Gen. Scott in New York.
The New York Times, of the 9th instant, contains a long account of the complimentary visit from a committee appointed by the Chamber of Commerce, and from the Union Defence Committee, from which we extract the following:The committee appointed by the Chamber of Commerce to present their resolutions of respect to General Scott met yesterday at 9 ½ o'clock, at the Brevoort House, and paid their respects to the General.
Upon being introduced to his parlor, Mr. Perit, the Chairman of the Committee, said:
Remarks of Mr. Perit.
General: We wait upon you as a Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, to present to you the resolutions adopted unanimously by that Board, and to express to you, personally, the respect which we entertain for you, and the gratitude which we feel, in common with all our fellow-citizens, for the distinguished services which you have rendered to our country. We sincerely pray that your health may be speedily restored; that you may live to see the Union established throughout all the States, and that, in the evening of your days you may witness, in this nation, a degree of prosperity and glory which has never before been attained.
Speech of Gen. Scott.
Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce: Sweet is the language of praise, when it comes from a high source of intelligence and moral worth; and sweet is the consciousness of having labored through a long life to deserve such praise. The measure is full and overflowing. This great calamity which has come upon our country — this great rebellion — found me far advanced in life, and by the labor and anxieties which it threw upon me has broken the down. I stand before you quite a wreck. Had this calamity occurred some three or four years earlier, it would have found me yet in a state of vigor, in a condition to render some service to my country, to meet that rebellion; and I think and flatter myself that I should have met it with considerable success.Although it has thrown me hors du comdat myself, I have the happiness of saying to you — and my opinion may be of some little value upon that subject — that I have left in the field a large, noble, and patriotic army, for it is filled with many of our best citizens, officers, and men, commanded by Generals of very great merit — Generals capable of commanding and enchaining victory to their cars. I have left in the field young and vigorous men competent to do all the duties which their country can require of them--a Major-General McClellan, full of science and genius, and already of respectable experience. I have left Major-General Halleck, another officer of genius and science, and judgment and discretion, who cannot fail to meet all the wishes of his Government and his country. Besides those Major-Generals, we have many Brigadiers and Colonels of high worth. I do not, therefore, despair of the cause of the Union Nay, I am confident of the triumph of that within some reasonable time. I should hope by the following spring that the rebellion would be suppressed; I should hope in a short time more that our Union might be re-established in fraternity and made beautiful, and I trust made so firm as to endure forever. That Union has commanded all my affections; the Union is my country; I have known no country but the Union; I owe my allegiance to nothing but the United States of America, and I mean to die in that allegiance.
I am about to leave this city and my country for a short time, in search of some reparation for my physical condition. I have had a very bad turn this morning — a giddiness in the head, verging upon vertigo. I hope, before I get across the ocean, to get rid of that infirmity of the head, and I do not doubt that I shall find a certain individual of some celebrity for this specialty to give relief to my back, that I may soon be able to walk and enjoy the pleasures of locomotion. I shall then return to a city which has been my delightful home for many months in each and every year for some forty, excepting one. I shall return again into the bosom of this society which has always treated me with much personal kindness and consideration; and happy shall I be when that time comes. And that happiness, I trust, will come in six or seven months, again to claim to be a citizen of New York--one of you, my countrymen and my fellow citizens. With many thanks for your kind expressions — with many thanks for the honor you have done me on this occasion — I must take my leave of you. God bless you, my friends.
The Committee were then presented to the General, and retired.
Letter from Gov. Morgan to Gen. Scott.
The following letter from Gov. Morgan was received by Lieut. Gen. Scott yesterday:
State of New York, Ex. Department.
The people of this State will receive the intelligence with all the depth and keenness of personal sorrow; and, though your bodily infirmities are, in your opinion, so serious as to render your retirement necessary, yet, in any event, the country will turn to you in its hour of peril for wise counsel as long as it will be permitted to do so; and, while I will not thoughtlessly trespass upon your retirement, I shall hereafter, as heretofore, desire to appeal to you in all emergencies for advice.
In thus regretting your withdrawal from a position which has been made illustrious by your patriotism no less than by your character as a soldier, it is scarcely necessary for me to assure you that the people of the whole State are proud to welcome you back, covered as you are with a nation's honors and blessings. In their name then, and in conformity with the dictates of my own heart, I welcome your return to the State of New York, and hope that you may long remain to honor it as your residence, and to enjoy in quietude the fruits of an illustrious life wholly spent in the country's service.
Lieut. Gen. Winfield Scott, New York City. I am, dear General, with great respect, your obedient servant,
