The loyal Georgian. [volume], February 24, 1866, Image 2

About The loyal Georgian. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1867

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The Loyl Grorgian.
AUGUSTA, GA ,FEBRUARY 24. 1866.
THE EULOGY OF ABRAHAM
LINCOLN.
‘Monday, February 12th was a mark- l
ed day in our National Capital. It was
then and there that the dignitaries of the
land, the President and his cabinet, both
houses of Congress, the Foreign Minis«
ters, all the intelligence and character
which usually concentrates in Washing
ton during a session of Congress, came
together in the great hall of the House
of Representatives, to pay their united
tribute of respect to the memory of our
murdered President. °
~ As the occasion itself was one of the
deepest interest; so was the man upon
whom the: duty devolved of giving it a
voicefldmirably qualified for.the work as:
signed bim. Not only his deservedly
high position as a thiuker and a scholor,
but bis world wide fame as the American
Historian, made it particularly fit that,
Mr. Bancroft should be the eulogist of
resident Lincoln,
A perusal of his address, justifies the
opinion that he met the demands of the
occasion. Our first feeling, after its
perusal, was one of disappointment. It
seemcd to be too cold, too intellectual, too
critical, too pnrely historical. It seemed
to lack an infusion of heart and soul.
The_re was so much that was genial and
lovable in the character of our revered
President, the kindly and warm hearced
man seemed, even in his public acts and
relations, 8o to predominate over the mere
official, his private speech and publec
papers were so full of his generous
heart, as well as eof his sagacious head,
he made us all feel, to such a degree, that
he was the Father of his country, as well
as the incumbent of the highest office in
its gift, his death inspired such a feeling
of personal bereavement,— that we came
to the reading of his eulogy prepared to
find in it a full recognition of all this,
sometlfing to minister to and strengthen
the sentiments, which these attributes
naturally inspire; something to deepen
our seuse of bereavement, and draw
forth our tears afresh.
Then, in addition to the great personal
worth of the late President,—-the qualities ‘
of mi.d apd heart, which, in our regards,
placed the man above the President, there
was ‘the deep damnation of his taking
off )—his death,—just when his wise
dirccting mind was most neeied to pers
fect the work which he had brought so
far, and so well ;—and this by the band
of a cowardly assassin ;—with the
thoughts and feelings growing out of this
sad event. We wanted, or thought we
did, some appropriate and appreciative
notice of ull this;—and the address
seemed to fail, in that it did not meution
and amplify this, and kindred themes,
But sober seeond thought has satisfied
us that it is better as it is. Considering
the time when the eulogy was given,—
long euough after the event, for the feel
ings of horror, indignation and grief,
which it first inspired, to have softened,
—not long enough, however to rob the
villainous act of oune iota of its atrocity,
or to palliate, in the slightest degice, the
guilt of its infamous iostigators, consider
ing the audience before whieh it was
uttered, and how Ilasi, since, a 8 beiore,
history has been making, and the issues of
+ the war developing themselves, we gre
forced to ac:kn'owledge that the speaker
pursued the wisest course. A brief his
torical abstract of events preceeding the
election of President Lincoln, and lead
ing to that event, together with an equdt
ly brief allusion to the prominent inci~
dents of his life, private and official, —
this obviously was the fitting train of
thoyght for sueh an occasion, and before
such an auditory. And, allowing this,
it would have been difficult to bave more
successfully met the demands of the
hour. Mr Bancroft has shown ore of
the gits of an acccmplished writer, both
in the amount and the sppropriateness of
the historical matter which he has con
densed into his address. We cannot
read it without having the conviction,
which we have always held, strengthened
—how surely, how inevitably, how as by 1
the certain retribution of destiny, or of
the God who is above destiny, tke serd of
th's calamitous war was planted here,
with the institution of slavery; and
how all our compromises with it, all our
attempts to legislate about, and palliate
and justify it, bave calminated in a war
which has cost so much in treasure and
blood, and alicnated feeling; and led to
an act, which will always stand as one of
the foulest in our national annals—viz.
The assassination of one of the best of
men, and purest of Presidents.
But, though dead, he still speaks, and
will ever speak throgh his unsallied vir
tues, his noble patriotism, and faithful
gervices. As Mr. B. says, in the mar] '
passage in which he runs a paralle
tween Lincoln and the late prime m’
ters of England. ‘Palmerston was |
ed in Westminster, Abbey, by the o.
of his Queen, and was followcd by the
British aristocracy to his grave; which,
after a few years, will hardly be noticed
by the side of the graves of Fox and
Cbatham; Lincoln was followed by the
sorrow of his country, across the conti
nent to his resting-place in the heart of
the Mississippi valley, to be remembered
through all time by his countrymen, and
by all the peoples of the world.’
A SENSIBLE PLANTER.
We find in the Northampton Free
Press a letter from Mobile, from which
we copy tlre following incident: -
I will give you particulars of an in
teresting conversation I held this morn.
ing with a very intelligent planter from
Green county, introduced to me by Mr,
———— .28 one of the most respect~
able and successful planters in that sec
tion, and who had made a good crop the
past season. He told me he had retained
all his negroes with him since their e nan
cipation, except one girl, whom he sent
away because she was idle nnd unfaithful.
When the order came from the Freed~
men's lureau, freeing the negroes, he
made up his mind to meet it with entire
calmness and acquiescence; called his
negroes together, read the order to them,
and explained to them plainly that they
were all free, and could go where they
pleased, and explained clearly what were
‘their rights. Ife then said they could go
or they might remain and work for hiw,
‘on such terms as they might agree upon.
He would feed and clothe them as usual
and pay all their doctor’s bills, and in
addition would give them oneecighth of
the crop; and, further, when the crop
was made, he would selk their part of the
cotton and corn, and would help them in
dividing the proceeds among them in
proportiou to the value of their respective
labor ; moreover, that he would agree not
to driyve any hand away frome the planta
tion, even if they mwade him angry, with
out first leaving to some of their number
to decide whether it was deserved, and
he would be governed by their decision.
He remarked that he had a negro over
seer or driver, who was a man of remark
‘able gcod sense, and who exercised much
influence with his negroes; that he was
lin o Sabit of sonine itk hie it sl
matters rclating to his plantation; and
to this man he was greatly indebted for
his success during this year—indeed, he
doubted if he could have succeeded as well
without him,
After bis talk with his negroes, they
colleeted together in the evening for con
sultation upon his proposition. Their
decision was *that Massa D had never
dcceived them, and they believed he never
would.” So they agreed to go to work
on his terms, and they worked well.
He bas not yet made a contract for
the coming year, but is confident he shall
experience no trouble, as the neighbor
ing negroes are coming to sce if he will
eugage them also, aud he expressed en
tire confidence of making a good crop the
coming year. He remarked, however,
that his case was not a common one.
His neighbors had great trouble to retain
any of tbeir negroes, and very few re
tained many. Oo my inquiting why
others did not succeed as weil as himself,
he went into a truthful exulaination. He
said that but few planters had the g od
sense to agcommodate themselves wisely
to " their new circumstances, so as to
secure the confidence and sympathy of
their negroes; they bave been so long
accustomed to govern and deal with
them as slaves that they do lot under
stand and respect properly the new rights
and feclings of the freedmen, and lose
their confidence ; and old mey are much
less successful than younger ones.
Mr. ——— remarkes emphatically
that he did not believe any disbouest man
could succeed in employing negroes; they
seemed to comprehend them with wonder
ful discernment, and like all ignorant
people, al hough easily ivfluenced where
they had entire faith, their distrust was
easily awakened ; and if a man once de *
ceived or took an unfair advantage of
them, it was next to impossible for him
ever to regain their confiidence,
I remarked to Mr. ——— that almost
every person here that I conversed with
assured me that the negroes would not
work faithfully—would not make con~
tracts for work on plantations, or would
not fulfil their engagements if they did,
—that they were lazy and unreliable—
and T asked bim if he thought such alle
gations true, and if there was anytling
inherent in the negroe’s mind or nature
to make him so incorrigibly lazy and un
reliable, or were there other reasons that
would account for all the difficulties of
which the people complained. He re~
plied that there was nothing inherent in
the negro to prevent his doing faithful
work, and abiding by his contracts. He
believed he would make contracts, and
work faithfully, if he was rightly treated ;
that the presect difficulties were cansed
largely by faults on the part of the white
employers. That few slave-owners could
take a large, clear view of the new rights
and feelings of the freedmen ; they can~
not divest themselves of the feeling that
they still should dictate to and treat them
as masters—they are impatient aud un
reasonable, because the negroes do not
yield and conform to their wishes, and
thus fail in retaining their respect or con
fidence.— Independent,
THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND
MENT IN THE SENATE.
Advertiser’s special dispatch.
The finest audience of the session came
out on Monday last, to hear Mr. Sumner’s
great speech on the amendmert to the
Constitutign. Many persons were in the
galleries before the Senate was called to
gether at noon, and long before 1 o’clock,
the hour at which the proposition was to
be taken up, they were crowded to their
utmost capacity. The morning hour was
occupied with minor business, and it was
a quarter past one when Mr. Fessendon
called for the special order. He of course
was entitled to open the debate, but be
ing unwell, he yielded the floor to Mr.
Sumnoer.
The scene, when he rose to speak, was
one that could not fail to touch the most
indifferent heart. One-fourth of the
geuntlemen’s gallery was filled with color
ed soldiers, and the other seats and aisles
of the remaining part of the galleries were
closely packed with an intent and ap
pre¢iative auditory, while on the floor
were a large number of members from the
House and several members of the for
eign delegations resident in the city.
Mr. Sumner began by giving briefly
his objectionito the proposed amenament
to the constitution, which he characters
ized as nothing else than another compro~
mise of human rights. There are five
millions of ecitizens, said he, now robbed
of all share in the government of their
country, while at the same time they are
taxed directly or indirectly for the sup
port of thé government, and this tyranny
of taxation without representation it 1s
now proposed to recognise as not incon
sistent with constitutional right and the
guarantee of a republican government.
The powers of Congress on this sub
ject he held to be as ample as they are
beneficent. From four specific fountains
they flow, each one sufficient for the pur
pose, all four swelling into an irresistible
current and tending to one conclusion :—
first, the necessity of the case; secondly,
the rights of war; thirdly, the consitu~
tional injunction to guarantee a republi
can form of government; and fourthly,
the amendmeut to the Constitution by
which Congress is empowered to enforce
the abolition of slavery by appropriate
legislation.
Glancivg at the promises of the fathers
he should exhibit first the overruling
necessity of tbe times, and secondly, the
positive mandate of the Constitution,
compeiling us to guarantee ‘a republican
form of government,’ and thus to deters
mine what is meant by this requirement.
In sustaining the first branch of the ars
gument, he held that the pational safety
required equality in all rights and privi
ieges, and argued that if these were con~
tinually denied, the freedmen would finally
resist the oppressors, the war of races
would begin, and the horrors of Saw«Do
“mingo would be re-enacted.
~ Passing from the necessity of the case,
Mr. Sumner proceeded to consider the
guarantee of a republican form of govern~
ment by the Constitution. Assuming
that there has been a lapse of govern~
mont in any State, so as to impose upon
the United States tbe duty of executing
this guarantee, then would he insist that
it is the bounder duty of the United
States to see that such State has a ‘re
publican gdvernment;’ and, in the dis
charge of this bounden .duty, they must
declare that a State, which mn the foun
dation of its government sets asidc ‘the
¢onsent of the governed,’ which imposes
taxation without representation, which
diseards the prineiple of equal rights, and
which lodges power exclusively with an
oligarchy, aristocraey, caste or monopoly,
cannot be recoguised asa ‘republican
‘government,’ according to the require
ment of American institutions.
~ Proceeding with the argument, he ex
‘amined the origin of this guarastee, and
showed how it obtained a place in the
Constitution, quoting from Hamilton and
from Madison and from other framers of
that instrument, to show that the very
crisis anticipated by them has arrived;
and that the ‘guarantee’ must bs per
formed, not only for the sake of individa
al States, but for the sake of the Union
to which they all belong, and to advance
the objects of the Constitution declared
in its preamble. -
Mr. Sumner then went on to examine
the true definition of what is a ‘republi
can form of government,’ aceording to
the requirements of the Constitution of
the United States This, he held, coald
be shown under four different heads:—
first, as associated by the fathers through
out the long revolutionary controversy
which culminated in var; secondly, as
aonounced in sclemn declarations; third
ly, as sustained in declared opinions, and
fourthly, as embodicd in publie acts.
Under the first of these sub~heads he
procecded to show by much illustration,
from bistory, that our fathers struggled,
year after year, in controversy with the
mother country ; and went forth to battle
to establish the very principle for which
he now contended, to secure the natural
right of men, and eSpecially, to vindicate
the controlling maxim, that there can be
no taxation without representation.
He entered into an elaborate review of
the principles asserted by James Otis,
John Adams and Patrick Henry, by the
Colonial Assemblies of Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania and Virginia; and Afinally,
by the Continental Congress, to demon~
strate the issue of principle actually made
in the controversy with the mother coun—
try, and declared that independence was
the means to an end, and that end was
noth’ng less than a republie, with liberty
and equality as the animating principles,
where the government should stand on
the consent of the governed; or, which
is the same thing, where there should be
no taxation without representation.
The following is the. proposition on
which Mr. Sumner based his speech, it
being offered as a substitute for the pro
posed constitutional amendment of -the
Reconstruction Committee relative to the
basis of representation :
Whereas, 1t is provided m the Con
stitution that the United States shall
guaranty to every State in the Union a
republican form of government; and
Whereas, By reason of the failure of
certain’ States to maintain governments
which Congress could Tecognize, it bas
become the duty of the United States,
standing in place of guarantor, where the
principle bas made a lapse, to secure to
such States, according to the requirement
of the guaranty, governments.republican
in form ; and
Whereas, further, It isprovided in.a
recent constitutional ameudment that
Congress may “‘enforce ” the prohibition
of slavery by “appropriate legislation;”
ard it is important to this end that all
distinction of rights on account of color;
now, therefore, to carry out the guaran
ty of a republican form of Government,
and to enforce the prehibition of slavery;
Be it resolved by the Senate and
House of Representaiives wn Congress
assembled, There shall be no oligarchy,
aristocracy, caste or monopoly invested
with peculiar privileges and powers, and
there shall be no denial of right, civil or
political, on account of color or race any
where within the Jimits of the United
States, or the jurisdiction thereof—but
all persons therein shall be equal before
the law, whether in the court-room or at
the bailot~box. And the statute, made
in pursuance of the Constitution, shall
be the supreme law of tbe land, anything
in the Constitution or laws of any State
to the contrary netwithstanding,
From the Cbmmonwealth.
1f any assurance were necded of Mr.
Sumnper’s position as a legislator and
statesman, the dcmonstration on Monday
and Tuesday last, on the occasiom of toe
delivery of his great speech on “ Equal
Rights for All,” sufficiently attested it.
A full Senate, crowded galleries, the pre
sence of the diplomatic corps in large
numbers, and the desertion of the House
by its members, all gave evidence that
one was upon the floor whose influence
was recognized through the realm of con
stitutional governments.
Without discussing the points set
forth in this speech, we may say that we
regard the partial auditory of so many
members of the diplomatic corps as fully
significant as any sub~divisions of argu~
ment presented. In our national career,
recently, we have given the world the
strongest assurances of the resources and
power of a republican government. The
example is contagious, All Europe
seethes with the hidden fires of popular
revolution. When pext its flames break
forth, there will be no failure of the con
flagration. These representatives of
foreign governments are keenly alive to
this fact. They come, therefore, to this
great discussion, not solely from per
sonal regard to Mr. Sumner, as some
persons might suppose, but to learn from
a master the true scope and spirit of: re
publicanism —to go with kim to. the pri.
meval foundations of a government which,
resting’ upon popular rights, is the
strongest that ever was devised. Com-
municating with their sovercigns, the
design, breadth and effect of this speech,
from an acknowledged leader of the
people and a strtesman of ‘world-wide
renown, will be faithfully chronicled for
fature guidance and instruction.
In this view, every sympathizer with
Mr. Sumner must rejoice that ome so
clear sighted and faithful to econviction,
and withall one so true ever to justice
and freedom, has said with such power
the needed word. y .
In a speech recently made fn Brooklyn,
Fraderick Douglass, in referrai:&; to a de—
claration made by Henry Ward Beecher,
some years ago, that, if he could abolish
slavery on the instant, or by waiting
twenty five years, could have it so abol
ished that its overthrow would whelly
rebound to the glory of the Christian
Chureh, he would prefer the latter, said:
“1 presume Mr. Beecher was entirely
sincere in this preference; and yet if I
were a Maryland slavebolder, and Mr.
Beecher were my slave, and I had @ raw
hide, I could take this opinion out of him
in less than balf an hour.” ‘
We have no taste for riddles or
conundrums, but the following from the
New York Evening Post, will do: Why
is a petroleum speculator like the Secre
tary of the Navy? Because he is giddy
on wells.
It seems that a lawyer is something of
a carpenter ; he can file a bill, split a hair,
make an entry, get up a case, frame an
indictment, empannel a jury, put them
in a box, nail a witness, hammer a judge,
bore a court, and other like things.
It is a bad habit to carry your pins o
your religion in your mouth.
A correspondent of the Anti-Slavery
reporter says that the amount collected
in France, up to November, for the
American frce regroe’, amounted to
49,000 francs. Some of the details of
the work of the Comite d” EKmancipation
among the peasantry of the village are
deeply interesting. -
The Scottish astronomer Nichols de
fines the mighty ageney that holds worlds
in their orbits, and comets in their flight
to be the will of God !
Isaaz Newton affirms that Sovereignty
is synonymous with Deity !
It is a suggestive fact that, while infi
dels have presumed to mock the Law
giver and Him who has redecmed us
from the curse of the law, they have
never touched the law itself! The per~
fection and glory of the ten comandments
stand before the ecivilized world unim
peached as a perfect rule of, right and
wrong |
The Bible, which contains the dealings
of God with man, from the creation to
the advent and ascension of Jesus Christ,
is so wonderfully concise that it can be
read through in the brief period of sixty
hours.
The best way to meet just, but adverse
comments upon character is, not to fight
the comments, but to mend the character!
“I can manufacture any amouct of
public opinion,” said a plausible scoun
drel, who was making a whole village
unhappy by his vile and slanderous in
sinuations.
Messrs Can’t, Won't & (~ though ac«
complished swindlers, are an extremely
popular firm, are doing a large business
among children and youth, in the city
and country, :
It may be remarked for the comfort of
honest poverty, that averica reigms.in
most of .those who have but few good
qualities to recommend them. This is a
weed that will grow in a barren soil.
BEAL &BUTTS,
FAMILY GROCERS AND PRO
VISION DEALERS,
HAVE constantly on hand all kinds of groce
ries and provisions at the lowest market
prices. ;
In connection with our business, we have opened.
a Restaurant, where meals can be procured at all
hours and at cheap rates.
FREEDMAN'S
SAVING BANK.
THE office of this Bank is now open on Cluvnyv
bell Street, between Broad :nd Ellis. .
invite the attention of the citizens to our adver
tisement and hope they will give us a share of
p ablic patronage. . ' v
N. B.—Laborers wishing employment will ap
ply at the office of the bank to the undersigned.
23 PRINCE AVES.
TO THE FREEDMEN OF AUGUSTL
AND VICINITY.
THE undersigned is now prepared with his
horse an 1 wagon, or buggie, to convey pas
engers, packages, trunks, or freight of any d¢
seription to the country or city. Parties wishiig.
our services will p'ease leave their orders at the
Office of the Freedman’s Savings Bank. Pronpt
attention guaranteed. v
Office on Campbell Street, between Broad mad
Ellis. PRINCE AVES, |
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