The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1866-08-18
Great Speech by Hon. Schuyler
CO1fax

Hon. Schuyler Cofax, late speaker or Inc Y.
S. House of Representatives, returned to his
home in South Bend, Indiana, few days ago,
when almost the entire population OF his native
town turned out to give him an enthusiastic well
come. In response to their greeting, Mr. Colfax
addressed his constituents at length upon the is
sues of the day, and his speech is justly regarded
as complete yindication of the policy OF Con-
gress on the subject of reconstruction. Below
we give an extract from his speech, and commend
it as the words of patriot, and as being appro-
pirate language for the present times:
In conclusion. They appeal now a great
deal to the soldiers. They are much enamored of
the soldiers since the war is over. During the
war they talked of Lincoln's hirelings, organ
lied sc sons of liberty" and encouraged deser-
tons from the Union army by their letters to the
soldiers that this was q niger war;" but they
were never known to be enthusiastic in favor
of enlistments, unless it was to get themselves
clear of draft. They.pronounced it decidedly
unconstitutional for soldiers to vote IN the held,
but it is quite constitutional for them to vote
now !; and who more enamored ofthem than
they who, for four years. reviled them and mis-
represented their holy cause In the midst OF
that great contest, when the nation was bleeding
| at every pore, when her brave defenders fell
thick and fast in the deadly camp, by the rifle of
| the ambushed assassin, on the picket line, and
in the open, manly strife of the battlefield, there
was great cry went up from them for aid-aid
in men and lnoney-for the endangered cause in
its darkest hour. From Chicago came then the
response of the Democracy to that cry. 1t was
the Chicago platform. Loyal hearts asked them
for bread, and they gave them a stone and
when our soldiers turned from the anguish and
darkness of the battle field and looked to see how
they were sustained while were perilling their
lives for us in toilsome march, malarious bivouac
and deadly strife-while they were rotting amid
the filth and starvation of Rebel prison pens, or
while their glazing eyes turned heavenward from
| the death couch in the hospital-When they ask
ed, What news from the North p there arose
to their ears the hiss Of the Chicago platform,
| g your war is falure-we demand an immedi-
ate cessation of hostilities.' But now suddenly
they manifest great love for the soldiers votes
We must remain true to those great principles
| for which those great sacrifices were made We
! cannot but remember those three hundred thous-
and graves, ridged ali over the South, where the
warrior sleeps waiting the morn of resurrection
we remember, TOO, how willingly they went forth
to perish for their country, and with these things
we also remember how their memories are revil-
! ed and their graves insulted in that traitorous
| land. There flowers are strewn by fair hands
upon the graves of the Rebel dead, but the gates
of the cemeteries in which sleep Union heroes are
barred, that no lowly colored man, or the loyal
Union man of the South may enter to lay his
humble tribute upon the nameless grave of the
despised dead. Who thus dishonor our dead
but the men who now strike bands with the Dem
ocracy of the North, and who are coming to sit
in council with them in the Philadelphia Con-
vention. If we forget all these things we are
dastards and towards worse even than the trai
tors who lifted their hands against our nations
lfe We cannot, the people cannot the brave
| returned soldiers cannot and they will pronouce
such a verdict against them as never before was
pronounced against any party. few Sunday:
ago went over to Arlington Heights, to the
former home of the traitor Lee, and saw there
the long lines Of graves of Union soldiers.
was sad to look upon them, especially upon thost
which covered the unknown dead and to think
here lies one who has given his all, his life
for his country, and not even his name could b.
known that it might live in the greatful remem
brance of posterity' As / gazed upon those
eleven thousand graves, which over the undulat
ing hillside lay regular as a line of battle as
the dead had been mown down by the destroy
ing angel from their places in the line heard
from the Superintendent OF the cemetery that Mrs
Lee declared she would have her own again, blu
she would not come hack to live there until eve
ry Yankee bone was taken away, and swor
then that if ever my voice and power could keel
that traitor family from treadng on that sacred
soil halowed by the graves of the patriot dead my
voice should always be against it, TApplause
saw and copied from one Of the head-boards
near the grave ofan unknown soldier the foIlow
ing beautiful tribute
g Rest on embamed and sainted dead
Dear as the blood We gave,
No traitors footsteps e'er shall tread
The heritage DER your grave
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While fame her record keeps,
For Honor mourns the halloWed spot
Where loyal Valor sleeps'
The silent admonitions from the quarter-m
lions grave of Union dead come to US never tC
surrender the interests of this great land to thu
hands of the men against whom they warred anG
who shot them down. 1t seems 10 me that argu
ment is useless in case like this This treason
tore from you your husbands, fathers, brothers
sons; it tortured them with even fiendish cruel
ty immured them in the filth Of prison pens
starved them to skeletons; consigned them tC
untimely graves and these men-the leaders O
that treason--come back to US and clamor abou
their rights. Every religious creed in the civil
lied world declares three things essential to for
giveness for sin first repentance hearty and sin
cere second, faith and fidelity to prove that re-
pentance ; and third, good works as an evidence
of that repentance. When | see these my arm:
will welcome back these men from the South
but while see this spirit of hate still existing
and while I see this naughty arrogance and i'm.
pudent unrepenting disloyalty, say when We
reconstruct let us build on the immortal princi.
Piles Of the Declaration of Independence-on the
solid granite of indisputabe loyalty-rather than
the treacherous quicksands of unrepentant disloy-
atty and all will be well'
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