The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-05-09

ment of my fathers impaired-rather
than have had thisfearful fratricidal war
= would have given, if worth it,
the value of seventy times seven
slaves. And if now, this occasion of
ceaseless agitation be gone, and that
will give US peace, lasting peace, the
Government in its purity and harmony,
IS our fathers made it and intended il
to be, this price have paid-aye, all
the treasure, expended, and the blood
that hath flown above the value Of gold
were given not in vain. Your chill
dren and mine, and our race will be
blessed, by the vast consideration given,
in an amount of good exceeding the
consideration. Let my servants 60,
and God bless them, as believe their
future condition will not be as good,
yet, as / pray to God, it may. l will
not quarrel with destiny; l will not
quarrel with inevitable events. Nor
will ask our cousins across the wa
tiers, or our brothers of the North, who
introduced slavery into this country2
Nor will l dispute whether negro labor
will not yet continue in the South, or
whether with greater or less advantage
For the present, no doubt, there will be
8 deficiency Of labor, owing to the
many negroes Who have been taken,
or have prematurely died, or will be
habitually idle and less efficient But
ere long, doubt not, the more reliable
will take the place of the negro, either
as hired hand, or as a tiller
of his own acquired soil. The
white man, as a laborer, in this part OF
the South especially, and toa consider
able extent elsewhere, has proved ade.
quate, and generally more successful
than the negro. think a more ex-
tended experiment will satisfy US all
that the white man from Ireland OF
Germany, or of our own country, will
accomplish as much as the negro labor
er, in eultiVating the lands of the
South aye, more, because he will be
directed by an amount of intelligence
of which the negro, every other way
inferior, is incapable. In short, under
the necessity of the cease, making a
virtue of that necessity, it is comfort.
able If we can believe that, for the fu.
ture, except the present pecuniary loss,
the South viii not be the loser by the
loss of her property in slaves. That
she will not be the loser in point of re-
sponsibiity, / dc not hesitate to be.
heve. Certainly, We will not be to
blame, if the negro be the sufferer,
morally and socially, by the change
made for him. In any case, my coun-
trymen, as we can not help them, let
US make no foolish or factiOus opposi-
ton to the events the force OF arms
has produced
And, in the same spirit, submit to
you the propriety of yielding to the
other issues of the war mentioned, that
this country must be and remain one,
undivided.
But the question is, is it not wise to
yield to this conclusion? Is it hard to
do so2 Is it hard to sing the songs we
used to sing, the songs we loved 2
Though we have seen and felt and
heard enough to make us bitter, as we
think, is all that the fault of our faith
ers' work Was the Government made
too faulty by them2 Are there not
memories behind these dark days dear
to us all Is there not history that
is ours as much as others? Aye, was
not that old flag the flag of our fathers,
the same that waved over them, that
was their pride2 And has it not been
ours too2 May We not go back to
these again, and claim them still, the
Government, those memories, that his.
tory, that flag that wronged US never,
and beneath which, it may be, and be
meath it only, all this noble valor
should have been, if war must needs
have been at all
And, as necessity calls you back, 60
back gracefully, go back heartily; as
men, not meanly; the brave would not
hail your coming thus. AFFECTION
should be despised, North and South
and those who entertain or enact it
can not, would not, be brothers.
Alas it was an ill-starred hour for
North and South, for the cause of heal
ing q sick, wounded country, when tho
vile impious wretch struck down the
heart that was then fullest of peace
and Cancellation, in which thoughts o.
pscifcation had taken all the place Of
those of war; the hand from which
the sword had dropped, that it might
grasp the olive branch.
And let US love again the things that
, Washington loved, and go forward, a,
a people, to a grander and loftier DIES
tiny, purified in the very fires that have
seemed as if they would consume US
Away with longer strife, with further
contention; WOO the spirit of concilia
ton, and not of vengeance and vindic
tiveness; be brothers again, and, to al
this, invoke the aid of the Prince oil
Peace, and lean upon the arm that en-
circles men and nations.
SPEECH OF COLONEL GRACE, OF ARKANSAS
Colonel Grace, of Arkansas, followed
in speech, as follows:
Fellow-citizens-I am the man who
drew up the ordinance of secession in
the Legislature of Arkansas; have
been in the field fighting against the
Union for nearly four years, but now |
am q conquered and whipped man.
Laughter. AS was gallant in going
out to fight, now propose to be gallant
at surrendering, and submitting to the
arms of the Government Let us have
respect for the Government we cannot
whip. Laughter. have no con-
tempt for Federal authority, if ever
had. do not think there is a manly
bosom in the South but that has higher
respect for Northern gallantry than
when he went into the fight The au-
thorities tell us to come back and re-
construct the Union, that they will
give Us honorable terms Do you think
that people as brave as the North are,
that they are going TO risk their repu
tstiOn in war, to turn around after we
have dispersed our armies and give us
anything but honorable terms There
may be some men in the North who may
think that the South had hand in the
death of our lamented President, but
l know that the people Of the South
mourn over his death, and feel that
they have lost a friend The North
have maintained this conflict nobly,
aud the South have nothing to be
ashamed of / am proud of the South
there Is something in the very atmos-
phere that makes men great When
you wanted men to speak against the
oppression of Great Britain you went
to Virginia, when you wanted men to
command the armies % colonies you
went again to Virginia, and when you
wanted q man to frame the Declaration
of Independence, you went again to
Virginia, and found him in the person
of Thomas Jefferson, and even in our
error we have shown greatness. So,
say that the South is not an insignif>
cant people; and if so great 8 people as
they are cannot whip the world, who
can not come 70 the inevitable conclu-
sion that the North is grester2 Laugh
ter And ! am not going to stultify
myself by saying l have not been
whipped by somebody. Now it is our
q 4