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010 SERIES—WOL. LHXI.
NEW SERIES—VOL XXXVIII.
ALfcIVSDKU H. STEPHENS.
FULL REPORT OF UIB GREAT
BPEECU
At Girariley's Opera House, October
151 b, 1874.
Ladiex and Oenilemen:
For the welcome yon have given me I
thank you. In reference to the compli
ment paid me by the distinguished gen
tleman who introduced me (Judge
Twiggs), all I can say is, that., as in my
past life, my abilities to their utmost
extent have been exerted in the defense
of constitutional liberty, so, God will
ing, they will contiune to be exerted in
the defense of the same great cause of
humanity as long as life lasts, and if in
these exertions it shall so please the
Great Ruler of human events that I
shall fall, I feel as if I could consecrate
my energies to no more noble work, nor
one in which I conld more willingly
sacrifice myself.
I am giall to see so many out to-night
of all classes. Wonld that this hall
could have held all the citizens of Au
gusta and Richmond county. It is my
wish that all, old and youug as well as
middle aged, shall hear me for them
selves, and not be dependent upon what
they may hear by the month of others.
I here remark in the outset, as I see
gentlemen on both sides of me connect
ed with the press, with materials for
noting down what I may say, that I
earnestly reqnest that they will give to
the public no report of my language
which is not first submitted to me, I
desire that the people shall hear from
in my own words, and not what others
may imagine to be the import of the
words used by me. Words are things.
I am in the habit of paying strict atten
tion to the import of words. I mean
always what I say and I say what I
mean. If in the hurry of speech I should,
happen to use a word which is not the
most appropriate to convey the idea, I
wish the opportunity of correcting it
before it goes to press.
to proceed, then : I am here in the
discharge of what 1 conceive to be a
duty. lam here in obedience to au in
vitation of a number of the citizens of
Augusta anil Richmond county, to ud
dress them upon the very grave and pub
lic questions now agitating the couutry.
I am here in the discharge of this duty
under the providence of God ; I ro feel
it, and with this < onsciousness I feel the
weightier responsibility for all that I
shall say. Three months ago I never
expected to appear again before any
audience in this world. I supposed that
my <1 iv s on this earth were fast approach
ing their end. Under that super-ruling
Providence to which I have referred I
am, however, still spared. I have some
thing more to perform in my mission of
life. Whether it shall he for good or ill
I know not, hut earnestly trust that it is
for the former, and not the latter, I have
been spared. It is my intention, it is
my resolution, to the utmost extent of
the strength given luc, to devote all the
energies which are left me to the de
fense of those liberties of our country
to which the distinguished gentleman
referred—to those liberties secured by
the Constitution of the United States,
ns established by our fathers. [Ap
plause. ]
I wish I had time to-night to go into
a history of those liberties—a history
of that Constitution. Wonld that I
hud strength—that I had voice to do
this, for in their history and its study
much profit might be derived. Even in
these days, while wo aro suffering so
much by a departure from the funda
mental principles upon which our
whole system of government rests, in
the busy walks and pursuits of life, we
are prone to forget the sources of what
happiness and prosperity wo enjoy in
our material interests under bad ad
ministration of government, as we are
to forget those Idessings which we de
rive from on High, without which life
would not exist. It would he well there
fore for us to reflect upon and study
those principles of government which
make the United States to-day, even
with down trodden Carolina and Louis
iana, the most invitable place of refuge
from the misruled of all other countries.
Rad as is the condition of affairs here at
present, by a departure from the prin
ciples of our fathers, still the thirty
seven States forming our Federal Re
public are truly au asylum for the op
pressed of all other lauds.
In our own beloved Georgia, down
trodden us she has been, what is it that
makes her to-day one of the most invit
ing places on the surface of the globe ?
It is the remnant of thoso liberties and
institutions which have been rescued
and preserved as established by our
fathers. We are once more recognized
as a coequal member in the Federal
Union. It is that constitutional liberty
we enjoy. It is that government by
which the masses, the laborers, the toil
ers, the tillers of the soil, the merchant
in his counting house, the blacksmith at
iris anvil, the engineer on the railroad,
the boatman in the pursuit of his call
ing, men of all grades, in every vocation
of life, are secured alike iu their right
of persou and property. We have no
monarchy, uo oligarchy, no aristocracy,
but the people—the Democracy—are the
rulers through the channels of their or
ganic law. The Government of the
United States, as originally formed, and
as in theory now universally admitted,
was formed essentially upon the idea of
Democracy. Not a pure Democracy,
where all the people in mass make and
execute their laws, but a representa
tive Democracy, wherein the people
first form a fundamental law, known
as their constitution, by which their
sovereign powers are to be exercised,
not by themselves iu person, but by
delegation through representatives
chosen by themselves, and by which
they form chains, as Mr. Jefferson
said, not only for their representatives
and rulers, but also, as Mr. Madison
added, chains for themselves, against
those evils which might result from their
own temporary excitement and passions.
This is the American idea of w ritten con
stitutions. There is great truth, my
countrymen, iu the sentiment uttered
by a distinguished Massachusetts man,
that “bonds make free.” Iu this way
constitutional liberty is secured through
the chauuels, first, of organic law, and
then by statute law properly enacted
nd administered. Reduced to their
original principles in primary analysis,
all government may be classed, by prop
er generalization, in two divisions: gov
ernments of ia.>s and governments of
men ; or, as it may bo with equal pro
priety stated, governments of law and
gov rnments of arms. There can be uo
free government where the laws are not
regarded as equivalent with the majesty
of the Monarch or Kog iu the most un
-1 indued despotism. The only sure safe
ty, therefore, iu our system, even iu
misrule, is to regard as sacred the majes
ty of the law as expounded by the
Courts. If the laws be bad, let them be
executed until a change of rulers can. in
a peaceful way aud through the peaceful
instrumentalities of the Constitution, be
effected at the ballot box.
Ia reference to the Government of the
United States, I must say a few things,
though they be brief. It is peculiar in
its character. Nothing like it ever
existed before iu the annuls of the world.
It is true it is a Federal Republic, a
Uuion of separate and distinct States,
aud that like Federal Republics in
manv respects have existed in Greece
aud in Germany, as well as ia other
countries ; but in no part of the world,
in Greece, or Rome, or Egypt, or Per
sia, or Babylon, or in any of the other
old' civilizatio s whose ruins have out
lived the languages they spoke, nor in
modern times in Germany or anywhere
else, was there anything like that Fede
ral ’Republic whieb under Providence
■was founded by our fathers. Our system
s’irnug from colonies; each of these
colonies was a separate and distinct bod v
politic, ° r political community to itself.
Each had the perfect functions of local
self-government secured to it by charter
from 5 the mother country, and with no
political connection whatever with the
other colonies. In other words, all
Atm rican free institutions sprang from
and were founded on the grand, semi
nal idea, now struggling for expression
and practical enforcement in down
trodden Ireland—“ Home Rule.” [Loud
applause.] ~ , ~
tSnfliee it here to say that the Revo
lution, as it is called, of 1776, was made
in maintenance of this idea and this
riglp. The Uuion of the colonies, first
in 1774, which culminated in the decla
ration of their independence, was re
sorted to for the establishment of the
right of local self-government
The colonies entered into thf Union
for this purpose. They dropped the
name of United Colonies and took that
of the Unitetl States of America. They
made common cause in their struggle
with the mother country for the sole
purpose of seeming this right of local
seif-government to each for itself. It
was for this that their common honor,
treasure and blood was pledged. In their
; first Constitution—their Articles of Con
! federation—each State retained its
sovereign power to regulate all its inter-
I nal and domestic affairs, or polity, as it
; might determine for itself. Each had its
i own Executive, its own Legislature aud
its own Judiciary. All good govern
\ inents, according to all publicists, are
| divided into three departments or chan
j nels iu their organic law, through which
i the sovereign powers of the people are
!to be exercised. These are the law
making power, the law expounding
power and the law executing power.—
This division of the exercise of sovereign
powers constitute three departments in
all good government*. They are
separate, distinct and perfectly inde
pendent of each other. This constitutes
a trinity in unity of good human gov
ernments, not unlike that Trinity in
Unity which distinguishes the Great
Moral Government of the Universe.
Under onr system, all political power
emanates from the people. The law
making power, the judicial power and
the executive power are delegated to
these functionaries by the people in
their organic law. In the delegation
nothing is parted with by the people
but an exercise of these distinct powers
so delegated. Those who are clothed
with them in either of the departments
hold what powers they are permitted
to exercise as trusts, and they are all
amenable to the people under their or
ganic law for the proper discharge of
these high trusts. They, under the
system, each constitute a check upon
the others. In the organization of the
General Government, each State is in
itaelf a separate organization; each has
its own Legislature, its own Judiciary,
its own Executive—all separate atid
distinct. In the States this organiza
tion was formed by what is known as
the Social Compact. The Federal Gov
ernment, or the central head, was form
ed by the States, not by individuals in
one mass or community, hut by sepa
rate, distinct States, and by what
is known as a Federal Compact. There
is a wide distinction recognized by all
publicists between a government form
ed by what is known as the Social
Compact, and one formed by a Federal
Compact. The Federal Government
derives all its powers directly from the
States as separate and distinct political
communities or commonwealths. Its
powers, as with all' Federal Govern
ments, nre defined and limited. That
Government can exercise no power
which is not expressly delegated by the
compact into winch the States entered
in forming it. This is the case with all
Federal Unions, but the great distinc
tive difference between our Union and
that of all other Federal Unions pro
ceeding it I will now explain in as few
words as possible. It is a wonderful
difference and from it chiefly sprang
that astonishing career which marked
its history for seventy years. In all
former Federal Unions the common
government or conventional State es
tablished by the Federal compact had
no power to execute what they might
determine upon. Their acts had first to
bo sent back anil sanctioned by the
separate States before they could go in
to operation. This was the case in the
United States under their first Constitu
tion. Whatever measure the Congress
of the States resolved upou in the exer
cise of their limited, delegated powers,
had first to receive the sanction of the
several States. For instance, in order
to raise money for the common expendi
ture, when tho quota of taxation was
fixed by the Cougress oi the States for
each State, it could not be collected un
til each State provided for it. Under
that Constitution each State hail also
retained the general power to regulate
its own commerce with all foreign
nations. With Mr. Jefferson originated
the idea that a great improvement might
be made iu Federal Republics in this
particular, without any essential change
in the nature of the Federal compact it
self. It was, that tho Federal system
be so changed that the Congress of tile
States should have an additional power
delegated to them, by which they would
be enabled to execute all the delegated
powers for themselves without a report
to the sanction of the States, as delay
and other inconveniences attended that
mode. His idea extended farther. It
was not only that this additional power
be delegated, but that the conventional
State, the General Government, within
the range of its limited powers, and with
in its appropriate sphere, should bo so
changed in its organization as to con
form in its outline with the separate
State governments ; that all the dele
gated powers should be divided as they
were in the States; that there should
be not only the law-making power
—tho Congress of the States—
but that there should boa Judici
ary power and an Executive power,
each separate and distinct iu the
Federal Government as they were in the
State governments, and that the Federal
Government within its limited sphere
should exercise all its limited powers
within itself. ' This idea was given by
Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Madison in a letter
from Paris in 1786, wheu a call had been
made for a general convention of the
States, to meet in Philadelphia, for a
revision of thair Articles of Union,
mainly for the purpose of having the
power delegated to the Congress of the
States to regulate commerce with for
eign nations. This idea was acted upon
in the celebrated Convention of 1787.
These changes were made in the struc
ture of the Federal organization, but no
change whatever was made in the new
Constitution then formed in the nature
or character or fundamental principles
on which tho Union was at first formed.
I kuow a contrary idea has been at
tempted to have been fixed in the popu
lar mind, but I assure you all such at
tempts ilo violence to the truth of the
history of this country. Anew and a
grand Constitution, it is true, was then
formed—Washington at the head of the
Convention—but iu that Constitution
but very few additional powers were
delegated to the General Government.
Among these few was the power dele
gated to the Congress of tho States to
regulate the commerce of all the States
with foreigu countries, and the power
to establish uniform laws of bank
ruptcy for all the States, and uniform
rules of naturalization for all the
States ; also, the power to secure to in
ventors and writers patent rights and
copyrights. Besides these no important
power was delegated to the Cougress of
' the States which was not delegated in
i the first Constitution or Articles of Con
j federation. The wonderful change <f
! tected in the Federal organization by
thejuew Constitution of 1787 was sim
ply the power to enable tho Federal
Government, within its limited, sphere,
to ex rcise all its delegated powers iu
the collection of taxes, duties aud im
ports, anil punishment of crimes or vio
lations of Federal laws by its own ma
chinery—and to do this, to have its own
Judiciary and Executive Departments,
i as well as its law making department.
This is the simple but grand change
which was attended with such astonish
ing results. The conventional State or
Federal Government, within its restrict
ed sphere, was then on the model of the
State governments. It then presented
the same trinity in unity that the State
governments presented. We often now
hear people talk about Congress as the
“National Legislature.” It is no more
a National Legislature now than it was
before the new Constitution of 1787.
Before that, it was known as the “Con
gress of the States.” In the new Con
stitution there was no chauge of title.
Every act since the new organization
went into operation has been and is still
prefixed with these words—“Be it en
acted by the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives of the United States in Con
gress Assembled.” The Congress, it is
true, under the new organization, was
divided into two Houses—the Senate
and the House of Representatives—but
these two bouses now constitute the
same Congress or assemblage of the
States in council.
Ours, theref >re, is a government of
States, instituted with limited powers
for specific purposes and objects, which
look chiefly to Inter-State and Foreign
Affairs, leaving all internal matters re
lating to the protection of life, libertv
and property chiefly to the States, where
these matters belonged of right from the
beginning.
I have often said that the conception
I of such a Federal Government, or Con
j volitional State—being itself a perfect
■ State within itself,with all the functions
j of a porfect government within its limit
j ed powers—was one of the grandest ideas
which ever emanated from tbe brain of
man. It emanated, as I have said,
from the brain of Jefferson, the great
Apostle of Liberty on this continent.—
Such a system of government as ours,
based upon this idea, was never con
ceived, as far as I have been able to as
certain, by mortal man before. Under
it we see presented a number of sepa
rate and distinct States, all clothed with
the perfect functions of government
within their limits. We see them united
I also by a common Government, created
! by them for their mutual protection and
interest in their Inter-State and Foreign
Affairs, with all the powers of perfect
government within its limited sphere,
and all moving on harmoniously
| when there is conformity to the
fundamental and organic laws by
which the whole system is establish
ed. Excase me for repeating here
an illustration I have often given
before in other places of its natnre anil
character. I refer to the vision of
Ezekiel. The Bible is a book which
constitnted my chief reading when a
boy. There is much in it which all may
profit by reading and studying. When
a boy I was struck with this grand
vision of Ezekiel. You will remember,
he said he saw a most wonderful spec
tacle. It was that of a number of living
creatures, or perfect organisms,all alike,
all moving together as if under the in
fluence of a common spirit, as if by a
wheel in the middle of a wheel, and as
each of the JiviDg creatures moved all
moved. All of them seemed to be mys
teriously connected in some way, so
’that whithersoever the common spirit
went all went. All seemed to be con
nected with a common head, aud when
they all moved together the sound of
their motion was that of the noise of
great waters, even the voice of the
Almighty. It is not for me to expound
the prophecies ; but this vision of
Ezekiel, whether in it he got glimpses
of our great Federal Republic, by in
spiration, it is not for me to say ; but it
does seem to me, and always has, that
this vision fits the wonderful institu-
tions of onr country. Here the States
are all perfect political organisms within
themselves. The General Government
is also a perfect organism within itself,
just as a wheel in the middle of wheels.
It embodies the common spirit of all,
so that whithersoever the common spirit
moves all move. And for seventy
years of history, the motion of their
joint movement, all being alike, might
well be considered like the noise
of great waters, or even the voice
of the Almighty, as God guides the des
tiny of nations as we 1 as that of indi
viduals. [Applause.] In this view I
have always regarded the Government
of the United [States as the grandest
system of free institutions ever estab-
lished by man. You may regard it as
superstition, or faith, or what you please,
but I have ever believed, and do now
believe, that there is a super-ruliu®
Providence that guides the destinies of
nations, and I believe that in the forma
tion of our Government that Providence
guided the thoughts anil actions of our
statesmen—the Fathers of 1787—in giv
ing the world the most perfect model of
government for neighboring free States
ever before conceived of. We are in
deed a nation, and a nation of tlie high
est type. The Conventional State form
ed by the separate States of this Union
is indeed a nation—a nation of the high
est order—a Nation of Nations.
But, from tho beginning, there has
ever been a strife between the friends
and enemies of the system, ns there has
been a like strife and struggle between
error and right in the moral universe.
There was, in the beginning, in our
Government, a class who did not believe
in the rigiit or expediency of self-gov
ernment by man. Our whole system,
you see, rests upon the principle that
man is capable of self-government. This
is the foundation upon which the whole
fabric is reared. It is true it was an ex
periment at first, and it is still an ex
periment in the process of development.
Many in the beginning thought it
would boa failure. They were for
what they called a strong government,
for a Monarchy in some form or other.
The struggle lias ever since been be
tween Centralismjand Constitutionalism,
between Democracy under constitutional
restraints and an unlimited central im
perialism. In other words, between the
friends of constitutional liberty and the
advocates of consolidation, centraliza
tion and empire. Two antagonistic par
ties of these principles soon sprang into
existence. The one party wanted cen
tralization, they wuuted the States done
away with, they wanted no Federal
Union of States, but one, single, Con
solidated Republic, as they called it.
The other party was for adhering strict
ly to tho principles of the Federal
Union ns established by their fathers.
At the head of the latter stood Jefferson,
the author of the Declaration Indepen
dence—not of America, as some assert
—but of the independence of each of
the original States. He was truly the
great apostle of American liberty. He
was the great leader of the Democracy
in the flist great struggle that came up
between these parties during the admin
istration of the elder Adams. On the
passage of the famous, or, rather, infa
mous Alien and Seudition acts at that
time the bruut of the contest fell upon
Jefferson almost alone. But two States,
Virginia and Kentucky, with their Sena
tors, stood by him, and not over thirty
members of the House of Representa
tives in Congress. The tendency was
strongly towards Centralism and Empire
at that time. An overwhelming majori
ty of the intellect and property of the
country at that time was against him
and his doctrines touching the rights
and capacity of the people for self-gov
ernment. Out of the two hundred po
litical newspapers published at that day
in the United States all were opposed to
him save twenty.
The Alien aud Sedition acts, so de
cidedly centralizing in their tendency,
so utterly without constitutional au
thority, so directly subversive of public
liberty, were resisted by violence in
many plac, s. Jefferson opposed all vio
lent measures. He urged as a proper
remedy that an appeal be made to the
masses, to the liberty-loving men in the
valleys and on the hill tops, to seek re
dress at the ballot box. His advice, in
substance, was a grand rally of the
people, who valued tlio great right
of self-governmeut, to the polls. Mobs
to rescue prisoners immured in dun
geons for violation of the infamous acts
of Congress were raised in many places.
Jefferson’s advice was that there be no
violent resistance to tho judgment of
the Courts, but that the true and safe
remedy was at the ballot box. At the
same time a distinguished son of
South Carolina, whose sympathies
were entirely with tho victims of
oppression, told the people that
“The price of liberty is obedience to the
law.” These wise counsels finally pre
vailed. The masses of the people every
where were thoroughly aroused. They
stood shoulder to shoulder in the fierce
contest then waged between Centralism
and Constitutionalism. The result was
the ever memorable revolution of 1800,
under the lead of Jefferson. Such a
civic victory was never before achieved
in the annais of any country. The cen
tralists were completely routed, and
were hurled from power under a popular
condemnation, as we read the evil
geniuses who raised discord about the
throne of the Almighty were hurled
from the battlements of Heaven to those
depths of infamy to which they were
nine days falling, and from which they
have ever since been attempting to re
cover. The conflict still, however, went
on, but for sixty years Constitutionalism
was triumphant in every conflict.
It is not my purpose now to speak of
the late war or the causes which led to
it. I may be permitted, however, to say
that in 1860 I did not think that the
remedy of secession was a proper one
for the partial success of the Centralists
in the election of that year. It will be
recollected by many of you, perhaps,
that I addressed the citizens of Augusta
at the City Hall, in September of that
year, when I was almost as feeble as I
now am. It was before the election, but
from my knowledge of the nature of the
contest, and the issues presented, and
the divisions of the friends of Constitu
tionalism in the contest then fiercely
waged, I gave it to you, or those of you
who Still survive, as my serious appre
hension that the country would be in
volved iu civil war in less than six
months. For uttering this sentiment I
was thought by many of my best friends
to be crazy. They said the energies of
my mind were giving way with the ener
gies of the body. Many of the most dis
tinguished of my friends who then con
ferred with mo have passed away, but
their memories linger on my mind
to-night. Some I see here whom
I met on that occasion. They
will well reeolleot how I differed with
them then in judgment as to the proper
course which'the friends of Constitution
alism should pursue in that perilous
time of our history. The full extent of
dangers threatening, I then thoroughly
realized, and I tell you all to-night that
this country is now—l mean constitu
tionalism is now—in my judgment in as
imminent danger as it was then. In the
conflict of arms which then ensued, as
it seemed to me at the time to be quite
probable, Centralism was rampant for
years, and I greatly feared that in the
struggle our whole system of Govern
ment with its liberties would be lost
*You all know that my judgment was
against tbe withdrawal of the States as
AUGUSTA. GA.. WEDNESDAY MORNING. OCTOBER 28, 1874.
a remedy against any success that the
Centralists might obtaio in the then
contemplated election. I do not now
propose to disenss the propriety or cor
rectness of that judgment. Others for
whom I then and now entertain the
highest respect, thought differently.
The j adgment of posterity r. ust decide
between us. I thought onr fort was in the
Constitution. I knew we had abundant
cause to withdraw from the Union. I
knew that nearly half of the Northern
States had proved themselves faithless
to their obligations under the Constitu
tion, yet I did not despair of a rectifica
tion of these wrongs in the Union. Much
of the trouble of onr then sitnation
came from a division, and an unfortu
nate division, too, of the real friends of
the Constitution throughout the United
States. Bnt I will say that, in mr
judgment, those who differed with me
as to the policy of immediately with
drawing, or attempting to withdraw,
were inflnenced ty no desire to with
draw from the constitutional principles
of our fathers. It was only because they
thought those principles were endan
gered by the partial success of the Cen
tralists in the elections of that year.
Their object in withdrawing from the
Union was to save the principles of the
Constitution. Their main object was to
rescue and preserve the ark of the cove
nant of their fathers. It was no disloy
alty on their part to the principles of
the Government of their fathers. No
one, therefore, can justly charge any
Southern man who favored secession
with being a traitor. [Loud and con
tinued applause.]
What constitutes loyalty in this coun
try ? It is fidelity and devotion to tlie
principles of the Constitution. The
Constitution was formed, as I have said,
for the purpose of securing to each
State the right of self-government or
home rule. If there were any traitors in
the late, unhappy war between the
States, they belonged to that class who
openly ignored the obligations of the
Constitution, and professed to be gov
erned by a higher law. [Applause.]
When I read the resolution of the
Federal Congress, passed in 1863, iu
which it was declared to be their intent
“for the most vigorous prosecution of
the war, until the Constitution and laws
shall be enforced and obeyed in all parts
of the United States,” I could but think
that if this resolution had been strictly
carried out perhaps most of those who
had voted for it would have been the
first subjects of slaughter under it.—
Many of them, at least for years before
the withdrawal of the Southern States,
had openly declared that they would not
recognize the obligations of the Consti
tution. It violated their consciences.—
If, then, the war had been waged until
the Constitution, with all its obligations,
had been “enforced and obeyed iu all
parts of the United States,” what would
have become of them ? They had wan
tonly, avowedly and contemptously
trampled under foot that glorious Con
stitution of our common ancestors,
which they had solemnly sworn by kiss
ing the Book to sustain and support.
They did but add perfidy to their trea
son ! [Applause.]
During the conflict of arms, I repeat,
I was greatly apprehensive that the
whole frame work of our constitutional
liberty would be destroyed—that our
whole system of free institutions would
come to an end; that Centralization,
Consolidation and Empire would be the
final result. Wheu it was over, how
ever, when the Southern States aband
oned secession as a remedy against the
encroachments of Centralism; when a
restoration of the Union was proposed
by a return of the seceding States to
their “proper relations to the Union;”
•when this proposition was acceded to,
and all the Southern States iu good
faith had re-assumed their obligations
under the Union in expectation of re
ceiving and enjoying ail the rights un
der it., my hopes for the future were en
couraged. These Southern States, of
their own volition, as a result of the war
hail abolished that peculiar institution
whicli characterized their internal policy,
known as slavery, and which had long
been a thorn in the general system. I here
take occasion to say that" the colored
race in the Southern States never occu
pied that position known as slaves un
der tlie Justinian Code or the laws of
nations, and in the general European
sense of the word. They were recog
nized by the laws of the States and the
Constitution of the United States
as persons. Their’s was a position
of legal subordination. I do not pro
pose to defend it as a perfect institution.
There were attending it many defects
and errors, as there are evils attending
all human institutions. Many of these
had already been corrected, and many
more would have been corrected but for
the improper interference of the Central
ists. Under the system this whole sub
ject was left for the humane management
of thephilautiiropicstatesmanshipof each
State under the Jeffersonian principles
of Democracy on which the whole fabric
rested. The colored man, or the slave,
so-called, had the same rights of life anil
limb, aud the same security for their
protection under the law that the master
had. The property in his labor was not
dissimilar in principle to the property
of others bound to service, except that
in liia case it was for life, and not for a
term of years. I repeat, that the system
was not as perfect as it might'have been,
and, in my judgment, ought to have
been, and would have been but for ex
ternal interference. I believed it was a
great error and a defect that education
was denied them. Long before ihe war I
proclaimed to you and to the people of
Georgia that the system was intended to
be the best for both races, politically, in
tellectu dly and morally, anil that if
it was not and could not bo made so,
in all these respects, it ought to be abol
ished. The interference of the Central
ists on this subject I thought of great
injury and mischief to both races. The
abolition of the system, however, was
agreed to by all the Southern Stases iu
good faith as the result of the war. I
will take this occasion and this connec
tion to say to the colored people present,
and I regret that every one iu Georgia
cannot hear me for myself as you do to
night, that I have uo prejudice against
you on account of race or color, or pre
vious condition of servitude, and never
had. I have defended aud saved the
lives of more colored persons than per
haps any other man in Georgia. This I
have voluntarily done on many occasions
when I thought justice was not other
wise likely to be meted out to them. On
one occasion in Sparta, in 1864, I put
forth voluntarily all my energies to save
the lives of quite a number who were
about to be the victims of au excited
multitude without a judicial trial. Thir
ty-five colored men had been arrested
under most exciting reports of an in
tended insurrection, the threats of an
indiscriminate slaughter, killing, burn
ing and laying waste the town, and were
likely to be taken out and hung in this
excitement within a few hours. I made
a speech in their behalf of an hour aud
a half in length. It was an hour before
I could temper the minds of the multi
tTide to entertain a suggestion that in
this case, as in all other like ones, the
true course was to maintain the majesty
of the law.
The suggestion was finally made, and
my resolution to stand by the majesty
of the law in this case was finally unani
mously adopted. Amongst those whose
lives were thus saved was that of Wil
liam Henry Harrison, whom I see an
nounced by the papers of this morning
as my competitor for Congress in this
oanvass. [Great applause.] Ido no not
allude to this with a view of implying
that he is under any obligation to me
for what I did for him and others on
that occasion, or that he acts improperly
in any way in becoming my opponent
for Congress. Iu what I did I simply
discharged what 1 deemed to be my duty
iu the vindication of law and order and
the maintenance of that justice which
has been the object of my life towards
all men, high or low, rich or poor, white
or black. My object is not to influence
tbe votes of any one in this election. If
any colored man in the district thinks
that his rights or interests will be safer
in the hands of William Henry Harrison
as a member of Congress than in mine
let him so vote. [Laughter.]
But to return. I have said that I be
lieved our general system of constitu
tional liberties, as established by our
fathers, are in more danger now than
they were even daring the war. This
apprehension grows oat of the present
absorbing issue before the people—that
issue df Centralism against Constitu
tionalism presented in what is known as
the Civil Rights bill.
This is now the absorbing issue and
upon its decision, as I view it, looking
■ to its momentous consequences, depends
the future character of our Government.
Upon this point I wish specially to ad
dress the colored people present as well
as the white. It is known to you that a
bill was introduced into the last Con
gress and is still pending purporting to
secure civil rights to the colored popula
tion in the United States, The title to
this bill is but a deception. Every
colored man in Georgia, now, has the
same civil rights that I have. What are
civil rights ? They are the right to con
tract and be contracted with, to sue and
be sued aud to stand equal before the
law in the protection of their lives,
liberties and property. These rights are
now secured to the colored people, as
well as to the white, by the laws of Geor
gia. If not, show me wherein and I
pledge all my energies to remedy the de
fect. This bill proposes to carry out, or
to enforce the provisions of the Four
teenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the
Constitution. Suffice it here to say, that
neither of these Amendments confers any
civil rights upon either black or white.
The Fourteenth Amendment, it is true,
confers citizenship on the colored popu
lation, but it leaves with the States the
conferring of all civil rights to both races
within the limits of the States respective
ly. It barely declares that no discrimi
nation in conferring civil rights shall be
made on account of race, color or pre
vious condition of servitude. The
Fifteenth Amendment confers no right
whatever. It contains noibing but
a prohibition against the States
exercising any discrimination whatever
on account of race, color or previous con
dition of servitude in their conferring
the right of suffrage on their citizens.
No civil right whatever is conferred
upon anybody, white or black, by either
of these Amendments, not even the right
of suffrage. Neither of these Amend
ments, therefore, contain any power by
which the General Government is au
thorized to interfere with the civil rights
of the people of the States. The bill,
therefore, upon its very face beam the
bold assumption of open usurpation. It
brings in direct conflict the great prin
ciples of Centralism and Constitutional
ism, which have been at war with each
other from the beginning of the Govern
ment. Should Centralism prevail in this
conflict it would be but the precursor of
other more rapid strides to ultimate
Consolidation and Empire. I am, there
fore, my colored friends, opposed to this
bill because it is in utter violation of
that Constitution upon which your lib
erties, as well as those of the whites, de
pend. But while this bill purports upon
its face to have the object I have stated,
yet in its details its leading feature is
only to compel tlie States to make all
their public schools mixed schools; that
is, to have the colored and white chil
dren go to the same* school. To this I
am opposed, and I believe you too are
likewise opposed. What you want, and
what I am for, and what the State of
Georgia has provided for, is for the col
ored people to have an equal proportion
ate share of the educational fund. But
it suits you best, and the whites best, to
have separate schools. You do not wish
your children lo go to the same school
with the whites. This suits neither
your taste nor theirs. This is no civil
right—it is a social privilege which can
not and ought not to be regulated by
law. As to so much of the bill as re
lates to railroads aud public inns, I will
only say that by the laws of Georgia
now you have a perfect right to as good
a seat in a car as a white man, where
you pay the same amount of money. If
you buy a ticket for a first class car you
are entitled to a seat in a first class car;
but this does not give you tho right of a
seat in the same car with white crowds.
That would be no civil right, but a so
cial privilege, which, as I have said,
ought not to be attempted to be regu
lated by law. Social intercourse is a
matter that should be left to men to
regulate for themselves, according to
their own likings and tastes. If any
railroad company in Georgia sell to a
colored man a first class ticket and deny
him a right to a seat in a first class car
that company by law is now liable for
damages ; and if any colored man who
may be so damaged or wronged will
come to me I will see that he is righted
by a proper suit at law. This right,
however, to a first class seat does not
carry with it the right to go into any
other than such a first class car as may
be .assigned to the holder. So also with
public inn keepers ; by law, bv the com
mon law in force iu Georgia" they are
required to providesuitable accommoda
tion for all well-behaved persons of all
classes who may ask* entertainment
Upon their paying for the same. They
are liable for damages if they do not
But this does not require of them to
place their guests of different characters
or classes either in the same room or at
the same table. It requires only that
suitable accommodations shall be pro
vided for all who demean themselves
properly. Civil rights, and social priv
ileges are totally different.
The chief object of all good govern
ments should be to secure what is known
properly as civil rights to every indi
vidual human being within their juris
diction; to mete out to all perfect jus
tice. Social position comes not from
government or the law. Men may stand
perfectly equal before the. law when oc
cupying vastly different positions. The
remedy for all violations of right is the
perfect administration of justice. In
their right to justice all men are created
equal.
Many of you, perhaps, heard me when
I spoke in this place on St. Patrick’s
Day of last year. I said that tho simple
remedy for all the troubles in Ireland
was tlie administration of justice. This
was what j reduced harmony in States
as the simple law of gravity in the ma
terial universe around us. It is this simple
principle of gravity that forms the dew
drop, that shapes the world and directs
the. planets and all the celestial orbs in
their motion. So justice regulates in
peace and concord all the constituent
elements of States and commonwealths.
While all iu every State are equal in
their rights to justice, yet they differ iu
many other particulars. They differ in
size, in intelligence, in moral worth, as
weil as iu race and color. These dif
ferences are not unlike those we
see iu other natural objects about us.
God made all the races of men. He
made them different. He made differ
ences throughout nature. You see it
below, above, everywhere. Why God
made these differences we know not.
Why He made one star to differ from
another star iu magnitude aud glory, we
kuow not. But we know that these dif
ferences or inequalities, so far from
working discord, all unite in producing
that general harmony iu nature that per
vades all space. So the differences
among men in race or color, or other
inequalities, marking social position
and regulating, social relations are no
cause for discord in communities or
States. They will, with equal justice to
all, according to position or merit, work
out a like harmonious result. It was in
the face of these indisputable differ
ences among men of the same race as
well as of different races among men
that Jefferson, the great founder of
American Democracy, proclaimed the
great truth that “ail men are created
equal.” He meant by it what I have
said, that notwithstanding ail the ap
parent differences and inequalities, yet
all are equal in their right to justice.
Good governments are instituted, not
to make men equal in those things
wherein God made them unequal or
different, bnt all good government will
secure perfect justice, as far as human
instiumentaiities can, to all within its
bounds. American Democracy, there
fore, is a3 broad as the world,"as catho-
lie as Christianity. It embraces within
the scope of its objects men of every
clime, of every race and of every color
who are fit for it. As in Christianity all
who are within the limits of its teachings
and partakers of its blessings to a limit
ed extent are not fit for full communion
or membership of the church so with
Jeffersonian Democracy. The idea I
cannot elaborate, I barely present it.
Two things, however, in this connec
tion just here I wish to note in reference
to the views, or professions rather, of the
Centralists, at this time known as ex
treme Radicals, upon the subject of free
dom and free government generally.
They profess, par excellence, to be the
peculiar friends of freedom at this time,
and would hold up the Jeffersonian De
mocracy, to whom the continent is in
debted for all our free institutions, as
the real enemies of liberty. Iu their war
against the Constitution, after the war
for the restoration of the Union was
over, ihey seemed to entertain the same
idea of free government which a man in
Lexington, Ky., once expressed, accord
ing to an anecdote which Jndge McKin
ley, of the Supreme Court Bench, used
to tell with a great deal of point and
force. As Judge McKinley told the
story, Mr. Pope (I believe it was), tbe
Representative in Congress from’ that
District, on some subject gave a vote
that was very unpopular in Lexington.
An indignation meeting was called at
night. Arrangements were made to car
ry the figure of the Representative out
to the suburbs and there hang their
Member in effigy. As the procession was
moving along the streets with torchlights
and music, beating the rogue’s march,
and performing such other suitable or
gies for such an occasion, or Saturnalian
exhibition, some friend of she Member,
standing on the sidewalk, said the pro
ceedings was a— shame. The epithet I
need not state, you will all understand it
[Laughter]. One of the more infuriated of
the crowd overheard him, stepped up to
him, seized him by the collar, thrust him
upon the pavement, remarking: “What
is that yon said, sir ? I’ll let you know
that this is a free country, and we will
do as we please and you shan’t say noth
ing.” [Laughter.] So with these ex
treme Radicals in their reconstruction
policy towards ten of the Stales of this
Union, after they had done everything
which entitled them to their positions
as coequal members of the Union. Not
one of them had uttered even an offen
sive word to the infuriated spirits who
had voted so unanimously for the vigo
rous prosecution of the ‘war, until the
Constitution and laws of the United
States should be enforced in all parts of
the country. It was then, however, that
they, unprovoked, seized these States
aud throttled them, and overturned their
Constitutions anil internal polity, reply
ing in effect to all protests against this
unheard-of wrong that this is a free
country, we will do as we please and
you shall say nothing. This is not the
idea of the Jeftersonian Democracy.
Their idea is that the freedom of States
depends upon the right of leaving each
one to govern itself iu its domestic af
fairs as the wisdom, virtue and patriot
ism, as well as the philanthropy, of its
own statesmen may think best for its
own welfare, looking to the best in
terests of all classes of society. Accord
ing to the idea of the Jeffersonian De
mocracy, also, duo fitness is required
for membership in the State as in the
Church. While the Jeffersonian princi
ples of government, as I have said, em
brace all of every race and clime in
giving equal protection to. all, yet none
are admitted into full fellowship until
they are fit for it. A minor is not
allowed membership; The most intelli
gent foreigners are not allowed full
membership until after a probation of
four years. The Radical idea seems to
have been far different. This is the
second point in reference to their views
on this subject that I wish to note, and
theirideasin relation to it seem to be very
similar to tlio e entertained by John
Crowell, once quite distinguished in this
btate and Alabama, ns to the proper
fitness for church membership. The
wife of Mr. Crowell, as the anecdote was
told, was a very devout Methodist,
while he made no pretensions to re
ligion of any sort. The church which
his wife attended was some ten or
twelve miles distant. He was a man of
great wealth and much devoted to his
wife, but felt great annoyance at the
loss of time in going so far to attend
preaching. He told the circuit rider
that this inconvenience must be reme
died. He would build a church on his
own premises, so that she could attend
without traveling so far. He was told
there was something necessary besides a
house to worship in. There must be a
sufficient number of communicants to
constitute a society or church. “How
many,” he asked, “does this require?”
He was told there must be at least six.
“Oh, well,” said he, “that difficulty can
easily be gotten over.” “How?” said
the preacher. “Why,” said Crowell,
“my wife will be one, Susan Patterson,
just over the way, is now a member;
she will make two ; John Smith, about
two miles off, is now a member—he will
make three ; Hick Jones can also move
his membership to this place.” “That,”
said the preacher, “is only four!”
“Well,” said Crowell, after pausing a
little while, “I’ll jine, and make Tom,
the carriage driver, jine; and that’ll
make six, the required number.”
[Laughter.] The Radical idea of fitness
for State membership, and how that
fitness is to be effected, i3 quite like
Crowell’s idea of church membership,
and how it is to be effected. [Laughter.]
Jeffersonian Democracy aims at the pro
tection of all alike, and the admission
into State membership of all as soon as
they are fit for it. It’s aims are as I
have stated, what ought to be the ob
jects of all good government, that is,
the protection of the weak against the
strong. No man on earth has a right to
unjustly hurt another. The object of
good government is to prevent and
punish wrongs. Under good govern
ment every man, woman and child, by
night and by day, whether in a palace
or a thatched hut, even under a bark
shed, should feel perfectly secure and
safe from molestation of any kind, or
from any quarter, so long as he pr she
abstains from doing wrong to others.
This is now the character of the govern
ment of tlie State of Georgia, under the
principles of the Jeffersonian Demo
cracy. This is the object of our laws.
If any wrongs exist they spring not
from our laws, but from the evil passions
of men which ne laws, human or divine,
have yet been able to prevent. If, how
ever, any defect in the iawu shall be
discovered by which the rights of the
colored people are not equallv protected
with those of the whites, I "know that
Mr. Walsh, and Mr. Black and Mr.
Clark will see to it that the defect, if
pointed out to them, shall be remedied
by appropriate additional legislation.
I see it stated that the Chattanooga
Convention have joined issue with me
as to my views touching the wishes of
the colored people of this State upon
the subject of mixed schools. lam
willing to submit this matter, not only
to all the colored persons present but to
all in this District. I have never yet
put the question to a colored mau in
this State, whether he wanted the colored
children to go to the same schools with
the white children, who did not answer
with an emphatic “no.” All you want,
my colored friends, on this subject, I
repeat, is an equal participation in the
educational fund of this State. This yon
now have, as you know. You also know
that you never got a clime for educa
tional purposes until the Democracy
came into power, although about $250,-
000 of taxes for this purpose were col
lected. Yet neither you nor the whites
received a cent of it. It was all
squandered by those who were in
power. I also state to you that
I do no not believe that you, or the
other colored people of the State, desire
any social privileges enforced by law.
Why then should there be any discord
bet ween the two races because of those
differences and inequalities which were
made by our common Creator?
All human societies are organized
upon the principle of reciprocal services.
Each and all are servants in some way
of others. The men engaged in the
most learned professions are in daily
toil of mind aa well as of body in ren
dering services even to the humblest.
The teacher is the Servant of the black
smith who sends his children to school.
The blacksmith is the servant of the
teacher or lawyer, or physician, or
banker, or merchant for whom he labors,
for whom they all render service of some
sort in return. So of all other busi
nesses in life. All classes and all grades,
without reference to race or color, daily
perform reciprocal services for each
other. The honor of the service de
pends, not so much upon its character
as upon the manner of its execution.
“Honor and shame from no condition rise,
Act well your pr-t. there all the honor lies.”
This is as applicable to the colored
man as to the white. It is as applicable
to the- mau who brings in my coal as to
the physician who attends me. If the
physician fails in the proper discharge
of his duty more dishonor attends him
than the coal bearer in the neglect of
his duty, for the responsibility resting
upon him is far greater. Why
then should there be any discord ?
There is no longer any controversy
about the freedom of the colored people.
I know there are those who would en
deavor to impress upon their minds that
i the Democracy are enemies to their free
dom. This, my colored friends, I assure
you, i3 not the case. Whatever may
have been thought of the propriety of
your emancipation at the time, no opin
ion is now entertained of ever changing
it. I have told you that your emancipa
tion was granted by the State of Geor
gia as one of the results of the war. It
was granted in good faith. You are in
debted for it, not to the Centralists or
Radicals, but to the contingencies of
war, under the providence of God. They
waged the war avowedly for the sole pur
pose cf restoring the Union; that is, of
compelling the Southern States to return
to the Union. The Proclamation of
Emancipation by Mr.Lincoln during the
war was only a war measure, and had
the Southern States then ceased from
the conflict, the Proclamation would
have ceased with the extant to which its
operation had then gone. Had ten
Southern States refused to grant your
emancipation it could not have been
effected, for they constituted more than
one-fourth of the States of the Union
and it required three-fourths of the then
thirty-seven States to amend the Con
stitution of the United States providing
for universal emancipation in all the
States. This is the fact of the case, and
while I admit freely that emancipation
was granted by the ten Southern States
as the result of the war, yet it was grant
ed by them in good faith, and whether
it will prove a boon to you depends
mainly upon yourselves. I hope and
trust that it will. I shall do all in my
power towards that end. Why then
should there be any discord between the
races ? The interests of tho white man
and the colored man, with all their
differences, fit as tongue and groove, as
do all the other differences made by the
same great common Creator. If any one
approaches you with the idea of race an
tagonism, treat him and look upon him
as a guileful tempter—as deceitful and
as mischievous in his machinations as his
great prot type in the Garden of Eden.
Let us all, then, white and black,
move'on harmoniously in the discharge
of our reciprocal duties, in our appro
priate sphere. When we look upon the
material world, where like difference* ex
ist, what harmony prevails below and
above.
“Tlie spacious firmament on high,'
With all the blue etheral sky
And spangled heavens—a shining frame—
Their Great Original proclaim.”
Thesun and the moon. Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter and Neptune, with their
sattellites, with the distant stare, with
all their brilliant constellations, and the
milky way, rolling in their grand rounds,
“In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth their glonous voioe,
Forever singing as they shine
The Hand that made ua is divine."
[Applause.]
This is the music of tlie spheres !
Why should not the same harmony pre
vail among different classes and races of
men where like differences and inequali
ties exist, formed by tho same Divine
Hand ? The first discord that ever was
raised in the moral universe sprang from
those who were indisposed to recognize
those differences which the same Divine
Hand had created, among those who sur
rounded the Throne of the Almighty
Himself. Iu Heaven there are differ-
ences from Archangel down.
Notwithstanding the dangers which
now threaten our institutions to which I
have alluded,- and upon which I shall
say something more presently, 1 can but
trust that now since the Temple of our
Liberties has survived the shoek of war,
with all its pillars and arches unimpair
ed, and with only a few breaches in the
outer wall—now that slavery, so-called,
no longer exists in any one of the States—
now that this thorn in tho body politic
is removed forever—now that all the
States are perfectly alike, even as to this
matter of the subordination of the col
ored race, that we may enter upon anew
and higher career of civilization and re
nown. I can but hope and trust that
under Providence the vision of Ezekiel
will be more fully fulfilled in its appli
cation to the wonderful institutions of
this continent than ever before.
The great danger which now threat
ens, to which I have alluded, is the ap
prehension that the Civil Rights bill may
pass, and that if it does resistance to its
execution, ending in violence and blood
shed, will arise in the South to such an
extent that the land will again be occu
pied by Federal forces, and that another
war will ensue, which may ultimately
terminate in an entire overthrow of the
State governments and the subversion of
the whole fabric of onr institutions. It
is evidently the intention of the extreme
Centralists and Radicals to pass this
bill, and, as I apprehend, for this very
purpose. Constitutional liberty they
have no desire for. Consolidation and
Empire are what they have ever been
aiming at. Notwithstanding all their
professions of devotion to the liberty of
the colored race, they in fact have no
attachment for the liberties of either
race. And I say to my colored friends
that in case of the result now so se
riously apprehended by me, their liber
ties, as well as those of the whites, will
go in a common ruin. Until recently I
felt almost assured that the next House
of.Representatives would be Democratic,
and that this danger might bo thus
averted. For the first time in ten years
the issue presented by the Radicals on
the Civil Rights bill gave the Democracy
a decided advantage before the people in
the Congressional elections. This mea
sure is almost as unpopular North
with the masses as it is at the
South. This was the state of
things when the Louisiana embroglio
broke out. The prospect of a Demo
cratic triumph was never more favorable.
It was then, as I believe, that the ex
treme Radicals North appealed to their
ally, Warmoth in Louisiana—who is the
master spirit there, and who is in per
fect sympathy with them in their ob
jects of consolidation and empire—and
cried out, “Help, Cassius, or we sink.”
And who was Warmotli ? I would not
intentionally do him any injustice. I
don’t know the man, but I understand he
was dismissed from the army by General
Grant for stealing. Hence his hatred
for Grant. He was the fir.->t Governor
of Louisiana under the Reconstruction
Acts, and by his corruption in that office
made for himself not less than four mil
lion of dollars. Bullock, as I under
stand the case, was a saint to him. He
is, however, a mau of great talents and
of a high order of intellect, but a thor
ough Centralist in his politics. It was
at this time referred to, when the Cen
tralists found themselves without their
needed political pabulum, that I believe,
tbisLouisiana outbreak wasconcocted by
Warmoth, with a view of aiding the ex
treme Radicals in getting up anew war ex
citement, which is the only pabulum upon
which they had fed for the last six
years. How the result of these pending
elections will be with this aid and comfort
to the Radicals from this Louisiana affair
I cannot venture an opinion. The sequel
must show. I still can but hope that it
will fail. If it, however, should suc
ceed and a majority of the extreme
Radicals should be returned to the next
House, and this measure now pending
shall be passed at the next session of the
present House, should we, therefore,
despair and give up the straggle be
tween Centralism and Constitutionalism?
I trust not. But the only sure hope for
the future will depend upon the South
eru people. Will they be patient and
still look to a redress of grievances
through the peaceful instrumentalities
of the Constitution and not to violence ?
If they do, all may yet be well. To be
candid with you, I fear they will not.
Hence our condition, as I view it, is so
analogous to the condition of affairs in
1860. Hence the imminent perils by
which we are now surrounded. My ad
vice to you, now in advance, is not to
resort to violence, but to the peaceful
modes of the Constitution for a rectifi
cation of the great wrong that will be
done even in case this assault upon the
Constitution by the Centralists shall be
successful. If there be no violence, no
mobs, no cause for sending troops and
bayonets among us, but an appeal made
to the Courts, my own opinion is that
Constitutionalism will still triumph be-,
fore those tribunals. I cannot entertain
the idea that the Supreme Court of the
United States will ever hold it to be
constitutional for Congress to force
mixed schools upon the States. In
that case all that will be necessary to
rescue the liberties of the country will
be to arouse the Democracy from Maine
to California, and from the Gulf to the
Lakes, and rally them in a united effort
and in a common cause, as they were
aroused by Jefferson in 1799. What
might have been achieved, and what I
still hope may be achieved in the ap
proaching elections for Congress may
have to be postponed with patience un
til the election of 1876. This will be
the year of the grand Centennial of
American Free Institutions, the facts
and memories of which will be a power
ful adjunct for such a rally of the Demo
cracy if they will but avail them
selves of it. In this connection I must
say I greatly regret the tone of many of
our leading journals and public men in
reference to the grand Centennial cele
bration of 1876. The disposition of
many of these seem to be that the peo
ple of the South will stand aloof from
this celebration, and leave it entirely to
the Centralists. For myself, I regard
this eminently as a Southern day. Im
mortality was given to it chiefly by
Southern men. I would have the South,
therefore, to go np to Philadelphia in
all their might and strength. I would
have them to call for the reading of the
records. It should be such a time as
that in Jerusalem, when the people on
their return from Babylonish captivity
assembled in the Temple newly con
structed, to hear read those Oracles of
God which had been neglected by them
for four hundred years, and from their
departure from which had sprung all
their grievances and troubles. Ezra
opened the books and read from morn
ing to eve, while the people listened and
wept. Not getting through the first day
he continued so to read and the people
so to listen and weep for an entire week,
and when he was through they all again
renewed their vows to adhere, for the
future, to the covenants of their fathers.
So I would have it at Philadelphia. All
visitants from foreign nations should
know the truth as to the history of this
country. Tho Centralists may have
made breaches in the outer walls of our
Constitution. They may have desolated
our land, demolished our cities, laid
waste our beautiful couutry and deluged
it in blood in their attempt to under
mine and overthrow the principles unon
which the liberties of the continent rest,
bnt Iprotest against onr allowing them iu
silenc) to rob us of the glorias and me
mories of the 4th of July, 1776. [Loud
applause. ]
I must say something farther about
the Louisiana troubles, especially as
what I have said on this subject else
where Beems to be so little understood
by many. I have said that I do not think
that censure should be cast ou General
Grant for these troubles. A friend to
day called my attention to the fact that
the bogus Chattanooga Convention now
in session had taken the same position,
and that I and they are iu accord upon
that subject. To all such I have simply
to reply that Ido not permit any one to
make political issues for me, anil above
all I do not belong to that class of men
who fight au issue simply because it is
presented by a political adversary.—
Nothing is so important in political di 8-
cussion as to look well to the issue in
volved. Some men’s politics are gov
erned solely upon tlie principle of" an
tagonism. They remind me of an
incident which occurred on my going to
Elbert oounty to make a speech on
a certain occasion. I crossed Broad
river at Bullard’s Ferry. Jl was to speak
the next day at Elberton—eleven miles
off. After Mr. Bullard had ferried me
over the river I asked him if he was go
ing up to town the next day, “No,”
said lie, “ I understand Alec' 'Stephens’
is to speak there to-morrow, and all I
want to know is on which side he stands
and I always go against him.” [Laugh
ter.] “Tliat, Mr. Bullard,” said I, “is
the reason you are always beaten. You
give him choice of sides and of course
he always takes the best.” [Laughter.]
“I am Alec Stephens, so you better go
up to-morrow and hear me, aud seo
whether I am right or not, and if yon
find me to be right then you may be
sure I shall succeed, and that you ought
to support and not oppose the right.”
This reply seemed to strike him. Next
day I saw him in the crowd. After the
speech was over he came up and said
that lie believed I was right, and that he
should support me, and from that day
onward I never had a faster friend in
the District. Those who permit them
selves to bo governed simply from the
fact of the position of their adverseries
are not unlike the monkey in another
story I heard related once by my old
friend, Judge Jones, of Paulding. The
monkey picked up a fiddle and made his
escape with it to to the cone of the
house. There he commenced experi
menting with his stolen trophy. As he
drew the bow across the strings, startled
at the music, he jumped backwards a
step; then drew it again and took an
other backward step, and so repeating
until he got to the end of the roof;
not heeding his whereabouts, mnde a
leap backwards, which brought him and
the fiddle to the ground, but with his
neck broken. [Laughter.] Now 1 1 don’t
belong to that class of people who leap
backwards from the music of my adver
saries without regard to the character
and truth of their positions. Nothing
is so essential to the success of any
party as the truth. I don’t care what
the Chattanooga Convention may do or
say, their object is mischief; but if they
happen to utter a truth I shall not join
issue with them on that. My object in
what I have said about General Grant’s
conduct in Louisiana is to keep the
Democracy and the friends of constitu
tional liberty everywhere from making a
false issue and one on which they must
be defeated, in my opinion, upon a full
and just hearing of the case. Nothing
can contribute more towards Grant’s ro
noinination or can render him more
popular with the people than unfounded
or unjust charges against him. The
world lias not gold enough in it nor hu
manity honors to confer high enough to
tempt me to seek or to gain either the
one or the other or both by pandering
to the passions, ignorance or prejudice
of the people, even by withholding the
expression of my opinion on any subject
which by any may be deemed to be in
volved in the contest. [Lend applause].
I stand upon the truth, as I understand
it, without regard to whom it may help
or hurt. When my Democratic friends
charged upon Gen. Grant the troubles
in Louisiana I thought it due to truth
to tell them I thought it was a mistake.
These troubles all sprung from and
were due to the abominable reconstruc
tion policy of Congress, against which
it was well known that Grant was op
posed. He was denounced by Sumner
and other centralists for his celebrated
report favoring immediate restoration.
This was called by them “a whitewash
ing report.” This matter of the con
duct of Gen. Grant in the Louisiana af
fair is a minor one, in my opinion, in
the present contest. I have been charged
in expressing the views I have
upon this subject with defending.
General Grant. The fact is I have only
been defending the truth, as I under
stood it, and with a view of preventing
the friends of constitutional liberty from
being diverted from the great and real
principles involved in this contest to this
minor and false issue. The strength of
our cause is in maintaining truth in all
matters and in doing perfect justice to
all parties. Truth is the foundation
upon which onr cause rests. It may be
trodden down under foot for a while, but
“ Truth crushed to earth will rise again,
The eternal years of God are hors,
15ut error wounded writhes in pain,
And dies amidst her worshippers.”
Now, General Grant in this matter lias
done nothing from the beginning in 1872,
as far as I have seen, but enforco judi
cial process. It has been stated that he
has decided that Kellogg has been duly
elected when be was not, and that he
had installed him as Governor of the
State by • Federal bayonets. This was
certainly a gross usurpation if it be
true, but as I understand the facts it is
not true. I speak of the facts—the
truth of the facts as I understand them.
General Grant did not decide that Kel
logg was duly elected ; but,, on the con
trary, refused so to do. Two very emi
nent jurists in the United States, the
Hon. Reverdy Johnson and Mr. Charles
O’Conor, have recently entered the lists
of those who thus charge General Grant
and blame him for all these troubles.
They both set out with the assumption
that Grant had decided in the first in
stance that Kellogg was “duly elected.”
These mighty “Bulls of Baslian,”
however, soon got to goring them
selves worse than they did the
object of their common assault.—
With this controversy between them
I have nothing to say, except that
in my opinion the jurist of Baltimore got
the best of the fight with his antagonist
of New York on the points raised be
tween themselves. They boih being in
error in their common premise, of course
made a botch in their conclusions. The
New York Tribune comes out in an article
stating that Gen. Grant ought to be im
peached. The answer to the editor of
the Tribune which Gen. Grant would
probably make is what he is reported to
have replied to Mr. Trnrnbuli’s speech
against him in New York in 1872. Some
friend, greatly outraged at that attack
of the Illinois Senator upon him, went
to Grant, supposing that he would be
equally outraged at it, and asked if he
had seen Trumbull’s speech. “Yes,”
replied the impertnrable Grant, “but I
do not know why Mr. Trumbull abuses
me so, for I have done nothing but exe
cute his own laws.” I have a word for
this editor of the Tribune. For what, I
would inquire of him, ought Gen. Grant
to be impeached ? I repeat, lam no de
fender of Gen. Grant farther than being
a defender of the truth may render me
so. If lam in error as to the truth of
the facts, then I am willing to be cor
rected. lam for simple justice to Gen,
Grant, as I am towards every other
human being iu the land. Fiat justitia
cesium mat is the motto with me to
wards the highest as well as the lowest.
In this Louisiana matter Gen. Grant
held at the beginning that the question
of who was duly elected to the office of
Governor and legislators of that State
was not one that he had any right to de
cide, but that it was a judicial question
under the Enforcement act; and it was
not until after Kellogg had instituted his
proceedings to establish his right to the
office, and had obtained a judicial de
cree which was resisted by Warmoth,
that Gen. Grant gave orders for the due
enforcement of the judicial process un
der the authority of the acts of Con
gress of 1805 as well as that of the En
forcement acts of 1870. It was under
these judicial proceedings thus com
menced and thus prosecuted that Kel
logg became installed as Governor.
Similar questions involving Kellogg’s
right to this office were raised in the
State Courts, and finally decided by the
Supreme Court of the State of Louis
iana a3 they had been decided by the
Federal Judge. It is not for me, on
this occasion, to say anything of the cor
rectness of any or either of these de-
NUMBER 44.
cisions. Afterwards, on the 25th day of
February, 1873, Gen. Grant sent a spe
cial message to Congress on the sub
ject of Louisiana affairs. He stated
expressly to them that there were two
parties in the State claiming to be Gov
ernor, and two sets of men claiming to
be the Legislature of that State, and
that he had declined to interfere
in any way farther than to enforce the
judicial process. Ho urged upon Con
gress to. take such action in the matter
as they might think right and proper
under all the circumstances. He said,
among other things, that disclosures
had been made showing “frauds and
forgeries” on both sides to such an ex
tent as to render it doubtful whether
either of the contending parties had re
ceived a majority of the votes actually
cast at that election, and wound up his
message by saying that it was due that
he should inform them that if they
should adjourn without making any
provision for the anomalous stato of
things in Louisiana, ho should feel it to
be his official duty to recognize and sup
port that government in Louisiana which
was recognized and upheld by the Courts
of the State. Is there anything in this
which would justify impeachment or
even censure? In the same message he
distinctly declared that in his judgment
he had no “right to review the judgment
of the Court upon the jurisdictional or
other questions arising in the case” in
stituted by Kellogg iu the Federal
Court. Was there any error iu this ?If
so, I confess I dou’t see it.
lam defending the truth only. For
what then would the man of the Tribune
have Grant impeached ? Was it be
cause be declared he would sustain that
government in Louisiana which was
recognized and upheld by the Courts of
that State ? If these Courts were cor
rupt, whence did they originate ? All
know they sprung from those monstrous
acts of iniquity and wrong, known as
the Reconstruction Acts, of which, if I
am not mistaken, the man of the Tri
bune was a most zealous advocate.
If he and Warmoth aud others are
aghast at this or any other one of those
great evils, from which the people of
Louisiana are now suffering so much,
they should remember they are but tlio
legitimate fruits of their own policy.
Their position is not unlike that of tlio
great arch-fiend, who when he reached
the confines of hell, on his way to Eden,
stood affrighted at the hideous monster,
Sin. “Whence aud what art thou, exo
crable shape,” he exclaimed. This
seems to be tlio condition of the
'Tribune man. He is aghast at the hide
ous features of his own offspring, and
would now shamefully get rid of it by
laying it at the door of Gen. Grant.
With reference to the third term, all
I have to say is that I am not President
making. lam for iuculeatiug, teaching
and impressing upon the minds of the
people those great truths of Jeffersonian
Democracy—that Democracy from which
all our liberties sprang aud upon the
maintenance of which they can alone bo
preserved.
On this third term question I liavo
simply to say wlmt I have often said
before, that there is no constitutional
prohibition against it, aud with me it
would not boa matter of any concern
how long a man held office, but how he
discharged his duties.
The question should be, not who gov
erns, bat how he governs—not how long
or for how many terms a man should fill
an office to which he is constitutionally
eligible, but in what manner he will
perform the high trusts confided to him.
Presidents are elected for four years,
Senators for six years, Members for two
years, and there is no more rational ob
jection to a third term or a twelfth term
for a President than for a Senator or a
Member.
Now a few words in conclusion as to
the future. If the present elections for
Congress in the States result as I hope
they may, in a Democratic triumph, tlieu
all will be hopeful and bright for the
future. The Centralists will have been
hurled from the representative branch
of the Government in 1800. No fears
need bo entertained as to tho Civil
Rights bill, even if it should be passed
at the next session of Congress. This
great contest between Centralism and
Constitutionalism being decided in favor
of the right, all- will go well if you will
but be patient and appeal to tho peace
ful instrumentalities of the Constitution
for the future. But in ease the friends
of the Constitution are defeated in this
contest, then I urge you not even theii
to despair of liberty. Let there be still
another grand rally of the Jeffersonian
Democracy in 1876. And if the
leaders, as well as the masses, will
in that contest do as they did under
Jefferson in 1799, in my judgment, an
equally glorious triumph will at
tend their efforts. . I will then probably
be dead and gone. How long 1 may re
main on this earth I know not. My
days are evidently fast drawing to a
close. But I am, under the providence
of God, permitted to he here to-night to
proclaim these sentiments, and if I knew
this was the last time I should ever ad
dress an audience of my countrymen,
nothing would be more consonant with
my feelings that to give forth as my dying
words, “Come weal or come woe,” ad
hero to the principles of Jeffersonian
Democracy now and forever. Under
tliat banner make a grand rally of the
friends of constitutional liberty in all
the States in 1876, and in God trust for
the result.
' MORE RADICAL DEVILTRY.
Merchants of Shreveport to be Ar
rested.
New Yoke, October 20.—A special to
the Times from Shreveport reports ex
citemeut from the prospect of the arrest
of seventy prominent merchants and
freeholders. The arrests are grounded
upon the following :
‘ ‘Shbevepoiit, October 16.
“We, the undersigned, merchants of
the city of-Shreveport, in obedience to a
request of the Shreveport Campaign
Chib, agree to use every endeavor to get
our employees to vote the People’s
ticket at the ensuing election, and in
the event of their refusal so to do, or iu
case they vote the Radical ticket, to
refuse to employ them at the expiration
of their present contracts.”
This was signed by sixty-nine of the
leading merchants of the city. If war
rants of arrest aro issued, there is a
general determination on the part of the
younger merchants who are implicated
to mount their horses and take to the
woods. This might end in guerilla war
fare. A. B. Cevisse, formerly District
Judge, and candidate for tho Legisla
ture on the Radical ticket, is the United
States Commissioner before whom the
affidavits were made, and whose duty it
is to issue the warrants of arrest.
New Hampshire Ku-Klux-
Nashua, October 20.—Last night six
masked men entered the room of the
cashier of the Souhegan National Bank
at Milford, gagged him, put a rope
around his neck, shut his wife, four
children and servant in a closet, dragged
him to the bank and made him open the
vault,which they robbed of about $4,500
iu currency, $15,000 to $20,000 in bonds,
mostly Government, anil some other se
curities. Then led lum back to tho
house, tied him to the bed post and left.
The family forced open the closet about
4 o’clock and gave the alarm, but no
trace of the robbers could be discovered.
Boston, October 20.-The robbery of
Milford Bank was undoubtedly the
work of professionals. Mr. Sawyer,
cashier, had been in the habit of leav
ing the key of the bank at the post of
fice, in order to guard against such a
scheme as that followed out by the rob
bers. The robbers were aware of this,
and after placing a cord around Mr.
Sawyer’s neck to prevent any outcry,
forced him to accompany them by threat
ening to kill his babe In ease he refused
to comply with their demands. Arriv
ing at the post office, the robbers effect
ed an entrance by removing a pane of
glass with a diamond.
From New York.
New Yobk, October 21.--Papers in
the case of Bishop Seymour are lost.
The [sexton thinks the page mislaid
them.
John Campbell and Moses Dedman,
colored, who waylaid Francis McNabb
and robbed him of fifty cents, pleaded
guilty to an attempt at highway rob
bery in the General Sessions to-day,
aud were each sentenced to ten years in
the State’s prison at hard labor.
A negro named James Horn alias
Charles° Williams was sentenced to 20
years in the State’s prison to-day for
highway robbery.
A letter from Havana, dated October
15, says Lorenzo Jimiuez, who had
been condemned to death, but claimed
American citizenship aud had his sen
tence commuted, leaves to-day for Spain.
Major Hurtt moves his disbursing of
fice from Vicksburg to New Orleans,