Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-06-07
speech OF Gen. Sherman.

interest, and his lItes: effort Will be fOund
well worthy of careful perusal
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen
The grand pageant we have witnessed to-
day in the streets of this busy mart Of com
merce and the handsome assemblage of peo-
pie that now fills this hall to Oyerhowing,
demonstrate unmistakably that the public
interest in the events of lSGl-65 did not die
out with the lives of the heroes and martyrs
of that epoch. Our fOrefathers laid the
foundations of our Government deep down
upon the solid granite of liberty and justice,
and endowed its several parts with the nee
essary power to secure these ends : "lnya-
sion from without, and from "insurrectiOu
and domestic violence within" Fortunate
", our position on the earth's surface is 80
isolated and so distant from the other great
civilized States that We lear no invasion.
and can look with composurr and profound
regret at the wars and strife Of the other
hemisphere, scarcely eUmprehending the
causes which have led them to marshal
armies and navies Of gigantic strength in
contest for power and influence which scarce
ly seems justified by the civilization OF the
age. Within VIC are bat human, subject TO
all the contentious incident to vigorous
race of men struggling for wealth. for power,
influence, and all that man has ever lab0red
for and fought for.
Though a new generation has grown up
since the events which We are now assem-
bled to commemorate, there still remain here
in this presence some of the witnesses of
fierce civil war. 1t has long since been for
given, and some of the very men who caused
it share in the Councils Of our Government,
and would lie the last man to will 1t other
wise. And ! am most happy to bear wit
ness that many of them manifest the most
ardent desire to jOin with Us in making the
future more safe and more glorious than the
past. We have welcomed them back into
the family group as Was the prOdigal son of
old, and it may seem to some OF our old
Union comrades that it has gone too far to
the prejudice of the remainder OF the family
who stood faithful all the time. This Is one
of the great political questions now on trial,
and for one hope and pray that our old
antagonists of the South will have learned
wisdom, and by their acts prove to the world
the sincerity of their patriotic declarations.
Some Of them, however, CONTEND that be-
cause their individual motives were pure
and honorable they are entitled to the same
measure of honor and glory as those who
had the right on their side, and who, by
war and violence, had to enforce submission
t. lawful authority.
There such things as abstract right and
abstract wrong, and when history is written
human actions must take their place in one
or tie other category. We claim that in
the great civil war We Of the National
Union Army were right and our adyerssries
wrong and no special pleading, no excuses,
no personal motives, howey,r pure and
specious, can change this the verdict OF the
war. | would not tor the world
revive the angry passions oil that period OF
time, nor do question the personal motives
of our then antagonists but | do and ever
will contest the proposition that We should
tear from the history of our country the
pages which record the great events from
1850 to 1870 for they should stand there
forever, as a warning to those who come
after US, who, from passion, self-interest or
any human cause or pretext whatever, may
undertake to destroy this Government BY
yiolence-a Government in which the living
are Only the trustees for the hundreds of
millions of human beings who are so fast
pressing US old fellows of the stage of life.
In the language OF our great leader, Cen
eral Grant, we will never apologize for the
deeds done in lS6I-65, but will treasure up
their memory, and on every suitable occa-
sion. as long Us life lasts, will present them
anew to the youth Of this country as noble
examples Of hersism and OF patriotism Tor
tbey saved this nation from absolute an
limitation. or. at the very least, from long
period of intestine war aud anarchy. The
fiippant manner in which some of our orators
and newspaper critics make use OF warlike
terms warrants me in warning them OF the
danger Of playing with edged tools Po-
litical parties are wont To speak OF their
Headquarters, their ''lines Of battle,
with pickets and skirmi-her7 out, OF direct
attacks, FLANK movements. ri overwhelm-
ing "victory" and defeat" As though they
were dealing with armed masses instead Oh
peaceful organizations for peaceful purposas,
differing only in the means by which the
common result may best be reached, and
where the arena should be likened to a civic
court instead of the field of battle. Though
these terms may he well understood by them
selves, they are calculated to mislead the
young, the thoughtless and the restless men
of the country, who thereby become familiar
and prepared for the real thing.
Men who have felt the sting OF the bullet
have heard the crash of the cannOn's shot
and exploding shell. or have witnessed its
usual scenes OF havoc and deSJlatiOn, rarely
appeal to war a. remedy for ordinary
grievances Vars are usually made by civ
ilians, bold and defiant in tie forum, but
when the storm comes they 20 below and
leave their innocent c. mrades to catch the
"peltings of the pitileSs Storm" Of the
half million oi bravo fellows whose graves
have this dag been strewn with flowers by
loving hands, not one in a thousand had the
remotest connection with the causes OF the
war which led to their untimelv death.
Now, beg you and the general public will
not misconstrue my meaning. Though the
head of an army, | publicly proclaim oGr
profession to be To prevent war, and claim
that my predecessors in ofhee-W Washington,
Scott and Grant-were essentially men Of
peace who saved our Country from many
wars into which public clamor tried to push
them.
| now hope and beg that all good men,
South and North, will unite in real earnest
to repair the mistakes and wrongs OF the
past will perseyere in the common effort to
make this great land OF ours to blossom as
the Gaideu of Eden; Will so unite in effort
thai every part of it, from Maine to Texas,
from Florida to Pugets Sound, will be made
sd safe to life and property that men may
engage safely in every possible pursuit,
whether OF farming, mining, ranehIbg, IN
navigation inland and upon the high seas, in
every variety Of mercantile and mechanical
pursuit, each one Ia reap the full measure cf
his own industry and sagacty. without envy
of his neighbor Surely, this is II field wor-
thy the ambition OF the proudest and most
intellectual statesman. cannot resist this
opportunity of correcting an error commit
ted by the New York P.esS rs 10 myself.
About year ago. at the request of the
Chamber OF Commerce, Mt Deimonico's, |
spoke off-hand in response to a toast compli-
mentary to he army of the United States
a body of men as true to this Government
and to republican institutions As the needle
to the pole spoke of its necessity as the
grand high sheriff Of the nation to enable the
President, who was there in person, to fulfil
his Office /; to protect lawful commerce and
trade to guard the frontier; protect the
cmigrant against the savage the peacefully
inclined Indian against the trespasser on his
allotted reservation, and to respond to the
Governor of II State in case OF domestic vio-
lence' Though my remarks were publish
cd by the Chamber of Commerce, and were
well understood by the persons to whom
they were addressed, some of your New
York papers insisted that had declared that
without our little regular army the people
of the United States would become mob.
Ridiculous a. such an assertion was, and
though repeatedly denied by me, it was Sc
riously quoted by IL member Of Congress in a
recent debate under the shield of privilege,
and cnn therefore only be met with a new
denial Consequently do again deny ever
having used language which could be distort-
ed into such meaning but | did say, and
do now say again, most cmphatieally, that
the sacred Constitution of our country COM
,nnnh, Tho Enncral Enxcrnmrnt emhrac-