The Forrest City times., 1893-07-07

Vision the proud south fallen from her high es-
 tate into a weakened. degenerate and enets | aristocracy, all the daughters of her music
 brought tow. her silver cord of power loosened, | her golden bowl of fame and strength broken at | the fountain.
 The south herself saw and realized her dan I ger; she knew that her institution was opposed | to the moral ideas of advancing civilizations | she herself believed that it was wrong. But | she was in slavery and bondage unto it. It | had been fastened on her by the circumstances | of destiny the uncomfortable fate of history. ' It was inte rwoven with her very interest into | the very warp and wool of her social and po- | litical fabric. It was entwined with the very
 tendrils of her strength, her power and her | life.
 | FREER AND BETTER EQUIPPED | I can conceive of no probable solution through civic channels of this mighty problem that | confronted her. as though with an issue of life and death. But the peal of cannon sounded In l our land and my people were deprived Of their | accursed system by the God of battles. The | conflict came at the most opportune time for southern fame and glory, at the height of the | souths strength and power. before the disgrace of threatened degeneracy had laid its touch on | her younger sons, before the iron weight of her | system had borne her beaming forehead to the | dust
 THERE ARE GLoRIEs FOR BOTH. | but WHllS HlN ptOplt HdNt SlHCSTcly dCSCpbch | the issue of the battle. and have come to look l upon it as decided for the best, yet it is ! posture of peni;ence no attitude ot apology as 1 though for deeds misdone, that they thus as-
 sume. We have to make no apologies. Our | fathers fought for what they sincerely believed was the true spirit and meaning of the consti- tuition, and, although defeated, and defeated | as we now see for the best. yet we their chl- dren, honor them for their purity of motive and sincerity of purpose; we honor them for the noble battle they waRed. and no human power can abate one jot or title of their peo- pie love and admiration.
 The heritage of the children of the south | from the war is as priceless and as sacred and as honorable as that of the children of our northern brethern. There has been an equal
 share of glory, of greatness, of high ideals, and unforgotten and immortal names. Southern l valor leaps to Heaven with as bright flame | as northern courage and southern chivalry pours as sweet a stream of story and song as northern manhood.
 But the sweetest thoughts of all is that the | heritage of each great section from the war is fast becoming the heritage of both. The soft | ening hand of time is fast laying it's gentle touch on the wound.
 l firmly believe that when the generations that saw and felt the immediate consequences of the war shall have passed away; when his | tory shall have been written in the calm judg
 ment of the future; when our country shall have become more united and the eyes of our children shall look upon more elevated Amer ica: when we can look back upon our of
 states as England does upon her war of roses,
 as Germany upon her religious wars, France
 upon her war of classes, the glory of every man whose name is cherished in honor on either side will be the glory of our whole people, the priceless heritage of American history. This, my friends. is the south of today, the south of Union and freedom, the south of La
 mar and Grady. sprung from the ashes of tho old. builded from the wreck of war, lifted in labor from the waste places left by fire and sword. And it is best as 1t is-best for us. for the cause of liberty, for the people of America, and for all the peoples of the world The issue has been fully accepted by the south. Across the chasm of darkness and blood over the old | battlefelds, over thousands of graves, over the | fallen Blue and the fallen Gray, we have seen hand extended and heard voice of welcome; l and we have returned unto our love. unto the old flag that fioated at the wedding of the colo nies.
 MAGNANIMITY TO THE vANQUIsHED. | We are again one reunited people, one people | with one flag. one aspiration. one country. And
 we of the south have cause to love this Union. Was it not in part the product of our efforts.
 and when we would have left it but for the fate | of war were we not received like efring breth- l ren again to it's embrace: When I think of the l fruits of the victory transferred to
 the vanquished, leaders themselves
 standing high and respected in the councils of
 the nation when reflect upon the efficacy of
 the thunder that lies in the closed talons of our
 nations eagle and upon the dignity of our free
 institutions The fine equipoise Of our great sys-
 tenn that could accomplish this wonder and
 when, dispte misconstruction. despite the | spirit of partisanship that now and
 then fans the embers of the old wounds de- 1 spite the unkindness of those who would still | fort ho hap Of | and lay the tapping of it's skeleton finger of 1 death upon the fair forehead of the south | when, despite all this. consider the conduct l of the victors 10 the vanQuished, of north to
 south, and compare it with that of England | toward Ireland and Russia toward Poland I | am proud that am an American citizen. | am proud that am q southron, and that as