above all others that who looked to as able to control the spirit o! radicalism, and temper mercy with justice to the deluded victims of rebellion, who had been seduced and dragged into the whirlpool of revolution; and’fe'hl* death the people of the South have lost their best friend, and the whole people have sue tained a loss irreparable. Those sires of ruin who inaugurated re bellion in seeking the destruction of those whose only offense waa a love for the btora and Stripes, thereby destroyed their best friends.