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4 EEV. A. J. RYAN, Editor- AUGUSTA, GA., JULY 4, 1868. THE FOURTH OF JULY. What lofty aspirations, what pleasing hopes, what patriotic impulses, once at tended this great anniversary, and what noble inspirations were drawn from its glorious memories and hallowed associa tions 1 For it was not alone the birth day of a Nation, but the birth-day, on this continent, of great principles—the principles of Constitutional Liberty, Free Government, and the Popular Will It was associated with memories that very justly filled the American heart with pride, and gave some excuse for the rather extravagant boastings in which our people so freely indulged. But, alas ! where arc all those aspirations, hopes, im pulses, and aspirations to-day ? Where is the South, and what is she to-day ? Can she share in the general jubilations ? Can she rejoice in the memories and asso ciations of this day ? Alas ! “ her people’s hopes are dead !” What have they to do with jubilations and rejoicings ? Their land is filled with lamentations over dead heroes who have fallen in defence of that Lost Cause, which was but the cause of the principles to which this day gave birth—over fathers, husbands, sons, broth ers, lovers—men in grey—gallant “ sleepers in the dust,” who went down to Death, battling for those principles and that Cause; their land, too, is peopled with the widows and orphans, of the dead heroes ; it is filled with desolated house holds, deserted firesides, and uncultivated fields: and their land, too, is filled with ruin and desolation ; while military Sa traps lord it over an oppressed and down trodden people; and that banner which was once hailed as the *• Flag of the free hearts’ hopes and home, By Angel hands to Valor given, now waves, as the symbol of tyranny and oppression, over this ruin, woe, and desolation. Can wc, then, rejoice to-day, as we have done in the past? Can w r c look up to the stars of that banner, and see any hope or glory in their brightness for us? Can we look upon its folds, and feel that it is a symbol of honor and pro tection ? Alas, no ! But we can see in its stripes the emblems of our degradation and humiliation ; we can say with the poet: “ Cold arc those hearts that warned for thee, And all their love-born hopes are fled ; No more tliou’rt standard of the free, Thy sons of valor all are dead ! Grim horror claims the free heart’s home, To Vandal hordes for rapine given, Whose flames did light the welkin dome And shamed the genial glow of heaven ! Go! float above yon Bastile’s towers, Where late the despot bade thee wave, And as the night of Freedom lowers Henceforth the standard of the slave.” And so we can have no part or parcel in the rejoicings of this day. It brings back, it is true, memories of which the South may w r ell be proud, but, overshad owing these, come inemories—later memories—around which it would be well if the curtain of Time could be drawn, and their bitter, galling woes be hid for ever Still, we must not despair. In the far off North a gleam of sunshine comes to day, to light our hearts with hope and confidence. In the city of New York conservative men from every section of the country will meet together to-day and take counsel on the best means of de feating corruption, and restoriugthe Gov ernment to its Constitutional purity and greatness. They will meet together to day, and we hope, place before the people a standard-bearer—a Democratic David, who will go forth to battle with the Goliah of Radicalism ; and he will be armed, wc also hope, with a platform of princL pies around which all j;ood and true men can rally, and which, it is to be hoped, they will proudly and nobly bear to a glorious victory. Let us pray God, then, to bless the labors of these men to-day, and guide them so that they will act with harmony and prudence, justice and dis cretion, wisdom and moderation, t Acting in this spirit, and guided by Divine Providence, they will take such action as will make this Fourth of July what other Fourths of July have been—a day of grateful and happy recollections, a day of rejoicings—a day of National Jubi lee—a true and real “ Independence Day.” OUR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. In struggling for our rights, may we not, at times, lorget the sacred rights of our Widows and Orphans ? In our great sorrows, are we not disposed to be selfish and forget others ? May not our own poverty blind us to their destitution ? Wc fear so. And, therefore, wc deem it our duty to keep before our people the blood bought claims of the Widows and Or phans of the Confederacy. There is no need of argument to sustain their claims. Out of the graves, where husbands and fathers rest, come pleadings which stoniest hearts cannot resist, in favor of those who were bound to them by earth’s sacredest tics. Those brave men left home, and wife, and children, for our sake—and died in our defence —and those who were dear to them should be dear to us. They are a sacred legacy—a sad inheritance bequeathed to our care—left to our pro tection ; and, if we fail to protect those whose protectors died in order to protect our land and cause, *we prove ourselves unworthy of our dead, and recreant to the highest duty of patriotism. Had we tri umphed, the dead soldier’s orphan would have become the grateful people’s child— and our love for the child would have been measured by its father’s love lor our cause; and the warrior’s widow would have become the nation’s ward, and her husband’s blood would have been the bond between her poverty and our riches. But, while the conquered can make no national provision for the care of their widows and orphans, still is it their bounden duty not to forget nor neglect those whose claims are so sadly sacred. AVhat would have been a national duty, becomes an individual obligation; and though, in our collective capacity as a people, we may not reward, as should be rewarded, the relicts of our dead, wc can, each and every one, out of our poverty, contribute our mite. Wc might, if we wished, plead their case on the higher ground and before the loftier tribunal of Religion, but wc are willing and satis fied to present it to the lower court of Patriotism, well assured that the grand testimonies—“ my husband died for the cause”—“ my father was killed in our army—will plead powerfully enough in favor of the poor Widows and Orphans. Alas! our land is tilled with them. Thousands and thousands of them are utterly destitute. They lift their sorrow ing faces to us, and beg for help. And can any one, who loves the South, resist their pleadings and refuse their petitions ? True, we have done much for them ; poor as our people are, they have divided their bread with the hungry. Associations have been formed throughout the land whose special purpose was to come to the assistance of those who were made needy and destitute on our account. And down to us, from noble men and generous women in the North, came most munifi cent contributions for our poor—all honor to their charities ! But, still, the relief, in the main, was only temporary and partial, while the destitution was as wide as the South. From all parts of the country we are in receipt of letters which are very histories of woe. Just before us lies one sent to us from a family once in afilucnce and ease, now victims of most utter destitution. When riches stoop down to take the poor by the hand, it is beautiful. When Poverty divides her own pittance, and gives half away to the poor, the moral beauty of the act is beyond the power of words to tell. Poor though we be, and poorer though wc may become, let us never forget our Widows and Orphans. The holiest tribute to the memories of the dead, is to protect those whom they bequeathed to our care. It is better to let their graves run waste than to neglect their Widows and Or phans. It is best, when Patriotism goes out to their graves to watch and weep ; and when Charity goes into their bereaved homes to comfort and assist. A DAY OF HUMILIATION. A proclamation, signed “ Rufus B. Bullock, Governor elect of the State of Georgia,” notifying the members elect of “the General Assembly of this State” to convene at Atlanta, on the 4th day of July, (to-day) appears in the daily papers of the past week. And so, to-day, the world will be called upon to witness the absurd folly of American Republicanism, and the humiliation of the unhappy State of Georgia. Will the world care ? Oh, no! It will not stop to give us even one tear of pity, one kindly word of sympa thy. It will go on with its toil, itsgaity, its sorrows, and never care that to-day the humiliation of a great State and a noble people has reached its culminating point. But, we shall feel it—we, of Georgia, and South Carolina, and Ala. bama, and Louisiana, and our other Southern sister States. We shall taste the bitter gall of woe, and feel the pains of the oppressor’s fetters, as “ Rufus B. Bullock, Governor elect of the State of Georgia,” takes the chair this day, and calls the “ General Assem bly of this State” to order. Yes, the misery of oppression and the desolation of tyranny is complete. The tyrant has accomplished his work. The voice of the people has been stilled, and yet the mock ery of freedom will desecrate this holy birth-day of American Liberty. Yes; to-day, the day of all others, in the civil order, which should be dear to every American—dear to every patriot—dear to every lover of Liberty, has been set apart for this mockery, this desecration. And by what authority ? Not by the authority of the Constitution ; not by the authority of a legal Government; not by the authority of the true people of Geor gia ; but, as “ Rufus B. Bullock, Gov ernor elect of the State of Georgia” tells us, in his little proclamation, by the au thority of “ an Act of Congress to admit the States of North Carolina, South Caro lina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, to representation in Congress” !—that is, by the authority of a Congress which has no legal authority itself—-nay, which has not even a Constitutional existence ! by the authority of a farce of an elec tion ; by the authority of Northern ad venturers, Negroes, traitors, and bayo nets ! This is the authority for the con vening of a General Assembly at Atlanta to-day. And will not such authority mantle the cheek of the “ Governor elect” with the blush of shame ? Will it not make the members of that Assembly, whose interests are Georgia’s interests, whose love is Georgia’s love, whose honor is Georgia’s honor, refuse to take part with the enemies of their State, with the tools of oppression ? Oh ! the shame of this day ! And, by what authority does “ Rufus B. Bullock, Governor elect of the State of Georgia,” issue this, bis proclamation, convening “ the General Assembly of this State ?” lie is not the choice of the legal voters of this State ; he is not the lawful Governor elect of Georgia ; he is not even yet inaugurated—and yet, part and parcel with the stupendous fraud and corruption, he summons his unconsti tutional and illegal conclave to meet in General Assembly in the city of Atlan ta to-day, then and there, we suppose, to put Georgia back into a Union from which, we are told by the Governor elect’s own party, she never could go out, and never was out! back under “the best Government the world ever saw;’’ back under the dominion of an unconsti tutional and lawless body, the Congress of the United States. “ Oh, the shame ! the shame !” And will the day of deliverance of the unhappy States of the South never come ? Yes; we believe it will, ere long, if we be but true to ourselves, and to the great | and holy cause of Constitutional Liberty —taking no part in the councils of our enemies ; but giving all the aid and en couragement in our power, little and humble though it be, to those gallant men at the North who are so nobly and so patriotically struggling, not only for our deliverance, but for their own, Irom the chains and dungeons of the oppressor. N. YORK DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. The political salvation of the People of this country (if there be virtue enough left in the land to save it,) rests with that party, which, spite of its faults and blun ders during the war, and its shortcomings and want of manliness since, clings with much of its old devotion to such fragments of the Constitution as have survived the shock of sword and musket. If the Con stitution be the foundation of a pure, free, prosperous Government; and if such a Government be the very basis of the people’s welfare—to weaken that Consti tution is to ruin Government and people —destroy Liberty and right—and to fling open the gates of lawlessness, through which anarchy or despotism is sure to enter. The Radical party have battered at that Constitution for more than a few years— have broken it into fragments —and the grand temple of American Liberty, built by the hands and cemented by the blood of men great, pure, and true, is to-day a mighty Ruin. That crime history shall lay to their charge. Aud now that same party sits enthroned amid the ruins it has made—and glories in the deed. Its re" presentative is a man of slaughter—its symbol is a sword gory with the blood of the bravest ; its law is brute force ; its history is three hundred thousand graves, and a beautiful land laid waste; its spirit, is anarchic ; its aim is “ rule or rum”; and its merciless motto, “ Vce Victis .” It stands before the altar of Liberty — and blasphemes. Into the sanctuaries of sacred rights it has entered and made them scenes of terrible sacrilege. It laughs to scorn the majesty of Law, and it bids the people kneel down and adore its own dread will. It believes in the power of money to corrupt the many,’and the power of steel to awe into submission the incor ruptible tew. Its lips are livid with falsehoods ; its heart is void of mercy ; its hands are red with murder. It has tasted blood—the pure fresh blood of Southern hearts—and, like the wolf, it howls for more. It has corrupted the North, and the glorious South, which it could not corrupt, it has robbed of all things, save honor. In the darkness of secret soeie" ties it concocts the usurpations which the bayonet completes. It has dug the grave of Liberty, and has chosen the man who is best fitted by Dature, and best able by his power, to drag the corpse to its rest ing place, and to bury it deep there for ever. Four more years let that Party rnle, and the epitaph of Liberty, on this continent, shall be written. Against the usurpations of that Party, the Democrats of the North meekly protested in babbling words, while the men of the South, braver f went out to battle, and grandly protested with their blood. From the first boom of Beauregard’s cannons to the last volley of Lee’s muskets, we protested, not coward ly, on paper—-not weakly, in mere words —but, as true men should protest, in the clashing ol sword with sword—in the waving of banner against banner—in the shock of steel with steel—in the conflict of armies with armies—in deeds of brave ry, and in deaths of sublimest sacrifice. We did our best to save Libert}' —but, overwhelmed by numbers, we lost all -all save the proud consciousness of a duty grandly done, and the sure reward of some of the brightest pages of history that the generations of the future shall ever read. From the going down of our flag until this present hour, every day has brought its own burden ol wrongs Too proud a people to sue for mercy, we asked for justice, and it was refused. Not craven enough to kiss the feet of our con querors, we stood amid our ruins and ap- pealed to their humanity—but in vain. We gave up our muskets —they demanded the surrender of our manhood ; we re fused, and they who feared us, when swords were in our hands, cowardly taunted us, and mercilessly crushed us, because we were unarmed. One by one our rights were invaded and destroyed— link by link our fetters were forged and fastened upon us—until, to-day,'our beau tiful land, by the common tie of sorrow, is the sister of Poland and Ireland. And meanwhile, every blow struck at our rights rebounded on the people of the North, and the shadow of tyranny hanging over us has deepened and widened, till now its gloom is cast over the entire country. There is but one hope, and that, though bright to others, seems faint to us. By the deliberations and nominations of the Democratic Convention, that hope shall be made a reality, or its light shall go out forever. The Party to he repre sented by that Convention, is the only Party that can save the country. While many of that Party stood arrayed against us during the war—some on principle some without principle—it gave us many friends, who proved their friendship by their fidelity under trials and persecu tions. Whatever of sympathy we have received in our sufferings, we owe to that Party. Whatever principle still lives in the North, is found in that Party. If a proper man be nominated—if the old principles be enunciated—if the welfare of the whole country shape their deliber rations—if love of true, legitimate Liberty control their action—and if the people, awakened to the dangers of a coming despotism, will rise, and rally, and, gath ering up the scattered fragments of the broken Constitution, restore it, in all its integrity and pristine purity, and place as a guard over it a faithful freeman, then shall South and North be saved. But, if the Convention, through want of harmony, or other cause, slioul! prove itself a failure—or, if the people should not respond to its action—then over this country a night of despotism shall settle, whose to-morrow may nut. for ages, dawn. Therefore, it is, with some hope, with much of doubt, and with great anxiety we wait for the meeting of the Demo cratic Convention. We hope that its members will have but one object, and strain every nerve, and make every con cession, short of principle, to reach it— the welfare of the whole people. For our selves of the South, we have no advice to give—we have no favors to ask— we have no suggestions to offer— we have no names to propose. Deeply interested as we are, bound up as our weal or woe must be, with the succe." or failure of the Convention, we are obliged to stand by as passive specta tors. We hope for the best, and we pray that our hopes may not be vain: but we have learned, in the ordeal cl sufferings, to be prepared for the worst. To that Convention, Southern delegates will go, because they'have been invited —but they represent a people crushed by military despotism. They go, not to ask pardon for the past—not to beg for pity—not to abate one iota of the prin ciples their picople maintained in the war, and maintain, though crushed, to day—not to confess the sin, though they do accept the failure of secession ; they go with honest hearts, and in manly t* *nes they say to the true Democrats of the North: ‘‘ Give us the right hand w brotherhood ; trust us, as we trust you: restore the Union, by restoring the Con stitution ; and thus first save yours -Ives from the coming ruin, and do us justice THE DECLINE OF SOCIETY IN THE SOUTH—ITS CAUSE AND REMEDY- No one cau travel through the S " I '| since the late war, and not he struck " ■l. the great change in the whole tone society, the loss of private honor, ana of public virtue. To the eye, one no apparent change, except the property, and a greater sprinkling or t ; ' Puritan element. Did the war alone the clash of arms, the marshaling