Year: 1867

AAlh We've u Hhlh Now 0A OuNY-


He Will "Execute the Law in Letter


and in spirit"-FaiIure OF the Attempt


60 Identify Him with the OOpperhoad


Party.


WAsH1NeToN, Sept. 25.-The presence of
General Hancock in this city, and the fact that
he soon assumes command vi the Fifth Mill
taTy District, has given rise TO much specula-
tion as to the course he Will pursue In his new
very pleasant acquaintance formed and per-
petuated amid the perils and hardsnips OF the
field and march, your correspondent had an
opportunity OF reassuring himself OF what he
was fully contident before, to wit, that General
ke Will nH ike rest S@e Sode
execute the laws OF Congress In :, letter
"knoWs no higher authority than the
law he is required to execute. and while would
very cheertully receive aud PROBABLY accept
any suggestions from my military superlors
which did not conflict with the spirit OF the
law, yet whenever such suggestions or orders
involved a grave responsibility, which alone
must assume, should certainly exercise my
own discretion. AS to the legitimate execution
of The law ever becoming Oppressive or tyran-
meal" he continued, depends much upon
whether IL meets with resistance, either pas
sive or open. Under sucn circumstances, the
strict performance of a soldiers duty may be
construed by those whom IL affects as oppres-
stve; but quiet submission to the execution of
the acts OF Congress In spirit and letter will
obviate all appearance OF either oppression or
tyranny"


lie IHrther remarked:-"As to registration
and the elections, have made no recommeu-
daClons Inasmuch as the res possibility is not
mine until l formally assume command, IL
would be a matter of tndeltcacy Tor me to ad-
wise q certain course, where another must
assume that responsibility. Congress having
fixed the first of October as the period when
registration must close, it would certainly be
incumbent upon me, were IN command, TO
see that requirement complied with. And the
registration and revision being both complete
in Louisiana, and the election ordered, it would
require grave reasons of public necessity to In
duce me to make any change, were already
on the ground"


Referring to the effect OF the Amnesty Pro.
clamation, he S siid:-"That regard as entirely
another issue, having nothing TO do with my
duty under the law. l cannot interfere with
It's execution In any event unless presented Ia
the positive provisi1 Ions of the law, when, the
responsibility being mine, the decision must


General Hancock does not seek occasion In
any way TO give expression to is views, but he
speaks his sentiments frankly and Without con-
cealment and knowing the public anxiety to
ascertain his feelings on this subject, nave
taken the liberty of thus presenting some of
the prominent points OF his conversation con-
fident that am doing him no injustice unless
1t be in my inability to present them to the
public with the same degree OF soldierly
caudor and convincing earnestness with which
General Hancock impresses all with whom he


Some very unwise and indiscreet persons at
tempted, in the serenade to General hancock
last night, to give the affair political status by
attaching to it Copperhead odor. But General
Hancock himself so strongly discountenanced
spec Speech, % but by the e' seIeoti9n, through @ a his his
friends, of General Cobb, of Wisconsin, a for





radical of the Republican members of Con-
gress, to make the presentation address,
or the hero of it with any disoyal
political influences resulted in a dead fail
the rigorous atmosphere of that brilliant and
loyal soldier, soon disappeared and Kept ont of
sight when they heard the announcement from
his own lips that he "lznew no authority or
duty higher than the law he was ordered to
II. j. Walker, who made the concluding speech
tanu whose son served long and faithfully as
clothed in a wet blanket by the soldierly utter.
ances that had p ,eceded him. When General
Hancock stepped TO the lights and bade the
crowd good night the serenade to him was at
an end, and the crowd SO understood ii; for
though there were some calls for Black and
others, yet the two unknown and unasKed
individuals who did attempt to speak, were
cried down by the confusion of the crowd, which
declined to listen to any one after General
Hancock had disappeared. He soon after re-
paired to the residence OF General Grant, where,
with other officers, he spent The even ing.
So disgusted were some of the admirers of the
Johnsonian policy with the failure to Identify
General Hancock witt their party, that they
two or three hundred of them followed one of
the bands to the White House, where they had
his Excellency, who prescribed, as usual,
,pious doses of Constitution" for the "perils
of the country" Lest it might be misunder-
stood, and the remedy kill the patient, he re-
peated the prescription several times


1t is to be regretted that some people and
some journals, who profess to be proud of the
fact that they sustained General Hancock
(among others) during the war, should so lack
In Judgment and discretion now as to seek to
Identity him exclusively with that party which
did not sustain him during the war; or that
they should be so lacking in their appreciation
of the proprieties of his position as to expect
from him in advance an announcement of how
he Will act until the circumstances which
require action shall arise. His assurance that
| he execute the law in letter and spirit'
! ought to satisfy the most anxious. And those
| who suppose that General Hancock, any more
| than General Grant or General Sheridan or
| General Sickles, Will so act as to tarnish in
| the least degree a brilliant reputation and
| fame, achieved through fire and blood, and
! more precious than life ITSELF greatly mistake
! the soldier aud the man.-N. Y. Times