from sea to sea; and as the sun of freedom thrills through, gilding the soft foliage, and sparkles and dances in and around and about it, the eye is tranced and sees a halo of joy and pride above it, like a gleam from Heaven, so rich, so divine, so pure, so lovely, and so endearing, that we tremble as we gaze! And this is the vine to whose protecting shade all mankind, of every color and from every clime, are coming to partake its fruit-rich fruit, grown from the tree of liberty, and nurtured by the great American Republican Party.

LOGAN PUTS THROUGH THE HOUSE A BILL TO ABOLISH THE OFFICES OF ADMIRAL AND VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE NAVY-HE IS ELECTED TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

Upon the assembling of Congress in December, 1870, General Logan at the first opportunity rose and offered a bill, of which he had previously given notice, to abolish the offices of Admiral and Vice-Admiral of the Navy. Mr. Scofield desired that the bill should first be considered by the Naval Committee, whereupon General Logan said:

I offer this bill, and ask immediate action upon it, without meaning any discourtesy toward the Naval Committee, and without any purpose of inflicting a wrong upon any individual. I have no personal feeling in the matter. I offered a bill containing a provision of similar character in reference to the army, and now only ask that the navy should be put on the same footing. I care nothing about the present viceadmiral, nothing about his quarrels. I have no concern in them. I offer this bill without any reference to him at all, because there is a vacancy now existing in the office of admiral, and now is the time to pass the bill before the vacancy is filled. I offer this, Mr. Speaker, as a question of economy, commencing in the navy as we have already done in the army. I tell you that these useless ranks should be lopped off as opportunity is afforded to the Congress of the United States to do so, in order that the people may be relieved of some of the burdens of taxes now imposed upon them. The office of admiral was created for Farragut, and as a compliment to him, without any expectation that it would descend along the line. But it seems as if it were the intention that none of these high ranks should ever be abolished, but that as fast as one officer dies or resigns, the vacancy should be filled, and filled in hot haste, before opportunity is afforded for the Congress of the United States to act on the subject.

Other members having spoken, Mr. Butler made a strong protest against allowing Admiral Porter to succeed the laOne of the published reports of the de

mented Farragut.

bate said at the time:

Mr. Butler spoke very rapidly, hesitated several times, not for a word, but to swallow his excitement, and had evidently, long before he ceased, carried with him the sentiment of the House. Mr. Banks followed in support of the bill; but the House, and Mr. Logan, who had remained standing during Mr. Butler's remarks, felt that the work was done. Mr. Logan said, simply and calmly, that he believed the measure would redound to the advantage of the country, and particularly to the naval branch of the service, and that the bill was offered, not because of any feeling of a personal character toward any officer who might be affected by its passage, but because he thought it right, as a question of economy, to abolish as soon as possible, an office never before created in this country, and a rank which should never be given hereafter. On his motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, fully three-fourths of the House shouted "aye," and the severest rebuke ever offered to an United States officer had been administered by the representatives of the people.

During this same year, General Logan was elected by the Illinois Legislature, an United States Senator, to succeed Richard Yates, whose term would expire March 3, 1871. Touching his nomination by the caucus, an Illinois journal remarked:

When the Republican caucus assembled last Friday, Logan had more than three to one over both his competitors (ex-Governors Oglesby and Palmer). It was a battle well fought and handsomely won. No man has deserved success better than Logan. Few men won a higher position before the country, during the war, than he; and few have shown higher ability as an orator and legislator since the war. Bold, earnest, and honest, he has dared to denounce corruption and extravagance, and to advocate retrenchments and reform, no matter upon whose corns they pressed. We congratulate the country on his accession to the Senate, where a re-enforcement of manliness and independence is greatly needed.

THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE OF 1871-SENATOR LOGAN'S EFFORTS TO SECURE CONGRESSIONAL RELIEF-HIS WONDERFULLY VIVID DESCRIPTION OF THE CATASTROPHE.

The speech made by Senator Logan, January 16, 1872, before the United States Senate, on bills for the relief of Chicago, then lying in ashes, was one of the most vivid de scriptions of calamity, and one of the most powerful appeals for assistance, ever made to a legislative body. After citing precedents for such relief, and showing the reasonableness and propriety and necessity of the thing in itself, in such an extraordinary case as this, and paying a grand tribute to those who had already so munificently answered the call for temporary assistance, he gave statistics showing the mar vellous growth of that city in wealth, population, manufactures, trade, and otherwise; showed how a temporary cessation of taxation, as proposed by the bills, would permanently help the city without loss to the Government, and in a measure benefit the whole country; briefly described all the great fires in history: the burnings of Moscow in 1366, 1571, and 1812; of Rome in the time of Nero; of Venice in 1514; of Constantinople in 1606; of London in 1666; and showed that the great fire in Chicago far surpassed any of these. Then he proceeded to paint the scene, of which he was a witness, in these wonderfully vivid colors :

Here a storm of fire, as if bursting from the heavens, which for fourteen weeks had been like brass above our heads, began its work in the southern and western portions of our city, and spreading out its arms of flame to the breadth of a mile and a half, swept east and northward for three miles and a half, devouring everything in its pathway. Its fury, fed by the hurricane which commenced blowing about this time, as if to lend a hand in the work of destruction, caused the sea of fire to roll on with an impetuosity that no human power could withstand. Engines and all their accompanying appliances were of no more avail than human effort would be to stay the waves of the mighty ocean. The flames, as though amused at the efforts, would sweep through the

buildings around them and shoot out their red banners from the windows and roofs behind them as tokens of victory. Leaping from house to house, and often with mighty strides vaulting over an entire block as avant-courriers of the host which followed behind, the very flames, as if conscious, seemed to revel in their work of devastation and ruin. The imagination of the superstitious at that time needed but slight impulse to look upon them as fiery demons sent upon us as a scourge. But while often passing by holes and sinks of iniquity, they swept with exultation along the sacred aisles of the churches, coiling like huge red serpents around the ascending spires, shooting out their fiery tongues from the summit. Now a tall spire of flame would shoot up with a vivid glow from some lofty edifice, quivering for a moment in the rising whirlpool, then, sweeping down before a fresh blast of wind, it would dash with wild fury against another building, apparently consuming it at one stroke.

The fierce hurricane drew the fiery billows through the narrow alleys with a shrill, unearthly screech, dashing into every opening, like an invisible incendiary, its brands kindling each into a blaze with unerring certainty. The sheets of flame, as they burst forth from the windows, eaves, and roofs, leaping upward through the heavy masses of smoke, literally flapped and cracked in the wind like the sails of vessels in a storm.

Mr. President, it was a deeply interesting yet melancholy sight to behold the magnificent stone and marble structures bravely resisting the fiery assaults which were made upon them. The flames gathered around them to the front and the rear, to the right and left, yet they stood up majestically as if defying the enemy, their walls rosy and their numerous windows bright with the reflected glare. But the red surging waves, as if maddened by the resistance they met, rushed to the attack with redoubled fury, and soon fiery banners hung out from every aperture, and twisted columns of smoke ascended from all parts. The giants were conquered, and, reeling and tumbling before the fell destroyer, soon lay but masses of blackened smouldering ruins, silent and melancholy monuments of the former greatness of the "Prairie Queen of the West."

The sun descended behind the huge clouds of smoke like a burning globe, and rose again, and still the rolling sea of flame rushed onward unchecked. The tempest tore huge fragments from the roofs and swept them like floating islands of fire through the sky, and the distant quarters where they fell were instantly wrapped in flame. The very stones were often calcined or split into fragments by the intense heat; the metallic roofs and coverings were rolled together like scrolls of parch

ment; iron, glass, and metallic substances were in many instances melted as though they had been submitted to the flames produced by some stupendous blow-pipe.

It would be in vain, Mr. President, for me to attempt to describe the wild confusion and despair of the terror-stricken inhabitants. I have been amid the battle-roar where armies a hundred thousand strong were struggling in fierce conflict for victory; where the smoke of the combat rose in heavy clouds above us; where the dead and dying lay thick on every side; but never yet have I beheld such a scene of despair and wild confusion as this; and may God grant that I shall never see the like again! The people were mad with fright. Wherever there appeared to be a place of safety, thither they rushed in hundreds and thousands to escape the death which threatened them on every side. Seized with a wild panic, immense crowds surged backward and forward in the streets, struggling, threatening, and imploring to get free and escape to the van. Here one, frenzied with despair, as often as snatched from the flames, would rush elsewhere into the burning caldron; there another, seeing all he possessed on earth reduced to ashes, would sink down in hopeless despair. At other points, hundreds could be seen rushing to the lake-shore, every other retreat having been cut off, and even here, pressed by the heat, smoke, and showers of firebrands, they plunged into the water as the only hope of escape.

To attempt to paint the scene in all its true and horrible colors would be in vain; all was confusion, tumult, and wild despair. Chicago was in ruins. Twenty-six hundred acres of ashes marked the site of its former greatness; twenty thousand houses were reduced to embers; one hundred and ten thousand people were rendered homeless; $200,000,ooo worth of property had served as food for the flames.

Behold the spectacle! Can anyone, having witnessed this sad scene, do less than plead for the ruined city?

SENATOR SUMNER'S ATTACK ON PRESIDENT

GRANT-SENATOR

LOGAN'S WITHERING REJOINDER-A NOBLE DEFENCE OF HIS OLD COMMANDER.

At the end of May, 1872, Senator Sumner made his great attack upon President Grant and his administration of affairs, the object of which was to defeat the renomination of Grant by the National Republican Convention then soon to be held at Philadelphia. On June 3d, Senator Logan made a speech