Mr. Boutwell--"What does the cessation of hostilities mean? It means
that the blockade is to be removed, and the South be allowed to
furnish itself with materials and munitions of war. What does that
mean on the land? What does it mean on the sea? That you are to furl
your flag at Fortress Monroe on the Petersburg line; that you are to
remove your gunboats from the Mississippi River; that you are to
abandon Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip at its mouth; that you are to
undo the work which the gallant Farragut has already done in Mobile
Bay, and so along the coast and upon the line from the Atlantic beyond
the Mississippi River. You, people of the North, who have been
victorious upon the whole through three years of war--you are to
disgrace your ancestry--you are to render yourselves infamous in all
future time, by furling your flag and submitting anew to rebel
authority upon this continent. Are you prepared for it? (Voices--
"No!" "never!") I ask these men here, who cheered the resolution
adopted at Chicago, whether they, men of Massachusetts, and in Faneuil
Hall, will say, one of them, with his face to the patriots of the
Revolution--will say that he asks for peace through any craven spirit
that is within him? Is there a man among them all, from whatsoever
quarter of this city, renowned in history--is there a man of them all
who will stand here and say he is for the cessation of hostilities? If
so, let him speak, and let him, if he dare, come upon this platform and
face his patriotic fellow-citizens. (A call was made for cheers for
McClellan in the rear of the hall, but nobody seemed disposed to
respond. The speaker continued.) I am willing a cheer should be given
for any man who has been in the service of the country, however little
he may have done. Is there any man in Faneuil Hall for peace? (Voices
--"No!") I intended, so far as was in my power, to give to this
meeting a political aspect (voices--"Good!") in favor of the country
and against traitors. (Cheers.) If there are no peace men in this
assembly, then that object, as far as we are concerned, is
accomplished. (Prolonged cheering.)