The Ouachita telegraph., 1877-09-21

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lApplause.l Under ordinary circum-
stances should scarcely have felt at
liberty to, have left my official duties
70 participate In, an occasion Of this
sort, however gratifying the honor
might have been. But the Invitation
of the Winnebago Agricultural Society
carried with It such weight that 1t Inn
posed upon me an obligation which
felt I could not neglect. 1t was this
society q year ago, before the political
spirit which has now so happily sub
sided had abated, that was among the
6Est to inaugurate that spirit of recon-
ciltati0n which Is now spreading with
such wholesome force over this land Oi
ours. Therefore, when they made a
call upon me,
~. eAs A SOUTHERN MAN,
felt that 1t was not only my pleasure,
but that 1t was my duty to go and make
response to them in person, and thank
them for their course In the interest of
history, and to pledge my cordial CO.
operation In this patriotic and noble
work. [Applause.]
II I Comprehend the purpose of your
invitation to me, 1t was not that I
should speak to you merely upon agrl-
cultural subjects, but that should dis
cuss those graver and broader issues
which are distracting the country.
But, my friends, In doing that you
need not fear that shall violate the
proprieties of the occasion by giving
you a political speech. I shall speak
to you for no man, for no party, nor no
section, but for the whole country !;
Capplausel and in doing that shall
partisanship and to place myself upon
that grand, high plane where truth
and pure patriotism can be found.
IApplause.]
As I cOnstrue the motives Of this
movement, my friends, it is In the
interests of peace. Understanding it SO,
it was that that brought me here, and
IL by anything that I can say or do-if
can In the slightest degree assist those
gentlemen In the noble work that they
have inaugurated, then, my friends, 1
shall feel that my mission has not
altogether failed. The chief thing I
had in view In coming here was to
promote true and correct understand
Ing between the people of the North
aud South. You must admit that
very many OF the evils which have
fallen on the country have come from
misc0nceptfon of the purposes each of
the other. You remember there is
"A ftsOkoONO VNOIAs
as we'll as a knowledge of human nature
embodied In the fable where it is told
that in olden times q shield, white on
one side and black on the other, was
hung at the intersection of two roads,
and two knights approaching in oppo-
site directions disputed as to the color
of the shield. Finally their lances were
put in rest and they perilled life each
to support his own convictions. 1t has
seemed to me in looking over all these
questions, that something of the same
sort happened between the North and
South. The constitution was the shield
viewed rs 1t was, from different points
and construction, the dispute upon the
points waxed warmer and warmer.
The sword was called in, and under
its red arbitrament many q brave and
true and knightiy soldier laid down his
life In support of his conviction. What
might have happened, my friends, had
prudence and not passion ruled the
hour, Is useless for us to say now. The
statesman looks to the past periIs of
his country simply that he may guard
against them, and the prayer and the
work of the patriot should tend to the
same end.
My friends, speak of the South,
We of the South have not had only
enough, but too much Of war. Laugh.
teri We seek peace. We come now
to plead in the interest of peace, and it
is for this that am here before YOU
to-day. lCheers.l Can you doubt, my
friends, that the South wants peace ?
Go look at her ruined fields, the mis-
rules under which she has lived
FOR TWELVE YEARS,
and you will doubt it no longer. Do
you men of Illinois doubt her sincerity ?
She has bean charged with faults, but
among these faults her worst enemies
have never said she was hypocritical,
or that she spoke with a double tongue.
Impetuous, rash, she may be; but,
shank God, false never. CCheers.l Do
you want proof Of her sincerity? Look
In the recent past and tell me IL you
can l1nd evidence more conclusive than
Gglven by her conductP Need I tell