Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1868 — Speech of Robert M. Douglas, Son of the Late Senator Douglas. [ARTICLE]

Speech of Robert M. Douglas, Son of the Late Senator Douglas.

At a Republican mass meeting held in North. Carolina, on tho 16th of September, Robert M. Douglas, the eldest son of the late Stephen A. Douglas, delivered a speeeh. North Carolina is the home of this young Douglas, and his ability to assume the mantle of his father may be foreshadowed in his maiden political address, which is as follows: . Fklix)w Citizb?kb: Tbough it may appear presumption in one so young to attempt to discuss questions which tax the energies and abilities of our greatest statesmen, yet; feeling in this vital struggle, on which I benpve the future prosperity, if not the very existence, ofour coiintry depends, it is tijo duty of every one, young and old', to exert his utmost in defence of our sacred cause I obey you call. This is probably the first time in our nation’s history that a young man has had tbe opportunity of appearing before a popular gathering as the advocatir of a truly national party —a party that is governed by no sectional Interests or partisan prejudices, but whose motto is our whole country, whose eternal principles are equal rights and equal laws. 1 do not look upon this as a canvass which will decide tho munner in which tho government of the cohntry shall be administered but as'ian issue on which will depend tup vital quostion, “shall we Fave a country?” Sinceroly believing this, I shall not attempt to4ealwitF minor questions of domestic policy, but shall come at once to the main issue— Union or disunion, peace or war. What satisfaction does tho true patriot derive from the adoption of bis dearest theories of government, if in the adoption of those thcorios begins the ruin of tho land he fondly hoped they would lead to greatne*B? Laws founded even upon divine inspiration would bo useless if there wore no country for them to govorn. What thesflre Is there for the display of tho energies'of a young and aspiring citizen just entering upon tbe important duties of life in a country torn by civil strife? Well has an eminent American statesman remarked:."There is no path q{ ambition open to me in a divide!! and distracted country.” To prove that the real issue is peace or war we have only to refer to Frank F. Blair’* letter, written with a view to his nomination aud subsequently endorsed by tho very fact of his nomination by the National Democratic Convention. Blair in bia letter Bays*. "There is but one way to restore the government and tho constitatio'n, and that is for the President oleet to deolare these acts nail &nd‘ void, compel the army to undo its usurpation at tbe South, disperse the'carpet-bag State Governments, Jtlld# tbs white people to reorganize their owu governments and elect Senators and Representatives." i Of course any attempt to subvert toe governments of these Southern States by force would load to war as thoThwerioor end all other State offlc*fs, oivll and. military, are sw<?rn to alley, support and defend the Constitution of the State .of North Carolina; and we will_defen(Fi|. Further down Blair" Bays: .- "We mast restore the constitution before we can restore thdtnatfcos’, sod to do this we mast hive a President who th# will of the people by traonpling’ ißto dagt the naurnation of Cougrqsa known as the Reconstruction qpte. I wish to stand before the conveiw ilOn upon this isßuo, bnt it if <*•

which embraces everythingelstfthih is of value in its large and eomfirobonsive results. £b is the. One thing,, that includes all tlmt is wqrtb a oon-. tost, and without itthore is nothing that gives dignity, honor or value to the struggle." On this issue he was If any further proof were needed to. show tbe revolutionary spirit of the Conservative party, it could easily bo found fn the Violent harangues we daily henr around as, their bitter persecution of Union men, and their unrelenting hatred of the North and its loyal peoplo. The bittornoss toward Northern men,-who prove true to their principles and who do not bow in slavish submission to the opinions of these haughty aristocrats, self constituted judges of honor and morality, I know from personal experience.— Tbough descended from one of the oldest families of this State, and born and partially raised in Rockingham county, upon my return nearly two years ago to my native place I was denounced as & Yankee and generally roceivetP'with all the coldness and distrust due to that detested race. Notwithstanding my own nativity and the position of my mother’s family, they could never forget the Puritan birth of my father, whose native State, Vermont, with her 30,000 majority, so nobly leads the van, and, I may add, could never forgive his dying efforts in defence of his country.

Speaking of bim, and feeling that whatever importance any words of, mine may have is derived from the name I bear and the affection manv still feel towards one who. through life proved himself*.the people’s friend, a few words copcemiog my father may not be deemed inappropriate. It wa3 with feelingsof surprise—and 1 must add, of indignation—that I saw his name inscribed upon one of the transparencies borne in tho lato Conservative procession. I thought that common decency at least would have prevented them from dragging -from the-tomb the name of the man whom they had betrayed and denounced through life aud, after liis death, whose Orphan children they bad persecuted. When gazing Upon the name I remembered tbe time when these same men declared him a traitor to every principle of honordJecanse he preferred his country to his party and bitterly denounced him for his efforts to rally tbo people of the West for the defence of the UnioD. I remember ail .these when I am declared a degenerate son; and for every quotation they give me from his speeches I will give them a dozeflr- WJiQn the Sentinel parades a sentence concerning a white man’s government I wonld remind them of his dying words. When the wife bent over tho scarce breathing form of tho expiring statesman and asked if he had no message to send his children: "Tell them,” said he. In a voice rendered almost inaudible by tbo near approach of death, "to obov and support the constitution and the laws of the land." This solemn ihjuncTidnTTntend To oT]ey.' When I see myself personally abusedbytbe Denser vative prssston account of my political sentiments, and called a traitor to the State in which I was born, I would recall to their' recollection the time when I was declared an- alieu enemy.— About the year 1862, a bill was filed summoning Thomas Settle (nqw Associate Justice of The Supremo Court) and R. A. Ellington to Greensboro to show cause why they Ahould not surrender the property of Robert 14. and Stephen A. Douglas, alien enemies of the Confederacy; and when I am denounced a* a Yankee and carpet-bagger, 1 tyould remind them of their efforts to drive me an exito frond my native State and render pt* a stranger to tbe soil that gave me,'birth. As, however, I have, inherited ray fatber’s name aud his‘ principles, it is natural that I should inherit then* animosity. Nevertheless, lit is strange that these men, bis bitterest enemies in life, should now claim to be the truest exponents of his principles; bnt dot more strange than that they should, now assert theujselves tbe best friends of tbe Constitution of the United States a|hd the infallible interpreters of its provisions, after they have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of thousands of millions of treasure so trafnpld into the dost that sacred instrument. Such is tboir consistency, sard sncli it is throughout Sll their political principles. If a White Bar publican afdresseS a crowd* of col. orod men, expressing his honest sentiments, instructing them in their rights and duties, and advisiDgnhom ae a friend that action involves social equality and is disreputable. High-born Cooßeijvativeß, however, cnncsaingle promiscuously among colored men at barbecues, eat from the satqh sheep ana dirink from the.ssmo. bottle, and they deserve the praise of their fol ow-evti-zens. If a colored man, following his honest convictions, votes for the best interests of hi* race and a**all fVooU the bosouf of. fte Tommqn eifth. 14 bn tbdbcher ‘hkpu,; Hi at'

colored trfin -provtyt aitraitbr to Ms nusdr-rv otes to ccnjsign s«*•s his MmWVW to e condition fed than slaycry—for thoV »ll that tlto‘COfldHton ’of ah old negro was worso than that of a *lavoi-~bo isrofipuctnihio, and-, his ■W*rtt>ydMfe worthy of grasping the sweetest flowed plucked by tbe Bnowy fingers 6f the uarolitfhlr&ir* est daugh tertfr By referenda to the columns of the Stanford ypu Will learn thrift the towa, of ,(?h*ptel Hill, of classjc fame, the jadjepto testify their admiration fof'tljw mbqueoce of a colored tsdhshrvative orator, presented' him With an elegant bouquet 6f flowers. I have no to this.. Roarer# wore their own, and tbOTigiveUidlp to whom they piease;b6 1! *l' claim tho same right, as Ibnjfas t observe the restraints of puo)|ddbcency, of deciding upon the propriety or impropriety oftnyownoondact. This time ban gonewr when one maii Was bettor than audthef because he happened to be born in independent circumstances, and honCoforth yir- . tueand intelligence a bs.the critoria of meri,t. Nothing mdre

clearly shows the utter hopAeslfnWs of tbe so-called Cohserratifb cause and \the political degradation to which the party basdesoaadcd than the means employed,to secure abscess, since they are afraid to loaye the result with the unblessed votes of tbe citizens of the 'bfoate and country. Any man who, by refbs-, ing employment to all who will, not, swear to vote the Democratic ticket, and this is done openly all over the State—attempts to starven colored man into voting against his deliberate convictionaaud tbe best interests of bis race, is-less worthy of tbe baljqt,than the negro whom; he influences,"

Consider, then, the difference between the candidate*—Seymour, former Gtorempg of New York, and Grants the conqueror of tbe rebellion, It is true that Seymour may be the more fluent Speaker, that is, may find mere'Ur talk about; bat when General Grant has anything to say be is pretty, generally understood; such, for as his “immediate and unconditional surrender.” The, former fkrnow by reputation, th^ 1 latter personally. General Grant bas'not tbe qualities requisite in a hero of ropifneo; but the very fact that his mind is so equally balanced that no one trait predomi-nates-^-cxcept,perhaps, f! hia invincl ble firmness and devottein to constitutional liberty—fitfc him to ealm the domestic of.the country his sword has saved. But I have no soar of the results X have too much confidence in’ the intelligence and patriotism of ray l fellow-citizens of North the entire Union. Wijtb this implicit trust f look *forward to fjie 4th of next March, when Grant and Coifs*, will take, their sWW’OS the inauguration of a new «r$ when peace and plenty wiml)<ww UWtfpMre conntry, healingJbe breaches made, by the late civil; war, whsfc the old dag will once mbre waife in triumph over a trappy and united land, ,