The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-04-30
JUDGE CLARK 70 DOCTORS.


$500
PRESENT UNREST.
To-day IL is hard to realize that the
scene H. the same. Lee ana Jackson are
glorious memories now. Another nag
floats from the flagstaff on your capital.
From Won river, the fleets OF iron have
fed. and where the long lines of IN
fantry stood the green "grave-grass
grows where asleep are the ranks OF the
dead
Peace, sweet bosomed peace, broods
I above the city which numbers four told
the population Of the one that withstood
Mcclellan and Meade and Burnside and
Hooker and Grant in the brave days
Of old" Looking upon the surface or
this now peaceful scene one would muir
muir. "Other times. other men"
Yet l must say TO you, my young
friends. that not in lS6l. when the steady
tread Of the old Confederate regiments
first echoed along these streets and the
aruilcry and wagons came rumbNnS py,
and the buglcs OF marching cavalry ioi-
ed along your Vallics. was there greater
unrest in the minis OF the masses OF
your follow-citizens North and South,
East and West. than there IS at his mo-
ment Of deep. dreamless, apparent peace.
The hearts of men are strangely moved
within them for the masses are not saus-
ned with existing conditions. No one
contemplales that the present unrest VIII
eliminate. like that OF lS6l, In armed
strife. but all the signs that history mas
ever given OF great impending chanees
are with us. None are lacking. Condi-
lions will not. cannot remain as they
are. Be assured Of that. II you are
men worthy Of the Revolutionary race
OF heroes who won our liberties. and
equal TO the generation which faced the
perils of the great civil war. without
shrinking. you should read ana under-
stand the signals OF the coming storm.
There are men 10 whom the present
status is very comfortable. They de-
nounce anv statement hat all others are
not as fully satisfied as themselves.
CONFLICT OF IDEAS AND INTEREST
1t was your own great orator, VINO.
quoting the inspired seer OF Israel, cried
out in prophetic language:
'"rhey say peace, peace, but there IS
no peace"
The conflict Of ideas. the conflict OF in
terests is more intense and more real
at every point Of contact than that which
Mir. Seward proclaimed an "irrepresslble
conflict In 1860. At Cooper Institute
Mr.. Lincoln truly declared TO a startled
generation that the Union could not re-
main half bono and half free. IL IS
equally true now that this government
cannot be governed partly by freemen
and partly by an oligarchy OF wealth.
one or the other must be sole masters
of the Repuhlic. The generation of 1850
had not, like this. the benefit Of the les
sons taught by four terrible years OF
war and hence the issue Of this day can
be settled by ballOts-not by bullets.
But # is well for US 10 comprehend the
intensity Of the question now 10 be set
tied and 10 understand. once for all, that
il will not ana cannot be settled TIL there
is a complete triumph for one side and
a crushing, hopeless defeat for the other,
a catastrophe so full and utter that what
ever way II fall out. the victory VIII be
engraved In profound notifications upon
our organic law.
Be II understood that / come not before
YOU to express. or TO advocate any views
of my own. or Of any party, or Of any
section. 1t would be an insult to you
and unworthy Of myself TO use this occa-
sion for such a purpose. But | accept
the great thought Of Terence. the Latin
poet, which st. Augustine tells us was
received with thunders of applause by a
Roman audience: Homo sum, humani
nihil a me alienum puto." Il am a man,
and whatever concerns the welfare Of my
fellow-man can never be without interest
to me"
Called upon to address educated, tai
ented Young men who are to go out and
become captains of thought ana leaders
I'm the hosts of our Israel, ! should be
unmindful Of the duties n the or 'rtu-
mites Of the occasion If | were TO ste
II in rhetorical platitudes or well-rounded
sentences signifying nothing. The situa-
ton IS too grave. the issues too import
ant. the impending conflict too certain,
and the results too great and lasting.
If l can say aught to impress upon your
ingenious minds that a great struggle.
more important far than that of 1861. and
as inevitable. Though we trust 10 be set
tied i'm a different forum is before you
and that you will be factors Of conse-
quence in that contest. then perhaps not
altogether in vain / shall nave stood be-
fore you.
At Waterloo, when for hours the con-
nict for the mastership Of Europe had
hung in nearly even balances. and at
last. as the sun was bending low, victory
seemed 10 incline 10 the French. a BODY
of troops was seen far off towards the
North. marching towards the field Of bat
tie. On and on they came. Every glass
was leveled upon them. Leaders n
generals strained their vision 10 discover
10 which side the reinforcement belong
ed. for II would be cast into the scales,
ike lNt sworn Ol bitiiNt''
If they were the columns OF Crouchy'
then once more, aud brighter than ever
before. the star of Napoleon would beam
upon a field lost and won. II they were
the leading files OF Biucher, then the
Empire would pass away like a troubled
dream. and England, England, would be
the cry.
on they came. with strides as steady
as fate. as irresistible as destiny. They
proved TO be Rulow's division Of Bluchei's
CORPS. and fortune fed forever her spoiled
and favorite child. The present gener-
alton is engaged in a like momentous
struggle. not on the narrow battieneld
of a Belgian plain. but on an amphiteatre
that reaches to the silent oceans.
In the press. on the hastings, in the
close converse of ~neighbor with neighbor,
the conflict Of ideas is going on.
II is becoming more and more intense.
The forces are nearly evenly divided n
both sides. ike the contending armies
az Waterloo. are looking for reinforce
ment 10 the generation that Is arriving
M manhood FOR your weight will decide
the issue. The arrival OF your generation
upon the battlefield will decisively ond
the struggle.
THE TRUE ISSUE.
What are these contending forces ana
what is the true issue? Is II the tarif?
That il q party issue over which either
siae predicts beneficial results II IT wins,
and disastrous consequences IL It fails
and alternately one or the other wins ana
Win letter oil worse conditions the codn-
Try goes on.
L. It the silver issue, the financial
"a rF4nt - a. 4Fsr fins ma RI Vet