Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-03-13
ELL ARP TO MR.. TAMMANY HALL.
M1LLEDGEv111E, Feby. 1866.
DEAR TAMMANY-

my unkle Billy, ''put your hand in mine,
honey, and kiss me-" We are WHIPPED at
last, old Tammany. We rebs are conuuerd,
subdued and sublugated, not by bayonets or
bullets, but by your friendly overtures, your
manly speeches. You and Sunny South Cox
and Company have captured US, taken us
! prisoners, and we are, now as docile as we
have been hostile. Dident 1 tell you that
we would meet you on half way grown !?
Dldent we stretch forth our arms tor sympa-
| ty, and wasent we about to turn away in de-
fance and despair for the want Of it?
| !" I'VE spred the mantle Of oJlivion over the
past. II yo~ cfMe South haze tie spirit to
accept are cfhte North hare tile Aea1i TO tc,.-
der you tie o6ises Of hin,7ness. We ,cW Aelo
| y0~ plant again the seed ,rh0se perfect hares,
foecers and fruits shall Le yours acih ours to
oMjoy."
Did Mr.. Cox say that, old Tammany, and
did you clap your hands and say 'ongkhore :"
" We are today a1raycd against the con-
tc"tton concc1ming tie Jtoch race, anil are
toohi"g JortO nd to the ,cIitc race far tie ,rel-
fire anil greatness Of our conmt,y" And
! dIdent yCu say that, too, old Tammany? :?
and dideut all hands jewbiee and exclaim
that's it, theIns 'em, that's the doktrine,
the nigger may be big fish, but the white
man is Whale" And dident you all take
another drink on that, Mr. Tamnlany? Wish
some OF us rebs had been there, old fcl, Jest
| to have techd tumbler5 with you. Thank
the Lord that there are good men North Of
Dixey. = hers heap of 'cm here, Mr..
| Hall, and their hearts are iumpin and a
! bumpin and thumpin as big as yours
| Their hearts were castles, and their buzzurls
sitadeIs, but you have takcn'em. Don't be
alarmed don't reseed. don't take back nuthin !;
be kaIm aud screen, and we of the rebellious
South will wipe out the last spark of hatred
10 such rs ycu. We are now wipin away the
curses that were upon our lips We are
Tisin up from our humiliation, aud ike strong
men are shakin the dust from our garments
| Think of it, Tammauy. What a glorious
sight to see brave peepul lifted up-a whole
nation Of white folk rckonsled. What spirit,
what gost, what inspiration told You how to
reach US? How did you know that we was
weak where we was strong, in the same secret
corner Of our buZzums2
You've got us Tammany and we'll respond
to you, we'll reinforce YOU We've SAID
some hard things, Mr.. Hall; we've tried to
skorch, and blister and excoriate, but you
| sec we were goaded, gored by huls-Truni-
| bulls and Republican bulls. They be!!erd
and We paved dirt. They punched us in
the cage, and we grmylcd They put tax
under our saddles and we kicked. What
! else could we do! Jest think oft, Tammnay.
Ruined and desOlate, the people in mournin
| and their homes in as!cs-no Injuries, no
! comforts, no Christmas worth Gus. no Santa
| CLAWS, no uuthin. Could we lick the hand
that laid US low ?-nary time-no, never.
While we was strugglin to rise from out the
wreck, to breath the air above US, to take an
invoice and see if there was cnuf left to live
| Tor, our enemies were shOutn hit him,
| kick him. mash him, smash him a@in.
We were then at the bottom, Tammany
| We didn't know there was any lower deep,
! but our enemies were huntin, and they still
! arc huntin some deeper pit to put us in, and
some pendulum of Poe to swing and cut US
i Well we aint heathcns, we've been to mectin,
we've seen misshiOucrys, we've got churches
and sermons, aud hymn books and prayers.
! We've got pious old men and wimmcn, and
| brave boys and ma!dens who arc finished lal
the way up like the corners Of temple
God bless en-, Tarnmany, particklcr them
last, for i'll connection with them are ccnterd
the hopes of postcrity and the joys OF our
life. We've all got hearts, old TammanY,
and there's many good Samaritan among Us
who wou!dcmt pass you by and so over on
the other side. We've got charity too. end
long schcring, and patience, and hope in
abundance, though we cant believe them Rad
ica(s will walk right straight into heaven
without knockin at the door. That do ctrine
! Of elektiOn is a powerful thing. Tammany,
but as shore as You are born it looks sorter
! unconstitutional to as for them fellcrs to enter
the celestial city. They may pass amend
ments cnuf to do it. and 1 reckon that's why
they are tinkerin at the old document so
long; but somehow or other VIXEN I heard
one of EN- a dyin, my thoughts materially
have downward tendency. [ cant he!p it,
! Tammany.
But maybe we'll get over sch feelings
My wife says we will aHcrwhHc. We are all
right towards you, OLD Hall, and our l4egs-
| lature have been tryin for about two months
to harmonic things generally, and any rca-
sonab!e man ought to be satisfied with the
efforts they have made. But we can't salts
fy them Rudikas, don't care what we do.
We elektcd Mr.. Stevens and IIcrshel j ohm
sin to the Senate, and they are mad about
that They wanted Josh Hill and Jecms
Johnsin hecaus they WAS Union. Well now.
Mir. Tammany, its better always to take men
! who have done sumthin than men who have
nuthin. Mr. Hill delivered his farewell ad-
! dress before he was bet and he said he would
like to know why we sing hosanna to Andy
Jolnsin, who fout agin us, and yet we wont
clckt him who dident. That's what's the
matter Joshua, if [ may be allowd to apos-
trofze you, you ddent take no side at all.
You say you can take the test oath and git
in. Well don't see how cxaktly. You run
for Governor in sixty three, and you writ a
letter agin Reconstruction and compared the
old union TO a proclaim rasc that ,eas broke,
and coldent never be mended agin-ro never.
And don't you know if you'd been elektcd
you would have had to take the oath of
office, and be swore to support the Corst;tu-
tion of the Confederate States 50 called, now
deceased But you are smart Joshua, and
it was funny what you said to Che General
that night, when he axd yoa if you would
have taken that oath You pausd Joshua