The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1891-04-23

South, Defeated in War, he Has
Won the NobIer Victory of Peace"
The glory of that martial boast,
"The old guard dies but never sur
renders" has been eclipsed by the
civic truth, the South surrenders but
never dies.
Man has existed long, but, intact,
is just beginning to live. But four
centuries ago Europe was n trackless
forest, save where some gloomy cas-
tie or majestic mOnestry lifting its
turrets heavenward told of revenue
wrung from race of starving slaves
Human slavery bcqueathed from
continent to colony and from sire to
son fell to the South a legacy of lux
ury and leisure, until in the light of
advancing civilization it could be no
longer maintained IN reason or de-
Tended by the sword. And yet by the
justice of law, by the reason of heir
ship and 10y the innocence of child
hood, it was her own; and ecHuse it
was her own she maintained the
right to dispose of it without the
help or hurt of friend or foe,-a right
as sacred as the right to be free and
to stand unhindered under the arch
of the sky. And though in her de-
fence of that inalienable right there
were errors, there We're faults, there
were crimes which fling IL shadow
yet far above those errors, those
faults, those crimes, there rises Il
monument to heroic courage, pure,
bright, imperishable And in the
forum of the worlds great con
science the South stands stricken and
stripped of store, yet stainless still
Her honest purpose was crossed.
her brave armies beaten, and her ia
brio of feudal civiliza ton, which valOr
and policy had founded upon her rich
and ample plains, was overthrown
by the conquering armies of the
North, whose martial energy and
whose numbers were irresistible.
Like cloud from the South meeting
:; cloud from the North, whose gleam-
ing sabre and whose martial drum
beat was the lightning's flash and
the thunder's rOar,-theIe was Il
storm-and every drop that fell was
blood. Each side spoke its mind
defamation was vociferous, therhet-
oric was magnificent, the logic was
conclusive. And for the first time
since man was man the heavens bent
above and domcd and cannopied a
land without a serf, Il servant, or Il
slave.
''The South though defeated in war
has won the nobIer victory Of peace. F"
AS England. though yanquished on
American soil gained strength to be
come Mistress of the seas; as the peo-
pie of God, though doomed to dire
distress and domination, and to die
on distant deserts, won thereafter
victories that make them the most
CONSPICUOUS people of the earth. SO
let US hope it shall be with the
South.
Left slaves to the great black en-
pire of necessity and night, her peo-
pie turned their eyes to the rising
sun. Too poor, too prudent, and too
proud to retaliate upon the malig-
ners and defamers of their country 5
name, like the Price in the
Arabian tale, ''they stopped their
ears tight, and unmoved by the
shrillest. notes of abuse marched
straight to the golden fountain.
The industry of twenty years has
sufficed to pay 5000, ,OOO, 900 to the
survivors Of an army which pvt to
the torch and sword three billions
of her property. From her pitiful
resources she has builded her homes
anew without the aid of ostent;i-
tious charity and without the
stain of one ignoble prejudice But
yesterday nursed in the lap Of wal
and left bare and squallid rs tn,
woOf and warp of ruin, to-day ami
mated to new life and mantied nnew
beauty, an empire of work and wealth!
unsurpassed in resources, unequaled
in possibilities, pulsating with all the
| activities of this great age Hel
wealth, born upon the cotton fields
after basking for half century in
cities of the North comes back to the
place of its nativity. and to-day we
welcome the prodigals' return with
feasting and with shouting; lending
| to the song new melody, to the arts
new impulse, to eloquence new fire
and. to industry new nerve. Hel
people have at last entered upon Il
| warfare worthy of this energy OF
| their genious-to strike the shackles
of toll from human hands and witt
the audacity of genius fasten then
upon the forces of nature, upon the
moving minds, the rushing waters
| the tireless steam and the flashing
| current. These are her new servants
| this the slavery of the future, where
| in her every son is to be IL master.
War has had its victories, the vie
tories of the future will be won by tn,
unsullid agencies of peace The fielt
of her glory will be where nature has
reserved her grandest prize ant
where retributive justice demands i
shall be won -and worn. Ours is {
land never trod by the restless foo
of adventure, nor its credit spoiled b.,
the spell of speculation; it invite.
none>but honest endeavor. We hav;
learned the secret of success, put bus
! mess before politics, regain by worl
what we lost by war. And to-da,
the drum-beat of progress swells th'
peace victories of the New South from
the Potomac to the Gulf, across /;
continent of happy homes.
But the end is not yet. Aswe pros
pered with slavery, we Shall prospel
more with freedom. AS we prospere.
when envy and enmity separated ou
sections, we shall prosper more whel
commerce shall bind them togethel
with ties of steel. As we eprospered il
ignorance of our marvellous resources