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"I WOULD BATHER BE R1CIIT THAN BE PRESIDENT" Heart. Clay.
p-.'? ForB year,
VOL. 1;
RALEIGH. TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1SGG.
NO. 25.
SIN I
i lj 1 J
THE DUTIES OF DEFEAT.
AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE TWO .
MTEKARV SOCIETIES OF THE
IJXIVEESITT OT SOETH CAEOLUfA,
J"" JUNE THE TTII. IS6
EX-0V. ZEBILON BAIED VAXCE.
Correspondence.
Dialectic Hall, June 8th., 1866.
tr . .. . r... .,. i
HON. d. v ahcb : uear air : in oeoau oi
the Dialectic Society, the undersigned bave
been instructed to request for publication a
ropy of. the speech delivered by you on the 7th.
hjst, before tlie Literary Societies ef the Uni
versity of North Carolina.
They are influenced by the desire to make
public the wise and statesmanlike views it con
tains concerning the relations of the Southern
ueople and the duties in consequence incumbent
iipon them.
In making this request they believe they have
,.tlife,CfiuCirence,.of,all who heardjt, ; : L
We have the honor to be .
Very respectfully, &c. " ;
- I . M. ABOO, 1
, L. Phillip, Committee.
G. Graham. )
Charlotte. N. C, June 16th. 1866.
Messrs. T. 1. Aeoo, arid others, Committee
of the Dialectic-Society, Chapel Hill, N. C :
Gentlemen .-Your note has been received, in
which you request a copy of the speech recent
ly delivered by me before the two Societies of
the University, for publication.
The time allowed me tor its preparation, after
the acceptance of your invitation, was sotimit
'd that I feel unwilling to have it published.
But deferring to your complimentary opinion,
1 cannot refuse to comply with your request.
The manuscript is therefore placed at your dis
posal. Thanking you, and those whom you rcpre
sent, most suicerely, for the honor you have done
me, 1 am, gentlemen, .
Very trulv yours,
Z:BVvANCE.
A.pBESS.
Gentlemen of the Dialectic and Philanthropic
Societvm : As the traveler, who, during his ab
sence has learned that a great Are has swept
over his native city, welcomes with the keenest
rapture the first glance of bis own home, which
he trembled at the 'thought of finding in the
ashes of the general ruin, so should vie rejoice,
to behold our honored University furviving the
wreck of so much that we loved and revered.
Though staggering under the blows of adversi
ty, I am most happy to see for myself, this day,
so goodly a display ot her ancient life and ener
gy. May she soon attain to that full measure
of prosperity and usefulness, which has hereto
fore rendered her the pride and chiefeit orna
ment of North Carolina!
Since the first keel of an European vessel
grated upon the sands of the new woi 1 1, and the
first axe was lifted against the vast forest which
coveted it as with a crown oi glory,- the line
.could not have fallen to the educated young
men of our State in a more interesting or im
portant era. We stand to-day amidst the s ran
dod fragments and Boating timbers ot thegreat
eat civil war in history. Astounded at "the
mighty results we are as yet unable to compre
hend them. Indeed, their profound significance,
their full philosophical import, can scarcely be
gathered by this generation, f or we are not
yet at the end of the Revolution is popular
ly supposed, but are only, as we trust, at the end
of armed violence. The changes, which consti.
tilted the real objects of the Revolution, began
with us, only when the last Confederate soldier,
by laying down his arms, had removed that last
obstacle to their approach.
Revolutions are not now what they were.
They partake in the manner qf their accomplish
ment ot the spirit of the age; and are burried
r..i) 1.. 1,a aamA -ImmilnAfl nf science' and
lioonvrv which have so ameliorated the materi
al affairs of the world. How suddenly all of
our well settled theories in regard to toe rela
tive powers and duties of the States and the
Federal Government, have been overthrown,
and tha whole system changed, it ia astonish
ing to contemplate. The almost immediate
"emancipation ot. three ' million five hundred
thousand slaveswithout one moment's prepara
tion, of either themselves or their, masters, for
the great change, it equally unprecedented,
and brings u witu oreauuesa unaw, um u
face, with some oi the most startling and dan
gerous questions of the age. But when we re-
memuer some oi me tuiei wiuo- m p jv.
fiano in tha naat few Years, our wonder will
diminish. It was but thirty-aityeart sigo that
tli first railroad was built,-ind tha flint steam
engine mounted upon hit iron track. Already
m '.a existence fiftv-six thousand miles,
threading and permeating the civilized world ;j
more loan enongn, u siretcueu out m
and parrallel linea, to bind an iron girdle twice
arouna wie sotia mintwin. -
ti.. hWhiriT of tha lifflitnintr now
become the guide and friend of the engine-if
rhH hv itaaida. would enable one to hurl
hit words around the entire earth, returning to
l.;m rhn nnke them almost ere they had eoun-
aa nnnn hie own ear! Bv these and similar
woitdrons agencies, during the recent war, two
stupendous corps farmM, who were facing each
hi m. t ha banks of the Potomac, would steal
ia their pickete under cover of darkneae, and,
rushing away with all their trains and animals,
and munitions of war, would, within a few
k. k linrlAH aminat each other azaio
HUIU KUUI w B
in deadly strife on some distant field ka( a
tha continent f Cbantre. therefore, not only
cometh upon na, but comrth wi-eed-.end.
- with- power,
' Perhaps ia modern annale there wiil scarcely
. ..nnH armrallpl tn tha cfimDlete ruia and
impoverishment of the people of the Southern
Btaieer Aosoiuie anntuiiaiiun ui
munity by armed violence ia deemed ecarual'y
possible in modern timea, though instances era
not wanting among the ancients, before a hu
mane code Of international law had interposed
to protect the weak against the strong, and
mitigate the horrors of war. The most wonder
ful example was that of Carthage. Though her
walis were 27 miles in circumference, and she
could keep five hundred elephants for the pub-
tic amusements ; tnougn sue cou:a send three
hundred thousand soldiers' to the invasion of
Oreece, while Rome- was engaged in death
struggle with a petty town only twelve miles
distant from her walls ; though the waters of
every se were white witt her sails and the shores,
of every known land were visited by her mer
chants, or planted with her colonies; yet the
iron hand of her rival smote her so utterly into
the dust that there is not imlifi Uft I Not a
monument is standing ; no literature, no relic
or Her laws, bar language or her blood remains.
The very site of this great oitf is -of the doubt
ful knowledgeof the antiquary. Such barba
rus inflictions of a barbarous are we have
indeed escaped, but . changes greater than the
dreams of the wildest, and ruin, social and po
litics!, fearfully deep,has been our hapless lot. '
A glance at these things, for the purpose of at
tempting to deduce the outline ot the changed
duties which devolve upon us, .will suffice to
day. What with the value of our slaves, the injury
inllicted-upon. real, property, the destruction of
personal, the depreciation or annihilation of all
mariner of stocks and securities ; together with
the sums expended fn the maintenance of the
war, make our material losses alone, all told, in
the estimation of the most prudent, equal to
five thousand million dollars! And of that
highest and noblest property of a State her
citizens full two hundred and fifty thousand of
our bravest and best have perished by the casu
alties of war alone ! The biting up of this fear
ful outline, with the revolting tuinuti a: of in
dividual suffering, or the estimation . of the
moral losses we have incurred, is a' task I have
neither heart nor time for attempting. . The
whole scene reminds one of the prostration of
Rome, drawn by one of the panegyrists, when
addressing the Emperor Theodosius : "Thou,
Rome, that having once suffered by the mad
ness of Cinna, and of the cruel Haiiua raging
from banishment, and of Sylla that won his
wreath ol prosperity from thy disasters, and of
Ctcsar compassionate to the dead, didst shud
der at every blast of the trumpet filled by the
breath of civil eominotien. Thou,-that beside
the wreck of thy soldiery perishing on either
side, didst bewail amongst thy spectacles of
domestic woe, the luminaries , of thy Senate"
extinguished, the heads of thy consuls fixed
upon a halberd, , weeping for ages over thy
slaughtered Catos, thy headless Ciceroes and
unburied Pompeys -to whom the party mad
ness of thy own children had wrought in every
age heavier woe than the Carthaginians thun
dering at thy gates, or the Gaul admitted with
in thy walls;, on whom Emathia, more fatal
than the day of Allice Collins more dismal
than Cannas had inflicted such deep memorials
of wounds that", from bitter experience of thy
own valor, ho enemy was to thee so formidable
as thyself." Would that, with the spirit of pro
phecy, I could add the remainder, of the quota
tion: '"Now first-in thy long annals, thou
didst rest from a civil war in such a peace,
that righteously and with maternal tender
ness, thon mightest claim for it the honors of
a civic triumph!" " ' ' :
Upon our own beloved State a full share of
these com monacal amities has fallen. Nor does
it relieve them of their crushing weight to
it relieve tnem oiir cruauing we.put u .
policy which inaugurated them, Quiet, comers
VailVe,. law-amuiugj an iier jjcwpia tiuTO otoi
been, though jealous, of their rights and hon
or, and ready at anymoment to perish for them,
yet slow to violate compacts, they hava never
ceased to prefer exhausting all civil remedies
tor the redress of public grievances rather than
evoke the terrible and uncertain arbitrament of
revolution. Steady in the exercise of this res
olution, she was forced, the very last, into a con
flict which she' was the very first in maintaining.
The sufferings of eur people have, indeed, been
fearfully commensurate wttn uieir nonesty ana
their courage. With her homesteads burned to
ashes, with fields desolated! with thousands of
her noblest and bravest children sleeping in beds
of slaughter ; innumerable orphans, widows, and
helpless persons; redtioed -to beggary and de
prived of .their natural projectors : her corpora
tions bankrupt and her own credit gone ; her
DUDIIC cnariues overfciuvwu, tier quikmivum
fund utterly, lost, her land .filled from end to
end witU her maimed and mutilated soldiers ;
denied all representation in the public councils,
her heart-broken and wretched people are not
only oppressed with the weight of their own
indebtedness, bjtt are crushed into the very
dust by taxation for the mighty debt incurred
as toe cost OI meu own suujugauwu i luoimj
raotl5eiurtriMrthen,- whk
could extort bread from the half-tilled earth, 1
was, at the close of boaUlitua, almost destroy-
ed : leaving ua destitute of even the means of
. . ' . , . . c -..a.' ..1.1 .
labor I , PUCU a picture Vl auiisuug wuum
.,.ffi,.innt tn aittn a trmwrrnua enemv. and should
move the deepest depths la the bosoms of her
loving sons. Truly mignt tney, as aunng tue
evef) memorable year.1805 they beheld "all this
wealth andglory turned to dust ana tears,"
have fancied that they could bear ,
"A cry of nations o'er her sunken balls,
A loud lamest along the sweeping eea."
It was enough to cause her despairing children
to re-echo the plaintive wail of the poet over
fallen Venice : ' ' ' 5- '' -
"There is no hope for uations. Search the
page . i ' r
Ot many thousand yeare,tbe daily scene,
s , The flood and ebb of each recurring age, ,
The everlasting t U which hath beat,
Hath taught us naught or Httle,tiW we lean
, On things that 'rot beneath our weight, and
wear - ,-. : , .
.Our strength away in wrestling with the air."
-' There was indeed a cry and element, through
all her borders. From her Alpine beigbta to
her tidal sands, lrom her plains and valleys and
.all her babitatione, thewail went op. The die
snal cypress,' gaj-Iandedwith funeral moss, be
came fit emblem of her woe; and bar sombre
pines, moaning in the breeze, sang requiems sol
emn, ae for the dead. And though nature was
atill kindly, ana invitea us to lorgex wur w
row; though the tun still warmed and cherish
ed the earth ; though the early and the latter
rain still descended according to tbe prom-
ise, clothing the fields with verdure, and canning
the tender herb to put forth ; and though the
mocking bird, sweetest of our warblet,j-em-bowered
within the shadows of his leafy
home, poured forth his. glorious aoug, "every
note that we loved awaking," yet no joyous
response stirred our bosoms. It seemed, in
deed, that despair had claimed us for her own.
We felt that it was demanded -of -us to sing a
song in a strange land, and we could" but hang
our harps upon the willows of Our own native
rivers. famous now with the rich memories of
rour children's blood, and weep when we re
membered the pleasant places from wl.ich we
bad fallen. It was in truth a prospoc: to ap
pal the stoutest hearted ; and many of our aged
and infirm, who had bravely borne all the suffer
ings of a four years war, have sunk down like
the oak which, having withstood the storm, yet
falls in the ensuing calm, and died, "rejoicing
exceedingly and being glad that they could find
the grave."
Such are the changes though which we -have
passed and are still pussing. Such is the con
dition, physical and social, of your country at
the moment, when yotn are to enter upon the
earnest duties of Iifo.l"ou wUIprobabl y ugree
with me in thinking that the time is an impor
tant one, and that the duties before young men
of education and patriotism differ widely from,
and tar exceed in weighty responsibility, those
which have devolved on any of your prcdeccs
sorsrr - -.
It will not be improper to glance at some of
the peculiar fields where your energies, as well
as your kindly charities, may be most benefici
ally expended. The task of uplifting aud re
generating our fallen country, indeed, belongs
to ns all ; but it will devolve more especially
upon you. Neither spent, nor broken down, by
the fierce conflicts and deadly disappointments
of the past, your fresh spirits'are not only en
dowed with the vigor necessary to successful
action, but they can more easily bend to the
Procrustean bed of circumstances, which is
spread for the repose of a conquered people,
wherein lies, now, and at all-times, the
.true secret of statesmanship. ;,
The work is not so near hopeless as , it would
seem at firet, and ft is noble, and glorious be
yond anything that ever fired the ambition of
youth. Though the destruction is so wide
spread and thorough, it should be remembered
that there is nothing which can exceed the re
cuperative powers of nature when aided by the
industry of man. These gapipg wounds in our
country's bosom are to be healed, these enor
mous losses of our wealth are to be iej aired,
these wasted fields are to be restored to the
glorious verdure of peaceful- abundance ; lrom
the ashes of the homes which once sheltered
us must arise The beams and rafters of homes
still as beautiful and as happy. ' The blackened
chimneys must no longer stand, grim and solita
ry, on the landscape, surrounded by rank and
profitless 'veed. the sorrowful mile-marks of
the sweep of desolation as it marched, devour
ing our substance, but must be made to send
up again, from mansion roofs, the cheerful col
umns of smoke which once bespoke plenty and
repose, and to glow again with the winter's
blaze of domestice peace and sncred hospitality.
All the bloody footprints of ruthless war must
be erased by the hand of intelligent industry.
Looking despairingly at the condition of
tl4gathe country turns toward her young
men, and calls to tnem to leaa tne way
to lead the way in
nreachine and oractisinir hope. You are requir
ed, above all things, to teach our people to look
, crumbling Mhes and prostrate
proportions aBd surpassing grandmir of that
temple which may yet be built by the hand
which labours,, the mind which conceives,
and the great soul which faints not
; An officer leading his men into battle, himself
going first aud charging home upon the enemy,
with the high and lofty daring of a hero, rally
ing his troops when they waver, chteering when
they advance, applauding the brave and sustain
ing the faint hearted, bearing aloft the colors of
his command, and struggling with all ..the
strength and spirit of manhood, resolving to
conquer or to perish, ia esteemed one of the
noblest exhibitions of which, man is capable.
We thrill and burn, a we read the glowing
story, and exhaust the language of praise, in
extolling hU virtues,, But not less glorious, not
leas worthy the commendation ol las country- !
men, is he who in an hour like this bravely wib
mita to fate; aud scorning alike- the promptings
of despair, and the unmanly refuge of expatria
tion, rushes to the rescue of his perishing coun
try, inspires his fellow citizens with hope, cheers
tbe-disconsolate, arouses the sluggish, lifts up
the helpless and the feeble, and by voice and
example, in every possible way,, urges forward
all to the blessed and bloodless and crowning
victories of peaceV It is a noble tiling to'die for
to Im for tt, . ,, ,.
The test test Ot tlie best Heroism mi, .is a
CUeeriUI ami loyal auuuuwnuu w me jwwciii unyi
events established by our defeat, aud a ready1
oltedience to the Constitution and Lawa of our
country. Being denied the immortal distinc
tion oMying for your country,, as did your
fathers and your eldest brothers, you "may yet
rival their glory, by jiving for it, if you will live
wisely, earnestly and well. The greatest cam
paign, for whicli soldiers ever buckled on armor,
ia now before you. The drum beats, and the
bugle sounds to arms, to repel invading poverty
and destitution, which have seized, our strong
holds and are waeine war. cruel and ruthless,
upon our Women and children. The teenlng
earth is blockaded by the terrible lassitude of
exhaustion, and we are required, through toil
and tribulation, to retake, as by storm, that
prosperity, and happiness, which were once our
own, and to plant our banners firmly upea their
everlasting ramparts,' amid the plaudits of a
redeemed and regenerated people... The noblest;
enldinr. naa. is he that with axe and ploucb.
pitches bis tent against the waste places of his
fire-blasted borne, and swears that from its ruins
there shall arise another like anto it ; and that
from its barren fields, there shall come again .
the gladdening sheen of dew-gemmed meadows,
ia the rising, and the golden wave ot ripening
harvests, in the setting Sua I This it s besieging
of fate itself; a band to band struggle with the
stern columns of calamity and despair. Bat the
God ot nature bath promised that it shall not
fail, when courage, faith and industry sustain
the assailant; and this victory won, without one
drop of human blood, unstained by a single tear,
imparting and receiving blessings on every band,
will be such as the wise and good of all the earth
may applaud, and over whicli even the angels
might sinilo in-rejoicing, ' . ! "
Now. from the earth, directly or indirectly,
comes all the wealth of man, w hether it be in
flocks upon the hills, in palaces within the city,
or in ships upon the, sea. In this prolific and
never' fniling source alone, must be .laid -the
foundations of our regeneration, and the Fow
is the great instrument with which it is to be
effected. The oldest born, the simplest and
most beneficent of inventions, tbe father, and
king of all the implements of man, upon it de
pends all of agriculture, of, manufacture., of
commerce and of civilization. Remembering
this, it vill be your first and last great duty,,
whether as legislators or ns private citizens, to
encourage, foster and protect lahor upon the mil :
being' assured when it prospers- that all other
desirablo thing shall be added.
During the course of the rocent,war it was
often a subject of remark that each side was
.grievously deaeived in its estimate of the other-.
And especially was it a favorite opiniou at the
North, that wetif the South were not capableot
sustaining for a protracted, period the rigors of
war. It was said' that our climate, and more
especially the system of slavery, had unman
ried us, and sunk us into effeminacy, and ren
dered us totally unfit to grapple'with the har-
-dier ami more-robust races of -the North; Dow
they were undeceived by four years of the most
desperate strife against overwhelming numbers
and resources,, it is the province of history to
tell. Nor need we fear to let them write th-it
history ; for a denial of the full and glorious
import oi our deeds would be a confession of
their own shame and inferiority. . It will be
our duty now, ui better ways, aud under bap
pier auspices, still further to undeceive them, by
the vigor and energy with which we shall clear
away the wreck of our fallen fortunes, adapt
ourselves to circumstances, under changed in
stitutions and new systems of labour, and the
rapidity with which we shall travel in those
ways which lead to the rebuilding and adorn
ing" a State. Nor will it admit of a doubt that
the same courage, constancy and skill, which
led our slender battalions through so many
pitched fields of glory, will, when directed into
the peaceful channels of national prosperity,
and quickened by the sharp lessons of adver
sity, be sufficient to place the Southern States
of the American Union side by side with the
richest and the mightiest.
Deserving also of your earnest attention is
that moral ruin scarcely less extensive .than
the physical which dogs the footsteps of re
volution. No classes of our society have alto
gether escaped It, whilst in some its ravages
have been fearful. The peculiar counteracting
influences those'of schools.and school masters
the general poverty of the country has well nigh
destroyed. The almost total loss of the very
considerable lund.set apart by the wisdom of
our Legislators in happier times for the educa
tion of trie poor children of the State, and the
consequent abandonment of our system of Com
mon Schools, are by no meana to be reckoned
among the least of our many misfortunes. To
the thousands of children, whose parents were
heretofore unabla to educate them, are now
added other thousands reduced to a worse con-.
dition by the results of the war. Their situa
tion forms a subject of tbe most serious mag
nitude, and imposes additional obligations
upon all, who, like you, have been favoured
with the means and opportunity of education.
But among all the sacred duties which will dc
volvo on, you as citizen and patriots, there
are some more sacred still than others; and one
of these is tbe looking after, and caring for, the
orphans of those who perished in your defence
and mine. Numbers of them are destitute not
only of the means of education, but of subsis
tence itself. Without friends or protectors,they
will wander into way of wickedness and ruin.
It has already been my painful fortune, to
witness an instance of such an one brought into
the courts of Justice, Charged with crime com
mitted under the influence of want,, and in the
absence of a father' teachings. But that father
was sleeping fur away in a rude soldier' grave
in the wilderness of the Chickabominy, and hi
ophan boy, without a parent, a protector, or a
friend in "the world, lone and homeless, had
-wandered among strangers and been tempted
into crime. ..I visited him in prison, where with
out a coat, without shoes or hat, and his few re
maining garments displaying bis pale and deli
cate frame, be told me hi simple and piteous
story. His tender years and helpless condition,
appealed so strongly to the court that the pen
alties of the law were not inflioted on him. A
kind gentleman came forward, agreed to give
him a home and toecame bound for his better
behaviour : and being admonished to go and
sin no more, -be was led-away. But my heart
-bled within- oi, when I remembered that he
was only one of thousands whose fortune was
equally hard, and that be had thus lost home,
and father, and an honest life, for you and for
me.' Oh I my friends, mar GOd do to yoo,
and more also, if you ever torn your back upon
an orphan child of one who perished in your
defence ! Their blood was shed, whether wise-"
1y or unwisely, in your behalf; let it appeal to
you for their naked nd helples children,' from
-the fields of slaughter where tbey spilled It, and
woe be unto you, if it appeal in vain ! ..'JTIe
Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have, dealt
with the dead" :"' ' . .' '. '
Nor do our duties to these brave men ceasa
with their children. There is a debt which
neither test oath nor Congressional amendment
have forbidden us to pay. We owe to the dead
what it is possible to do for their remain and
their memories, ana no cnarge oi laitmessnes
to our new obligations, H seems to me, should
.stand between us and it discharge. , f ; ;
... "Their bone are tratterd fat and wide, ; I i
: Bj mount, by stream and tea..,. , , , :
and it ia not for the purpose of eulogizing the
eavsev for which they perished, (for that ia al
ready in tbe bands of history,) that we would
gather them up for decent sepulture, and per
oetuat their memories by tablet el stone. , It
Is simply to testify our love for our own bloody
and oar gratetal Admiration oi tne virtue and
natriotism. and unavailing couracre, which laid
-tbem low: From that fatal wall of Gettysburg
to tha banks of the Rift Grande, two thousand
mile of travel are marked by tbe golgotba of
our kindred. In namelets valleys, on ragged
mountains, in wild end solitary swamp, the
uoblest, and the bravest, and the , high
est, of Southern manhood, children of the
Cavalier and the Iluguenof, sleep in shallow
and unknown graves! or rnoulder upon the Boil
like the beasts that pMsb. The lawgiver 8d
the plowman, the poet and the cart boy, tbe ac
complished scholar and the rude father of the
hamlet, rest side by tide awaiting the. final
trifmp, and many a mother that bore Trim knows
notof his lowly bed, nor can east one flower
upon the grave of her lost boy. And yet the
nations listened to tbe roar of that boy's mus
ket, and watched, with heart aglow and
blood on fire, as he strove to erect the "arch of
empire" through the belching flames and glit
tering bayonets of many a battlemented
height i Lustre and glory, -everything but-suc-cess,
he shed abundantly upon his country.
"The silent pillar, lone and gray, '
Claims kindred with hisacred clay ; -Tlie
meanest rill, the mightiest river,'
Rolls mingling with his fame forever."
When the crHlizcd world hns rung with the
praises of these men, and even the generous ef
their foes have not-withheld the homage ever
due to valor and to virtue, certainly we may be
pardoned for seeking to do this poor honor to
our own. . "
"If 1. a Northern wanderer, weep for thee.
What should thy sons do i"
The very least that we can do, is to bring
tlieir'reiiiaiiis home" and bury tfrpiu with decen
cy and in silence. No monument of victory
are for us, no national jubilee can we celebrate,
no songs of triumph can our maidens sing, or
garlands ot glorjSaye ; thcro is no welcom
ing of returning anrjuerors, nor erecting of
triumphal arches forSs, to console us for our
great suffering. We areUl alone with our great
defeat and ' thuVflPa'vy sorrow, which, "never
Sitting, still. is sitting, stii! is sitting," in our
household; and all that we have left for. our
comfort is the sad, yet tender light which plays
around the memory of those who died to make
it otherwise t The poor honors we show to
them are as much shown to ourselves, and still
more Xo humanity. Respect to the memory of
the worthy dead is older than civilization. In
all ages, and among all nations and peoples,
from those '"who dwell within the gates of the
rising sun," to those who behold his mightier
light give place to the dreamy dominions of tbe
evening star, it bas been usual to remove those
who died for country, and to celebrate their
virtues With the highest funereal honors.
Our noble country-women, abounding in that
tenderness which ever cleaves to misfortune,
have undertaken this pious duty. But you
must help them, the whole people of the South
must help; and small, indeed, will be the hopes
we may claim of the living if, by refusing, you
show yourselves insensible to the virtues ef the
dead. I hop yet to see the honored dust of
every Southern soldier reverently gathered up,,
4nd placed where gentle hands can show, by
beautifying and adorning Jris quiet' home, that
we love him all the ranie, and bless him all the
more, though, he died in vain. And in due time,
I doubt nut, monuments of marble and granite ,
will tell the stranger how North Carolina cher
ishes the memory of her Illustrious children. ' -
"Tread lightly, 'tis a soldier' grave.
This lonely mossy mound,--
And yet, to hearts like mine and thine,
It should be holy ground.
Tread lightly, for this man bequeathed, .
- Ere laid below this sod,
His ashes to his native land, . '
- Uis gallant soul to God :
The time is not far distant, when as citizens,
I trust, you will be pcrmitted to take a part in
the government of your country. The path ot
the statesman for the past decade lias been be
set with peculiar difficulties ; nor is it likely
that the surroundings of the present period
will prove less embarrassing to any public man
honestly seeking ni country s good,. Tbe les
son of experience would make us all wise, if
they were hot forgotten. In taking whatever
positions your talents or Inclinations may cause
to be assigned you, my most solemn injunction
would be to burn into your memories, forever,
the teachings of the terrible .experience of the
past five years. The great problem wc have just
worked out iruu oi mignty meaning, its theo
rem is demonstrated in characters of "frater
nal blood," and all its corollaries teem, with
changes of power and the downfall of systems.
Let it ever be before your eyes", and learn of it,
among other wise things, that the yielding to
blind passion and personal resentments, when
the happiness of thousands is entrusted to your
judgment,- is a crime for which God will hold
yoo accountable, l ne suryection or every pas
sion and predjudice in the breast, to. the cooler
away of judgment and reason, when the com
mon welfare is concerned, is (he first victory to'
be won in a political career. Without lt,.you
can -win no etherrlnwhica vour country-jsaa
rejoice. The philosophy of "prtHtfes exhibit
many instructive phenomena, which you should
carefully study. The federative system of ep
urate anil auaai-lndorjendeiit fltaton. whichpfirii.
nosed the' American Union';' embraced ihanv ne-t
'ouliarfeaturea in relation to.', tlie science of
Government, little known or practiced by other
nations. Years ago. M. Guizot pronounced it tbe
most difficult and ' complex in the world'; an
opinion which the infinite disagreement of our
own statesmen, in regard to its power and lim
itation have amply justified. , Its structure,
originally, wa not unlike the planetary system ;
as each State was assigned, by it authors, an
orbit In which to move around - the General
Government as a grand centre. Tbe dangers,
against which it founders seemed most anxious
to provide- were to arise from tha imperfect
, balancing of " the centrifugal and centripetal
forces, a preaominance or euner oeing esteemed
fatal Should the former prevail; tha Govern
ment would be destroyed by the flying off of
the States, or tbe dismemberment of its part.
This would be secession. Should tbe. latter
predominate, there would be an end of tbe sys
tem, by tbe crushing out and merging of all. tbe
parts ia the Central Government : This would
be consolidatkm. , . It wa believed that tbe Con
stitution Haw of gravitation) had to wisely dis-
t-distributed it force that each would act, in
accordance wun tne original design, without
destroying the other. ' But these load hope
were doomed to A terrible disappointment-
Whether it be that, a history teaches, there
tiaa hAlt a AnnatanK tAnrinv MntrallnttnM
f a song til governments which bad maintained
JOB WORK exeouled with aeatneM at the Skkti
Bb Ok'icc. ".' , .
and thrown off the feudal system ; or that no v
ernment -cat) stand the strain of eivll. war ; or , .
simply that men, in times of great excitement, -
caanot preserve judgment to discern the rigljt
from the wrong, or . integrity'' enough to keep
intact an official oath, it is needless on the pres
ent occasion to inquire.. The-recent attempt, pn
the pari of a minority of tlU' States, to with
draw from the ystera-wM successfully resisted
by the majority, in the name and by the author
ity of the Central Government. In order "fo""
effect this, powers were claimed -and exercised .
by the latter, ns-'thc content proceeded, higher
and more extraordinary tlmn the wildest con
solidationist ever dreamed of asserting before.
This destroyed, in letter and spirit, tlie original
compact, utterly and nlrtolutely ; anil so
disturbed the whole system that," in "the
very nature of things, it is impossible for
it to oscillate into place again. The pre
dominance of the centripetal power i com- .
plete, and the results established, logically,
are that the States can not withdraw, that they '
are subject to coercion, not only as to their ex
ternal relations, but as to their internal policv.
their domestic laws, and everything else what
soever pertaining to sovereignty. It doei not
logically follow, however, not even by the log
ic of revolutions, that, having neither the legal -
nor the physical pover to withdraw, tlicy are . .
yet out of the linion. That were, indeed, ii
moral ' and a physical impossibilit)-. The very
. flower of the ! prerogative of theStates isj there -
fore, swept awavby the decision of -this tribu
nal which js thCpfast resort of Kings, and to '
which a conquered people can interpose no de
murrer. - '
Such istiowthe actual state of things, unfor
tunate as we may regard it, and contrary as it
may seem to aty of our ideas-of the true purpo
ses of the government But it is our country
still, and if it cannot be governed as we wish it,
nit must yet-be governed some other way ; and it
is still our duty to labor tor its prosperity and
glory,-with ardor and-sincerity: 1 earnestly
urge upon you tlie strictest conformity'of your
conduct to the situation ; to what the govern
ment actually is, not what you may think it
ought to be. It is our bounden duty as honest
men to give our new formed institutions a full
and fair trial especially the new system of In- .
bor ; and if thev provo better than tho old. let
us forget our sufferings and be thankful. Atitj
let us not doubt, it the occasion should ever
come, " that for the sake of her own theory,
Massachusetts will cheerfully submit to the
same degradation which North Carolina has
borne. '
In the discussion and progress of political
questions, you will mostly find that there are
practically three divisions ot the people, though
there generally appear but two. Two of these,
occupy the extremest opposite positions, whilst
the third, usually denominated conservative,
stands between. This class generally exceedft
either or both of the oiy in numbers, and hi
the character and worth of its leatlcr?. , I puld'.
lt always rule, whilst there would certainfy'b .
less of progress, there would yet be less of civlH
commotiou, and far more of true happiness.
But Strang to say, though in a majority, thU .
clas is seldom in power ; for paradoxical as it
may appear, the extremists are nearer to each .
other than to the intermediate class, and gener
ally combine to overcome it It hv moreover,
k well known defect of popular government, that
they are prooeto mistake the zeal and earnest
ness of the extremists tor sound policy, which
contributes further to their triumph. , Thecoolcr
wisdom of tbe conservativaatesman is gener
ally appreciated after -the. : nuschieif ia doncS
Those "Ijold and striking quabties, so apt to cap
tivate the young Rnd enthusiastic, in war and
in politics, are mostly dangerous- to good gov
ernment And . yet mankind have bcon ttycr
eager to be deceived by them. Even history,
stern and dignified, lends itself, perhaps -unconsciously,
to the damaging delusion. Whilst
page after page paints tbe glories of the hero
who plunged his country into war, and brongbt
desolation to the door of hi people, a few brief
and passing liner suffice for the sogacious states
man who has honored his humanity by preyeiit
lng slaughter. It is to some extent so, in tut
nature of things. . The great deeds done are
tangible and real ; the great calamities avoided
are only in the mind, and we cannot fully grasp
them. Just a the sublime description of Dan
te's Inferno, with all the power of the most
vivid imagination, fails to inspire an idea of.,
torture half equal to that which we feej by bold
ing the finger for one moment in the blaze of a
candle. But if history could be differently
Written, and were it possible to set against what
this great man bas done, charged with the
misery which he inflicted, -that which another
greater and better mau bos not done, credited
with tbe suffering which lie has tpared his peo-
pie, how different would bethe verdict of poa - -terity
! and how naked would many a popular
eroappeaiL Ala", alan I why will civilization
permit its true heroes to sleep in forgotten .
graves, while marble and bronze celebrate the
virtues of those whose greatness Consisted in
their power to inflict wretchedness t j - i ,
jlvThere i no mora valuable lesson to be leara
d from the troubled and conflicting scenes ot
the recent past, than the obvious value of selfr
respecting consistency to the character of a
public man. ' And this, not in the narrow and
popular sense of that .much abused .term, as
meaning an unchanging adherence to one opin
ion or set of opinions. The dullest intellect and '
tbe meanest spirit can not only do that, but is
most apt to do it ; whilst wise men see the ne
cessity of changing aS often as the ever-varying
phase of the case may render it indispen
sable; as a good general changes front sg of
ten as it is required in order to face the enemy. '
But all public m should propose certain great
truth or principles as their objects to be at
tained never to be abandoned except upon the
clearest convictions of their falsity and though
the means, by which those principle should be
preserved, may be varied to euit ' expediency,
through good and evil report the great object
ahonld be conscientiously adhered to. This is
consistency. You will find it not only the bet
policy for tbe truth "ake, but to inspire confi- ;
dence. For without truth there can be no confi
dence,, and without confidence governments
cannot, any more than armies, "be led to victory.
blunder, honestly confessed, is already half "
atoned; persisted in , wilfully, it perpetuate '
ruin and become a crime. Nor is it excusable -to
attempt the extennation of one blunder, by
"' (Continued on fourth page.) '
.1.,