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

!!::cas:= speak rs am American &c Amer
leans, and cay 70 you to-day, you owe q
debt Of credit to the people OF the south
cheers in Congress. TO what some OF
the North have called the Confederate
btigadiefs. They prevented filibuster-
Ing. and afnnd nv the result of the Elcc-
toral Commissions work. During the
recent strikes and riots, too, she evinced
he. feeling by upholding the laws and
r'andiDg conservative.
She has given bonds Of late 70 preserve
the peace, and she wants peace. She
wants you, people Of the North, to un-
dcrstand 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 ac-
tuated her not only before and during,
but since the war. 1, for myself, my
friends, have no concealments TO make
for the past. l have taken part in the
war, nor would your respect for me be
increased were | TO offer any unmanly
apology for it. lid what yo;i did, I
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 chat up TO
the beginning Of that war Used all my
influence To preserve the Union. Cheers.
! was Union man. Renewed cheers.
| did all could to preserve it. did all
| could TO avoid war, and when South
Carolina called her IONS, as Illinois called
hers, obeyed her command. And, men
of Illinois, fought you rs long and hard
rs could, and / have no apologies TO
make for it. Loud cheers and Laugh
ter. | remember especially that |
fought the Eighth Illinois, aud I thought
it one of the best regiments in the Feder-
al army. 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 challenge man liv-
ing TO say that from that day to this
have violated in any degree the tenor Of
my parole, or done anything inconsistent
with my honor rs soldier or q citizen.
Loud cheers. When shcathed my
sword 1 renewed my allegiance to the
United States government and pledged
myself TO support the Constitution Of the
United States. When took my official
oath the other day as Governor Of South
Carolina, ! sworo to uphold it rs 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 ask 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 statesmsnlike, not only because the
very theory of statcsmanship and peace
requires the restoration of peace, but we
appeal to you because it is the very
handspring of patriotism, and if there is
anywhere the mainstriDg 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 Mt Rockford had constituted q
committee to send him back in q box,
The remainder of the speech was devoted
tc eulogistic aliusion to the State of Hi.
nois in regard to its agricultural advan-
tnges, to prediction Of glorious desti.
ny for the Mississippi Valley, to a briei
allusion to the labor question, and TO 9
plea for universal education. He con.
cluded rs follows:
We are standing under one Dag, obey.
ing one Constitution, and it is for us "a
say What sill III sho future of this coun.
try. Give us your help, and we will give
you our hearty cooperation. We feel
and know that, if this is done-if ne car
have 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 car make It so. we cat
make it SO by each and all of us perform.
ing, i'll his allotted sphere, his duty and
having done that, leave the consequence.
to God. Having performed our duty
looking back to the past only to gair
wisdom for the future, and using the
present wiGely, and looking 70 the future
with hope and trust in God, I am surs
that we may all say, North and South
paraphrasing the wish of the poet, thai
our States may all be distinct as the bill
lows, yet one as the sea-" lApplause.]