FELLOW CITIZENS:--It may have been expected that on this occasion I would make a speech before you; but such is not my intention. The condition of my health, and the hoarseness with which I am afflicted, render it well-nigh impossible for me to speak at all. I will, therefore, only say that, in behalf of the city of Chicago, whose chief magistrate I am, it is my privilege to introduce to you Mr. W. G. Brownlow, and in your behalf welcome, to the hospitalities of our city, this noble patriot, who has periled not only his temporal interests, but his life, for the Union cause in Tennessee. It is sufficient that I mention his name to you. * * * * * After the Mayor had concluded, J. C. Wright, Esq., on behalf of the Board of Trade, addressed Mr. Brownlow in an eloquent and stirring manner, as follows: REV. W. G. BROWNLOW:--At the request of the officers of this Board of Trade, I have the honor, sir, of performing the most agreeable duty of welcoming you to our Exchange. It is not, sir, because of any official position you now hold, or have held, that this vast assembly has gathered here to receive you; but, sir, it is a mark of respect and admiration for your patriotic devotion to your country. When this horrid rebellion assumed its gigantic proportions, the loyal men of the North watched with anxiety the course of many men of the South, whom we had delighted to honor with the highest positions of trust and power. With rare exceptions we saw them retreating into the ranks of the traitors, using their influence, wealth and position to strike down the mildest and most beneficent government which God in his mercy had ever permitted man to establish. They beguiled and deceived the people, who had been accustomed to look up to them, and listen to their counsels. Many of the arch traitors, not content to act with the popular voice of their States, joined the ranks of the rebels, endeavoring to force their States to disregard their allegiance to that glorious Union which, for nearly a century, had thrown its genial influence and protection over a united, happy, and prosperous people. Amidst all this horrid exhibition of treason, and malignant, hellish hate, when the heart grew sick at contemplating the dark and dismal scene before us; when your neighbors and friends around you, in vast numbers, had deserted that old flag, consecrated by our fathers' blood, and were trampling under foot that Constitution which had so long been our pride and our hope, you, sir, stood firm and unmoved in your devoted patriotism. Threatened with the halter, with your grave yawning before you, with scorn you spurned proffered freedom in such honors as traitors could confer. To you the grave had no terrors to be shunned by an act of disloyalty to your beloved and now grateful country.