Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-08-16
TWO SPEECHES.
SHERIDAN AT THE ARMY OF THE POTO-
MAC REUNION IN NPHILADELPHIA, IN

, of Philadelphia on the 9th day of June
1876. Among those present were Gems
Sherman, Sheridan, Hancock, Hooker
Dix, Slocum, Cows. Curtin and Hart
ranft. 1t was a notable meeting. Ii
the morning Gen. John 4. Dix deliver.
ed the Grafton, in which reference wa:
made to the amicable relations which
should exist between the sections lately
at war, the forgiveness of former foes
sc. Gen. Sherman also made a Short
address. Gen. Sheridan was next called
for, and received with great applause
He said:
! COMRADEs-I thank you for doing
me this honor, but l have not the talent
of speech making. l indOrse nearly eve
rything that has been said byGen. Dix and
Gen. Sherman. Ibelieve in charity, but
l believe that the charity should not be
all on one side. If l hear man who
has been an enemy of the Government
say that he is sorry for what he has
done; that he intends to be citizen
and will do what he can to preserve the
Government hereafter, then | am will
ing to extend my charity to him. But
when | hear man assert, that in his re-
belliOn against the Government he was
right, and that he would do the same
thing over again, then shall reserve my
charity l think there is no one more
willing than l to be charitable, but |
10 - e.. a11 l.
fore l give it. l want to see the Gov
ernment secure, and the cause for which
we fought secure before l offer it. l
consider that we are here as the guardi-
ans of the honor of the men who lie
sleeping in many battlefeldS, and that
it is our duty to maintain the cause for
which they died. l am willing when
the time comes to be as charitable as any
man, but want to wait till that time
comes and 1 have not seen it yet. Ap-
plause. Thanking you for the very
kind manner in which you nave receiv-
ed me, and hoping for the pleasure of
meeting you hereafter on many similar
occasions, 1 will say goodbye.
At the banquet in the evening the
person who was to respond to the toast,
'The Soldier of the Republic" )" being alb
sent, Gen. Sheridan was called on to re-
spond. He said:
GENTLEMEN did not come here to
make speech tonight, 1 can assure
you of that. l came here to shake hands
with you and to have good time, and
l have succeeded about as well as l had
expected. l thought that Gen. Sherman
and Gov. Curtin and Gov. Parker, and
all the men who are accustomed to get
up and make off-hand speeches would
satisfy you, and that you would let me
alone.
But the speeches that have been made
have caused somewhat of a reflection in
my mind, and since you have gotten me
on my feet, perhaps l might Just as well
speak it out. Cries, Go ahead l.
thought we came here to discuss mat
tiers of the past, which are the conflicts
that occurred during the war, and the
"reminiscences of the war, and l did not
expect to be called up to speak about
the present or the future. l do not know
that there is any reason why 1 should be
called upon to forgive, and l do not
know that anybody has the right to in
troduce the Butternut idea in here
Applause and cries, That's so. l did
not come here to hear any Butternut
talk. l came here to hear the old square
army talk; to hear about the battle of
Gettysburg, or the battle of Bull Run, if
you choose, or the battle of the Wilder
ness, or the battles about Petersburg,
but l did not come here expecting to be
asked to forgive a Butternut l am
willing to forgive. AS 1 said before,
there is no man more ready to forgive
than l am; but | am not willing to for
give man who tries to bite me when
attempt to kiss him. Applause, and
cries, You are right there If there
are any men of that kind in this Society
they can do it as much as they please.
Cheers. But l do not care, you know,
to have this matter of giving forgiveness
brought to my attention quite so much
as it has been. Applause. When
man says to me that he was a rebel, and
that what he did was right, and that he
would do the same thing over again un-
der the same circumstances, | rather |
question whether 1 am willing to for
give him. Applause. If you are will
ing to forgive such man, then you are
willing to bring back slavery, and you
are willing to risk again the existence of
your country. Applause. That is ex-
actl ywhat that thing means. Now don't |
want any more war. 1 am the last man |
in the world, you know, to want war.
But l think the best way to keep it from
coming is not to be so forgiving as we
are. Cheers.
Now,I do not want anything of you peo-
pie. l do not ask for anything; do not
want to be elected to any Office But l
would like, you know, to keep what l
have got. Applause and laughter. l.
There is no danger but that Gen. Sher-
man will live longer than l will, and so
have nothing to hope for in the sue
cesSion. But do not want anybody to
come here and bore our Society with so
much talk of forgiveness and charity.
Applause. l am afraid you do not
like this, gentlemen shouts of Yes,
we do but have never in my life
done anything with the expectation that
people would like it. 1 have always
done the best | knew how, and l stand
here tonight, before this Army of the
Potomac, and say that l hope we will
all keep out of politics. Applause. 1t
doesn't belong to us. l am the last man
in the world to say anything that will
introduce anything of that kind. We
might as well close down on this thing
at once. Good So now let us hear
nothing in the future about this thing
and let us ask gentlemen who come here
to talk to MS to keep us from going back
to that subject all the time. 1t was said,
you know, that Hunter Issued procla-
nation to free the slaves; and SO did
Fremont and somebody else. But their
were disapproved of by