The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1866-08-30

that can fall on offending States, IN the
losses, the sufforings, and the ehumiliations
of unsuccessful war.
But whatever may be the guilt or the
of the conscious authors Of
the insrrrection, candor aud common JUS
t;ce demand the concession that the great
mass of those who become involved in it's
acted upon what they be-
lieved to be their duty, in defence OF what
they had been taught to believe their
rights, or under compulsion, physical
and moral, which they were powerless 10
resist.
Nor can it be amiss to remember that,
terrible as have been the bereavements
and the losses Of this war, they have fall
len exclusively upon neither section, and
upon neither party that they have fallen
indeed with q far greater weight upon
those with whom the war began
That in the death of relatives and friends,
the dispersion of families, the disruption
of social systems and social ties; over
throw of Governments, of law, and of Or
der; the destruction of property, and of
forms, and modes, and means of industry;
the loss of political, commercial, and moral
influence, in every shape and form which
great calamities can assume, the States
and people which engaged in the war
against the Government of the United
States have suffered ten-fold more than
those who remained in allegiance to the
Constitution and laws.
These considerations may not, as they
certainly do not, justify the action Of tho
+Lo ;pourrapf Sfofaa. huf
or generous mind will refuse to them very
considerable weight in determining the
line of conduct which the Government OF
the United States should pursue towards
them. They accept, if not with alacrity,
certainly without sullen resentment, the
defeat and overthrow they have sustained.
They acknowledge and acquiesce in the
result. to themselves and the country,
which that defeat involves. They no
longer claim for any State the right to
secede from the Union. They no longer
assert for any State an allegiance para
mount to that which is due to the Gene.
raj Government They have accepted
the destruction of slavery, abolished it by
their State Constitutions, and concurred
with the States and people of the whole
Union in prohibiting it's existence forever
unon the soil or within the Jurisdiction of
the United States. They indicate and
eyince their purpose just 30 fast as may
be possible ard safe to adapt their do
mestic laws to the changed condition OF
their society, and to secure by the law
and it's tribunals equal and impartial JUS
tice to all classes of their inhabitants:
They admit the invalidity of all acts OF
resistance to the national authority, and
of all debts incurred in attempting its
overthrow. They avow their willingness
to share the burdens and discharge all
the duties and obligations whichrest upon
them in common with other States and
other sections Of the Union, and they re-
new, through their representatives in this
Convention, by all their public conductin
every way, and by the most solemn acts
by which States and societies can pledge
their faith, their engagement to bear true
faith and allegiance, through all time to
come. to the Constitution of the United
States, and to all laws that may be made
in pursuance thereof.
Fellow-countrymen, we call upon you.
in full reliance upon your Intelligence and
your patriotism, to accept with generous
and ungrudging confidence this full sur
render on the part of those lately in arms
against your authority, and to share with
them the honor and renown that await
those who bring back peace and concord
to jarring States.
The war just closed-with all Its sorrows
and disasters-has opened a new careor
of glory to the nation it has saved. 1t
has swept away the hostilities OF senti-
ment and of interest which were stand
ing menace to its peace. 1t has destroy
ed the institution of slavery-always o
a cause of sectional agitation and strife
and has opened to our country the way
to unity of interest, of principle and of
action, through all time to come. 1t has
developed in both sections o military ca
pacity and aptitude for achievements Of
war, both by sea and land, before un-
known even to ourselves, and destined to
exercise hereafter, under united councils,
an important influence upon the charac-
ter and destiny of tho continent and the
world And while it has thus revealed,
disciplined and compacted our power, it
has proved to US, beyond controversy or
doubt, by the course pursued towards
both contending sections by foreign pow
ers, that we must be the guardians of our
own independence, and that the princi-
Piles of republican freedom we represent
can find among the nations of the earth
no friends or defenders but ourselves.
We call upon you, therefore, by every considera-
ton of your own. dignity and safety, and in the
name of liberty throughout the world, to complete
the work of restoration and peace which the Pres
ident of the United States has SO well begun, and
which the policy adopted and the principles asser-
ted by the present Congress alone obstruct. Tho
| time is close at hand when members of new Con-
gress are to be elected. If that Congress shall