The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-09-15

| uH!y Hceh W testiIY our gratitude 10 JHe brave
spirits who paid SO high a ransom in our behalf.
| but also to keep green In our memory and In
ne ne memoir Of those that may, come after US.
Of the State. Sad will be the day for Louisiana,
when the contemplation Of those deeds shall
| awake 10 her men ne sensation of pride, and
Woe to that a people who hold their heritage by
i. possible, of course, that. somewhere In the
dim and distant centuries human nature may
shall sapp hs nsobsmpa by ba
men are called upon TO solve But until that
metamorphosis, which we shall probably not
| fit and wholesome thing for the proper mainte-
nance of right Until men have ceased to be
there must met times mes II the texgeFice
to fight.
noble life tsolf sometimes ceases to be possible
except at The price of @ noble death. And thus
i becomes necessary that We learn how to die,
In order that we may truly and nobly live. And
| such knowledge, rs this. only such days rs the
Fourteenth Of September are competent to In
sa dys s 2ys dars ee sbo
| us herosm in the absolute beauty of incarna-
ton. Such days enldow US with traditions that
| Such days build up the manhood Of people.
and are the red cQrals on which The liberty teeth
of their { children forever shall be gut.
who have begueathed to US the priceless Legacy
| OF one such day, we carve niche in the Temple
| of our hearts, AID there post their warrior
shades, as eternal seninels over the liberties OF
Louisiana.
Mr.. Percy Roberts eloquent discourse having
been received with much applause, Mr.. J. b.
Laftte next arose and presented u beautiful
sword to Gen. Ogden, on behalf Of his fellow
soldiers. In tho following tasteful and eloquent
language:
~.
| the chair TO return my sincere thanks for the
great privilege your partlality permits me to
ENJOY. u. ,u.. J.. , ,,..
guished citizen soldier and true patriot. and
also to commemorate day, which If / read
ee f 80 senn as b Of s s o %
strife dies out. be ranked not only in the an
| nails Of Louisiana but IN the history of the
Amer can Union, Ms one Of those anniversaries
which belong to no State or section but are the
property of our common country.
Lexington, Bunker Hill and Fort Sullivan.
are names that have long SINCE become the gem
| etal heritage names revered by everyiAmerican
| Of whatever State or section: and why? Because
those wh,2 fell on those halowed days offered
| local sentiment. but in. defense Of the great
| principles of the right of self government they
| pendence, and the result which flowed from
their action affected every portion of our wide
domain.
| SO, also the martyred heroes whose life blood
moistened our soil on the 14th of September.
1914. offered up their lives not for local issue.
| not for a local sentiment, but for the mainten-
ment for the establishment Of when their
| ancestors fought and died, in the inception OF
our revolutionary struggle. And 1t must be re-
| memPered that no people can preserve their
liberties unless at all times prepared to sacri
| fee their lives in their defense All history
teaches that whatever may be the form Of gov
eminent there Is constant tendency on the
part Of rulers to extend their power and on the
part Of the, governed to resist entertainments
A n m
would be one in which perfect eauili-
brium between these two, opposing forces
| nothing Of human origin can be, perfect,
| and hence bloody conflicts between the rulers
and ruled must NJ constantly nseur chain with
ever the strain is greatest; that greatest strain
was in '7g ut Lexington. and in IA o. New Or
occur, though come il. will; constantly recur-
ring in some one section or another, and God
Grant the M come o when o and where here may
ever find the watch fires of liberty burning as
brightly as at Lexington and at New Orleans,
that flowed from the events Of this. day it will
still be found TO rank second to none in our past
history. At the close OF the war between, the
arms and accepted in good faith the results Of
| their defeat. Unfortunately, not only for our
sares doubted our. sincerity. The assassina-
| ton of President Lincoln was for both the
South and the North. the. most unfortunate
| principled men attempted to. make political
capital of that terrible calamity. and by their
maehinations greatly embittered the feeling
A horde of lawless plunderers we're turned
loose upon u.s. and they, in order, to carry out
vs to the people of the North. We met their
foul ISLANDERS with renewed protestations of
fealty to the, Union, We declared. that under
duced to take up arms against the federal gov
ernment. Fatal error. Not that we were
lacking IN sincerity. not that we over esti-
ignored the fact that the spirit OF liberty can
never die out In people who haye once been
dying instinct of the human heart but in that
we underestmated the deveish ingenuity of
the vampires who had fastened themselves
upon us.
These vampires. encouraged by our submits
sion to unheard-of wrongs, and emboldened
by our repeated protestation that we would
never again take up arms whilst poisoning the
minds Of the American people with the basest
ISLANDERS. continued to heap wrong upon wrong.
spoiation upon spoliation. insult upon insult
| until seeing the last vestige of liberty being
wrested from you, you on this ever memorable
day arose in your might, reasserted your man
and freed the State from their loathsome rule.
:, II is true that upon the. demand Of single
sae into 9 be you agan %
power was broken. The American people
began to realize the truth Of your position and
them, began to close the chasm which had htth-
ertto separated you, They felt that people
who could in single day regain the entire
control of their State, retain 1t for three days,
marked by no single act of violence or wrong.
eral officer. must indeed have suffered wrongs
beyond the power of human endurance.
The events of this day tore away the veil of
falsehood, in whose dark folds your enemies
had enveloped you. and taught them Il lesson
| not easily forgotten.
Thus 1t was that, when on the 9th Of January
the yoke of your oppressors, they dared not
again provoke an open conflict, though fully
prepared and backed by the Federal power.
Who can doubt that but for the memories Of the
14th of =, September they would, rely ing
upon the presence and support of
Federal bayonets. have provoked the
conflict? Who can doubt that the 9th
of January would 81 then have been the
bloodiest dav In the annals of Louisiana. and,
however that conflict may have terminated who
can doubt that in the then excited sta Of public
mind throughout the length and brea 18th of the
land, such q conflict inaugurated here would
have spread like a tornado Of fire. involving
| the. whole country in civil war. the horrors Of