The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-08-11

:. Blick, indorsing Hancock 5 nomination
JUDGE j. :. BLACK ENDORSES HANCOCK s
DOMINATION.
PARIS, July Is. 1880.
To the Editor of the World
S1R-A cable dispatch reached me at London
/ whence | answered il more briefly perhaps
! than you expected. but thought intellIgibly
enough. our later ispatcb, which came 10
I me re yesterday, l now reply 10 by mail /
inferred rom your interIoga DRY that some
eyIl-dIsp0sed persons had been attributing to
me the authorship of the orders and letters
issued by Gen. Hancock while he mm2nded
in Louisiana and Texas. My denial by tele-
graph was intended to cover the whole ground.
l neither wrote those papers nor suggested
word of them; | had no precognition of his
views the subject 10 which tEey relate, and
heard nothing IRON hlm about 1t until he had
taken the public into his confidence. Indeed,
my personal acqua lntance with him then
very slight, and our relations not at all init
mate. The opinion that | would offer he
would require my aid in producing such An
order as his No. 40 l. absurd. His determiDa-
tIon to stand by the constitution and the laws
needed no expression but what he could give
II better than any man alive 1t was not an
argument. not an exposition on the lay, not
essay tue rights of man that want
ed ut that critical time. The spoken act of
patriot soldier III high command alone could
save civil liberty from the destruction with
" Inch II threatened. That was what Han
cock did, and il the timeliest lit that the
great cause eyer got from any hand except
that Of ashlngtOn. hope my admiration
Of the order in question and the gratitude
have felt TO him tor issuing it can he reason
ably accounted for without supposing that /
framed or had any share in framing it. The !
belief general among the friends of con- !
stituTiouaI liberty, and expressed by many |
others as strongly as BY me, that Hancock lad |
done much. and done il bravely to rescue the |
nation, and save il alive, first from secession
lists, and rfterward from the more dangerous |
and more unprincipled olisarchv into whose !
hands ii fell after the war. At the date of his |
service in Louisiana, the beau ideal OF Il |
'strong government was in fail operation at |
Washington, conducted by who claimed |
to be absolute masters Of the country.
State ghts, and rs necessary consequence,
individual Liberty, Were violently trodden
down. and the constitution, which should have
made Us free, was habitually overrIdden and
insulted. That those men called the govern
ment was not only w0ndrousIy strong, but
corrupt beyQud all example in modern times |
p0Weriess, ana their despair was aggravated
by indetinable dread that the whole army
mi Eht at any moment be used to sink the ma
ton into still further degradation. il bel w
that lowest depth lower deep could be reach
ed. 1t was in these circumstances that Han
cock spoke out those words of truth and sober
ness which treasured the friends of free gov
eminent and inspired them with new hopes. |
All who were near enough to watch the cur
rent Of that unequal contest between absolu-
tlsm and law can remember how the enemies
81 thE INSTITUTION were startled ana scared |
when they found that the most brilliant gem
aral of the Union had officially declared him
self opposed to their savage policy" They
could not 90 upon him, send upon
him, nor in any manner destroy him,
ior not only the law OF the land on
ais side. hut the army was pound to be full OF
with its 0nspiouously gallant and
aithful leader. SO they were fam to content
themselves with harmless sneers and petty
prosecutions. But they removed him from the
place where his devotion to the constitution
vas specially interfering with their schemes
o subYert it. When they made up their minds
o st.argle the liberties of State, to dispense
legal legis ature by brute force. to inaugur- |
tie Governor shameless adventurer |
lnewn TO have been defeated at the polls, or
o pin the people down with bayonets while
hey were pluudered by alien thieves who ,
aimed 70 be their representatives and Off .
eIs. Somebody elsL was employed to dc the J
nfam0Ss work. Stlll more carefully did they | j
void his presence when the whole nation was 4
o be swindled at a Presidential election. 1t
vas for such reasons that the heart of the
ountry warmed to General Hancock as its
deliverer. 1t has often happened
hat the best things Of the greatest men are a
attributed TO orders who are wholly incapable
+ them. The opinion was in1ustriously pro- :
agated and accepted ~ great many as -
rue that Hamilton wrote the fare Fetl address =
f Washington, bat the evidence is conclusive |,
rhich shows that every word of that immartal
reduction came from Washington himselfi
nd Hamilton could not have written it any
lore tndu ne C0uiN nave Haue q W9fIu. OOne |
f Jackson most characteristic papers, bear s.
az the full impress of his own mind, were
abitually credited to persons of far inferior
bility When ii charged against Jeffer
on that he wrote Logan speech, he solemnly a
eclared that he was unequal to such compo- Il
zion. C,
l am not affecting modesty when claim p
redence of my present denial for similar OF
eason. ! could not have written Hancock Z
o. 40-not because pretend 20 he dumb or
nskilled in the use of English words, but be-
lnse if / had undertaken TO write 1t the
lanees are ninety nine in a hundred that ny
rgumen.atian would have marred its majestic %
implicitly and greatly diminished its power il
hen a public man, especially military N
an meets grave responsibility, saying 10 81
ore nor less than Just the thing he ought, but al
wing that with unequivocal clearness, you la
ay be sure he is the interpreter of his own til
oughts. At any rate, the attempt IS unjust pl
bastardize No. 40 by assigning to il an origin OF
tally different from the true one. why
,ould my opinion be asked or volunteered on
en- Hancock as a civilian? Anybody else
ho has lsaiohed his life is as good judge as it
and there are thousands Eho knoR him bst- in
r. But since the question is propounded | Sc
i'll answer, subject to fair correction, that he De
IS in him the highest and best qualities OF 70
publican ruler / think his hdelity 10 SOUND til
.inciples coupled with his sound judgment, | of
i'll entitle him TO rank with the great Presl- By
,nts of former times. i do not compare him if
it'll Washington, for the grandeur of that lie
laracter Is and will remain forever unap- re
aced in his situation, would have acted pre- as
sel5 as he did His patriotism has not the I'M NJ
ilsive arlor of Jaeksons: but his fidelity to co
e truth his love of Justice and his scoEn OF
rong are quite as unmistable. He IS not
cfrinaire like Jefferson, fer his busy life has
fl him no time to study the abstract phlloso-
y Of politics, but his practical good sense 90
lows the right intuitiFely and always catch ~ ~
the nearest way to do IT, If he be elected IL IL
e ability Of his administration will INSPIRE !,
liversai respect, and his moderation anu -
agnamimity will conciliate even his enemies
have the fullest faith that he viii not only
ep his oath to preserve protect and defend
e constitution. but will so carry out It's pro- wi
sions that the great object of lis trainers as as
pressed in the preamble viii be fully accom- &c
ishet-f.To form more perfect Union. to es- an
blish justice TO insure domestic tranquility. tN
provide for the com mon defense, 70 promote SCI
) general welfare and ia secure the blessings frt
liberty 10 Ourselves AID 70 cur pesteFity su
j. s. BLACK.