nsciously
was in the very shadow of death, said reverently to his hearers,
"In the midst of your joyous expression, He from whom all blessings
flow must first be remembered"!

Not only in life but in treasure the cost of the war was enormous.
In addition to the large revenues of the Government which had been
currently absorbed, the public debt at the close of the struggle
was $2,808,549,437.55. The incidental losses were innumerable in
kind, incalculable in amount. Mention is made here only of the
actual expenditure of money--estimated by the standard of gold.
The outlay was indeed principally made in paper, but the faith of
the United States was given for redemption in coin--a faith which
has never been tarnished, and which in this instance has been
signally vindicated by the steady determination of the people.
Never, in the same space of time, has there been a National
expenditure so great.

Other nations have made costly sacrifices in struggles affecting
their existence or their master passions. In the memorable campaigns
of the French in 1794, when the Republic was putting forth its most
gigantic energies, the expenses rose to 200,000,000 francs a month,
or about $450,000,000 a year. For the three years of the rebellion,
after the first year, our War Department alone expended $603,314,411.82,
$690,391,048.66, and $1,030,690,400 respectively. The French
Directory broke down under its expenditures by its lavish issue of
_assignats_ and the French Republic became bankrupt. Our Government
was saved by its rigorous system of taxation imposed upon the people
by themselves. Under Napoleon, in addition to the impositions on
conquered countries, the budgets hardly exceeded in francs the
charges of the United States for the rebellion, in dollars. Thus
in 1805 the French budget exhibited total expenditures of 666,155,139
francs, including 69,140,000 francs for interest on the debt. In
the same year the minister stated to the Chambers that income was
derived from Italy of 30,000,000 francs, and from Germany and
Holland 100,000,000, leaving 588,998,705 to be collected from
France. In 1813 the French expenditures had risen to 953,658,772
francs, and the total receipts from French revenue were 780,959,847
francs. The French national debt has been measured since 1797 by
the interest paid, fixed at that time at five per cent. From 1800
to 1814, the period of the Consulate and the Empire, this interest
was increased