New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-05-19
ORIEANs REPUBoAN, SUNDAY NAY l9 N --.IL- -

1 issue was made, when the cannon thun-
dered at Fort Sumter, when the line was
drawn, You found the people of the South,
as a man, single, in the line dOnning the
gray and marching to the front. tell you,
| nv friends, that there is a great crisis
/ arising now. The people of the North fully
| comprehend it, and SO do the people of the
! South; and the army that marches next
! November for the overthrow of Grant will
be equally divided between blue and gray.
| [Applause.I
There are some men who never will COM
prehend great thing; and there are some
| men who do not see but few feet ahead of
them. | was fully convinced of this once
! nv a drunken man. ] have seen very many
men 80. and this was no exceptional case
| TT,aughter But he was particularly drunk,
! and he stood on the bank of the Mississippi
| river looking into the water at a log caught
! in fine eddy. and it was swinging around,
and gradually drifting up stream. l was
| struck by the expression upon the man
| face, and DESTROYS of knowing what he was
| driving at, l said to him: MY irlenu,
| what are you looking at % "WeH," says
! he, "Pm looking at that log. Salq l, i;
"Wrhats the matter with the log q .'Well,"
says he, at is going up stream" Laugh
tori Said l, 'My friend, you are mistaken
! it is not really going up stream, 1t Is only
apparently doing So" 'Wel," said he.
isn't that down stream ~ Eyes SIT, salu
/. Sand isn't that up stream!'' Said l,
Eyes sir" Well! says he, isn't the log
going that wayW [Laughter.l Said /,
syes. sir" "Well," says he, my friend,
have seen a great many things l never ex-
pected to see. / have seen the Southern
confederacy, of which / was one, whipped.
l have seen the niggers free, and never
expected that. / have seen the niggers
vote, and l did not expect that. can un-
derstand all that, but d---n me If ever
expected to see the Mississippi going up
stream" daughter.
Now. that man was honest and sincere in
his idea that the Mississippi river, as
river, was running up stream. He had not
cot soberness enough or sense enough to
raise his eyes for a moment to look beyond
the whirling eddy, and see where the great
current swept on majestically to It's des-
tiny. And there are a great many men
here to-day, and there will be for the next
three or four months, whose heads will be
swimming, and who will swear everything
is going up hill; but if they will lift their
ewes they will see in little while that the
great current is right, and that it is going
in the right direction, and that it will go
on faithfully and surely to its destiny and
to its end.
We must come to this simple conclusion:
If we want to make this great country,
want to make it what it has hitherto been,.
a refuge for the weary and oppressed of the
nations of the earth-I say If we want to do
all these, we must understand one thing:
that, no matter what one section of the
country may have done for ten years, it is
all passed and should be forgotten. 1t
should be buried, and we ought all unite
for one common purpose.
1t is useless for the North to reproach the
Or1f tn IN 0h a
ReprOaches will not restore a single cord
that has been severed, or a single bond that
has been broken. Let those who are gone
sleep quietly. We have to deal with the
living not with the dead. Wehave to deal
with the future, not with the past. And the
sooner we come to that conclusion the
better, the happier, and stronger VIII the
American people be.
/ want to see this country what it ought
to be. l want to see it what l believe it
viii be-the greatest republic the sun ever
looked down upon. Applause.I
The best way to make it so is to take
hold of this feeling that has been engen
dered in the American people, and carry it
to a successful issue. l believe that it Will
be said of us, if we embrace the opportunity
now given us, that we did our part like
men. l believe it will be said of us that we
understood the republic was in danger, and
we had the energy to step forward and
snatch it from the hands of a man who
claimed the right to destroy it because he |
had once contributed something to it's sal
walton. TApplause.l / believe it will be
said of us that we believed the rights of the
people were paramount to those of the Pres
ident and so believing, we worked with
heart and soul until the enemies of liberty
were OverthrOwn, and the nation put for
ward in the road of true prosperity and
greatness. IApplause.l