r\ 'itlllilij; 11 ^.. .^^^' %■ i^ " 0^ "^^^ i;> .<^'' •\ o" ^^^^*;'^ '-^.^ v-^ aN •-y' oo^ v^^ '^^^ %. ^^' s- .^^' ■'■p. '"/, ^^ / ,-'; - vO o . ^ ' '^.J" .■S' •; <, ^A V <■- •'■ "^-~" xO^. %. I- " 8 7.^^V ^ C\' s ' % ,^2^^ - 'r ./ ■^ •>', ri- ■^ A ■o "■' (/ -. I, x^^^ , V 1 " , '^a "^ v'" . -^-7 -r-, '< ■:> .<^ <.^ o 0^ .0 o^ .^-^ '^. % ,^' 'J- V ,0 -^^ A . ,vN^ \" V v*^ '^ : I ^^^ '*., ■ ^ ^ ■ '^^f- ^^' c.^ ^> -/'. :\^ ■ f "^, .V V\":. c <:>■ ^ A \" x\' 'f. ' a\ il : ^>. <^' ,\V' A. PAMPHLET CONTAINING THE FULL HISTORY OF THE CELEBRATION OP THE NmETY-NliNTH ANMVERSARY OF AMEEIOAN INDEPENDENCE IN ATLANTA, GA., JULY 4th, 1875. COMPILED FROM THE ATLANTA DAILY HERALD. ATLANTA, GA. : THE HERALD STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINT. A PREFACE. . late celebration of the Fourth of .) lay, at Atlanta, excited a national in- terest. The number of letters from Georgia's most distinguished men, writ- ten in response to the Committee of In- vitation, and published day after day in the ATLANTA Herald, were copied far and \'ide, and variously commented upon. The speeches of Governor James M. Smith and the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, the Centennial poem by Col. J. A. Stewart, the immense crowd, the hundreds of incidents, and the various ceremonies, furnished column after col- umn of interesting matter. For these letters, and the history of the day's cel- ebration, such continuous application has been made, that although several editions of the Herald containing them were struck off, the demand was not satisfied. Applications for the account of the proceedings pour in from all sec- tions of the State, and all States of the Union. To fill this demand, and an- swer these applications, is the object of this pamphlet. There will be found in its pages much to gratify the true lover of this Republic. For a decade previous to the present year, the 4th of July has commanded no attention from the masses, and nothing but sneers from the leaders. The Atlanta Herald, a Democratic paper always, but one thoroughly convinced that it was essen- tial to the prosperity of either section of this Union, and doubly so to the prosperity of the whole, that full and perfect amity should exist between them, and one that hoped that this amity would soon be established despite the politicians of North and South, at- tempted, in '73 and '74 to revive an in- terest in the 4th of July, and secure its hearty obsen^ance at the hands of Geor- gians. In both instances it failed, and encountered sharp criticism on all sides. Never, until the present, were the peo- ple ready for full reconciliation. But now they are ready. They have turned their backs upon the past, and the light of the future is breaking upon their resolute faces, upturned to meet it. They ask for nothing but justice and wisdom in the administration of the general government. They demand nothing but that the States shall be equal. These conditions being fulfilled, Georgia will yield to no State, North or South, in her love for the Union and her devotion to its flag. No better answer, it seems to us, could be found — no fuller answer desired, to the slanders which Radical politicians are daily heaping upon the South than the letters, speeches and incidents found in this little pamphlet. Thuse who know anything of the history of Geor- gia will see that her very best men, in- cluding all of her former Governors now living, her present Governor, her ex- Senators and her Senators, her Judges, her Congressmen, her State Senators and Representatives, have indorsed fully and heartily, in their letters, the celebration herein described, while the speech of Mr. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, is full of noble and patriotic sentiments. The names of those who opposed the spirit of the oc- casion may be counted on the fingers of the left hand. The pamphlet being issued to meet a temporary demand, has been hastily put together, and the publishers rely upon the nobility of the sentiment con- tained therein to atone for any awk- wardness of arrangement. THE DAY IN ATLANTA. To the conservative wisdom and the patriotism of Dr. H. V. M. Miller, ex- United States Senator, and the energy of Major George Hillyer, Centennial Commissioner for Georgia, the success of the movement described in this pamphlet is due. With a rare sagacity they saw that the times were auspicious for such an attempt, and realizing the immense amount of good that might result from its accomplishment, they lent their aid to it, with what result may be seen below. THE FOURTH. How it is to he Celebrated. PFOgramme of the Ceremonies and Order of the Procession. [Atlanta Herald, June 11, 1875.] According to notice, a meeting was held at the Chamber of Commerce, on Wednesday, to arrange a programme for the celebration of the Fourth of July. It was decided that the address by Hon. Alexander H. Stephens should take place at the Opera House. COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. A committee of thirteen, as a commit- tee of arrangements, was then appoint- ed, consisting of the following : Sidney Dell, Chairman, L. J. Gartrell, Evan P. Howell, A. H. Colquitt, B. F. Abbott, H. W. Grady, Henry Hillyer,^ Julius Brown, J. N. Dunn, W. J. Garrett, J. H. James, Wm. M. Lowery, E. Y. Clarke. Marshal of the Day — Col. O. H. Jones. ( rator — Hon. Alex. H. Stephens. l;eader of the e laration of Inde- pendence of 1776— Capt. John MiJIedge. Reading of a poem by Colonef J. A. Stewart. ORDER OF PROCESSION. The Federal officers in the city are requested to join in the procession ; also to cause thirteen guns to be fired at dawn of day at the barracks, and thirty- eight at the conclusion of the ceremo- nies. The procession is to be formed in front of the State House, at 10 o'clock A.M. The column is to be headed by the Governor of the State and his secreta- ries, the Secretary of State, Treasurer, Comptroller-General and Mayor and General Council of Atlanta. Next, the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State, with their officers ; the Federal Court and their officers; the Circuit Court Judges of the State and their officers ; Senators and mem- bers of Congress, also ex-Senators and members and Ex-Governors; Federal military officers, according to rank and giade ; the Chaplain ; reader and speak- er of the day ; clergy of the city ; socie- ties, fire companies, etc.; the Board of Education, the officers, teachers and pupils of the public schools, followed by the citizens generally. The following persons were appointed as a committee of three to issue invita- tions : Dr. H. V. M. Miller, Major Geo. Hillyer and Colonel Marcus A. Bell. STAGE PROGRAMME. 1. Prayer by Rev. H. T. Spalding. 2. Reading the Declaration of Inde- pendence bv Captain John Milledge. 3. Reading of an original poem by Colonel J. A. Stewart. 4. The oration by Hon. Alexander H. Stephens. This will perhaps be the gandest fourth of| July celebration since the halcyon days of ante helium times. THE DAY INIATLANTA. THE COMING FOURTH. Hon. Alex. H. Stephens "Will" Ad- r dress the People of Atlanta. The following correspondence will ex- plain itself : Atlanta, Ga., June 5, 1875. Hon. A. H. Stephem: Dear Sir— The ensuing Fourth of July is near at hand,«nd Mr. Stewart, the bearer of this, has cousentea to prepare a centennial poem for that occasion. We desire, also, that you should ad- dress us on the Fourth, and hope you may find it in your power to do so. A favorable response by Mr. Stewart would be highly gratifying to your many friends. Yours very truly, A. H. Colquitt, J. F. Wright, H. V. M. Miller, Dr. V. M. Hodgson, I. W. Averv, J. E. Cox, Dr. J. M. Johnson, A. & S. Rosenfeld, O. A. Lochrane, John R. Kendrick, Sidney Dell, A. K. Seago, Evan P. Howell, J. H. Anderson, B.F.Abbott, Adair & Brother, W. J. Garrett,; Lemuel Dean, William M. Lowery, Stewart, Austin & Co.' J. N. Dunn, C. B. Line, H. W. Grady, A. J. Walters, Mark Johnson, T. H. Orme, E. Y. Clarke, Wm. W. Compton, Richard H. Clark, William McMillan, B. F. Sawyer, Joseph H. Smith. W. S. Walker, William H. Hulsey, C. (;. Hammock, George T. Fry, L. J. Gartrell, A. B. Calhoun, Henry Hillyer, E. F. Hoge, George Hillyer, James Banks, J. N. Mecaslin, Edward Hammond, H. T. Phillips, J. S. Collins, H. C. Glenn, H. T. Lewis, M. J. Ivy, W. M. Bray, Marshall J. Clarke, R. J. Cowart, W. B. Bas.s, J. C. Norris, D. A. Beatie, Reuben Arnold, W. D. Ellis, P. L. Mynatt, W. J. Heyward, E. N. Broyles, C. Peeples, T. P. Westmoreland, W. T. Newman, John T. Glenn, W. L. Calhoun, W. R. Hammond, N. J. Hammond, A. M. Perkerson, John T. Cooper, J. Robinson, Daniel Pittman, John Neal, Grant Wilkins, C. Herbst, Charles Whitehead, J. Herrick, W. J. Maeill, J. H. Seals, W. J. Pollard, William K. Boyd, J. W. Thomas, Henry D. Law, Hugh Lynch, J. W. Rucker, G. W. Adair, F. P. Rice, B. E. Crane, A. C. Wyly, J. R. Simmons, John T. McGuire, G. W. Anderson, S. M. Inman. Liberty Hall, Crawfoedville, Ga., June 7, 1875. Messrs. I. W. Avery, H. V. M. Miller, E. Y. Clarke, H. W. Grady, B. F. Saun/er, R. H. Clark, A. H. Colquitt, Sidney Dell, George Hillyer, and others : Gentlemen— Your kind and earnest letter of the 5th instant is before me. V» assui-ed of my appreciation of the sentiments expressed in con- uection with the object In view. All I can now say in reply is that, "Deo wienie," I will be with you on Monday, the 5th day of July, as the 4th comes on Sunday. In my present enfeebled physical condition, I cannot promise to make anything like a regular address, but 1 do ])romise at least the profound sympathy I have in the ceremonies and proceedings arranged for the occasion ; and I promise further, if able, to still more strongly manifest this sympathy by the utterance of such thoughts, however brief, pertinent to your most patriotic objects, as my strength will permit. Very truly, Alexander H. Stephens. THE GLORIOUS FOURTH. The Committee of Arrangements Meeting on Yesterday. [Atlanta Herald, June 16.] The Committee of Arrangements met at General Gartrell's office June 15th, 3 p. M., B. F. Abbott appointed secretary. On motion, Sidney Dell and W. M. Lowery were appointed a committee to invite officers of the garrison, and re- quest them to tire guns as per published programme — thirteen guns at dawn of day and thirtj^-seven at the conclusion of the ceremonies. Captain Dell and Henrv Hillyer were authorized to select a reader of the Dec- laration of Independence. It was decided to hold the meeting at DeGive's Opera House, on Monday, the 5th day of July. All societies in the city are invited to march in procession, and the chairman requested to notify them. Colonel William M. Lowery and J. N. Dunn were appointed to control the hall and assign seats to guests. E. P. Chamberlin and George T. Fry were appointed to fill vacancies found to be in the commitiee. STAGE PROGRAMME. 1. Prayer by Mr. Spalding. 2. Reading of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. 3. Poem for the occasion by Colonel J. A. Stewart. 4. Address by Hon. Alexander H. Stephens. During which there wiU be appropri- ate music. [Atlanta Herald, June 25.] Fourth of July. At a meeting of the committee in charge of the exercises on the coming Fourth, it was proposed to have the eel- THE DAY IN ATLANTA. ebration at Ponce de Leon. After dis- cussion the proposition was voted down, and the place will be as heretofore stated, at DeGive's Opera House. Several were added to the financial committee. It now consists of Sidnev Dell, Esq., W. J. Garrett, E. P. Chani- berlin and B. F. Abbott, and the chair- snan was requested to ask the different railroads centering here to issue half tickets for the fourth of July occasion. George T. Fry was appointed musical director of the occasion, with E. Y. Clarke as his assistant. [Atlanta Herald, June is.] THE FOURTH OF JULY. Ten days ago a steamer, bearing a stranee company, on a strange mission, passed out of Charleston harbor. Out of Charleston harbor, across whose wa- ters the shot that woke a revolution in its track was fired, the Washington Light Infantry — a company of hotspurs, nurtured for nearly a century in the very centre-spot of ilisunion — look sail for Boston to fraternize there with the men of Massachusetts, and sound the glories of the reconciled Union in the shade of Bunker Hill. Many of them had not seen Boston since the day when their gashed and wouuded bodies were reluctantly spit out from the doors of Elmira prison. And yet with hearts full of manliness, and faces full of cheer, the brave fellows went out over the ocean to greet the men that, having been brave enough to confront on a hundred battle-fields, they were strong enough to forgive. We accept this out- going of the Carolinians as a new link in the chain of amity and love that is binding the sections of this Republic together once more. The good people of Atlanta propose to have a demonstration kindred in pur- pose and inspiration to this, in Atlanta, on the fourth of next July. We feel this occasion will prove that the popu- lar heart is right, and that as far as the South is concerned, the "war is ended." For years the Herald has been striving to restore "the old Fourth" to its home in the pride and afiections of our people. It rejoices us to see that a full fraterni- zation of the sections is eflfected at last, and that the Union, pinned together ten years ago with bayonets, is now cohe- sive of itself and in itself. Beyond a few politicians, a broad and profound peace breathes throughout the land. We do not blame disturbers, who berate the approaching- calm, and cry aloud for war and wrangling. Some convulsion of the waters is needed to toss them to the top. In a calm, their worthless and lumpy bodies drop out of sight.< All of the leaders that we have trustAi most implicitly, and that have led us most worthily, hope for a perfect amity, and a fully restored Union. On this one platform they all unite. Hill, Colquitt, Stephens, Miller, Gordon, Evans, Jen* kins, and all, sound "the piping notes," and proclaim good-will unto all sections. Even Gen. N. B. Forrest, the bloodiest tighter of the war, calls upon his people to join in the decoration of the Federal graves, and says: "It is our duty to honor the government they died for, and, if called upon, to fight for the flag we could not conquer." In Mobile the Cadets joined in the Federal decoration, preceded by a banner on which was written' " We honor the men who died in a cause they believed was right !" Why should not our "Fourth" be a soulful and sincere occasion of joy ? Is it not the birth-day of our country ; the country that our forefathers died to es- tablish, and that our children must live to perpifetuate? Did not we of the Soiith bear honorble part in that revo- lution, which fills the most lustrous pages of human history? Did we not furnish to that cause the Patrick Henry, who gave it birth and volume ; the Jef- ferson that gave it shape, and the Wash- ington that gave it victory ? Did we not contribute our full measure of valor, devotion and blood, to the audacious sacrifice ? Was there lacking anything in the conduct of the South, during those glorious days that should debar us our half the harvest, or that should bow our heads, when the Republic, clad in her holiday garments, stands up in the face of the nations and honors her natal day?" We pity the man whose heart does not thrill' with a na- tional pride, in this season of revived memories and of centennial rejoicings. We pity him whose pulse does not leap with pride and whose cheek does not burn with joy as the long years of a century are rolled back ; the lights re-lit upon Bunker's Hill; the glories of Con- THE DAY IN ATLANTA. cord and Lexington revived : the bights of Ticonderoga scaled once more in the name of "God and the Continental Congress," and the fierce and ragged battle of Alamance fought over m song and story. This is a great coutnry of ours. A country full of resource; abounding in wealth— healthy, happy, and ample. Here liberty finds its broadest interpretation, and freedom finds a home. From ocean to ocean, and from the lakes to the gulf, it is a miracle of progress and prosperity. Every foot of its territory, and every generation of its people have gone into history. We want to see the old Fourth re- vived. Not revived as a mere form, but as an enthusiasm. Not written upon our doorposts, but imbedded in our hearts. We want to see it revived with all its delightful racket and effervescing oratorv— with all its merrily-mad slap, bang and crash. We want it to come with a tornado of impulse and overtake the people— to come with a swirl and a rush that will liftmen off their feet, and open their silent lips, and light up their eyes, and surcharge their veins, and brush out their wrinkles, and inspire them with the fervor of the good, brave days of old. And when it comes, we want to see our people meet it— not timidly and with lack-lustre countenances, but bravely, joyfully, with heads erect and with cheeks aflame, as men rejoicing in their own right, honoring their own memories, and proclaiming glory that is their own birthright and inheritance. [Atlanta Herald, June 19.] THE CENTENNIAL OF GEORGIA INDEPENDENCE. We did not know when we wrote an appeal in yesterday's paper for a proper observance of the next Fourth of July in Atlanta, that there was a special and weighty reason why the next Fourth should be honored by our people. We find, however, by a study of McCall's History — the only copy of which in ex- istence, probably, is in the hands of Dr. H. V. M. Miller— that the fourth of July 1875 is just as much the centennial day of Georgia Independence as the fourth of July, 1876, is the centennial day of our National independence. On that day one hundred years ago, the firstiProvincial Congress of Georgia, organized in opposition to the Provin- cial Legislature, which was controlled by the British Governor, was assembled in Savannah. Its members met as the elected delegates of the people, and every parish was represented. With- out any loud declarations, they quietly took the government of the Province of Georgia in hand, withdrew it from the parent country, wrested it from the hands of the British Governor, and in a very few weeks drove him out of the Province. This Congress organized because, as was related in its resolutions, "our As- seiiibly is not permitted to sit, and we are a people without thought or coun- sel," just as positively defiedl-the tyran- ny of King George, and just as openly and actively put the Province in a state of armed resistance as the Continental Congress did bj'^ its formal declaration one year later. It met in disobedience to Governor Wriaht's wUl ; it openly disputed his authority ; it offered as- sistance to the men who were deputed to capture the powder schooner, (which must have been taken on the 10th of July, and not on the 10th of June, as our cotemporary, the Constitution, has it) and in fact did all that could be done to put the Province in actual resistance to the British government. Hence, the 4th of July has a meaning deeper and broader to us than what it acquires from being the day on which the National Declaration of Indepen- dence was declared. It is also the day on which the Provincial Congress, the first body of freemen ever elected by the people of Georgia assembled, elected its officers and began the struggle that eventuated in the liberty of America. The next "Fourth" should be es- pecially dear to all Georgians, because it is the Centennial of Georgia's . Inde- pendence. The following circular letter was ad- dressed to the Senators and ex-Senators, Congressmen and ex-Congressmen, Gov- ernor and ex-Governors, the Judiciary and the Legislative Committee on the State of the Republic : We, the undersigned, committee, in behalf of the citizens of Atlanta, res- pectfully invite you to participate in THE DAY IN ATLANTA. person or by letter in celebrating the ninetj'-ninth anniversary of American Indeiientlence. Very respectfully, H. V. M. MiiXER, George Hillyer, Marcus A. Bell, ('ommittee. To this there were numerous re- sponses, which we publish in this pam- phlet. The manuscript of some of them were lost, howev^er, before the design of making this pamphlet was enter- tained. THE COMING " FOURTH." Congressman Felton "Writes a Letter to the Committee Favoring tlic Celebration. A Stirring Letter Based on the Right Principle. We have been permitted to publish the following letter : Near Cartersville, .Tune 14, 1875. To Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George Hill- yer and Marcus A. Bell, Committee : Gentlemen — I received your invita- tion to co-operate with the citizens of Atlanta in celebrating the approaching anniversary of American Independence. I regret that previous engagements will prevent my acceptance, for I would like to witness the interesting ceremo- nies of the occasion, and would also be delighted to hear the address of Geor- gia's distinguished statesman, the Hon. A. H. Stephens. I congratulate the people of Atlanta upon the wisdom and patriotism em- bodied in the renewal of this old-fash- ioned 4th of July celebration. The observance of this day should never have been abandoned by the South, for all tiiat is implied by the "4th of July" was the design of Southern brains and the achievement of South- ern arms. Blot out the record of Virginia, and there would be little left to distinguish this day from any other day in Ameri- can history. It was eminently the work of Vir- ginia, from the time one of her sons, re- cited on paper the wrongs and oppres- sions of the colonies, and declared that '•these United States are, and of rieht 2 ought tc be, free and independent States," until another of her sons per- fected that declaration by receiving the sword of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Georgia must cease to honor the "Old Dominion" when she fails to cherish a patriotic remembrance of this day. It is a day that we can consistently observe — for the South has never been untrue to the principles of self-govern- ment enunciated in that Declaration. As a section it has never sought to in- terfere with the constitutional rights and privileges of other sections, or to restrict the "pursuit of happiness," as an "inalienable" endowment by their Creator. But especially should we observe this day, because it is a legacy equally dear to all of the American States. Meck- lenburg and Philadelphia, with their declarations ; Lexington and King's Mountain, with their heroic resistance, are common and joint estates, in the enjoyment of which the legatees can forgive and forget the contentions of the past — uniting heart and hand to btiild up and perpetuate the common patri- mony. Let this day be our political Mizpah — a witness between the North and South that we will not "pass over to each other for harm" — a memorial of perfect amnesty— a day of national rejoicing, unclouded by civil struggles or fratri- cidal strife. Very respectfully yours, Wm. H. Felton. THE FOURTH OF JULY. "What Hon. Henry "W. Hilliard says about our National Day-- A Good Letter. We are permitted to publish the fol- lowing from the Committee on Invita- tion to our next Fourth of July celebra- tion : Atlanta, Ga., June 16, 1875. Gentlemen — I have the honor to ac- knowledge the receipt of your letter in- viting me to co-operate with the citizens of Atlanta in (celebrating the 99th anni- versary of American Independence. Heartily approving the object that you have in view, I shall be happy to contribute in any degree to aid you_ in re-kindling the patriotic ardor with THE DAY IN ATLANTA. the great principles of free government, without any sense of humiliation or feeling of resentment. We stand where we can survey both the past and the future. We can at once honor the brave men who died in defense of these principles, and show our regard for the government of our country; and Ave propose to meet on the anniversary of American independence to re-aflirm our regard for the political truths embodied in the declaration made on that day. and which ought still to be dear to every American heart. Let us cherish a patriotic, national spirit that rejoices over the recollections of that glorious revolution which delivered the colonies from the rule of a monarch beyond the seas, and that looks forward with un- failing hope to the full triumph of the principles that animated the men of that time in their heroic struggle for liberty. The celebi'atiou that you propose, gen- tlemen, will prepare us for that grand national tribute which is to greet the one hundredth anniversary of Ameri- can Independence. For my own part, I beg to say, in conclusion, what I think we ought all to say : The government of the United States is our government ; its flag is our flag ; its Constitution is our Constitu- tion ; let us be true to them all, now and forever. I have the honor to be, vary respect- fully, your obedient servant, Henry W. Hilliakd. To Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer, Marcus A. Bell, Committee, Atlanta, Georgia. THE FOURTH AGAIN. A Remarkable Letter from the Hon. Junius Hillyer~He don't believe in the Fourth. We are permitted to publish the fol- lowing letter in response to the "Invi- tation Committee" of the Fourth of July Celebration : Atlanta, Ga., June 19, 1875. Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer, Mareus A. Bell, Committee : I received your letter inviting me to be present and participate in the public celebration, in Atlanta, on the 99th an- niversary of American Independence. No man would excel me in enthu- siastic extiltation at the commencement of the hundredth year of our govern- ment as our fathers gave it to us, with our State rights and our normal-glori- ous institution of slavery, with its clear social distinctions of race and color, under the absolute control of the several States. ■ But there is something mournfully sad in being summoned to celebrate the ninety- ninth anniversary of a country rent and lacerated by civil war, culmi- nating in the destruction of private l^roperty unprecedented in the history of the civilized world. In my heart I feel that the existebce of the govern- ment which dawned on the memorable 4th of July, 1776, perished in 1861, and this is the fourteenth year of the pres- ent government. I can't perceive how any Southern man can, with patriotic pleasure, participate in the celebration of the anniversary of a government that has long ceased to exist. Yet out of respect for those many friends in whose judgment I have con- fidence, I purpose to be with you on the next fourth of July, and to partici- pate in the ceremonies of that occasion, not as the anniversary of my country, (for a government of force can never be my country,) butinsad remembrance of my ancestors, and of a day and a sig- nificance that is gone forever. I feel honored, and am grateful to you for remembering me, and for your in- vitation to be with you on the occasion referred to. ' ' Very respectfully, Junius Hillvee. JUDGE HILLYER AND HIS LETTER We publish elsewhere a remarkable letter from the Hon. Junius Hillyer, on the subject of the fourth of July. We publish the letter because of our high respect for Judge Hillyer, and be- cause it represents a sentinaent that \ve must defer to, while we condemn it. Judge Hillyer has probably been in more complete seclusion since the war than any of our public men. A Congress- man of note for many years, he has, since the war, not only foresworn the political arena, but has" also given up a law practice that was good enough to give him a handsome competency in his THE DAY IN ATLANTA. retirement. Sitting quietly in the bosom of a family that yielded cheerful and thorough reverence, not only to his wishes, but to his opinions, he has cher- ished, in no malignancy, and hardly dogmatically, the maxims and preju- dices that he had defended in his young- er days. There is no venom in his letter, • ■ ■; there is none in his life. He signifies 'dy — if we judge him aright — that he ill stands by the old doctrine of slavery nd secession, and that if any man — vvith no restrictions as to Aveight or calibre — desires to discuss the question with him over a couple of pipes and a ,!ass of home-made wine, he is ready .:nd anxious for the tilt. If he thought that his views, so tenaciously adhered to, would check for an instant the pro- gress this countiw is making towards full and perfect amity, and toward con- sequent power and prosperity, he would never have given them to the puljlic. His sons, all of them, with a rare com- mon sense that comes as a natural in- heritance, have accei>ted the situation, and are active agents in the good work of "bridging the chasm." One of his sons. Major George Hilly er, in whose opinion the Judge has more confidence than in the opinion of any other living man, save his own, is the centennial commissioner for Georgia, and one of the committee that solicits his participa- tion in the enjoyment of the "Fourth." We shall look for Judge Hillyer on that auspicious day with care. We shall see that he has a front seat, and is just abaft the speakers. We shall see that the full inspiration of the occasion is turned upon him, and that he is i3.ut where the flood of peace, joy and sun- shine shall break full in his" face. He is a rare and loyal old veteran, wdth a white soul and a clean escutcheon. We love him, and we fain would reform him. [Atlanta Herald, Juae 29.] THE HON- JOHN A. CUTHBERT. We publish this morning a letter in response to the Committee of Invitation on the fourth of July celebration in At- lanta, from Hon. John A. Cuthbert, of Mobile, but formerly of Georgia. _ Mr. Cuthbert is probably the oldest living Congressman — certainly one of the verv oldest. He must be' near on to ninety years of age, having been elected to Congress from Georgia in 1817, and being at that time not less than thirty years of age. He represent- ed Georgia in Congress in the days of the Missouri Compromise, his col- leagues being Thomas W. Cobb, William Terrell and R. R. Reid, in the House, and Mr. Walker and Stephen Elliott in the Senate. All of these are dead, and Mr. Cuthbert alone remains. He was born with the republic, and grew with it. No wonder that he loves its old memories and its old glories. A child of the Revolution himself, he re- joices in the revival of its illustrious names and historic actions. We are glad to know that the old veteran, after a troubled and stormj^ existence, has acquired a respectable competency, and that the evening of his life promises to be quiet and happy. We should be pleased to see him here on the fourth. Atlanta would delight to honor him with a front seat on that day. THE BLESSED FOURTH. What the Oldest Living Cougress- xaau has to say ahout it. We publish the following letter by permission of the Committee of Invita- tion : Mobile, Ala., June 25, 1875. To H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer and Marcus A. Bell, Esqs., Committee : Gentlemen: I have received your communication of the 11th instant, in- viting me, in behalf of the citizens of Atlanta, to co-operate with them in cel- ebratmg the ninety-ninth anniversary of American Independence. Other en- gagements forbid my meeting in person at this hour, the citizens of Atlanta, in commemorating the Independence of our coinmon country ; but I receive with pleasure this invitation to com- mune, at this interesting era, with the citizens of the great State that gave me birth and fostered my youth, honored me with her confidence more than half a century ago, and which still holds, un- abated, my grateful affection. Having re-established the liberty of THE DAY IN ATLANTA. I your State, you now, again, perform the plfeasant duty of cele))rating the achieve- ments of those brave men who staked their hves, their fortunes and their sacred honor, on the l)old resohition to establish the incU^pendence of their country. In rendering to their memory this grateful tribute, you were walking in the footsteps of the classic republics of ancient Greece. At Athens, Pericles, or some other eminent statesman, was annually chosen to celebrate the anni- versary of those brave men who, at Marathon, checked the multitudinous invasion of Persian armies, gloriously maintaining the Independence of Greece. While Georgians recall, with triumph- ant pride, the memorv of their brave forefathers, they may feel a chastened pleasure in the consciousness that they have not detracted from the gallantry and patriotism of their ancestors. With high regard, John A. Cuthbert, [Atlanta Herald, June 27.] We publish this morning a capital letter from ex-Governor Herschel V. Johnson, on the subject of celebrating the fourth of July in Atlanta. His let- ter is just such a true and manly one as we should have expected from this old Roman. THE FOURTH OF JULY- "What ex-Gov. Herschel V. John- son has to say aboiit it. We continue this morning our jnibli- cation of the letters received by the Committee in response to their invita- tions. Ex-Governor Johnson has the floor to-day : Atlanta, Ga., June 26, 1875. Dear Sirs : Yours of the 11th insta,nt, inviting me, in behalf of the citizens of Atlanta, to co-operate with them on the fourth of July in celebrating the ninety- ninth anniversary of American inde- pendence, was duly received. I beg to tender my sincere thanks for the courtesy thus extended to me. I ac- cept the invitation, and hope to be able to attend. I have regretted that the custom of observing this anniversary has fallen into almost entire disuse. I am glad to see indications — ^of which your proposed celebration is, perhaps, the most strik- ing and noteworthy — of a disposition in the public mind to return to it. And why not? If the principles announced in the Declaration of Independence were ever worthj^ to be cherished, they still are. They have not changed. They remain, and must ever remain, the only solid foundation of popular liberty. They may be ignored by party, madden- ed with dominion, or forgotten [in the stagnant inertia of a people paralyzed by the despondency which that domin- ion imposes, but thev are as vital now as when thej^ were proclaimed on the fourth of July, 1776, or as when they were christened by the baptism of blood on the battle-fields of the Revolution, or as when the}^ were chrystalized in 1787 into the form of constitutional gOA'- ernment. In the spirit that animated our forefathers in 1776, let us renew oiir devotion to them, and for their mainten- ance pledge our lives, our fortunes and sacred honor. If I am not mistaken, the celebration you propose has an important and in- teresting significance. It is intended as a manifestation of the desire of the peo- ple of Georgia, that the bitterness be- tween the sections engendered by the late ci v'il war, shall cease. This is right. Let the assurance go out from the capi- tal of the State, that she is ready and willing to extend friendly greeting to the people of every section, who agree to stand by the great principles of pub- lic liberty and maintain the Federal Union of States based upon them, as they are defined in the Constitution. This is the only reconciliation between the sections that can be of permanent value. It means more than simply making friends with each other, or the cessation of overt exhibitions of ani- mosity. It means more than the ad- justment of party differences in politics, which look mainly to triumph in a Presidential election and the conse- quent control of the power and patron- age of government. Such a reconcilia- tion is superficial and falls far below the requirements of an exalted patriotism or the comprehensive and far-reaching policies of a wise statesmanship. The harmony to which I allude is that which will result from a conscientious recog- THE DAY IN ATLANTA. nition of- the principles of our common constitution and a return to tlie ad- ministration of our government in all its departments, according to its letter and spirit. This, and this only, can se- cure lasting fraternit}^ and mutual con- fidence between the States and the vari- ous sections of our country. For it will reassert State equality, the right of local State government, and even-handed jus- tice in the distribution of both the bur- dens and blessings of the Federal ad- ministration. This is the harmony for which I plead. It is the true spirit and genius of our system of Confederate government. Without it, we shall have, not the union of States, but the unity of empire, consolidated and upheld by military j)ower — the stagnant peace of despotism. It may be that I cannot co-operate personally with the citizens of Atlanta in their proposed (celebration. If not, then these hasty reflections must be my representative. Kenewing my thanks for your courte- sy, I am, gentlemen, your obedient ser- vant and fellow-citizen, Herschel V. Johnson. THE BLESSED FOURTH. A Couple of Good Letters on tlie "Prevailing" Subject. We publish this morning two letters to the committee on the "fourth." They have the ring of the true metal about them. Judge Jackson's is one of the best letters that we have yet published. FROM JUDGE JAMES JACKSON. "where mv heart beats, precisely there does my judgment point and my common sense LEAD ME." Macon, Ga., June 28, 1875. To Hons.H. V. M. Miller, George Hilly er and Marcus A Bell : Gentlemen : I have received your in- vitation to participate in person or by letter hi the celebration of the approach- ing fourth of July, at Atlanta, for which I thank you. I cannot attend in per- son, and therefore I ask that this letter shall represent me. | I am at a loss to find any sensible reason for Southern men to decline to participate in the celebration of the day. The pen of a Southern man wrote tlie Declaration of Independence. I see from the papers that the lineal descen- dant of a Georgian, who bore a distin- guished part in the struggle of our an- cestors to establish this independence, has been selected to read that declara- tion on the occasion of your celebration. Why should he not do so? Shall we not love the virtues and commemorate the deeds of our own ancestors ; or shall we leave it to the North alone to canon- ize deeds whose glory appertains as much to us as to them— aye, more to us than to them ? Not only did our Jeffer- son write the declaration, but our Wash- ington led the armies which vindicated and established it on seven years of battle-fields, and whatever Northern men may have done since, to overthrow principles which their fathers followed Jefferson and Washington to proclaim and establish, we certainly have done nothing to overthrow those principles. On the contrary, we again proclaimed them in 1861, and fought for their main- tenance for four bloody years. If in so doing we were rebels, we came honestly by the name ; we were legitimate rebels, begotten and born in lawful wedlock, and we are entitled to inherit the glory as well as the name of our fathers, and to keep it alive in toast, song, oratory, festivities. Our fathers succeeded ; we failed; in every other particular, the child is the image of his father. Be- cause of chagrin at our failure, shall we refuse to laud their prowess and glory in their success? I trust not, gentlemen. I cannot find it in my heart to tear rev- olutionary heartstrings out, and empty it of the blood of my fathers. And where my heart beats, precisely there does my. judgment point and my common sense lead me. It is not wise in the South to keep open the chasm the late war has riven. Recent events show a disposition on the part, of the North to close it up. We cannot aflbrd ruthless- ly to throw down the abutment of the bridge which rests on our side of the chasm, nor should we undermine it, nor weaken those on the other side who are at work in strengthening the abutment there. Our only hope for a return of those in * THE DAY IN ATLANTA. authority to conservative principle and practice isin the "second sober thought" of all the pe()y)le, exercised through the ballot box. Every word spoken, or let- ter written, rejecting or insulting tlie proffered hand of Northern conciHation, is not "a word spoken in season," and it can not be said of it, "how good it is." It evin(!es a sour, unforgiving, revenge- ful spirit; and every such word or let- ter will be scattered broadcast over the North, and will have there the effect of crippling all the friends of conservative principles and of conciliatory and friendly conduct to us. For myself, gentlemen, I hail with sincere pleasure every promise of con- ciliation. The storm was wild and furi- ous — a very cyclone in its sweep over Southern hearthstones and happiness ; the clouds, though broken and scattered, are still black and may gather again ; however indistinct the hues of the rain- bow, are promising sunshine to our once sunny' South, it is a bow of promise sweet to my heart and hope, and I pray that it may span the whole American heavens, and never be obscured by a cloud or si^eck of war again. I trust that the Mechlenburg and Concord and Bunker Hill re-unions, and your own celebration of the fourth of July, gentlemen, may tend to re- unite all sections of our country upon the old principles founded on the Dec- laration of 76, and the constitution of the fatliers — and if toasts shall be the order of the day, I send you this : The reader of the Declaration of Indepen- dence — It is lit that the son should unite in celebrating the deeds of his an- cestors ; may the Milledge blood never become extinct in Georgia. I am, respectfully, your obedient ser- vant, James Jackson. Stephens will deliver an oration, is duly received. My old friend Stewart did formerly abide in one of the plains at the foot of one of the hills of "the eternal city." He did then sometimes read us an ode — sometimes he made us a speech, some- times on literature, sometimes on science, and anon on art ; sometimes he gave us a "whale of a speech" on poli- tics that made the waters seethe. He kept things lively "on the banks of the Tiber." I always heard him with pleas- ure. I doubt not I should again. Unless something occurs more than at present anticij^ated, I will "congre- gate with the wise, the happy and the beautiful of the land to hear the spirit- kindling anthems which will linger along the walls of your sacred tample on the Sabbath day of freedom," and the eloquence of the Union's great states- man and gifted orator. Mr. Stephens is the "last of the Mohicans." Like Socrates, he has lived too long. His virtues have become offensive to his countrymen. You say nothing about the "barbe- cue ;" but from my knowledge of both the habits and taste of the committee, abundant provisions will be made for the flesh. As I shall bring alone with me botn the proprietor and editor of the Courier, I hope there will be no "restriction" upon your celebration of the fourth. Very respectfully, Augustus E. Wright. THE BLESSED FOURTH. WHAT THOMAS HARDEMAN, JR., HAS TO SAY ON THE SUBJECT. FROM JUDGE A. R. 'WRIGHT. HE WILL COME TO HEAR THE SPIRIT-KIND- LING ANTHEMS, AND THE "lAST OF THE JitOHICANS."! EoME, Ga., June 23, 1875. Dr. II. V. M. Miller and others, Commit- tee, etc.: Gents : Your letter of invitation to a celebration of the fourth of July next, in Atlanta, at which Col. J. A. Stewart will read a poem, and the Hon. A. H. The committee gives us the following letters : Macon, June 28, 1875. Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer and Marcus A. Bell : Gentlemen : Your notice, inviting me to co-operate with you, eithei' in person or by letter, in celebrating the ninety- ninth anniversary of American Inde- pendence, requires an acknowledgment and a reply. Other engagements will prevent my presence among you, while celebrating the daj-^ that proclaimed to the world the birth of American inde- THE DAY IX ATLANTA. pendence and constitutional govern- ment. The causes which impelled our patriot fathers to revolution, belong to the history of the past. The gi-and re- sults of that revolution must be written upon the page of the future ; suffice it for the occasion to saj^ that their con- duct only proclaimed what has since been demonstrated in the history of na- tions, that unless governments are founded upon the consent of the gov- erned, and are supported by the good will of both rulers and ruled, they will totter to their fall, or be the fruitful source of strife and revolution. The struggle through which we have just passed, though disastrous to us, may yet be ^1 instructive lesson to our con- querors, teaching them that the en- croachments of liberty and power inev- itably result in revolt and revolution. Injustice can never be expedient, op- pression can never be justified. Vn- friendly interference with reserved rights, if not "co.su.s belli" is at least the prolific cause of disloyalty and hate. Important truths are often gathered from the teachings of adversity, and we, too, might learn wisdom from our losses and misfortunes. Forbearance and mod- eration should be eucouraged and ap- plauded ; and in this day of "discord- ant elements and sectional resent- ments," we should see to it that no breach of constitutional duty, no unjust demands based upon abstract questions and dead issues, should be charged against us by those with whom we are associated in government, in interest and in destiny. If these are the lessons learned by the different sections of the Union, some good will result from the unfortunate "war between the iStates." The storm was sweeping and destruc- tive, but it is the patriot's hope that it has purified the political atmosphere, and will be succeeeded by the sunshine of perpetual peace. It is true some clouds are yet lowering in the horizon, but they are gradually liftiug, and I hope the day is not far distant when the whole heavens A\'ill glow with the sunlight of millenial illumination. Evi- dences of a return of better feelings and a forgetfulness of past resentments are accumulating and encoui'aging. The North unites with the Old North State in celebrating the Mechlenburg Declar- ation of Independence, while the citi- zen soldiery of South Carolina and Vir- ginia call their muster-rolls at the base of Bunker Hill — while Boston and Charleston shake hands in friendly greeting and celebrate together the glo- rious deeds of the patriotic fathers of the revolution. Encouraged by these demonstrations, and prompted by a sin- cere desire to rebuild the broken for- tunes of the States, by a restoration of order, peace and fraternal relations, and fervently praying that the day has come "when the sword shall be beaten into the ploughshare and the si)ear into the pruning hook," it is meet and proper that the citizens of one of "the old thir- teen colonies" should assemble at the capital of their State to coannemorate their nation's birth and to unite their prayers wiih those that will ascend from the patriotic hearts in every section of our Union ; that love of countrj' may be intensified ; the principles of liberty more deeply rooted ; the constitution of the fathers, as interpreted by them, sa- credly maintained, and the union of the States cemented by affection, not force — by interest, notfpower — be forever pre- served as a blessing for ourselves and our posterity. Sincerely desiring a re- turn of peace and quiet to our whole country, and a restoration of harmony among the States of this Union, and thanking you, gentlemen, for your in- vitation to participate with you in the celebration of your country's iudepen-' deuce, I am, sirs, with sincere regard, your obedient servant, Thomas Hakdeman, Jr. A CODD LETTER FROM HON. T. M. NORWOOD. Savannah, Ga., June 28, 1S75. Ct£nts : Your invitation to me to join with the citizens of Atlanta in celebra- ting the ninety-ninth anniversary of the Declaration of xVmerican Independence, in July next, has been received. I regret to say that engagements which I can neither break nor defer, will deprive me of the pleasure of be- ing with 3'ou. I do not desire or intend to inflict on you a lengthy communication, but I beg to express my regi-et, arising from a knowledge of the desire on the part of some good citizens of Georgia, to have us abandon the custom of celebrating THE DAY IN ATLANTA. that day. If our liberties have not been lost, it is eminently proper to keep alive all the memories of events and acts by which they were established. If our liberties have been lost, we, as Geor- gians, have the proud consciousness that the sin lies n(jt at our door, or the door of the South, and that they must be restored, if ever, by the South, be- cause a people who voluntarily destroy their constitutional liberty and enslave themselves, can never recover that heritas^e. If it has been lost, and as it is worthy of every sacrifice to be re- gained, every patriot should labor for its redemption. And one of the means appointed is to revive in the hearts of all Americans the love of freedom, by bringing before them the heroism of our Revolutionary fathers, that their sons may catch their glowing inspira- tion. To this end, no dtjy can equal the fourth of July. With the expression of my thanks for your invitation, I remain your obedient servant and fellow-citizen, T. M. Norwood. f.\tlaiita Herald, June 30.] OUR NATIONAL DAY. When the Herald first began its out- spoken plea for the restoration of the fourth of July to its proper place in the hearts of our people, an editor in this city remarked to one of its staff: "You are perfectly right, but you are doing a dangerous thing, for you are fighting a deep-seated prejudice of the people." We thought then that our confrere was wrong in his estimate and, that he had misjudged the popular feeling. Late events have proved that this was so. Our most trusted leaders, our most thoroughly Southern men, our hardest fighters, with a wonderful unanimity, have responded to the invitation of the committee, indorsing the spirit of the invitation and the occasion that invoked it. From all (juarters the edi*^or has received letters assuring him that the people are tired of division, and section- alism, and wrangling, and ready for a full and perfect reconciliation. There will be an immense outpouring of the people on that day. We notify the Committee of Arrangements now that Atlanta will be crowded with strangers, and that everv train that comes to the city on the fifth will come loaded with visitors. Let them see to it that the programme is arranged judiciously, and that all of our guests shall find means to participate in the festivities of the day. Our city must don her holiday clothes on that auspicious morning. She must meet her guests bravely and hos- pitably, and press upon them the hon- ors of the occasion. The letters that we publish this morn- ing are valuable ones. Judge James Jackson writes an admirable paper. It glows with the utterances of a patriotic soul. There is un purer laan in Geor- gia's history than Judge James Jack- son, and he never penned a nobler sentence than the one in which he says, with all the years of learning at nis fingers' ends: "Where my heart beats, there i y judgment points, and there my common sense leads me." Judge AV right sends us a queer letter. Barring the fact that he says he will be present, we have no means of knowing Avhether he indorses the call or not. He certainly indorses Col. Stewart, and a man can't well indorse Col. Stewart without indorsing the Fourth. Judge Wright displays some anxiety in regard to the i^hysical refreshments of the oc- casion. We desire to say that Ave are in favor of allowing every man the fullest latitude in this respect, ana hence think it best for each visitor to bring his own " snack." If Judge AVright will come, however, we will give him a snug bed, a plentiful i3ro ven- der, and occasional admission to a coun- terpart of that little brown jug from which we have so often drawn inspira- tion in the Judge's hospitable mansion. And we shall esteem ourselves fully re- paid by the jjride we shall have when the hoarse-voiced multitude shall gather around the hustings, of presenting, as our guest, the brightest and most en- tertaining thirty-minute man that ever mounted a stump or trod a platform. [Atlanta Herald, July 1.] THE FOURTH IN ATLANTA. THE TROGRAMME OF THE EXERCISES. To THE Editor of the Herald : For the information of the public I give you the following facts : All the railroads have agreed to TIIK DAY IN" ATLANTA. charge half fare for our fourth of July celebration. Special trains will be run on the Air-Line, West Point and Macon roads. On the State road a train will arrive here at 9:o0 a. m., and one at 12 M. On the Georgia road the regular train will come in at tj:30 a. m., and the accommodation train at 9:30 a. m., from Covington, Avith an extra car or cars. A train will also arrive on this road at 11 A. M. The following circular letter, address- ed to the various })arties cuncenied, shows the order of the procession : We, ihe undersigned, Committee of Arrangement, have tlie honor to retiuest you to participate with us in the ap- proaching fourth of July celebration, and join in the procession. The processsion will be symbolically divided into thirteen sections, in respect to the number of the original States, as follows : 1. The Groxernor of the State and his Secretaries, and all the State House offi- cers. 2. The Judges of the Supreme Court of the State, with their officers. o. The Federal Court Judges, with their ofhcers. 4. Superior C-ourt Judges of the State ■ and their officers. o. Senators and members of Congi-ess; ex-Senators and members, and ex-Gov- : ernors. 6. Federal military officers, accoiding : to rank and grade. 7. Mayor and General Council of At- I lanta and their othcers, and the Police Commissioners. i 5. Chaplain, Reader, Poet and Speak- • er of the day. 9. Clergy of the city. 10. Atlanta Volunteer Companies. 11. Fire companies. , 12. Societies. 13. Teachers and pupils of the Public i Schools, at the head of the column of | citizens. j Very respectfully, j Sidney Dell, Chairman, L. J. Gartrell, H. W. Grady, Alfred H. Colquitt, W. J. Garrett, George T. Fry, J.X.Dunn, ' B. F. Abbott, J. H. James, i Henry Hillyer, W. M. Lowery, E. P. Chamberlin, E.Y.Clarke," [ Committee of Thirteen, t 3 j The procession forms at 10 o'clock .\. j M., in front of the capitol building. ! Captain 0. H. Jones is Marshal of the ' day, witli such deputies as he may aj)- point. The line of march will be along Marietta, Broad, Mitchell and White- hall streets to Marietta again, thence to ; DeGive's. j As soon as 1 get in all the responses, ; I will hand you a list of the persons, societies and orders agreeing to join in the procession. j Please i)ublish this, as there is much interest in the public mind to get cer- tain information on the subject. Respectfully, Sidney Dei.l, Chairman. : 'lAlhimii IK'i'uld, June 2i;.i THE COMING FOURTH OF JULY. j We publish two letters this morning i on the approaching fourth of July cele- : bration in Atlanta. i Gen. Rob't Toombs writes that he is ; not yet ready to shake hands aci'oss the j chasm. Hen. Toombs is the most fa- I mous of that class of men in the South — now small and daily decreasing — who i actually refn.se any com j)anionship with Northern men, and have so adjusted their optical organs that they cannot see across the line ui Dixie. We share Mr. Tooni))s' regrets at the unfortunate termination of tlie late wai'. We join him in his contempt for the miserable make-shift legislation that we have had since the war. We have ad- mired and indorsed his terribly elo- (|uent denunciations of the oj)pressive enactaients that, born in malice and enforced by the bayonet, have been ])ut upon our peoi>le. Tlius far we agree with him. But just here our paths di- verge. He believes in settling down iuto a sort of sullen and impotent de- spair. We do not. He believes in sulk- ing. We fail to see that L>ecause the past has been dark and the jnesent barely hopeful, we should fold our hands and grind our teeth in inaction AVe should not check the current of oui- energies, and let them cream and man- tle over like some cribbed tish-pond. We should rather give them the run and let the air and .-^unlight pla,y upon rhem. Suppose every man in the South should follow Gen. Toombs' example THE DAY IN ATLANTA. and advice. When would our condi- tion be improved ? How would our evils be lessened or our salvation wrouglit ? What remedy does he pro- pose for tlie condition so intolerable to him? .Surely not war! If not then, where else but the ballot-box ? If at the ballot-box, how can we win the bat- tle then by remaining inactive? The South, in a purely sectional contest at the ballot-box is perfectly helpless. She must then nationalize the issues if she would will the fight. We should like to join (Sen. Toombs in his seclusion. 'rhere is nothing more tempting than to sit in the quiet of one's home, and gather np lost memories, antl hug even the shadows to our Ijosom. But there is work ahead, and we must hurry a field where the battle of good govern- ment is being fought. Every tent should yield its soldier now. We must regain the eternal principles which our ancestors won, and which we have lost and betrayed. J udge Underwood's letter is so fully in accord with our views that we need not comment upon it. It breathes the right spirit and is eloquent and true. W e shall have manj' a good man with us on the next " Fourth. ISaiiu.' Issue.] CAPT. JOHN MILLEDCE. We are glad to learn that the Com- mittee of ai'rangements have selected our genial friend and fellow -citizen, Capt John Milledge, to read the Decla- ration of Independence. The aj^pro- priateness ot this selection will readily appear when it is remembered that Capt. Milledge is the direct lineal de- scendent of the two first and most dis- tinguished patriots of the revolution ; Col. Jo^m Millege being his paternal an- cestor while iiis mother is the grand- daugiiter of Col. Joseph Habersham, who captui-ed the powder ship at the month of the Savannah river on the 10th July, 1775. Capt. Milledge bears an honored name, and worthily he has sustained it. He was among the first to volunteer in our late struggle for con- stitutional rights, and among the ver,y last who surrendered, but like all brave men who nobly did their duty in the war, he readily accepts the peace which is now proposed between the sections of our long disunited country. THE BLESSED FOURTH. VAJlIOtrs OPINIONS ABOUT ITS CKLKBRATION — HON. ROBERT TOOMBS "WILI. NOT SHAKE HANDS OVER THE CHASM." •H'DGK .1. W. H. UNDERWOOD THINKS "the cause OF BO.S^ON IS THE CAUSE OK US ALL." We present this morning two inter- esting letters on the coming fourth of July celebration. We shall ccmtinue to publish the replies to the invitation conmiittee as thev come in. I-RO.M HON. .1. W.H. underwood. KoME, GrA., June 24, 1875. To Messi-K H. V. M. Miller, George Hill- yer and Marcus A. Bell, Committee: Gentlemen : Thanking you sincerely for the honor of an invitation to the celebration of the approaching fourth day of July in your city, I regret that it is out of my i^ower to attend. The ses- sion of the Superior Court of Floyd county begins on the first Monday in July, and requires my presence here ; otherwise, I should rejoice to participate in a renewal of that time-honored fes- tival — honored by time as well as pat- riots, and by none m ire than the }ieopIe of Georgia. The long lapse in the wonted honors paid to the day and its memories, has been a grief to us all. This return to the good old custom ig some evidence that we are once more members of that union of States .which cur fathers declared "free and indepen- dent States." For the maintenance of the Declara- tion, they periled life and fortune; fought for and won independence and libei'ty, and urdained the Constitution of the United States to perpetuate the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity forever. So long as we are members of the Union, we are in- terested in the glories and memories of tbe past, and the hopes of the future. The disposition manifested by our own people to celet)rate the day in common with the whole people of the Union, is an honor to their dignity, patriotism and forbearance. It will be a suitable THE DAY IN ATLANTA. time and occasion to renew onr pledges of fealty to the imperishable principles of civil and religious liberty, set forth in the Declaration of Independence, baptized in the blood of the Revolution and taxed in the Constitution of the United States. It will be refreshing when we are once again restored, not only to the Union, but the rights and privileges beijueathed us by a noble ancestry. Would to God that, not only Georgia, but ])atient, en- during Ijouisiana, and every other State, were all in condition to rejoice in the glorious sunshine of liberty which arose on the fourth of July, 1776. Time was when there was no difi'erenee — -the soil enriched by the fiood waters of the Mis- sissippi, was as free as that washed by the waves of the Atlantic. No CDurt. no Congress, no man had power to crush liberty in either. That time will come again. God send it speedily, and ^vhen it does come — when the Constitution of the United States shall be alike ob- served and enforced in all parts of the country, when the rule of the despot is ended, when the despot's heel is lifted — then again the Virginian and the (Geor- gian can exclaim as of old, "The cause of Boston is tlve cause of us all." Your fellow-citizen, J. W. H. Underwood. FROM THE HON. ROBERT TOOMBS. Washington, Ga., June 23, 1875. Geni'lemen : I have received your letter of the 1 1th instant, inviting me, "in behalf of the citizens of Atlanta, to co-operate with them, in person or by letter, in celebrating the ninety-ninth anniversary of Americaii Indepen- dence," for which i)lease accept my thanks. When the principles proclaim- ed by our ancestors in 177(1, and nobly maintained and re-established by them, shall have been established, I will then, if on this side of the grave, rejoice with you. I am ashamed even to sing ])eans to the lion-hearted heroes of that grand epoch in the -world's history, until we shall have regained those eternal prin- ciples of self-government -which they won, and which we have both lost and betrayed. I can not shake hands with those who dug it, and filled it with the bloody cor])ses of the brave and true, over the bloodv chasm which engulfs also the principles of '7(>. I want no fraternity with States or people without liberty and equality. I am, very tiuly and respectfully, your obedient servant. R. T00MB.S. Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, Geo. Hillver, Marcus A. Bell. [Athmta Daily Herald, ,Iulv ?,.] OLD VETERANJS TO THE FRONT. We print this morning three interest- ing letters from three of Georgia's most distinguished men. Ex-Gov. Jenkin's letter is a rarely good one. Since he has written it, we are tempted to regret that he saw tit to withdraw fiom the gubernatorial race. He has a good head, a good heart, a good judgment, and a good spirit — a quadruplet of virtues not often found in any man. He hits the matter plump- ly on the head when he says, " We want no sulking." There is less philos- ]ihy and less sense in sulking than in anything that man can do or fail to d((. Governor Jenkins' letter will do great good. North and South. Judge King's letter is full of common sense. Resigning his seat in the United States Senate thirty-five years ago,Judge King has lived aloof from politics evei' since. He has none of the prejudices or passion of the strife about liim, and shutting his eyes and jerking himself down to the facts as developed by his own experience, he says, " T never want any more liberty, or more happiness in any government than I have had in this." While he forgets, in making this utterance, the woes of Louisana and her stricken sisters, he speaks the truth just as he finds it, from his own stand- point. The Hon. Absalom H. Chappell, with an heroic fondness for minorities, wraps his cloak about him, and walks out to round Toond^s and Hillyer — the two disse' ters — into a trinity. Gallant men, all of the three — heroes in the most ab- solute sense of the word — standing with heads bowed and hands locked in de- spair, while the sunshine is breaking around them and above them — martyrs to a passion that becomes a principle through its intensity — we lift our hats to them, but we must pass on beyond them I TIIK DAV IN ATLANTA. Tn 1-egard to the letters tliat are sent to the coinniitttee, we have, of course, found it impossible to pul)lish thein all. One thing we have been compelled to (lo, and that is to present every letter that has been written that was depreca- tory of the occasion. Of the hundreds wiitten to, only three have i-ejilied in the spfrit of deprecation. We shall at- tempt to synopsizc the most important letters for to-morrow's paper. THE BLESSED FOURTH. Various Opinions from Various Sources. We present three interesting letters this morning on the celebration on " the I'ourth." Three distinguished and pat- riotic men have the floor to-day: EX-GOV. CHARLES J. JENKINS. wftat " the xoblkst roman ov them ai>l" has to say — "let its havkno sltlking; it ls not a I'ART of southern character." Aicu'STA, Ga., June 28, 1875. Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer, Mar run A. Bell, Committee, ete..: Gentlemen: Accept my thanks for your invitation to be present at your l^roposed celebration of the declaration of American Independence, on the 5th proximo. Circumstances J of a strictly pei-sonal nature, pi-event my acceptance of j'onr invitation, but allow me to assure you that I will be with you in spirit. In proof of this, I avail myself of the alter- native privilege of offering you a few thoughts in writing. It is to be regretted that events which have transpired within the last ten years, disincline sonie noble Southernei'S to participate in the annual celebrations of the fourth of July. I say within the last ten years (which excludes the pe- riod of flagrant war), bec'ause it is per- fectly notorious that this disinclination grows, not out of the shock of arms, nor yet out of the discomfiture of our South- ern armies, by reason of the vast dis- proi)ortion in numbers and resources, but out of the course of Federal legisla- tion relative to the vanquished States since their surrender, in heroic natures the passion excited on the battle-field, however sanguinary the contest, soon I subsides when the* clang of arms is I hushed. There were no personal ani- ! mosities inv(jlved, and no personal vin- j dictiveness survives the strife. But ! minorities feel keenly and feel long the i barb of oppression, tem))ered and sharjj- j ened and poisoned with all the cool de- liberation supposed too))tain in legisla- tive bodies under the sobering intiuence of restored peace. Have I not truly stated the gravemen of Southern com- plaint to-day? If so, let us inquire briefly whether it is wise to ignore the brightest dav in tlie American calendar. There are two American e})ochs, not quite a century apart, in which the acts done, and tlie spirit that prompted them, stand, and will forever stand, in well-detined ami striking contrast. The first occurred A. D., 1776; and a Convention, or Congress, of the British Colonies of North America, rendered it ever memorable by the Declaration of American Inde)>endence. After a recital of wrongs and oppres- sions inflicted by their liege lord, the King of P^ngland — of their long-sutfer- ing loyalty, and of their fruitless appeals for justice, they announced to the world the great central truth and prac- tical result of their counsels, that "these colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." The second epoch has its place A. D. 1S67, two years after the termination of the late "deplorable war between the States. The ^•anquished having laid down their arms, had come again, by explicit declaration, under the Consti- tution of the Tnited States, acknowl- ingitas their supreme law — had abro- gated constitutions which established for them other Federal relations and adopted new constitutions, compatible with their ancient associations and ob- ligations, and everv whit as republican in form and m substance as that of any State in the I'nion — had organized new governments under them, and tendered fraternity and co-operation in the re- stored confederacy. This action had met the approval and sanction of the Federal executive, and the whole ma- chinery of government. State and Fed- eral, was ready again to move in har- monious operation. But just upon this great consummation, which should have THK DAY IN ATLANTA. made the Northern heart jubilant with joy and restored confidence, the- Con- jjress of the United States, by a series of enactments known as tlie Recon- struction Acts, abrogated all of these new constitutions, o\erturned all of these new governments, and required the framing of other constitutions and the organization of other governments under the surveillance of Federal mili- tary authority, and this was all done. The plain significance of the whole pro- ceeding was simply this: The States affected by tliis legislation (among which were f(jur of the old thirteen, present and participant in the other Congress of 177G) are not, and of right ought not to be, free and sovereign States, save by the grace and under the moulding hand of Congress. This is undeniable history. Do I not then say truly that these two great events stand strikingly con- trasted in action and in spirit. You propose to commemorate the action and to i-evivify the si)irit of 177B. Can any thing tend more to condemn the action and to extinguish the spirit of 18t)7 ? Assuredly not. I then bid you (rod-speed. May you live to see the spirit of '7fj flaming in the Ijrightness of its own name, and the spirit of '()7 fading into darkness, and if so it mote be, sinking into oblivion. The lime is pro])itious, sectional jeal- ousies, heart-burnings and discords are dying out. The chasm is being bridged — parties from the one side and the other are rushing to the front and shak- ing hands across the fast-lessening space of se"paration. South Carolina and Mas- sachusetts, heretofore the recognized representatives of extreme opiuons and feelings, have exchanged greetings, and mingled counsels in the shadow of Bunker Hill's towering monument. Public opinion is tending rapidly to the conclusion that reconstruction was a crime against liberty, and even the American Tallyrands are, (jue after another, confessing that (according to their ethics) it was worse — a bli'ndek. In view of tViese encouraging signs of the times, shall we stand aloof, and lend no helping hand to the work of regenera- tion ? With all respect, and in all kijid- ness to those who say yes, I must add that this would be simply to sulk in resentment of past wrongs. But, gen- tlemen, sulking is not in keeping with Southern character. It is characteristic of Southern minds and Southern hearts to view intelligenth' the surroundings of the hour, and to bear a prominent j)art in rectifying whatever of evil may exist, and in turning to the best account apparent good. Very respectfully, your fellow-citizen, C. J. Jexkins. LETTER FROM EX-SENATOR JOHN P. KING. AiGusTA, Ga., July 1, 1875. Gentlemen : I acknowledge with many thanks the receipt of your letter inviting me to co-opei'ate with tht^ citi- zens of Atlanta in celebrating the nine- ty-ninth anniversary of American Inde- pendence. Until this morning I liad hoped and intended to be with you on that interesting occasion, but as I find it doubtful whether I will tind it con- venient to attend, it is due to you and the citizens of Atlanta that I should adopt this mode of returning my thanks for the courtesv extended to me. The free institutions which the ])eople of the United States were ])rivileged to make after the success of the revolu- tionary tleclaration of 1776, were en- joyed in domestic peace and prosperity until the commencement of oui- late ci\il war. Few free republics, with the fed- erative feature, ever continued in peace so long as the government of thejUnited States. It continued, i)erhaps, as long as the republican virtues of '76 con- tinued, and as long as the people ap- preciated the blessings, and were worthy to enjoy them. The most beau- tiful and patriotic sentiments ever ut- tered in any language, were uttered by Mr. Hill, in December, 1860, in a letter accepting the nomination as a delegate to the State Convention : "But I shall dissolve this Union as I would bury a benefactor, never through choice, only from necessity, and then in sadness and sorrow of heart. For after all, the V. nion is not the author of our grievance. Bad, extreme men, in both sections, insult each other, and then both fight the Union, that never harmed or insulted either. Perhaps it has blessed all above their merits. For myself, I shall never ask for more true liberty and real haj>- piness under any government than I TJIE DAY IX ATLANTA. have enjoyed as a citizen of this great American Union. May they who would destroy this Union in afroHc, have wis- dom to furnish our children a hotter one." No people ever enjoyed a secure and progressive prosperity comparable to that of the people of the United States, and we may well join Mr. Hill in his as- pirations and wishes. Although we can not expect, in our day, to recover all that we have lost, it is a patriotic duty to embrace every suitable oppor- tunity to cultivate that spirit of unity and concord to which we owe the suc- cess of our revolutionary experiment. The amazing and unprecedented pros- perity and progress of the people of the United States was not an accident. We find means to an end, and adaptation to a purpose. Tt was the most perfect system for the rapid accumulation of national wealth, by the protection and security of individual rights and private property that was ever devised by men ! No system of national economy was ever so perfect or gave such ample guarantees to persons and property at so small a co^t. The vast extent of "our territory, with its great variety of soil, climate and production, is offered to every citizen as afield for free exchange —not by favor, not by compact or treaty arrangement, but by right of constitu- tional law. This fundamental right se- cures to every citizen as many comforts as he can purchase, for as much money as he can earn, for as much work as he can do. It is this feature in our Consti- tution, aided greatly by the guaranteed validity of private contracts, that mainly accounts for the progressive prosperity we have enjoyed. It is true that the blessings secured under these constitu- tional guaranties are, by legislative and administrative abuses, somewhat under a cloud; but an abuse cannot change a principle ; the abuse may be reformed, whilst the principle may remain forever. Very respectfullv, your obedient ser- vant, John P. King. H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer, Mar- cus A. Bell, Committee. HON. A. H. CHAPPELL. HIS LETTER ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, Columbus, Ga., June 30, 1875. Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer, Marcus A. Bell, Committee, etc.: GSNTLEMEN : I have the honor to ac- I kno\vledge yours of the 11th instant, inviting me, in behalf of the citizens of Atlanta, to co-operate with them, in person or by letter, in celebrating the ninety-ninth anniversary of American Indei)endence. The fourth of July anniversaries, we all know, gentlemen, have lately under- gone a great change in their character and the feelings they are calculated to inspire. They have" been now, for a • series of years, suggestive to all thought- ful, patriotic minds, especially in the South, far more of sentiments of sadness and humiliation than of pride and grat- ulation. Onr country is not yet a hun- dred years old, and what shipwreck, nevertheless, do we not behold, of the glorious work of our ancestors. We have lost the liberties and the precious constitutional rights and security they becpieathed to us, and which they fond- ly hoped 'vould be perpetuated, as a blessed heritage, to their remotest pos- terity. But, whatever mav have been our faults or misfortunes relative to the sub- lime boon we received at their hands and have so lamentably let fall from our own, never let us be guilty of the impiety of not remembering and honor- ing what they dared, did and sutiered — and that, too, much less for themselves than for us. Never let us become so degenerate as not to love, study and strive to keep alive, if we can not worthil}' imitate, their example and principles. And, certainly, there is no more fitting day for such study than the fourth of July — a day rendered for- ever illustrious by the magnanimity and heroism of which our revolutionary statesmen were capable. The imposi- tions against which thej' and their con- stituencies, from that moment sover- eign, rebelled, were trifiing in magni- tude, and were in no danger of waxing heavy in their day ; but seeing in them the germs of future despotism, they no- bly resolved to crush them at once, nor allow them a chance to develoj) and ripen into the bitter fruits of practical slavery for their children. I take it for granted that you do not propose, on Monday next, to glorify, in the old-fashioned, self-lauding, self-ex- alting way, our deliverance during the last century from the mild, maternal British yoke— just ae if nothing had happened within the last dozen years, makintj 3uch a course no longer com- THE DAY IN ATLANTA. patible with good taste, or with our dignity and self-respect — just as if we were unconscious of tlie staring fact that we had, within that periocl, come under anotnei- yoke infinitely worse than the one we threw oft' Jiinetj'-nine years ago — a yoke tlie most galling and ignominious that the world ever knew, fastened upon ns by the ruthless hands of fraternal conquerors after the peace and the surrender of our arms, and our ^ giving the amplest pledges of our loyalty. So long as tliat vile yoke is upon our necks, so long as we have enjoined upon us a constitution and a government re- modeled in hatred, and the aim of which is to make us the slaves of our former negro slaves and of the Northern tniscreants who use them and their votes as the easy means of misruling, despoiling, oppressing and debasing us, let the fourth of July if commemorated at all in the (South, be kept as a season of patriotic mourning and indignation. Ah ! how can the generous, even among our enemies, help having their festivi- ties dashed on that day, when they think of South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana, and the harrowing spectacle of negro and carpet-bag lawlessness, misrule and ruin they are at this mo- ment unhappily presenting ; when they think also of the scenes which, until very recently, were long rampant in ' Arkansas and Alabama — from the like of which Georgia and some other South- ern States had, indeed, an earlier de- liverance, but from which they are never safe enough to be free from anxiety, j whenever it shall suit the Federal ad- ministration and its vermin to resolve to carry their elections. The great appalling danger, gentle- men, is that the process, already begun, of a gradual settling down into perma- nent bad government, and of the coun- try's acquiescence under it, will not be arrested, but will continue to go on until it reaches a depth from which there never can be nor will be reaction or resurrection. History is full of such eases. That depth will most assuredly have been reached whenever the South, the great victim and sufferer under the present state of things, shall become base enough to be reconciled to her wrongs and the fate they infiict. I have the honor to be, most respect- fully, your oV>edient servant and fellow- citizen, A. H. Chappeli,. [Atlanta Herald, July 4.] GEORGIA'S CENTENNIAL. This morning just one hundred years ago, a body of Georgians assembled in an old hall in Savannah, and organized the first opposition to the British King that Georgia had ever ofiered. To-day one hundred years ago, the first body of representatives, elected by the peo- ple in opposition to the cringing Pro- vincial Legislature, assembled, and be- gan the war that resulted in our deliver- ance. This, then, is Georgia's Centen- nial Day, and worthily will it be cele- brated in the capital city on to-morrow. The following change in the pro- gramme was made last evening: The Committee of Arrangements on ^ the Fourth of July Celebration, met at James' Bank at 2:30 o'clock p. m., Sidney Dell, Esq., chairman, presiding. On motion, the place of holding the celebration was changed from DeGive's Opera house to the Union Passenger Depot, the principal railroads having agreed to keep trains out of the depot during the hours necessary for its occu- pation on the day. Messrs. Henry Hillyer, Geo. T. Fry, John X. Dunn and O. H. Jones were added to the Finance Committee. Messrs. John N. Dunn, Henry Hillyer, G. T. Dodd, W. S. Ballard and John C. Peck were appointed a committee to ar- range the necessary seats. Adjourned. Bknj. F. Abbott, Secretarj'. On the evening of to-morrow, at No. 166, Marietta street, will be celebrated the breaking of dirt for the building of the cotton factory. AT THE PAKK. Messrs. Scarratt & Payne have ar- ranged a most charming programme of amusements at the Oglethorpe Park. No one of oui- visitors should fail to go out and take part in the sports. MARSHALS OF THE PROCESSION TO-MORROW Having been appointed Marshal of the Day for the ceremonies on the fourth of July, I hereby name the following gentlemen as my aids: Messrs. R. J. Lowery, A. J. Beall, Reau Campbell, R. J. Godfrey and J. G. Scrutchins, whu will meet "(mounted) at the capitol to- morrow (Monday )'morningat 10 o'clock. THE DAY IN ATLANTA. The procea^pio^ will form on Marietta street, the right resting on Broad ; the line of march, down Broad to Mitchell, down Mitchell to Whitehall, through Whitehall to Decatur, down Decatur to Pryor, through Pryor to passenger de- pot, where arrangements are being made for the speaking. O. H. Jones, Marshal of the Day. governor smith indorses it. , Atlanta, July 3, 1875. Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George- Hillyer and Marcus A. Bell: Gentlemen : Having been informed that It is the desire of the committee to know whether J. will join in the proces- sion, I beg leave to state that it will not be convenient for me to do so in the present condition of my health. It will give me pleasure, however, to join you at the Union Passenger Depot, and to unite with you and other fellow-citizens in the celebration of the ninety-ninth anniversary of American Independence. Very respectfully, James M. Smith. It was a very pleasant occasion, en- joyed by all, and one we hope to see oft repeated by all our citizens. A Do-wji East Fourtli. One of the pleasant features of the celebration of the fourth was the man- ner in which it was observed by Mr. AVilliam Jackson, agent of the American Safe Company. His residence, 24 Markham street, was brilliantly illumin- ated with Chinese lanterns, etc., and made still more dazzling by the display of large stars and stripes floating in the breeze outside and hung upon the walls inside. In the evening Mr. Jackson had in- vited a small number of his friends, in- cluding Judge Tibbalsand lady, of Con- necticut, Mr. Bowdoin, Mr. Spencer and wife, and Mr. Thibadeau. At night the party engaged in shoot- ing lire-works until the bell rang an- nouncing that a repast was in waiting. After doing ample justice to the rich viands, consisting of ice cream, cake, lemonade, candy, nuts, etc., which were prepared and dispensed by the amiable hostess, Mrs. Jackson, the party again adjourned to the yard where the on- slaught upon the fire-works was re- newed. THE FOURTH. letter KKOM HON. H. P. RELL IX REPLY TO AN INVITATION TO BE PRESENT. Gumming, Ga., June 28, 1875. Messrs. H. V. M. Miller, George Hillyer and Marcus A. Bell, Committee: Gentlemen: Your favor of the lltli instant, inviting me, on behalf of the citizens of Atlanta, to co-operate with them, in person or by letter, in cele- brating the ninety-ninth anniversary of American independence, was duly re- ceived, and for which you will please accept my thanks. I have delayed until now an answer, in the hope that 1 might be able to participate in person in the festivities of that occasion. But I find that indisposition of a month's continuance, from which I have not yet recovered, compels me to forego that pleasure. I most cordiaily approve the celebration. The declaration of Ameri- can independence on the fourth day of Jul)', 1776, marks no ordinary event in the M orld's history. It was the culmin- ation of the long and bloody struggle between liberty and despotism. It ex- ploded, at least so far as this country is concerned, that system of civil govern- ment, established by the barbarous conquerors of the middle ages, who planted upon the thrones of Europe the bastard ofi'spring of robber blood, and claimed to rule bj'^ divine right. The declaration announces the grand truth that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. The rights and principles asserted in Inde- pendence liall, maintained on the iield and embodied in the constitution by our fathers, constitute the grandest fabric of civil government ever devised by wisdom or maintained by valor. They are the common heritage of all the peo- ple of each State and every .section of the Union. We hold this c-ommon pat- rimony from our ancestors in trust for I)osterity, and are under the highest obligations of gratitude to the former, and duty to the latter, to preserve it in the present, and transmit it, unim- paired, to the future. It invigorates our patriotism and re-assures our hope THE DAY IN ATLANTA. to kneel at the shrine where our fathers worshipped, and we may well pause one ilay in each year to contemplate the virtue, wisdom, patriotism and courage of the great men wlio made and main- tained this declaration. We gather patriotic inspiration from communion with their spirits, and re- turn, like the devotee from his pilgrim- age, wiser men and better patriots. The constitutional rights of the citizens, the states and the sections of this great republic can neither be preserved nor perpetuated by sectional animosities, and I cannot perceive the wisdom of that policy that inflames sectional hate by appealing to the passions and pre- judices of the past. The Union is blood- healed. The Constitution guarantees perfect equality of rights to all sections, to each State and to evei-y citizen. If it has been violated, if constitutional rights have been withheld, and uncon- stitutional burdens imposed, the people and the people alone are invested with the corrective, and I know no better method of inducing them to apply it than by appealing to their virtue, Intel - ligence and patriotism, and know of no more successful way of making the ap- peal than by uniting them on the natal day of independence throughout the entire country, in appreciating the value of liberty by celebrating that daj' with appropriate ceremonies and festivities. I hope, therefore, to see this time-hon- ored custom of by-gone days revived and observed as it was in the earlier and better days of the republic. I trust also, that the people, especially the South, will heartily participate in the approaching centennial celebration. Their devotion to the principles of the declaration has been proven, their cour- age in acti<.>n and heroism in suffering have been tried and vindicated. The centennial will be an occasion, on which the people from every ([uarter of the entire country, at the birth-pla<-e of lib- erty, surrounded with hallowed associ- ations and glorious memories, may ex- hibit before the representatives of the despotisms of the world that higher moral heroism and God-like attribute of forgiveness. llegretting my inability to be present, and again expressing my thanks for your invitation, I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 4 H. P. Bprj. OUR •'BREVET" FOURTH. WHAT PROMINENT GEORGIANS THINK ABOUT OUR CENTENNIAL DAY. The outlook for fun on the fourth is very fine. A large crowd is expe(;ted, and arrangements have been made for a regular jamboree. We present below some points of inter- est, beginning with synoptical opinions from the letters of the prominent men who have been invited to attend. OUGHT TO BE FOREVER JUBILEE." A NATIONAL The fourth of July is, and ought to be forever a national jubilee, in this coun- try. The memory of the act which makes it a great day, ought to be cher- ished. So ought a recollection of the actors who were of those who were pres- ent when the act was done and aided in giving shape to its results. Then I look upon the proposed cele- bration as eminently proper, and a step in the right direction ; and so far as practicable, will (contribute to make it a success. N. B. Knight, Judge Superior Court. "in heart and sympathy." I can only be with you upon that oc- casion in heart and in sympathy. C. D. McCuTCHEN, Judge Superior Court. "l TRUST THE example LOWED." WILL BE FOL- I heartily approve the movement to celebrate the fourth day of July in the South, and trust that the example of our fellow-citizens in Atlanta will be followed in every city and town in the South. It is especially proper for us to keep alive Independence Day. There is not a .sentiment in that immortal declara- tion which is at war with our record from that day to this. E. H. Pottle, .J udge Superior Court. "it is our country." Although our country is not in the condition we would prefer to have it. yet it is our country, and the only one we have. Then each citizen should strive to correct its evils and add to its G. J. Wright, Judge Superior Court. THE DAY IN ATLANTA. "SHOULD ADOPT EVERY HONORABLE MEANS TO RESTORE UNITY AND HARMONY." I could say more upon this subject, but hoping to be with you in person, and to demonstrate the fact that an old Confederate, who only surrendered after our illustrious chieftains, Lee, Johnston and Taylor had surrendered, can in per- son illustrate the sincerity of his devo- tion to the American Union, and rise the low atmosphere of passion, hate and prejudice, into the higher and purer air of brotherly love and fraternal feel- ing. Whilst w,e should not compromise the principles of our fathers, or sacrifice truth or honor, we should adopt every honorable means in our power to res- store unity and harmony and to estab- lish the government upon the princi- ples of Washington and Jefferson. William Gibson, Judge (Superior Court. " A DAY UPON WHICH THE SOUTH CAN CLASP HANDS WITH THE NORTH." " I am glad to see our people begin- ning again to celebrate it. It is a day upon which the South can clasD hands with the North across the sad years from 1860 to 1870, and renew the vows to respect the Constitution, and to love it as our revolutionary fathers did." Chas. M. Dubose, vStaie Senator. " THE priceless HERITAGE OF US ALL." •' The recurrence of national indepen- dence day in America should never be passed over without due observance and commemoration by her children, be they Confederates or Federals. The im- mortal principles proclaimed by the Centennial Congress of 1776, and the liberty won by the swords of the fath- ers of the Republic, are the priceless heritage of us all." Stephen A. Corker, Ex-Congressman. " I REJOICE AT THE AWAKENING." " For one 1 rejoice at the reawaken- ing as indicated in your proposed cele- bration. The people of the original thirteen were one, asserting and pro- claiming independence ; and the people of the present tlurty-seven are one in its enjoyment. The pride of sections and of States should now, as then, yield to the higher and nobler object of our affections — the Union of both. Richard H. Wiiitely, Ex-Congressman. " HEARTY sympathy." " I assure you of my hearty sympa- thy in your object to commemorate the principles of '76, which we of the South have so long cherished, and on one memorable occasion, endeavored so hard to practically enforce." Geo. R. Black. "much TO WONDER AT AND BE PROUD OF." " Yet pei'haps, it is best for us, and fidelity to our obligations to the future to look over the four years of fire and sword, and the succeeding ten years of vengeance, oppression, and leanness, and fixing our eyes on the former years of peace and plenty, see whether there is not something, yea, much to wonder at and be proud of." "In this spirit, I would join in the festivities of the national holiday, and hope to be with you." J. B. Jones. He HON. JOSEPH E. BROWN. Accords thorouglily 'with Spirit of tlie Movement. the Atlanta, Ga., June 23, 1875. Hon. II. Y. M. Miller, George IJUlyer and Marcuti A. Bell, Committee : Gentlemen : — I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your kind invitation to attend the celebration of the coming 4th of July, in this city, and I have in reply, to state that it will af- ford me much pleasure to attend and witness the intended celebration. I think the people of the South have erred in neglecting the celebration of American Independence since the termi- nation of our late unfortunate struggle. Whatever may have been the merits oi' demerits of the cause, or conduct of either side in that struggle, we were all one common people in the American Revolution, which resulted in the es- tablishment of our independence; and the declaration of our independence which was made upon the fourth of July, 1776, was the joint act of the people of all sections of the Union. A Southern man was the author of that declaration, and a Southern man was THE DAY IN ATLANTA. the great leader of the armies of the Repubhc in the struggle which fol- lowed. In that memorable contest, Southern valor was in a very high de- gree conspicuous, and Southern blood flowed freely on almost every battle- lield. The people of the South have, therefore, a right to claim that their an- cestry were most prominent in the great event which the celebration is intended to commemorate. Allow me to ask what Southern man nowhasany fault to And with the princi- ples contained in the declaration of inde- pendence of 177(J ? All we ask is that these principles. shall be faithfully car- ried out, and that the Constitution of the United States, which was formed af- ter the achievement of our indepen- dence, shall be faithfully administered. It was the failure of some of the Northern States to carry out, in good faith, these great principles in practice, and to observe the obligations of the Constitution, which caused the late struggle between the two sections. In that struggle we simply contended that these principles should be maintained ; and as the government of the United States, in our opinion, failed to carry them out, we determined to make an effort to set up a government that vjonld maintain them. In this we failed, and, since our fai:ure, it must be admitted, there have been many departures from these great fundamental principles. But I think there is much to cheer us in the prospect of an earlj' return to them, in the practice of the govern- ment. It seems to me the signs are very favorable to another great revolu- tion in 1876, not identical wath that of 1776, because that revolution was nec- essarily achieved by the blood of the brave. The revolution of 1876, will, in my opinion, be achieved at the ballot- box. In thc> one hundredth year of the life of the Republic, I look for a revolution in the popular mind which will cause the people of the United States to rise in their might at the polls and restore the great principles for which our fathers shed their blood in the struggle of 1776. The very fact that the Southern peo- ple neglect the celebration of the fourth of July, is used by those opposed to the principles which were enunciated in 1776, as an evidence that' we are not true to them. It is ray opinion, there- fore, that all patriots in the South should unite in the celebration of the ninety- ninth anniversary of our independence, and that all the states of the South should unite in the centennial celebration of 1876, at Philadelphia, and thereby dis- pel from the popular mind of the North all prebext for a prejudice of the char- acter above mentioned. In other words, let us show them that we are still ready to stand by and maintain the old doc- trines of 1776, and carry them out faith- fully. And this will, doubtless, have ranch to do in bringing their minds to the like conclusion. The institution of slavery having been blotted out by the late war, there is no looger a reason for sectional strife ; and whenever the people of the North are ready to meet us, upon the principles of the declaration of independence and the Constitution of the United States, we should meet them cordially, and, burying the past, the two sections should unite in transmitting to their posterity, the free institutions which are the natural result of the great doc- trines which were established by the achievement of our national indepen- dence. I am, very respectfully, Your obed't serv't, Joseph E. Brown. THE DAY IN ATLANTA. The following xeport of the celebra- 1 with the dashing marshals on horse- tion of "the Day in the Citv," is taken I back, appeared at the western entrance ■' "' ■ ~' "' ' ' the gates were swuntr from the current reports of the Daily Herald : The "Brevet Fourth" cious. The sunlight a gay city. Early trains b^gan to lawned auspi- streamed on in the day arrive loaded with visitors, shouting and hurrahing to one another. So great was the crowd that one dusky individual remarked to another as the trains were steaming in slowly under Broad street bridge, "It looks like day of judgment done come." During the day an ever movins stream of people, in w-hich the colored element was distinctly traceable,was passing and re-passing up and down the principal thoroughfares. Everybody seemed to be; in good humor. Shinplasters, lem- onade and iced beer flowed in strong currents. At eleven o'clock the procession form- ed near the Capitol and marched to strains of martial nrusic, under the di- rection of Marshal Jones and his as- sistants through the streets pre- viously announced. Flags we^e displayed in different par!s city. A detachment of the States troops with the cannon in charge, took position at the City Hall, and at an appointed time tired a salute of thirty- eight guns. ;,. Long before the time to begin people were going into the Car-shed. At first of the car shed, open, and they marched in. The orator of the day, accompanied by the chap- lani and the reader, and the poet, was in an open carriage, drawn by a beauti- ful span of horses. As the distinguished statesman of Geoi'gia left his carriage and came towards the platform, he was heralded by the cheers of hundreds and thousands. A large chair was placed for his convenience, in which he was seated, amidst inci'eased cheering. By this time there were at least five thou- sand people under the roof, the seats prepared were occupied, and surround- ed in a deep line by a circle, who had to stand. It now became painfully evident that owing to the number and restlessness of the crowd on the edges and passers- by in the rear of them, that the speakers could not he heard. We noticed on the stage Judge Erskine, Hon. H. W. Hil- liard, Gen. P. JM. B. Young, Prof. Orr, Gov. Smith, Col. J. R. Sneed, Maj. Geo. Hillyer, Capt. John Milledge, Judge Lochrane, and others. The ladies were oat in large num- bers, and listened with deep interestand attention to Georgia's eminent son, the fit and eloquent spokesman of the prin- of the I ciples embodied in the day and its cele- United bration. The following was the stage pro- gramme : The meeting will be presided over by his Excellency, James M. Smith, Gov- ernor of Georgia, as President ; assisted by Hon. George Hillyei-, Cefitennial it was in drops, as it were, as the en- [ Commissioner from Georgia, and Hon. trances were closed and opened only to ! C. C. Hammock, Mayor of Atlanta, Vice- a few, then, as the watch grew more Piesidents. lax, it became a little constant The chaplain, reader, poet and orator rill, then a fiood and the place was will be introduced by the chairman of inundated with people. About the Committee of Airangements, Capt. 11:45 o'clock, the military leading, Sidney Dell. THE DAY IN ATLANTA. 1. Music... "Aiild Lang Sjaic" 2. Prayer by the Chapliiiu Kev. E. W. Warreu 3. Reading Declaration ol'ilndt'pendence, Capt. Jolm Milledgc 4. Music Columbia the Geiuol' theOeean 5. Centennial Poem Col. J. A. Stewart 6. Music Star Spangled Banner 7. Oration Hon. Alex. H. Stephens 8. Music Dixie When all were seated on the stage, and after an invocation of the blessing of the gieat Ruler of Nations by Rev. A. T. Spalding, D. D., and a stirring air by the band, Gov. James M. Smith arose and acknowledged the honor of presiding over the prceedings in the fol- lowing eloquent, pointed, and telling speech : GOV. smith's kejiarks. Fellow Citizens : I beg to express my thanks for the honor done in select- ing me to preside over your meeting to- day. Before entering upon the dis- charge of the duties assigned me, it will not be improper, periiaps, that I should make a few remarks upon the object of our meeting. We have met for the purpose of celebrating, with proper ceremony, the Anniversary of our National Independence. For cer- tain reasons, it lias not been held in the South in the last two years. Without pausing to remark on the causes of this, it would not be improper for me to say thus much, that this infrequency has not been due to a want of appreciation, upon the i>art of the South, of the prin- ciples of 1776. [Applause.] If any distinction should be made between the different people of this Union, we, the people of the South, are entitled to set up a special property in these principles. It was a Southern man who drafted the Declaration of In- dependence. [Applause.] It was a Southern man who conceived it. The same Southern man, in after years, molded the policy of the government, so that it grew up, within the period of ninetj'' years, to be the greatest nation upon the globe. Therefore, I do not al- low any ftian to deprive me of the priv- ilege of rejoicing in this Anniversary. I have no objection to others rejoicing also. But this platform is my platform as a Southern man. The Declaration of Independence is the declaration of principles on which I stand, and upon which the Southern people stand. I do not intend to say a word against the people of any section. If they have a mind to celebrate this day, so much the better. But one thing I will be careful of, and that is that their placing them- selves on this platform shall not induce me to abandon it. I will not forsake the truth becaiise others embrace it. We rather claim the Fourth of July among the Southern Institutions. We claim the platform of principles laid down in the Declaration of Independ- ence as a Southern platform. I am glaeople of Hanover. So, likewise, stood the People of New Hampshire, Virginia, and all down to Georgia, the youngest and smallest in population on the list. All the colonies had grown up and prospered under the|acknowledgedand inestimable right of local self-govern- rnent, with exemption from all legisla- tion or taxation of other kinds — except such as receive their own voluntary consent. It was upon this principle that most of the emigrants hither had quitted the monarchical governments of the "old world," and had sought ref- uge in these colonies, where they could enjoy the great natural rights of civil andrreligious liberty as set forth in the paper we are commemorating. Upon these principles these thirteen colonies had sprung into existence un- der separatety organized governments within the period of a century and a half preceding, and had greatly prospered ; not, nowev- er, without many intervening struggles between them, the crown and the Par- liament, over the great essential rights upon which they were founded and to which their growth and prosperity were due. This struggle approached the culminating.crisis in 1864 — 65, upon the passage of what is known as the ' stamp act. By this act of Parliament all contracts, notes, deeds, bonds, writs ^ and public documents were required to be written on Government stamped pa- i per, which was to be sold by officials at a fixed high price; and from the sales of , which a large revenue was expected to be derived from the Colonies. The ex- citement produced by the passage of this act, especially in North Carolina, Massachusetts and Virginia, showed clearly that an attempt to enforce it . would lead inevitably to armed resist- I ance. Do not grow weary under a re- I hearsal of these details; they are necessa- ' ry for a full understanding of the text, and they lead to the life-springs of our institutions. In the month of May 1765, the House of Burgesses of Virginia passed their fa- mous resolutions declaring, (among oth- er things) the exclusive right of that Assembly to tax the inhabitants of that Colony. It was in the course of the de- bate on these resolutions that Patrick Henry, in one of his bursts of eloquence exclaimed : "Ctesar had his Brutus, Charles the first had his Cromwell, and George the Third" — (when being interrupted by the cry of "treason ! treason !" with an un- daunted eye upon the speaker, he con- tinued) "may profit by their example! If that be treason, make the most of it !" George the Third as well as the Parliament, did "profit," at least for a while, by these Resolutions, and simi- lar ones adopted by the Legislative As- sembly of Massactipsetts (known as her General Court); and the general spirit of armed resistance manifested through- out all the Colonies. Such was the discontent produced by this usurpa- tion that it was soon abandoned. The Act was repealed in March, 17^. The/p'<^^ principle upon which it rested, howev- er was not abandoned. The Parlia- ment still claimed the right and the power to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever. Other acts of like but less offensive character were passed. The struggle went on. All these other acts were also, after awhile, repealed, except one imposing a duty upon tea. This had but little effect in allaying the excitement. In 1773, the duty on tea was reduced to three pence per pound, which was less tax than the people of iMR. STEPHENS' SPEECH. Ensland paid on the same article. It was thought this would pacify the Col- onies. Far different, however, was the result. The conciliatory measure was based upon the odious, un- abandoned '" preamble," declaring "the right of the Parliament to bind the Col- onies in all cases whatsoever." This was a favorite doctrine of Lord North, then at the head of the Tory administration. With all of his disposition to conciliate, he would not yield this principle. His viewa of policy were founded upon the assumption that Parliament possessed the sovereign right to govern the Colo- nies in all cases whatsoever, if, in their judgment, circumstances should require it. Subject to this right, his policy was to conciliate as far as possible. This abstract principle was just what the colonies would not yield. The principle they maintained was, that taxes were the free contributions of the people, through their representatives, even in England, under Magna Charta ; and that taxation and representation should ever go together. In other words, that without being allowed representation in Parliament, they could not rightly be subject to taxation by that body. The struggle, therefore, still went on. At the ports of Philadelphia and New York, vessels laden with tea were not permitted to enter. In Charleston, South Carolina, the tea was landed, but stored away in damp cel- lars, where it was quietly permitted to rot. In Boston a party of men dis- guised as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships laden with tea, broke open all the chests containing it, and cast their contents into the sea. In North Caro- lina, at Wilmington, a number of men, under the lead of Cornelius Harnett, John Ashe and Hugh Waddell, in open day, without any disguise, boarded a ship similarly laden, and destroyed the tea, while in Baltimore the obnoxious article met with similar fate. For all these outrages, so-called, Boston was the place selected by the Lord North Ministry to make an example of in the maintenance of their policy. This was, perhaps, because they had already collected there a considerable military force. Early in 177-1 the port of Boston was closed by an act of Parliament. The charter of the colony of Massachu- setts bay was soon after effectually abro- gated by another act of Parliament, and the Royal Governor was authorized to send persons accused of crime to Eng- land for trial. These acts of Parlia- ment caused an excitement, amounting to a fury in Massachusetts, which spread rapidly throughout the other colonies. The house of Bur- gesses of Virginia being in session in May, when the news of these Acts reached them, and before they had heard of the second, appointed the first day of June ensuing as a day of "fast- ing, humiliation and praver,'' and "to invoke the aid of Almighty God to save the liberties of the colonies." This was at the instance of Mr. Jeffer- son, then a member of that body. The royal governor, Lord Dunmore, imme- diately dissolved the House of Bur- gesses, for this act of disloyalty, as he considered it to be. Whereupon the members resolved themselves into a committee, organized an association, and passed resolutions declaring that the interests of all the colonies were equally concerned, and advising the appointment of a Virginia committee to consult with the other colonies on the expediency of holding a General Con- gress of all the colonies to devise means for their common protection. The at- tack upon the chartered rights of Mas- sachusetts might be followed by a like attack upon those of all the other colo- nies in turn. The Virginia Committee of Conference was appointed. It was at this time that the cry raised in the "Old Dominion" went through all the colonies — "The cause of Boston ia the cause of us all." The appeal of Vir- ginia was responded to favorably by the Colonies generally. Philadelphia was the place, and the 5th of September, 1774, was the time, fixed upon for this convocation of the Colonies. The first ' thing settled by the body, on its meet- ing, was the nature of its own character and organization. It was settled to be a Congress of separate, distinct, politi- cal organisms. It was styled bv them "the Congress of the United Colonies of America." In all its deliberations, each Colony was to be considered as equal; and each was to have an equal vote on all ques- tions coming before it, without regard to size, wealth, population or the num- ber of delegates sent by them respec- 'THE DAY IN Af LAK^TA, ti vely,for the object of all was the defense and preservation, by joint action and co- operation in council, of what was claim- ed to be the inestimable and inalienable right of each, that is, the absolute right of local, self-government. The vote on all questions was counted not pe?- capita, or according to the number of delegates, but by Colonies, (xeorgia was the only one of the thirteen not represent- ed in this, the first Congress of the Colonies named. The reason of this was her diftance from the- scenes of preparations, and the want of those facilities in the transmission of intelli- gence necessary for speedy organiza- tion. This Congress so originated, so constituted, and so organized, did their work well. They did all that could be honorably done to preserve their con- nection with the mother country, con- sistently with the maintenance of their own inestimable rights. In speaking of their acts, their addresses and their ap- peals, in setting forth these rights. Lord Chatham said, in the British Parlia- ment, "that though he had studied and admired the free States of antiquity, the master spirits of the world, yet, for solidity of reason, force of sagacity and wisdom of conclusion, no body of men could stand in preference to this Con- gress." Noble tribute, that, to their worth and their memory. This body finished its work in Octo- ber, 1774, with a recommendation to the Colonies to send delegations to an- other similar Congiess to meet at the same place the 10th of May, 1775. _ All of the thirteen, including Georgia, responded to this call by send- ing duly elected representatives. The second Congress of the Colonies met in pursuance of the recommendation. The aspect of public atlairs had grown no better. The immense war preparations by the British Ministry clearly indicat- ed that the Lord North policy was to be carried out by the force of arms. Three tlionsand troops had been sent to Bos- ton as earlv as April, 1775. The battles of Concord and Lexington, the centen- nial anniversary of which has recently been celebrated with so much patriotic ardor, had been fought on the 19th of April, nearly a month before this Con- gress met ; and that of Bunker Hill was fought on the 17fh of June, a little oyer a month after their assemblage. Still the Colonies, so assembled in Congress, were anxious' to restore peace upon just principles if possible. Every means upon this line were resorted to to as- suage the temi^er of the Tory admin- istration in England. These were all of no avail. The fighting went on. On _ Jie 19th of June, Washington, at the instance of Massachusetts, was unan- imously appointed Commander-in-chief of_ the Colonial forces. He was com- missioned in the name of the United Colonies of America, the name of each colony being set forth in his commis- sion. This Congress of the United Colonies also issued an address, in which was set forth the reasons for repelling force by force. In this tliey said, among other things: "We have no wish to separate from the mother country." "We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great Britain, and establishing independent States. We fight not for glory or for conquest." "Honor, justice and humanity forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot enduie the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding gener- ations to that wretchedness which in- evitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them. In our native land, and in defense of the freedom which is our birth-right, and which we have ever enjoyed till the late violation of it, for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and our- selves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before." It was already apparent to a far-see- ing few that no terms of redress or con- ciliation could be obtained by the Colo- nies, consistently with what they deem- ed their indefeasible rights, even as British subjects, upon the principles guaranteed by Magna Charta. Still hope against hope was indulged by many during the fall and win- ter of 1775-76. In the meantime, the British army was greatly reinforced, MR. STEPHENS' SPEECH. There had been ordered to America a large fleet of ships, with 32,000 troops, well equipped with provisions and all munitions of war. Early in the Spring of 1776 Washing- ton wrote from the head of the Coloni- forces at New York : "A reconcilia- tion with Great Britain is impossible. When I took command of the army I abhorred the idea of independence ; but now I am fully satisfied that nothing else will save us." Events swift in succession soon ver- ified the correctness of his conviction. Soon after, a formidable fleet, with a large army, appeared off Charleston harbor, South Carolina, shoM'ing that the war cloud was to burst upon the South as well as upon the North ; and that nothing short of general subjuga- tion was determined upon. It w'as on the 28th of June, 1776, that the great battle of Fort Moultrie was fought. in which the gallant Colonel whose name the Fort bore and under whose skill it had been hastily erected, with five hundred Carolinians achieved a most brilliant victory on the Colonial side, against most formidable odds com- manded by the British Major-General, Henry Clinton, and Admiral Sir Peter Parker. Civil action, in the meantime, was keeping pace with the military. The last alternative, the sovereign inde- pendence of the Colonies, was pressing to an issue. On the 7th of June, after the British troops had been sent to Charleston, but before the great victory of Col. Moultrie kad been achieved, Richard Henry Lee, a Delegate from Virginia in the Congress of the Colo- nies, moved a Resolution embracing . two great ends. Tlie first was: "That . i these United Colonies are, and of a i I right ought to be, free and independent J I States ;" and the second branch of the if same resolution was: "That a plan ■ of Confederation be pre]>ared and transmitted to the respective Colo- nies for their consideration and approbation." This resolution was adopted on the 11th of June. The vote upon it, as upon all other questions, was taken by Colonies. Two Committees were ap- pointed under it — one to prepare the Declaration of Independence of the United Colonies as Free ap.d Indepen- dent States, and the other to prepare Articles of Union for Confederation be- tween them as such States. The Com- mittee to prepare the Declaration of Independence — that paper which you have just heard read, and which is the theme of this discourse — (consisted of Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia ; John Adams, of Massachusetts ; Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania ; and Robert R. Livingston, of New York. This Committee reported that Declaration on the 28th of June — the very day on which the arras of South Carolina had been so triumphant at Fort Moultrie, but the news of which did not reach Philadelphia for many days afterwards. (There were no telegraph, no steam lo- comotion, nor even speedy stage- coaches in those days.) These and other grander results, which till up the full measure of the glory of our history, are but the fruits of what our noble common ancestors were then doing in the council chambers, as well as on the battle-fields. They have long since passed away, but their deeds still live, and will live forever. All honor to their memories now, and for all time to come. But not to wander from the text. Please still be patient with details of facts. All the Colonies had, anterior to the 28th of June, duly empowered their delegations in the Congress, in their name and behalf, severally, to vote for the declaration, except New York, Del- aware, and Pennsylvania. Massachu- setts had done so as early as January, '76 ; but North Carolina had taken the lead of all her sisters in this respect. As early as the 20th of May, 1775, the day after receiving the news of the battle of Lexington, she put forth her (■elebrated Mecklenburg manifesto, in which she, for herself, singly, threw off" all allegiance to the British Crown ; and declared North Carolina to be a sov- erign and independent State. From that time onw-ard the royal authority ceased to be exercised within her limits. Ili.j Majesty's then Governor, Josiah Mai- tin, was immediately compelled by the patriotic masses of Wilmington, and of the lower waters of the Cape Fear, to seek safety on board the "Cruiser," a British war ship lying in port. Froiu that time on she exercised all the fuuc- tious of perfect government over her THE DAY IN ATLANTA. internal affairs, though she continued to hold her position in the Congress of United Colonies for the maintenance of the common cause and the conduct of all extra State and foreign affairs. She also, in April, 1776, empowered her delegation in the Congress to join the other delegations in the common Dec- laration. Georgia had done the same in April, South Carolina in March, Rhode Island in May, New Hampshire in June, New Jersey in June, and Maryland in June. New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware were the last so to authorize and empower their delegations so to act It was well known that such instructions and powers would be given by them, and might be on the way, but had not reached Philadelphia on the 28th of June, when the declaration was reported by Mr. Jefferson, the chair- man of the committee. Action on it, therefore, was deferred, for a few days, until such instructions and powers should be received by the delegations from the three last-named colonies. The instructions and powers came with- in the time, according to expectation ; and the question upon the declaration came up for final disposition on the fourth day of July, when it was voted on by colonies and received the sanc- tion, not only of every one of the thir- teen colonies, but of every one of the representatives in the respective delega- tions present. You now more clearly see and understand who the " We " was who declared the United Colonies to be Free and Independent States. You see from the facts that it was in reality the Colonies themselves. We thus see, also, how the " United Colonies of America " became the " United States of America," or, at least, how the Decla- ration came to be made. A further brief sketch of historical contemparaneous events will be neces- sary to see how this great fact, so de- clared, wasafterward acknowledged and established. Bear with me, therefore, in these minute details. They are im- portant points in our history, which should be deeply impressed upon the minds of every one devoted to the in-, stitutSons of his country. This is the day and this is the occasion for reviving them in the memo- ries of the old, and fixing them in the minds of the young. All who are lov- ers of liberty should recollect that three things are essentially necessary for the preservation of free, popular institu- tions. First. The people must under- stand the nature and the history of their Government. Second, They must be devoted to the principles of its or- ganic structure, and third, they must zealously use every effort to make the administration conform to these princi- ples. In other words, the permanency of all free representative Governments, (as our complex systems are,) depend chiefly upon the degree of intelligence, virtue and patriotism possessed by the people. Without these essential requi- sites no free government can last long. Knowledge, education, is the first, and especially education in, or knowledge of the great facts of their own history. Now, then, in connection with the subject of my theme, be it remembered, further, and deeply impressed in your minds, that the com- mittee appointed under the second branch of Richard Henry Lee's resolu- tion made their report of Articles of Union and Confederation between the States so declared to be free and inde- pendent, on the 12th day of July, just eight days after the Declaration of their Independence had gone forth with such joyous acclaim. These articles of union formed the first Constitution of the United States of America. The first of these articles set forth the names of the States and the style of the confedera- tion as before adopted ; and declared that the Union undar the articles was to be perpetual. The second of these articles is in these words : "Article II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and indepen- dence, and every power, juris- diction, and right which is not, by this Confederation, expressly dele- gated to the United States in Congress assembled." All the others, thirteen in number, were in conformity to the principles an- nounced in the second. By them, eighteen great sovereign powers were delegated by each State, severally, to all the States in Congress assembled, in- cluding the war power, the treaty power, the money-coining power, the power to borrow money, the power to build and equip a Navy, the power to establish MR. STEPHENS' SPEECH. post-offices, the power to appoint Courts for the trial of certain crimes against the laws of nations, the power to tix the number of landforce which each State was to furnish, and the quota or amount of taxes each was to raise, and the power to appropriate the money so raised, for the public expenses, the com- mon defense and general welfare. These thirteen .States, so united, under these articles of Union and Fed- eral compact, battled for their right of independence for seven long years. The conflicts at Concord, Lexington, Ticon- deroga and Crown Point, Bunker Hill and Fort Moultrie, were but the prelude of those at Fort Washmgton, Trenton, Princeton, Bennington, Saratoga, Bran- dywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Ket- tle Creek, Brier Creek, Augusta, Savan- nah, Camden, King's Mountain, Eutaw Springs, and the crowning victory of Yorktown. Suffice it, on this occasion, to say, that the whole ultimately re- sulted in the abandonment by Great Britain of her attempt to subjugate the colonies, and her final acknowledgment, on the 3d of September, 1783, of the great fact of their independence as States. Her recognition of their inde- pendence was not that of a consolidated nation, but that of each State, severally, by name. The words of the recogni- tion are these : "His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz: New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence plantation, Con- necticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to be Free, Sovereign and Inde- pendent States ; that he treats with them as such ; and for himself, his heirs and successors, relinquishes all claim to the government, proprietary and territo- rial rights of the same, and every part thereof." This grand, final result is properly in the range of subjects for our commemo- ration to-day. From what has been said we have an outline view, not only of the origin but of the nature and character of the Free Institutions under which we live. Another in- cident or fact in our history, connected ■with these matters may be pertinently revived in your memories on thi.^ occa- sion. On the day, the anniversary of which we now celebrate, after the Dec- laration of the Independence of the Thir- teen States was carried with such joy- ous unanimity, a motion was made in the new Congress of States for the ap- pointment of a committee to report a device for a seal of "the United States," to be used on their public documents. The committee appointed consisted of Mr. Jeflferson, Dr. Franklin, and John Adams. The device reported by them was designed to be emblematic and symbolical in its character. In all ages from Moses down, the wise and the good have resorted to emblems and symbols as the most efficient means of impressing great historical facts and truths upon the popular mind. The leading emblem of the device they agreed upon was the ancient viarrior's shield, upon which they placed six lon- gitudinal sections, intended to designate the SIX European countries from which the United States had been chiefly peo- pled, to-wit: England, Scotland, Ire- land, France, Germany, and Holland. In drawing these six sections on the es- cutcheon or shield's figure seven spaces of the original color were, of course, left, which accounts for the thirteen ap- parent bars or stripes. To this was subsequently added thirteen stars to represent, in the political firmament of the world, this new constellation of thir- teen separate, distinct, and sovereign independent States. The eagle was placed among the emblems, not only because of its ethereal flights, but be- cause of its dauntless, indomitable spirit. To the whole design, finally adopted, was added the finishing mot- tc, "E Pluribus Unum" — that is, one of many, or one Federal Government out of several independent States. The great seal of the United States so re- mains to this day. The stars and stripes on this seal, with all their em- blematic meaning, were, in the year af- terward — 1777 — transferred to the com- mon flag. AVherever that flag has been unfurled since, this is the true meaning of the emblems it has borne. AVher- ever, to-day, it is given to the breeze — in whatever distant sea it may be now hoisted in commemoration of the event we are now celebrating, these are the truths which its symbol language pro- claims. In response to that language, so emblazoned upon its folds, who in TH^ DAY IN" ATLANTA. the South or the North, or the East or the West, or what devotee of Uberty on earth cannot greet it with expressions of joy and of hope ? The next great step in tne progress of the history of our country which is intimately connected with the subject of our theme, was the revisal of the Articles of the first Con- stitution of the States so united, which took place in 1787. The leading defect, or " vice," as Hamilton called it, in the ft-st Articles of Confederation was the want of the delegation, by the several States to all the States in Congress as- sembled, of the power to levy taxes di- rectly upon the people of the several States for the purpose of raising the necessary supplies to meet the gen- eral expenses and sustain the public credit. Under the first Articles the States in Congress assembled could only fix the proportionate quota of contribu- tion to the common public fund, which each State was to raise un- der her own machinery of taxa- tion. This, experience had shown was a great practical evil in many ways. Some of the States were too slow in per- forming their duties under their consti- tutional obligations. Some, in raising their quota, in part at least, resorted to direct taxation upon the people, while others, resorted to duties upon products imported from for- eign countries. The amount of these duties upon the same kind of products or imports varied in different States. From this sprung another evil of no lit- tle magnitude in the prosperous and har- monious workings of the system. It appeared to be manifestly best for all the states in Congress assembled to have the power delegated to them to regulate trade and commerce with for- eign nations as thej^ then had it, as to the Indian tribes. To remedy these de- fects and a few others, another convo- cation of the States was called. Il was under a resolution passed by the Con- gress on the 21st of February, 1787, and is in these words : "Resolved, That in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that on the second Monday in May next, a conven- tion of delegates, who shall have been appointed Fy the several States, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Con- federation, and reporting to Congress, and the several Legislatures, such alter- ation and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and con- firmed by the States, render the Feder- al Constitution adequate to the exigen- cies of government and the preserva- tion of the Union." All the States except Rhode Island responded to this call, and sent delegates clothed with j>lenary powers under the terms of the resolution. The Conven- tion metin old Independence Hall, on the 14th of May, 1787. It was the most august body of jurists, legislators and statesmen that was ever assembled upon the continent of America. Washington was its President. The new Constitution of 1787 was the result of their work. In it the two new powers mainly desired were delegated, with a very few others of much less importance — such as the power to establish a uniform system of Bankruptcy and Naturalization through- out all the States. No radical change was made in the nature of the govern- ment. All its Federal or Confederated features were retained. Its most striking changes are those which pro- vided for a division of all the sovereign powers delegated, and the proper ma- chinery for their execution within their limited sphere. The legislative, judicial and execuUve powers were separated and placed in the hands of three separate, distinct, and indepen- dent Departments. The Legislative Department was also divided into two branches — the Senate and the House. Before, the Congress consisted of but one body. Two separate branches, act- ing independently of each other, now constitute the Congress of the States. They act each as a check upon the other, but the concurrent action of both is necessary upon all measures of a legislative character. When this con- vention of the States met for a revision of the articles of the then Federal Con- stitution, their proceedings were by no means harmonious. Some of the most influential members in it were for totally disregarding their instruc- tions, and the powers with which they were clothed, and for submitting a plan of Government doing away entire- ly with the Federal system and substi- tuting in its place one consolidated Re- public. They were for blending the separate stars of the constellation into Mfi. STEPHENS' SPfetiCEt. one ; and for making a sort of Sirius in the firmament instead of the Pleiades, that beautiful constellation which, by some astronomers, is supposed to be the centre of the whole Cosmos. Had the vote in this connection been taken per capita, their scheme would have prevailed; but, in this Convention, as in the Congress, the vote on all questions was taken by States. The smaller States would not yield their sovereign right to control all their internal municipal afi'airs as they pleased, nor would they agree to any plan that would not secure to every State an equal vote under the new or- ganization proposed, either in the Sen- ate or House, upon all matters even of general legislation, under the specific and limited powers delegated. In this contest, after various attempts at compromise, the smaller States ulti- mately succeeded. An equality of votes was allowed in the Senate to each State, however small or however large. So tiiat now, as before, no legislative act of Congress can pass against a majority of Scates voting in the Senate. So the record stands. These most striking new features in the present Constitution wei-e founded upon a totally new idea in i>olitical science. This new idea was due to the great phil- osophical mind of Mr. Jefi'erson, (he was then Minister to France,) but the idea was embodied in suggestions by him to Mr. Madison in a letter written the 16th of December, 1786, when the call for a Convention of the States to revise their Articles of Union was un- der consideration. Among other things in that letter, he said : " To make us one nation, as to foreign concerns, and keep us distinct in domestic ones, gives the outline of th« proper division of powers between the General and particular Govern- ments. To enable the Federal head to exercise the powers given it to best advantage, it should be or- ganized as the particular ones are, into Legislative, Executive and Judiciary." It is this new feature in our present Constitution which has excited the wonder and ama/ement, as well as ad- miration, of tike most learned philoso- phers and statesmen of the world. It was this which caused De Tocqueville to say that the Constitution of the United States • was different from all Federal Constitutions which preceded it, and rested "upon a wholly novel theory, which may be considered as a great discovery in Modern Political Science." It is the same to which Lord Brougham refers in liis Political Philosophy when, speaking of the Government of the [ United States, he says that this I system of a Federal Union, "where I the rights and powers of the | individual States are maintained en- \ tire, is the very greatest refinement in a social policy to which any state of cir-? cumstances has ever given rise, orto« which any age has ever given birth."! What son of the sires who pledged| their common lives and fortunes toes-f tablishsuch a system of liberty cannot |5 but exult this day in the grandeur of the deeds of his noble ancestors ? The theme invites many moi'e perti- nent details for this day's commemora- tion, but time will not allow full refer- ence to them all. Suffice it to say that the new Constitution, so framed by the convention, was reported to the Con- gress of the States, and being approved by them, was submitted to the several States to be approved and ratified by them before it should go into operation. The last article of the new Constitution so proposed, declared that : "The rati- fication of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the estab- lishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same." The ninth State that ratified it was New Hampshire. This was on the 21st of June, 1788. The news of this tilled the country generally with joy. The ratification of Virginia, the lUth State, was on the 25th of the same month. The news of this event reached Phila- delphia the 2nd day of July. The joy was inexpressible It was now settled that the Federal government was to go into operation under the new Constitution and new organization on the 4th of March, 1789, as Congress had provided. A grand celebration of the -Ith of July was immediately resolved upon, and a magnificent demonstration it was. The procession, extending for miles, was filled with elaborate emblamatical rep- resentations. It was a long, pageant of banners of trades and devices. A decorated car bore the Constitution, tut i)AY m ATLANTA. framed as a banner and hung upon a staff. Then another decorated car car- ried the American Flag. Tlien follow- ed the Judges in their robes, and all the public bodies, preceding a grand Federal Edifice, which was borne in a carriage drawn by ten horses. What lessons and truths were im- pressed upon the popular mind by these allegorical repi'esentations ? The ten horses that drew the Federal Edifice were evidently designed to represent the ten States by which the new Con- stitution had been ratified, and by which it was to be borne, upheld, kept, pre- served and maintained, as a Federal Compact between them whether the other three joined them or not. Are these small matters to bring forth upon this occasion ? Far from it. They are the deep foot-prints of truth im- pressed upon our earlier history, fixing the character of our unparalleled Sys- tem of Institutions, which assertion can never obliterate, argument can never remove, sophistry can never obscure, time can never erase, and which even wars can never destroy. They stick to the very fragments ol the primitive rocks of our political formation; and have only to be dug up and shown, with their unerring inscriptions, to utterly refute all false theories to the contrary. This is the time, and this is the occa- sion for exhibiting at least a few of them. We should ever discriminate I between the principles of a Govern- ment and the acts of its administration. Entire devotion to the one is not at all in- consistent with stern opposition to the other. This is a Centennial period ! The day we celebrate is not only the ninety- ninth anniversary of the Declai-ation of the Independence of the United States, but also the one-hundredth, or Centen- nial anniversary of the day on which Georgia, for the first time, commenced organized resistance against British tax- ation without representation. It was on the 4tb day of July, 1775, that her duly elected delegates met in Conven- tion in Savannah, for the purpose of linking her fortunes with those of the other Colonies. Doubly dear, therefore, should this commemoration be to us. A little incident attending that Conven- tion should not be forgotten while con- sidering their other noble acts and j deeds. A vessel from London, laden with 13,000 pounds of powder, and oth- er articles for the British troops, ar- rived at Tybee. It was determined to seize the ship and use its contents in Colonial defense, rather than permit them to be used for the subversion of Colonial rights. It was accordingly seized by about thirty men. The cargo was secured, and five thousand pounds of the powder were sent by the Convention to their patriot brethren at Boston, who had lost the battle of Bunker Hill for want of ammunition. Amongst those who distinguished themselves in this exploit were Col. Joseph Habersham, (whose blood fiows in the veins of your reader to-day), and Ebenezer S. Piatt, whose names should be handed down to posterity for their gallant deeds on that occasion. Rut there are other considerations which give this demonstration here, to- day, at the seat of government of Geor- gia an unusual importance. This, I have said, is a centennial period. The grand demonstrations in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the destruc- tion of the tea at Eos Ion and Baltimore, which took place last winter, and of the battles of Concord, Lexington and Bun- ker Hill, in Massachusetts : and of the Mecklenburg declaration in Charlotte, North Carolina, which have recently so stirred and thrilled the hearts of the friends of constitutional liberty through- out the length and breadth of the whole land ; and which have brought the dif- ferent sections into more harmonious accord, by awakening the recollections of the noble deeds of a common ancestry in a common struggle for those common principles of local self-government upon which the whole structure of our institutions rests, are but a pre- lude of that grander centennial cel- ebration of the anniversary of this Declaration which is to come off next year in Philadeldhia. The question is mooted whether or not we shall be represented in that celebra- tion, and whether or not Georgia shall take part in those most imposing cere- monies to be witnessed by representa- tives from all of the great Powers of the earth. In answer to this question, I reply, with all the emphasis I can com- mand — yes! What more fitting occa- sion than the one proposed could be MR. STEPHENS' SPEECH. planned for a general gathering to- gether of the people of the whole (country, as nearly en mtuse as possible, to consider the ori- gin and nature of their instituti<,)ns. anublished in the United States, while at this time the number cannot be much if any un- der five thousand, circulating in the aggregate many millions of copies. The increase in the number of colleges, and other institutions of learning has been with equal, if not greater proportion. When the States set out in their career there was no such a thing as a steam engine in the workshops, or on the railroads, or on the river, or on the ocean ; nor was there 3 any such thing as the magnetic tele- graph known in the Morld. Time for- bids minute details in these particulai's, and a specification of how much is due to American genius for all the wonder- ful inventions and discoveries of the age. It may, however, be stated with confidence that, for nearly ninety years from the date of the declaration of their independence and their entering into their first union, ilown to the breaking out of the late most lamentable war be- tween them, no people in the annals of history made a more brilliant career in all that secures libeity, prosperity and ha{)piness, and adds dignity, power and renown to nations than did the peoples of tlie United States of America. Eome, in the acme and splendor of her gloiw, after five centuries of growth and de- velopment, from the expulsion of her kings, did not surjiass the point of na- tional greatness to which these States had attained in less than one, after they freed themselves from the British crown. Rome, the most renowned of ancient republics, it is said, fell at last by the weight of empire. This, under lier system of extension, was inevitable. She was a single republic. In her growth and extension she did not re- cognize the federative principle. In ex- tending her jurisdictioji over neighbor- ing States, by not adopting this prin- (UY)le and securing the sovereign right of local self-government to all distinct Commonwealths thus falling within her limits, but by assuming to herself absolute dominion over them, she nec- essarily became a Centralized Em]>ire, with ultimate despotism as a necessary consequence. The United States, on the contrary, are founded on the ex- actly opposite principle. They do not constitute a single Republic, but a Fed- eral Republic. We have seen that they are "one of many ;" that is, one Re- public of many or several Republics. This Conventional Republic, the "E Pluribus Uxum," is indeed a nation, and a natioh of the highest type ; that is, a nation of States ; or, as said before, a Nation of Nations I No danger is to be apprehended from extension on this principle. The great Centennial Anni- versary will be a i^ost suitable and fit occasion for reviving the memory of these facts in the minds of all, while jointly commemorating those deeds of THE DAY IN ATLANTA. a common ancestry to which these great results aie due. If any of the sons of these ancestors, on either side, shall find that in their late most san- guinary and lamentable strife thex de- l)arted^ by error in judgment or by mis- guided zeal in patriotic purpose, from the principles and the landmarks, the teachings and the oracles of the fathers, what more fitting occasion could be ofTered for mutually profiting by heeding the injunction of Jefferson, the chief apostle of Liberty in his age, who said, if we should ever "wander from those principles in moments of error or alarm, we should hasten to re- trace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety." I would say, let this re-union -of the devotees of Constitutional Liberty, from all the States, be like that of the re- union of the children of Israel, who, af- ter all their suflfe rings in captivity on account of their departure and wander- ings from the principles written in the Book of the Law, assembled in Jerusa- lem on the great Sabbatical Anniversary of the Festival of Tabernacles. This Festival, as Moses had enjoined, was to take place on the first day of the sev- enth month in every year, besides the Sabbatical observances of it, but in their wanderings from the true faitti, it had been neglected for four hundred and ninety years. It was in their hu- miliation, on their return from Babylon, that they were summoned to a revival of this Festival, at which the Book of the Law, their Constitution, was to be read according to the injunction of Di- vine inspiration. It was then that all the people gathered to- gether, as one man, near the shrines of their ancient altars, and " spake unto Ezra, the scribe, to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. And Ezra, the priest, brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month." He read there- from from the " moining until mid- day " and "the ears of ail the people were attentive unto the Book of the Law," and " all the People wept when they heard the words of the law." This was done from day to day for seven days. " From the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, unto that day, had not the children of Israel done so." Let our centennial be of like charac- ter. Let the "Book of the Law" — our Constitution — with the teachings and records of the Fathers, and all of our common sacred oracles be brought forth, read and explained to the vast multi- tudes there assembled from every State in the Union, let these ceremonies be continued and repeated for every day for a whole week, and let another pro- cession, bearing banners, devices, sym- bols and emblems of a like character to that of 1788, be again formed, and pro- ceed from old independence Hall, through all the wide streets of the "city of brotherly love:" but let it be an order and a character in pageantry as much higher than its great prototype of 1788, as the growth and development of the country is now higher and grand- er than it was then. Let the same "Federal edifice" which still stands, with all its stately pillars and majestic arches unbroken, even by the shock of war, be drawn, not by ten but by thirty- eight horses, representing the number of the States into whose hands the sov- ereign right of local self-government is now committed for safe keeping. Let the same star-bangled banner, borne along with its same symboled language, be joyously greeted everywhere with sacred pledges all round, that it shall ever, as it was intended in the beginning, wave in triumph only over " the land of the free and the home of the brave." If it shall be discovered, on the reading of the "Book of the Law and the records/' that any breach has been made on the outer walls of this Federal edifice — the temple of our common lib- erties — let mutual pledgesbe given, even if in tears, by all true friends of the Constitution there assembled, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the lakes of the North to the gulf of the; South, that shoulder to shoulder with' all the peaceful instrumentalities at command — the judiciary and the ballot box — they will, in the language of Lord Chatham, on a similar occasion, stand foremost in this breach to repair or perish in it." What true son of the patriot sires of 1776 cannot fraternize and "shake hands across the late.bloody MR. STEPHENS' SPEECH. chasm" in a re-union of this kind ? If we of the Soutli committed error, eitlier iij judgment or policy, in our attempt to witlidraw from the Union of our Fatliers, was it not the object, as sol- emnly avowed by the ablest and most earne'st advocates of the measure, _ "to quit the Union only to save the princi- ples of the Constitution ?" Is the ob- ject of preserving these principles less dear to us now than then ? Did not Georgia, by a unanimous vote of her General Assembly, propose to her||sister States, during the late war, to adjust all matters at issue betv\-een ihem, upon the principles announced in the Decla- ration of Independence, for the com- memoration of which this Centennial is to be held ? Are we less devoted to these principles now than we were then '? If th^ gallant soldiery of the North committed error, either in judgment or policy, in preventing our withdrawal, they were doubtless equally conscien- tious in believing that the best way to preserve the pi'inciples of the Con.stitu- tion, and the best interests of all the States was to preserve and perpetuate the Union. The great object with them was to maintain the in- tegrity of the country. They had no desire to strike a single star from the Constitution, but "to jire- serve the Union, with all the dignitj^, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired." This was the solemn declaration under which they bore arms. Are these principles, therefore, less dear to them now than they were then? The great cause of the strife being now re- moved forever, as an incident rather than object of the rc'^ult, wh}% I again ask, cannot all true friends of Constitu- tutional Liberty in every State cordiallj' unite and harmonize in the future for the maintenance and preservation, don perpetuation of the true princii)les of Government set forth in the comman Declaration of Independence? Why may there not be perfect accord between all such at the grand Centennial of next year ? Be this as it may, I insist that we of the South, lose whatever else we may, shalljnever, from any cause what- ever, lose or forfeit our full share of the glories of the ever-memorable Fourth of July, 1776. Times change, and men often change with them, but principles never. This is eminently a Southern day, as clearly appears from that expo- sition of the public records just made. It is from no feeling of invidious boast- ing that this honor is claimed. All the Colonies in the great struggle for the absolute right of local self- govei-nment, which is the seminal principal of all our institutions, acted well and nobly. But it w'as Virginia that made the first call for a Congress of the Colonies. It was North Carolina that, singly and alone, made the first Declaration of Independence. It was Virginia that first moved the common Declaration in the Congress of Colonies. Thomas Jeflerson, a son of Virginia, was the author of that common Declar- ation. It was the " Old Dominion," too, that furnished Washington — whose fame fills the world — the Commander- in-Chief of the Colonial armies from a few days after the battle of Bunker Hill to the crowning victory of Yorktown. This is only claim- ing our own. It detracts nothing from the gallantry or patriotism of other sections. The period was truly one that "tried men's souls," and patriots, war- riors and statesmen were found in every State, equal to the crisis. But enough. I am W'Cary, not of the theme, but from physical exhaustion. My object, however, has been accomplished. I have shown you, at least, how my whole soul is enlisted in these centennial cel- eV>rations, with a view to awakening the remembrance, not only of the names of the statesmen and warriors of the Revolutionary period, but of the prin- ciples for which they strove and fought in every State, from New Hampshire to Georgia. All honor, then, now and for- ever, to the memory of the men who, by their deeds in the council chambers or on the battle-fields, achieved our in- dependence ; and like honor, now and forever, to the principles upon which that independence was founded. V 670 4193 1 0.'' " " f ' ^ ^^ .#• •^ ^.- ssVO^ ■>>. rv\' ■^■ \' s .i^sl?;. ' -r-- ^^ v\-o;=^.,:*».-^\>^\.^_^,,. ^> •V '^^- v^ ^ 0> '^r. 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