Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1880-07-21

} personal testimony to the manly bear
ing of General Hancock, who was the
military.ofiicer in command of the Ma
, tonal capital in 1865. The attempt
TO arouse Catholic hostility to him be.
cause he carried out the orders Of the
J Government, President Andrew John
! son, and Secretary of War Stanton, is
one of the worst exhibitions of party
defamation, and disgraces all who are
} engaged in il. He did not hesitate TO
} express his repugnance at the fearful
duty imposed upon him. Nobody in
Washington had any doubt about his
} sentiments fifteen years ago. Hence
when Judge Clampitt, now of Chicago,
Mrs. Surratt's leading counsel in 1865,
} comes forth, as he does in Don Piatts
= Washington Capital and states as toll
lows, he does what is equally well
known to myself;
Hancock" continued Judge Clam.
pitt, "had no more 10 do with these
details or matters than you had. When
Judge Wylie, with Roman majesty
Of character, issued, almost at the
peril Of his life, the writ Of hdbedS cor
puS in the case of Mrs. Surratt, Presi.
dent Johnson and Secretary Stanton
decided to suspend the writ, and the
execution followed"
ave had the hopessto the last OF a
reprieve and pardon for Mrs, Surratt,
and | waited at the arsenal, hoping
against hope. General Hancock rode
down, and approaching him | asked,
Are there any hopes p He shook his
head slowly and mournfully, and with,
a sort Of gasping catch in his speech,
said 4 am afraid not. No there is
not "
"He then walked off bit-he had
dismounted-and gave some orders to
his OF tderles, and walked about for
moment or two. Returning, he said
to me:
"I have been in many a battle, and
have seen death and mixed with it in
disaster and in victory, I've been in
a living hell of fire, and shell, and
grape.shot, and, by God I'd sooner
be there ten thousand times over than
TO give the order this day for the exc
cution of that poor woman. But |
am a soldier, sworn to obey, and obey
! must
"This is the true and genuine his
tory of all that Hancock had in com.
mon with the affair, He was com
manding, and as Commander and con-
servator of the National Capital, was
compeliantly obedient to the orders of
the Court which sentenced the con.
spirators and the so-called conspirator
to death. he had no voice in the mat
ter and could have no action save as
the agent to sec that the letter of the
law was carried out in an order Of al
phabetic certainty"
Calumny of any kind on General
Hancock is bad cruteh TO help the
ambition of weak men 1t is the last
resort of imbecile partisanship, and
will have no more effect than IL it were
employed to scandalize the dead Pres.
dent johnson or the dead Secretary
Stanton. 1t is like the attempt to say
that his nomination is his surrender TO
the South he conquered, which would
be like saying that when great sol.
dier receives the highest honors from
those he had taken prisoner in battle
he has become their prisoner in turn.
Considering that we Republicans have
been trying to get the South to sup.
port our candidates for the last fifteen
years this logic is very lame indeed.
General Hancock is the iavorite son
of Pennsylvania, and comes before the
people of his native State with an ex-
ceptional record. He is the candidate
of party with a whole people at his
back. His filty.seven years are cloud
ed by no political animosity or defeat.
No man has gathered more friends
around his example. At his homo in
Montgomery county faction and even
Republican criticism ground arms be-
fore the even tenor Of his youthful re-
cord and the stainless pages of his latter
years, and another soldier Of great
fame, Republican, native of the same
hnlIct uuus wv lhunt VollOVuS Ian
cock Montgomery county by great
majority at once.' AT the last election
of tho Legal Legion in Philadelphia
he was chosen its President by accla.
nation, and, as | write, letters, pour
in upon me from all points of the com,
pass in this proud Commonwealth. He
is the unconcious ideal Of o host OF
ardent expectations. 1t isa just yet
dangerous concession that no one ques-
tions and all applaud his courage dan.
gerous because such justice conqners
thousands who hold courage Godlike
virtue. 1t is an eloquent fact that all
men should speak of Hancock's moder
alton, for moderation convinces moro
than courage. But here is favorite
son, who has done more things than
either Buchanan or Mcclellan. The
first was ripe statesman, the second
o consumate soldier; and conceding TO
each all that is claimed by his friends,
neither was so fortunate as Hancock.
Read his own narrative OF the battle
Of Gettysburg which copy from the
Committee on the conduct of the war
pp. 403-40S, taken from his exami-
nation at Washington, March 22d,
1864. Plain, unaffected, and, above all,
honest and impersonal, il reads like
great epic in which the exploits Of the
Greek heroes were described by Homer
in the Hi1d orthe Odyssey or the H'heid
of the Latin Virgil. To those who have
passed through the horrors of those
three days carnage, or who suffered
the tortures Of suspense during those
fearful conflicts this unadorned and
modest recital of General Hancocks
reads like mystic dream, The can
nonade Of that serried column, the hor-
rid slaughter os the combatants, and
the frenzy of the hand-to. hand conflict,
enlisted a thousand pens as they wrung
millions of hearts; but no part OF the
drama is more startling than the serene
composure Of Hancock as he was borne
bleeding from the field, coolly debating
his dispatch to Meade, directing tho
future operations Of the still doubtful
day. We read Of the dying knight
profiering water to the wounded soldier
at his side, or ofthe bleeding command.
or moving his ship full upon the broad !
side Of his adversary but stricken
General who.did not know if he had
been wounded to death, directing the
operationsoia still lighting army, reads
like the exploits Of the gods of mythol-
Il 4 a. n l a = A. a