Daily clarion and standard. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1866, 1866-08-04

J L
/ Gated, am not unmindful of the adlnoni
/ ton,
! -''incedis per igneS,
! Suppositos ciner dcIOsi."
| But vet, in treading over these "tTeacherous
embers," and amid still smoking ruins, dc
! nor deem il necessary TO preface anything
may say with either prOtestatiun or profes
sion as to my motives or opinions, nor have
/ any fear that ! shall give utterance TO seuti
mcnts obnoxious TO any jast criticism, OF
otherwise do violence 20 tue prophecies OF
the occasion.
With reference to the causes which pro-
duced that frati icidal strifr, so mouTnfully
calamitous in its results, it is not my inten-
ton now or hear to speak. 1t is, however,
but indicating the truth of history, and
the wisdom of the fathers, TO state, that II
grew out of no design or desire to change
the form of government as originally estab-
lished by them, nor out of any dissatisfac-
tion with the Constitution itself, but was
the bloody sequal of a war of ideas which
| had been waged almost from the date of its
adoption, as to the proper Interpretation OF
that instrument, and which it was believed
| by us was so interpreted and administered
by dominant section as 10 threaten the
practical subversion of the government, aud
the inevitable destruction of those rights of
person and property which ii should be the
and protect.
Whether these apprehensious were well
founded or not, aud whether We were alb
straCtly right or wrong in our theory of the
functions and powers of government, State
and Federal. or in the means TO which we re-
sorted to vindlcate this theory, il Is not my
purpose to inquire. Ii is enough to know,
that after years Of bitter controversy, of Grim
nation and recriminatiOn, the theatre Of
tod fbtab
halls of legislation, t" the camp and the
battlefield, and that in the dread arbtra-
ment of arms, the last argument OF States
rs well as Of kings, a decision was pro-
nOunced against rs at the canuons mouth,
from which there Is no appeal. There the
theory lies entombed with the thousands of
its martyrs who vainly sacrificed their lives
in its defense, and, obeying the dictates of
wisdom, let us turn sadly from the dark and
dTeary past Ia the contemplation OF the
present.
Having in our brief and tragical expert
ment To establish an Independent govern
ment challenged the respect and admiration
of the world, as well for wisdom in the Cabi-
net as for pTowess in arms, may we nor Justly
insist that sc are no less entitled 10 that re-
spect and admiration for the manner in
which we have borne ourselves, since, by the
signal failure OF that experiment, we became
a vanquished and Impoverished people!-
Adversely tests the virtues of a people as
well as Of an indi dual, and, looking TO all
the circumstances ii may be safely affirmed
that there is not an instance in history that
viii in all respects compare favcrabiv with
the spectacle winch has been presented 10
the world by the people OF these southern
States since they laid down their arms; show
ing that, to whatever cause attributable, the
superior civilization which we claimed was
something more than an idle boast
r-1y -
facts that support this position:-AJ the
ume vs. hen we abandoned our cause as hope
less the country was an immense camp from
enc extremity to the other, and almost our
entire white male population, between the
aSes"t seventeen and fifty belonged 10 some
form ot military organization; and when
this mighty camp was broken ND, and its
tens of thousands were disbanded, some of
whom were veterans of a hundred fields, and
ell more or less accustomed to arms and to ::
soldiers habits some OF whom had been
absent fUr years tIOm home, and the anchor
atln| Influences OF social and domestic life
all OF whom were penniless, and many Of
whom were about TO return to beggared fam
lies and desecrated homes,--is there, or has
there been another country, where, out Of
these materials, hostile and marauding bands
would not have been formed, eluding or de-
tying the power OF the government, or at
least committing acts of INSTRUMENTATION and
turbulence, requiring the exercise Of militia /
~ force for their repression And yet no
armed organizations were formed beyond I
BerChauCe, q few outlaws banded tore:her /
here and there for plumber only; not a gun
has been fired hostile to the government; and /
with the almost pardonable exception of !
few instances, III which stores, formerly the /
property Of the government for which these /
men had sacrificed their ALL were appropria-
ted, no riots or other violations of the rights I
Of person or property occurred.
For four or five years the laws had been 81 /
lent amid the clash of arms, and courts of I
Justice had almost ceased to exist and when
5he military authority, which had controlled
everything, was subveTted, and there was in
act no law, is there now, or has there been,
mother country or people where, under such
civil and social disorders, and
indeed the widest anarchy, would not have
Aud yet, no sooner does the
imoke of battle clear away, than with an
instructive love of law and order ,communi-
les are reorganized, the civil tribunals re-
established and
Returning justice lifts aloft her scale"
At the commencement Of the conflict we /
we're, n the aggregate, beyond controversy,
he wealthiest people upon the globe, and
more of the elements of agricul-
uTal and commercial power aud prosperity
Many of our people had been reared in the
ap OF luxury, and d far larger proportion
we're surrounded with all the comforts of
lie in abundance and exempt from the Ne
essity of daily toll. Not only was our sur
las wealth, so TO speak, swallowed up by
Millions and thousands of millions in the
evOuring wort z Of war, but almost every
arm Of property was involved an iuCl1scrlAl-
nate desfructisI,.# Fences and houses were !
aFUed; farmes pillaged aud devastated /;
lills aud manufactures DESTROYED; COM ;
Ierce annihilated; business paralyzed; and !
ur system of labor utterly subverted Not |
ily were those who had never known q Is
ant deprived OF all the luxuries TO which /
hey had been accustomed, but thousands of !
uT people were denied the comforts of life, /,
nd thousands more its very necessities, so I
nat mere subsistence, in multitudes of cases,
nd sometimes in whole communities, was, !
nd is yet question of startling import !
nder calamities SO appalling, where is there !
mother people that would not have stag :
cred into hopeless imbecility and despair !
nd yet not only were these incredible losses +
I'D trials borne by our people with q heroic :
nd sublime foTtitude, but with a marvel Il
us promptness they adapted themselves to
le new condition of affairs,-the corner
one OF new social and industrial edifiee r
as laid, and soon the Phoenix, Prosperity e
egan to be evolved from the ashes of her =
rmeT self.
Looking to the impulsive character of our :.
.Ople. and to the intellectual power and i'm a
ASSIGNED eloquence for which our public a
en- have been distinguished, where is there Ii
iother country where systematic efforts Ii
ould not have been made, eoYertly or open- Il
TO cripple and embarrass the government G
at had compelled our allegiance, either by il
yOlying il in war abroad, or in commo- d
1ns and commissions at home! And vet il s.
ay be affirmed, that Notwithstanding the Il
lals to which it would almost appear that 81
E are designedly subjected with view 10 Il
i've Us to desperation. no such chivalrous CO
elity to the terms of surrender has before oil
en- exhibited by an entire people; and | M
heve give utteTance TO a sentiment that "a
II find its echo, not only in this hall. Sc
1 from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. sv
1en express the opinion, that had the feel t,
: common to our people when and after us
} laid down our arms, been rightly appre- LEI
tied, and at all reciprocated; had that for hs
aranee and magnimity which we expert th
eed from those who met us in the shock
battle been exhibited also in civil and DO
zeal life; had the wise and generous states
.nship which has made the Executive de-
rtment of the government honored and ge
lstrious at home and abroad, been respon. sh