The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-10-06
Speech Of General Grant.

At the reunion of the Society of the
Army of the Tennessee at Des
Moines, Iowa, on the 18th ult., Presi
dent GRANT spoke as follows:
COMRADES It always affords me
much eradication to meet my COM
rades in arms of ten and fourteen
years ago, to tell over again in mem
ory the trials and hardships of those
days-hardships imposed for the pre-
servation and perpetuation of our free
institutions We believed then, and
We believe now, that we have a gov
eminent worth fighting for, and if
need be, dying for. How many of
our comrades paid the latter price for
our preserved Union! Let their he
roism and sacrifice be ever green in
our memory; let not the results of
their sacrifice be destroyed The
Union and the free institutions for
which they fell should be held more
dear for their sacrifices. We will not
deny to any of these who fought
against US any privilege under the
government which we claim for our
selves On the contrary, we welcome
all such who come forward in good
faith to help build up the waste places
and to perpetuate our institutions
against all enemies as brothers in full
interest with us in a common heritage;
but we are not prepared to apologize
for the part we took in the war; 1t
is to be hoped that like trials will
never again befall our country. In
their settlement no class of people can
more heartily join than the soldiers
who submitted to the dangers, trials,
and hardships of the camp and the
battle field, on whichever side he may
have fought. No class of people are
more interested in guards against a
recurrence of those days. Let us then
begin by guarding againste every enemy
to the prosperity of free Republican
institutions. do not bring into this
assemblage politics, certainly not par
tisan politics, but it is a fair subject
for the soldiers in their deliberation
to consider what may be necessary to
secure the prize for which they bat
tied. In republic like ours, where
the citizen is the sovereign and the
official the servant, where no power is
exercised except by the will of the
people, it is important that the SOW
ereign the people, should foster edu
cation and promote the intelligence
which is to preserve US as free ma
ton. Ii we are to have another con-
test in the near future of our national
existence. [ predict that the dividing
line will not be Mason and Dixon's
but between patriotism and intelli-
genee on the one side and superstition,
ambition, ana ignorance on the other.
Now, the centennial year of our ma
tional existence. | believe it a good
time to begin the work Of strengthen
ing the foundations of the structure
commenced by our patriotic FORE
fathers 100 years ago at Lexington
Let us all labor to add all needful
guarantees for the greatest security of
the free thought, free speech, free
press, pure morals, unfettered re-
ligious sentiments, and of equafrights
and privileges to all men Irrespective
of nationality, color, or religion; en-
courage free schools and resolve that
neither the State nor nation, nor both
combined, shall support institutions
of learning other than those sufficient
to afford to every child growing up in
the lanl the opportunity of good
common school education, unmixed
with sectarian. pagan, or ecclesiastical.
Leave the matter of religion to the
family altar; the church and the pri-
vate school supported entirely by
private contributions, and keep the
church and the State forever scpa-
rate. With these safeguards [ believe
the battles which created the Army
OF the Tennessee will not have been
fought in vain.
The Presidents speech was greeted
with applause, repeated again and
again.
After speeches by Secretary Bel
KNAPP, jeff c. Davis, Farce. Blaine,
Meyers, and others, Colonel Church
was called out for several old army
songs.
GENERAL SHERMAN
closed the speaking for the night,
with humorous and short speech, in
which he said he wished all the
speeches made here tonight could be
printed in full and scattered broad.
cast through the South, to show the
people there how the ex-soldiers of
the North all felt toward them.
This is a good idea. ''It seems to