Addresses by His Excellency Governor John An, Andrew, Hon. Edward Everett, Hon. B. F. Thomas, and Hon. Robert C. Winthrop

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Excerpt from Addresses by His Excellency Governor John An, Andrew, Hon. Edward Everett, Hon. B. F. Thomas, and Hon. Robert C. Winthrop: Delivered at the Mass Meeting in Aid of Recruiting, Held on the Common Under the Auspices of the Committee of One Hundred and Fifty, on Wednesday, August 27, 1862 Mr. President and Fellow-Citizens: I greet this patriotic and enthusiastic gathering of uncounted thousands of the people of Massachusetts with the most cordial and grateful homage. I would that I might coin my very heart into words, that by some fitting phrase, by some power of real, inspiring eloquence, I might speak to you, heart to heart, man to man, citizen to citizen, brother to brother, - the last word perhaps it may be my fortune to utter before the grand army of Massachusetts now called from peaceful life to join their gallant brethren in the field shall march from our reverend and holy soil. You are here, drafting yourselves together at the call, - the gathering of the clans of liberty, the heroic sons, the patriotic citizens of Massachusetts, parading yourselves together in voluntary pageant, preliminary to the voluntary march. But I do not see in this long array of stalwart men, I do not perceive in these kindling eyes and on these glowing cheeks, the mere desire to stimulate by banners and by grand array the zeal and patriotism of other men. I perceive in it the spontaneous expression of individual purpose and of a combined and gathering will. These bands who have passed before our sight are citizens of Massachusetts who have already drawn themselves, I trust, to join the army, where soon they will draw the sword and point the loyonet. It is your task, your duty and mine, each after the measure of his capacity in the sphere in which Providence may place us, not merely to aid in saving the Union, to restore to its wonted sway the starry banner of this Republic from the northern border down the Mexican Gulf, and from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific sea, but to fight a battle, to engage in a great campaign where the principles of democratic government are the stake for which we play, not simply for the perpetuity of institutions formed by man's hands or framed by the scheming brain, not merely for the preservation of our form of government, liberal and free, not merely for the perpetuity of holy and patriotic memories in the past, but for the preservation and perpetuation of all that makes a people free, a people happy, a nation glorious. We stand as did the band of Leonidas, the Spartan, just where the hordes are pouring down to destroy not merely Greece, but to destroy civilization and to bury liberty. This is a historic hour, fraught with the destinies of a nation, and more than a nation, - with the destinies of humanity. Whoso sheds a drop of patriotic blood, whoso strikes a patriotic blow beneath this flag and for the support of the principles and ideas that banner symbolizes, strikes for liberty and for man. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.