Year: 1866




Rights?


Are the men Of the South freemen under
the Constitution of the country, or are they
slaves under the domination Of an atrocious
political party ? The status Is what we
wish to get at. 1t is not to be disputed that
the men Of the South are men, endowed by
nature with every right and faculty which
the most favored people Of the earth possess.
In what are these curtailed to what end and
by whom? Where is the law Of man or
Heaven that denounces them as interiors
and subjects of others If we turn to their
past history, we fail to discover evidences Of
inferiority, or to detect one spot Of degrada
ton cankering upon their escuteheou. la
the old war they gave genius and prOWess
to the cause Of liberty, and elevated their
leaders to hi@hts Of fame nOt inferior 10 those
that rendered Grecian and Roman heroes
perpetual themes of history and Eoetry. In
the organization Of the Government, their
genius left its trace upon every Hne oE the
public law. They shaped It's course, gave IL
vitality, and rendered it model of human
Workmanship. What IS the history Of
Virginia from Pocahouta5 to Robert Lee
IS it not one heroic, unresting struggle for
human liberty, and the ameIiOratIon OF the
condition Of the human race Is there upon
this ample page that records her career one
blot to mar the perfect beauty Of the whole ?
If so, point to it.. Al her suferings were
the fruits Of sacrifices she made for freedom
If she is crushed to-day, for what is 1t? If
she is refused that freedom which her sword
carved out upon this continent, what IS the
character Of those who would crown her
century of glory, liberty and progress with
night Of slavery and degradation?


1t is favorite idea Of those who struggle
to damn the whito race Of the South, that all
men are born equal. From it comes the de-
4 I,e4 tsqg y RIO
powers and privileges Of white men. For
that dogma dcSoIatiDg wvr was Waged
against the South t-has been Numbered
from the pulpit printed in letters Of gold
and EN- nblazoned on the banners Of q whole
section. 4 million lives and billions OF
money have been expended toEiye 1t vitality
and enthrone 1t upon the pedestal OF a ma
tons faith. 1t has been baptized in the blood
and agony of the most sanguinary war ever
waged by man against man. 1t IS entirely
triumphant Itis the ir5tidea Of the group
that emerged from the carnage, and presides
to-day over the ruins that mark the downfall
of rational liberty. Beautiful IN theory, It
is otherwise as practical fact Its uniyer-
salty was cheat, a falsehood a mOckery of
truth. 1t was d huge fraud, monstrous
swindle. Now that it is erected 1t IS dl5-
covered to have-a partial face. 1t beams be-
nignantly upon the North, smiles upon the
negro but frowns and threatens the white
race of the South They are not born equal
to the puritan and the negro, and have no
right to life, liberty and the pursuit Of hap
piness" Virginia, with all her golden his
tory clustering about her, Is to be reduced
below the African barbarin, whose ancestors
rolled naked in burning sands and practiced
the rights of cannibalism. The South
broad, beautiful and adorned with every viz
tue, is not ftto be free Her cultivated sons
and her peerless daughters are to receive the
brand Of inferiority. From whom The
answer springs to the indignant lip Of every
gentleman Of every country who loves hb-
ertY and respects human justice. We deny
that we are not entitled to be free-free as
the North, or the East, or the West. We
denv the right Of any power to make ezac-
tions that compromise our interest IN the
principles Of the Constitution That lnstru-
ment is ours-ours by every argument that
can establish human prOpositlon-curs by
birth, By usage-ours by the memory OF the
Southern men who framed 1t and gave IC US
as an Inheritance forever. II asked to
surrender any right under it, we should re-
fuse. If coercion be resorted to and sub
] mission compelled, we can bu5 60 down with
( the old chart of liberty firmly grasped IN our
I hands = Public Ledger.