Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-11-17
GEN. SHERMAN.

cal SIfaasIon-The Past and our
Present aud Future obligations
Whe was Responsible for slavery
and wIso should SufEer the CeBse-
quences-EEis speech at 81. IlOuis.
Gen Sherman delivered the oration to
the "saciety of the Army of Tenne ssee,
at its annual reunion at St Louis, on
Wednesday night, 18th inst He took
general survey Of the leading military
events Of the late war, in which the
Z Army of Tennessee was engaged, and
incidentally made allusion to the politl-
eal-rondition Of the country, which viii
be read with general interest:
have oTlen been asked by my fellow
soldiers. when troubled BY the reports OF
the disturbed condition of things at the
South. whesher, afler all, our labors had
not been In vain? Whether we might
not again be called on 10 repeat the scenes
Of 1858 and 1864? Orwhether the Rebels,
defeated in battle, might not, in the hnriy-
burly of time and politics, regain their
z lost cause, and their lost pride?
On these pointsI feel no great solicitude,
bat whether | can convey 10 your minds
the same conviciion, will not say. His
tory rarely goes backward, and events in
the past are usually as real as the granite
rock on which we now stand. Surely no
men ever had a more glorious cause than
We. And never, in my judgment, did
war SO completely fulfill its natural office.
lPheH ice tad dOun oar arms aud each man
returned 10 bis chosen Voe0hen, NOT dH armed
Rebd remained 70 question ths national da-
horiiy, and if peg6ct sllbordindtion and
todnglulify haVe not resulted, zoe must TOOK
for the cause in the nature Of things or an The
eili administration Of our government. The
former laws within my province, bat the
latter Is not fair topic of discussion for
tie soldier, who is sworn TO obey the laws
Of his country, duly enacted, and the Or
ders Of his superiors. ii
{ That questions Of great interest should
have resulted from onr war was 10 be ex-
pected, such as concern the rights OfStates,
and the rights Of citizens therein. On these
questions you, who were formerly officers
and soldiers but are now citizens, should
form and express Your opinions as free
men, unbiased by the clamor of the hour,
SilOulu 1CdNf W OlHCAb SAhdl AiBttg
bearing in mind that there is room for
donbt, and that men may differ, and differ
widely, and yet be honest but when con-
clusion is once arrived at by due course of
Law the subject is 40 longer an open ques-.
ton for discussion, but should be snb7
mitted TO simply because it is the
law Of the land. Each and every one
Of yoh can recall periods in your
own history, when you supposed those an
authority were acting wrong hut by
patient silent discharge of your own
clearly defined duty, you saw these doubts
and cOnfnsions clear away like a mist
cloud, and reveal to you the truth triumph
ant SO will it be in yourcivil experience,
when q similar acguiescence in events will
produce the SAME result.
But for a more comprehensive under-
standing Of these important questions, we
must turn from our limited experience to
| that of others recorded in history.
Dr. Draper, am eminent American
author, has likened the growth Of people
or Of a nation to that of the human body,
and has shown that its intelligence and
political development are governed by
natural laws as clear Of demonstration as
| those OF any physicai science t.N ..t
He also likens our system Of government
10 that Of the sun, which first in the begin-
ming was a mere confused mass of nebulORs
matter ard force. BY natural operations,
condensation ensued; and one after an
other, with mathematical precision, orb
after orb was cast off from the revolving
mass, and a family Of worlds, The solar
system, arose.
Ronnd the central sun these obedient
worlds, with all their seryie satellites
pursue their courses. There was no hang
ing back in the movement, no yagranf
wanton wandering, no revolt.
Through unutterable ages this union was
as now, an exhibition Of inconeeiyablC
energy, mathematical precision, paramount
and predominaiing law. --.~ -.
He further pursues the comparison, thai
inasmuch as every atom OF matter has IL
Just influence in the system, so every State
every county every man, woman and child
and every conceivable human interest, ha'
its Just influence under our system.
But, unfortunately, man, in the indi
vidual or in the aggregate, is not a mer'
passing snbiect. Though endowed with {
vitality capable Of infinite good, he is habli
Ito vide alterations which often lead hin
astray, and he is brought back 10 his trui
orbit by a slow process or by sudder
shock such as war.
need not attempt TO apply these princi
piles to the history Of onr own country, will
which YOU are "a familiar az | am, but viii
simply recall 10 your memories that, in thi
heetaning Of colonization, slavery on tint
continent was universal. Fertile lands anC
rich mines abonnded everywhere, anC
lcompulsory slave labor resulted, as q mat
ter of selfinterest, not confined TO the colo
nies Of England alone, nor TO those o
France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden or Hol
land. As general rule, the colonists re
sisted as far as ihey we're able to do, bu
d thew were always oVerruled by the mer
chants and proprielors abroad, who de
manded qnick and large returns for thei
money Invested. asb
As early as l76l, hundred years befor
nnr civil war, Virginia, under the infu
ence of Richard Henry Lee, attempted I
stnp the importation Of slaves by prohibI
tory duty. hnt her action was vetoed j
ENGLAND. In South Carolina a similar al
tempt was made, with a like result. /
Georgia. General 0glethorpe began hi
colony for the express purpose Of limitin
the extension Of slavery in that direction
sill later, at the time of our Revolution
ary war. the sentiment opposed 10 th
institution Of slavery was nearly IA
yersal. SO much SO that the slaSe trade wa
prohibited after l60S, and the word slay
was not written at all in our consutudoi
Slavefy would surely have been extiT
erIished in this country by gradual an
natural process had not other causes com
into play. 1t was found that the soil at
climate Of the Southern States we're az
nirably adapted to the growth of cottol
The power OF steam was discovered an
applied to machinery Of all kinds, especia
lv In old and New England, and Eli Whi
nev. of Massachusetts, invented his ooito
, Gin. Thesc created IN immense deman
.or The staple, ard seem 70 have change
. the whole current or puplic opinion. II
I invention of the cotton gin did more 10 4
o slavery upon us than any amount Of pr
4 mbhory iegislaiion, or any amount Of ant
; slavery agitation, so that have always ie
: that both OLD England and New Englar