The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-09-10
Ex.Prcsident Dlyis on the Trenton Outrage.

The recent cruel butchcry of negroes in the
vicinity of Trenton Tenn, by band of masked
men, has called forth the seycrcst dcnunciation
from every quarter, and at public meeting
held at Memphis to condemn the brutal out
rage, Ex-Presidcnt Jefferson Davis made a
speech on the subject, as follows:
Friends and Cbmt,'Y,aen: You have assem-
bled tonight, not for the bare purpose of Civ
ing an expression which humanity commands,
but you have assembled for higher and a
holier duty Applause. 1t is what you owe
to your sires. what you owe to your posterity,
what you owe to the living and what you owe
cause of Southern independence. Never has q
country been more truly in condition of
having lost all save its honor, and you, men of
the counties of Jackson, Grundy, Polk, and
many others of wide reputation, may he expec-
ted to denounce whatever would stain the hon
or and whatever would tarnish the fair name
of the living. Applause. You are not here
then merely to express your horror of partic-
uar crime; still less are you here to argue
what is due from one race to another. 1t is q
crime, and a crime to be punished as it de-
serves, but that belongs to the law and its otl-
GERS That they will do their duty, those only
who distrust our people can fail to believe.
But you come to appeal to the moral sense OF
the world your words are to 60 abroad to
mankind let it understand that you are not q
race of assassins; that you arc not the men
who mask, but stand in the dignity Of your
manhood, and in the likeness of your Creator
with eyes open and exposed you dare assert
your ri ights and protect them to the best of
your ability; and to the end of your lives will
90 forward with honor which never seeks con-
ceament, wears no mask, and never blackens
its face. Applause. =,
The negroes arc not our enemies why should
they become so? We are their friends. cs,
and the Southern men are the only friends
they have to-day in any part of the world. 1t
becomes us to be their friends Livery South
ern man in his memory runs back to the negro
woman who nursed him; to the boy who
hunted and fshed with him; to the man who
first taught him to ride and to swim and, as
he grew to manhood, the cordial welcome CIV
en- him by the old nurse, with tenderness
scarcely inferior to that of his own mother,
and while he has such memories clustering
around him. he cannot be the enemy of that
useful race which WAS the main strength OF our
country. when we stood in this relation, which
I believe God intended us to occupy. If we
have been diverted from such relation, and If
hostility has sprung up to any extent, 1t has
been the work of those incendaries who have
come in to destroy the natural relations of the
race, and thus fomenting a discord by producing
the evils which now exist in society. But, my
friends it rest with you, whatever be the re-
suit, to show to the world that you are incapa-
BILE of secret crime, that you hate the man who
wears mask applause, !, and whatever it is
necessary for the public peace to do you IN
tend to do that, openly and manfuly,. Now,
then, let us see what is the necessary future OF
these two races living together. Applause
They have the white man to provide for them
and protect them as much as they ever did ;
and believe they will require him to do so to
The end of time. Now, then, as to these who
believe in a war of races that the black man
may be exterminated, and see in this future
that is desirable, l have no sympathy. APP
plause.1 The negroes were my friends IN the
olden times. They were our protectors when
our brave men went to the field, and the wo-
men and children remained at home. APP
plausc. It was they who brought the Missls-
sippi valley into cultivation, and by them alone
can that valley, in my opinion, ever be cultl-
waited. They are as necessary 10 Us as we are
to them and, that kind of relation existing be,
tween us, it is no reason why the prosperity OF
the future shall not exceed that of the past.