The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1880-08-19
Judge Jere Blacks Opinion
OF Hancock and His Fssnocs Order
The 'sSpokcn Ac,'' of ~ Soldier
Washington an NaHcOcL's Piuce
wOuad Sf..Yc bone inc Same.

fnOugnt 1hittiigiplF enough. Out
later dispatch, which came 10 me here
yesterday, l now reply to by mail. L
inferred from your interrogatory that
attribuiing to me the authorship of the
orders ana letters issued by General
Hancock while he commanded in Lou
isiana and Texas. Ny denial by teIe-
graph was Intended to cover the whole
ground. Ineither wrote those papers
nor suggested a word of them; had
no precognitien of his views on the
subject TO which they relate and heard
nothing from him about il until he had
taken the public into his confidence.
Indeed, my personal acquaiH q ce
with him was then very slight ana our
] relations not at all intimate. The Opin-
ion thst wOuld offer or that he W ould
require my aid i'm producing such All
order as his No. 40 is absurd. His
determination TO stand by the COnsti-
tuition and the laws needed no ex-
preston but what he could give it
better than any man alive. 1t was
not an argument, not an exposition of
| the law, not an essay on the rights of
man that was wanted at that critical
time. The spoken act of patriotic
soldier in high command, alone could
| save civil liberty from the destruction
| with " hich il was threatened. That
was what Hsncock did aud il was the
iimcliesi lit that the great cause ever
20, from any hand except that OF
Washington.
l hope my admiration of the order
in question aud the gratitude have
fel, 10 him for issuing il can he reason
ably accounted for without supposing
| shat / framed or had any share in
framiug il. The belief was general
among the friends OF constitutional
liberty, and expressed by many others
rs strongly as by me, that General
Hancock had done much and done il
| Drayely to rescue the nation aud save
IL alive, first ifOm secessioHisis and al
terwards from the more dangerous
and more unprincipled 0ligarchv
into whose hands it, fell alter the
war. At the date OF his SER
| vice in Louisiana the beau idea! of Il
.s:rong government" was in opera
| ion at Washing on, conducted by men
who claimed to be absolute masters OF
The country. State rights, and, as
necessary consequence, individual lib
crfy, were vioIently irOdden down
and the Constitution, which should
| nave made US free, was habitually
over-ridden and insuitcd. What those
| men called "the government" was not
only wondrOus strong but corrupt be-
| vond all example in modern Gmes.
| Between its force and its fraud the
people were pOwerless and their des-
pair was aggravated by an indefinable
| dread that the whole army might ri
any moment be used to sink the nation
into still further degradation, il below
| fnat lOwest depth lower deep could
| be reached. 1t was in these circum-
stances that Hancock spoke out those
words of truth and soberness which
reassurcd the friends Of free govern
ment and inspired them with new
hopes. All who were near enough TO
watch the current of that unequal
| contest between absOlutirm and law
| can remember how the enemies of the
Constitution were startled and scared
! when they found that the most bril-
liant general Ofthe Union had official
| Iy declared himself opposed TO their
:. savage policy" They could not go
| upon him. nor send upon him, nor IN
| any manner destroy him, for not only
was The law of the land Ga his side
| but the army was found to be full Of
sympathy with it's cOnspicuOUsly gal
| liant and faithful leader. So they were
tain to content them selves with harm
less sneers aud petty prosecutions.
But they removed him from the place
where his devotion to the COnstitu-
lion was specially interfering with
heir schemes to subvert it. When
hey na ade up their minds TO strsngle
ne liberties of state, to disperse y
| egal legislature by brute force. to in
augurate tor governor shameless ad-
venturer known to have been defeated
at the pole, or to pin the people down
with bayonets while they were plum
| lie, ed by alien thieves who claimed to
| ra th ir representatives, and officers,
somebody else wss employed TO do
| the infamous work. Still more care
fully did they avoid his presence when
the whole nation was to be swindled
at presidential election. 1t was for
such reasons that the heart of the
country warmed TO General Hancock
| as its predestined dellyercr.
IL has often happened that the best
things of the greatest men are aarib
uted to othera who are incapable OF
them. The opinion was indusiriOas!y
lpropagaied and accepted by Il great
,nauy as true that Hamilton wrote the
Farewell Address OF Washington but
the evidence is conclusive which
shows that every word of that
immortal production came from
Washington himself and Hamilton
could not nave written il any more
than he could have made world
Some of Jackson's most characters. ic
papers, bearing the full impress Of his
own mind, were habitnaily credi,cd
10 persons of Tar inferior ability.
When il was charged ag iinsi Jefferson
hat he wrote LOgan's speech, he sol
emnly declared that he was unequal
10 such composition. am not al
fecting modesiy when claim credence
Ior my present denial for similar
reason / could not have written
Hancock No. 40-not because pre-
tend TO be dumb or altogether I'M
SIX He'd in the use of English words,
but because If had undertaken to
write il the chances are ninety mine In
a hundred that my augmentation
would have marred its majestic sim
plicity and greatly diminished its
power. When a public man, especial
iv a military man, meets q grave re-
lsponsibjliiy, saying no more nor less
than just The thing he ought but say
ing that with uncquivocai clearness,
you may be sure he is The interpreter
of his own thoughts AT any rate, the
attempt is unjust 10 basiartlize No. 40
by ASSIGNING 10 it an origin totally diff
ferent from the true one.
Why should my opinion be asked or
volunteered on General Hancock as a
civilian? Anybody else who has
wal ched his life is as good judge as
I, and there are thousands who know
him much better. But since the Ques-
tion is propounded will answer sub
ject to fair cOrrectiOn, that he has in
him the highest and best qualities of a
republican ruler. think his fidelity
to sonnd principles, coupled with his
| INDIGNANT will aufifia him 4 N