The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-09-28

ton, through their Congress, in that
long enslaved people. as the final blow
to rebellion. CApplanse
/ That, my friends, was the top stone Of
4 the fabric of reconstruction reared by
! your Congress. One would think that
nowhere in this land, certainly nowhere
among the people that fought and con-
quered the rebellion-could men be
found to lay an unfriendly hand upon q
4 work $50 humane, so just, so true. SO
Christian like. and so accordant with the
vital principles of human rights lying
! ut the foundations of our free institu-
tions. Ask any candid man what one
of these principles it violates, and if he
knows what human rights mean, he will
answer, Not one. Ask him what prin-
/ ciple of Republication it outrages, and
he will answer, Not one. Ask him, again,
answer, Not one. Ask him, still again,
what precept of Christianity it disre-
CARDS, and he will answer, Not one
Well, if it is in accordance with human
rights, with Republicanism, with morals,
and with Christianity, who assails it T?
You know that its assailants are found
nowhere but in the ranks of the rebel
Democracy. Applause.I You know
that the same demoniac spirit which
plunged the country into war, animates
that party in its ferocious war upon re-
construction. You know it is q spirit
of oppression, revolt, parricide and
blood.
And thus the question is, whether re-
construction, as accomplished by the
loyal people of the nation, shall stand ?
Stand2 Yes, forever! [Great APP
plause. BY all that we know of right,
by all that upright men call just, by all
all the blood of the three hundred thou
sand dead, by all the glorious memories
of their prowess and all the pitying
memories Of their sufferings, by all the
tears SIZED upon their graves, by all the
walls of the broken hearted for their
loss. it shall stand as the mountains
stand. !applausel and shall tell earth's
people that here, at last, lives repnb
lie that survived rebellion-the greatest
the world ever saw; that knew how to
establish as we'll as organize victory,
! that in the flush Of the grsndest triumph
in the history Of war forgot not its hum
BILE friends, though Of another race and
color; and that here, too, is a nation that
h, ~, ,rit Of hao ho
manhood and the virtue to protect and
uphold them. Applause.
But let US get a nearer and more dis
tinct view of the war upon reconstruc
to this need rest upon no conjecture, no
supposition, no deduction. It is given
by the rebels aud Democrats, North and
! South, East and West, every day, and
every hour. This, at least, may be said
in their favor, that they are bold
enough to avow that their motive
springs from hostility to the enfran-
chisement Of the negro, and that their
object is to strike down and exterminate
manhood suffrage throughout the reble
States. Say what they may on other
| points in reconstruction, this is the
specter that glares upon them by day
and haunts their nightly slumbers, and
its name is-RErRIBUrIoN! They see in
manhood suffrage death to all their
proud and grasping hopes. They know
that tho ballot in the hand Of the negro
is more fatal to their audacious and
piratical oligarchy than all the enginery
of war. Before it the implements of op
preston are laid down, the devices of
cruelty are baffied, the curse of igno-
rance disappears, and the arrogance and
intolerance disappears and savageness
of aristocracy are all humbled. With
them this is the all sufficient reason why
manhood suffrage should be obliterated;
but with me it is just the reason why it
should be upheld and made perma nent.
They may howl over negro supremacy,
negro governments, and negro equality
Until they are as black in the face as
any "nigger' they ever held in slavery,
and have this plain and comprehcn-
sive answer to make all the time: What
| ever lawful act or thing disarms tyrants,
defeats cruelty. dispels ignorance, aud
breaks down aristocracies of the skin in
this great Republic, IS OF GOD, [great
applause and I will uphold it while
God gives me life. And claim that to
4 be the sentiment Of an overwhelming
majority of the American people this
day. Applause. Between it and the
Rebel sentiment there is not. nor can
never be, the least approach to agree.
ment, bu. enduring aud relentless con
fiict till one or the other bites the dust.