* The meteoric display predicted to take place last Thursday night did not occur, but there did occur on that evening a display of oratorical brilliancy at Chicago seldom if ever surpassed. The speeches at the banquet of the Army of the Tennessee, taken together, constitute one of the most remarkable collections of extemporaneous eloquence on record. The principal speakers of the evening were Gen. U. S. Grant, Gen. John A. Logan Col. Win, F. Vilas, Gen. Stewart L. Woodford, General Pope, Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Gen. J. H. Wilson, and "Mark Twain." In an oratorical tournament General Grant is, of course, better as a listener than as a talker; he is a man of deeds rather than of words. The same might be said of General Sherman, though, as presiding officer and toast-master of the occasion, his impromptu remarks were always pertinent and keen. His advice to speakers not to talk longer than they could hold their audience, and to the auditors not to drag out their applause or to drawl out their laughter, would serve as a good standing rule for all similar occasions Colonel Ingersoll responded to the twelfth toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers of the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism saved to the world a Government of the People, by the People, and for the people." Colonel Ingersoll's position was a difficult one. His reputation as the first orator in America caused the distinguished audience to expect a wonderful display of oratory from him. He proved fully equal to the occasion and delivered a speech of wonderful eloquence, brilliancy and power. To say it was one of the best he ever delivered is equivalent to saying it was one of the best ever delivered by any man, for few greater orators have ever lived than Colonel Ingersoll. The speech is both an oration and a poem. It bristles with ideas and sparkles with epigrammatic expressions. It is full of thoughts that breathe and words that burn. The closing sentences read like blank verse. It is wonderful oratory, marvelous eloquence. Colonel Ingersoll fully sustained his reputation as the finest orator In America. Editorial from The Journal Indianapolis, Ind., November 17,1879.