The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1866-04-05
THE LOYALTY OF THE SOUTH AND THE

durihg the past twelve months than that indicated
by the heading of this article. We propose briefly
to discuss the question of Loyalty, its extent and
sincerity, and enumerate the classes in our midst
amongst whom this fealty to the Union may be
found. And in order to get at this subject IN Its
true meaning, We must govback to the melancholy
DAYS following the surrender of army remnants
tie beprimmed and battle-scarred veterans of four
wears of internecinc strife Then ii was that the
test of patriotism and manhood was to be met;
then, With the high hopes of an ardent cnthusias-
tic people crushed at one blow, and their earnest
efforts pronounced failure, was the sternest, Sc
Yerest trial to be encountered. The war, waged
relentlessly and with infuriated madness, had
brought nothing to our doors but sorrow, sac
rificc and ruin. The long-extended catalogue of
evils had been endured only to accomplish the
dearest hopes of a people who were intent upon
the preservation Of liberty, as asbequeathed from an
ancestry, whose record brought no blush to man.
tie the cheek of their descendants. To surrender
the armies shattered and torn by disease and bat
| tie, required on uncommon courage in those bravo
and trusted leaders; but for an entire peoples men,
] women and children, to surrender in an instant
the cherished hopes of long, weary years, required
an amount of moral courage seldom exactedln the
annals of history Yet, with astonishing atacrity'
thc Southern mind forcsaw their future condition,
and resolved to act without delay. Thus, IN less
than sninety days" after the surrender IN Virginia.
all over the South meetings had been held and
resolutions adopted looking to a restoration Oh the
Union. We we're told that we were not eonslderea
as cx-mcmbersy of the Republic but simply as
having forfeited the privileges of Satcs and when
the people were re- constructed by an oath Of al
lepiance to the United States, save the excepted
classes, then the machinery of State government
would be set in motion. Upon the faith OF these
declarations, action was promptly taken; and ere
the heat of summer passed, the majority of seeded
States had amended their constitutions, in all re-
spects conforming to the requirements OF the Fed
eral Executives. Early in the winter it was appa-
rent that there was large and influential party
in the North determined to use the OCCASION ior
party purposes, and make stronger demands anu
further reouirments of the South; and when Con-
press met the action of that body surprised no one
of sufficient intelligence to comprehend the stua-
ton of national aff,lirs. These demands we're met
as promptly rs hitherto, and after heaping enor-
nous weight upon our bruised shoulders, still more
was added to the load of degradation, debasement
and self-abnegation. Throughout all this severe
trial, how has the South acquitted herself! Not
inconsistent, we answer, with the proud record
made by her sons for fhfulness, courage and deVo-
/ ton il q cause they deemed holy. No unworthy
| fawning, sycophantic adulation of authority, or
1eeradinp action has characterized the conduct OF
6 Southern State; but with dignity, earnestness
and LOFTY patriotism, the authorized opponents OF
public opinion have executed diligently the trust
! confdea 10 them. And among the innumerablc
I charges brought before the American people to
prove our unworthiness and disloyalty, not sim
gle instance of State legislation has been Of sul
cient Importance to their purposes that the iana'i
cal majority in Congress should insist upon its re-
peal or modification as a stne qna non to our ao-
mission into the Union. Only exceptional IN
stances of revolt or outrage arc cited to prove that
disloyalty exists in the Southern mind. Now,
which is the State-the representatives OF the peo
ple in solemn conclaSe, or the single Individual
who sets at defiance the Law End its officers? I'm
uuestionably the former. If, then, there can be
no objection to our action States, and if oil tho
requirements of the Radical Congress so for have
been acceded to- in what consists to the dlsloyalty
of the South? Certainly the obscure and perhaps
uninformed citizen who comes in conflict with
military edicts, must not achieve SO much I'M
Eportancc thereby as to bring censure upon an en-
tire community for his individual conduct. He is
unworthy of such an exalted position as the rep
resentatiFe Of public sentiment, and his entlre
principles are at variance with the declared, avow
ed and recorded, views of his fellow-citizens, as
eyinccd most decidedly in legislative enactments.
| he is then, not only at enmity with the Govern
ment of The United States bat that Of the State
also. There can be no question as to'tre sincerl-
ty of the South, by States, in their allegiance to
the Union, and the blindest fanatic has ceased to
cayil ct Legislative action. Wedsmiss this branch
| of the subject, therefore, aud proceed toshow who
are the loyalists at the present time, and OF what
class is the. disloyal made up, for the most part
Where are the soldiers who laid down their
Esrms so reluctanty? What attitude do they oc-
cupv towards the Government and its agents
Beyond question, the earnest thinking majority OF
those heroic armies arc now quiet, peaceable 10y
alists. They have fully counted the cost of sub
mission, and reckoned, how dearly, the giving up
of cause for which they freely bled and danger
bra4eS But having once pledged their honor,
it is foul aspersion to- assert that they have not
adhered well and faithfully to-, that pledge. With
few exceptions, where impctuoas blood has trl-
umphed over discretion and judgment, the men
who followed LEE, JOHNSTON and BEAUnHeAnD are
winning bright and enduring lnprels by their pa
ticut endurance of manifold evils, by their silent
acquiescence in arbitrary measures, and by proud