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 Georgt Washington Flowers 
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INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 or J£r 
 
 GOVERNOR HENRY W. ALLEN, 
 
 TO THK 
 
 LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 Delivered at Shreveport Jan. 25, 1864. 
 
 Gentlemen of the General Assembly, and Fellow Citizens — Having 
 been called to the Executive chair by the almost unanimous voice of 
 the State, I now enter upon the duties- of that office with the proud 
 satisfaction that I have the confidence of the citizens of Louisiana. 
 That confidence, I trust, has not been misplaced, for it shall be the 
 sole object of my life to serve the State faithfully, honestly, and 
 '. Zealously. 
 
 Without any solicitation whatever on my part, I have been elected 
 -. to the highest honor within the gift of the people. If I were 
 ambitious, the measure of my ambition is full. To be called to the 
 helm in these stormy times, to pilot the Ship of State, (I trust to a 
 port of safety,) is indeed honor enough for any man. I would, 
 • therefore be recreant to every principle of honor, of manliness and of 
 patriotism, if I permitted any thing but a high sense of conscientious 
 du'y to govern me in the administration of the affairs of State. I 
 shall not falter in the discharge of the duties assigned me by the 
 constitution, but whenever the good of the people require it, and I 
 have the power, I shall take all responsibilities, aud trust to you and 
 your constituent a to support me. 
 
 My distinguished predecessor this day leaves the Executive chair, 
 
 -^and returns to private life I fully appreciate the trials and troubles 
 
 x through which he has been called to pass. I honor his spotless 
 
 integrity and his patriotic heart. May long life and happiness attend 
 
 him, for he has been to the State a faithful servant 
 
 The people having called me from the camp to assume the robes of 
 civil office — come we;. I, come woe — I am prepared to do my dut.. 
 For nearly three years we have battled with a cruel and vindictive foe. 
 We have suffered many losses, and gained many victories. Tho 
 spirit of our people is still unbroken. The fires of patriotism still 
 blaze as brightly on hill-top and on mountain, as when this great 
 revolution began. Many portions of our fair St;.te have been overrun 
 by the enemy, man}- houses and homes have been burned and 
 destroyed — many brave men have died in defence of our soil. Age 
 and innocence have alike been murdered, and the widow and orphau 
 have been brought to the door of starvation. The enemy, glutted 
 with murder, rapine and plunder, seem to ha\'e sickened at their own 
 outrages, and are now offering terms of peace; a species of mock 
 pardon. Dut what terms of peace docs the bloody Moloch nt 
 Washington suggest to his Congress ? 
 
 1st. You must give up all your negroes and make them your 
 equals. 
 
 The constitution of the United States guarantees property in your 
 slaves — for Washington and Madison, aud Jefferson, were all slave* 
 holders under that constitution. Hut Lincoln's proclamation overriden 
 all constitutional and judicial barriers, and aims a death blow at your 
 dearest right*. 
 
 2d. You must swear not only to support the Federal constitution, 
 but all the nefarious acts of th« Buck Republican party, vd tb» 
 
 W*' 
 
mutational proclamations of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 •'•■'I ^ oa must, if required, hunt < 1 . . \t 1 1 \.mr brother nnd toot 
 
 r bind them hood tod foot, and deliver them ir> to death. 
 
 father who baa sons in the Confederate army*, if rdered to 
 
 fofaweai the land of his birth or adoption, and aid in the assassination 
 
 of hi> own oftspriog, 
 
 'lip' fiend of hell in all his malice never eODCeiyed loch unnatural 
 and infernal wickedm n I 
 
 to whom 7 Peace to you whose brothers have 
 
 bet d tlaii — whose lands have been despoiled— whose homes biv< I 
 
 bum.,) — whom wives and whose danghten bave been basely iosulted! 
 
 I - ' : ■ of the mnrderer with bloody hands reeking from his 
 
 •u>n. who bow proposes terms nf amity to the brother of hi* 
 
 bl Uog victim .' "lis the incendinrv outlaw who returns from 
 
 bamiog your booses sod d< ipoiling your lands ! 'Tis the black hearted 
 villian wlio has insulted yonr wives and daughters, and who now asks 
 U) take a ,m:i( sroond his loathsome fireside and bask ill the smiles 
 of bis own licentiousness I Forbid it. Almighty Gud I Let there be 
 no peace between us rinfil we are free forever from thisaccuised race! 
 I- i 'i sa to be pnrobased at the price of reoonstruotion ? 
 
 Oh, think not ol reoonstruotion. Reoonstruofion means subjugation, 
 ruin and death. The martyrs of our holy oanse — those heroic men 
 
 who abed their blood fur us at Manassas, at Shiloh, at Bharpsburg, and 
 
 a hundred othei battle fields, would rise in s Jenm procession from the 
 chambers of the dead and rebuke this 00 1 oly alliance. A gallant 
 young Looisiaoian was drying on the field of Shiloh ; as I passed him, 
 he called me to his Bide, said he : " My Colonel, 1 am dyiog. If you 
 
 should live to gel back to Louisiana, tell m \ sged father thai I died for 
 
 mj country, and oh, tell him to fight this battle out — to lose mi: roes 
 and lands and life itself, but never, never l'o back to tin- old Union." 
 Those word.- arff ^till ringing in my <*ars, and I tell them toy 00 to day : 
 " Lu^e negroes, lose hods, lose every thing, lose life itself/' but never 
 think ot reconstruction. There is a sea of blood between us, we 
 cannot pass that sea Let OS rather add thereto a wall of living tire, 
 nnd a gulf, deep and dark of eternal h-te. 1 speak to-day by authority, 
 1 speak as the Governor of the State of Louisiana, and I wish it known 
 at Washington and elsewhere, that rather than reconstruct this 
 srhraent snd go bsok to the Union, on any terms whatever, the 
 people of Louisiaoa will, in convention assembled, without a dissecting 
 roice', cede the State to any tiurnpean power, (live as the guillotine 
 ■•r Botany Bay, the knout, or Siberia, the bow string or the Bosphorus, 
 nil her than snffer the brutal ontragos of Yankee subjugation. 1 speak 
 
 til day not only lor the loyal citizens of Louisiana who have stood by 
 the State in all her trials, but in behalf of the misguided individuals 
 
 trim have been compelled tn take the oath ot sllegisnce to the 
 I rlcrn I Government. In their hearts they are true to us, sod are 
 piaviii'j daily tor the triumph of our arms. They have felt the very 
 
 fciuls, and know full well the curse of r< nstruction. I 
 
 ► peak by authority, for they write me daily, that tiny would rather, by 
 ten thousand tunes, bp the subjects ot the Kiuperor of France, than 
 • hi Muahaiii Lincoln. If God in llin inscrutable 1'rovidence, 
 
 should permit the eneiiiy to ov.rwl (hu us, then Ictus retire to our 
 mountains and onr caves, nnd tl> re lei os swear by the blood of our 
 murdered fathers and brother* — by the eufreringsand the insults of 
 
 our mothers, wi\-s. and sisters, that we will issue forth and hunt the 
 enemy, as we hunt the wild beast of the forest. Oh ! frive us 
 honorable graves by far, in preference to base servitude, to chains and 
 
 .slavery. 
 
"Ay el better be 
 Where the ensanguined Spartans still are free, 
 In their pr.uiJ charnel of Thermopylae." 
 
 The despot who now sits upon the Federal throne, is doubtless 
 dreaming of the axe and halter — of the rack and dungeon — where- 
 withal to wreak his vengeance on his supposed rebellious subjects. So 
 once, 
 
 "At midnight in his guarded tent, 
 The Turk was dreaming of the hour 
 When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent, 
 Should tremble at his power." 
 
 Morning came — Marco Bozarris was there. The Turk it was that 
 died, aud Greece was free. Our Bozarris will yet live to see the proud 
 oppressor humbled in the dust. The history of the world does not 
 show a solitary instance wherein six millions of brave people, deter- 
 mined to be free, were ever conquered. The wars of Scotland began 
 by Sir William Wallace and the Bruce, were carried on for a century 
 against the power of England, and would have been continued to ihis 
 day by the brave Scots, but Scotland's King became Sovereign of the 
 Realm. The history of the Netherlands aud the Low Countries is full 
 of interest — full of encouragement to every patriot's heart. The 
 militia, a mere mob, badly officered, and poorly armed and equipped, 
 fought the armies of Spain, then the " harnessed chivalry" of Europe, 
 for years and years, one generation taking up the war where the other 
 had left it, until the Dutch Republic finally triumphed But the 
 history of the American Revolution claims our attention more than any 
 other. We have as yet fought but three; our fathers fought for seveu 
 long years. At one time all their ports were more closely blockaded 
 than ours — Boston and New York and Philadelphia — Baltimore, 
 Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah, were all in the hands of the British, 
 and remained in their possession for years. After a most disastrous 
 campaign, Gen. Washington crossed the Delaware with only three 
 thousand weary-worn soldiers. He had no army stores, no parks of 
 artillery, no arsenals, no founderies— still he did not despair. He 
 trusted in God and fought the British, and at Yorktown gained our 
 independence. Should you be despondent when you have an army of 
 three hundred thousand men in the field, commanded by such generals 
 as Lee, Beauregard and Johnston ? After all our wars aud sieges and 
 buttle* — aft r disease and death have done their work, we still have in 
 thin Confederacy, between the ages of fifteen and fifty, 700,OOQ men. 
 Tin- two States of Georgia and Alabama alone cau easily furnish the 
 entire Confederacy, east of the Mississippi River, with corn. South 
 Carolina furnishes the rice and Florida the beef. Who talks then of 
 despair? who ie desponding 7 Lei the croaker go to his wife, if foe 
 has one. and tie himself to her aprou strings, and nurse the children 
 the rest of his days ! Providen -c has smiled upon the land every wh 
 and blessed as w.th bread in abundance, den. Marion lived upon 
 hard fare — Gen Lee does the same; he lives on the same fare with the 
 humblest soldier. But they all have enough. The heart must be 
 ungrateful indeed, that murmurs now, when we have carried on this 
 great struggle for three yean imd still there is plenty in the (and. 
 
 Our people, it is true, bare suffered much, hit they bear their lot 
 
 with patriotic fortitude. Jfes, '>ur people have suffered — how m>. 
 the Almighty Ruler of the U trireme only knows. The world wi.i 
 never know. In the country parishes, black desolation i- ftued m the 
 trail ef the despotW'. Farm houses have 1 nefcrtpp 
 
 413376 
 
m* furniture — barns and fence* destroyed, the implenmts of hasbandry 
 have been burnt, and the very cloth of the poor widow has been cut 
 the loon bv thfl oroVr of Yankee Generals. In our cities it lias 
 been won Boast Butler came t" New Orleans a poor New 
 
 England bankrupt, with empty pocki ta and a lie npon hi< coward lips. 
 II-' left that devoted city with the maledictions of all, for he basely 
 insulted the women and robbed the men. The untold millions of 
 
 wealth that this Bessl Stole 10 New Orleans are only known to himself 
 and his robber brother. 
 
 Benjamin F Butler, of Massachusetts, T arraign von to-day at the 
 
 bar of the civilized w.>rld. You told the people of New Orleans, upon 
 y<'iir arrival there, that none should be compelled to take the oath of 
 allegiance to the Federal Government, but that it was a privilege to bo 
 Sought after by the citizens, lint just so BOOO as you had them in 
 
 your power, you required every man am) woman in the city to eomo 
 forward and take that oath. Many left, and many stayed and registered 
 themselves as enemies. Then began by your orders the most outrageous 
 promiscuous plundering that was ever witnessed on this continent. It 
 was indeed the saturnalia of thieves All were robbed who came under 
 the ban of yOUf displeasure. A very respectable merchant of that 
 city, a non-combatant, finding that ho. like all his friends and neighbors, 
 
 Would be robbed, sold his silver plate, a large and valuable set, to a 
 widow lady to whom he was indebted. This lady put the plate on 
 
 board a Danish ship, and took bills of lading for same. You beard of 
 it. sent armed soldiery, took the ship, broke open the hatches, and 
 
 ■eiied the plate. Not satisfied with that, you sent this merchant to 
 Ship Island, and kept him there, t hard labor for months, until Gen. 
 Banks released him. You arrested another merchant, and demanded 
 his plate — he informed you hd had sent it off. Your reply was, "the 
 plate or Ship Island." Finding that you could n< t L'et the plate, you 
 released him npon his paying you a large amount of money, which 
 
 money you pocketed. These are facts sworn to and subscribed in my 
 office, and I record them here to show to the civilized world how the 
 people of Louisiana have been treated by one of the Satraps of 
 Abraham Lincoln. Every Sabbath morning, the thieves met at 
 
 the don of the Besst, and the Stealings of the past week were 
 divided out. To the j:i kals he gave the spoons and trinkets, 
 but reserved to himself the linn's share, the coin, the plate and the 
 jewels. A large portion of the moveable wealth of the city of New 
 
 Orleans and lower Louisiana, has been transferred to the pockets of 
 this blear-eyed, incarnate devil — a great part of which he put into 
 foreign exohange and sent to Europe ; and now he is by far the richest 
 man on the continent. He can loan money to the Rotbohilds, and buy 
 out the wealthiest citizen of Now York. Cicero has given the name 
 of Verres immortal infamy, and that of Butler is now known through- 
 out the civtiised World BS a synonym for crime, cowardice and brutality. 
 
 When the Southern student shall in future ages study the olassics, as 
 he reads thai beautiful oration of Cicero against Verres, he will 
 involuntary pause, and for the Sicilian robber, will read, Butler, tl 6 
 Beast ! *• 1 as*, now, Verres, what hast thou to say against thj 3 
 ehsi I ask now, Butler the Beast, what hast thou to say against 
 
 thy «lark and damning crimes? At the dead hour of night, icon the 
 false accusation of a negro woman, you dragged from a sick bed, an 
 I man, one of the most respectable citizens of New Orleans, and 
 thrust him into a cold and miserable cell. He died of your treatment. 
 
 His wife, an amiable, well bred and lovely woman, went to you, and 
 up on her knees begged for her husband. Yon held a loaded pistol to 
 the weeping face of that lady, and drove her from your bloated presence 
 with the -mist vulgar and obscene oaths. With the fiendish heart of 
 the hyen you hire open the t«ml of Gen. Albert Sidn«v Johnson 
 
and robbed th? grave of thnt gallant soldier. Yon may nfrrr fei 1 rh« 
 halter draw in this world. You may live to old age, and possibly dio 
 in your bed, with your stolen propei ty around you. But a day will 
 conic, tlie " dies irce" will come, when you shall rneit face ti> face the 
 ■women you have brutally insulted, ami ih'.' n on you have robbed ami 
 murdered, at the bar of an avenging God ! Beware the fate of Verres, 
 he died a felon's death Mark Anthony demanded a portion of his 
 ill-gotten enins, he refused and was slain. When lead to death he 
 begged for that mercy he had so often denied to others. The spirits 
 of your murdered victims say, beware! 'I he living friends of the 
 dead say, beware! "The patient search and vigil long" will find you 
 out. and drag you from your hiding place. Your coat of mail will nut 
 Bave you, fur your hour will eoiile at last. 
 
 There is in the Vatican at Rome, an extraordinary painting, by one 
 of the old masters. It is called the " Denl reproving Sin." The 
 gnat aitist has by prophetic, pencil, portrayed the exact features of 
 Benjamin F. Butler. As statues wil 1 . no doubt, he erected to him in 
 all the Federal cities, I suggest that the holy Father, Pius the Ninth, 
 be urg< ntly solicited to send this painting to the city of New Orleans, 
 for the present and all future ages to behold with horror and disgust. 
 
 In the small city of Baton Itouge, the i nvmy took special delight in 
 destroying mt only public, but private property. Not satisfied with 
 burning the State House, with its valuable library, they took a 
 malicious pleasure in robbing nearly every private residence in the 
 place. They carried away a* part of their " warlike \ tr>yphie* ," fifty 
 private pianos. The wardrobes of ladies were broken open and searched 
 by Yankee commissioned officers, ami their silk dresses were taken by 
 these same officers and sent to their own families in Yankee land. 
 
 The Provost Marshal at Baton Rouge, an officer thought by .some of 
 our people to be a gentleman, and treated as such, was the foremost 
 man, the leader, in this paltry theft. When an officer under orders 
 from his General drives off a gang of negroes, he can perhaps bo 
 excused, for he s obeying orders. But when a Federal officer with a 
 commission in his pocket, robs defenceless widows of their pianos, and 
 steals their silk dresses, what can you think of such a nation. They 
 are robbers all. In Point Coupee, they deliberately fired their cannon 
 upon the Parish church while the people were engaged in worship j 
 and in Florida they tore the sacred emblems of the Saviour from the 
 altar of the Living God, and with unh -ly hands prostituted them in 
 tin ir filthy camps. If all the rich household furniture, and jewels, and 
 plate, and coin, that Federal officers have stolon foom the people of this 
 Confederacy were heaped into one vast pile, it Would form a huge 
 monument of shame at which the civilized and christian world would 
 stand aghast '. Yet, no Federal officer has ever heeii punished for 
 
 these robberies ; on the contrary, all have been promoted The Beast, 
 
 and Ncal Dow, and Milroy, and Hunter, with a host of lesser scoundrels, 
 like Dudley and Killhorn. still go unwhipped of ju>tice. The jewels 
 which they have torn from the persons of the most respectable holies 
 in the country, they now offer for sale in th< pub ic in ark i K The 
 army and the navy flob — Commanding Generals and Com mod orefl steal. 
 Some fancy a lik* 1 v negro pirl, others prefer a carriage and hoi 
 while a third will take your piano or your wife's >ilk dressCB. 'I here 
 IS a wild hunt for plunder, a mania for stealing, from the Major 
 General down to the humblest pr ; v;ite in the ranks And all this is 
 done in the nineteenth century, and countenanced, yea, applauded, by 
 the people who rend the Bible and claim to be christians ! 
 
 *v\ hen Warren Hastings returned to England, with his skirts dripping 
 with Indian blood, ami his pockets filled with Indian gold, In Was met 
 by the eloquent rebuke of Byrkr and Sheridan, and a host of m hie 
 Rritnm He wa« *tt*\$t\+<%£ jp{jy) fc^a/jj* enuntry. and impeaehH 
 
fur high crimes Mid misdemeanors. In eloquent, burning, and indig- 
 ii;mt language, be w I denounced an the enemy of mankind. There is 
 no Barke, no Sheridan in the Federal Congress. Bat the robber who 
 returns front the Sooth with ■ hundred ©old blooded murders upon his 
 soul, and millions of stolen property in his possession, is honored aud 
 promoted and feted, and bespattered with fulsome praise. 
 
 Bui let us turn from these disgusting soenes to more pleasant topics. 
 
 In ;i recent tour through mort of the parishes of the State, I found 
 the great wants of the country to be cotton cards and medicines. Our 
 fair country-women have been the truest patriots of the land. The 
 main object of theil lives seem to be to clothe their sons and brothers. 
 ]t ig ;i pleasing sight to visit the farm-house-* of the State in these 
 warlike times. Sou will find the mother and her daughters seated 
 around the fire side, pljing the loom, the spindle and the needle — all 
 busiK engaged in making clothing for their soldier boys. Heaven will 
 smile upon these noble women, and a grateful country will ever hold 
 them the doare*^ treasure on earth. I shall in due time recommend to 
 you, that you enact. ■ law, piecing in the hands of ea-h female of this 
 State, shove the age of eighteen, a pair of cotton cards, free of cost 
 and charg 
 
 1 shall further recommend to yon tbe passage, of a bill for the 
 purpose of supplying the people of the State with medicines. In many 
 portions of tbe country, calomel, opium, aud quinine cannot be had. 
 The people mu-t have them ; and 1 shall recommend that the Executive 
 be empowered to send competent and trustworthy agents to purchase 
 a supply of these accessary articles for the people of the State. I 
 propose, when purchased, that they be distributed among the practising 
 physicians at cost and charges, requiring them by bond, to administer 
 the medicines to their patients at the same prices. With a plenty of 
 cot on cards we can clothe our soldiers in the field, and with a plenty 
 of medicinef*, we can heal our sick at home — and backed by a patriotic 
 people, wv will light the enemy for forty years to come. When was 
 there ever seen, since the world began, so much patriotism exhibited 
 as vmi find among the ladies of New Orleans. They have been 
 imprisoned, robbed and insulted. Like the chosen people of God who 
 mi by the rivers of Babylon, they are now weeping in their captivity, 
 and looking with anxious hearts for the coining of our armies, and the 
 triumph of our cause. Many of our noble women, hearing of the 
 sufferings and infults of tbeir sisters in the city, have tied tbe approach 
 of the enemy, and now with their tender children are living in 
 wretched hovels, battling the discomforts of life and the hardships of 
 war with hearts of Spartan mothers. They shall see their homes again, 
 and 
 
 "The baby that's sleeping 
 While its mother is weeping," 
 
 shall live to be the joy of its mother's heart. Oh, Mothers of 
 Louisiana, God Almighty bless you in this your hoar of trial ! Kiss 
 ymir gentle babes and send your sons to battle. Your prayers have 
 pierced the clouds — they have ascended to the skies, and our Heavenly 
 Father will, in his own good time, auswer your petitions. We are told 
 in the Sacred Scriptures that Miriam once stood upon the Red Sea 
 banks and clapped her hands for joy, for the hosts of Pharaoh were 
 destroyed — " the horse and the rider were thrown into the sea." Yes, 
 ladies of Louisiana, you too shall clap yonr hands for joy, for we will 
 triumph. Tke vandal hosts of the destroyer will be hurled back to 
 theil homes, and peace, gentle peace, with healing in his 
 wings, will come aud bind up the broken hearts, and bless our distracted 
 land. 
 
 And now, Gentlemen of the Geueral Assembly, I cannot close this 
 
address without touching upon a very important subject — by far the. 
 most important that will come before you. You are the auditory nerve 
 of this State. What is spoken here is, or will be, heard in every 
 portion of the land. I therefore address the people of Louisiana 
 through you to-day. Would to God that all my fellow citizens were 
 here on this occasion. If a soldier deserts his flag, haves the army 
 without permission, and comes home to look after his wife and children, 
 do not you and I, and all the people, point the finger of scorn at him ? 
 A hue and cry is raised — the cavalry is sent out — he is arrested, court- 
 martialed, and punished as a deserter. Why? Because there is an 
 obligation resting upon him, to obey his commanding officer, stand by 
 his colors and fight the battles of his country. There is an obligation 
 equally as strong resting upon those who stay at home and enjoy the 
 comfort of life, to support the soldier's wife and children. You men 
 of wealth whom God has blessed in " basket and in store," open your 
 corn cribs and you meat houses, and send lor the soldier's wife and 
 childreu. Bid them come freely, without money aud without price, 
 and consider it not only a duty, but a privilege to aid them. Oh, you 
 have a fearful responsibility resting upon you. You have it now in 
 your power to do much good to \our country, for by feeding the 
 soldier's wives at home, you will keep the soldiers themselves in the 
 field. Most of the desertions that take place are caused by news from 
 home that the soldier's family is starving 
 
 Our wealthy men, generally have nobly done their duty. They 
 have given their sons cheertully, and their substance ficely, to the 
 Confederacy. They have opened their barns and store-houses to tho 
 poor and the needy, and are now, with generous hearts, doing all in 
 their power for our sacred cause. Noble Louisiauians, be not weary 
 in well doing. You will be embalmed in the affections of your couu- 
 tiymen, and the recipients of your kindness will ever bless you. 
 
 There are however, I am s..rry to say it, a few men in our midst, 
 who seem to take no interest whatever in this war. They send their 
 negroes to labor on the public works through compulsion, aud pay their 
 taxes grudgingly. They stay at home and hoard up their riches with 
 miserly care, and leave the soldiers to fight their battles in the field. 
 
 'J heir barns and their store houses are shut up to all except the 
 monied man, the speculator, who buys in large quantities, and then 
 grows fat upon the necessities of the poor. To these men I would say, 
 " the talent which you ha- e received, and digged and hid in the 
 earth shall be taken from you" If we fail, the robber will lay his 
 rough and heavy hands upon your lands and your slaves, and neither 
 you nor your children will ever enjoy them again. What are your 
 broad acies and your hundreds of slaves compared to the issues of the 
 great struggle now going on in this country. The lurid fires of war 
 are now blazing around you. The enemy is at your door, and you sit 
 still hugging to your bosoms the delusive hope that you will make 
 some terms with him, and save your property. If the enemy spared not 
 the slaves of good Uniou men, do you think he will spare yours? If 
 we fail your negroes will be driven off at the poiut of the bayonet, and 
 your lands will be parceled out amongst the hireling soldiery of 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 I, therefore, urgently appeal to every man in the State, not to 
 speculate in order that he may make more money, but to do all he 
 can for the wives and children of those who are lighting his battles. 
 I earnestly appeal to every man rich or poor, to aid in every possible 
 way ho can, the wife of the gallant soldier, who cannot remain at 
 home to take care of his property, or minister to the wants of his 
 family. ^ 
 
 It may well be asked in these troublous times, what will become of 
 the negro ? 
 
- statu ( ,v ■■ • - - n * ** been flxM b) the immutable l«ws 
 
 mkee at 1 - nol wish tochangi it even i 
 
 - ever en, u now, and ever w II be " the h«-i 
 
 1 1 N nd, N sw V- 1). 
 
 Illinois, and you will tind them everywhere p rforwini: the me 
 
 r when t tb< re Bhonld be found alive 
 
 • the enemy, they will have a hard time 
 
 will not be permitted to labor on the railroads, the 
 
 - the public works of any kind, for the Irish and the Dutch 
 
 will rise in mobs and drive them ulT. Yankee s< ciety will not i dueate 
 
 then for the bar, tin' In neh, or the pulpit. Yankee pride will not 
 
 tolerate their inter-marriage with the whites. Driven fr»»ra the social 
 
 circle and all the industrial pursuits of life, what will become "I" the 
 
 negro? Asa drivelling out-cast, he will become a mendicant 
 
 I ret 111.- doom will be the prison and the work-house 
 
 There are two kinds of abolitionist* in the United States — thepoliti. 
 
 nd tin 1 religious. The religious steal the negroes, and the politi- 
 
 , i mi i"i liabl 'i on in n hi, two-thin a 
 
 that have gone to the enemy, arc now in their graves. 
 
 y are daily deserting and retun ing to their old masters, sick and 
 
 : emaciated, and begging tint they may be permitted to die at 
 
 home in pence There was once iii the liver parUhea and the lower 
 
 >n of tin- State, the in. -t contented and happy race of laborers 
 
 i itli Wusic and the tuerry laagh were nightly 
 
 heard froru their comfortable quarters, for peace and plenty and quiet 
 
 d both master and servants. J>ut now desolation, want, disease 
 
 till the cabins of these once happy and contented laboreis. In an evil 
 
 hour ttie destroyer ca lie poisoned the ears and corrupted the 
 
 hearts of these people They have either been enticed away from 
 tlnir comfortable homes or driven ntl* by force of arms, and now upon 
 hard fare and harder work they can ouly dream <>t the blessings of the 
 
 old plantation, where the meat house and corn crib were always full 
 
 uml at their command. 
 
 The white inhabitant* of <>ur State have suffered much in this w.ir, 
 but 1 he black> have suffered far more I have seen many of these 
 unfortunate creatures who, at the ri.-k of their lives, have run off foin 
 
 enemy's encnmpiueuts. Tiny all give the most heart-rendering 
 ■couunt of their sufferings. Men, women and children arc crowded 
 
 ther in mis rable huts. No attention is paid to the sick, but 
 little medicine, and no nurses. Mothers die on the cold ground, with 
 
 their lite helpless children around them. In their own language, 
 " the i »'.'[ r was B< Idom sent for, and when he did come the sick ones 
 d," and when they died they were buried more like dog! 
 thm human being> ! What a commentary on Yankee philanthropy ! 
 They first Killed the negro to make him l'i\c, and then refuse him a 
 cbristia i burial ! ! 
 
 We will carry the institution of domestic slavery with us trium- 
 phantly through this war, and then it will rest on B firmer basis than 
 .and be administered better and more widely. This institution 
 
 Will triumph wilti OS, because it is right and just in the sight of 
 
 Almight) <"d That best of all books, the Bible, which ^ so much 
 
 iy the Abolitionists, from the begin ing to the end thereof, 
 
 rcry. The patriarchs were all slave-holder*, and bought 
 
 and Sold their Slaves then a- wed,, now* The same inspired men to 
 
 whom the Ten Commandments were delivered, and who stood in 
 
 the presence of the Great Jehovah, gave laws for the government of 
 
 r ; ■• Lincoln and his followers sa) that it is an awful 
 
 Mil to own a Blave, but that it is not only right but highly commendable 
 
 to bum a chur.h, rob the widow and the orphan, and shoot down 
 
 unoffending citizen- ! ! It it no harm to break open a Masouic Lodge 
 
and with sacrilegious hands steal and desecrate its regalia ! It is all 
 r.'ght and proper to devastate whole parishes, burn villages and barns 
 and storehouses, bombard cities without notice, and hang non-com- 
 batants; but oh ! it is a terrible crime to buy a negro, treat him well, 
 and let him work for you ! Shame, eternal burning shame upon such 
 loathsome hyprocrisy ! There ever has been, and there is now, the 
 kindest feeling existing between the master and his servants. Not- 
 withstanding a brutal and vindictive enemy has advised tb negro to 
 murder their masters, there have been no evidence of insurrection in 
 our midst — on the contrary there are hundreds of instances where the 
 ma; ' >ne to the war and left his wife and children in the 
 
 hands of his negroes, and well have tiny served, and guarded, and 
 protected them. 
 
 When the children of Israel went up out of Egypt to the promised 
 land, they took their servants with them. Master and servant hand in 
 hand togethei 3 and when safely over, they both alike 
 
 rejoioed at the destruction of their pursuer. The faithful historian 
 who shall in after times write the history of this war, will doubt 
 record many instances wherein the nogro Blave has been unfaithful to 
 his owner — but he will, on the other hand, devote many a bright | 
 to the deep fidelity and noble heroism of the servant in defence <>i the 
 rights and interests of his master, and that fa may close his 
 
 vol;; ing this important fact— that '■ ai the close of the 
 
 between the North and the South, master and servant 
 were found in the ranks, Bide by side, fighting bravely, shoulder to 
 shoulder, for the independence which thej have so gloriously achie> 
 and for the liberties which they now en 
 
 n to call the attention of the General Assembly 
 to the passage of Buch laws as I think the time demand and the 
 try require. Especially shall I call your atten- 
 tion to the unauthorized and illegal manner in which the '' !ui| .-. 
 mentAct I in this State. Officers rtJ feeclkiming to 
 
 to be officers ol , in making their illegal impri 
 
 have added insult to injury. This must 1 I 1 shall look 
 
 f alaw makingsnehoffeu id punish- 
 
 imprisonment in the State Pel I ' | xjpl □ usl 
 
 shall be ] r civil rights, [n thi connection, I am 
 
 happ ation of the conduct of Lt. < d. 
 
 K. 1 I 'tlieer of tl : :incnt, and of 
 
 ■ing officers have not only done 
 
 I'OCU 
 
 'lie civil and military authoi y have 
 
 bmitted irta of t ! 
 
 Buch 
 of a 
 grateful count i 
 
 i no ordinary occi 
 t I 
 
 ire the liherli 
 my in all ; 
 
 cent- i eounti; action. 
 
 every man '■ . 
 ry man w! 
 
 Be 
 
 ifo. 
 
* 1 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 IT **^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 *3