The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-13

how any one, even INC mo- Eeat0uB anu
suspicious Of That police who now infast our
sountrys can fud anything Objectionable u
them. But the nAilkary, satrap who nov
holds rule In New Orleans has already for.
hidden all associations of Confederate bri-
gades, regiments, or companies, for any
purpose whatever, and i suppose The win
soon issue general order declaring II
treason for even the plying hand Of sor'
rowing woman to drop a flower on the
humble grave Of any poor soldier who laid
down his life at the call Of his State.s ea
Having earned for himself an undying,
evil fame by the savage barbarity with which
he executed the atrocious order to devas.
tate one of the fairest portions Of Virginia,
he seems still inclined to do now as he did
then, wage cruel and relentless war upon
uharmed and defenceless citizens. / hope
that your Association will escape the fate
of those In New Orleans, and that it will
soon be sheltered safely under the protec.
tion Of our own State, when civfflaw shall
have superseded martial law, reiissuming
its benign sway, and protecting by Its am.
pie shield the rights, the institutions, and
the persons Of ourpeople. For many long
and weary months we have waited for this
realization of our ardent hopes, this fulfil
ment of our just expectations; but we
still wait in vain. The grasp of military
power has not yet relaxed its hold.
You may perhaps, fellow citizens, think
that any discussion of general politics is
inappropriate on en- occasion Of this sort,
but as may not again have all opportunity
to place myself right upon the record, OF
to correct the misrepresentation of both
my antecedent and present position, dis:
seminated by the Radical press, may
claim your indulgence for brief discussion
of these topics. 1t is full time that some
voice from the South should be raised to
declare that though conquered she is not
humiliated-though she submits, she is not
degraded; that she has not lost her self
respect; that she laid down her arms on
honorable terms; that she has observed
these terms with the most perfect faith
and that she has right to demand like
observance Of them on the part Of the
North. Would to God that some voice
more potent than mine would utter these
truths! Would to God that the tongues
of those great statesmen of Carolina who
in times past warned, counselled, directed
our people were not hushed in death, OF
that those which more recently stirred the
southern heart to its profoundest depths
were not now as silent as death itself!
But perhaps in the midst of this silence
so profound, even my voice, feeble as it is,
may be not without that weight which al
ways attaches to the utterance of truth,
and in this hope l venture to discuss our
condition and policy. What, then, is our
condition? For four years the South was
the victim of a cruel and unnecessary
war-a war marked ON the part of her OPP
ponents by barbarity never surpassed, il
equalled, in the annals of civilized war
fare. The sword failed to conquer her
for on nearly every battlefield she was
victorious, and her enemies were forced tc
resort to weapons more c0ngenial to thcil
nature-fire and famine. The torch was
applied with an unsparing hand. The
mansion of the rich; the cottage of the
poor; peaceful villages; thriving cities
even the temples of the Most High God
fell before this ruthless destroyer, leaving
to mark the spots where once they stood
but ashes and blackencd ruins.
All the industrial resources Of the South
were wantonly destroyed or stolen, and
gaunt famine followed in the footsteps OF
the invaders. The men who had borne
without a murmur every privation, who
had faced death in thousand shapes with
out hinching, were not proof against the
cries which came to them from homeless
and starving wives and children. The!
laid down their arms, which they hat
crowned with eternal lustre, and they &C
cepted the terms offered to them by The
North. What were these terms Through
out the whole war the North declared il
the most solemn and authoritative manner
that she fought solely to reGstablish the
Union; to bring back to one fold all the
States, and to give to all equal rights ant
equal liberty. This was the constant de
claration of Mr.. Lincoln. Mr.. Seward no
only announced the same principle, but he
declared that whatever might be the resul
of the war, not only would all the right
of the southern States be preserved, but
that all their institutions would be intact
The Congress of the United States in {
resolution, passed l think unanimously
and never repealed, announced the object
and the sole object, Of the war to be The
restoration Of the Union under the supre
macy Of the Constitution. The very pow
ers under which we laid down our arm!
promised the protection Of the Government
and gave the assurance that we should no
be interfered with so long as we obeyed
the laws of the States wherein we resided
These declarations were made not only t.
the South, but to foreign nations; and the
South was assured that she had but to &C
knowledge the supremacy of the Nationa
Government to be received into the Uniol
as equal members Of the great family Of
States, with all her rights and all her pri
vileges unimpaired.
These were the terms upon which thu
South capitulated. On her part she wa
to cease war, to renew. her allegiance tt
the National Government, and to express
her loyalty to the Constitution Of the Uni
ted States. On the part of the Nortf
there was to be amnesty for the past
recognition of the southern States as equa
members of the Union-and solemn
pledge that all their rights should be hell
sacred. This was the construction placed
by the South upon the covenant entered
into, and it is the only fair and honest con
struction it will admit of. How have thu
parties to this covenant fulfilled their obi
cations? / have said that the South ha
performed hers with the most perfect faith
Let me prove the assertion. She was t.
cease war. When our commanding Off
GERS signed the conventions which put ,
stop to the war, every soldier of the Con
federacy, from the Potomac to the Ri
Grande, laid down his arms and returned
to his home, or to the spot where his home
had been.