Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-06-14

of his command, was not there. lie
was lyi' g at u place called Luray. Ee
despatched a part of two brigades o
burn the bridge at Luray, to prevent
jackson from crossing until he should
arrive with the man body. The
commanders, thinking to distinguish
themselves in his absence, risked an
action, and were badly beaten. Gen.
Shields, seeing that such men as
himself and Mcclellan were not like
ly to receive anything like
fair treatment at the hands of the
me who then ruled st Washington,
requested his old friend, the presi-
dent, to take him out of the field and
send him to California, which the
President with a good deal of relu =
lance consented to do. He remained
in California TIL the war closed, when
he returned to the east aud selected
the state Of Missouri for a permanent
residence. In 1874 he represent d
Carroll county In the state Legisl =
ture.
Last January he was elected United
States Senator for Missouri tor the
short term of six weeks TO succeed
Senator Armstrong, who had been
appointed by the Governor to Till
the vacancy caused by the death OF
Senator Bugy. After sitting in the
senate for six weeks, Gen. Shields
returned from Washington ami was
rendered u magnificent reception at
Jefferson City. On that occasion lie
addressed the State Representatives
aud Senators in the hail of the House.
This was his last public speech, and
il was AL eloquent plea for harmony
and c~ouciliatlon. The folio wing is
An extract from it:
NV term of service in the Senate
was very brief, but still 1t was loi e
enough to give me time and oppor-
tuuIty to scan the present political
horizon. 1 observed with some
anxiety that there Is one dark cloud
visible in that region. The cloud l
refer to is not only dark, but is
charged with some elements OF future
danger to the Republic.
SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.
The danger Is found in sectional
prejudice, sectional autipalhy and
sectional luminosity, and my great
fear is that time will harden these
feelings into deep-seated sectional
hostility. My reasons tor this appre-
tension are these: Twenty years
ago, in the year 1859, | Sat in the
Senate OF tile United States, repre-
senting in part, at hat time, the
young aud prospecting state OF Min
of that day was q sectional question,
the question of slavery. THIS ques-
ton was then called the ''irrepressi-
bile Conflict" That question iht1amed
political passions, ~Obstructed general
legislation, and contributed 10 paie
slize the energies of the government.
All the evils of hat conflict were
charged upon slavery at that time,
aud philanthropisls declared that if
slavery were once abolished, ali co,,-
fict between the North and South
would terminate forever. Well, after
u lapse of twenty years, [ entered the
senate once more. l sat in that body
again, representing i'll part at that
time, the great and growing state Of
Missouri. A wonderful change had
passed over the whole land i'll lie
meantime. l found the Senate
changed, the capital changed; in
fact, the whole country changed,
and that slavery, as all evil, had
ceased to exist. But there was one
thing that change had left untouched ;
the ir%repressible conflict confronted
me still /; the sectional contest" be-
tween the North and South Was as
fierce as ever. | asked myself then,
in the Senate at Washington, and |
ask myself now in this Capitol in
Jefferson City: Is this unnatural,
unnational and un-Americtn conflict
to go on forever? Will it never
come to an end =? Will the American
people never be permitted to live to-
gether in peace and harmony The
American people as a whole are deep
ly Injured by this conflict. To them
il is productive OF nothing but un-
mitigated evil. No people on earth
are better fitted by nature to live to-
gether in amity. They are children of
the same soil, citizens Of the same re-
public, and heirs OF the same destiny,
and, in spite of their divisions and
dissensions, and even in spite of
themselves, they will have to submit
to the same destiny so long as a re-
publican government lasts in Amer
lea. There are not two destinies
marked out by fortune for this people,
one for the North and another for
the South.
PLEA FOR HARMONY.
The North and South must &C up
together or down together. Proyi-
dence has bound them together by
chains forged by nature, which are
as hard as adalnant and strong as
iron. If, in all access of madness,
this people ever break these chains,
they will all 90 down together.
North and South, East aud West,
will all sink down together to the
dead level of the other unfortunate
republics Of this continent. But
there are political leaders who tell us
that II OF the causes of this sectional
struggle is a 'ssolid South" 1t ought
not to be forgotten, however, that
the South has been compelled by
circumstances to become solid, in
self-defense +; that the southern people
considered it their duty to unite to
save themselves and their families
from what they regarded as moral
social and political degradation.
Then there + statesmen, and able
statesmen, too, who look upon the
solid South as something honorable
at this time to American character
They think it demonstrates to thu
world hat the grand old American
spirit still lives amongst the Amer
lean people. They say that the spiri,
of 1776, which united the thrice,
L cnInnn0 into ,~s