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

Will disappear alt0getner az Ine ne4G
election" In conclusion the Governor
said the people of his State at present
were ignoring local and national politics
and devoting themselves to making peace
and money, but when the next Presiden-
tial election came round they proposed
to exercise a potential and wholesome
influence.
Hampton's Address at Rockford.
Governor Hampton, on Thursday, de-
livered the opening address at the Win
nebago County, ILL.,, Fair. The follow
ing extracts include the most interesting
portions of his speech:
Mr.. President and my Fel2o,o-citizens of
Minois-If any evidence was needed to
show the high appreciation in which l
hold the invitation which brings me here
to-day, it would surely be found in the
fact that I have travelled more than one
thousand miles that may make my ac-
acknowledgements to you for the honor you
have conferred in person. Applause:
And let me say to you, and say it with
infinite pleasure, that had that journey
been far longer, had its fatigues been
greater, the sight that meets me here to-
day and the cordiality of the welcome
given by the people of Illinois would
have amply compensated me. Ap-
plause. Under ordinary circumstances
I should scarcely have felt at liberty to
have left my official duties to participate
in an occasion of this sort, however graft
flying to me the honor might have been;
but the invitation of the Winnebago Ag-
ricultural Society carried with it such
weight that it imposed on me an obliga-
ton which | felt l couldn't neglect. 1t
was this society year ago, before the
political spirit which has now 80 happily
subsidized had abated, that was among the
first to inaugurate that spirit of recon-
ciliation which is now spreading with
such wholesome force over this land of
ours. Therefore, when they made call
on me. as Southern man felt that it
was not only my pleasure, but that it was
my duty to 60 and make response to
them in person, and thank them for their
course in the interest of harmony, and to
pledge my cordial cooperation in this
patriotic and noble work. Cheers. If
I comprehend the purpose Of your invita-
ton to me, it was not that 1 should
speak to you merely on agricultural SUBJ
iects, but that I should discuss those
graver and broader issues which are dis
tracting the country. But, my friends,
in doing that, you need not fear that |
shall violate the proprieties of the occa-
sion by giving you political speech. l
shall speak to you for no man, for no
party, for no section, but for the whole
country, Applause and in doing that l
shall strive truthfully to sink all men
and partisanship, and to place myself on
the grand high plane where true and
pure patriotism can be found. APP
plause. AS I coustrue the motives of
this movement, my friends, it is in the
interest of peace. Understanding it so,
it was that brought me here; and if by
anything that I can say, can in the
slightest degree assist these gentlemen in
the noble work that they have inaugu-
rated, then, my friends, shall feel that
my mission has not altogether failed.
The chief end I had in view in COM
ing here was to promote a true and cor
rect understanding between the people
of the North and the South. You must
admit that very many of the evils which
have fallen on the country have come
from the misconception of the purposes
each of the other. You remember there
is a profound truth, as we'll as knowl-
edge of human nature, embodied in the
fable where il is told that in the OldeD
time a shield, white on one side and
black on the other, was hung at the in
tersection of two roads, and two knights
approaching in opposite directions dis
puted as to the color of the shield. Final
fy their lances were put in rest, and they
perilled life, each to support his own con-
victions. 1t has seemed to me, in look
ing over all these questions, that some
thing of the same sort happened between
the North and the South. The Consti-
tuition was the shield, viewed as it was
from different points and constructions.
The dispute upon the points waxed
warmer and warmer. The sword was
called in, and under its red arbitrament
many a brave, and true, and knightly
soldier laid down his life in support of
his conviction. What might have hap
pened, my friends, had prudence and not
passion ruled the hour, it is useless for us
to say now. The statesman looks to the
past perils of his country simply that he
may guard against them, and the prayer
and work of the patriot should tend 10
the same end. My friends, | speak for
the South. We Of the South have had
not only enough, but too much of war.
Laughter. We seek peace. We come
now to plead in the interest of peace,
and it is for that am before you to day.
Cheers] Can you doubt, my friends,
that the South wants peace? 10 look
at her ruined fields, the misrule under
which she has lived for twelve years, and
you will doubt no longer. Do you men
of Illinois doubt her sincerity? She has
been charged with faults, but among
these faults her worst enemies have never
said she was hypocritical, or that she
spoke with double tongue. 1mpetuous,
rash, she may be, but, thank God, false.
never. Cheers
Do you want proof of her sincerity?
Look in the recent past, and tell me, II
you can find sympathy more conclusive
than is given by her conduct. Need l
tell you to look back to those trying days
when the Presidential contest was unset
tied? What was the course of the South
then?
Governor Hampton alluded to the pos
sibility of civil war, had not the South
stood firm for peace, and said: | tell you
of Illinois, and 1 speak not as Demo-
craft don't know and don't care
L o,oo1, to Dan, ,oorotc or Ronuh.