The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-07-28

aTOulU ,IelCuI1OnuSt upon 3 tftS luAtncrl
girt heights of Gettysburg; at, Shiloh; !;
at Sharpsburg; at Chicamauga; in
the trenches around. Petersburg, and
upon q hundred other. fields of fame,
were the. arms of the South illus.
ltrated.} This illustration came from
Maxcy Gregg. as he sent home from
the fatal, but victorious field of
fredericksburg, the Spartan message
of his devotion to South Carolina.
It came from Hampton, the Mnrat
and the Ney of the war, whose
sword was ever to be seen, flashing
where the contest waxed ,fercest and
the tide of battle rose to its highest
swell. It came from Micah jenkins,
as, filed with the Joys of the combat,
time and time again, he led his
charging columns with all the impe-
tuosity of youth, and all the courage
of the Christian soldier. It came
from that martyr to the cause, the
gallant, true, faithfnl Means, as lie
fell with the warriors harness on,
upon the battles front. in the line of
duty. And it came in moral gran
deur from the lamented Stephen
Elliott, as amid the booming of the
enemy's guns, he stood undaunted
among the ruins of immortal Sum-
ter, the impersonation of Carolina's
sublime resolve. E9s
But, fellow-citizens, our Confede-
rate cause is lost-'the warrior ban
ner has gone to Heaven to greet
tho warriors soul" For one, we are
not disposed to take a dead issue
from its grave. We accept the re-
suits of the war, and stand now upon
those living and vital issues that have
since sprung up. Sprung upon the
country, North as well as South, by
that party which, having become the
depository of all the malice, cruelty,
hate and vengeance engendered by
the war, seeks, by means foul as we'll
as fair, to rule or ruin q bleeding
land.
But what, it may be asked, are
these results settled by the war, to
which I have adverted? I auswer,
that they are contained in tie questions
Of secession and african Slavery. From
the first battle of Bull Run to the
end Of war, the United States Co.
vernment made pledge after pledge,
that its object was, not TO destroy The
Southern States, but to compel them
to acknowledge the authority of the
Union. Upon this pledge, they call
ed upon the Northern people to con-
tribute men and money to the war.
Upon this pledge, they called upon
the Southern people to lay down
their arms. Upon this pledge, they
worded off the intervention of foreign
powers; and it was upon this pledge,
given or implied, that Lee at Appo-
mattox, Johnston at Greensboro,
Taylor in Mississippi. and Kirby
Smith in Texas, surrendered their
armies and folded their colors. In
the spirit of this pledge, we believe
that Grant and Sherman met Lee
and Johnston; and had these Confe-
derate Generals and these Confede-
rate soldiers anticipated what has
since occurred, we hesitate not to de-
clare, that the fires of the so-called re-
| belllon, would not now be quenched,
and in the mountain Businesses of our
Southern country, the colors OF seces-
sion would this day be flying.
Noi was IrcSlueuU Johnson I'M
mindful Of this pledge. He regarded
the Southern States as still in the
Union, and holding that, under the
Constitution, the constitutional power
of the State resided in the white
people thereof, he proceeded to carry
out the reconstruction programme as
laid down and begun by Mr.. Lincoln
Accordingly the sovereignty of the
States was evoked, and Conventions
of the people were ordered. The
Conventions assembled; the situation
was gracefully accepted; the demands
of the Executive were complied with,
and an era of peace, prosperity and
harmony seemed about to dawn upon
o distracted and shattered country.
But at this point, the fell spirit of
Northern sectionalism, embodied in
the Republican or radical party. inter
posed, and changed the entire cur
rent of reconstruction. The leaders
of that party saw that the Southern
States, restored upon a white basis,
would increase that Democratic ele-
ment which, at the North, was pre-
pairing to snatch from their rude
grasp the control of the country.
Hence, party tactics decreed that
loyalty meant adhesion to the radical
| party. and Tint no Southern State