Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1874-09-11
HSDs'.I ssk.E SPEECH.
Ex-E'rcsIGeEt jefferson Davis on
the EsaCe s..sIe.

At meeting OF The people OF Mem
phis, held last week, which was largely
attended by citizens of both colOrs anC
parties, the Honorable Jefferson Davis
was called to the stand, and spoke as
! follows in Remuneration Of the horrible
massacre at Trenton, Tenn.
Friends and COuat,,yD2en:- You
have assembled tonight, not for the
bare purpose of giving an expression
which humanity demands, but you have
assembled for q higher and a holier
purpose. Applause. It is what you
owe to your sires, what you owe to
your prosperity, what you owe to the
living, and what You owe to the gal
liant dead who fell for the sacred cause
of Southern Independence. Never
has a country been more truly in q
condition of having lost all save its
honor; and you men of the counties Of
Jackson, Granny. and Polk, and many
others may be expected to denounce
whatever would stain the honor and
whatever would tarnish the fair name
of the living. Applause. leu are
not here, then, merely to express IT
horror of a particular crime; ST less
are you here to argue what ) due
from one race to another. 1t is q
crime, and crime to be punished as
it deserves; but that belongs 10 the
Law and its officers. That they will do
their duty, those only who d;strust
oar people can fail to believe.
BIZ: you come to appeal to the moral
sense ofthe world; your l.OrGs ere to go
aDro ii to mankind; let it understand
thai You are not Il race of assassins;
that you are not the mca who mask,
but stand III the dignity of your man
hood, and Ill THE likeness OF your Crca-
tor, with eyes open and exposed you
dare assert your rights aud protect
them to the best OF your ability; aud
to the end OF your lives will 20 for
ward with your honor which never
seeks ooncea!ment, years 30 mask,
and never uiarkens its fac. APP
plause. | was peculiarly struck with
the remark of the negtO who was called
upon by one of tie committee sent to
South Carolina and who was expected
to give testimony which would involve
Gen. Wade Hampton in the kuklux
ontrages. He WAS asked if he knew
Wade Hampton. lie said he did, and
had known him since the tiIae they
were both boys together. They then
said to him, "Do you believe he has
been engaged i'll these ku-kiux out
RACES % NO, do not believe it. -
"Why don't eon believe it % Be
cause if Mars Wade Hampton had
been in 1t it would have been the white
ma1, and not the negro, he would have
struck"
The negroes were not our enemies;
why should they become 50? We are
their friends. Yes. ard the Southern
nell are the ONLY friends they have to-
day i'll any part OF the world. 1t be-
comes rs to be their friends. Every
Southern man in his memory runs
back to the negro woman who nursed
him; to the boy who hunted and tishcd
with him; to the man who first fought
him to ride and to swim; and as he
grew to manhood, the cordial welcome
given him by the old nurse, with ten
derness scarcely inferior to that of his
own mother, and while he has such
memories clustering around him he
can:.ot be the enemy Of tina nsefut
race which was the main strength of orr
country when we stood in this relation,
which / believe God intended rs to oc-
cupy. If we have been diverted from
such relation, and if hostility has
sprung up to any extent. it has been
the work of those incendaries who
have come in to destroy the natural
relations of the races, and thus TO-
menting a dscord by producing the
evils which now eXi list in SOCIETY. But,
my friends, it rests with you, what
ever be the result, to show to the world
that you are incapable of secret crime,
that you hate the man who wears a
mask applause and whatever i
necessary for the public peace to do.
YOU intend to do that openly AMI man
fully.
Now, then, let us see what is the
necessary future OF these two races
living together. Applause They
require the white imam to provide for
them and protect thea AZ ins, h as
they ever cid, aud believe t,"y will
require him to do SO to the eHd of
time. Now, then. a. tn th..s" white:
men who believe III ii war of r;tc that
the black may he cxterniiilatt 4 tnd see
in this future that is desirable, !
have no sympathy. Applause. ] The
negroes were my friends IL the oideii
times. They were our protectors
when our brave men wen" to the field
and the women aud children remain
ed at nome. Applause. Ii was they
who brought the Mississippi Valley.
into cultivation, and by tbe M alone
can that valley, in my opinion, ever be
cultivated. they are as necessary to
us as we are to them ;and with that kind
of relation existing between us, it is no
reason why the prosperity of the fu-
ture shall not exceed that of the past.
Butt do notintendt to trenchupOn GQues-
ton on which every one has llndoubt-
edly formed his opinion. 7 would only
say Tor myself that as 1 cannot have
hostility to these deluded people, the
only feeling of Indignation thai [ have
is against the white men who have dis
turbed this relation between us; who
have fomented discord; who have led
the imaginative negro into evil
Against them, [ say, hurl tho thun-
derbolt of your vengeance. Applause. ]