I would put him under one yoke only, and that is the yoke that the victors in that struggle bore when they went home and laid off their uniforms—the yoke of the law and the obligation always to obey it. [Cheers.] Upon that platform, without distinction between the victors and the vanquished, we enter together upon possibilities as a people that we cannot overestimate. I believe the Nation is lifting itself to a new life; that this flag shall float on unfamiliar seas, and that this coming prosperity will be equally shared by all our people. [Prolonged cheering.]
[LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, APRIL 17.]
As the presidential party crossed the Mississippi they were met on the Arkansas shore by Gov. James P. Eagle and wife, Judge John A. Williams, Mayor H. L. Fletcher, James Mitchell, Col. Logan H. Roots, Mrs. Judge Caldwell, Mrs. C. C. Waters, Mrs. Wm. G. Whipple, Mrs. W. C. Ratcliffe, Miss Jean Loughborough, and Miss Fannie Mitchell. Arriving at Little Rock, late in the afternoon, the President was welcomed by Hon. Josiah H. Shinn, R. A. Edgerton, Chas. C. Waters, B. D. Caldwell, W. A. Clark, H. F. Roberts, T. H. Jones, and the other members of the Committee of Reception. McPherson and Ord posts, G. A. R., in charge of Marshal O. M. Spellman, Lee Clough, and C. Altenberg, acted as escort to the President, accompanied by the McCarthy Light Guards. The parade was in charge of Grand Marshal Zeb Ward, Jr., assisted by Col. W. T. Kelley, Horace G. Allis, and Oscar Davis. The Lincoln Club, commanded by P. Raleigh and P. C. Dooley, participated in the reception. At the State House Governor Eagle formally welcomed the distinguished travellers.
President Harrison replied:
Governor Eagle and Fellow-citizens—No voice is large enough to compass this immense throng. But my heart is large enough to receive all the gladness and joy of your great welcome here to-day. [Applause.] I thank you one and all for your presence, for the kind words of greeting which have been spoken by your Governor, and for these kind faces turned to me. In all this I see a great fraternity; in all this I feel new impulses to a better discharge of every public and every private duty. I cannot but feel that in consequence of this brief contact with you to-day I shall carry away a better knowledge of your State, its resources, its capabilities, and of the generous warm-heartedness of its people. We have a country whose greatness this meeting evidences, for there are here assembled masses of independent men. The commonwealth rests upon the free suffrage of its citizens and their devotion to the Constitution, and the flag is the bulwark of its life. [Cheers.] We have agreed, I am sure, that we will do no more fighting among ourselves. [Cries of "Good! good!" and cheers.] I may say to you confidentially that Senator Jones and I agreed several years ago, after observing together the rifle practice at Fort Snelling, that shooting had been reduced to such accuracy that war was too dangerous for either of us to engage in it. [Laughter and cheers.] But, my friends, I cannot prolong this talk. Once already to-day in the dampness of this atmosphere I have attempted to speak, and therefore you will allow me to conclude by wishing for your State, for its Governor and all its public officers, for all its citizens without exception, high or humble, the blessing of social order, peace, and prosperity—the fruits of intelligence and piety. [Great cheering.]
[TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS, APRIL 17.]
Notwithstanding it was nearly midnight when the presidential train reached Texarkana, about 2,000 citizens were present. Foremost in the movement to give a fitting reception to the President were: George H. Langsdale, Robert Langsdale, Richard Brunazzi, and Edward Donnelly. Among other well-known citizens present were Lyman S. Roach, Commander of Dick Yates Post, G. A. R.; Ira A. Church, J. A. Mifflin, Wm. Rhinders, W. F. Loren, W. W. Shaw, Fred A. Church, J. P. Ashcraft, Wm. H. Bush, A. B. Matson, W. W. De Prato, T. P. McCalla, J. W. Hatcher, John McKenna, Peter Gable, John Mayher, Martin Foster, J. K. Langsdale, and F. L. Schuster.
The President spoke briefly and said: