Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1865-12-16

/ i.
: 9 First. That tie Declaration Of IRdepen-
dence must be recognized as the law Of the
Ss lad, aud o7oIY man, alien anu native, white
andblaok, protected ii the inalienab ableand God
given rights of, life liberty, and the pursuit Of
happiness. Mr.. lincoln, IN that Emancipa-
ton Proclamation which stheproudest wreath
in the chapletof fame, not only gave freedom
to the slave, but declared that the Government
would maintain that freedom. Applause.1
We cannot abandon them and leave them de-
fenceless at the mercy of their former owners;
they must be protected in their rights Of per.
son and property, and these freemen musthave
the right to sue il courts ST Justice forall Just
claims, and to- testify,also, SO as to have secu
rity against outrage and wrong. i call them
freemen, not freedmen the last phrase might
have answered before their freedom was fully
established, but they should be regarded now
as freemen.of the Republic.
"Second. The amendments to their State
constitutions, which have been adopted by
many of their convcntionsBo reluctantly under
the pressure e dispatches from the President
and Secretary of State should be ratified by
majority of their people. We all know that
but small portion Of their voters participated
in tie election of, delegates to these convex
tions; and nearly all if not all of the conven-
tions have declared them in force without
ratification of the people. When this crisis
has PASSED can they not turn around and say
that these were adopted under durcss,,by del.
egates elected by afnegro vote, under Provis.
,ional Governors. and military authorities, and
never ratified by popular vote? And could
they not turn our own ant-Lecompton nrgu-
ment against us, and insist, as we did, that a
constitution not ratified by the people may
have legal effect but no moral effect whatever?
Third. The President has on all occasions
insisted Chat they should elect Congressman
who could take the oath prescribed by the act
Of 1862; butin defiance of this and insulting
to the President and the country, they hayc,
in largo majority of instances voted down
mercilessly Union men who could take the
oath, and elected those who boasted that they
could not, would not, and would feel disgracedi
if they could. Without mentioning names,
one gentlen1an elected in Alabama by q large
majority declared, in his address to the people
before the election &" that the iron pen of his
tory would record the emancipation act. as,t the
most motstrous deed of cruelty that ever daTk-s
ened the annals of any nation;" and another
one, who avowed that he gave all possible aid
and comfort to the rebellion, denounced the
Congress Of 1862 as guilty in cnacting such
an oath. The South is filled with mon who
can take the oath. It declares that g have
not voluntarily taken part in the rebellion,
Every conscriptin the Southern army can take
that oath, because, he was forced into the
ranks by the conscripton act, and every man
who stayed at home, and refused to accept a
civil or military office, could take that oath
But these were not the choice of the States
lately in rebellion.
y" Fodrth. While it must be expected that
a minority Of these States will cherish for
years, perhaps, their feelingsof disloyalty, the
country has a. right to expect that before their
members are admitted to share in the govern
mcnt of this country clear majority of the
people of each of these States should give ev-s
idence of their earnest and cheerful loyalty
not by such speeches as are so common, that
they submitted the issue to the arbitrament of
war--that they are willing to stand by and to
fight for the flag Of the country against all its
enemies, at.homc or abroad. Applausc.1 s(,
:" The danger now is in too much precipitA-
ton Let us rather ".make haste slowly
and we can then hope that the foundations of
our Government, when thus reconstructed on
the basis of indisputablc loyalty, will be as
eternal as the stars. [Applause,1 Tn Pressi-
dent johnson have unshaken confidence. -
cannot forget thatin the Senate, at the
opening Of the rebellion, he was the only
Il : 49,