New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-04-17

the patient and accomplishing for,itude with
which he bore his suiierinc<. NV mind in
voluntarily, went back Ia that stormy period
when the battle rased hotly and the COM
haiants were 50 unCqually balanced saw
him, IN Imagination. Selling the weapons of
The anii-Slavcry crusade from out the very
armory OF the Constitution, DOMINIC the ar
NOR OF reotitudc OF purpose, and holding aloit
the motto. " Freedom national, and slavery
sectional, charging into the thickeSt OF
the carnage his " snow-white plume" Ike
that ct Navarro. seen ever conspicuous
+ above the ranks of war" His clarion note
ilr>t alarmed the enemies Of freedom. coming
/ SO soon upon the uncertain blast of Webster
His were the blows which fell flick and f,..
wherever tyranny showed its head. As
gazed upon him in that sick chamber. 80
weak, 50 utterly PROSTATE aud feeble. ami
thought oi that answering integrity which
had made him always faithful to us-an intcg-
( rity @rander than his noble voice-morc
towering than his massive intellect, and
ripper than even his consummate scholarship.
L telt how unworthy were the partisans who
were even then attacking him unheartl: how
lSnoble was the action of some old Abolition
lists VINO were joining in the hue and cry
against him, assisting the pack as they swept
on after the weak aud suffering man.
Thank God the reputation he has earned
is reared too high for the attacks Of the pal
try and prcsumrtuous to aSsail il success
fully. But If all Of his white fcllow-citizens
should forget his inestimablc services, the
negro, always grateful, ever warm of heart
and generous OF purpose, will ever remember
Nun with the deepest reverence and affection,
and could there, by the minutest search, b.
found black man 50 lost To every sentiment
OF gratitude as even to harbor a thought dis
paraging to him, or assisting, by faint praise,
the clamors of his enemies, we would
" Put in every honest hand a whip,
To lash the rascal naked through the world"
No celebration of this day, fcllow-cltizens.
would be complete did it not compel us to
look beyond the inspiration of music: the
pleasures of memory; this glad procession
we have Witnessed; these JOYOUS faces and
happy hearts to the stern Responsibilities,
which freedom and its corollary citizenship
nave deVolvcd upon us. Freedom, it is true,
IS worth everything OF and for itself beyond
the value of the advantages it brings. With
the phllosophic De TOcquevillc, | believe
1t Is the intrinsic attractions of freedom,
It's own peculiar charm, quite independent of
It's incidental benefits, which have seized so
strong hold upon the great champions of
liberty throughout history. They loved it
because they loved the pleasure of being able
to speak, to act, to breathe unrcstrained un
der the government of God and laws He
who seeks freedom for anything but free
dom's self is made to be slave" We are
living in the midst of IL great social reyolu-
ton. 1t is an upheaval analogous to that of
the French uprising Of l7S9. In civil strife
1t may not be SO bitter, though the riots of
New York may rival the mobs at Versailles,
and the barbarties of AndcrsOnvillc and
JlbbV vic with hn ntr nf 7
but in the social changes there are some in
structive parallels. Like that of 1889 the
strong current of our revolution has swept
away many barriers and landmarks, not con-
templated at its onset. The lowest strata of
society has been upheavcd. The rocks of
caste and pretension have been riven by the
thundcrbolts of war. Amid the over
whelmlng waves the lord and the peasant,
the negro and his master, have struggled side
by side. In the effort for life, hatred OF class
and difference of race were forgotten, and il
becomes the true American, as it behooves
the earnest negro, to see to it that the calm
which succeeds the storm and the safety
which has dispersed the peril restore not the
old lines and old places. New land is form
ing and new elements are concentrating and
solidiiying the new American soil upon which
native and foreign, jew and Gentle, orthodox
and radical, black and white, shall stand
equally.
The equality Of all classes was what
the revolution of 1889 proclaimed through
the aristOcratic lips of Mirabeau and re-
echoed in the fierce notes of Danton and
Robespierre. a terrible demand to The ears
OF the aristocrats, in whose estimation the
lowest class, the tiers eiat, ranked with the
beast OF the field; a mcnaCn9 cry to the
middle class, who tlwned upon those above
while they spurned the herd below, but no
more terrible nor menacin9 To the France of
1889 than the demand of the negro, Civil
rights, as the supplement Of freedom, " is to
the Pharaohs of America to-day. Out of the
changes of the French revolution, equality of
citizenship, with all its attendant privileges
and rights, remains attestng the value OF the
ncessant demand, and showing that the
blood and treasure which it cost were not
spent in vain.
Our rebellion was opposed to defend alone
the integrity OF the Government. You remem-
Der Mr.. LIncOn's letter to Horace Greeley.
Letters and resolutions were useless. The
great moral forces Of Gods kingdom, gath
ering strength for years, buileted our armies
with alternate defeat and partial victory; con-
fused our timid cOunsels; thwarted our selfish
designs until the moment when thoroughly
Inundated and almost dsheartcned, they
united in one grand onset combining the pur-
pose Of a revolution in the magic word emar-
cipatiOn and hurled it at the enemy.
The edifice seemingly so strong and i'm
pregnable before, crumbled into the dust,
and from the Bastile Of slavery emerged the
negro to take his place as a soldier and
citizen. How well we performed that first
duty leave il to the historian to record who
paints the wOndrous daring Of Port Hudson,
the glory Of the charge at Fort Wagner, or
the heroic deeds of the army Of the james.
How well we shall perform the duties Of
the citizen is the more difficult task to decide.
Thus far We have stumbled on, taking our
part in reconstruction, assisting in maintain
ing throughout the south the guaranty of
republican form Of government.
Much Of the work, / grant, il crude. The
stones may be rough, unshapcly and not
from the most approved quarry, with which
the foundation has been laid, but the cement
OF good intention which binds them together
and the scope oil the design liberty and
equality-will enable thO.e who come after
them to build the perfect structure
Slavery was not the best school in which
TO learn craftsmanship aud become skilled in
the intTicacics Of finance. The peonage of
the northern negro was lot the most ap-
proved academy OF maniincss, Independence
and thrift; yet from both Of these have
cmantcd the incipicnt negro Statesmen and
legislators who for six year. have centralized