Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-10-27
TIE cnARAcrER oP ouR MEN.

But there was another and permanent ele-
ment OF the struggle. one OF the elements that
will always stand out was the personal character
Of the men engaged In the drama. Tho men
who advocated the cause OF the south were not
only brave IN the face Of iiylng bullets, not only
withstOOd the hardehips Of the march and OF
lamp without a murmur. but they were tho men
who after the war boro and sustained uublein-
ished civil characters. When our children came
10 Us with books IN which were reflections on
these men II was something TO be able 10 say;
"IheHe are they who have saved the South from
bankruptcy, rapine, and reconstruction by their
courage rs civilians and by the continuance OF IA
magnificent manhood"
II had been charged that IL we had succeeded
our government would have been rope OF sand,
which would have dissolved upon the occasion Of
the first informal excitement il had been said
tnat we We're dreamers-a race OF planters living
in bucolic retirement, with vIsions OF govern
ment that would be swept away by the first
storm; but when il is seen what We have done
in disnster we may well ask the world what We
would have done IN succCss.
Mr.. Brecknridge cOntended that though the
results of the war had changed the form OF the
problem of African slavery, the problem WAS
stlll with U.s. Tho race was here; the essence Of
the problem was with US and still upon our con-
sciences. The permanent element OF the pro-
biem remained Of the greatest Importance to all
OF us.
STILL AN UNsoLvgD PROBLEM.
The relations Of the States to the government
cannot cease TO be a prominent factor In our
government. This problem did not ind its sou-
tion in the late war; Our children VIII have the
problem 70 solve as did their foreiathers. Let us
not handicap our children by teaching them that
tue war settled that question IN any aspect No
man, said Mr.. Breckinridge, could fully pic
ture the condition Of the South when the war
ended. lt was not that there had passed over us
q pecuniary disaster. IL vas not that our homes
wero destroyed and our fences burned and tnat
we were without credit. We were as people in
an Unprecedented condition. Every form OF
governments to which we had teen used had
been twisted out OF shape. Suddenly the Con-
fedeIate soldier returned 20 states ana munici-
pailties which had no form OF government.
There was something Inherently constructive IN
the Ang glo-Ssxon-or, to be more comprehensive,
the 1eutOnic-race rom which we sprung. We
were the makers OF laws and the constructors OF
states. Wherever the language was spoken
there was the abode OF order. Examples OF this
were found IN the camps and on the plans. NlO-
lations OF law found triai and punishment. You
could take a body OF US whether IN Plymouth
Rock, at jamestown, al Newport News, or on the
coast of California, ana instantly "A compact
would be formed aud a government be made. But
the Confederate soldier was without the power
To form "A government. Behind hlin ana over
him was nonresident power that prevented
him from making laws. There was In all history
no parallel 10 the situation in the south. we
we're infinitely worse OH than wnen we landed at
Jamestown. IL Was bad enough TO be slave,
but f. was infinitely worse 10 he a slave without
a mnster. We were a surrendered army under
pretended constitution, with master who did
not know what he wanted 10 do with US.
THE BLACKS NOT OUR ENEMIES
There were In the South 100000 whites and
1000, 900 blacks. Had the blacks been th9 enc
mics OF the whites We would have known what 10
do with them. But they were not our enemies.
They were our friends. There was someth4hg IN
negro slavery beyond the negros pecunIary
value and his position as n chatteL IL was true
that on some Of the plantations where there ware
large number OF slaves there was not
much affection between the whites ana mo
blacks, but domestic slavery particularly ia tuo
HrsN In fsll "A
different thing from IT'S chat. oil aspect There
were bonds OF affection between master and
elaYo which extended back through gonerationA
Christ had died for them. They were the re-
spousib!iity we had 10 take with US. we were
therefore not Cnly slaves 70 non-resideht mas
tor, but slaves 10 our conscience; Dut, hVoWed
the speaker, the time would come wnen the
treatment OF inc negroes by the sOuihern peOplo
would be looked upon by the world as monu-
ment 10 their courage and philanthropy IN deal
ing with an humble aud inferior race. ,,
We began, continued Mr. Breckinfidso, 10 pu,tu ,sl
anew, or rather TO take up the duties OF lie
again ana the glory of the Confederate soldier
was that he had the courage 70 condemn ali new
principles. lie applied 20 the situation the same
old principles for which MS iorsiatnefs naa
fought lie adhered 10 the principle that man
was capable OF sef-yoyernment; that man
was created in Gods image and was capable OF
in1nite possibilities
BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO MR. DAVIS
The speaker elaborated this idea and then,
with q tcfyent burst, winch calou iof'n FVuhu
after round OF applause, he said:
at WAS not that he was our President itWas
not that he was the most ei1ictent Secretary OF
War tue nation ever had. Is was not tnat IA INC
seaaie Chamber he had been the equal Ot any
man In that most august assembly. ~ vas NOT
that ne reelected glory on American arms AZ
Buena Vista. IL was not that he iu "a ms iot-
tunes with our cause and lost. but 1t WAS eecanse
lie was eeleetod as our Yictim that We ADORE Jei-
ferson Dayis with all our hearts; because ne was
selected as the victim III our place We bear 70
niin the utmost loyalty that all the worid may
know that no man who had been our comraae
would we ever desert Ia the hour oil trial
WE MADE THEN sIATRs.
Inc speaker, in eloquent language. summa-
rized the achievements OF the south since tno
war ain the drst place. said ho, there were
eleven states that were made provinces We
MADE these states lAppnuse.I There u not
in npy par; Of America to-day, thanks be- TO Goo,
4 sinsie sDot where there Is any doubt OF tho ad-
Immigration OF the Law according 20 the oidon
traditions OF the English people. There is no
MACE ln America to-day where an officer u the
law. with d warrant signed by tho proper state
aosbor,ties. does not know his duty, and tne per"
son 10 whom he goes does not submit.
Sayi law is dominant everywhere. We
haye restored 70 tho generation WHICH
II corus after ~ ciyil hhertr In il broads.i