The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1866-08-30
Allaersolr yyntsaiige'n'ter. 3.
Address TO the PEOPLE of the United States.

the National Convention, lately held in
Philadelphia, to the people of the United
States:
TO the People of tie United States:
Having met in convention at the city
of Philadelphia, in tho State OF Ponnsyi'
yania. this 18th day of August, 1855, az
ehe representatives Of the people OF all
sections. and all the States and Terrific
ries of the Union, to consult upon the
condition and the wants of our common
country, we address to you this declara-
ton of our principles and of political pur-
poses we seek to promote.
Since the meeting of the last National
Convention, in the year 1860, events have
occurred which have changed the charac-
ter of our internal politics and given the
United States new place among the ma
lions of the earth. Our Government mas
passed through the vicissitudes and the
nerils of civil war; q war which, though
mainly sectional in it's character, has new
ortheiess decided political differences that
from the very beginning of the Govern
rnent had threatened the unity of our ma
4ional existence, and has left its impress
deep and ineffaceable, upon all the inter
ests, sentiments and the destiny of the
Republic. While it has inflicted upon the
whole country severe losses in life and in
property, and has imposed burdens which
must weigh on it's resources for genera.
.tions to como, it has developed q degree OF
national courage in the presence OF na-
sional dangers, capacity for military Or
,Eanization and achievement, and devo-
'Eion on the part of the people to the form
of Government which they have ordained,
and to the principles of liberty which that
Government was designed to promote,
which must confirm the confidence OF the
nation in the perpetuity of its republican
institutions, and command the respect OF
fhe civilized world. Like ell great con-
tests which rouse the passions and test the
endurance of nations, this war has given
new scope to the ambition of political par
ties, and fresh impulse to plans of innova-
zion and reform. Amidst the chaos OF
conflicting sentiments, inseparable from
such an era, while the public heart is
,keenly alive to all tho passions that can
sway the public judgment and affect the
public actions; while the wounds of war
are still fresh and bleeding on either side,
and fears for the future take unjust pro-
portions from the memories and resent
:Inents of the past, it is difficult but an
Imperative duty which, on your behalf,
we who are here assembled have under
taken to perform. =
For the first time after six long years of
alienation and of conflict, we have come
together from every State and every Sec
tion Of our land as citizens of a common
country, under that flag, the symbol again
Of o common glory; to consult together
how best to cemont and porpetuate that
Union which is again the object OF our
common love, and thus secure the bles-
Sings of liberty to ourselves and our pos
serity.
In the first place, we invoke you to re-
member always and everywhere that the
war is ended, and the nation is again at
peace. The shock of contending arms no
fongor assails the shuddering heart of tho
Republic. The insurrection against the
supreme authority of the nation has beon
suppressed, and that authority has been
sgain acknowledged by word and act in
every State, and by evory citizen within
its Jurisdiction. We are no longer required
or permitted to regard or treat each other
as enemies. Not only have the acts of
war been discontinued, and the weapons
of war laid aside, but the state of war no
longer exists; and the sentiments, the
passions, the relations of war, have no
longer lawful or rightful place anywhere
throughout our broad domain. We are
again people of the United Statos-fellow-
citizens of one country, bound by the du-
ties and obligations Of common patriot
ism, and having neither rights nor inter
ests apart from common destiny. Tho
duties that devolve upon US now are again
the duties OF peace, and no longer the du-
lies of war. We have assembled hero to
take counsel concerning the interests of
peace; to decide how we may most wise-
" and effectively heal the wounds tho
war has made, and perfect and perpetu-
ate the benefits it has secured, and the
blessings which, under wise and benign
Providence, have sprung up in its fiery
track. This is the work, not of passion,
but of calm and sober judgment; not of
resentment for past offences, prolonged
beyond tho limits which justice and rea-
son prescribe, but of liberal statesman
ship. which tolerates what it cannot pre-
vent, and builds its plans and its hopes
for the future rather upon a community
of interest and ambition than upon dis
trust and the weapons of force. In the
next place, we call upon you to recognize,
IN their full significance, and to accept
with all their legitimate consequences,
the political results of the war just closed.
In two most important particulars, the
victory achieved by the National Govern
ment has been final and decisive. First,
it has established, beyond all further con-
troversy. and bv the highest of all human