National Republican., 1883-05-31

sentiments or preiudices against them, we
should discourage them and deprive tho ma
tion Of their willing allegiance, we should bo
undoing Ne work for which so much blood
was spilled. If we are not TO be a united peo-
pie, regardless of the ascendency of this or
that party dynasty, then all the sacrifices
Of the war will have been In vain. If
the time is never to be when the
patriotism Of all the people can be safely as
sumed, then we are two countries instead of
one, Let us be sure that we place no STUN
bling block in tho way Of our fellow country
men who opposed us in the civil war. They
are as much part Of the national sovereignty
as we are. We have no rights which are not
equally theirs. They do not participate in
the government by sufferance any more than
we do, but by right guaranteed under the
constitution to us all. If we have been sim
cere in the terms Of peace we ourselves
named then TO have been o soldier in the
confederate army carries with IL now no
stigma for the transgression Is blotted out.
Levying war against the United States
is treason, but the four years strug-
gle Of great people to erect
government Of their own, for cause
sufficient to unto them, however inadequate
in our estimation, is treason on so largo a
scale that IL loses all tho elements Of igno-
miny. The day Of epithets based 81 the re-
bellion has passed. To fratornize with tho
mon of tho late confederacy on the basis of
true allegiance TO the republic is not to toll
crate or justify rebellion, but only to treat IL
as though it had never been. Nor Is IL in
gratitude to those who here lilo buried. They
fought to secure final submission to the ma
tions authority. And as from this southern
soil with which their bones have mingled
there now spring the flowers of the season, so
here from the influence of the deeds they
wrought shall grow the peaceful fruits of pa
triotism and order, in the progress, prosperity,
and elevation Of the time to come.
And you, my fellow-countrymen, once of
the confederacy, but now again of the union,
do you not rejoice that the old north state,
whose colonial patriots uttered at Mecklen-
burg on the twentieth of May, 1775, the bold
declaration of independence, which later was
spoken by all tho colonies in the immortal
words Of Jeffersonp Do you not rejoice that
your dear old state is still part of the coun-
try of which Washington was the father2 Is
there line Of our revolutionary history your
share of which you would barter for the right
of your state TO secede? If the north was a
little more stricken in conscience about your
sins than about its own, are you not little
proud of IL as part of the nation2 And are
you not ready to forget and forgive all the
bitterness that slavery engendered be-
tween us?
Speaking for myself, and am sure repre-
sent a large portion of tho north in what
say, Tam willing to concede that tho north
ern radicals, as you call u.s. would, under the
same circumstances of education and sur
roundings, have probably done in the main
as you did. We are not holer than you. We
are in need Of your charity and forboarance
for much that has been said and done in hot
blood in the past. Shall we not have it +?
And may we not, without offense, urge upon
you that faithful allegiance to law, which
will make the humblest voter among you
recognize for tho sovereign that he is, and
insure for the great suffrage amendment to
the constitution the obedience which can alone
give political tranquility to the land2 Think
not say these words in the interest of any
political party. l point you the way to an
nihilate parties as now formed The undis-
puted enjoyment by every citizen of the right
to vote and to have his vote counted would
destroy existing party lines and make color
line impossible. If this already exists re-
member that time alone can allay the appre-
hension to the contrary of those who are most
deeply interested.
And you of the black race who are here to
honor the memory Of those whose blood
helped to make you free, it is for you to con-
quer the prejudices of your opponents. Make
all the friends you can. Oppose those only
who make your rights as a citizen caus of
complaint. Be eager to learn. Do not aid
your enemies to tear down your friends. Do
not trust any old friends who would drive OFF
new ones. Follow those who will lead you to
the enjoyment of protection, education, and
the suffrage.
Ex-confederates who will befriend you are
more worthy your confidence than union men
who are ashamed of you. Let all men see
that you stand by those who stand by you.
Have no negro party. Help to defeat any
white mans party. Be orderly and sober.
Send your children to school. Work hard,
and try to have home of your own. Your
enemies say you are lazy. Prove it is not 80.
They say you get no property together.
Work for q home. So shall the humble negro
take his seat at the national feast, and all the
world shall agree that, as no race need be
servile SO no race should be master.
Why, on this decoration day, do say these
things? What have they to do with placing
flowers on soldiers graves? Where are the
fiery pictures of battles fought, and the recit-
ais of victories won2 Where the tales OF
heroism and suffering? Where the tender
poetry in the minor key for the burial place
of friends? l brought you none of these.
Tawdry rhetoric, could easily be woven to stir
the emotions. The sorcerer Memory could,
at word, command the ghosts of the past
to stalk before us. Again, the sky could be
made lurid with the flaming fires of wars
thunderbolts, and amid tho shrieks of the
dying, we could again hear imprecations
hurled at the enemy.
But is it not better to think of the blessings
VI pcdCc JHdn IHc VI war; IL INC
shades Of these brave Americans hover over
us II is not to call on us to avenge them, but
rather to reap the fruits they planted. Devo-
| tion to the union was their passion. If from
| the resting place of the blest they can now
look down, who among us would not rather
have them see federals and confederate:
united in the firm support of that union than
brooding over the dread events through which
1t came unscathed? And besides, if we will
| for time lay aside the burdens of our OWL
| hurts we shall be In better mood to weigh
those of our late adversaries.
Then we can see moro clearly why it ha'
taken time for them to emerge from the darl
despair of 1865. We can, as in vision, Sc,
their homes destroyed, their youth killed anC
mangled, families broken up, their estates
ruined, their labor system upturned, slave
made equals, strangers in the places of honor
and their long rule broken. All over thu
south are cemeteries where lie the brave mer
who fought to establish the contederacy, a.
ours fought to preserve the union. Who
would add to the woes which have fallen upon
the south?
have chosen to speak rather of the duty
of the present and the hopes of the future
than the mseries of tho past. have dwell
upon allegiance to the nation as the basis o
genuine fraternity among its citizens, and
have spoken for peace and justice between
southern whites and blacks l thought these
matters most appropriate to the occasion.
knew of no greater tribute / could pay oul
dead heroes than TO treat these ends as the
dearest objects of their hearts. 1t Is tho gar.
land ] reverently place upon their graves,
| At the close Of the address patriotic letter
| from Gov. Cameron, of Virginia, who had
| been specially invited to attend the cere