The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-05-15
MEETING AT THE
iCH.UR RICH.
SPEECHES BY
HORACE GREELEY
AND
G. ER RIFT SM IT H.

many gatherings Of the colored people ex-
clusively, was last night crowded to its ut
most capacity by an audience OF far dit
ferent character. A fair proportion of the
assemblage were colored people, but i'm
mediately in front Of the pulpit were
seated a large number Of our prominent
citizens, while many of both races occu-
pied the rear of the church, and crowded
around the doors anxious to gain admis-
sion. Several Federal officers, with their
ladies, were given places near the speaker.
We do not remember to have seen so re-
spectacle an audience in the cold Afri-
can" since the spring of 1865, when JEFF
ferson Davis and judah P. Benjamin ad-
dressed the citizens of Richmond from the
platform upon which were last night seated
Horace Greeley and Gerritt Smith, OF New
York, with Judge Underwood, Governor
Peirpoint and his aid, Colonel C. ii. Lewis,
of this city.
At quarter to o'clock the editor of the
Tribune advanced, and was greeted with
faint applause. We give the substance OF
his speech:
Fellow citizens of Richmond,-I do not
understand that / am invited to speak
here tonight by invitation of the repre-
sentatives of any particular party, sect, or
race. Therefore, though all present are
acquainted with my views upon the great
questions now at issue, / shall not speak
either to or for party, but as citizen OF
New York to citizens of Virginia in con-
sultation about the welfare of common
country. And though shall frankly pro-
claim my views, they shall be expressed
with due Difference to the opinions OF
others. "Shall the sword devour for
ever ?" exclaimed the Hebrew prophet !;
and so may exclaim, as | stand amid the
ruins of our country, encircled by one hun
dred thousand graves, filed by many who
fought for and against the Union, and
viewing the continued strife of sections
and races. Has not the time come
when the old feuds and animosities
should be forgotten forever? Rivers OF
blood have flowed, mountains of debt have
been piled up, sacrifices and sutferings
abound, to show the valor and sincerity
with which the American people on both
sides fought. The wise king said there is
ga time for war and time forpeace." The
time for peace has come. What, then, has
| impeded the great work of reconciliation,
and what now remains to stop its progress
True, we have peace in name, but peo-
pie still look distrustfully upon each other !;
there is still enmity at heart. The war for
and against the Union virtually ended two
years ago at the surrender of General Lee,
and according to ordinary calculations,
one year should have seen peace. What,
then, has prevented this result? First,
when the people of the Union were in the
flush of perfect triumph, and glorying over
the achievements of their arms, an
assassin's hand struck down the ma
tion's chief. / would be the last to
argue that it was the work of the south
ern people, but certain facts led many
to believe such grave accusation. The
| conspirators were all thoroughly identi-
| fed with the cause of the South, and de-
tenders of its "peculiar institution"
They were heart and soul with the Confe-
deracy, and as the tidings flashed through
the loyal North that the Chief Magistrate
had fallen, and that his chief assistant was
living mangled on bed of suffering, wild
| passion and grief pervaded the whole
country, while we, who counselled magma
nimity, were silenced by the hoarse cry for
revenge. The people would not hear that
the bloody deed was the work Of an unau-
thorized man and unknown to the leaders
of the rebellion. That act, | repeat, was
a calamity to both sections, and the mill
tary trials which succeeded it were me-
lancboly Examinations of the tragedy.
They heightened the popular wrath, and
all now agree that it would have been far
better had Justice been attained through
the ordinary channels.
But before the frenzy cooled, legIsla-
lures, mainly composed of disloyal men,
or men prominent in rebellion, assembled
in the southern States. Their first aspect
was one of unfriendliness toward their
colored fellow citizens. They passed laws
or revised statutes which seemed to be de-
signed to punish the colored race for sym
pathy with their liberators. OF these !
can only mention the laws in relation to
marriage, contracts for labor, forbidding
negroes to bear arms, and regulating testi-
mony in courts of Justice all of which, If
ever necessary, had ceased to be applica-
BILE when slavery breathed its last. To
one of these I will particularly allude !:
The law in regard to bearing arms might
have been reasonable and proper when
slavery existed that Staue should
carry weapons was, perhaps, incompati-
BILE with the public safety; but when
the man was free, the necessity no longer
existed. and it was in direct hostility to
the Constitution of the United States. But
Confederate soldiers, donned in the garb OF
police, took away the arms from black
men, which were frequently paid for, and
often well earned. These things looked
like a revival of the rebellion, and in a
much worse form than when it appeared
at Gettysburg and Chickamauga. SO, IN
regard to testimony, laws equally absurd
and unjust were passed, and widened the
breach. The Memphis and New Orleans
massacres, as they are known with US,
also prevented the desired consummation.
You do not know how much these events
affected the elections which shortly after
took place. We believed that the re;issem-
bling of the Louisiana Convention was only
a pretext for the massacre OF score oi
our citizens. All these things made their
impression, and fastened upon the minds OF
many, if not of majority, OF the northern
people the conviction that no sure recon-
struction is possible without full guaran-
tee of equal rights to every citizen, piacH
or white. native or naturalized. The party
holding these views has steadily increased
in numbers and power since the develop
ment of President Johnson's policy. The
speaker then remarked that the people OF
the North are no more bound to protect
negroes in their rights than the people o
the South, and paid a tribute to the for.
bearance of the slaves during the war fol
their freedom, urging that in gratitude We
, should extend them the privileges which
they desire. This was more our duty be