The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1870-03-17

GENTLEMEN: The installation which you
are called to witness, is surrounded by cir
cumstances by which il is invested with spe-
cial solemnity. arty-triumpa would. ne
eessarily prompt the emotions uppermost in
the minds of those present on similar con-
consummations of polisicel victory. Not so
| with us. Such emotions sink abashed in
| presence of the great events OF which this
extraordinary passage In the records of Mis-
sissippi. declares the accom- plishmenr- The
| Muse of History closes to-day chapter
! passion, bloodshed. and social revolution
| and proceeds to write down the fact of this
| inauguration as the first event of a new
chapter-a chapter which, with her pencil
OF light" she heads by haleyon words OF
Peace and Hope.
The palmy days of my lite belong to Mis-
sissippi. The friendships OF twenty-five
| years tie me to her in love. A sacrifice OF
conviction, made by me in a wrestle with
the madness which plunged her into ruin,
has bound my soul to hers in common lot
of suffering. and sorrow, and humiliation -
| A son Of American liberty. whose heart is
glowing with blood of l776, may, there
| fore, be prrdoned for f"eling struggling for
! first utterance on this occasion, the profound
emotion with which receive from the hand
| of conqueror the crown of civil law that,
/ in blending OF pain and pleasure, | bind.
this blessed hour, upon the queenly brow of
/ Mississippi.
Secession, have ever denounced as a fatal
| fallaey. In casting my lot with my own
| people IN the late war. sought not justifi-
| cation behind logical subtleties. When 1
| said: ''the Rubicon is passed; 1 join the ar
my that moves to Rome" / spoke not as a
| sophist after the fashion of Calhoun, but as
| rebel after the fashion of Cesar. The
| step took, took in full view of the fact
thatit was one of simple rebellion. In that
| exercise of the right of revolution, / accept
| ed all its risks with my eyes open to the fact
that those risks included, in both law and
! fact, the penalties attaching to treason. And
Il ri1tr f,-~N
lay with my paople, crushed under the heels
of laundering armies, 1 accepted the fact
that one end of the rope around nv neck
and around their necks, had been grasped
by the hand of u triumphant Suzerain
In heart and soul, am a man of the South.
| My affections, my interests, my habits of
thought, identify me indivisibly with the
Southern people. The Conqueror OF the ar
Inles In which one of my sons won Ma
jor's star and another Martyrs crown, is,
as that Conqueror, no more a subject OF love
with me than with any other Southern sol
der. The military government which |
have the happiness to bow this day out OF
the state, was no more subject of pleasure
to me than it was to any other Mississippian
whose blood glows, as mine does, with the
instincts of self government
The passions proper to a man born to free
dom, would suffer death rather than trim
throb in my blood subject to the dictates of
Justice and Reason. They do not hide from
me the fact that when, borne to the earth.
lay prostrate with my kindred of the South,
no heel pressed upon my breast, no sword
point pricked my throat, no hand frightened
the rope that my own treason had knotted
around my neck! The Suzerain against
whom my people and myself had raised our
hands in rebellion, stood over us as we lay
upon the earth; and lifting his visor to tell
us that he gave US our lives. our lands, our
liberties, |, for one, gave back my soul to the
sublime benefcence that beheld at that
moment of supreme apprehension, beamiDg
like radiance of Heaven on the face of the
government of my fathers! My heart swell
ed ut that instant to the dimensions of the
patriotism of Henry Clay; and, knowing
no North, no South. no East, no West, re-
solved thencefoFth, to expiatc its past error
by a life of devoted love for the Union. And
well do know that the generous old Union
lists of the South who surrendered to over
whelming force with unconQuered souls,
will, when the bitterness of submission shall
have passed away, stand with me, touched
into admiration in every fibre of their hearts
by a magnificent mercy never shown before
by government since established authOri-
ty first dealt with rebellion after the fierce
fashion of "a short shrive and long rope"
The Union has brought us back. pardoned
children, into its bosom. 1t bids us go for
ward this day, to the reconstruction of
government on the ruins left by our own
madness. Restored to our lost place in the
sisterhood of States by the grace of the
N
equal among Soyereigns! Erect and free,
Mississippi goes forward now to work out
her destiny in q fellowship of States, the
peer of the proudest! And in approaching
the duty made incumbent on US as represen-
tatives of a Sovereign authority, our first
work is to carry out in good faith, the prin-
ciples incorporated by the revolution just
closed, in the letter and spirit of the COnsti-
tuition.
The Northern Democracy have overthrown
the Southern Oligarchy! This is the mea-
sure OF the fact accomplished by the action
OF the United States. Entering on our duty
in acceptance of that result. we must go for
ward to make the overthrow of the old sys-
TEN that had Teigned amongst US, pTacti-
cal reality by ensuFing all the blessings of
free government, for the masses of the peo-
pie.
The obligations resting on Is under the
new order of things. extend very greatly
the breadth of duty of the State govern
ment. The ''patriaFehal" groupings of our
society in the days of slavery, confined the
work of our political organization, to very
great extent, to the heads of what we call
ed families" But every individual of those
families" comes under the cognizlnce of
the present regime, distinct entity. Where
the State government had been called on in
the past to discharge its functions in refer
ence to but one man, it is called on now to
discharge them in reference to each individ-
ual of that mans "familyH-of twenty or
five hundred And thus it NAV De seen that
the number of people falling under the di-
rect operations of the State government, are.
under this regime of freedom, largely in
creased,
The poor were not treated with fully the
same consideration by the old system as the
rich. Under that organization of our soci-
etv, government actuated Dy no fostering
spirit towards the humber classes, was, to
great extent, confined In its functions TO the
wealthy. And in this point of view, we
find ourselves face to face with the fact that
whereas, the system which has been over
thrown was one of duties limited. to great
degree. to twenty thousand shareholders.
that which we set up to-day will extend the
full play Of its powers To an additional pop
ulation of forty thousand adult whites, and
eighty thousand adnit people OF color
adopting the voting basis
The numbers subject TO active care ueOSf
the new system exceed the numbers subject
to active care under the old, five-fold. But
this is not the full comparison of the breadth
of service in each case. The new system
has its work still further increased by the
beneVolence of its spirit. Fhe poor white
children of the State who were permitted in
the past to grow up like wild AowerS. With |
out training, the administration which we
are about TO inauRurate to-day is detsTEpin-
ed to expend large proportion OF its ener-
gies in educating. And so also. VIII the gov |
eminent which reigns over us from this !
hour, devote a Large proportion OF It's ener-
gies to the training of the rising generation
of the colored people for the higher duties
Of life. under an enlightened system Of pub
lie schools. In giving greater breadth to
the oDeFations of magistrates courts, In or |
ganizing a department of public works, ana
IN establishing a system Of sedentary mtli-
tia. the functions of the new state govern
menf are made, by the fostering activity OF
its spirit, very much greater Ia not only me
decreased breadth of the field, but IN also
the greater number of its duties.
The apsoasBt Of government very muen
greater in each individual case, and also the |