The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1868-07-08


There is one class of our oppo-
hents, however, for whom we may express an
hOhest sympathy-I refer to the peaceful dream
ers of the good old times, those sleeping stones
Of the Arabian legend. Tine whirlwind Of events
bearing down ereeds and systems, the rush, the
roar and the confusion in the great march of hu-
manity pass By them unobservcd. They have
no car to hear the great cry for change which
comes up from thinking men throughout the
world. They have no eye to see the great strug-
gle which is constantly going on between the old
and the new. French revolutions, revolutions of
'4S revolutions initeraturc in art revolutions in
philosophy, ethics and religion, revolutions in
manners and in socal life disturb them not. The
crash of rebel steel against the walls OF Sumter
did not awake them. The emancipation procla-
nation as it flashed before the world did not
break their repose and they slept while Sherman
marched down to the sea Venerable slecpers
Peace to their slumbers Let them continue
their harmless dreams. ~
But there are those for whom we entertain no
such sympathy. We mean those implacablc enc
mics OF the Union and the Constitution of the
United States and OF the Constitution of North
Carolina who would stop short at no crime to
subvert the government and to execute yenge-
ance upon its friends. We are happy to believe
that these wicked men are comparatively few in
number. We are happy to believe, that with
the exception of certain localities, the masses Of
the citizens OF the State will obey the laws
But we must be prepared to command respect
for the government. We cherish no spirit of
bitterness on account OF the fierceness of
the opposition against us in the late cam
paign. We are disposed to attribute this to
general want Of information, an ignorance of the
provisions of the new Constitution AID to the
perniciOus influence exercised by designing men.
But it might be well to state once for all, that
the present Constitution OF North Carolina must
remain in force until amended in accordance
with its own provisions. 1t is made the duty of
thp Eypputiva N that hp a aras4 FIR ,od
He will not be remiss in the performance of this
duty, and he will have to sustain him vast ma
jority OF all the people of the State and the full
power of the Federal Government. Any hope
of change in the present status of affairs before
the same shall legally expire, is vain and delu-
sivs Any attempt to inaugurate resistance to
the1aws, on whatever plan&nd on whichever pre-
text will recOil upon the heads of the misguid-
ed perpetrators of the crime. 1t is an ungener-
GUS task to make these illusions on occasion of
rejoicing like the present. We would prefer
infinitely to say nothing to jar the universal
harmony which should prevail to-day; but the
fact that there are those who are expecting and
hoping for a revolutionary change in the exist
ing condition of things makes tia duty to give
this solemn warning. Political opinion will be
freer in the future than it ever has been in the
past Ii gentlemen are so disposed, they may
continue to argue that ignorance is better than
education, that darkness is more to be desired
than light and that slavery is preferable to free
dom. The cause OF liberty, progress, and civil
ization is not advanced by suppressing freedom
of thought or of speech, and we are not disposed
to begin taking lessons from the barbarism of
the past
Let me congratulate you, fellow citizens, upon
the brilliant success of the Congressional plan
of reconstruction in North-Carolina and the res
tOraton of the State to its forfeited relations to
the Federal Government. 1t is owing to your
energy and zeal that this restoration has been
effected aud you have accomplished the work in
the face ofthe most terrific opposition ever ar
rayed against any political organization. It is
unnecessary to speak in detail OF the character
of this opposition. 1t is fresh in your memories
and it is not probable that it will be soon forgot
ten. 1t has been useful lesson to the Repub-
licans of North Carolina The intense bitter
ness of the contest and the fierce attempts at So
cial ostracism have taught us proper self re-
spect and we may now be thoroughly on our
guard in the future against the savage mode of
warfare our political enemies have adopted The
men who voted the open reconstruction ticket
in the late election may be depended upon here
after They are made of material that will never
yield. Every one of them will vote for Grant
and ColfaX in November. In addition to these,
we will gain ten thousand more votes that were
not cast for reconstruction by reason of rebel
terrorism and the social pressure. Then count
ten thousand more votes for the same ticket
from men who want peace and who desire to
see stop put to this factious agitation kept up
by the opposition, and we will swell the majority
for the Union hero to upwards of forty thousand
bright one. We survey a hard fought battle field,
where the odds were all against us, and where
victory has perched upon our standards We
have one more battle to fight in November and
after we shall have won that, there will be re-
pose and peace for the next four years. The
enemy we have to meet is broken down and
dispirited. He does not step into the arena with
as much confidence in his own nnnuass az he did
Al a rstf INST. his spirit. mas been somewhat
tanned and his plumage has been shOrn since that.
time. One more vigorous effort then in Novcm-
Der under Gen. Grant, the conquerOr of the re-
bellion, and we will beat the life so entirely out
OF the cOpperheadsecession snake that we will
not be disturbed by its hissings in North-Car
lima for these twenty years to come.
Felow-Republicans! you have cause to be
proud of your record. The State may well be
proud of your selfsaci ifcing patriotism. The
names of the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1868 will one day be more Illus
trious than the names of the trainers OF the orr
ginal Constitution of the State in ITS. Those
men did their duty well and wisely But the
men of to-day have performed q nobler task
Long years after the silly passions and prejudices
of the present shall have passed away and been
forgotten, the history of civilization in North
Carolina will date from the CONSTITUTE nal Con-
vention of 1868. And then too shall the names
of the actors in the stirring scenes OF the res
ent time be familiar as household words when
the names that now adorn the past annals of the
State shall have faded into the twilight of his
tory. You have inaugurated new era. Here.
after you will insist us strenuously upon the
diffusion of knowledge and the fullest and freest
expression of thought, as slavery insisted here
toiore upon the exclusion of intelligence. Under
your fostering care the fires OF thought which
have been SO long smothered will break out and
give light TO the people. You have taught the
people that the day OF potent, grave and rever-
end seniors is passed and gone forever. Under
your direction and leadership, advancing civili-
cation is rapidly leaving this doomed race far in
the background and supplying their places with
new men, the representatives of intelligence,
progress and civilization. Under your control,
an enlightened spirit of enterprise will be breath.
ed into the State and the varied and bouptiful
resources with which Providence has blessed
will be made to minister to their full capacity
to the wants OF our people. The sectional ques-
ton which has occupied the attention and dwarf
ed the minds of our statesmen is now put ut rest
forever, and American politics will take higher
| range and broader sweep and we may 90 on
without hinderancc working ont that mani
| fest destiny which has been reserved for this
tlemen, it is owing in large degree that here in
North Carolina, freedom in its highest sense has
| been substituted for slavery, that reasor and
justice have taken the place of violence and op-
preston, and that the reign of infidelity and
| barbarism has given way to the mild sway of
| fellow-citizens, to proclaim by your actions
in the face of the world, that you have
faith in God and hope for humanity
| That you believe in the real existence of truth
and justice. And you have done this by recog-
nizing and putting into practical operation the
| principles of the holy religion which we pro-
| TESS and of the Declaration of Independence
which we revere. This you have been neither
ashamed nor afraid to undertake and accomplish,
and the American Republic stands before me
world to-day in her majesty ana beauty the
envy and the glory of the nations.