The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-06-18
|DR. THOMAS NELSON PAGE,
HIS ADDRESS BEFORE COLLEGE
LITERARY SOCIETIES.
The Race Question ElaborateIy ana
Fully Discussed and Solved Before
Cultured Richmond Audience-Contin-
uation Of the Commencement Exerciset'

uation Of the Commencement Exercisef
The address before the literary societies o
Richmond College last night by DIR. Thoma
Nelson Page, Of this city, attracted larg
audience. fairly representing the infellI
gence and culture of Richmond. The orato
OF the evening is we'll and widely known
lie was born at Oakland, Hanover county
Va. April %. 1853. He attended Washing
ton and Lee University and graduated il
law at the University Of Virginia. He ba
travelled extensively in the Old World, ant
for several years has drtH5'od bimsei
mainly to literature. He has &C
quired an enviable reputation at hom'
aud abroad rs q popular writer. ant
the Richmond people are pleased and prout
to have him make his permanent bom'
among them.
The exercises of the evening were pre-
sided over with grace and dignity by Judge
Beverly \. Hancock, of Manchester. Rev
j. c. Long, ID. d., Of Chester, Pa, invoked
the divine blessing. and Judge Hancock ex
pressed his grateful appreciation of the
honor conferred upon him by the societies
in asking him TO preside on such an
interesting and important occasion
and said he recognized the large and
intelligent gathering as an evidence of in.
terest in literary pursuits. lie also desired
to congratulate the societies upon their
wisdom in selecting and good fortune m
securing as the orator Of the occasion So
distinguished Nirginian, so renowned an
au thor as DIR. Thomas Nelson Page, whom
he was happy to introduce.
DIR. PAGE.
DIR. Page was warmly welcomed, and in
| his predatory remarks said he had decided
/ 10 talk earnestly upon a matter Of much i'm
portance-"1he Race Question" Without
further ado he plunged into his subject, be-
ginning as follows:
should one hearing the phrase "The two
sections" take the map OF this American
Union and study Its natural features, lie
would declare that they were by natural
geographical divisions the East and the West.
Should he study me commerce of the coun-
try with its vast currents and tides, its fields
| of agriculture and manufacture, he would be
| impelled To declare that 10y all the incxora-
bic laws Of interest they were the East and
/ the West. And yet we who stand amid The
ncontestible evidences OF events know that
| against all laws. against all reason, against
| all right, there are two sections of this cyun-
| try, and they are not the East and the West,
but the south and the rest of the Union.
NOW. why should this be?
Ny purpose is TO show briefly why this un-
haupv condition exists, To lay the response
HlitD where IL rightly belongs, aud To sug-
gest rs far as ! may in the brief time during
which feel at liberty 10 occupy your at'en-
/ ton. a few things which, II earnestly consid-
! cred and patiently advocated. will believe
| In the providence Of God, contribute To the
solution Of the distressing difficulties which
| confront US.
The divergence of the"Two Sections" was
co-eyal with the planting of the continent; II
! i It'll. ..F tla.. NaNI Afa
| il steadily increased until an irfepressihle
conflict became inevitable; and IL was not
uniil after this conflict had spent itself that
rccOEcilement became possible.
THE CAUSES.
The causes Of that divergence. IT. is not nee
essary 10 discuss. with the exception Of one.
| This one mas survived even the cauterizi-
| ton of war. Other causes have passed away.
| The right Of secession Is no longer an active
/ issue. IL has been adjudicated. That II once
existed. and was employed on occasion by
other states than those which actually eX-
ercised il is undcniable; that II passed away
with the Confederate armies at AppOmattOX
| is equally beyond controversy. The very
men who once asserted IL a1d shed their
i blood 10 establish IL, would now, III
the light Of altered conditions, admit
| that The Union Is no longer dissOluble,
ana stand ready, II reed be, To establish the
/ fact II is important 10 make IL clear that
| the right did exist, because on TINS depends
| llrgely our place in history. Without this
we were mere insurgents and rebels; with
| IL we were great people IN revolution Tor
| our rights, Let me make This plain In 1851,
| our fathers stood aligned against the Union.
| and apparently for the pefpeiuatlon OF
slavery. They were defeated, overwhelmed,
beaten. Unless we possess strength sufli-
cient TO maintain ourselves even in the
| face of this we shall 90 down; the YER
dict of pOsteri.y Will be against us.
| I'm fifty vars the defense OF slavery will
he deemed the worli over to have been
ms barbarOus as we now deem the slaye-trade
| 10 have been. There Is out one way 10 pre-
vent the impending disaster. by establish
ing that whatever may have been the imme-
| diate and present occasion the true ana ulti
mate cause of action OF. The south was bei
| firm. unwavering, and instructive adherence
| 10 principle. and her jealous devotion To hei
inalienable rights. By pefpetudiing the true
and splendid story of the real position OF the
| south, snd Of the heroic stand when sh-
| made Tor her rights during those four years
of trial, want, and battle we can wrest fame
from defeat and throw the orn and broken
south into the focus OF romance.
But If other causes have passed away as
practical issues. one, as have said, still sur
! wives and is under n changed fOfm, as vital
to-day and as pregnant with evil as 1t was In
1861.
TIE PENDING QUESTION.
ThisiS the question which ever confrOnis
/ The south, no matter which way she sha'l
/ turn her face: the question which IN hei
and in her sleep still grows apace; the ques
tlOn when after twenty-five years OF peace
and prosperity still keeps the South one Sec
tiOn and the rest OF the nation the other
This is the ever.present. ever-mehacihg'
ever-growing negro question.
| II il to-day the most portentous as well as
| the most dangerous problem which conironis
the American people, for Y splits the nation
! into two sections. keeps the Caucasian
American divided into parties which hold ir-
! reconcllable tencts, renders impossible per-
l tecI uf,ion, and contains the germ OF dis
| cord which may finally burst all bounds and
plunge us again into dreadful strife.
| Tie question is 80 misunderstood that even
the terinlnoogy for IL in the two sections va
/ ries irreconcilabIy The North terms II SIM
plv the question of the civil equality of all
| cIfizens before the law: the South denoml-
mates il the question Of REORGANIZATION
/ More accurately, II should be termed the race
question. -. -.
correct solution depends the progress and the
security. IL not the very existence, OF the
American people.
QUIErUDE AT HOME.
We live in so much quietude and have be-
| come so accus omed 10 the condition OF az
/ fairs, that we are sensible OF no appreheil-
sion, bur rest content and calm. 20 resi-
alpine dwcllers who sleep beneath masses ol
| snow which has accumulated for years, and
| vet auict as they appear upon the mountain
Sides above, may at any lime without warn,
\ inc and by the breaking Oi a tWIH, OF Tue l;ill
ola pebble. he transformed d into The reslstless
and destroying avalanche. Are there no
signs ofimpending peril about us? They are
not wanting.
THE WRITTEN LAW.
II is charged that the written law Is not uni
yersalIy fully ani freely executed at the
/ south in m ttters relating 90 the exercise ol
! the elective franchise, and ! do not under
stand tha. the defense Is denial Oh the
| charge: IL is rather confession anu aNOiu-
apce TO the charge u is replied that tne
Written law, when subycrted at all Is 30 SUD-
yerted only 10 higher law, founded on Inc
instinct Of self.prOlecton ana sell 'preser'a'
/ ton. -, 4,
ifit be admitted that this Il true, then, j.
| IL nothing to us IN 4 a condition exists which
| necessitates the subyersion OF any lawy Is II
| not an injury TO our people that the occasion
| exists which places them III conflict with the
| law. ana compels hem To assert the existence
OF a higher duty? Can law be overridue'l
/ Without creating q spirit which VIII override
/ law? A spirit ready To constitute ItseIf ihe
/ iudge o, what shall and what shall not be cons
sidered law: spirit which eventually SUD
stitutes its Will for law and contounds its H.
lerest with right?
| This IL "A grave matter, and IN 10 De con-
| sidered with due deiiocration, for on iis fighl
/ solution much depends The nrst step 10
cure Is ever comprehension OF the disease
| ~ hen the patient has swallowed deadly pol
son. the physician mas not treat The trouble
| with leyity or Indifference; apprehension nl