The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-10-04
Letter From Prof, Hood.

DUE WEST, s. c., Sept. IS, '7G.
Dir. r. S. BECKHAM,-Dear Sir: ]
am in receipt, by this afternoons
mail, Of your favor of 26th inst, in
viting Inc to participate with you in
your mass meeting Oh Saturday, Goth
instant.
An explanation is needed to justify
me before you, as / will not be able to
do myself the pleasure of meeting the
people Of LowndesviIIe IN that day.
I have held myself ready to be at
your meeting for nearly q month, and
discharge my part Of the duties of the
day, as best my abilities would allow.
[ have been absent from home for ten
days; and on returning home OH the
train yesterday, I met the Editor of
the Ab6criHc Aetlium and inquired if
your meeting was still fixed for Satur-
day, and who would be with you from
Abbeville. He informed me that it
was, and that Gen. MCGOWAN and
Col. COthran were going. / felt then
much encouraged that your commu
nifty would have a glorious day for
democracy and honest government,
and my desire to be with you strength
cned. 4. few minutes, however, after
reaching home a committee of gentle
men called or me with a pressing So
licitation to address a meeting Of the
colored people on Saturday about s
miles South of here. This invitation
came from the colored people them
selves thro' the whites. These people
(colored) have been preparing, [ was
informed, to get myself, with Il or
two other gentlemen, q good hearing
among their race in that community
for more than a week, and that my
absence had postponed the meeting
thus far. With the belief that the
gentlemen named above would be
with you, and thatall would be done
for the cause in which we are engaged
ut your meeting without me that
could be done with ME there and
that a chance lost with this people
between now and the day they name
their County nominees, may be a
chance forever lost, or give us an au-
,lience more inclined to resist our in
tluence, I authorized the Committee
to say l would address them at the
time and place named.
Now, my dear sir, hoping That you
and the noble citizens around Lown-
desville will not regard me as having
committed an error in my course in
this matter, and that You will accept
for yourself, and communicate to those
associated with your effort to secure
an honest and decent government this
Fall, my sincere thanks for the honor
conferred OH me now aud heretofore
in your community. l will claim
your time only for 4 few words more.
The earnestness with which we have
entered the campaign this Fall is the
result Of necessity !; O necessity to re-
store to us and our children and all
persons that may wish to live with us
and them in peace the security of pro-
perty, and the lame of a respectable
government. The burdens and dam
gers Of a corrupt government have
borne on us who have had no voice in
that government until we will be dis
graced even in our own eyes if we do
not redeem the State. We cannot eX-
pect the future historian to speak Of
us to our posterity in other than the
language Of contempt if we permit
the odious representatives of the Re-
publican party to pilfcr our public
treasures and corrupt our citizens
longer.
But a new element is developing it.
self rs the campaign progresses,
to wit, to do with the instruments of
death what cannot be done by the
vote! Self preservation is the first
law of nature. What would q white
citizen of Hamburg, Ellcnton, Aiken,
Combahee, Charleston and Marion
say is the first reason why he will
support Hampton and Tilden? He
will say "to save the life of myself,
and children. All other arguments
are lost to him in the last. He is to-
day in actual warfarc-the knife, the
torch, the club and the bullet have
been at his door. The Republicans in
the State are the authors of thi saw
age and tiendiSh development. 1t is
the bloody handed child of theft be-
getting, 0nd its am must be Scott
Moses Chamberlain. This State of
things will be felt by the innocent, but
not by the authors. The colored man
would not do so if not melted to it by
his wicked leaders. His danger in
the meantime compared to ours is in
the quadruplicate ratio of his numbers
TO ours.
But, T cannotindulgc myself farther
on this view of our situation. Hoping
you may have Il jubilant day, I re-
main, dear sir,
Yours, very respectfully and truly,
WM. HOOD.