Year: 1877

made by force to sever the bends that held


us together. They of the South had come


to regard the protection and maintenance
of the institution of slavery as indispenSa-


ble to their prosperity, while we of the


North had come to regard that institution


as curse which we could in no way de-


fend or approve. The people of the slave
States had been educated into the belief
| that their dearest rights and highest inter


ests were involved in the protection and Sc
curity of slavery, and they therefore stood
shoulder to shoulder in its defense; while


the people of the North had been educated


into the belief that slavery was a disgrace


to the nation and crime against humani-


ty, and they therefore hoped, worked and


prayed for its restriction and early extinc-
| tion.


Each year conviction grew stronger on
either side. 1t controlled parties, divided
churches, estranged friends, and created
more hostility between the two sections of
! the country than would have been consist
ent with friendly relations and intercourse
between separate and distinct nations.


How could the war, then, have been
| avoided? Wise men of the North and
South had for long time seen and sought
to avert the coming storm. While Clay
and Webster warned the people with the
voice of prophesy, others, blinded by pref
udice or interest, saw no danger derided
these warnings, and sought to fOment and
intensity the aroused passions of the peO-
pie.


Do go too far when I say that the war
was inevitable? Will not impartial histO-
ry seek to explain why it was so long de-
layed? And will not the explanation be
that both at the North and at the South
the prevailing sentiment was held in check
by loyal and conservative minority, who
preferred the Union as it was to the hor-'
rOrs and uncertainties of civil war? Lin
coin and Seward stated but the truth when
they said that the conflict between freedom
and slavery was irrepressible; that this ma
ton could not long exist half slave and
half free.


How we'll we remember how the conflict
of arms commenced, and how the first shot
awOke the North to the dreadful realities
of an impending war, whose end no man
could foresee. And now and here ] wish
to say, with firm conviction of its truth,
that the South, in attempting to extend
and make perpetual their fnhuman institu-
ton, in attempting secession and disuniOn,
and in making war upon the government, |
was wholly without justification or excuse, !
and wholly in the wrong-politically and !
morally. And that the North, in abhOr- |
ring slavery, in resisting secession and dis |
union, and in putting down armed rebel |
lion, was wholly in the right-politically |
and morally. This, | am satisfied. will be |
the impartial judgment of history.


That the people of the South were sin |
cere in their convictions and were led into |
secession and war by an earnest purpose to |
maintain and defend their supposed rights |
and interests, cannot reasonably be doubt |
ed. Their brave conduct on the field Of |
battle, their immense sacrifices, their reSo- |
lutte perseverance in the contest under ev-
cry discouragement give the highest proof |
of their earnestness and sincerity.


The people of the North went into the |
war animated and inspired with an uncon- |
querable purpose to preserve the Govern |
ment of their fathers for themselves and |
children. Impelled by the strongest mo- |
tives that can influence human actions, |
and cOntending for the highest stakes |
known among men, the forces for and |
against the Union were brought into hos |
tile array; when the war of words which had |
ragged so long was followed by the march |
ing columns, the issue was compressed into !
the single questien-ShaQ we remain one |
people, having one government, and one |
destiny, or must the republic be divided |
and destroyed? All other sentiments gave |
way to this. President Lincoln afterward |
expressed the prevailing opinion at the |
North, when he said that he would preserve |
slavery or destroy it as should be necessary |
for the preservation of the Union. At II |
later period, the South, when the struggle |
became desperate for them, would have |
willingly given freedom to their slaves to |
have secured the establishment of their |
confederacy. 1t was essentially ii war on |
the one side to destroy, and on the other |
to maintain the Union. Ambition, sec |
tional pride, sectional hate, interest, sentl- !
ment and prejudice, served to bring the |
whole people into active sympathy and .et-
fort on either side. Can we OvereStimate !
the Importance of the ultimate decision OF
this questiOn-whether we were to be and |
remain one people, with one government |
and one flag, or whether our great heritage, !
our lands, our mountains, our rivers and |
our States should he partitiOned and divid- !
ed? By the wager of battle, that question
has been settled for all time. Can there
be any doubt that impartial history will
pronounce that the question was settled In
the interest of good government, in the IN
terest of peace, in the interest of all the
people, North and South, in the interest Of
posterityoand in the interest of humanity:
l doubt not that the lost cause will stand
condemned forever rs Il bad cause, and
that among coming generations there VIII
be no division of opinion upon this queS-
tion, in all this land, from the mountains
to the seas. The war had to be fought;
great armies recruited; the country CON
verted into a camp; the land billowed with
graves, or the star of the republic lall from
its high place in the constellation OF ma
tiOns. 1t is time we should inquire how
the men of 81, the men OF the North, lg-
nOrant of war, educated, trained ana de-
voted to the arts and employments of
peace met the mighty responsibilities they
were called to face. Something more inn
portant than Union, something grander
than government was involved in the con-
test-the honor of free and powerful peo-
pie was at stake. The battles might be


lost, and the government shattered to


pieces if they took the field; but the bat


ties could be fought over, the government
be rebuilt, or at least wise and earnest


people could in defeat have saved some
thing for their children out Of the wreck


II they had declined the fight, sought SAFE


ty at The sacrifice of honor, and let the Ola


flag be trailed in the dust, we should not


only have been deprived of our govern


ment. but should have been unworthy oil


a free government. To the lasting honor of
the men and the times, history VIII record


the grand uprising Of the North, when
State WED with State and the people as
one man. without stopping to count the