The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-09-20

licans, speak as an American to Amer
leans, and say to you to-day, you owe
debt of credit to the people of the South
cheers i'm Congress, to what some of
the North have called the Confederate
bfigadiers. They prevented filibuster-
Ing, and stood by the result of the Elec'
toral Commissions work. During the
recent strikes and riots, too, she eyinced
her feeling by upholding the laws and
standing conservative.
She has given bonds of late to preserve
the peace, and she wants peace. She
wants you, people of the North, to un-
derstand her condition. She wants you
to realize precisely what she accepts as
the result of the war. She wants you to
understand the motives which have &C
tuated her not only before and during,
but since the war. I, for myself, my
friends, have no concealments to make
for the past. 1 have taken part in the
war, nor would your respect for me be
increased were to offer any unmanly
apology for it. 1 did what you did, l
obeyed the command of my own State as
you did yours; and you, men of the
North, were guided by your own con:
sciences, as we of the South were guided
by ours. And say to you that up to
the beginning of that war I used all my
influence to preserve the Union. Cheers.
I was a Union man. Renewed cheers:
I did all could to preserve it. did all
1 could to avoid war, and when South
Carolina called her sons, as Illinois called
hers, obeyed her command. And, men
of Illinois, 1 fought you as long and hard
as 1 could, and have no apologies to
make for it. Loud cheers and laugh.
ter. I remember especially that l
foug int the Eighth Illinois, and l thought
it one of the best regiments in the FEEDER
al army. I fought them very hard in
deed. Great cheering and laughter
Now, my friends, we went into the war
believing we were right; but when the
war ended we surrendered, and want to
impress that upon you. We surrendered
in good faith, and I challenge man liv.
ing to say that from that day to this I
have violated in any degree the tenor of
my parole, or done anything inconsistent
with my honor as soldier or citizen.
Loud cheers. When sheathed my
sword I renewed my allegiance to the
United States government, and I pledged
myself to support the Constitution of the
United States. When took my official
oath the other day as Governor of South
Carolina, I swore to uphold it as it now
stands, and, so help me God, intend to
keep it. Loud cheers. We surren-
dered in good faith. We accepted the
Constitution of the United States with
the amendments, though we opposed the
latter. We accept them now, and pro-
pose to obey them, right or wrong; that
The Constitution shall stand equal for the
protection of South Carolina and
of Massachusetts, of Illinois and Louis
lana; and we have the right to ssk that
every citizen in every State should be
equal before the law and under the Con.
stitution of the United States. Cheers.
So much, my friends, for the views we
entertain. Then we come, appealing to
you for peace. We come appealing to
you, because it is not only the highest
wisdom to restore peace, not only because
it is stateSmanl;ke, not only because the
very theory of craftsmanship and peace
requires the restoration of peace, but we
appeal to you because it is the very
handspring of patriotism, and if there il
anywhere the mainstring of patriotism
moving strong and perpetual, it is in the
hearts of the people of Illinois.
Governor Hampton, alluding to the
story that he had been threatened, treated
the matter jocosely, eliciting much mirth
and read letter stating that one hundred
veterans at Rockford had constituted a
committee to send him back in box
The remainder of the speech was devoted
to eulogistic allusion to the State of Illi'
nois in regard to its agricultural advan'
tages, to prediction of a glorious desti:
ny for the Mississippi Valley, to briel
allusion to the labor question, and to 6
plea for universal education. He con-
cluded as follows:
We are standing under one flag, obey
ing one Constitution, and it is for US to
say what will be the future of this coun
try. Give us your help, and wewill give
you our hearty cooperation. We fee
and know that, if this is done-if we car
have a restoration of fraternity, if we car
make the people of this country under
stand each other-we feel then that there
is a glorious future before the whole
country. We can make it so. We car
make it so by each and all of us perform
ing, in his allotted sphere, his duty; anc
having done that, leave the consequences
to God. Having performed our duty
looking back to the past only to gair
wisdom for the future, and using the
present wisely, and looking to the future
with hope and trust in God, l am sure
that we may all say, North and South
paraphrasing the wish of the poet, thai
our States may all be distinct as the bill
Il