THE TWO SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT PROPOSED FOR THE REBEL STATES. SPEECH OF EDWARD L. AT THE TOWN HOUSE, MILTON, OCTOBER 31, 1868. "This is not the liberty which we can hope, that no grievance ever should arise in the commonwealth: that let BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER, PRINTERS, 79 MILK STREET, (COR. FEDERAL.) 1868. MILTON, 20th November, 1868. EDWARD L. PIERCE, Esq., Milton : Dear Sir,-The undersigned, citizens of Milton, beg to tender you their sincere thanks for your able and instructive address on the issues of the presidential campaign, recently delivered at the Town House; and in accordance with the general desire, request a copy of the same for publication. Yours respectfully, HENRY S. RUSSELL. J. M. FORBES. JAMES M. ROBBINS. JAMES B. THAYER. JOSEPH M. CHURCHILL. ROBERT H. BUCK. MILTON, 21st November, 1868. GENTLEMEN:-I thank you for the kind terms of your note of the 20th inst., and take pleasure in complying with your request. Yours truly, EDWARD L. PIERCE. To Messrs. HENRY S. RUSSELL, J. M. FORBES, JAMES M. ROBBINS, JAMES B. THAYER, JOSEPH M. CHURCHILL, and ROBERT H. BUCK. SPEECH. Fellow citizens, my neighbors and friends. Had Abraham Lincoln lived to complete his second official term, far different would have been the political condition of the American people from what it is to-day. He commanded the confidence as well of those who had striven to destroy the government as of those who had striven to preserve it. Magnanimous and humane, he would, beyond all other men, have healed the wounds of civil war. But steadfast as the granite of your hills, he would have stood faithfully by the loyal people of the South, of whatever race or past condition. His influence, his great name, his official power, would have been employed to rebuild society in all the rebel territory upon the solid masonry of justice and freedom. The prodigal sons would have returned, sad and repentant, to the old family mansion,-the latch-string still out,-and they and their loyal brethren, forgiving, would have joined in repairing the rents which the war had made. The two races would have come into kindly and co-operative relations. The Southern people, weary with war and politics, would have concentrated their energies on the reparation of their broken fortunes. They would have devoted themselves to industrial pursuits, to the culture of the great staples in larger abundance. Northern capital would have poured into the South, stimulating enterprise and quickening industry. New lines of railroad would have been built, and existing lines pressed on to new districts. As free society tends to a various development, and not like slave society to uniformity, agricultural labor would have thriven as never before, while mechanical, manufacturing and commercial enterprise would have sprung into vigorous life. Manufactories would have risen on streams whose waters had never before ministered to the comfort and progress of man. Ten thousand forges and mills would have been creating untold wealth where now is the silence of the undisturbed forest. The wilderness and solitary place would have been glad and the desert have rejoiced and blossomed as the rose. The wharves of seaboard cities would have been covered with merchandise, departing and arriving. As rights of person and property were respected by public opinion and enforced by law, confidence would have become established; and with this confidence, which is to commercial life what the blood is to the body, would have come ready loans, inflowing capital, and a steady immigration. This new and assured prosperity at the Souththis recovery of a disabled member--would have brought health again to the whole country. The honor of the nation and its ability to pay its debts, would have been unquestioned. With a vast production, as yet without a parallel in our history, taxation as well by customs as by internal duties, would have been no longer burdensome. Increased exports would have turned the balance of trade in our favor. The currency would have appreciated to par with gold, putting mercantile life on a surer footing, and reducing the cost of the necessaries of life, to the great relief of laboring and salaried men. With the national credit thus established at home and abroad, the national bonds would have been funded at a lower rate of interest; and thus a controversy would have been impossible which has imperilled our credit, if not our reputation, for national morality. This industrial regeneration would have modified political antagonisms. There might have been discussion, even earnest discussion, but there would have been none of the heated strife which we now witness. There would have come an era of good feeling, such as was witnessed at the inauguration of the government; such as followed the last war with Great Britain. The good President would have been offered a third term, but, like Washington before him, he would have declined it; and he would have gone back to the home at Springfield that he loved, followed by the benedictions of his countrymen. The people, by a universal instinct, would have turned for his successor to General Grant, who had earned their gratitude and confidence in the field as Lincoln had earned them in the cabinet. He would |