Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-10-22
From the Weldon News.
THE HENDERSON FAIR,

,uE.tI ot, GENERAL NJ. w. RANSOM.
The great feature of the Fair ana the
,onasion of the large assemblage on Thurs
~ was the address of Gen. nj. W. Ran
snm which we deem no apology necessary
N commenting upon at some length, and
ZINC some quotations which we gathered
.hnrnfrom. it being acknowledged by the
tLousands of listeners to be one of the
most eloquent that the people of North
carolina have listened to in many days.
The speaker expressed his pleasure at
meeting on that occasion so many OF the
noble sons and daughters Of the old North
State. and uttered the hope that these
pleasant reunions of the people, Tor the
purpose of promoting an interest IN the
rause of agriculture, were but omens OF
,hat intention of the people of the South
nbich shall at no distant day conquer the
amenities which are weighing US down.
After abiding TO the trials which the
southern people are subjected to in their
.nnrfs TO sulmount the distractions that
,,aycut them from taking their place upon
t},e ear OF prosperity, he contrasted in
Lament terms the struggles of the colo
tists who first settled upon American soil
and those of our people ut this time, and
continued somewhat IN the following
train. abiding to the condition of our
sorofathers little over two hundred years
mo-. and what they accomplished, though
we fear we shall do the General injustice
IN attempting to quote his language:
And vet from this forlorn beginning, with these
humble 1neans, they laid the foundations and
.raTtci the superstructuro of u government
which has been the wonder, and trust will be
the blessing, of world They have populated
+ Continent with forty millions OF human beings
and established a CIVILIZATION which shines over
rho VIII dc hahitable globe like the glory of
another sun. With this example before our eJ es,
shall | ask il eight millions OF the descendants of
tlesU samG ancestors, with the innumerable,
.nu,.tess, inestimable advantages and blessings
,,n!ch we possess, will surrender to gloom and
despair? Have we not the same bright skies over
our heads which shOne upon the fOrtltude of our
great forefathers Do not tread the same
soil that bore their firm and manly steps to for
lune and to honor? Have not the same I'M
conquered and unconqnerable blood in orr veins
which warmed their brave hearts: Have we not
the same high motives Ill our hearts that led
them to victory the Hood the savage snd
the forest ? Have we not their immortal lesson
Of virtue faith and triumph before us: And
what shall l say of our cultivated fields, stretch
ing from the rising to the setting sun, our lines
If railway extending and diversified all over the
mainland, our proud steamers dashing over the
ocean fast the wind, our great cities reflect
ing from Il thousand domes and spires the sun
boams of morning, the vast, varied lncOncelVable
resources that we possess in the press, the cleo
tro telegraph, the schools Of this most eXtraordi
nary age? l cannot, l will never believe, but
that with these indescri5able advantages over
our ancestors, the South can and will recover
from her disaster We are not doomed to see
her another Poland stretched out in chains and
p.ssing her years under the heel of q despot,
shall not sec i'll this land another Hungary valnly
struggling against the OppreSsOr, and then en-
bracing i'll her arms the despOler OF her hher-
tics. over these green fields, these blue
mountains, these mighty rivers, flowing to
tho sea, shall never behold another
Iexico exhausted by her vices; never.
never can this lovely land be degraded into
mother Jamaica and become the abode of bar
barians stripped of every Vestige of civilization,
naked, deformed. bhghted and loathsome outcast
Of nations No, thousand years cannot de-
stroy in our bOsoms and those OF children
the fires OF liberty and the love Of virtue that
lsted more than Thousand years ago IN the
hearts of our ancestors. All the waters of the
ocean cannot eXtlngulsh that vital spark IN the
hearts of those who have inherited it from twen-
ty generations of treemen through seven centu-
rc7 of heroic devotion to love, Justice and honor.
The North itself our late adversary, ought not,
cLnnOt now, part of this great and growing
nation, desire that the faireSt portion of the
rurth's surface, p6Opled with brave, generous
and magnanimOuS race, kindred race to them
rulres, should be wounded, manned, crippled,
raryeu, until a. of its vital energies are wlthered
and persisted; and nothing is left but dead, pu
trd and pestient corpse to hang around the neck
ut It's destroyer. The genius of ancient Greece
wts taxed to invent the most cruel and the most
appropriate punishment for the murderer who
like Cain had slain his brother, and the unhap-
by ratriciGe doomed to have the dead body
of his victim chained to his own living limbs and
t. carry the frightful burden wherever he moved.
the penalty is said to have been greater than the
crime, and the miserable and accursed felon was
relieved by dying of cOntagion from the mortified
trunk 10 which he was fastened. And such would
be the fate the just fate OF the Northern States.
ehould they pursue the unnatural and unhallow-
ed work of crushing out the liberties and extin-
gushing the vital spark OF the life OF our people.
With all it's power, the North cannot carry
t.IrOugh life the dead corpse OF the SOuth-the
Yoke that Expresses our necks and destroys our
lives will extend it's moral letters around their
proud steps, and bring down both to a common
rave if not to common infamy. Every motive
Of interest, every obligation OF duty, every I'M
pulse of patriotism, every argument of reason,
every consideration that appeal to the sense
Of human justice, honor and virtue, enforce these
sentiments upon the great mass OF the Northern
people Before these influences the prejudlces OF
passion must pass away. Truth, right, the ever
lasting principles of human and divine equity
must prevail i'll the Judgments OF enlightened
men, must rule their consciences and ultimately
triumph over error, excitement and the most cru
Il wrong. Ia your day. in my day. | expect to
stand over the grave of fanatlclsm, expect to
sec the gulf of sectional discord closed forever,
expect to behold the South taking her position
IN the Union by the side Of the North, and ex-
pect to see reared by their common virtues and
energies grander aud nobler temple OF human
wisdom, power and Justice than the sun has yet
shono upon, and all over, and through that
temple, from its foundation to its lOtties.
dome, side by side with tho mementoes
and trophies OF Northern glory, 1 ex-
pect 10 behold the memories and jew
els OF southern virtue. All, all arrayed in the
casket of nations history, in the dladem Of a
countrys fame. Not to believe would be to re-
verse the great current OF historical authority,
20 violate the law upon which all the hopes Of
man rely, ''that truth is superior to error, and
to suppose that human deprayity, the most NOR
tsl of all forces, Is the sovereign power IN the
land, and it's blind rage can, like another Ssmp-
son, put down the pillars of government and ex-
tnguish the light of civiliz alton, and that there
is neither the strength! nor the will in the coun-
Try to prevent the sacrifice | cannot, will not,
believe it, prefer to believe. and to believe
with faith that now that the storm has passed
aud the clouds are settling in the deep bosom Of
the ocean. that the pillows ofpassion will subsIde
like the waves of the sea, and that there may be
again reflected from the calm face of the great
deep the blessed light OF peace-a light that can
newer come to us except from tho blessed sun of
liberty. prefer to look on this picture rather
than have my eyes scared by gazing on blasted
desert Of DIES pair, parched and arid waste, with
ont one green spot. with crystal fountains,
nothin but the thanksgiving of bloody strug-
gle with it's perpetual waters of bitterness and
hates widening, deepening gulf of sectlonsl
madness and pain, in whose endless abyss will
10 swallowed up national, social and personal
happiness
| trust that vii not consider these aliu-