Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-02-23
THE SOUTH'S MUSEUM


last rebel President and the birthday OF
the first. II commentaries an epoch In
the grandest struggle for liberty and
right that has ever been made by man.
II celebrates the baptism OF new nation
born thirty-nve years ago to-day. And
this commemoration is In the capital
city OF the Old Dominion and OF the
Confederacy.
More than a generation after the utter
failure of the attempt, 1t Is by the states
men OF Virginia. by her public authorities,
by the government OF the city
of Richmond. who honor themselves in
honoring this occasion, and by the free
sentiment Of this great and noble people.
There is nothing like 1t in history No
Greek general, no Roman consul. was
ever welcomed with a triumph after
defeat. Nowhere. at no time, has a de-
feated side ever been so honored or the
unsuccessful apotheosized.
A SUCCESS IN A SENSE.
Success is worshiped. failure is forgot
ten. That is the universal experience
and the unvarying law Of nature. There
fore, Ii would seem that the fall of the
Confederacy was in some sense sue
cess and triumph, for II cannot by
that universal law have been set aside.
for this sole exception, the Qualification
OF the Lost Confederacy. its heroines.
and its heroes.
shall endeavor TO make clear In what
respects there was success and triumph.
1 believe our first and most sacred duty
Is to our holy dead, u ourselves, and to
our posterity.
1t is our highest obligation to satisfy
the world OF the righteousness of our
cause and the sound judgment with which
we defended 1T. And we injure our
selves, we impair the moral OF our side.
by incessant protestations Of loyalty to
tho victor and continual assertions OF
respect for his motives Of forgiveness.
for his conduct, and of belief in the no.
biity of his faith.
There never can be two rights. nor two
wrongs-one side must be right, and,
therefore. the other is, OF course, wrong
| This Is so of every question OF morals
and of conduct, and II must be pre-
eminently SO Of a question which divided
millions of people, and which cost a mil
| lion of lives
! The world is surely coming TO the con
| clusion that the cause OF the Confederacy
was right. Every lover Of liberty. consti-
| tutional liberty, controlled by law, all
| over the world begins to understand that
| the past was not war waged by the
| South I'm defence Of slavery, but was
war TO protect liberty. won and bequeath-
| ed by free ancestors
| PRINCIPLE OF THE REVOLUTION.
They now know that the fundamental,
basic principle Of the Revolution OF l15
upon which the governments OF the States
united. were all founded. Massachusetts
and Virginia, Rhode Island and North
| Carolina was that "all government OF
| right rests upon the consent OF the gov
| erned." and that they, therefore, at all
| times. must have the right to change and
1 a W NfT
| changed circumstances require changed
| laws.
| They now know that the English settle
| ments in America were made in seDa-
| rate communities at different times by
| different societies; that they grew ana
prospered until an attempt was made TO
| deprive them Of an infinitely small portion
| OF their property without their consent
| The whole tea-taX would not have pro-
duced fl,5GO-less than $500 That they
resisted this attack on their rights as dis
tinct Colones that as separate States
| they made treaties with France and the
| Continental Powers n IT'S; that their
independence as separate States by name
was acknowledged by Great Britain in
| 1883: that Maryland fought through that
whole war until 17A as an Independent and
separate State, and never Joined the
| confederation until the last-named year;
| lHdl NOILu tdiOllHd anu JuOue lSldUQ
! refused TO enter the Union created by
| the Constitution of 1883. after the dissolu-
ton of the confederation. and for two
wears remained as Independent OF the
| States united. and Of each other as
| France and England are to-day: and
| therefore. they know that these indie
| pendent States, when they entered into
the compact of the Constitution of 17S9
| never did (for n state never can, by the
very nature of its being. commit suicide)
consent and agree forever to give up the
right of self-governmen., and Of the peo-
ole Of a State to make governments to
/ suit themselves.
There can be no such thing as ire
! pealable laws in free society.
Society is immortal It's atoms arrange
| and crystalline themselves from genera
ton TO generation according to their ne
cessites, but society grows and expands.
and constant changes are required in its
organization.
CANNOT ABANDON THE RIGHT.
Therefore. a State never can abandon
| its right to change-it is the law Of ma
ture, which neither compacts nor treaties,
| constitutions nor congresses, can change.
| When the Constitution Of the United
| States was formed, the institution OF
slavery existed in every one of the States.
| though emancipation had begun In New
| England Found TO be improbable as an
| economical organization, ii was rapidly
| eliminated from the northern society.
which was and is based on the idea OF
| profit and loss. In the South II developed
and prospered.
1t produced an enormous expansion
| OF material and consequently political
| power. 1t developed a society which for
| intelligence, culture, chyalry, justice,
honor and truth. has never been ex-
celed in this world, and 1t produced a
| race of negroes .he most civilized since
| the building OF the Pyramid Of Cheops
and the most ChristianiZed since the Cru
| cifixion of our Lord.
The Southern race ruled the continent
from 1775 to 1860 and 1t became evident
| that IL would rule IL forever as long as
the same conditions existed. The free
mobocracy Of the North could never cope
| with the slave democracy OF the South,
and II became the deliberate intent OF
the North to break up an institution so
controlling and producing such domina-
! ting influences.
MORAL QUESTION SUBORDINATE.
Slavery was the source of political
power and the inspiration OF political
| Institutions. and II was selected as the
point of attack. The moral question was
subordinate 10 the political and social
one. The point OF the right or wrong Of
slavery agitated but a few weak-mnded
and feeble .men. The real great, domi-
mating, and controlling idea was the POI
litical and social one, the influence of the
institution on character and Institutions.
There was forming in the South a
| military democracy, aggressive. ambl-
tious. intellectual. and brave, such as
led Athens I'm her brightest epoch and
| controlled Rome In her most gIorious