The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-09-17
srv onLEANs, SEPTEMBER ~, 1877.
WADE HAMPTONS SPEECH AL
ROCKFORD.

The press agents have not Thought WAGE
Hamptons speech before the Wiiinepago
county fair of enough Importance 70 pe re-
no,ted 90 we have had TO await our exchanges
in order to set IL before the public. Yet we
think IL compares very fayorably with the
series of orations the Presidential starring
troupe youehsafed the country ana certainly
his manly. and yet courtly, utterances OF his
own and Southern feeling, withreference to
the unhappy past present a very striking
,nntrast to the amiable and deprecatory pro-
testations Of our constructive representative
In the Cabinet, Postmaster General Key.
Gov. Hampton's speech shows hearty as
we'll AS deicateapprecation of the occasion, as
well as Of the compliment to himself that 1t
implied and his true regard for the proprie-
ties. his Difference TO his audience, and yet
his proud avowaI of the sincerity and honesty
of himself and his people in the past, give us
every assurance Of man, and prove him a
knightly and worthy representative OF the
South.
He did not fail to pay deserved tribute to
the Winnebago Agricultural Society, which
extended him the invitation and which had,
In far less proptious times, paid similar
courtesy to Presidnt Davis. In this connec-
tion he said
1t was this society year ago. before the pc.
ltical spirit which has now 50 happily subsidized
had abated, that was among the first to inaugu-
rate TINT spirit Of reconciliation which Ia now
spreading with such wholesome force over this
land of ours. Therefore when they made call
onlv nv pleasure, But that Ii was my duty to 20
and make resuonse 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.
Gov. Hampton alluded to the attitude OF
the South during the trying days of the pres
idential count and claimed that to her conser-
vatism and desire for peace was due the
peaceable solution of the difficulty The
same disposition was shown during the recent
labor riots, and these circumstances prove her
sincerity:
She has given bonds to fate TO preserve the
peace, and she wants peace, She wants you,
people Of the North. to understand her condi-
ton. Hhe wants you TO realize precisely what
she accepts as the result OF the war. she wants
tuated her not only before and during, but since
the war. l, FOR myself, my friends. have no con-
cealments to make for the past. ! have taken
part In the war, nor would your respect for me
be Increased were to offer any unmanly apol-
cgy for It,
This liz perfectly true and honest state
ment of Southern sentiment, every word of
which will be Endorsed by his own people and
admired by the brave and honorable men Of
the North.
Gsn. jup ffawfey. said The ether day Of the
old Confederates: "When we find men who
live up to their ideas of honor and right, we
shouldn't ask them to go down on their
knees, or ask them to take back anything
Here was man who could find no ofense
In Wade Hampton's refusal to blush for his
splendid past. On the contrary he would love
him all the more for that past and the rever-
ence In which he held IL, and there are plenty
m ore men just like Gen. Hawley in the North,
and we all feel like Hampton in the South.
Elsewhere Gen Hampton's speech is pub
lished in full.