The National tribune., 1882-06-03

waved the billowed seas of wheat and corn.
The great plains were crossed, the mountains
were conquered, and the foot of victorious ad-
venture pressed tho shores of the Pacific.
In the great North all the streams went
singing to the sea, turning wheels and spindlcs
and casting shuttles back and forth. Inven-
tions were springing like magic from thousand
brains. From labor's holy altars roso and
lealSd the smoke and flame, and from the
countless forges rang the chaunt of rhythmic
stroke.
But in the South the negro toiled unpaid, and
mothcrs wept while babes were sold, and at the
auetion-block husbands and wives speechlessly
looked the last goodbye. Fugitives, lighted
by the Northern star, sought liberty on English
soil, and were by Northern men thrust back to
whip and chain.
The great statesmen, the successful politi-
clans announced that law had compromised
with crime that justice had been bribed, and
that time had barred appeal. rasc was left
without right without hope. The future
had no dawn, no star-nothing but ignorance
and fear; nothing but work. and want. This
was the conclusion of the statesmen, the
philosophy of the politicians, Of constitutional
expounders. This was decided by courts and
ratified by the Nation
We had been successful in three wars. We
had wrested thirteen colonies from Great
Britain. We had conquered our place upon the
high seas. We had added more than two mil
lions of square miles to the national domain.
We had increased in population from three to
thirty-one millions We were in the midst of
plenty. We were rich and free Ours ap-
pcarcd to Dc the most prosperous Of nations.
But it was only appearance The statesmen
and the politicians were deceived Real victO-
ries can be won only for the right The tri-
umph ofjustice is the only peace Such is the
nature OF things. He who enslaves another can
not be free. lie who attacks the right, assaults
himself
The mistake our fathers made had not been
corrected. The foundations of the Republic
were insecure. The great dome OF the temple
was clad in the light OF prosperity, but the cor
ner-stonns We're crumbling. -Four millions of
human beings were enslaved. Party cries had
been mistaken for principles, partiSanship for
patriotism, success for Justice
But pity pointed 70 the SCARED and bleeding
backs Of slaves; ,r~ heard the eobs Of moth
ers rcft Of babes, 4:i justice held alof5 the
scales i'll which one drop Of blood shed by
masters lash outwciGhed a nations gold.
There were q few men, few women, who
had The courage to attack this monstrous crime,
They found it entrenched in constitutions.
statutes, and decisions, barricaded and bastion-
ed By every Department and by every party.
Politicians were its servants, statesmen it's at
torneys. judges its menials, Presidents its pup
pets, and upon its cruel altar had been sacrificed
our country. honor
1t was the crime oftho Nation-of the whole
and South responsible alike.
To-day we revcrentIy thank the Abolition
lists. Earth has produced no grander men, no
noblcr women. They wero the real philan-
-hropists, the true patriots
When the win defes fear, when the heart
applauds the brain, when duty throws the
gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to |
with dcath-this is heroism.
The Abolitioaists were heroes. He loves his /
country best who strives to make it best. The |.
)ravest men are those who have the greatest |.
fear of doing wrong.
Mere politicians wish the country 10 DO /
something for them; true patriots desire TO do .
for their country.
Courage without conscience is q wild beast: /
without principle is the prejudice of /
'irth-the animal attachment to place
These men, these women had courage and
onscience, patriotism, and principle, heart and
rain.
The South relied upon the bond-upon
arbarouS clause that stained, disfgured, and
cti!ed the Federal pact, and made the mon
trous claim that slavery was the Nations
ard. The spot of shame grew red in North
RI checks, and Northern men declared that
avery had poisoned, cursed, and blighred
1ul and soil enough, and that the Territories
lust be free
The radicals of the South cried: "No Union
ithout siavery!" The radicals Of the North
splied: "No Union without liberty"
The Northern radicals were right. Upon
le great issue of free homes for free men a
resident was elected by the free States The
outh appealed to the sword, and raised the
andard OF revolt. For the first time in his
ry the oppressors rebelled.
But let us to-day be great enough to forget
ldividuals; great enough to know that slav-
y was treason, that slavery was rebellion
lat slavery fred upon our flag and sought to {
reck and strand the mighty ship that bears
&c hope and fortune of this world c
The first shot liberated the North. CoDsti S
tions, statutes, and decisions; compromises. Q
atforms, and resolutions, made, passed and 1
titled in the interest of slavery, became mere v
gal lies, mean and meaningless, base and c
scleSs.. Parchment and paper could no Longer [
)p or stay the onward march of man. The a
orth was free. Millions instantly resolved Il
at the Nation should not die, that freedom r
ould not perish, and that slavery should not S
e. Millions of our brothers. our sons or p
hers, our husbands answered to the Nations Il
H. "
The great armies have desolated the earth "
e greatest soldiers have been ambitions b
pes. They waged war for the sake of peace II
d pillage,' pomp and power, for the ignorant Ii
plause Of vulgar millions, for the 1attery of Il
rasites, and the adulation of sycophants and g
YES. st
Let us proudly remember that in our time "
: greatest, the grandcst, the noblest army OF i
? world fo1ght, not to ens!ave, bat to free; i
( to destroy, bat to save: not simply for re
2msclycs, but for others; not for conquest. OF
FOR conscience; not only 1or US but Tor al
Try land aud every race. cl
With courage, with enthusiasm, with dcvo- J.
L never eXcelled, with an exaltation and
rity Of purposes never cqualed this grand o