Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-03-12

~ ~ MANM ~ aaH N.NHAAH
lands, our liberties, !. for one, gave
back ny soul % the sublime bene.
Science that ] bebeld IS that mo-
ment Of supreme apprehension,
beaming like q radiance Of Heav-
en- on tie face Of the government Of
my fathers! Ny heart swelled at
that instant 70 the dimensions Of
the patriotism Of Henry Clay; and,
knowing no North, no South, no
EasthO West, resolved t~henceforth
10 expiaie its past error by q life Of
devoted love 10 the Union. And
well do | know that the generous
old UniOnisis Ofthe South who sur-
rendered TO overw helming force,
with unconqueFed souls, will, when
the bitterness Of submission shall
have passed away. stand with me,
touched into admiration in every
fibre of their hearts by q magnif-
cent mercy never shown before by
a government since established au.
thority first dealt with rebellion
after the fierce fashion Of "a short
shrive and q long rope
The Union has brought us back,
pardQned children, into its bosom.
II bids ns go forward this day, TO
the reconstruction Of a government
on the ruins left by our own mad
ness. Restored TO our lost place in
the sisterhood of States by the
grace Of the Nation, that grace has
brought US back an equal among
Sovereigns! Free: and free, Mis-
sissippi 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 a. representatives,
OF a Sovereign authority, our first
work Is TO carry out in good faith,
the principles incorporated By the
revolution just closed, in the letter
aud spirit Of the Constitution.
The Northern Democracy have
Overthrown the Southern Olignr-
civ! This Is the measure of the
fact accomplished by the action of
the United States Entering on our
duty in acceptance Of that result,
we must 20 forward to make the
overthrow OF the old system that
had rcigEed amongst us, a practical
reality by ensuring all the bless
.ngs Of free government for the
masses Of the people.
The obligations resting on us IN
der the new order of things, ex-
tend very greatly the breadth of
the State government. The ''pa-
triarchal" groupings of our society
in the days Of slavery, confined
the work Of nj political organi.
cation, TO q very great extent, TO
the heads Of what we called "fm-
lies But every individual of
those families" comes under the
cognizlucc of the present regime, n
distinct entity. where the State
government had been called on in
the past by discharge of its functions
in reference TO but one man, II is
called on now 10 discharge them IN
reference to each Individual Of that
mans "family-of twenty or five
hundred. And thus il il may be
seen that tac number OF people
falling under the direct operations
of the State government, are under
this regime OF freedom, largely
increased.
The poor woro not treated with /
fully the same consideration BY the
old system as the rich. Under that
organization Of our society, gov.
eminent, actuated by no fostering
spirit toward the humber classes,
was to a great extent, confined IN
its functions TO the wealthy. And
in this point Of view, we had our
selves face to face with the fact
that, whereas the system which
has been overthrown was one Of
limited, to a great degree. to
thousand slave. holders,
that which we set up to-day will
extend the full play Of its powers
to an additional population of for
ty thousand adult whites, and
thousand adult people of {
cOlor-adop;ing the voting basis.
The numbers subject to active
care under the new system exceed
the numbers subject to active care
under the old, five fold. But this :
not the full comparison of the
breadth of service in each case. {
The new system has its work still
further Increased by the benovo.
lcnce Of It's spirit. The poor white
children of the State who were
permitted in the past 10 grow up,
like wild iowers, without training.
the administration which we are
about to inaugurate to-day, is dc.
termined to eXpend q large pro.
of energies in educating.
And so also, will the government
which reigns over us from this
hour, devote a large proportion OF
its energies to the training Of the
generations OF the colorGd
people for the higher duties Of life.
under all enlightened system Of
public schools. In giving breadth
10 the operations of magistrates
courts, in organizing a department
of public works, aud in establish
ing a %sedentary militia, the Tunc-
tons of new State government are
made, by the fostering activity Of
its spirit, very much greater in not
only the increased breadth of the
field, but in also the greater num-
Der Of its duties.
The amount Of government very
much greater in each individual
case, aud also the number of iudi.
viduals embraced by that govern
ment very much greater, the cost
Of the new administration will be
very much greater than that of the