National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-05-25
MECKLENBURG AGAIN,

The Richmond Enquirer cries ''Wolf,
''Wolfr' in brief paragraph, the object
of which is to divert attention from the
obvious though covert spirit of treason
which prompted the Mecklenburg Centen-
NAL Celebration. 1t says:
"THE WASHINGTON REPUBLICAN, is terribly
down on the North Carolina Centennial, re-
garding it as base attempt to make treason
respectable. II denounces the late historic
reunion in the fercest of type as "A Great
Rebel Fraud THE Latest Tar-heel Hum
bug &C., &c. This is by no means the way
to foster patriotism and remove the spirit of
sectional bitterness. What harm could come
of the North Carolina celebration, even sup
posing the people who conducted It were Ia
boring under patriotic delusiOn! And what
good can arise from such an impo'itic display
of sectional hostility as our contemporary in
duIges in, even if there has been some jar in
the historic verities We have had quite
enough of strife and bitterness, and should
welcome an era Of harmony and good will,
even if called upon to forego some of our
prejudices, and extend a reasonable tolerance
to those of others. As Geo. Evans recently
said at Augusta, Ga: Let us do nothing to
keep alive the passions of war. To study its
lesson is prudence, TO profit by its teachings is
wisdom; hut to stir up the old animosities is
Madness"
A ''patriotic delusiOn' indeed! To. show
exactly what that delusion is we reproduce
the following extracts from Judge Kerr's
address delivered at Charlotte, N. G, on
the Goth:
"Inhuences, as we believe, Unpropitious to
the prevalence of the doctrines of our fathers,
have for a season been potential. Malignant
power has for a season destroyed our pros
Cd IL, = s,raIV 80
some extent, of the heritage Of civil liberty.
Efforts have been made to crush us because
we would not plainly bend to the behests of
tyranny. and we are tainted as rebels for de-
yotion 10 a cause we believed holy. Defeated
in our efforts TO maintain inviolate the princi-
pies of government inherited from our fathers,
those principles still stand precious in them
selves, indissolubly associated in our hearts
with the memory of our sons who fought, bled
and died in their defense. The glory of our
ancestors is combined with that of our sons,
aud the light they jointly give to guide us in
the future is as animating in its effects as It is
brilliant in its rays. The
Union we wish to see restored upon a
basis of the recognition of the sovereignty of
the States. As American citizens we are
proud of the greatness of the Republic, and
we are ready, whenever the Government shall
be administered in wisdom and in equity, to
salute its honored and star-decked ensign as
the flag of free hearts, hopes and homes"
We reply to the Enquirer in its own
words: This is by no means the way to
"foster patriotism and remove the spirit of
sectional bitterness" 1t is simply an
insult to the intelligence of the American
people 10 describe sIch malignant utter
ances as the foregoing as the result Of
patriotic delusion," and so long as the
Southern Democrats continue to uphold
them they must expect that the spirit of
sectional bitterness will remain to curse
them with the blight of partial non inter-
course with more prosperous sections of
the country. Judge Kerr, the orator re-
ferred to, presides over judicial circuit in
North Carolina. Would any steadfast,
loyal Union man feel safe while residing
under his jurisdiction, or would any rea-
sonable Northern man feel inclined to in
vest capital within the same limits? 1t is
this extremely radical devotion to the Lost
Cause which finds no denunciation in the
columns of the sham Conservative press,
that is at the bottom of all our sectional
difficulties. Because it finds no such de-
nunciation, we believe that its spirit I'M
derlies the sentiment of the Opposition in
the South. We believe further that it will
not be repressed even in so called Conserva-
tive Virginia. For example, the address
of r. M. T. Hunter on the occasion of the
semi-centennial anniversary of the Uni
versity of Virginia will, we predict,
breathe the same infamous sentiments. In
short, while the Confederates laid down
their arms at the close of the war, very
few of them have abandoned the mistaken
principles for which they took up those
arms at its beginning. The Sovereignty of
States, !" in its most Objectionable form, is
still taught at the university in question,
and elsewhere, as fundamental principle
of our governmental system.