The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-10-04
The Tyranny Of Lincoln and
Grant.

Ell the PRESIDENT, one would gan
the in preston that vindictiye and
cruel despots had rulelthis coun
try for the last liiteenyears. That
Lincoln, sympathetic and large.
hearted, was a Caesar. That Grant.
magnanimous and generous-tho
man who spared the pride of Lee
and his officers, and softened the
chagrin of their defeat by the no.
bility and delicacy with which he
received their surrcnder-was a
bloodthirsty tyrant, who grown
a poor, unhappy people to the
last verge of possible endurance.
Such has been the tenor of the
reception speeches, and in one
instance, at least, the tenor of a
speech in reply-that made by
Wade Hampton, who accompa-
MED the Presidential party.
Could there be anything more
ridiculous than this? Wherin
have the Southern people-the
eX- Confederates, the eX.rebels-
been lily treated When their
great crime was defeated OF its
object, after cur Golfers had been
emptied, and almost every house
hold shrOuded in mourning, what
revenge did the Northern people
wreak upon the authors Of the
war! Did they hang the leaders
Of the rebellion for treason!
No.
Did they confiscate their prop
ertys
No.
Did they forbid their restora-
ton to citizenship.
No.
Did they deny them any right
under heaven enjoyed by those
who remained loyal to the gov
eminent!
Not one.
The grass had hardly grown
green over the graves Of the men
who gave up their lives to pre-
vent The destruction Of the gov
ernment before those who
wrought their deaths were in pos
session of every privilege enjoy
ed by any American citizen.
What, then, has been the trou-
bic?
Simply this: The Constitution
and the laws give to all citizens,
without distinction Of color, the
right to act, speak, and vote as
they will, and pledges them the
equal protection Of the law.
This supreme enactment has
been defied, trampled under foot,
spit. upon, and insulted, wherever
the absence of Federal authority
has made it to do so.
Accepting the amendments with
words, the Southern people have
alphabetically violated them in
their acts. They have kept the
word of promise to the ear and
broken it to the hope. Free
speech has been stiled; free suf-
srage denied, and it has only been
by the firm attitude Of the FEEDER
al arm, and the known determin-
alton of the government to see it
that acts Of violence and intimi-
dation were punished. that any
thing like a republican form of
government was maintained in
half a dozen Of the Southern
States.
There was no formidable out
break. A company OF soldiers,
backed by aresolute will and un-
hampered by Congressional
weaklings, was enough to uphold
the laws, and resistance was only
kept alive by the sympathetic
cries of Northern Copperheads
and lily-livered Republicans; but ,
the vacillating curse Of the lat :
ter lent the cOnspiratiors courage,
and so the trouble continued, :
as ..the stern policy of justice ,
Welded to the milk-and-water +
programme Of knock-kneed CON s
ciliatOrs. ,
Here in the North we obeyed I
the Constitution and laws, and
respected the rights Of all men,.
But the ex rebels Of the South
claimed a privilege we did not
and would not enjoy-the priv
Iego Of denying the rights of a !
portion of their fellow citizens,
and it has been this claim-still
theoretically opposed, but practi- {
cally conceded-that has occa {
the trouble. 1t is for in {
on the observance Of the !
amendments to the Constitution .
that Grant and the Republican
party were tyrannical. 1t is for |
or for doing what the {
ex-rebels thus interpret, that the :
present administration is lauded. {
There is a mistaken kindness {
that is more cruel than the sword. {
There is 4 false generosity more
in its results than the law ,
Of the bayonet. We shall see ere :
.ong if these mistakes have not =,
been ours, and fit is not true !
low, as in the days Of King John, !
hat {
Mercy but murders pOrd'ning those who d,
iill.-iater- Ocean. L
- @N -
THE CHURCH AND SENATOR -.
MORTON. 6