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2000 and 3000 of the emancipated race, of all ages and sizes.
Their appearance was warmly welcomed, and their joy seemed to be unbounded.
Capt. Smalls was subsequently introduced to many distinguished gentlemen, to whom he narrated his interesting adventure with lively satisfaction.
On the evening of that day, a handsome banquet was given1 at the Charleston Hotel, by General Gillmore, to the invited guests who came in the Arago; at the conclusion of which eloquent and stirring speeches were made by Judge Holt, Judge Kelley, Hon. Joseph Hoxie, Lieut.-Governor Anderson, George Thompson, Theodore Tilton, and others.
The speech of the occasion was made by Judge Holt, which was one of the2 most forcible speeches to which we ever listened, and delivered3 with great energy.4
Mr. Thompson and
Mr. Garrison were also among the speakers at the banquet, the latter being heartily cheered as he rose to respond to the toast in his honor.
Brief as were his remarks, we can quote only the opening and concluding paragraphs:
My friends, I am so unused to speaking—in this place5 (cheers and laughter)—that I arise with feelings natural to a first appearance.
You would scarce expect one of my ageand antecedents—to speak in public on this stage, or anywhere else in the city of Charleston, South Carolina.
(Cheers.) And yet, why should I not speak here?
Why should I not speak anywhere in my native land?
Why should I not have spoken here twenty years ago, or forty, as freely as any one?
What crime had I committed against the laws of my country?
I have loved liberty, for myself, for all who are dear to me, for all who dwell on the American soil, for all mankind.
The head and front of my offending hath this extent, no more. . . .
I am here in Charleston, South Carolina.
She is smitten to the dust.
She has been brought down from her pride of place.
The chalice was put to her lips, and she drunk it to the dregs.
I have never been her enemy, nor the enemy of the South.
Nay,
