National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-05-22
MECKLEEBURG.

AS we predicted it would, the Mecklen-
burg Centennial celebration turned out to
be Democratic State Rights Confederate
affair, without mitigating circumstance to
commend it to the appfoVa. of NON sectional
and Union loving citizens. 1t is true that
Governor Brogden delivered an address on
the 10Th, when the Stars and Stripes were
hoisted in Independence Square, and that
he is a Republican. AS he is the. chief
| magistrate of the State the managers of
| the affair could not avoid inviting him to
participate, but they did it with shrewd
design 10 make him play the second fiddle
in reality, and at the same time to use his
presence as an influence to disarm criticism.
The proceedings or ceremonies began, as
our readers know, at twelve O'Clock noon
On Wednesday. 1t was at that hour that
Gov. BroGden delivered his address, and it
Was not until the next day, the Goth, that
the ceremonies reached the eliminating
point of the celebration. Gov. Chamber
lain. Of S. c., was present as the only addi-
tional Republican, but We do not hear that
he was permitted to assume any promi-
hence. The men, however, who gave
character to the occasion were Gov. Hen
bricks, of Indiana; ex-Gov. Vance, Gen.
Clingman Gen. D. H. Hill, Senators Gordon,
Merrimon and Ransom, eX-Gov. Walker
and Mayor Kelly, of Richmond. With the
exception of Messrs. Walker and Hen
bricks, ii will be seen that this list is COM
prised wholly Of persons who served the in
terests of the Confederacy in some direct
capacity. This noteworthy fact derives
further significance from the conspicuous
absence Of any representative of the Gen
eral Government. The excuse that Presi-
dent Grant was invited and did not attend
will not avail to explain this absence, be-
cause the invitation, informal at the best,
was accompanied by direct and intended
insult printed in the editorial columns of
Gen. D. II. Hills organ. 1t is true, the
gathering might have been more exclu
sively Democratic than it was and yet be
entitled to consideration as something else
than Confederate or State Rights reunion;
but the tenor Of the addresses settles this
point. Judge Kerr, the orator of the day,
for example, inspired the enthusiasm of his
audience by the following declaration:
"Grcat Efforts hare 5eea, made to break up and
crash the spirit Of ON people, because IL 1COuld
not, wiM Sufficient Dlidncy, baud TO the degrading
JthcStS OF fyTG'Gty, and Ue TAINTED rebels
for oar dcrOtiO1t 10 the hOlica cause that
to"g'c S'rord ofn,orta! crc,: lost or gdi'Ied.'"
ieIls.
And the following:
From such trials truth always energies with
augmented attractions, and her votaries, tested
in their fidelity by their universities, though
often diminished in numbers, are ever increased
in power, and the lessons which guide them
to ultimate and permanent success are fire.
quently learned in hours Of solitary reflection
upon mistakes and blunders, made and COM
mittcd for want of proper forecast and consid-
Grafton. II lrds Peter The Great 1rLO said, lCIel
detcGtcd again and again 6y the victorious
l,gi0nS Of SWcdea,, that he tcas learning in
tie school Of "TpropiOWS fortune horU 10 conquer
the e1tCD,icS Of lis cOu'lfry. THIS Is THE SPIRIT
OF THE TLULT GREAT IN EVERY AGE. [Ap-
plaUse.
Further on in his address he denies a
'wish to renew the CONTEST. e. the war
for secession-but if the foregoing extract
does not indicate determination to make
another attempt to secure the results which
were lost by "unpropitious fortune, we are
at a loss to understand its meaning.
OF course he COMPOUNDED the patriotic
impulses of ITS with the reasonable de-
sires of 1861, and, abiding to the COnfed-
crate dead, said
"Summoned by their country they obeyed the
| call, and for the cause of rightful government,
in selfdevotion, fell, and their graves shall be
SlriReS 'rleTe Tie drdor Of patriotism may be III
creased. Applause. ]"
We insist that the truly Confederate
character Of the affair is completely estab-
lished by these quotations; but the politi-
cal phase shows itself in that part of the
report where it is stated that "there were
repeated and vociferous cheers for our
"next President, Thomas A. Hendricks,
"of Indiana" And to cap the climax
Governor Hendricks, in abiding to the
one hundred years of progress since the
so called Mecklenburg, said:
"That declaration enunciated the doctrine
and the right of local selEgovernment, and
limited the power of Congress. To protect
| the firesides of people there must be local
| self-goveTnment: for the whole, a general,
| limited government, and that was the purport
| Of the declaration of Mecklenburg."
This is not so broad declaration in favor
OF State Rights as might have been ex-
pected; but it is sufficiently explicit in its
opposition 10 Congress to arouse the SYM
patby of those who hold divided ale
glance, in which they acknowledge the
supremacy of the State over the National
| Government. On the whole we are salts
fed that our Characterization of the affair,
as a political and reasonable reunion and
a historical humbug, was correct.