The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-10-20

- oE FaEsIDEEF JoHNsos.

/ fore YOU on the present occasion merely to
tender you my thanks for the compliment
you have paid me on your return home, to
| again be associated with your friends and
your relations, and those you hold most sa-
/ cred and dear. ] repeat I have but little to
say, it being unusual in this GoYsrnment
aud in most Of other Governments to have
colored troops Engaged in their cause. You
have gone forth, as events have shown, and
| served with patience and endurance in the
/ cause Of your country This is your country
as well as anybody else's country. fCheers.l
This is the country IN which yea expect to
/ live, and in which you should expect TO do
/ something by your example in civil life, as
/ you have done in the field. This country IS
founded upon the principles Of equality
and at the same time the standard by which
| persons are to be estimated is according to
their merit and their worth. And you have
| observed, no doubt, that for him who does
his daty faithfully and honestly, there Is
always just publ judgment that will ap-
| preeiate and measure ouI 20 him his proper
| reward.
know that there is much well calculated
in this Government, and since the late re-
/ belliOn commenced, to excite the white
against the black, and the black against the
white man. These are things that you
should ali understand, and at the same time
prepare yourselves for what IS before you.
Upon the rsturn Of peace and the surrender
OF the enemies Of the country, it should be
the duty Of every patriot and every one
who calls himself a Christian to remember
that with the termination Of the war his re-
sentiment should cease-that angry feelings
should subside, and that every mau should
become calm and tranquil, and be prepared
for what is before him.
| This IS another part Of your mission
| You have been engaged in tae effort to sus-
/ tain your country in the past, but the future
is more important 10 you than the period in
| which you have Just been engaged. One
great question has been settled IN this Gov
ernment, aud that is the question Of slRvery.
The institution Of slavery made war upon
| the United States, and the United States has
lifted its strong arms in Wind cation Of the
Government and Of free government, and
| in lifting that arm and appealing 10 the God
/ of battles, il has been decided that the in
stitution Of slavery must 60 down. (Cheers.)
This has been done, and the Goddess Of
/ Liberty, in bearing witness over many Of
our battle-felds since the struggle COM
menced, has made her loftiest flight and
proclaimed that true liberty hiss been es-
tablished upon more permanent ana endu-
ring basis than heretofore. [Applause.l
But this is not all and as you have paid me
the privilege OF saying one or two words as
! am before you- repeat that it IS not all.
Now, when the sword is returned 70 lis
l scabbard, when y0ura are reversed, and
when the olive branch Of peace is extended,
as / remarked before, resentment and re-
venge should subside. Then what is to fol-
| low? You do understand, no doubt, and if
you do not, you cannot understand too soon,
that simple liberty does not mean the priv
| ileFe Of going into the battle field, G. into
/ the service OF the country as a soldier-it
means other things as well; and now when
YOU have laid down your arms there are
other objects ofequal importance before you,
now that the Government has rinmphantly
passed through this mighty rebellion, after
the most gigantic battles the world ever
saw.
The problem is before you, snd it is best
that you should understand it i; and 1, there
fore, speak simply and plainly. Viii you
now, when you have retired from the army
Of the United Ststes and taken the pO-
sition Of the citizen-when you have return
ed to the avocations Of peace-will you give
evidence to the world that you are capable
and competent 10 govern yourselves? Fhis
is what YOU will have to do.
Liberty is not a mere iiea, a mere yagary:
Il is an idea, or It is a reality; and when you
come to examine this question Of liberty
you should not be mistaken in a mere idea
| for the reality. IL does not consist in idle
! ness: liberty does not consist in beiug worth
| less liberty does not consist in doing in ali
things as we please; and there can be no
! liberty without law. In q government Of
freedom and Of libery there must be law,
and there must be obedience and submis-
sion TO the law, without regard TO color
rCheers.1 LibeTty-and may not call YOU
nv countrymen?-liberty consists in the
glorious privilege Of freedom-consists in
the glorious privilege Of work-Of pursuing
the ordinary avocatIOns Of peace with ener-
gy, with industry, and with ecOnomy-and
that beng done, all those who have been
industrious aud economical are permitted 70
appropriate and enjoy the products Of their
own labor. [Cheers.l This is one Of the
great blessings Of freedom; and hence We
might ask the question and answer IL by
stating that freedom means liberty 10 work
and enjoy the product Of your own labor.
You will soon be musteIed out Of the ranks.
II is for you to establish the great fact that
YOU are fit and qualified to be free. Hence,
freedom is not a mere idea, but it is some
thing that exists in fact. Freedom is not
simply the privilege TO live in idleness.
Liberty does not mean simply to resort TO
the low saloons and other places Of disrepu-
table character. Freedom and Liberty do
not mean that the people ought to live in
licentiousness, but liberty means simply 70
be industrious, to be virtuous, 70 be upright
in all our dealings and relations with men
and to those now before me, members Of the
lst regiment Of c1lored volunteers from the
District Of Columbia, and the cipital Of the
United States, have 20 say, that a great
deal depends upon yourselves you must
give evidence that you are competent for
the rights that the Government has guaran-
teed 20 you.
Hence each and all Of you must be meas
ured according 10 his merit. II one msn Is
more meritoFiOus than the other, they can
not be equals, and he is the most exalted
that is the most meritoriOus, without regard
70 color; and the idea Of having law passed
in the morning that will make a white man
black man before night, aud black man
q white man be'0re dsy, is absurd. That IS
not the standard 1t is your own conduct
u is your own merit; it is the Developments
Of your own talents and Of your own intel
leciual and moral qualities.
Let this, then, be your course adopt sys-
tens Of morality abstaiu from al Been
tionsness; aud lei me cay one thing here,
for 1 an going 10 talk plainly. ! have lived
In a Southern State all my life snd know
what has too ofien been the case, There IS
one thing you should esteem higher and
more supreme then almost an others ana
that is the solemn c0ntrsct with al the pen
elties in the association OF married life
Men and women should abstain from those
ouaIities and habits that tco frequently fol-
low a war. lnculcaie smong your children
and among vour asEociates, Notwithstanding
v,u are iHsi back from the army Of the
limited states. that virtue, that merit. that
inteliiseuee are the staudardsto Be observed,
sud tbose which yen are determined to
m.intain during your future lives. This
i tbe vvev 10 make white men black snd
black men white lCheers.l He that il
most meritorious and Virtuous, intellectual
and uell-informed, must stand highest
without regard % color. ltis The very basis
upon which heaven resia itaell--eaok indi-
vidual takes bis degree IN the subiiMer and
rnore exalted regions iu proportion % his
merits and bis virtue
Tbep shall say to you on this occasion,
II, rsturuinr to your homes and hrcsides,
sfter feeling conscious and proad Of having
fsitbfullv done your duty, return with the
Setermination tbat you VIII perform your
dr,tv In the future 81 you have performed
/ "a 4. tba past. Abstain from eli those bick-
srio~s and jesl0usies and rsTengeiul feel
/ mes which TOO oiten spring up between dii-
Tbere IS a great problem before US, and
NAV AZ we'll alluds 20 it here ia this con-
/ nectiop. and that is, whether this race can
I - incorDoratsd and mixed with the people
| III ne Usited statos--to be msds harmo-
mons and permanent Ingredient in the Pep
ulation. 1hn is problem not yet scttlei,
/ but We are il toe right line % 8o 50. sla-
very raised lts head against the Govern
uest- and the Government raised its strcng
Z ~. L.