The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-05-29
g. n,,-;s,s sneech at Augusta.

The speech maue ny oi''
,,st,. Ga, the other night, St.d notieea ia
n,r kilograms on Saturday, will furnish the
psd,cal napers OF the North with text Tor
many an editorial upon the rebellious spr''
of the southern people, though 'he'. Wa
really nothing in the speech when s'i'u'u
oxc,te ,he ire of any one. Maleroicnce cal,
easily torture innocent phrases ln.o "l,He~
threats and malevolcncc If one 'h,"S W.
G,naticai Radical editor never 'aeNS.
NAV be said Of the northern pu'h'i's " w
day, varying MAcAULEl's famous le'''',
IN regard TO their ancestors, that they 40
M, object to Mr.. DAvIs's speeches. because
those Iniure them, or damage tue 1oNefh-
ment. or do any harm whatever, put oe-
csuse they suppose That these speeches al
t,rd some little qualification to the southern
people. ., ~
We call the attention of all who feel in
terc.ted on the subject TO the fact mat Mr.
DAVIS made no predictions rs to the "lost
cause" itself-that is, southern lndepeha-
ence, or 4 government Of the southern peo-
pie by the southern people for the south
ern people-but merely as 10 the "pr'nc'-
pies of the lost cause" Being without Il
correct report Of his speech, we cannot
pretend to say how far he went even IN inns
direction but we presume he saul no more
than any other good citizen might say VINO
is hopeful of tho future of the country. lie
doubtless meant that constitutions. liberty
would yet be enjoyed by the southern peo'
pie under the United States Go1ermnlem j;
that the northern people would return 10
that idea OF the nature of our government
which prevailed for more than seventy
wears after it was founded, and, having so
returned, would find friends and brethren
in the southern people rather than enc
mics to be harassed. This journal
was one of the first to "accept the
situation.'' We are heartily in favor
of declaring next year in our National
Democratic platform that the 18th, 18th,
and 18th amendments, arc part and parcel
of the Federal Constitution and that we
are opposed to further agitation upon the
question of negro suffrage; yet we might,
nevertheless, consistently express nope
for the restoration of constitutional gov
eminent. The northern people may Is
we'll understand first as last that they cam
not compel us to confess that we were
in the wrong in the late struggle.
Such war could never have been
carried on by people consciously III the
wrong. 1t is folly to attempt to nuke lis
concede such a point. We agree, however,
that, right or wrong, we were overpo"-
cred, or defeated, or suhjugated: ana that
hereafter we are TO be citizens OF the
United States-loyal to the Government
ready to support it in every proper man
ner, and to contribute to IFS renown ana 10
the prosperity of the country. we may
comnare our condition TO that of the pco-
nile of Great Britain. We do not suppose
that from 1858 down to The present day there
has ever been 4 good lawyer in England
who doubted that the descendants OF JAMES
II. through his son were the righttul heirs
to the crown Of that country. Yet not Que
of these rightful heirs has ever worn that
crown. The people dccided-Pariamcnt
acting for them-that 1t was best Tor the
country to change the ruling dynasty.
EVERYBODY acquieSced, excepting oil course
the fanatcal Jacobites, whom we may style
the kukluX of their day. 1t was clearly
impossible that any believer in the divine
right of Kings TO rule, or III the British
law of succession to the crown, could hold
that WILLIAM and MARY were the right!ul
rulers OF the realm. Yet aS ninc-tenthS OF
the people were incapable of forming an
intelligent opinion OH this point, and were
at the same time satisfied that the rule OF
WILLIAM and MARY WAS best for the coun-
try, no trouble resulted worth speaking of.
But if Parliament had required every per-
son to hold the impossible opinion referred
to, there would have been no end of trouble.
Now, why cannot the North treat the
southern people with like tenderness: Our
abstract opinions-or abstractionS,' il
they prefer tive are not capable Of chang
ing. We hold them, however, as the law
yers in England held the opinion that Will
LIAM WAS not the rightful King of that
country, rs mere opinions not to be acted
upon. We hold them, as LUTHER said to
the Diet Of Worms, because, Good help
us, we cannot do otherwise" We know
that in the North ninc-tenths of the people
are utterly incapable of forming an intelli-
gent opinion as to whether we were i'll the
right or in the wrong in the late contest.
They know that they love the Federal Gov
eminent, and they think it much better for
the whole country that that Government
should have rule from Canada to the Gulf
of Mexico. We accept this unlntelliSent
opinion of the masses as the law of the
land. We have no purposeto be other than
good citizens. We will do whatever we can
to build up our whole country but we
cannot change the wel-settled convictions
of our minds. No man of sense in the
South has any idea that our section will
ever engage in another war with the North.
2. S.--Since writing the foregoing we
have received in the Augusta Chronicle and
Sentinel full report OF Mr.. DAyls's speech.
It contains some expressions which it
would have been better to have omitted.
If any man in the South should respect the
saying, "Speech is silvern, but silence is
golden" Mr.. DAVIS is that man.
.. ----------------------
TAAMANY TACTICs.-After saying Of law
passed last winter by che New York Legis-
lature "that none Of the odious sections
passed the Legislature at all that they
Sc were bodily and criminalIy interpolated