On Saturday afternoon at two o'clock, the bells of the city of Chicago called the citizens to a meeting at the Court House. Immediately, all the stores and other places of business were closed, the streets in the outlying districts of the city were emptied of the usual traffic, while the square before the Court House and the streets leading to it were crowded with enthusiastic Unionists. The city assumed a festive appearance: men, women and children were dressed in holiday attire and listened with solemn attention to the speeches, thus proving that they are aware of the importance of the time in which we are living, and of the great danger which threatens our country and its free institutions, and that they are firmly resolved to do all they can to avert the danger.

The Vaas and Dean Light Guard Band played military selections from a stand on the north side of the Court House; special rostrums for speakers had been erected on the east and west sides of the building, and thousands upon thousands of 2resolute men gave ear to the inspiring words of prominent citizens.

While the great throng of men, women, and children stood in the square of the Court House, the near-by recruiting office and the tents which were erected at the entrances of the Court House for enlistment were crowded with men and boys who enrolled in the armed forces of America.

Former Congressman Farnsworth,....now a brave officer in our cavalry, and States Attorney Knox spoke from the steps of the north entrance of the Court House; United States Attorney Larned addressed the people assembled before the west entrance, while Blackwell, a former Democrat, G. C. Yates, S. B. Perry and others also spoke. This part of the program was concluded at five o'clock.

At eight o'clock in the evening, large crowds again assembled in the Court House Square. Again, inspiring addresses were made from the various rostrums, and the more energetic the measures advocated by the speakers, the louder and longer the 3applause of the people.

Evidently, it is characteristic of the attitude of the citizens to repudiate any suggestion to amend the Constitution of the United States in favor of slavery in the slave States, and that all are agreed that every possible means should be used to blot out this curse of humanity.

We believe that we do not exaggerate when we say that twenty-five to thirty thousand were in attendance.

It is not our task to publish the various speeches. However, we shall publish the address made from the east door of the Court House by Heinrich Greenbaum, since this speech is characteristic of the spirit and attitude voiced by the other speakers and displayed by the assembly. Mr. Greenbaum said:

"This is a serious and solemn moment. Never since the day when our illustrious and generous forefathers affixed their signatures to our glorious Declaration of 4Independence have we been faced by issues of such vast importance. We have been asleep during the past eighteen months, while the slaveholders have been endeavoring to undermine and overthrow the only truly democratic from of government by force of arms. It is time that the free men of the North awake and realize that they are in great danger.

"Heretofore, when public men addressed the people of this country, they were wont to emphasize the greatness of America. Far be it from me to indulge in such adulation today. Today the American people are undergoing their severest test, and the whole world, especially all civilized nations, are looking on. The glorious from of government established by the great men of the Revolution, our forebears, was handed down to us as a priceless heritage, as a great trust that was to be preserved unaltered for our children and our children's children.

"For the Rebels, the question is, Shall they go down in the history of the world as traitors or as founders of a new nation? If history brands them traitors, it will mark us as men--free men; but if it records the Rebels as founders of a new 5nation, it will brand us as low, base cowards.

"Why did the millions of our foreign-born citizens leave their country, their home, with all its sweet memories and ties of childhood and youth, and a climate that was agreeable to their health? Why did they turn their backs upon a people whose customs and traditions were very dear to them? Why did they cross the ocean and settle in a comparatively new and wild country? For only one reason--namely, to prosper under the blessings of a popular, a free government, to preserve their dignity as human beings, to live as free men in a free country.

"Now, if the Rebels win, what will you have that you can be proud of? East and West would not remain united for three years after the overthrow of the Union, and in the future I can see naught but darkest, wildest anarchy and oppressive despotism.

"Each and everyone of us must be firmly convinced that he has a personal and vitally important interest in the suppression of the Rebellion, and that all 6the power of the Government and the united nation is necessary to save the Union. If we permit these invaluable institutions which we enjoy and cherish to be destroyed, it will be because we are low-minded, base cowards. And if we should be deprived of our precious heritage despite all our counter-efforts, centuries upon centuries will elapse before people will dare establish a form of free government in any part of the world. This would indeed be proof that men are slaves, that they can be ruled only by despots, and that they are totally unable to govern themselves.

"Some of our great men said, when a possible disruption of the Union was mentioned, that they would not want to survive so great a calamity. These men are no more. They are resting in the cool earth; Almighty God has spared them from witnessing the present deplorable state of the country which they founded and helped develop. If Stephen A. Douglas were living today, it would certainly cause him no joy to know that the Rebellion was not yet suppressed.

"The greatness of this country consisted in this: that the poorest and humblest 7of its citizens had opportunity for advancement in things material as well as in knowledge, and could enjoy absolute possession of their property. A poor cabinetmaker's apprentice could become the representative of a whole state and could speak and work for his constituents in the assembly of the nation. Diligence had its reward, and ambition its sphere of activity. The son of a farmer could become President of this great country.

"There is no time now to debate on this or that manner of carrying on the war; however, it is absolutely necessary that the North be united and that we apply all our strength of mind and body to save the Government from destruction.

"Are there still people among us, who say that we ought to fight with the sword in one hand and the olive branch in the other? Let such despicable creatures go South and join the Rebels. We have no place for them here, and the sooner they leave, the better we shall feel.

"Let no one feel secure and say: 'The three hundred thousand men whom the 8Government asked for will soon enlist, and then the North will readily subdue the South.' Three hundred thousand will not be enough. The whole North should become one great military camp, and every citizen ought to join one company or another.

"Each afternoon, every place of business should be closed, so that we may drill in companies or even regiments. And then, when fall comes, let us make our mighty attack upon the Rebels, and let us not stop fighting until every accursed secessonist has been totally annihilated.

"We have all read the history of the First (sic) Revolution with deep interest and profound admiration. The great, heroic deeds and the spirit of sacrifice of our forebears evoke our astonishment and our gratitude. How shall the history of the American nation end? Shall we defend and preserve the freedom which our fathers wrought and which patriotic Patrick Henry praised in such glowing terms? Or, are we cowards whose memory will be ridiculed and reviled by our children and our children's children in generations to come?

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"I did not vote for Abraham Lincoln, but I thank God that we have an honest man at the head of our Government during these critical times. He most assuredly has a just claim to the united support and to the full confidence of all his fellow citizens without exception."