The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-04-06
From the Index.
speech of Senator wilson In Peters.
burg.


Hotel last evening to hear an address from
Senator Wilson. Of Massachusetts,, who had
arrived in the city by the afternoon tram
from Richmond. BY request, Mayor Col
lier introduced the speaker in the follow
ing words:
oMv friends and fellow citizens, nave
the honor to present TO you on tins oc Ca
sion Hon. Henry Wilson, member OF .ne
United States Senate from MASSACHUSETTS,,
who will address Won on the polticai ano
public questions of the day.
Mr.. Wilson appeared upon the oaicony
of the hotel and was greeted with applause
nv the colored portion of the audience.
lie spoke in substance as follows; thank
Won for the kind manner in which ] was
received by q portion Of my fellow-ciiizens
today, and now by You. About year
AGO | promised General Brown to make u
visit to Richmond, and have just redeemed
my promise. One of your ellow-cltIZenS
gave rue an invitation TO visit your city.
| had often seen your stcepleS ut a dis
lance, and desired to come here, but there
was an obstacle in my way, and no" i
thought would pay you visit, ana see
YOU from the inside, but / had no IDEA
should meet with such kind reception.
was asked to make n speech, and am here
in response TO that invitation. l do not
wish 10 obtrude upon you. You ask me
10 give you my opinions, and l intend to
do so, and will speak them as freely as il |
were in Massachusetts,. | want you to I'M
dars,and that / am radical Republican,
and have been committed fully to the same
doctrines in the Senate as shall advance
here to-day.
Now. | wish to say to you that we have
ms, passed through bloody contest,
which, in the course OF events, was lnevl-
table. n contest of ideas which shook tins
continent for thirty years. 1t had to
come il was unavoidable. 1t came, and
we tonight il ont 4; and now let me say TO
Won that when the last gun was fired was
IN favor of forgetting ali the bitterness en-
rendered by the contest, and of marching
With Won shoulder to shoulder in support
of united country.
What were the causes of the war? In
nv opinion, there was only one, and OF
that both We of the North as well as You
or the South we're guilty-humdn Slauery
in america. learned my lesson in re-
card TO this institution from the teachings
of YOUR own men-irom Washington, JEFF
ferson. Madison, Monroe, and Henry, all of
whom, in their day, declared against
slavery.
On the one hand was system OF slavery,
and on the other of freedom. This caused
conflict which was waged for thirty years
before the war broke ont. OF the origin
of this, We of the North were not gulItlcSs.
We had among us a class of men who, for
getful of the teachings of their youth, ut
tered false promises, which the men OF the
South believed, and when we reached the
eliminating point in 1860 there were many
of the West and of the North who said II
this difference came to blows the battles
would be fought in the North, and that sol
diers from the North could not go South
without marching over their dead bodies.
You believed them, and were deceived.
As q fair illustration OF the manner Ill
which the promises were kept, let me tel
YOU that these men were carried into the
contest, and you met them on many
bloody field. The contest CiOSed-I pray
foreyer-in our success, after loss Of three
hundred and twenty-five thousand lives OF
those who fought for the old flag. Just
here let me say that | DO not wish TO re-
proach the men of the South Tor the man
ner in which they fought. We met on six
hundred and twenty-five battle fields, and
YOUR soldiers fought with heroic valor. !
am willing TO concede this proudly every
where, but the cause for which they Strug-
gled was lost, and with ii the system Of
human slavery, forever.
We have been accustomed to look upon
the battle Of Bull Run as a great defeat,
but it was q glorious victory. We are re-
minded frequently that Congress passed
resolution that the war was to be fought
for the restoration of the Union, and when
peace should come, the South would be
invited TO come back into the Union, aud
that it was not to be waged in the interests
of emancipation. At the time this resoiu-
ton was passed, we believed it, and the
war went on. We who were in Congress
did not do our duty. We hesitated IN
1852, and waited until June, 1868, and thus
prolonged the war at least year. LED 10
a proper course by the disasters when
ovartnol, ms. we saw the hand OF God In IL,
aud that there was only one thing for uSto DO
- .vopld not be defeated, and that was
,bot slovery must go down so deep that
thera should he no resurrection, forever.
r., i was abolished in the District OF
Columbia. then in the Territories, and
snallv Abraham Lincoln issued his eman-
cipation proclamation, declaring freedom
TO the slaves all over the country. When
the work was over, the war ceased. Thank
God for it.
Consider the condition of the country at
the close of the war-Lincoln had been
killed: the hearts Of the people were sad
and sore they had buried 325, 900 OF their
children. vacant chairs We're to be found
in every house, aud lowly mounds, under
which thousands upon thousands OF the
sons of the North, were scattered all over
Virginia and other States. In spite OF all
these. there was no sentiment Of hostility
or desire to degrade the humblest man OF
the South. Our people did not want your
lives, your blood, or your lands. They
fought for the liberty Of the Lowry, and
desired to lift men up, and not 10 pull
them down.
| am sorry TO say that difference arose
between the President and Congress. I'm
der malign counsels the President took
position in opposition to the great majority
Of Congress, and the people, and your
people under the lead of your prominent
men and the press, looked to the President,
and you believed he would carry his policy !;
and in that you made a great mistake, and
to your cost have found il out by this time.
Some of you even now look to the Su
preme Court, and in this you will be dis
appointed as you were in your dependence
on the President. Some others look 10 the
formation of political party at the North
such as promised you such great things be-
fore the war. You will find them, let me
tell you, as powerless to help You as was
praS1lA,,t I 20 We, Ean..