Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-12-27


ly made up, and the tocsin of war resound-
ed throughout the land, I prepared myself
for the conflict. In common with many
thousands of my countrymen, I devoted
whatever of energy, ability and strength I
possessed to the cause of Southern Inde-
pendence. I participated in those great
conflicts of arms that Will make the soil of
the Old Dominion historic as long as the
English language is spoken. [ did all in
my power to secure the success of the South.
But the decision was against us, and, Mr..
| Speaker, the defeat of our armies and the
surrender of our cause, | regarded IS q
final decision of the great issues which had
so long divided the sections. We had staked
these issues upon the '' wager of battle" !"
and had lost. We had done all that duty
and honor demanded-how we'll the future
historian must tell.
But, sir, with the honesty Of purpose
and action with which [ began the fight, I
accepted its results. The issues of the war
slavery, secession and by consequence,
material part of State sovereignty, regard
ed as the natural trophies of the conqueror.
L was for yielding honestly and with good
grace. l therefore cordially endorsed the
action of our Convention and Legislature
in placing the seal of oblivion upon those
| issues My whole efforts, since the Sur
render, have been to influence our people
to act in good faith to their Obligations
and attempt to unite the shattered frag-
ments of government and restore peace
and harmony.
This has been done with zeal, and a
! slngleness of purpose most commendable
IN them, and which ought to have won the
! confidence of the Northern people and met
cordial and favorable response. Our
people have done all they could consistent
with manhood. Terms are now demanded
Of Us with which we cannot comply. We
cannot stultify ourselves. We cannot and
will not say that these noble spirits, who
sprang to arms at the call of their native
State and yielded up their noble lives in
! her defence, now fill dishonored and igno-
! bic graves We cannot consent that those
living powers who SO gallantly fought for
the honor and safety Of North Carolina
shall be forever dishonored and disfran
chised. No Mr. Speaker, magnanimous
antagonist would never ask us to degrade
ourselves thus. We are prepared to make
| loyal citizens of the National Government,
which is all that ought or should now be
demanded of us. The action of the entire
South proves incontestibly that they are
prepared to do this, but not to accept dis
| honor.
Mr.. Speaker, the resolutions recite that
there are evll-mlnded persons among us,
who, for reasons known best to themselves,
are engaged in misrepresenting lis. l re-
gret to say that such is the case. The res
olutions also denies the charge that Union
men in our midst are prosecuted for opin-
ions sake. This is a very common charge,
and one that has done us more harm in the
estimation of the people of the North than
any other, because bad and designing men
of this section have imposed upon the ig-
norance at the North of our real feelings
and desires. We had among us many men
| who were honest and consistent in their
| devotion to the Union during the entire
war. 1t is true that We were SO impressed
with the belief that they were in error that
we could not do them entire JUSTICE but |
| appeal to those very men, now that the
| smoke Ofbattle has cleared of, and the excite
ment Of the times has passed away, and
reason and sober thought resumed their
sway, if the people of North Carolina have
not yielded to them their accustomed con-
fidence. In my own county there were a
few of this class, whose children perished
Oh the field of battle in defence of the
State, whose property was almost entirely
swept away, but who never swerved in
their devotion to the cause of the Union.
Have they lost the confidence of the people
of that secession county? Far from it
And my word for it, that when you find a
consistent and genuine Union man, you
will find man who deeply sympathizes
with the sufferings of his fellow citizens
and fully determined to link his destiny
with that of the State for veal or for woe,
| But there is class of men in North Car
olina, Mr.. Speaker, that [ refer to with
loathing-men who were instrumental in
g firing the Southern heart" and did all
they could to prepare the minds of the
Southern people for the coming conflict,
and during the earlier years of the war,
| when victory perche,l upon the Confederate
banner, and Southern independence seemed
almost an accomplished fact, were the most
devoted friends of the Southern cause but
when the scene changed, and the tide OF
battle turned and the shattered and exhaus-
ted ranks of the Confederacy retired before
the well-appointed armies of the United
States, and the time arrived which tried
mems souls, and the final great conflict was
upon us, and disaster and defeat seemed
about to compel surrender, they like era
yens, as they are, lent their aid to the enc
mics of the people to hasten the sad catas-
trophe. These traitors to their own treason
now claim peculiar and special considera-
ton at the hands of the National Govern
ment, as consistent and honest Union men,
and are at this very time, when Congress
needs no encouragement to exercise their
power to degrade, humilltate and ruin us,
stealing off from our midst; aye from our
very Legislative Halls, like the assassin at
night, to conspire with the acknowledged
enemies of their fellow citizens, to plunge
the knife deeper and deeper into the vitals
of their own people. Mr.. Speaker, the
Englishlanguage affords no words sufficient
ly Comprehensive to express the deep loath-
ing and contempt have for such men.
A PERP1ExING QUESTION" Judge Ad-
vocate General Holt" the Titus Oates of
the Radical party, is doubtless exceedingly
unhappy as to what use to turn John Sur
ratt. of whose recent capture we have read
so much. Anxious as he has heretofore
been to hang everybody more respectable
than himself upon whom he could lay his
unclean hands, he thinks, we expect, that
the poorest use he can now make of Sur
ratt will be to hang him. The brief source
of embarrassment about the prisoner seems
10 be whether he shall be made to prove
that President Davis or President Johnson
assassinated poor Mr.. Lincoln. We think
it very probable that, for a sufficient con-