Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-09-16
Address; From DE. ID. q. Cook,
Or BEACH ISLAND, ~

address From DE. ID. R. Cock,
Or BEAcH ISLAND, s. a
Letters From Distinguished D Public
/ Men,.
Our popular and patriotic fellow citizen,
Dr. 81. R. CooK, Of Beech Island, having been
prevented, by unavoidable circumstances,
from attending,as he had designed, our Rat
i6cation Meeting on the End inst, sendsus
the following admirable address, requesting
us tosmake such Use of it us we think kproper.
With much pleasure we lay it. before our
readers. iAnd.we heartily wish il could be
laid before the people Of the North; fol. we
believe that such calm, judicious earnest,
pacific sentiments, especially from respecta
ble South Carolinian, are more calculated just
now, than perhaps any other means, to work
great good there.
4 Aud we also present, several interesting
Letters, from prominent public men; read at
| the late Ratification Meeting here. Among
them is enc from Ex Gov. THOMAS 3. SEY-
MoUR, of Connecticut--one among the last
letters seyer ge ned ,-by this distinguished
statesman and patriot for even while this
letter was being read 70 our people, THosAs
II. SEYMOUR was passing away from earth.
he died at Hartford, Connecticut ST typhoid
fever, On the 3rd inst, leaving. . reputation
for purity and patriotism not excclled evenbY
that Of GEORGE " WAsnINeToY. :,
FELIov. .GfT1zENsi OF GALLANT OLD EDGE
FIELD. - z efs< sss 1st 81
When I LOOK upon your upturned faces
and eager gazing eyes. rn5y mind is almost in.
voluntarily carried back more. than thirty
years, when, as a mere youth, I first made
yopr acqpai5 .ance., 1t vas in the stimes of
the conrtly; disnifed, and accomplished
Whitfield Brooks; of thessportly, warns
hearted, genial. and bluff Jack Jeter, and Of
the ele eonent and eradite David L. Wardlaw,
whose powerful and Classic oratory filed my
mind with admiration, aud excited my youth
fll-aulfition McDnf6e too,-the0 eloquent.
the trne, the immortal MeDufhe-was then
in tbelan3of the living his declining heaith
had not yet excluded himS;f from the public
but allowed him, although not in Office still, !
to take deep and active interest in public
affairs. I am reminded too that nearly TWEEN.
ty years later, inihe lines Of Carroll, Francis
II. Wardla@, Moragne, Arthur Simlins,
Mobley, aud Others, / myself, as compara,
tive stranger, appeared before, you as "a can-s
didate for your sufrages, sxd although the;
issues OF the day precluded my elections, 4
cannot aGereet the. cofdiulity 'snd kii:]ness
which was extended to me, and the hand
some vote given,-a compliment sufficient to
satisfy any man of ordinary ambition. l
have never before had an opportunity in pub,
lie of thanking you, but do SO with
the ,warmest emotions of my heart.
But these scenes are all past Let the
dead bury their dcad.'s And oh! by what
chyoncmeter, by what scalc of time, car we
compute the events. which have transpired
since then? Our whole Political, Social and
Agricultural systems are undergoing great
and mighty revolution; and many. very
many, OF the noblest AID best of our friends,
whom we admired and loved, bavcrgone tor
try their cause tefore that tribunal where
justice ever reigns.
While we drop a tear Of atfactionate REL
membrauce for the past, let US turn to the
present, so lraugbt with mcmentous events,
and SO important in their consequences, both
to ourselves and postcriiy. I am not much
accustomed to making speeches On political
topics, and confess to you, that ON this oc-
casion, surrounded as au,-by SO many clo-
quent and distinguished gentlemen. | feel
much diffdence in saying anything but l
shutl not refrain from making some remarks
IN obedience to the call which you have made
upon me; and in doing so, shall exercise
that eandor and truthfulncss which The i'm
portapce of the occasion demands.
After political warfare for forty years
with the North, eliminating in the most gi-
gantic civil wnr the world has seen for ages,
and although it resulted disastrously to our
arms, VIC cannot forget that in this war we
fought for great object, the preservation,
in its original integrity, Of the Constitution
handed dowp.to us by our common ancestors;
and that during nearly the whole of the ex-
istence of the Government, the provisions of
this Constitution were administered chiefly
by Southern Statesmen, bringing the country
to such an uDexanpled state Of prosperity
aud greatness as to cause it to tcsaid hy cur
opponents, that This was the ''bcst Govern
ment upon which the sun ever shonc.''
Having participated SO largely then in the
erection of so great and good d Government,
Mt the surrender of our arms in good faith,
as aver was done by US, we bad right to
expect the most favorable terms from cur
enemies; but the demon Revenge, prompted
by Malice, aud coupled with fanaticlsm and
lorg cherished desire on the part OF certain
sectional leaders among. our iocs fr the es
Iablishmen. # more consolidated Govern
ment, caused tfem not on.J 10 impose such
humiating aud u,ja>, ,estns upoa u-.ns we
could not accept, but in order 10 carry out their