The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-06-01

cf the Unborn antagonism between the
peoples of the North and South, of the
dislike Of the people of one section for
these of another, and the students of to-
day are too apt to imbibe the Idea that
the war of the rebellion can be credited
to antagonism of locahon-to that same
spirit with which we may truly account
m tor wars that have 80 often deluged with
blood the battlefeldst of the Old World
During the first two years of the war
the man who spoke in Northern streets
OF the war as one of abolition received
by the President and Cabinet of the atti-
tude of the border States made those
statesmen commendably hesitant to ac,
knowledge the legend of universal liberty
OF our national flag But that legend was
there before the war commenced and II
grew brighter with the smoke of every
na1sg;a oa1fle on land and sea. The irrepresslble
II was between liberty and slavery.
me spirit OF sectional bitterness that
sSisleo Tor many years prior to 1861 was
porn OF human greed. The first snip load
OF slaves landed on our shores Should
nave been the last Had the love of free
oom e. winch moved the colonists to sever
their relations with England been broad
enough TO follow the declaration that ali
men are born free and equal to Its neces-
sary conclusion there had been no meet
ING here today to pay the tribute of tears
ana ana MOVERS to the memory of those wht,
aled that our flag might live. and living
pc the emblem toward which the eyes OF
tHe oppressed may turn, even as the eyes;
OF the tempest-tossed mariner turn to-
ward the rift of light that speaks the
apaIement OF the storm.
For nearly g century the course of on,
government was steered by comnrn,,9isa
and temporization. The States in vybieh
slavery existed held the balance of power
ana aslbition bowed before the altar off +
tnat balance. ~i "a
slavery was defended in the Cabinet
~, ti,e oenaIs , and the House Of Representa-,
lives. Ihe men who cried out againsr
the abominslion even in The stre5fr -i9f 9f
e,W NeW England, were derided and mobbed
Siavery aver was was defended in the pulpit, and
Moids from the Bible We're Used as mn
anSwerable arguments of its righfeoasnsss ssls-
Pulpit and press agreed that the abolition
lSs lF5o was eah hdsturber Of the common peace
asSt. 1e tnerenanLs OF the NortA discouraged
asfedtlon. Slavery. was seldom mentioned
IN our public schools-ten years before the
war the school boy of the North found
no no Woras eI N MS books to tell him that it
ana prothef, husband and wife at the auc-
ton block. The statesmen of the North
agreea ts with the statesmen of the South
taat al men We're born free and equal,
II they We're not born slaves PuiDjt
press ana statesmen We're wrong. All the
IellSlonS OF the world could not and can
hoi make slavery right, and there can
pc no greater insult to the Creator than to
cnafSe HIM with the ordination of slav-
ery. Inc God who gave perfume to the
towers, you have brought here today. the
goa VINO put In the eyes of mothers the
Iove that klndies at the laughter of babes,
never ordained slavery That instftu-
In the hrst fifty years of our national
existence the Institution of slavery had
grown to proportions that left no doubt
IN the minds of true reasoners that its
increasing strength must prove,its weak
ness. 1t is SO in all the affairs of man
tyranny IS never so weak as when it
never weaker than when it seems all
prevailing and absolute in its domination.
dhe 5lisso matter n could not be kept within the
domain OF political discussion. The oues-
-'tlon of abolition was taken from the
convention and the stump from the press
ana pulplt, and became the absorbing top
When 1t reached this stage slavery was
doomed. 1t could not live if confined 20
The, me southern States. It must have more
its power in the halls of Congress, be-
come independent of the balance Of the
counrry-or die. 1t died. For those who
teday no thought or word Of bitterness
Thousands who wore the gray believed
thai that they We're risht-that they We're
dated f0 o sf bsisys sausa 3 They had been
right, and that. If the preservation Of
slavery necessitated secession, then seces-
sion was right They were wrong; they
a flag that bore legend of horror to the
civilized world, but they believed they
were right, and recognizing between man
and man the existence of that belief we
today give our flowers to the soft May
winds and bid them bedeck alike the
graves OF the blue and the gray. The
OF the boy Who fell under Grant goes
out in the sympathy of human kindness
to the mother whose tears are for the
we say, Rest in Peace.
The sorrow of the North and the
South is a common one-a sorrow for
North alone. In rendering sympathy we
utter no word in. pallfation of rebellion
In admiring the bravery of those who
step from the proposition that the cause
Of the North was the cause of right
the cause Of humanity, the cause justified
waver in our willingness to offer our
lives in resistance of the foreign assault
or domestic treachery that would dim a
never be allowed to obscure a principle
Tears must never obliterate the line be-
tween right and wrong. and When the
school children Of New Jersey are study
be taught, not only that it is wrong 10
entertain animosities not only that the
war was decided in favor of the North
but that the North was unquaIifedI5
right.
Since the war a new generation has
grown up, but the heroes who survived
the conflict are thousands among u.s. To
them the new generation owes a duty
of respect and of assistance whenever
that assistance is necessary. A flag that
is worth living under is worth diving for:
Il,
ing under that is not the emblem of a
grateful people, If there is in this land
man in want, whose inability to earn
comes from the fact that he responded
to the call of the immortal Lincoln the
fact of that hero's suffering is a blot on
our national life 1t is the duty of all
true soldiers to see that the government
is not defrauded, that honest worth is
not injured in public estimation by de-
signing fraud, but it is also the duty of
grateful Union to give full recognition
to the claims of those who rescued our
flag from the whitening grasp of treason
Ii is the duty of our government to min
whose protectors fell under the rain of
rebel bullets. It is not only duty, it
is sacred one. You may expend mill
ions in battleships, and millions in forth
hcations, but in the hour Of battle, when
inevitable death is seen in the cannon,s
mouth, you can give no greater courage
to the charging hero than will be found
in the thought that his death does not
mean want and misery to the ones whose
loved and loving eyes he has seen for
the last time.
Ladies and gentlemen the great con-
stitutional inquiry into the right of States
to secede having been decided by the
down its death dealing weapons and re-
turned to the ways Of peace. In the
trading of those ways, let us be true to
our country, true to its traditions, true
to the teachings of Lincoln, true to the
memory of our patriot dead, true to the
love Of liberty
At the conclusion of Mr.. McDermott,s
night on the Old Camp Ground" the
flute and drum corps rendered a selec-
tion, after which the Rifle Guard under
the command of the officer of the day,