Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-08-16
WADE HAMPTON

WADE AAAREON-
This gentleman has been falsely and
hereely- assailed by the Radical press
and speakers, as the recent utterer OF
seditious and revolutionary language.
Selling upon the fact that he was one OF
the foremost representatives Of the lost
cause" his position as declared in the
New York Convention to which he was
delegate, has been maliciously misrepre-
scented, and his speeches since have been
grossly garbled and perverted in order to
rekindlc the prejudices and passions of
the Northern people, and lay foundation
for identifying the pending political
struggle of the Democracy with the
Southern rebellion, as it is called.
At Aiken, South Carolina, on the 9th
inst, Gen. Hampton made a speech, in
which he referred to these accusations,
and redeclared his views at length We
cite the following as the realization of
the Radical falsehoOds referred to, from
his own lips;
! believe that upon the success of the
cause depends the life or death of the Con-
slitution, and that if we are successful we
can re-establish the government of the
Constitution and Union. But if we fail, il
the Democratic party fails, then, in my
opinion, we shall see the great republic of
Washington go down into that grave which
l.. r.f
believe that il is the duty of every man
to strike again for his altar, Preside and
country. You have all doubtless heard of
the convention which recently assembled
in New York. When the South was in
yited to take part in its deliberations,
made up my mind that every Southern
State ought to be represented, feeling that
we ought to meet the Democracy of the
North face to face, TO talk 10 them, and
show that we were earnest and sincere in
our proteslations. | am glad to say that
my expectations were more than fulfilled.
We were met on all sides and by all classes
with the most cordial kindness and most
generous consideration. They all well
coined us back, encouraged US with the high
est hopes, and assured us that they would
stand by us, and that they intended to secure
the victory. Not only were we so metby the
delegates in the Democratic Convention,
but also by the members of another conven-
tion, who, if any distinction can be made
where every welcome was 30 warm, met us
even more cordially than the others. This
convention was composed of men who had
fought for years, and had met us on more
than one hundred bloody fields They came
to US not as enemies but as friends; and ex-
tending to us the hand of friendship said,
+" You were fighting for your States as we
were fighting for our States. You believed |
that you were right as we believed that we
we're right. We fought only for the Union |
and Constitution, an now, believing that
our ends are gained, we wish once more,
standing by the affairs of our country and
around curry country's flag, TO fight in the
cause of the Constitution, liberty and free
government" They extended to us the
right hand of fellowship; and /, who yield
ed TO none in my devotion to the Lost
Cause-I, who believed that our cause was
right-accepted for myself and my people
that right hand of fellowship in the same
spirit in which it was offered. Cheers
| told them that we were speaking with
no double tongue-that when we said war
we meant war, and when we said peace we
meant peace. Loud cheers. 81
No later than yesterday / saw that the
Radical press had denounced me as Rebel
and revolutionist on account of something
/ had said. Now defy them to put their
finger on one word, or 4 single place in
which have said anything that can be 80
construed. / said in Charleston that the
plank denouncing the reconstruction acts as
unconstitutional, revolutionary and void
was one which we had put there; and 1
say 80 again. This is not the first instance
in history in which a party intending to
seize the government and overthrow the
liberties of the people has charged its op
ponents with its own designs. We are not
seeking revolution. We only ask for our
States the same rights that Massachusetts, |
enjoys. We merely demand the right |
to regulate our own affairs. We do not |
seek war. We want peace, to build up |
our desoluate places, to restore our al |
tars, to regain our prosperity, to bring |
forth our energies, and to re establish upon |
a firm foundation the republic of our |
fathers. That is what we want, and il |
is only that which we aim at. The Radi- l
cal party charges us with being revolution |
airy. They say through their standard |
bearer, let us have peace. Now, fellow
citizens, what kind of peace? There is one
kind of peace which comes from the God |
head itself-the peace which passes all I'M
derstanding. There is another peace where |
the white-rObed angel, after the din of war
has ceased, broods over the smiling land and /
declares that all are brethren once more.
But there is yet another peace: The peace
which the kite gives 10 the dove, the wolf 10 |
The iamb-the peace of death. Let the
Radical rule be firmly fixed, let them once
grasp the reins of government, and that
peace of death will prevail forever in this
fair land of ours. Not only here will it
prevail, but from Main TO California, from
The Atlantic to the Gulf The peace OF
leath-because that government for which
lur fathers fought would go down in blood,
anarchy, and confusion, and upon its ruins
would be the empire of the despot. II is
hen ia the interest Of peace that | speak to
you here. ! wish to disabuse the minds of
people here, and of my friends at the
North