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knelt down beside his erstwhile foeman and poured over that battle-stricken field his prayer for the guidance of one about entering the encircling shadows, and for the sweet and divine consolation of those dear ones he had left at home. As the man of the South prayed, there came to the wistful, fast-closing eyes a vision of the homestead in the North, with the old mother looking down the flower-bordered lane and listening for footsteps too long in their returning; the well, with its sweet water, under the shadow of the waving elms; the sweet meadow, with its fragrance of newly-cut grass and flowers; the children at their little play; the evening table and the vacant chair, and the sweetfaced waiting wife with the little one in her arms; and with each supplication and sweet reminder of life and loved ones and of the nearer and other life, the weakening arms, clothed in their uniform of blue, wrapped themselves around the gray-clad soldier. Nearer and nearer crept the wounded form in blue, and as the last tender supplication went out to the Throne from the lips of the Southerner, the spirit of the soldier of the North went on its journey and left its mortality, holding in close embrace the gray-clad soldier of the South.

And here, my countrymen, in this splendid presence, I invoke, as a touchstone to our lives and a guide to our feet, often wandering, that spirit of unity of love and action which touched the battle-fields with the tenderness of unseen hands and gave amidst the

lonely pines of old Virginia a foretaste of the spirit of better days yet to come.

Then, sir, let us approach this supremest question of our civil life with hearts touching and arms about each other and strengthened by a consecrated union of purpose and interest, and we will, as conquerors, ascend those imperial heights of self-abnegation, patriotism, and true statesmanship, where amidst the blooming of sweet flowers of love and perfect trust we will contemplate a happy people undivided by internecine conflict and unshaken by sectional difference. Yea, we will not approach this question with broken bodies clothed with the blue and the gray, and over fields strewn with the ruck of a despairing civilization, tinged with the dun colors of sectional conflict and difference; but rather as brothers whose endeavor is illumined by the golden sunlight encompassing the rich cities, the fields abounding with fertility, the advancing commerce and civil glory of a united people. Conscious of the ultimate rectitude of an enlightened nation and touched with the spirit of Him who taught as never man taught the unchangeable principles of right and justice to all men of every condition, we together, the North and the South, will work out to its finality this great problem, in love, in justice, and in moderation, to the glory of our civilization, and leave to our children's children the priceless illustration of a people forgetting the sorrows and hatreds of other days, surrendering sectional advantage, doing

equal justice to every man of every color and condition, and resolutely turning the face to a day of wider and better and brighter and more glorious national life which will hasten the time when justice will be the delight of our people and the chiefest glory of our free government!

II

THE RACE QUESTION

HE question which we have for consideration

THE

to-day is the Negro Question in its relation to

the practical affairs of the South. Discussing the Negro from a practical standpoint, you must discuss the settlement of the Race Question. With the Race Question on its way to settlement, the practical evolution will quickly come. As soon as it is understood that this question is of the past, then will immediately begin the industrial evolution of the South. What we want is a practical and final method of settlement of the question as between the two races. When that is determined, there is no question as to the South, with its wonderful natural advantages, taking care of the whole practical question. That being my view, I propose to discuss the best plan of finally determining the Race Question. With the South unhampered by this great question, there will be no trouble about the mills and the manufactories and the industrial affairs of the South.

To the practical men who desire the upbuilding of the South, the time has come to speak plainly and honestly. The Race Question, however, is no longer

a question of the South. It is a question of the whole country, and it is affecting the whole body politic. As a matter of material interest, the greatest outlay of money within ten years in this country has been made in the South. This is largely Northern money. The greatest development of the nation's prosperity, naturally speaking, within ten years has been in the South. The South is no longer industrially a backdoor, no longer a terra incognita. With one exception, the finest developments of iron ore are in the South, and the largest body of hardwood timber is in the South. One State in the South has more coal than Pennsylvania and Ohio combined. One State in the South is to-day exceeding Pennsylvania in the production of oil; one Southern State is the second coke producer, and it ranks third in the production of coal. There is more water-power in one State in the South than there is in the whole of New England. In her ability to manufacture cheap textiles, she has no competitor. In every branch of natural mercantile supremacy she is easily the first.

The race of trade and of civilization is to-day inexorable, and the cheapest and best will win in the industrial warfare. The West is teeming with population. It is largely agricultural in its nature. The South, unlike the West, affords a varied field for agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing development. The North, with the quick intuition of trade, understands this, and to-day it is concerned in the South,

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