The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-05-01
GRAFTON OF GEO. HARVEY, Esa.
Delivered in Odd Fellows naIl, on
Memorial Day.

LddifS Gni Gentlemen:
Bat Il few years ago and we were
III possession of everything calcu-
lated to make people happy.
Blessed 10y a bountiiul Providence
with genial climate, a generous
soil, yielding an abundant harvest
to the hand of industry, and living,
withal, under 4 government whose
constitutional guarantees were n
pledge of safety To life, liberty and
property without regard to section
al distinction, we were exposed TO
the envy and challenged the admira-
ton of the world. This is but a
Saint picture of the past. What do
we witness now? Lands lyiAt
waste, commerce aralyzcd, indus
try burthcncd with cxhorbitant tax
alton, bankruptcy and general des-
pondcncy. " hat a contrast
" hence this sad changer The re-
spouse comes: The demon of War,
with his desolating train, has march
ed through our country. Why so
many sad coun.cnances before me
to-day? The answer is, this day
witnesses the return of another an
nivcrsary, marking an epoch IN the
i.-fn IN
obedience TO custom, we arc assem-
bled to offer tribute of respect to
the memory of the heroic dead
men who made votivc offer
ing of their blood as q libation up
on the altar Of their country. In
common with thousands of others
all over this land, we are come to-
gether to speak the praise of our il
lustrious dead, and to plant on their
graves the cypress and the anna
ranth, cmblcmS, at once, Of our
mourning and of their immortality.
War has ever held a conspicuous
place in the history of the world.
In the present constitution of thing-,
and according to the principles and
motives that govern the actions OF
men and of nations, the arbitrament
of the sword wifi be invoked, As it
ever has been, as final rcsor: for
the settlement of questions of dis
putc between nations, as also be-
tween factions of the same govern
ment. Yet resort to arms decides
not the question of right. 1t is but
the argument of brute force. 1t
has no power to change principles,
nor can it alter the opinions OF
men.
Our government, rs fashioned by
the hands of onr illustrious fore
fathers, was the finest piece of polil-
zeal mechanism ever devised by hui
man ingenuity 1t WAS pcculiari-
ty of our system that, acting with
in It's Legitimate sphere, it could
perform no function not delegated
to it by the states of which it was
the offspring. THUS organized, Fed
eral and state governments, each
moving like piece of well a lust
cd machinery, in its respective
sphere, each with its several depart
ments-legislativc, judicial and OK
ecutivc-ncithcr cncroaching upon
the others, and all moving thus in
harmony, our fedcrativc system
commanded, as it deserved, the adj
miTation of the civilized world
But alas. like all human monu-
ments, it was destined like them to
charge and decay and without mar
vel of reform to crumblc into Dust.
Party spirit is inscparable from
free government. 1t arises from n
diversity of mental constitutions,
placing diverse constructions upon
fundamental law. Nor is party spir-
it to be condemned if prompted by
Il love of country. 1t is a conser-
vatIve rather than destructive ele-
ment 1t was co-cval with the very
existence of our government. New
er, however, did it threaten to over
turn the government, nor did il re-
tard its progress in the path OF glo-
ry and rcnown until the gorgon
spirit of fanaticism, in the guisc of
philanthropy, intrudcd itself in the
halls of our national Legislature.
Appearing first in the Northern sky
as a little cloud, not bigger than a
mans hand, it attracted little at
tention. 1t grew apacc, however,
from year to year, receiving acces-
sions from the press and from the
rostrum, until 1t darkcned the North
ern heavens and its muttering thun-
ders aroused the sleeping South to a
sense Of its danger.
When John Quincy Adams, the
political leader of the abolition par
~, presented petition TO Congress
for the abolition Of slavery in the
District of Columbia, our far seeing
Calhoun and others, APP
pretending ITS dangerous import,
sounded the note of alarm. They
perceived that, disregarding the re-
straints and overstepping tho bar
riers of the Constitution, the party
OF abolition was determined on
nothing less than the destruction of
our peculiar institution; and they
set themselves TO the work Of roll
ing back the tide of aggression up