Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-08-21
Baynrd ON Hancock.
Senator Bayard has written the

n introduction to a campaign bi0gra
ply of Gen. Hancock by Alvan
!, Southworth. The reader will DC
!. ruse with pleasure and profit tn
D following extract: "Why have tn
/ delegates of the democratic part,
, nominated Gen. Hancock for TIL
presidency He has never held
civil office; true. He has a mill
: tary record as brilliant, as gloriou
| as that of any man in America
Why have the democrats nominal
ed him, a military man? 1t is be
cause this man has proved that Coz
gave him the same characteristic
of conscience, of self-contr0l, which
He gave to good and great Wash
ingtOn. And this is not an excited
utterance, in the heat of a politica
campaign. 1t is the deliberate state,
ment of man striving to see the
right and to follow it. Since the
world was, no influence has ever
proved SO dangerous and corrupting
to mems hearts as the love of power.
What were governments called free
i governments designed for? They
were to protect the weak against
the strong, to protect the minority
against the majority; they were
intended to put checks upon power.
And the great difficulty has been,
and the dangers to liberty have
! arisen from this fact-that When-
ever men have been intrusted with
great power for protecting other
| people, they have been too apt to
use it perpetuate their own sway,
and to become, therefore, tyrants
and not limited governors. There
is the largeness of the human heart
| which has made the name of Wash
| ingtOn so conspicuous that, when
| power was in his hands, when he
Swayed the votes and controlled the
hearts of his fellow-countrymen, he
laid down that power at the end of
his term, and retired to the privacy
of his home. 1t was that which
made him conspicuous among great
men and rulers. Soldiers great as
he are many in history; civil rulers
as great as he are also many i'm his
tory but how many are there in
history who, intrusted with vast
power, voluntarily and willingly
laid it down and stepped back into
the ranks of private life when pow
er could have been held and used ?
Such is the keynote to the nonina-
ton of Gen. Hancock before the
people. He has had power, and
great power; ne has been a military
governor over states Of the Union,
over large portions Of his fellow
cOuntrymen, where his will could
have been made their law; where,
at his pleasure, the liberty of every
man was in peril-and what was
his course? What was his course
alone of the military governors we
have seen in this country for the
last fifteen years ? When he was
asked in Louisiana or Texas to arrest !
men he demanded, Where is the
judicial process? /? When he was
implored to try men by military
commission he pointed to the court |
house with its judge and jury-box.
When he was asked to confine men,
to take from their property or liber-
ty, he asked, 'Where Is the law for |
this p Who also, among the mill
tary governors of the cOuntry-and |
there have been among them sol
diers distinguished in the field, per- /
haps as bold and courageous as ne,
and that is saying a great deal
has refused to exercise, within the
past fifteen years, arbitrary power
when he had it in his hands? And |
this course he followed while the
party in power were centralizing
the federal government because
they controlled. 1t is
the logic-the inevitable logic of
the election of Winfield Scott Han
cock-that the civil shall be SUI
preme above the military power;
that sectionalism shall not be allow
ed as a party cry; that what is
called and known as the bloody
shirt shall be folded up forever,
and that the American people shall
be brought together as one people
under one government, and with
equal rights and affection for it.
That is the result of this mans cleo
ton. These are the logical results
to follow, and he has proved it. /
do not mean that there are not
many who love liberty as well as
he. I do not mean that there are
not many who may know more Of
the details and complications of
civil government; but i do say
there are none who have been so
tried, and have proved that they
possess that elevated, that lofty self
control which induces them to lay
down power at the command of
That is why / main
tain that all over this land he should
be sustained and when republicans
say. How can it be that you, who
have always talked against military
have yet taken man
who is nothing buta military man?
you may answer that we do not
take him because he is military
man; we admire his courage, hon
or him for his gallantry, love him
for his patriotism, and admire his
honesty. But he is something more
than that; he is not only a soldier,
but he is a man of the highest per-
sonal character and intelligence +;
he Is q citizen imbued with the
knowledge of what citizenship
means he Is citizen under q gov
eminent of laws, and he is a believ-
er in the profound maxim that the
civil should be always superior to
the military power. That is the
reason why we have chosen him,
and chosen him at this time. And
Il the war for the Union is to be
God grant it may be-
what better illustration Of the sue
,ess of the war could any one ask
than to find man who had led the
hosts of the Union receiving the
vote of every man who drew sword
against it? Talk of your victories
What victory is like that-the vic
jory that can turn foe into friend,
AN bring back the citizen TO his
allegiance If that be not the
'ruits of craftsmanship, pray tell
ne what il is ?" f7
Paste This In Your Hat.
TMobfIo Iaufafor