so many soldiers have become peaceful citizens; now that you meet in harmony, with no rancor in your hearts towards your old foes in arins; with no feeling but a hope for the full restoration of the dear old Union,-now we see the bow in the cloud, which assures us that the deluge of rebellion will no more cover the land never, for all time. If danger should ever again threaten the Union, you can follow no better example than your own. You can need no better inspiration than the memory of those who have fallen by your side. Said the loyal Scotchman, when asked in a day of peril, whither he was going: "Wherever the spirit of Montrose shall direct me." In any crisis of our country's life, your best guide will be found in the spirit of your fallen comrades.

If I had time to frame a sentiment, it would be something like this: Both armies of the James-both armies of the Union,— those that still tread the earth, and those that sleep beneath its surface. In time of need, all alike would come from their homes and from their graves to strike once more for endangered Union and for endangered Liberty.

Judge Russell's remarks were warmly applauded and his closing sentiment loudly cheered.

The President gave as the

SECOND SENTIMENT.-" The Army of the James, and the health of its First Commander, Major-General Benjamin F. Butler.” (Loud applause and cheers.)

Col. Jonas H. French, formerly a member of Gen. Butler's staff, was introduced amid loud applause, and responded as follows:

RESPONSE OF COL. JONAS H. FRENCH.

Col. French said: I regret the absence of the distinguished gentleman who was to respond to this sentiment, and I must confess, sir, that I hesitate, because so poorly prepared, to give expression to the feelings that animate me. But, sir, I would do injus

tice to my own feelings, I would do injustice to the warmest and closest friendship, did I not thank you, on behalf of Gen. Butler, for the kindness of your reception and the heartiness of your welcome. Truly, sir, if he were here, I know that as a man he would grasp each of you by the hand (applause), to thank you for the welcome, and thank you sincerely as a great big heart can do, to his companions in arms and his fellow-soldiers. (Three cheers for Gen. Butler.) Truly, Mr. President, if he were here, I know there would come welling up from the bottom of his heart, expressions of the sincerest friendship; and as you know, there are no friendships so sincere as the soldier's, no attachment so close as the soldiers'. (Applause.) Were he here, I know he would welcome you to Massachusetts, to his adopted State; he would welcome you to his home, and thank God that so many of his old comrades survived to meet about the festive board, and congratulate each other upon the successes they have obtained. I beg humbly to offer a sentiment:

"The true soldier; his deeds never need encomium. Let the prejudices and passions of the day pass; history will do all soldiers justice."

At the close of Col. French's remarks the band played "The Bould Soger Boy," after which the President said that he would have been glad to have seen with them all the former officers of the Army of the James-the gallant Birney, who fell a victim to disease; Ord, Smith, Weitzel, Gillmore, and others whom they loved to name, but they could not be present. He rejoiced, however, that they had with them one whose name had passed into the history of his country, made famous as the conqueror of Fort Fisher; he therefore proposed as the

THIRD SENTIMENT: "The Corps Commanders of the Army of the James-distinguished alike by ability, courage, and fidelity to the Union."

Gen. Terry was then loudly called for, and greeted with nine hearty cheers when he arose to speak. When silence was restored he spoke as follows:

RESPONSE OF MAJOR-GENERAL ALFRED H. TERRY.

MR. PRESIDENT: The manner in which my name has been received, makes it almost impossible for me to reply to the toast which has just been read, and I could wish that of those who commanded corps in the Army of the James, some other than myself, the junior of them all, were here to make reply. And, indeed, I wish that all were here, that they might unite their voices with mine in bearing witness to the military and patriotic virtues of those whom they commanded-the gallantry in action, the patience under hardship and privation, and the devotion to their country and its flag, of the officers and men who composed the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps.

Were they here, I know that they would unite with me in proclaiming with grateful hearts, that whatever of honor or reputation all, or any of us, may have acquired, whatever of place or position we may have attained, all is due, not so much to our own merit, as to the merit of those whom we commanded, the subordinate officers and the private soldiers of the Army of the James.

To them-the living and the dead—our gratitude is due, for the noblest and most devoted support which men can give, and we should be base indeed were we not willing, and more than willing, to acknowledge the debt.

Mr. President, and dear old friends and comrades (for you are all dear old friends and comrades to me), I can say no more than to offer you my most heartfelt wishes for your future prosperity and happiness. May your years to come be as bright as your past has been glorious. May you find in the gratitude of your countrymen, and in the consciousness that you sacrificed much, and endured much, for your native land when its need and peril were greatest, a reward for your labors, and may God bless you all. (Loud and prolonged applause.)

The Chairman then said: Gentlemen, in the midst of all our joys there comes always the memory of that portion of the Army of the James, those who are now no more. I we all rise in silence to the

propose to you

that

FOURTH SENTIMENT.-" The memory of the honored dead."

The whole assembly rose, and the band played the "Dead March," after which the chaplain, Rev. Mr. Trumbull, spoke as follows:

RESPONSE OF CHAPLAIN, REV. H. CLAY TRUMBULL.

COMRADES: In responding to this sentiment, at the call of your Chairman, I am sure of the warm sympathy with my subject of all who are my hearers. God knows that soldiers honor the memory of their dead comrades. Those who themselves took their lives in their hands, and for long years faced death at their every step in the path of duty, and from whose very sides fell those dear to them as their own heart's blood, are not likely to soon forget their missing fellows. And not only you who hear me, but very many who have no representatives here to-night, are in sympathy with us as we dwell for a moment on this sacred theme. Our dead re

present home circles, where they are not yet forgotten; and as we are gathered in this delightful reunion, not a few of their strong yet tender-hearted fathers, their bowed and stricken mothers, their widowed wives, loving, mourning sisters, orphaned children or sorrowing friends, think of us, sympathize with us, pray for a blessing on us, and with us mourn their dead-our dead-the dead of the Army of the James. Not a few of our dead were of those who were esteemed and highly honored while living, rather than of those who won a good name only by falling in a holy cause. The best blood of the choicest families in all the land, mingled with the blood of the humbler and less noted, yet not the less noble and worthy citizens of the republic, on the hard-fought fields from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, from the orange groves of Florida to the mountain fastnesses of East Tennessee, and from Bull Run to Appomattox Court House, where the battalions of this organization won their dearly bought and honorable name. And our dead fell not alone in the crash of battle, on the high places of the field, on the lonely outpost, the picket station, or the thin skirmish line, but some of them went home only to expire in the arms of friends, wasted away in the hospital,

while yet others died of disease or starvation in the gloomy prison-pens of the enemy. And everywhere, living as patriots and falling as soldiers, they were noble and true, and "faithful unto death."

Brave General Birney, who raised himself from the sick-bed, to mount his horse and once more lead out the old Tenth Corps, to successful battle against an advancing foe, and then when victory was dearly won, dropped down to die of the disease which had already fastened on him its icy grasp.

General Strong, the soldier of so bright a record, and of so high, rich promise, falling in the hand-to-hand struggle on the deadly parapet, while by his side went down Colonel Shaw, the martyred embodiment of a sublime principle, the self-sacrificing representative of a great idea; the cultured Putnam and the chivalrous. Chatfield, gallant Tom Stevenson, hardly more than a mere boy in years, while already a veteran in high achievement, beloved by his command as he was trusted by his commanders.

Generals Burnham of Maine and Howell of Pennsylvania, two good soldiers and true, yet how unlike. One, the sturdy old lumberman, the other, the courtly gentleman of the olden time. Who knowing Burnham can think of him without recalling his dying characteristic order at Chaffin's Bluff-"Heave out your skirmishers there. Boom ahead and sock 'em;" or who of Howell's friends will forget his equally characteristic response, to the men who were digging him out from beneath the ruins, of Gillmore's signal tower on Morris Island, where he had been buried under its falling timbers, when the bursting shell scattered it into fragments "Thank you, gentlemen, thank you; don't trouble yourselves," as he brushed away the dust from his coat-sleeve, and sunk into unconsciousness from his terrible injuries. And Bell, and Dutton, and Moore, and Plympton, and Spofford, and Burpee, and Converse, and a host of others. How their gallant forms pass by us in memory's review. "Poor fellows, they all die!" said our noble General Stedman in the Petersburg trenches, but a few days before he also fell in death, and this thought was often in other minds, I am sure. I vividly recall how from before Petersburg I rode over one morning, at the request of my loved friend and tent-mate, the knightly soldier, to bear a message to