Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-08-19


that the Reconstruction acts are unconstitu
(! tiohal, revolutionary and void. Unconstitu
+ tionai, because they srtbverted the free gov
| ernment nnder which VIC lived, and in thi
| Union, founded on the consent of the gov
erned, Subjected ten States to the power o
the baSonet because they stripped the Chic
Magistrate of his legal authority, and on i'm
portant questions had deprived the Supreme
Court of its rightful jurisdiction, bsd>threat
led to strip the court Of all its power
When that court had decided thatthese act
were unconstitutional, Congress interfered
extended its hand, and would not allow The
decision to be declared until after th' "-"s;
DENTAL election.
We of the South had not done moro thar
to cay that their acts we're unconstitutional
had asked for decree of the Supreme Court
and werc prepared to submit in good faith
Lad the decision been adverse to our cause
We declared the reconstruction acts revolu
tioaary, because they revulutinhized the gov
crnsient Of the country, because they hac
placed ten States under military despotism
because they thre2iened the subversien o
the supreme judicial tribunal OF theslsnd
and because tie party newin power in Con.
gress intended through them TO retain by
force wult they had acquired by fraud.
Will not the Radical party which proposes
10 eeize the government meet US with the
base and bold imposition of charging US with
being evolutionary? No later than yester-
day saw that the Radical press had de
uounced me as rebel and reVolutiorist on
account of something l bad said. Now defy
them to put their finger on one word, or a
sirgle place in. which have said anything
that can be so construed. T said in Charles
ton that the plank denouncing the Recon.
s:ruetiOn acts as unconstitutional, revolution
ary aud void, was one which We had-put
there; and l say SO again. This is net the
first instance in history in which a party in-
tending to seize the government and over
throw the liberties of the people has charged
its opponents with its own designs. We are
net seeking revolution. We only ask for our
States the same rights that Massachusetts
enjoys. We merely demand the right to reg
ulate our own affairs We do not seek war.
We want peace, to build up our desolate
places, to restore our altars, to regain our
prosperity, to b ing forth our energies, and
tore establish upon firm foundation the re-
public of our fathers. That is what we want,
and it is only that which We aim at.
The Radical party charges US with being
revolutionary. They say through their stand.
ard bearer, let us have peace. Now, fell1w-
citizens, what kind of peace? There is one
kind of peace which comes from the God
head itself-the peace which passes al under
standing. There is anotheripeaee where the
whlte-robed angel, after the Gin Of War has
ceased, brcods over the smiling land, aad de
clares that all are brethren once more. But
there is yet another peace: The peace which
the kite gives to the dove, the volt to the
iamb-thc peace of death. Lie: the Radical
rule be firmly fixed, let them once grasp the
reins OF government, and that peacco death
will prevail forever in hi, f,ir land of ours.
Not only here will it prevail, hat from Maine
to California, from the Atlsntfc TO the Gulf.
The Peace of death-because that govern
ment Coz which our. fathers fought would go.
uown II -uTood, anarchy and conusion, and
upon it's ruins would rise the empire Of the
despot. 1t is then in The interest If peace
that speak to you here. | wish to disabusc
the minds of people here, and Of my friends
at the Norta.
II wa; my good fortune when in New York
to dine in company with many Federal and
lew Uoaieae..ic ohicers. Among them
u.,re some of the mast Distinguished Federal
Ge e.a.s-Ewing. Steadnian, Granger aud
others. After dinner they called on our
Southern people and drew them ont in after
dinner speeches. 1 was called on, and spoke
With the same irankness with which [ now
speak to my own people. told them thut at
the commencement of their difficulties there
were some of the leading men of my own
section who thought that I-was lukewarm in
the cause. | told them that believed that
these would be a war, and that when it came
intended to do my share of the fighting. /
was here interrupted by one Of the Federal
Generals, who exclaimed in very god humur,
{" By God think you did do your par" +"
[Cheers 7 said that / had gone into the
war becaUss believed that was right, and
/ now declare that I was, in all sincerity, one
of the warmest advocates inrthe interests of
peace. l desired it from the bottom of my
heart was not speaking with false or
double tongue, but in perfect sincerity and
frapkness. There were the soldiers whom l
had fought. They said they had rather be-
lieve men who had fought for their country,
and who were now willing to declare past is
sues dead, and who were willing to stand
upon common platform, than they would
tie roeu who now profess to be more violent
than when the war gas raging. A voice,
q / had boy who served under you..''j aeE,
had many brave men from Barnwell In my
command. That was one reason why came
here to-day. There were many of them who
entered the war with me, and with me
sheathed their swords when the war waa over.
I wanted to see them and thank them and
their kinsmen for all that they had done.
wanted t tell them that their old comman-
der had not forgotten them, and that the ties
Of battle were as strong as any tie on earth,;
that [. wanted them to be good soldiers in the
interests of peace as they had been good sol
diers in war; that ] wanted them to close up
their ranks, as they had oftea done, and
moving shoulder to shoulder, press on to an
assured victory. They will listen to me as
they always did, for they know that / always
recognized merit, whether it was found under
the braided collar of the officer, or the tat.
tered Jacket Of the private soldier. They
know that Always treated them as brethren
as men having the same interests as my.
self-and that l now advise them caudidly
AMI in all sincerity. [Cheers.]
Fellow-citizens, there are many topics or
which | nave not touched / only wished tc
have family talk with you, to thank my
people for their kindness, and to adjHfe then
to be true and firm.
l want You now to consider the reconstruc
ton of Sonth Carolina, accomplished by three
Gears of Radical rule. In Columbia you car
sec what is called the Legislature of Soutl
Carolina. When served il the Lt glslatpre
we received three dollars per day, aud W
tried to finish our wooi as soon as possible