The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-03-30


Hon Simon Cameron wrote 'that he was so un-
certain of the time Of the Senaes adjournment, and
pressed by other engagements, that he could not
come
sion is glorious one and ifs possible will attend
The congressional printer, Hon. A. NJ. Clapp said:
lt was through your patriotic deeds OF daring that
throw and it Is fitting at you should commemorate
the rich fruits that your courage aud loyalty have
secured blessing to the American people. Let the
fifteenth amendment be celebrated annually with
appropriate ceremonies as long as the Republic
Other letters were read from Andrus Rockafelow,
OF Georgia. M. Hall Stanton Esq, @. j. Dunn, OF
louisiana Hon. John V. Creely, Hon. Charles
O'Neill. Hon. Henry H. Bingham. r. stockett Mat
thews, ESQ.,, of Baltimore; and Robert B. Beath late
Lieutenant-Coonel 9th Regiment United States
Colored Troops.
Grafton by Colonel James Givin.
Colonel James Givin then delivered the following
address,
been the custom to set apart certain days OF the
year on which to commemorate certain events and
on those days to indulge in games or pastimes suit
able to the particular occasion.
on this the 3Oth cay of March, 1911, we are called
together to celebrate the anniversary OF the pro-
camation issued by the Secretary of State announc
ing to the world the adoption by the requisite num-
Der OF States Of the Fifteenth Amendment to our
National Constitution. We meet, not politicians,
to advance or advocate the doctrines OF any polti
cal party, but as free and Independent citizens of
common country. to express our JOY and satlsfac-
ton, and to return our thanks to 'Him who doeth
all things we'll for the blessings conferred upon u.s.
To do this the more properly, we have called around
us the coored soldiers and sailors, to whom more
thpn to any others is due the accomplishment Of
this one great act OF justice.
Nearly hundred years ago, on the 4th of July,
1l76, almost within reach of the sosnd OF my voice,
was read the Declaration OF Independence, aud the
bell In the old State House steeple proclaimed
liberty throughout the land and to the Inhabitants
thereof; )" for it then declared that "A men
created free and equal, and endowed with certain
inalenabe rights among which are life, liberty and
the pursuit OF happiness" And from one end OF this
of gladness were heard upon every hilltop and in
every valley, for on that day new republic was was
bound them, and became one among the nations OF
the EARTH A long, exhausting, aad bloody war fol-
with the well-fed wei armed and disciplined hosts
OF Great Britain, until at last the proud lion of Eng
The coonies were free The seed was sown from
may aphah rssy say are etzehs
But in the eXultations of that great victory, one
stalwart men, made after the image of their CREATOR
endowed with all the feelings powers, and natural
their skn were denied rights and privileges that to
them belonged by the same title, but who were
made slaves, and bartered and sold as horses and
portion OF our people transformed the Declaration
of Independence to read, Al white men are created
and gain, great wrong was perpetrated upon an
innocent and inoIensive people, which 1t took almost
century to set aright and then only through fra
tricdal war; attested to-day by the graves Of six
hundred thousand brave men.
Rg
Government of the United States a wrong OF which
each and every one OF her citizens In his heart OF
hearts felt ashamed and for which none could offer
We have been told that ''the mills of the gods
grind slowly but they grind exceedingly line" There
gust at this great iniquity. Education surmounted
the barrier raised up and sustained by ignorant pre-
State threw off the stigma that had made freedom
| mockery and liberty byword. And at last, every
human being living north of Mason and DXon's line
could look to his Maker and say, 81 am free; and,
in the language OF the immortal Lincoln, sin the
right TO eat the bread earned by the sweat OF his
brow, the black man was the equal OF all Others"
South OF Mason and Dixon's line, or "away down
South n DiXey," where school-houses and churches
We're scarce where ignorance and anti-Christian
| feelings predominated, where Gods command to
| '1oye one another seemed not to be known or If
| known to be disregarded; "away down South, -
where the enerYatng sun made men TOO indOlent to
earn their own bread they aped the arstocracy OF
God had made one race to be masters and another
to be slaves, continued the wrong they knew they
were working and refused to accord the great boon
OF liberty 10 those whom they unjusty held in bond
age not acknowledging that 'the laborer was worthy
OF his hire, but insisting that capital should own
labor. And for years we lived in that hermaphro-
dte condition OF country half free and half slave,
and sectional strife dsgraced our political system
Under our liberal form OF government our country
grew rapidly, for here the oppressed OF all nations
found an asylum. The pioneers axe swept away
the forests OF the West and the haunts OF the wild
monarchs were changed TO productive farms and
vineyards. The hut OF the Indian was replaced by
the mansion OF the white man. Large and populous
cities now stand where before naught was heard but
the crack OF the nuntsmanS rle or the Dark or the
| rayenous Wolf Civilization in its westward march
moved rapidly, and for time IL seemed that the
relic OF barbarsm destined to follow in its tread.
Fierce and bloody was the contest between freedom
and slavery in the settlement OF our territories
| hard, hard indeed was the struggle In Kansas and
Nebraska. For time 1t seemed that, spite of all
| exertions the monster would succeed; but bless
ings on the memory of.old John Brown there slavery
received a blow that hurled it back, and sent 1t
| writhing towards its death At that juncture
there arose in the minds Of the people fixed and
determined resolution that, at least slavery should
| extend no further. Gnawing it had been upon
the vitals OF our political system; prostrating and
degrading 1t had been to our labor they refused to
allow any more OF our fair land to suffer from its
| blightng influence. And then commenced the cru
sade that ended in its death. Far, far away in the
West Injured TO toll and hardships, "With heart
| filled with goodwill towards all, malice towards
none," freedoms giant champion, Abraham Lincoln,
marched TO the front, and with the voice OF truth
endure half free and half slave; the one must sue
cumb TO the other;" "a mouse divided against itself
must fall; and placing himself at the head OF the
fasncTeasing army OF freemen, led the hosts vic
tory and was elevated, by the viii OF the people, to
| the highest position man can hold on this earth
| President OF the United States
But the champions OF slavery, not willing 10 CUB
| NIT, refusing TO acknowledge the Handwriting on
the wall determined 10 disrupt the ties that bound
Sosd SIs states together ana build new structure,
| nllonA Of Gods people. Armies were raised and
DrOther was arrayed against brother father against
son. me struggle was long, bitter and FEARFUL aud
| at last the Government asked assistance from the
| race tnat owed IL least; a race against which were
| shut lts schOols and its WOrkshOps race denied
the rights so Justly theirs, OF being citizens OF the
| United States. FOrgetful OF the wrongs they mad
/ suffered; thinking only of the good that might
eeme; unmindiul OF everything except the Govern
| OF them marched to the music of the Union and
barred their breasts 10 the bullets OF the enemy and
on hundred fields proved their Valor and their love
4 OF country. Forty thousand graves attest their