Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-09-11
Conservative Gathering in Winchester.


On Monday of last week large and enthu-
siastic meeting Of the citizens of Frederick
county, was held at the Courthouse in
Winchester. JOSEPH II. SHERRARD Esq,
presided at this meeting, and Messrs. Hunter
of the Times and Pritch4rd of the Neps
acted as Secretaries. The following resoIu-
tions were unanimously adopted:-
WHEREAs, This meeting concurs in the opinion
of the National Executive uittee. that the time
has arrived when it becomes the duty of the Southern
people, through PRIMARY meetings, to give express
patriotic and Statesmen ike policy of A DREW
!onSsoS, and to vindicate themselves from the
be it 'tAA's'' 0i lOe'' therefore,
:, ResCEUed lat. That the Southern States owe to
President johnson their siucere and hearty thanks
for his steadtast, manly and earnest advocacy OF
their RICH: to equality the Onion and the adninis
tration OF the and for his strt resist
ance to the many deadly attempts which the leaders
of The Ra"ical majority in the present Congress
have made, and are making to .Indermlnc and
subvert the uest features of tue Con the
u tied Statcs.
ResOlprd I'd. That these Radical leaders. in exon.
sing and Justitviug their unjust and runuus
innovations on the Government, by chArgeiu.y thai
the people of the Southern Sta,es are hSnocEitica
III their acceptance OF, at. d acquiesccnce ill., the
results of the late contest, and reaty to seize
any opportunity to plunge the county aguin into
the horrors OI civil war, guilty of a malignant
Islander, so utterly without foundation that here
among our own people, it excites feelings but
surprise and contempt.
ReSoiUtd Sd. That we congratulate the country
upon the harmony which miner dis tin guisled
the action OF the Philadelphia Convention in its
great object of sustaining tie wise nd cuuscryOtye
policy OF the President-and to that eud uniting all
the friends of constitutional Government in ,,p-
position to the wild nd oulcy
OF the Radical leaders of the present Congress; ana
cOrdaHy endorse the conduct ofour representatives
IN the Convention in contributing their aid TO the
attainment Of that onjcct
RssOtoed 4th That We congratulate all lovers of
peace, order nd good government upon the pros
Pect oil speedy restora tion of the Government TO
ITS Purer and better day and to the and abid
ing peace and prosperity which, under the blessing
OF a benign Providence, must be it's results.
The meeting was addressed by Messrs.
Sherrard, Douglas, Parker, Snowden, Boteler
and Hunter. From the. Times we copy the
following notices of the speeches of the latter
gentlemen -
ALEXANDER r. BoTELER.
The Hon. Alexander R. Boteler, formerly
representative from this district in both the
U. States and Confederate Congress, was
then handsomely introduced by MIR Sherrard.
ana received by rLe people With enthusiastic
welcome Col. Buteler, who was always a
tav0rite orator, aroused recollections of the
good old political days. In his happy intro
ductiOn, he alluded feelinglv to the long and
eventtul interval that had elapsed since he
had addressed them last. Mr. Botelers or
nate OratOry is too well known to need our
endorsement. He is one of those happv
speakers who ornaments the truths he teaches,
US the gardener does his garden with flowers
With pencil poised between our fingers, we
awaited his utterance, for we knew that our
absent readers would be glad to hear from
their old tuvOrte orator III that Unsatisfactory
way Eagerly we followed him through has
address with its humor, pathos, and its beau
titul and eloquent flights. When he had
finished we consulted our notes, and found
that our pencil had stopped in the middle of
the first sentence, as II conscious Ut its ina
bllty to do justice to such oratory Those
that heard HIM will not forget it; those who
did not, will, and we'll may regret their alb
sence The speaker was frequently interrupted
by earnest applause, and when he concluded
was complimented with enthusiastic cheers.
While we do not attempt to reproduce the
solid parts of Col. Boteler's speech, we re-
member many of his pleasant flights which
we could not do justice to. Iu describing
those now III power, especially in West Va,
he alluded to the very small material required
to make great men now days, but sand that,
to those who remembered the leaders Of other
times, these modern men appeared in all their
dwarfsh insigni6cance, for ''pigmies. though
perched on Alps are pigmies still" lie
sketched, photographed and engraved Ste
vens, Wade and Sumner, with such vivid lines
that the crowd will not soon forget the por
traits. All the people were convulscd with
the irresistible and amusing satire Poor
FOrney--Dead Duck-re received burial
obituary worthy OF his despicablc character
Our people were content TO let him Gle and
be hidden away, and not to bring his carcass
here in these cholera times We laugh now
when we think of Bolts, in the hands of Mr..
Boteler, being dissected for the horse disease.
which was now affecting some OF our people.
Bolts had killed every party he ever belong
ed to, but the most valuable service he had
ever done would be to put to oeath the party
he now acted with. He paid his bitter respects
to the accidental, incidental occidental State
of West Va, so called" aud to the Radical
Amelekites VIII" hold the sceptre there
ANDREW HUNTER, ESQ.
After repeated calls presented himself and
was received by the crowd with hearty cheers
lie came to Winchester to attend Court
and did not know OF the meeting until he
reached here.
The war and West Virginia persecution
had knocked all the humor out Of him. and
those who expected anything OF his old style
would be disappointed.
He had always obeyed the Constitution of
our toretathers and was anxious and ready to
strike hands with the good men of the coun-
try, everywhere IN the great battle with its
Radical enemies, who were seeking openly
and covertIy to destroy it and the Liberties Of
the people.
A Convention assembled in PHILADELPHIA
in 1877, to form Union of States upon the
basis OF their equality, granting certain pow
ers to the General Government aud retaining
all powers not specially granted, to Them
selves. The Convention in the same city last
month, songit to restore the ancient land
marks, and bring back the Southern people