The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-11-26
THE ADDRESS,

interest-ED. T. & M.
THE ADDRESS.
FARMERS On the 4th of July last,
-twenty-four years ago-I had the
honor to address the citizens of this
Township not very far from this grove.
Those now living may remember that,
at that time, political excitement ran
high; sectional feeling between the North
and South was growing bitter; secession
was threatened, war was brewing, in
deed war was iminent.
Under such circumstances, it is not
unnatural to suppose that an Grafton of
that kind contained many of those eff
fusions of patriotic youth always char
acterstic of such occasions. The man
uscript of that address, though now a
mournful souvenier of the past, contains
moreover a prediction, which time d
literally verify. 1t reads to day as it
was then spoken. l hope you will ex-
cuse me for alluding to it. On the oc-
casion it was said that if the intelligence,
the enlightenment, the civilization and
the christianity OF the country, all CONF
bined, could not prevent the threatened
arbitrament of arms, that if .'a-ms on
arms must clashing, bring horrible dis
cord" and the ''madning wheels of
brazen fury rage" that, if political fanat-
icism could be appeased only in blood,
"The first to march to the front as ,cell
as the last to retreat, ,could be the patriot
sons of our natiUe State" That prophe
sy was literally fulfilled 1t was inau-
gurated at Bethel, it was consummated
at Appomatox The first man to fall
was Mr.. Wyatt, of Edgecombe county,
and the last to charge, was North
Carolina Brigade.
At that time. fellow citizens, it was
beyond the ken OF mOrtals to lift the
veil, and to have W messed al! those
bloody scenes, enacted during that long
and terrible four years OF bitter warfare.
We know full well that many friends,
neighbors, and kindred too, who were
with Us on that day, have in peace and
at home passed over the river, and, still
many more, whose youthful countenance
are viewed In memory, and whose blood
to-day, fertilizes the soil of the old DOM
inion Indeed, throughout her borders,
all the way from her eastern Peninsula
to her western mountains, from the grand
old Potomac on her north, to her farthest
south, our gallant friends lie, thick as
"autumnal leaves that strew the brooks
| in Valambrosa.' True as it has been
often said:
"On Fame's eternal camping ground,
Their silent tents are spread;
And glory guards wi,h solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead"
| But, brother farmers, Peace hath
her victories no less renowned than war,
and speaking in this connection, partic.
lularly, of the South, our civic victories fal
surpass in their grandeur and magnifi
lcence all our deeds In martial glory o.
warlike fame. Indeed, when viewed in
their beneficent results, in all that ad
vances civilization itself and promotes
the prosperity and happiness ofmankind
they will mark distinguished era in flu
ture history. But we can't appreciate
them in all their wonderful proportions
. We, as contemporaries, can not grasp tn
vastness of their dimensions. 1t is lik
viewing a mountain from its base or on
of those gigantic pyramids of Egypt
which counts the centuries as they roll
we cannot realize their magnitude, th
mind can't comprehend them.
But when fifty years or more shall
have been rolled up into the past, som
enlightened historian, unbiased by pre-
judice, unmoved by envy and unseduce,
by hatred, he will encircle around thi
period, this last quarter of a century.
chaplet of glory unparalleled in the annal
of the world. There is nothing like it
neither in Greecian fame, nor in Roman
grandeur Its counterpart is not in histo
ry. And when this historian, with an i'm
partial pen, shall annalvze the motives
causes and results fall the events crow
ded into this era; When he shall tell o
our war with all its horrors; of Recon
struction with all its failures Of th'
establishment Of Southern autonom,
with consequent peace and prosperity
he will thrill the future student of his
tory with all the sensations we expert
ence in following the career of Juliu!
Cesar or a Napoleon Bonnaparte. While
We are enraptured reading the glowing
pages of a Pharsalia. and an Auster
litz, he too, will be transported by those
of Manassas, Wilderness, Fredericks
burg and Chickahominy. When, in thi: