The record-union., 1898-12-16

He changed the balance and equilib-
rum Of nations and served notice with
every shot he fired that henceforth the
United States must be counted.
Continuing, he said I'VE have en-
tered new fields, as advancing nations
always do; we have assumed new
duties, as living nations always must
1t may, indeed, be true that our
fathers did not write on parchment
paper what must be done if, by the
fortunes of war, our flag should be car
ried to the islands and seas remote.
But, gentlemen, the flag cannot come
down. The institutions and the policy
Of free republic are equal to new con-
ditions, or they are worthless. ma
| tien that cannot keeppa with what its
own arms have accomplished, is already
icatalogued with the incapable and the
degenerate The new union, which war
| has welded more firmly together. sum-
mons US and leads us forward. 1t does
not invite responsibilities nor shrink
from them History has been busy in
these last eventful months, interfusing
all the elements of our national life, so
4
and remember only an indissoluable, in
diyisible, indestructible union"
J A splendid speech was that of Hon.
I Stephen O'Meara of Boston, the next
on the list, and it's reception was one
of the strong approval
Hon. Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the
| Treasury, delivered a concise and pol
ished speech in reply to the toast How
| he Eoi ha those
who preceded him, the Secretary's
words were warmly applauded.
All decorum was laid aside for the
moment when General Wheeler rose to
respond to his toast The distinguished
| Scutherner was cheered and cheered,
and it was fully five minutes before he
was permitted to proceed.
General Wheeler responded to the
toast, 1.-The Souths Part in the War.
He said:
From the earliest history Of our
country in all conflicts of arms, the
Southern people have done brave and
honorable service. Twenty years be-
fore the Declaration of Independence it.
was a brave Virginian, who, leading
Virginian soldiers, had by courage,
skill and determination, saved General
4
hilation.
"When the sound of war was heard at
Lexington and Concord, it was a brave
band of Virginians, under Captain
Morgan, that hastened to the defense
of their American brothers in New Eng
land. The Virginian boy hero who
fought under Braddock now, in the ma
turity of manhood, hastened to the
1 Pow
seven years of battle, finally conquered
peace and laid the foundation of
what is now the most powerful Gov
ernment on earth. Among other heroes
from the Southern States who were dis
| tinguished in that war was the brave
Sumter of South Carolina and the chi
valrous Lighthouse Harry Lee of Vir-
ginia.
| THE leading Generals of the war Of
| 1S12-1o were Winfield Scott of Virginia,
the hero of Lundy Lane and Andrew
Jackson of Tennessee, the hero of New
| Orleans, and the victor in many other
sanguinary battles. Also prominent
among the actors in that war were
Major Generals Thomas Pinkney, Wade
Hampton and George lizard of South
Carolina, James Wilkinson of Mary
land and Thomas Flouroy of Georgia.
In our war with Mexico it was Zach
Taylor of Louisiana who won Palo Alto,
Resaca de La Palma Monterey and
Buena Vista, and it was Scott Of Vir-
ginia who led our armies in their
triumpant victories from Vera Cruz to
the City of Mexico. Prominent in that
struggle, also, was the gallant Quitman
of Mississippi, Twiggs Of Georgia and
Pillow of Tennessee, and our Southern
troops in that war suffered proportion
ately much greater losses than did those
of any other section.
In the war of 1S61-65 the marshal
spirit of the Southern people was most
signally demonstrated. The entire coun-
try rose to arms, the able bodied men
Of the Southern States flocking to one
or the other of the standards of the con-
tending hosts, the records showing that
the people of the slave holding States
were almost equally divided, those who
fought under the Stars and Stripes of
the Union being fully equal in number
to those who arrayed themselves under
the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy.
When the call to arms was sounded a
few months ago the people of no part
OF our country responded with more
fervor and devotion than did those of
the Southern States, and none were
more anxious than they to encounter
their country's foemen. The first Off
Ger to give up his life upon the sea was
the gallant Bagley of North Carolina,
and the first officer to fall in battle
on land was the gallant Capron, from a
family proudly claimed by the State
of Florida-that land of sun and flow
ers. While it is true that there was no