The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-09-17
WADE HAMPTON AT ROCKFORD.
THE LOYALTY AND GOOD WILL OF THE
SOUTH MAINTAINED,
An Eloquent Appeal In Behalf of Peace
and Good fellowship.

| CHICAGO, Sept. 1s.-The Times Rockford. ILL.,
| special, gives Wade Hampton's speech before
| the Wi nnebago County Fair to-day. of which the
| following extracts were made Mr.. Hampton
| said:
Mr.. President and my Fellow Citizens of 1lli
nois:
| IL any evidence was needed to show the higf
appreciation in which | hold the inviting which
| in the fact that have travelled more than
| thousand miles that may make my aeknowl-
| edgnents to you for. the honor you have con-
ferred in person. tApplauseJ
And let me say to you, and I say it with in
finite pleasure. that had that journey been far
longer, had its fatigues been greater. the sight
| that meets me here to-day. and the eordialty of
the welcome given by the people of Illinois
would have amply compensated me. Applause
y have felt at liberty to have left my official
duties to participate in an occasion of this sort
however hoy gratifying the honor , might haye been.
| tural Society carried with it such weight that il
| imposed upon me an obligation which | felt |
could not neglect. It was this society year ago
| happily subsided had abated, that was among
this frst to inaugurate that spirit Of reeonelia-
ton which is now spreading with such whole
| some force over this land of ours. Therefore
when they made call upon me, [
AS A SOUTHERN MAN,
felt that II was not only my pleasure. but that it
! was my duty to go and make @ response to
| them in person, and thank them for their
course IL the interest OF history. and to. pledge
noble work IApplausel
| If comprehend the purpose Of your invita-
ton to me, it was not that should speak to you
merely upon agricultural subjects, but that
| should discuss those graver and broader issues
| which are distracting the country. But, my
friends. in doing that you need not fear that
shall violate the proprieties of the occasion by
| giving you political speech. l shall speak to
| YOU for no man, for no patty, nor no section.
put t3r the M whole country [applaasel and in do
and all paftisanship and to place myself upon
that grand. high. plane where true and pure pa
| triOtSm can be fOundg Applause.l
As construe the motives of this movement,
my friends, it is in the interests Of peace. I'm
derstanding, it 50, It was that that brought me
can in the slightest degree assist those gentle
men in the noble. work that they have inaugur-
ated., then my friends, shall feel that my mis-
sion has not altogether failed. The chief thing
had In view in coming here was to promote a
true and correct understanding between the
people Of the North and South. You must ,ad-
| en- on the country have come from misconcep-
| ton OF the purposes each of the other. You re-
| member there is
PROFOUND TRUTH,
| as well as O knowledge Of human nature, en-
bodied in the fable where it is told that in olden
! times a shield. white on one side and black on
the other. was hung at the intersection of two
| roads, and two knights approaching in opposite
directions disputed as to the color Of the
and they periled life each to support his own
| convictions. 1t has seemed to me, in looking
over all these questions, that something. Of the
same sort happened between the North ant
| South. The constitution was the shield viewed
as it was. from different points and eonstruc
ton, the dispute upon the points waxed warmer
and warmer. The sword was called in, and un-
| der its red arbitrament many q brave and true
and knnitEhtly z soldier laid down mis- life in sup.
| pened. my friends. had prudence and not pas
sion ruled the hour. is 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 the work of the pat
riot should tend to tne same end,
Ct NY friends, | speak Of the South We OF the
| OF war. Laughter. We seek peace. We come
now to plead in the interest of peace. and it is
fCneers1 Can you doubt. my friends that the
| South wants peace? Go look at her ruined
| fields, the misrule under which she has lived
FOR TWELVE YEARS,
| and you will doubt it no longer. Do you men
Of Illinois doubt her sincerity? She has been
charged with faults. but among these faults her
critical, or that she spoke with q double tongue.
lmpetuoas. rash. she may be: but, thank God,
false never. Cheers Do you want. proof Of
me il. you can find evidence more conclusive
than is given by her conduct? Need tell you
3 9k eR esbe h9ss ss s1 dsy ysa Wsa the PG e
course of the South then?
Gov Hampton alluded to the possibility of a
civil war in which families would have been
divided in civil war had not the South stood
| firm for peace, and said
tell you, men Of Illinois-and / speak not as
q Democrat: / don't know and don't care
whether | speak to Democrats or Republicans
speak as, an American to Americans. and say
to you to-day that you owe. o debt Of gratitude
to the people OF the South tcheers in Congress
to what some people of the North have called
the Confederate rigadiers-preventing flibus-
ternga1,and who stood by, the result Of the Elec-
toral missions work. During the recent
strikes and riots, too, she evinced her feeling
by upholding laws and standing conservative.
She has given bonds to fate to preserve the
and she wautS Sbn wapta
men of the North, to understand her condition.
She wants you to realize precisely, what she ac-
to understand the motives which have actuated
her not only before and during. but since the
war. for myself: my friends, have
for the past I have taken part in the war, nor
would your respect for me be increased were
to offer any unmanly apology for it. did what
State, as you did yours. and you men Of the
North we're guided by your own consciences as
we Of the South " were re- guided BY ours and say
used all my influence to preserve the Union
LCheers;] was q Union man. tkeneWed cheers.l
to avoid war and when South Carolina cali ed
her sons. as Illinois called hers. obeyed her
command; and. men of Illinois fought you
apologies to make for it, lLouf cheers and
laughter remember, especially that fought
the Eighth Illinois, and thought it one of the
best regiments in the federal army I fought
them very hard indeed. lGreat cheering and
laughter1
Now. nay friends. we went into the war believ-
ing we were right but when the war ended we
surrendered, and want to impress that upon
you. We surrendered in good faith. and
CHALLENGE ANY MAN LIVING
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 as a sol
der or a citizen Loud appausel When 1
sheathed my sword renewed my allegiance to
the United States government. / pledged my
self to support the constitution of the United
States. When took M, official oath the other
day as Governor of South Car pina, | swore to
uphold it as 1t now stands, and so help me God
! intend to keep it. loud cheers] We surren-
dered in good faith. We accepted the cons stitu-
ton of the United States with the amendments.
Though we opposed the latter we accept them
that the constitution shall stand equal for the
setts, Of Illinois and Louisiana. and we have the
right to ask that every citizen in every State
should be equal before the law and under the
constitution of the United States. [Cheers.l
So much. my friends. for the views we enter
tain. 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 statesmanlike-