The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-03-23
"THE OLIVE BRANCH Of
PEACE
By Hon. "a. II. IngeFsOII. of Hill
nOis.

settle IL tnat way. Nnen inc
President delivered his inaugural.
he knew exactly the position
that had been taken by the South
ern men-the great and noble
hearted men of the South. He
knew the patriotic stand they
had taken; he knew an opp3rtu-
nifty had been presented to the
South to show chat they still low
ed this country, and he knew the
opportunity had been grandly i'm
proved by them. Knowing all
this, he extended to these men-to
the entire SOuth--not the sword
of War, but the olive branch of
Peace. (Applause.) In the pOliti-
cal history of the world there has
been no grander, no sublimer
scene. Remember, now, that
this was done in the midst Of pO-
litical excitement when the storm
of hate was widespread and fierce;
when the Democratic party
North was denouncing the Presi-
dent as a fraud and cheat; when
it was demanded that Mr.. Tilden
take the oath OF office and un-
sheath the bOistcrOus, ravenOus
sword of civil war. RecOllect
this was when they resolved IN
Congress that the decision Of the
Commission was illegal and void,
when Senators in their places
were charging Justices of the Su-
premc Court with having com
United perjury willful and cor
when men in high places
were predicting the downfall Of
the Republic. and when the Dem
ocratic portion Of the Legislature
OF Ohio publicly denounced all
confidence in Almighty God.
Great laughter and applause.
The President, rising above the
passions, prejudices, and hated Of
the hour above every consider
alton except the honor, the glory,
and the property of the whole
countryside, LET US be broth.
.ers; let us forget the past; let us
forget everything except the
debts We owe to the brave men
who saved our nation; let us dig
a grave, and let us dig it wide
and deep, and let us throw into
this a schulcher the chains and
whips and auctionblOcks. ZAP
plause.) Let us leave there our
prejudices, and heart Turning of
the years that are dead, and let
us bury them out of sight Or men
ton and then let US write over
them all the epitaph, Sacred to
Forgetfulness.'" (Great APP
plause.) We have fought and ha-
led long enough; our country is
not prosperous; laboris in rags;
energy has empty hands; indus
try has empty pockets; the wheels
of the factory are still. In the
safe of prudence money lies idle,
locked by the key Of fear. Con
.fdence is what we need-coni-
dence in each other, confidence
in our institutions, confidence in
our form of government, conf
.dence in the great future, conf
dence in law, confidence in the
progress and in the destiny Of the
great Republic.
l extend to you, each and all,
the olive branch Of peace. Eel
low, citizens of the South, | be-
seech you to take it, and by the
memory of those who died for
naught, by the charred remains of
your remembered homes, by the
ashes of your statemen dead, and
for the sake of yoUr SONS and
your daughters and their fair
children yet to be, | implore you
to take it with ready hands.
(Great applaue.) 1t will cult
vate yourready fields; it will re-
build your towns and cities; it
will fill your Golfers with gold; it
will educate your children; it will
the sails Of your commerce;
it will cause the roses Of JOY to
Chamber and climb over the bro
ken cannon of war; it will flood
the cabins Of the freedmen with
light, and clothe tho weak in
more than coats Of mail, and
wrap the poor and lowly in meas
ureless content. Take 1t! The
North will forgive if the South
will forget. Take it? The negro
will WIPE form the table Of mem
ory the strokes and sears Of 200
years, and Blur with Eappy tears
the record Of his wrongs. Take
it? it will unite our Nation; it will
make us brothers once again.
it! and justice shall sit in
your courts under the outspread
white wings of peace. Take it!
and the brain and lips Of the fu-
ture will be free. Take it! it will
bud and blossom in your hands
and fill your land with fragrance
and with joy. Take it! and we
have passed the midnight in our
political history, and the star Of
heralds again the rising sun.
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