The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-05-05
YANCE'S EL0QUENCE.
CELEBRATING THE BATTLE or Gull
FORD COuRTHOll
RUNNING BACK TO TIE REVc
LT7{0NARY WAR.
SEVERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE HEAR
THE ORATOR.
lie Maintained that the Foundation OF
American Liberty was Laid At Gun
ford Courrhou-e-A Proposed
Monument to Gen. Greene.

house was celebrated ON the battle
ground near this place to-day Several
thousand people were present. sen
Il. b. Vance. great favOrite IN tins MS
native State. was the orator OF the day,
and delivered sn eloquent and finished
address. in which he maintained that the
foundation of American liberty was LAID
on the field of Guildford, at the battle IN
March, l5sl
Senator Vance opened his adj
dress with an alusiOn 20 the
almost universal practice of civil
lied people of commemorating no'a-
bic events, and then went on to say that
beyond question, the foundation OF
American liberty was laid at Guilford
Courthouse in March, 1881. lie re-
viewed the military situation in the col
onies al that period, and the events
Immediately preceding the struggle at
Guilford Courthouse. where, he said, the
finishing blow was given 10 CORVALLIS
prospects for subjugating the Southern
colonies. This drove wallis 20 his
ships at Wilmington, and finally TO the
end at Yorktown.
After paving an eloquent tr-
butte 10 North Carolina troops,
that helped fight and win this battle, The
Senator said What, then. was their
work. What is the monument which
they that dav erected t0 themselves, az
seen i'm the result. suppose an inielli.
rcnt stranger were here and he were told
TO search for that monument by Look
ing around. what would he see
lie would behold free AMI I'M
dependent Commonwealth, which,
for more than hundred years.
has enioved the blessings of liberty. and
which has advanced steadily without
refrorressiOn or anarchv, in all the
paths of prosperity and civilization.
with iiftv thousand square miles OF ter
ritorv. containing thirty-tw0 millions oi
acres. of with at least tWenly-nine mil
lions are arabic, and two thousand square
miles of which are inland seas. This
area extends east end west for one nun
dred miles i'm length, with an average
breadth Of q hundred and forty. I'm 10 IS
found general elevation from iidewaicr
TO the mountain tops of six thousand
feet. giving the varieties of climate
which are 10 be found within 7twenty
degrees of latitude north and south,
the variety of productions are abundant
la commensurate with those varieties
of soil and climate. Here forests have
always been remarkable and still are,
for their great extent and value, and the
treasures within her bosom have barely
begun 10 be explored and exposed. Not
10 mention smaller streams, this area is
traversed hv three thousand miles OF
water courses of the dignity OF rivers,
furnishing i'm their gradual iall from The
western highlands into the sea water
mowers sufficient 10 turn all the ma
chinerv of the world. This happily lo-
Gated land al once profitable, pleasant
and picturesque, containing all tlt best
riffs of God 10 his creatures, is the home
of the children Of The men who made it
free. and established ils institutions ana
laws with view to the happiness OF its
people.
THEY BUMDED WELL.
So well did they build, that after more
than century of trial, no flaw has been
found I'm the structure. No weakening,
no evidence of decay Straight Tor
ward IL has marched. Still upward 1t
has grown in population, in wealth, in
intelligence. without pause or delay, save
only in the ever memorable and ever
damnable days of reconstruction.
In 1890 the number of our people " as
80 300. In 1880 it was / 100000. If the
ratio of increase which was obtained
from 1870 to 1880 be preserved IN 1890
our population will be az least 100000,
and whether it may be "a matter for
boasiing or a matter for regret It Is
equally the truth this steady and health
ful increase has been aided very little 10y
Immigration The statistics show that
no American State has been so little ln-
debied 10 foreigners for either pOpula-
tion or wealth Emphatically our pro-
gres. is our own, and whatever we may
be that We have become by our own ei-
forts Let US love il accordingly. The
German saws "One's own straw Is better
than an enemy's wool, and the Latins,
"The smoke of our own country Is
brighter than fire abroad
THEIR WISDOM AND yALOR.
So much do we already see of the re-
suits of their wisdom and yalOr. But
what of the things i'm the future which
we do not sees What poetic vision.
though reaching " far as angels ken,
can picture that future which awaits
this people, or p0inl ont where the
influence of the deeds done on this
spot in 1871 shall cease TO Affect
their destinie. One of the most curious
questions OF metaphysics Is that OF the
dependence of one event upon another
The casists and the0lOgians OF the
world have, in all time, disputed con
cerning It's effects upon the free VIII OF
man and DEGREES of God. The cause and
effect can be more obviously traced IN
the material than in the moral world
and vet, without referring TOO
much. we can reasonably trace
moral effects from great events over yasl
stretches OF time. In 1888 the island OF
Krakatoa. in the Straits OF Sundy, was
literally elected from its place in the sea
and blown into space. The effect wa
recognized in tidal disturbances upon
every shore, more or less, where obserya'
tions were made, throughout the earih
You all remember the red skies, when
gave even additional beauty and glory
10 our celestial scenery at the settings oil
the sun in lSS3-s4.
The men Of science have now deter.
mined, without dissent, that those red
skies were directly results Of that greal
volcanic eruption which had shattered
the masses of obsidian OF which the
island was composed, into impalpablt
dust The force OF the explosion had
hurled the cbsidian dust into those
regions Of the upper air which Art
far beyond the influence OF The
circulation near the surface, and by tht
operation OF those lofty currents o.
which we know little, il had been dif
fused throughout the world, causing th'
beauteous phenomena al which we Sc
much wondered and upon which We
gazed with SO much rapture. " no caI
say, then, what COmmOnw ealths n thOu
sand years from now may not be INSPIRED
by our example as our prosperity ant
happiness were secured by these same
deeds of our ancestors Who can say
that the unseen and lofty currents o
human affection may not wait and al
fuse the enobling lessons and inspira
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