Wilmington journal., 1866-12-13
,onspicuous virtues which she has uniform

ly exhibited, but for which her own people
have not claimed that need of praise and
that place of prominence which, to other
States, are so dear, and for which they strive
with so much pertinacity, and about which
they are SO wisely considerate and careful.
It should be the duty of this generation to
have acknowledged universally the claim
of our State to that high place to which the
deeds of her sons have raised her. We
have the right to take a position in the first
rank of great peoples.
Descended from high-bred Englishmen
and honest Scotchmen our race has from
time meimmemorialshow the blendedqualities
of our worthy ancestry. Honorable, hon
est, courageous and faithful, the people of
North Carolina have established & reputa-
ton which has thus far no blemish and but
one weakness. That weakness is wont Of ap-
parent self and state pride Why should
this be? Look at the past record of the
State, and in it we find all that is admira-
BILE in manhood, wise in statesnanship,
sound and just in law, honest, honorable
aud faithful in dealings between man and
man. The Independence of her sons first
gave to the world that declaration
for tyrant's wrongs which liberia
ted continent In the struggle of
seven years she bore IL full share of the bur
dens of those trying times, and was an
equal heir to the glory and blessings which
followed. For seventy years she filled her
place among her sister States with q repu-
tation unsullicd; and in the contest for the
maintenance of the principles established
by the revolution Of '1G,-but which has
ended SO fatally to those principles and to
our liberties, North Carolina has borne a
part which should be the proudest boast Of
her now suffering children. Upon the soil
of such State her sons were the first to
meet the invaders and those sons were the
first to consecrate our cause by their blood
Through a series of conflicts unsurpassed
for heroic courage and daring, years Of
suffering and privation uncqualled in his
toric annals, her sons were ever among the
foremost i'll the carnage Of battle, and al
ways most numerous at the post of duty
These are no boastful assertions. Record
ed facts substantiate them. We would not
detract from the glorious fame of the sis
ter States of the unhappy and now pros
trate South. Together We would share
the vivid and splendid memories of
the past; ana together we will bear
the expressions of the present, and together
meet the issuc3 Of the future. 3ut we de-
demand for North Carolina Mich in Fame's
high Temple, as elevated as devoted patri
otism and exalted heroism can place peO-
pie. We would impress upon her sons and her
daughters never i'll their acts to forget What
they owe to the past history of their moth
er, and always to exact for her what her
merit has deserved, and to claim for them
selves tie honor which high and noble ends
must betsow. Let us cherish the memory
of our noble past. Enshrine in our hearts
and heroic brothers, whose deeds have made
us their proud relations. It is the high
and sacred duty of all to instill
into the eminds and hearts of her children that
North Caroinians have cause for personal
and State pride until this generation, or
some succeeding one shall sully name
which has ever been without reproach. Let
us be proud of North Carolina !; proud of
her past, for the glory it sheds on us; proud
of her present. that, under the worst ca
lamities her children know how to sustain
her past honor; and proud of the future, to
know our children will not degrade the
memories of their forefathers.