Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-08-12

full than these they have used in the past
Any people who can withstand such appt
ances of force and pressure as have beer
brought to bear upon you within the pas
twelve months, can never be seduced or driv
en- from their honor. / am proud of Georgia
and pray that when God takes me hence
my bones may be laid in her houored old soil
A voice, you'll go to Heaven"
My friends, wish to pass now to another
subject. The issue has somewhat changed.
have told you what the issue has been the
last twelve months, and wish to state here
in few brief words, the main points in issue
nov. Some who consented TO be bou ht tor
the purpose of indncipg the people OF tue
South to accept this lnfamy offered this ex
cuse: They. said they were not going to bf
Radicals, tEey were not going to consent t.
negro government, but they said "let us seem
to 20 into this thipg, let us get back into the
Union, ard then we'll turn it all over, and dc
as we please" That was an argument basee
snpon tfeachery NThey had betrayed you, and
they were justfying their treachery to you By
proving that they were going to betray the
Radicals. That suggestion deceived great
many people for time. For myself, haf
nothing to do with it, because conld no.
consent to join traitols. | doa't believe IL
treacherv-no people ever saved themselves
by it. Where the honor Of people is involved
they cannot swerve from principle for the
sake Of policy. The only line of honor is
direct one. But WHAT'S the result2s Those
maninulators at Washington who bousM
these, Southern men had more sense than the
men they bought. They were. not going. to
be caught in any such trap as that, and II
this respect my prophecy has turned out tn
be correct. The issue now, then, is this
Shall this infamy which has been thrust upon
the people of Georgia and ofthc other South
iern States, be valid aud perpetual? Fiat ls
the first point TO which wish to direct Jour
attention. In order that it u9y be perpetual
the Chicago platform ssys that the rights Of
the Northern States to regulate the franchise
and to change and modify their own Oonsli
tutions shall not b. infringed, but the South
ern people shall not have the right to change
their Constitutions at will. Now, if anything
in American history never was disputed be-
fore it is this that the States were members
of the Union on an equal footing, and there
is no man, from George Washington down,
whether high or low. wise Or simple, black or
white, who ever had any idea that the Union
formed by the States was Union Of unequal
States; it was always admitted that the States
we're eqaal and each retained control Of the
franchise. state mere fact and history
since the acknowledgement OF our indepcn-
dence we have added twenty-tour new States
to the Union, and in every act admitting a
State as member Of this Union, it is dis
tinctly stated that she isadmitted on an equal
footing with all the other States. But this
Chicago Convention, with tho Georgia R adj
Gals in it, for the. first tune in American his
tory makes the declaration that tue Union
shall be q Union of unequal States. l want
you all to remember that point. 1t is the
great aim Of the Radicals. Where are You
now, my good Union men? You that wanted
to get back into the Union and were willing
to sacrifice everything for the accomplishment
OF that Object; you that congratulated the
country upon being again in the Union p
A voice none" i is a Union in which
the Southern States are raasa1s and the
Northern States rulers. / want you to hear
it and to remember it. That IS mere sheer
naked disunion in the most odious and trail
torous form in which the word was ever
spoken Great Cheers. 1t cuts the femoral
arteryAit is stab to the very heart and de-
stroys the Union Of equal States which our
fathers formed.
Ircad with shame and mortiflcalion-(l
knew the poor'fellow did not know mrch
read, i say, in the papers that this stupid
Express Agent, in the pre,ence and under
tue protection of force and sreachcry, went,
yesterday, through the farce of being inangu-
rated miserable sham Governor Of Georgia.
Why, every word lie uttered shows he does
not, this day, know the difference between a
restored Union of equal States and construct,
ed nem Union of unequal States. Take that
fact down: pencil it carefully and take it tn
your hearts. fl can teach you to take home
with you that single Sentence, you will not
have come here to-day in vain. There never
was, in the history of, any people, such a
bold, plain, palpable, universally admitled
cause Of War a. that simple statement in that
Chicago platform.
And yet tha. is not all. You, gentlemen,
who think sou are members of a Legislature
poor, deluded souls, how pity you lyon
who come here and go through the form OF
passing laws. / want you to hear one thing
Not only is that doctrine of unequal States in
the Chicago PLATFORM but it is III what you
call your Omnibus Admission Bill. That bill
prescribes the nlanner IN which You shall 20
back, and every one Of you who voted the
other day to get back, as you say, into The
Union, agreed to the doctrine that Georgia
shall never have the right to do what Oaio
can do; that the Southern States shall never
have the right to do what the N rthern States
can do. You agreed to-remaiu forever an IN
equal member Of the Union. You agreed
that yoP wonld get back into the Union by
consenting that Georgia shall meyer haFe the
power 70 modify or to change her own State
constitution, as to her own domestic affaire
according to her own will and pleasure A
voice, "They didn'tkuow any better.'] All
you renegades-you rogues--whu tried to
steal your neighbors' property and could mol
do it. Alb; ye men thatadopted the Recon
struciion, measures for thespurpose of getting
back into the Union and then catching the
Radicals by changing the Constitution afler-
yard. Are you not caught-caught by Thad
Stevens-caqght by Charles Suumer7 ]
don't know but one thing that is worse, and
that is agreeing 10 be negro, to get rid ol
your debts, and then after becoming negro
having your debts tolpay. [Cheera, with
cries Of" good"
Remember, oh, my countrywomen=moth
ers. teach it to your children as you ROCK
them in their cradles and in the nursery dit
ties, by which you send them to sleep-tel
them that men--white men-Georgians-
some of them g 10 the manor born"-have
come upon this classical old hill and have dc
liberately put upcn record their solemn con-
sent that the proud old State of Georgia goe;
back icto tho Union on the express condition
that she shall never be equal to other States
Oh, you renegades from everything that Can