The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-07-06

We met this mistress OF the seas upon
her own battie4A field, her own element,
and the republic, young as she was,
dissipated Che title forever.i
Then came the war with Mexico.
When that treaeherous nation in.
vaded our rights, we showed that the
Republic was mighty for conquest,
and o little handful of men, led by
the heroic Taylor and Scott, pierced
frota the Gulf to the capital, captured
@ nation Of eight millions of people,
and took enough of territory to pay
the expenses Of the conquest, and
make them behave themselves in
future. ..l
Then came the saddest chapter OF
aH-the gigantic revolution among
ourselves, this terrible civil war,
which has devastated the country,
and under the iron reign of which q
million of men went down into their
graves both North and South. It
cost millions of dollars, it created q
debt the magnitude of which is start
ling to the mind, it called for men
and soldiers by hundreds of thou
sands, it spread decentralization like
q pail over the land, and yet the Go
vernment, animated by this immo ortal
principle, by the aid OF God, showed
that it was able to withstand the
shock of civil war, and to-day the
banner of the free floats triumphant
over every foot of soil in the great
Republic. (Cheers.)
OF the causes of that war, I do not
intend to speak, except in SO far rs
may be necessary to throw light upon
the present situation and future con-
dition. approach the subject with
out any feeling of unkindness. / have
offered my life as guarantee OF the
sincerity of my convictions, and have
suffered, perhaps, in the loss of my
all, as much as any man in the broad
South; but God forbid there should
be in my heart q single thought of
revenge against the people, misguided
and wrong, though L think they were,
who originated this tremendous re-
bellion. I know sit is human to err,
but divine to forgive"
want to see my countrymen, with
out dist. .rction of race or color, live
together in peace, prosperity, happi-
ness and liberty. want to see my
country, with its wounds all healed,
become, under the influence of our
institutions, the best and the grand
est nation on the globe. AS one Of
those rams in Charleston harbor was
able to sink a steamer by single
blow, so would like to sec the
United States so powerful and great,
that we can alter the map Of the
world by single stroke of our arms.
What. then, were the causes which
led to the struggle? They were two
mutual and auxiliary-acting upon
each other. These were African
slavery and State rights. Both of
these questions have been settled by
the war. No power, short of Omni-
potence, can restore them.
Now, understand me. The white
people of the South are no more to
blame for holding slaves than slaves
were to blame for not being so we'll
informed as the whites are. Slavery
came to this people from their ances-
sors. 1t was an institution they found
among themselves. It was not their
fault, although it has turned out to
be their misfortune. It is said that
the colored people are ignorant, but
they are not to blame for that. Hence
forth, however, we shall all be to
blame, if we do not furnish you with
the means of education, and of ad-
you to condition in which
your mental improvement will enable
you to meet wants which result from
your new condition.
1t Is mistake so suppose that q
large portion of the people of the
South owned slaves. An examina-
ton shows that only about one in
did SO; but these were the
governing classes. They believed
that slavery was divine right, and
they searched back to Shem, Ham
and Japhet to prove it. They in
tended to preserve and perpetuato
the institution, but this time "vault-
ing ambition o'erleaped itself and
fell on t'other side"
AS corrolary to this condition of
things, the people had been educated
in the doctrine of State rights, but
this, like slavery, has been settled by
the war. What a thought! That as
far as our flag extends, from the
gulf to the lakes, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, human slavery has no
more name or place, and that every