The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-06-10

pounced that law had compromis-
with crime, that justice had been
'oed and that time had barred ap
al. A race was left without right.
Ihout hope.
We had been successful in three
fs. We were rich and free, and
s1s appeared to be most prosperous
ations. But it was only appear
The statesmen and politicians
g deceived. Real victories can be
pniy for the right. The triumph
pstice Is the only peace. The
n''s'ake our fathers made had not
93en corrected. The foundations of
'' republic We're insecure. Four
'iz'ions Of human beings were en-
siaYed. Party cries had been mis-
'HERn for principles, partisanship for
l'' rIoflsm, success for justice. But
ing naeks OF slaves, mercy heard the
sObs OF mothers bereft of babes and
justice heldaloft the scales in which
one drop of blood shed by masters
lash optweighed nations gold.
There were few men, few women
who had the courage to attack the
monstrous crime. They found it en-.
trenched in constitutions, statutes
and decisions, barrIealed and las
toned by every department and by
every party. Politicians were its
servants, statesmen its attorneys,
judges its menials. presidents its
puppets, and upon its cruel altar had
been sacrificed our country's honor.
1t was the crime of the nation, of the
whole country--North and South re-
sponsible alike.
To-day we reverently thank the
Abolitionists. Earth has produced
10 grander men, no grander women !;
they were the real philanthropists,
the true patriots. When the will
defies fear, when the heart applauds
brain, when duty throws the gaunt.
let down to fate, when honor scorns
to compromise with death-this is
heroism. The south relied upon the
bond--uDon a barbarous clause that
stained, disfgured and defiled the
federal pact and made the monstrous
claim that slavery was the nations
ward. The spot of shame grew red
in Northern cheeks, and Northern
men declared that slavery had pois-
oned, cursed and blighted soul and soil
enough, and that the territories must
be free. The radicals of the South
|cried, No Union without slavery
The radicals of the North replied,
No Union without liberty Thc
Northern radicals were right. Upon
the great issue of free homes for free
men president was elected by the
states. The South appealed to the
sword, and raised the standard of re-
volt. For the first time in history
the oppressors rebelled. But let US
to-day be great enough tc forget in
dividuals great enough to know that
slavery was rebellion that slavery
fired upon our flag, and sought to
wreck and strand the mighty ship
that bears the hope and future of this
world. The first shot liberated the
North. Constitutions, statutes and
decisions. compromises, ,platformsand
resolutions made, passed and ratified,
In the interest of slavery. became
mere legal lies, mean and meaning
less. base and baseless.
"Parchment and paper could no
longerstOp nor stay the onward march
0s man. The North was free. Mil.
lions instantly resolved that the ma
tion should not die, that freedom
should not perish and that slavery
SHUuiu tiOt DfCs MftllVfIS Ol our
brothers, our sons. our fathers, our
husbands answered to the nations
call. The great armies have desola-
ted the earth; the greatest soldiers
have been ambitious dupes. They
waged war for the sake of place and
pllage. pomp and power, for the
ignorant applause of vulgar millions.
for The fiattery of parasites and the
adultation Of sycophants and slaves.
Let US proudly remember that in our
time the greatest, the grandest, the
nobiest army of the world fought not
to enslave, but to free not to destroy,
but TO save, not simply for them
selves, but for Others, not for con-
quest but for conscience, not only for
Us but for every land and every race.
courage, with enthusiasm. with
a devotion never excellent, with an