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lewis m. grist, Proprietor, j Iniiepraiienf Jamil]) $tcfosj!3]jcr: Jor f|i? promotion of % political, Social, ^gricnlfnral airb Commercial Interests of f|t Sontjr, |terms--$2.50 a tear, in advance. VOL. 26. YORKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JULY 8, 188Q. KO. ?he democratic ftouuttef. WINFiair^OOTT HANCOCK. THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF OUR NEXT PRESIDENT. Few men have served their country better j than Winfield S. Hancock, and few deserve more from their countrymen. A big man, with a big bead, a big heart and a big brain, Hancock is the very personification of honor, honesty and capacity. Gallant and unassuming, a soldier in three v/ars, the hero of a hundred battles, he is the raan on whom all Democrats can consistently unite for Presi dent, and who, as a candidate, will undountedly command a larger degree of respect and support from Republicans t,han any other man in the Democratic Party. Clear-headed and self reliant, his career as a judicial statesman' and military governoi, while in command of Louisiana and Texas, gives evidence that if a strong man is needed for President, there is no man in the natior more fit for that position than Winfield S. Hancock. With him as their candidate, the: Democrats will have nothing to explain or defend, and can proudly point to his record, and challenge a comparison of it with the Republican candidate. The people of this country will not! soon forget there was a day in its history when, if Gen. Hancock bac. not shown the highest capacity as a military commander, the fate of the Union would have been sealed. ; It was on that day when the gallant Gen. Reynolds fell at Gettysburg, and Gen. Lee's forces were driving back the Union army. It was Hancock who, at this critical moment, precipitated his corps like a thunderbolt upon the victorious but wearied Confederate columns, hurled them back, and, seizing Cemetery Heights and Round Top, wrested order from confusion and restored confidence to the half-beaten Uuion army. A YOUNG PENN3YLVANIAN. Winfield Scott Hancock was boru in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1824, and is therefore fifty-six years of age. His mother's father was a Revolutionary soldier and was captured at sea and confined in the Dartmoor Prison, England. His great grandfather on his mother's aide, was a soldier under Washington and rendered good service, dying at the close of the Revolution from exposure and hardships endured in the field. Hancock's father served in the war of 1M2 and aftewards became a lawyer of distinct m in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, i .t ' the age of sixteen Hancock was sent to West I Point, and had for classmates U. S. Grant,! fJonrcrd R MeClplhtn. J. F. Reynolds. J. L. I Reno, Burnside, Franklin and \V. F. Smith, I He graduated in 1844, June 30, and in 1845 G served with his regiment in the Indian Terri tory as a second lieutenant in the Sixth Infantry. In 1847 we find him in Mexico, and ( conspicuous for gallantry at the National Bridge, San Antonio, Centreras, Chorubusco, Molino del Rey and the capture of the City of Mexico. He was brevetted for gallantry at the battles of Contreras and Churubnsco. In 1849 and 1850 he served with his regiment as quartermaster and adjutant, and in the fall j of 1850 was married in St. Louis to Miss Almira Russell, the daughter of a prominent merchant of that city. He took part in several Indian campaigns in the West, and in 1856 was engaged in the Southern Florida war. He served in the expedition against Utah, and in 1859 went to California. Upon the secession of the Southern States, he took high ground iu favor of the Union and did much in 1861 to check the secession spirit then seiziug upon California. He ap plied to Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, for a commission in the volunteers, but the j Governor being slow in replying to his ap plication, he obtained a leave of abseuce and came East. His earnestness impressed Gen. Scott, who ordered him to report to Gen. McClellau, aud on the formal recommendation of McClellan, President Lincoln, on the , 23d of September, 1861, commissioned Hancock a Brigadier-General of Volunteers. He was assigned to a brigade in the division of Gen. Baldy Smith and reported for duty at Chain Bridge, Virginia, in the army of the Potomac. HIS FIRST BATrLE. " ? ? -1 TT-._ i. \xr__ His nrst name in Virginia was in ?? urwick Courthouse, uear Yorktown, and he led his brigade in person with distinguished gallantry. At Williamsburg, Hancock bore a conspicuous part. The Confederates having repulsed Hooker and exposed Hancock's left flank, he determined to retire and ordered the batteries back to the slope, where his brigade line stood. The Confederate commander" seeing the movement, at once advanced his troops, and they came down on Hancock's right in two superb lines of battle, cheering tremendously and calling out, "Bull Run ! Bull Run ! That flag is ours." Hancock sat on his horse behind the centre of his line, waiting with imperturbable coolness the favorable moment. Calling on the men to stand fast and keep their pieces loaded, Hancock waited until the Confederates were within 100 yards, then dashing forward on his horse, with head bared and swinging _1 I I" HIS (JUL, lie SMUUbCU. rui ?iiiu . luinmu i i The men saw the towering form of their j General leading them, and springing up, with : a shout that made the hills ring, they precipitated themselves upon their assailants. The Confederates faltered, halted for a moment, wavered and then fell back slowly. Every inch of ground was stubbornly contested; still Hancock forced them off the field, nor did they again advance until the Union reinforcements came up and rendered the victory secure. It was almost night, and no pursuit could be ordered in the darkness. The action of Hancock had rendered Williamsburg untenable, and that night the Confederates abandoned it. Hancock's name was heralded from Maine to California, and in a few hours, from an unknown subordinate, he had leaped into fame and assumed a National reputation. McClellan telegraphed the President, "Hancock was superb to day," an expression which all who saw him towering above his men, leading them to battle, knew to be only just. HIS SERVICES IN THE PENINSULA. On the 27th of June, 18G2, Hancock, who was then at Golding's Farm, in the Peninsula, received a severe attack from the Confederates. He repulsed it and continued the fighting far into the night, the contending forces firing at each other at close quarters in the dark. This battle of Hancock's was one of the grandest spectacle}} of the war, and will never be forgotten by the Army of the Potomac. On the 28th of June, 1862, Hancock was heavily engaged at Garnett's Hill, as he was at Savage Station on the 29th and ! at White Oak Swamp on the 30th. His J troops fought four battles in as many days,! and in every one of them were led by Hancock iu person. He never kn$w fear himself and could not tolerate it in others. An officer, who had his men in a tight place, rode up to the General and said : "General, my i meu are all being killed; may I not withdraw them a little out of the fire?" "No," replied Hancock, "I hope we shall be able to advance soon." "Then we shall all be killed," despondingly replied the officer. "Very well," said Hancock; "return to your troops, and if you fall you will have the /-.> 1, nnminff will KoVO dlpd fi">r i civii^ia^iiuu ui iviiunuig j vu <?m t v v..v?. .v. your couutry." For his services in the Peninsula campaign, Gen. McClellan recommended Hancock for promotion to the rank of major-general of volunteers and the brevets of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel in the regular army. ALWAYS AT IT. In September, 1862, Hancock commanded his brigade in the battle of South Mountain and afterwards at Antietam. In this latter engagement, when Gen. Richardson fell, Hancock was sent to take command of that gallant officer's division. In November, 1862, Hancock received his commission as major-general, and on the 13th of December was engaged in the desperate and bloody assault on Mayre's Heights. His behavior on this occasion was in keeping with the high reputation he had achieved. He was, with his division, in the thickest of the conflict, leading bis men as far as it was possible, under the circumstances, for men to go, and only falling back when attempt at further advance was foolhardy and useless. In this fight, as, in fact, in almost every one in which he was engaged, he seemed to wear a charm on his life. He received in the "slaughter pen," as the rank and file were wont to call the position they occupied in this " ' if \ A a __i : ,lA ngnt, a sugm xiesu ?ouuu, uuiuujg uut utuciwise unharmed, though with uniform perforated with outlets. In this battle Hancock lost one half of his command, killed and wounded, and all his aides were wounded. At Chancellorsville, in May, 1863, he commanded his division and covered the roads leading towards Fredericksburg, where, amid surrounding disaster, although constantly attacked. his troops maintained their position to the last, arid formed the rear guard of the army in moving off the field. The General had his horse shot under him in the battle. Early in June he relieved Gen. Couch in command of the Second Corps, and later in the same month was assigned by Mr. Lincoln to be its permanent commander. In one of his battles Gen. Hancock placed one of his brigades in a certain positiou and said to the commander: "General, whatever, happens, I want you to hold this ground." The brigade commander was never very strong on the battlefield, and on that occasion seemed to be particularly weak and anxious, and as the General turned to ride away to another part of the field he followed him a short distance aud called out : "General, where are my reserves Gen. Hancock turued and, riding up to where the officer was standing, said, severely : "General, it is none of vour business where vour reinforcements are; that is my business. I have placed you here to hold this ground ; that is all you are required to do, and I want it done, sir." The brigade commander returned to his line with a sad step and sorrowful expression of countenance. ??T GETTYSBURG. It was at Gettysburg Hancock again loomed up before the country as a hero. He was commanding the rear guard of the army in its advance on Gettysburg, and had reached Tarrytown, the place where his grandfather, one hundred years before, had started to escort one thousand Hessian prisoners of Burgoyne's army to Valley Forge, when Gen. Meade sent him an order to hasten to the front and assume command of the troops there. The report had reached Meade of the fall of Gen. Reynolds, and the check and repulse of the advance, and his mind at once turned to Gen. Hancock as the man above all others best qualified to replace Reynolds and restore order to the head of the army. Hancock was not the ranking General, but in the critical state of affairs Meade, knowing him to be the bes' man, did not hesitate to assign him. On his way from Tarrytown to the battlefield, Gen. Hancock met the ambulance containing the dead body of Gen. Reynolds. When he arrived on the field he found the army in confusion, a retreat had already begun. Planting some infantry and batte ries on Cemetery Hill, he threw bis whole energy into the battle and checked the retreat. Schwerin and Saxe were said to be worth each a reinforcement of 10,000 men to an army; Torstensin was rated as equal to 15,000, and the Duke of Willington said the arrival of Napoleon on a battle field was a better reinforcement to the French army than the accession of 40,000 fresh troops. What, then, shall we say of the value of Gen. Hancock's arrival at the critical moment on the battle-field at Gettysburg, a battle that by common conseut is now admitted to have decided the fate of the Union and fixed the final result of the war? Of Gen. Hancock's individual action at Gettysburg, it would require a volume to tell. His was really the action of the army, onrl T^nnnrl rP/\?\ Onln'a Will anfl Pompfprv I Heights were his creations. He sent word to Gen. Meade that was the place to fight, and seizing the favorable positions, with the eye of a consummate general, hung on to them with the advance until Meade brought up the whole army and delivered his buttle. THE INCARNATION OF WAR. Hancock was grand and magnificent in the battle of Gettysburg and seemed the very incarnation of war. On the second day he was at Cemetery Heights during the frightful cannonade when Gen. Lee concentrated the fire of one hundred and fifty guns on the Union lines. The air was full of missiles ; streams of shot and shell screamed and hissed everywhere ; it seemed as though nothing could live under that terrible fire?men and horses were torn limb from limb; caissons exploded one after another in rapid succession, blowing the gunners to pieces. The infantry hugged the ground closely and sought every slight shelter that the light earthworks afforded. It was literally a storm of shot and shell, like the fall of raindrops or the beat of hailstones. Those who had taken part in every battle of the war never had seen anything like that cannonade, and the oldest soldiers began to be uneasy for the result. Hundreds and thousands were stricken down ; the shrieks of animals and screams of wounded men were appalling; still the awful rushing sound of flying missiles went on and apparently never would cease. It was then that the firmest hearts had begun to quail, the army witnessed one of the grandest sights ever beheld by any army on earth. Suddenly a band began to play "the Star Spangled Banner," and Gen. Hancock with his staff?Maj. Mitchell, Capt. Bingham, Capt. Parker, Capt. Bronson?with corps flag flying in the hands of Private Wells, appeared on the right of his line uncovered and rode down the front of his men to the left. The soldiers held their breath, expecting every moment to see him fall from his horse pierced by a dozen bullets, but still he rode on, while the shot roared and crashed around him, every moment tearing great gaps in the ranks by his side. Stormed Rt by shot and shell, lioldly he rode, and well. Every Union soldier felt his heart thrill as lie witnessed the magniflcent courage of his General, and he resolved to do seething that day which would equal it in oaring. Justas Hancock reached the left of his line the Confederate batteries ceased to play, and their infantry were seen emerging from the woods and advancing up the hill. Hancock knew the artillery fire had been intended to demoralize his men and cover the advance of the infantry, which was to make the real attack. Turning his horse he rode slowly up his line from left to right, holding his hat in bis hand, bowing and smiling to the troops as they lay flat on the ground. Hardly had he reached the right of the line when the men, who, inspired by the courage of their General, could now hardly restrain themselves, received orders to attack the advancing Con federate*. Eighty guns, which Hancock had concentrated, opened their brazen mouths and streams of blue bullets flew from the muzzles of the Union rifles to the breasts of the Confederates. It was an awful day, and Longstreet's "Old Guard of the South," melted away like wax under that terrible fire. Thirty stands of colors and au immense number of small arms were taken. Hancock was everywhere, riding the storm of battle as if he bore a charmed life. At last, just in the moment of victory, he was seen to reel in his saddle and would have fallen to the ground had he not been helped from his horse. A ball had pierced his thigh, and for some time it was thought the wound was mortal. "Tell Gen. Meade," said Hancock, addressing his aide, Col. Mitchell, "that the troops under my command have repulsed the enemy and gained a great victory. The enemy are now flying in all directions in my front." When the aide delivered this message to Gen. Meade and added his General was dangerously wounded, Meade said: "Say to Gen. Hancock, that I am sorry he is wounded and that I thank him for myself and for the country for the services he has rendered today." Gen. Meade, afterwards, in commenting on' the battle of Gettysburg, said to General R. C. Drum: "No commanding general ever had a better lieutenant than Hancock. He was always faithful aud reliable." UNDER GRANT. Hancock did not recover from his wound until December, 1863, when, although still quite lame, he reported for duty, and was sent North to recruit his corps. He was tendered a reception at Independence Hall by the citizens of Philadelphia, and received the hospitalities of the cities of Boston, Albany and New York. In March, 1864, he rejoined his corps and participated in the battles of the Wilderness with Grant. He commanded the Second and parts of the Fifth and Sixth Corps, amounting in all to 50,000 men. He fought at Alesop's House and Spottsylvania Courthouse. He was at North Anna, and did most of the fighting there. He commanded at the bloody assaults on Cold Harbor, and did his best to execute Grant's orders. The fighting was desperate, and Hancock's loss could not have fallen far short of 12,000. He was on the south side of the James River, and made the assaults on Petersburg. He was with Sheridan, and attacked the Confederates at Deep Bottom, taking four pieces of artillery, 600 prisoners and three stands of colors. He was at Petersburg and witnessed the explosion of the mine on the morning of July 30. The advance up the James River, August 12, 1864, was under his command and he handled the Second and Tenth Corps of the Army of the James nud Gregg's Di vision of cavalry with such consummate skill as to elicit expressions of admiration from even Gen. Grant. He fought the battle of Reams' Station, August 25, and had his horse shot under him. He fought the battle of Boydton Road, capturing 10,000 prisoners and two stands of colors. With the battle of Boydton, Gen. Hancock's active fighting in the war ceased. President Lincoln, who had learned to place a high estimate on Hancock's abilities, ordered him to Washington and directed him at once to organize an army of 50,000 veterans from discharged volunteers, who had served an enlistment. The use of this army was alone prevented by the surrender of Lee and the ending of the war.. At the close of the war Hancock commanded the Army of the Shenandoah, relieving Gen. Sheridan. This army consisted of 35,000 men of all arms, and was destiued to move South with Hancock's 50,000 veterans and join Gen. Sherman, but Joe Johnston threw up the sponge and rendered the movement unnecessary. AFTER THE WAR?SUBORDINATION OF THE MILITARY TO THE CIVIL AUTHORITY. VVheu the assassihation of Mr. Lincoln took place, General Hancock was ordered to Washington to take command of the troops collected there, and was subsequently kept there, by President Johnson, during the days of the trial and execution of the conspirators. He had nothing whatever to do with the details of guarding or care of the prisoners ; that duty was devolved upon General Hartranft, who had command of the Arsenal, where the prisoners were confined, and who was charged with seeing that the order for their execution was properly carried out. The day before the execution General Hancock, as military head of the Department, had served upon him by the Marshal of the District, a writ of habeas corpus, which had been sued out by the counsel of Mrs. Surratt. He promptly forwarded it to President Johnson, his superior and Commander in-Chief. Its reception was acknowledged by the President, who directed the suspension of the writ. General Hancock could do no more. lie saw then that the only hope for Mrs. Surratt lay in the power of her daughter to move the President's heart. He so informed her, and gave her every facility in his power to gain access to the President. So great was his anxiety in regard to the looked-for pardon or reprieve, that he placed a line of mounted sentinels from the White House to the place of execution, that the words of grace, if spoken at the last minute, should go surely and swiftly. But no such words were spoken. General Hancock's gallantry at the battle of Spottsylvania had been rewarded on March 13, 1865, by his promotion to the rank of brevet Major General in the army of the United States. He was in command of the middle department from July, I860, to August, 1866, when he was transferred to the department of the Missouri, and while in command there conducted an expedition against the hostile Indians on the plains. On the 26th of August, 1867, General Hancock was assigned by President Johnson to the command of the department of the gulf. He assumed command on November 29, establishing his headquarters at New Orleans, and on that day issued the first of that series of orders in which he defined the relations that should exist in times of peace between the military and civil authorities, and declared that the former should be subordinated to the latter. His first order read as follows : "The general commanding is gratified to learn that peace and quiet reigns in this department. It will be his purpose to maintain this condition of things. As a means to this great end he regards the maintenance of the civil authorities in the faithful execution of ' the laws as the most efficient under existing j circumstances. I "In war it is indispensable to repel force by force, and overthrow and destroy opposition to lawful authority. But when insur; rectionary force has been overthrown and peace established, and the civil authorities are ready and willing to perform their duties, the military power should cease to lead, and the civil administration resume its natural and rightful dominion. Solemnly impressed with these views, the General announces that the principles of Araer! ican liberty still are the lawful inheritance i of this people, and ever should be. The 1 right of trial by jury, the habeas corpus, ; the liberty of the press, the freedom of speech, and the natural rights of persons, and the rights of property must be preserved, i "Free institutions, while they are essential i to the prosperity and happiness of the peo ! pie, always furnish the strongest inducements j to peace and order. Crimes and offenses ' committed in this district must be referred to ! the consideration and judgment of the regular civil tribunals, and those tribunals will be supported in their lawful jurisdiction." On the 5th of December he agaiu defined his position in another military order, in which he said: "The true and proper use of military power, besides defending the national honor against foreign nations, is to uphold the laws and civil government, tnd to secure to every person residing amoug us the enjoyment of life, liberty and property. It is accordingly made by an Act of Congress the duty of the commander of this district to protect all persons in these rights, to suppress disorder and violence, and to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace and criminals." In continuation, he referred to one of the military orders issued by General Sheridan, his predecessor in command of the department, and revoked it in these terms : "The commanding general has been .officially informed that the administration of justice, and especially of criminal justice, in the courts is clogged, if not entirely frustrated, by the enforcement of paragraph No. 2 of the military order numbered Special Orders 125, current series, from these headquar ? .1 /M.I rt "4 I A T\ ters, issued on tne Z4tn or August, a. u. 1867, relative to the qualifications of persons to-be placed on the jury lists of the State of Louisiana. "To determine who jhall and who shall not be jurors, appertains to the legislative power: and until the laws in existence regulating this subject shall be amended or changed by that department of the civil government, which the Constitutions of all the States un- ( der our republican system vest with that pow er, it is deemed best to carry out the will of , the people as expressed in the last legislative Act upon this subject. , "The qualification of a juror under the law ( is a proper subject for the decision of the , courts. The commanding general, in the discharge of the trust reposed in him, will maintain the just power of the judiciary, ( and is unwilling to permit the civil authorities and laws to be embarrassed by military , interference. * * He therefore directs , that paragraph No. 2, Special Orders No. 125, relating to the qualification of jurors, , be revoked, and that trial by jury be hence- j forth regulated and controlled by the Constitution and civil laws." ' | On the first of January, 1868, he found it necessary to rebuke the persistent attempts to , force him into interfering with matters ex- , clusively belonging to the civil tribunals, and accordingly issued an order saying: "Applications have been made at these headquarters implying the existence of an arbitrary authority in the commanding gen- j eral touching purely civil controversies. One | petitioner solicits this action, another that, and each refers to some special consideration ( of grace or favor which he supposes to exist, < and which should influence this department. The number of such applications, and the | waste of time they involve, make it necessary | to declare that the administration of civil justice appertains to the regular courts. The , rights of litigants do not depend on the views ( of the General. They are to be adjudged , and spttlpfl nrpfirdinor tr\ the laws Arhit.rarv fa *v, www J power, such as he has been urged to assume, has no existence here. It is not found in the laws of Louisiana or Texas ; it cannot be de- , rived from any Act or Acts of Congress ; it is restrained by a constitution and prohibited , from action in many particulars. The Major , General commanding takes occasion to re- > peat that, while disclaiming judicial functions in civil cases, he can suffer no forcible re- < sistance to the execution of processes of the courts." These -orders are the only ones issued after < the war was brought to a close, by any commander of a military department, that showed any conception of the constitutional limitation of his powers, or the recognition of the ( principle of the subordination of the military , to the civil power, in time of peace. They j were very distasteful to the authorities at i Washington, and the extreme wing of the i Republican party, and the consequence was, i that two mouths after the issue of the order last quoted, he was transferred to the military division of the Atlantic, where he remained until General Grant took hisseat as President 1 of the United States, when, on May 17, 1869, he was ordered to take command of the department of Dakota. He continued in charge 1 of that department until December 3, 1872, when he was transferred back ta the military department of the Atlantic, which he now holds, with his headquarters at New York. CONTROVERSY WITH GRANT. General Hancock's difficulty with General Grant grew out of the military orders above mentioned. When in Washington, on his way to take command of the military division of the Atlantic, Hancock, who resented the revocation of one of those orders by General Grant, who assumed to do so in his quality as General in-Chief, treated General Grant with scant courtesy. The latter resented it subsequently by placing Hancock's juniors in rank in commands to which he was entitled. A sharp and voluminous correspondence subsequently ensued between General Hancock onrl fJonorol .Qhormnn nn fln'a Qtikio^t Ill I j v.* V/V1IV1U1 IJ11UI VI* fiitvJ UUUJVVU| vu vi al Sherman being then Commander-in-Chief, | but acting under the orders of President | Grant. POLITICAL HONORS. In the Democratic National Convention held in New York in July, 1868, he was a : candidate for the Presidential nomination, rej ceiviug 331 votes on the first ballot out of ! 317, which number gradually increased to , j 144* on the eighteenth ballot, this being, I with the exception of 145* cast for Pendle| ton, on the twelfth ballot, the greatest number of votes given to-any candidate until the twenty-second ballot, when Horatio Seymour received the unanimous vot i of the convention. General Hancock was freely mentioned for the Presidency again in 1872, when Horace Greeley was nominated. In 1869 the Democratic nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania was tendered him, but he declined it. HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. Hancock, in personal appearance, is tall, well formed and very handsome. His height cannot be less than six fifet two inches, and he weighs fully two hundred and forty pounds. He will make the fiuest looking President who ever sat in the White House, except, possibly, George Washington. His form towers above other men, and he attracts attention by his mere looks wherever he goes. His eyes are blue, and have a benignant and mild expression when in repose, but inspiring when in danger. His manner is dignified and knightly, and he is courtesy itself. He is always magnetic, and draws men to him by bis kindness and gentle interest in their affairs. His sympathies are easily aroused, and he becomes intensely concerned for the sorrows and misfortunes of others, striving in every way to relieve them, as though their troubles were his own. Hancock's kindness to his subordinates always won not only their love,, but also their confidence, and caused them to i rely on him as a frier 1 as well as a com-, raander. He gave a mi n a good opinion of himself, and made each tie feel he was of more importance than he ever before suspect- j ed. It was this which caused him to-have j such power over his officers and men in battle, and made them prefer rather to die than forfeit the eood ODinion of their leader. Gen. Hancock had two children, Russell Hancock and Ada Elizabeth Hancock. The latter died in New York, of typhoid fever, when 18 years of age. She was a young lady of. great promise. Russell Hancock, the General's only eon, is living and is a planter in Mississippi. A volume would not contain an account of all the heroic deeds of a man like Hancock. A glorious soldier, a steadfast friend, a useful citizen, he is all that is noble, manly and brave in poor fallen humanity. Thousands upon thousands of his old soldiers will gladly vote for him, and almost every citizen in the land will think twice before refusing his suffrage to such a candidate as Winfield Scott Hancock, the patriotic soldier, accomplished gentleman, consummate general and fairminded statesman. HI8 ANCESTRY. General Hancock comes from Anglo-Saxon stock, the ancestral line on the maternal side leading back to the English and Welsh, and on the paternal to the English, Irish and Scotch. His father's fhraily were originally Episcopalians and Friends, and his mother's Baptists. His mother's family have resided in Pennsylvania from the time of William Penn, and have been living in what is now Montgomery County for the last 150 years. In Hatfield township, in that County, may now be seen the old family homestead, with the figures 1764 on the gable-end of the more recent part; the older part, built long before, falling into decay. Among the incidents related of his mother's family is one illustrating the dangers to which the early settlers were exposed. During the FreQch-Indian wars before the revolution, in the absence of the men on a campaign, the Indians attacked the house in which they then resided and drove the women to the attic, which they defended'with spirit, chopping the fingers of the 3avages with hatchets as they climbed up to kill or capture them. The Indians finally set fire to the dwelling, but the neighbors came to the rescue, extinguished the flames, and saved the family. The General is a direct descendant of the Hancocks who came to this country in the early period of its settlement, and during the Revolutionary War his ancestors on both aides were engaged, either on sea or land, in the struggle for liberty and independence. His grandfather on his father's side was captured at sea, elaimed as a British subject, and imprisoned in Dartmoor prison, England. His great-grandfather and grandfather on bis mother's side served in the Continental Armies. The former died soon after the and of the Revolutionary War in consequence a . I i i mi _ i. ot exposure in tne neia. ine rniier weni into the Revolutionary ranks when a boy of 15 years of age, and five times, as a member of different regiments, returned to the field. During the war, when at Tarrytown, Md., his command was called upon to escort BurCoyne's prisoners, captured at Saratoga, to Valley Forge. For his services in the Revolution he received a pension until his death. General Hancock's father was a native of Philadelphia, and as a boy of 15 sought the field on the banks of the Delaware when the British threatened the city during the war of 1812. He was afterwards known as a lawyer of repute and a citizen of sterling character in Montgomery county, Pa., having moved to the County-seat at Norristown when the subject of this sketch was only four years old. It was at Swede's Ford on the site of Norristown, that Washington had crossed the Schuylkill in his campaign of Valley Forge, and it was here, in full view of the historic hills, that young Hancock's early years were passed. Born and raised in a patriotic atmosphere, with heroic blood in his veins, his martial spirit and love of justice 30on gave promise of the brilliant future he was destined to command. As a boy he was uoted for his impartiality when appealed to as an arbiter in school-boy disputes, and for his native pride of character. HIS RANK. General Hancock is the senior Major General of tbe array, his commission dating from July 26,1866. The commission of General 3cho6eld dates March 4, 1869, and that of General McDowell November 25, 1872. Of the six brigadiers, Generals Ord, Augur and Crook, were made such after Hancock became Major General. THE PLATFORM. CORRECT TEXT OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ADOPTED AT CINCINNATI. The Democrats of the United States, in Convention assembled, declare: 1. We pledge ourselves anew to the constitutional doctrines and traditions of the Democratic party, as illustrated by the teachings and example of a long line of Democratic statesmen and patriots, and embodied in the platform of the last National Convention of the party. 2. Opposition to centralization and to that dangerous spirit of encroachment which tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. No sumptuary laws; separation of Church and State for the good of each ; common schools fostered and protected. 3. Home Rule; honest money, consisting of gold and silver and paper convertible into coin on demand; the strict maintenance of the public faith, State and National, and a tariff for revenue only. 4. The subordination of the military to the civil power, and a genuine and tnorougn reform of the civil service. 5. The right to a free ballot is a right preservative of all rights, and must and shall be maintained in every part of the United States. 6. The present Administration is the representative of a conspiracy only, and its claim of right to surround the ballot-boxes with troops and deputy marshals, to intimidate and obstruct the election, and the unprecedented use of the veto to maintain its corrupt and despotic powers, insult the people and imperil their institutions. 7. We execrate the course of the Administration in making places in the Civil Service as a reward for political crime; and demand a reform by statute which shall make it forever impossible for a defeated candidate to bribe his way to the seat of a usurper by billeting villains upon the people. 8. The great fraud of 1876-77, by which, upon a false count of the Electoral votes of two States, the candidate defeated at the polls was declared to be President, and for the first tir e in American history the will of the people was set aside under a threat of military violence, struck a deadly blow at our system of representative government. The Democratic party, to preserve the country from | the horrors of a civil war, submitted for the time in firm and patriotic faith that the people would punish this crime in 1880. This issue precedes and dwarfs every other. It imposes a more sacred duty upon the people than ever .addressed the consciences of a nation of freemen. 9. The resolution of Samuel J. Tilden not again to be a candidate for the exalted place to which he was elected by a majority of his countrymen, and from which he was excluded by the leaders of the Republican party, is received by the Democrats of the United States with deep sensibility, and they declare their confdence in his wisdom, patriotism and integrity unshaken by the assaults of the common enemy; and they further assure him that he is followed into the retirement he has chosen for himself by the sympathy and respect of his fellow-citizens, who regard him as one who, by elevating the standard of public morality and adorning and purifying the public service, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and his party. 10. Free ships and a living chance for American commerce upon the seas, and on the land ; no discrimination in favor of transnnrfa?!nn linaa nnrmrfltinTia nr mnnnnnlm ^Ul M?blUU 1 IUW| VU? |/W? wt H.VMWJ' VW.. 11. Amendment of the Burlingame treaty; no more Chinese immigration, except for travel, education and foreign commerce, and it even carefully guarded. 12. Public money and public credit for public purposes solely, public land for actual settlers. ' % 13. The Democratic party is the friend of labor, and the laboring man, and pledges itself to protect him alike against cormorants and the Commune. 14. We congratulate the country upon'the honesty and thrift of a Democratic Congress which has reduced the public expenditures $40,000,000 a year; upon the continuation of prosperity at home, and the National honor abroad, and, above all, upon the promise of such a change in the administration of the Government as shall insure us genuine and lasting reform in every department of the public service. A NEWSPAPER SALAD. ALL SORTS OF OPINIONS, BUT FAR MORE OIL THAN VINEGAR. [Boston Herald?Rep.] The Democratic Convention has done well. [Portland Argus?Dem.] Gen. Hancock would command a support wider and higher than mere party. [Wilmington Every Evening?Dem.] The Independent class will demand some thing more than simple innocence in a candidate. [Philadelphia Star?Rep.], Perhaps the most formidable candidate that could be selected from among the large array of Presidential aspirants as Garfield's competitor. [Boston Post?Dem.] A happier result than the nomination of the great soldier-statesman could not have been achieved. It combines solid merit with universal popularity. [Boston Advertiser?Rep.] Such a nomination wants the positive qualities which an active interest and participation in the great civil affairs of the country can alone give. [Baltimore Sun?Ind.] Instead of a canvass of personal villification and detraction, or of appeals to sectional feeling and by-gone animosities, we may have an old-fashioned contest of principles and measures. [Wilmington (Del.) News?Rep.] We warn our Republican friends to be up and doing. There is no time to lose. If we win, it will be after one of the most hotly contested and evenly divided battles in the history of the country. [Philadelphia Telegraph?Rep.] Is there anything whatever in Gen. Hancock's career to indicate that he will?if he is elected?have any better success in dealing with the complexities of the executive situation than Grant had ? [Boston Globe?Dem.] The ticket represents the real issue on which the campaign will be fought. It means the supremacy of civil power, a buried past, a prosperous future and an honest government in the hfcnds of honest men. [Baltimore American?Rep.] His nomination is the appeal of the Democratic party to the soldier vole. In its final analysis it is not statesmanship but demagogary. He is weaker than either Bayard or Hendricks, or perhaps Payne or Jewett. [Toledo Blade?Rep.] Gen. Hancock's nomination will impose as little upon the people as did Gen. McCIellan's or Horace Greeley's. They.will care as little for his war record, when debased to serve the purposes of a screen, as they did for the infinitely more brilliant one of Gen. Grant. [Washington Republican?Rep.] The nomination of a noble soldier, made from the most ignoble motives, the result of wretched rivalries, was the death knell of the Whig party. The nomination of Hancock came by reason of exactly similar political tactics and beliefs. The result, in our opinion, will follow the parallel. [Aiiooim iriuuiit)?jncp.j The Democrats have certainly displayed wisdom in their choice, as he is the most available man they could have placed in the field. His record is clean and brilliant, and he will have to be fought solely as the representative of principles which the Republicans hold to be atvariance with the best interests of the country. [Pittsburg Dispatch?Rep.] For the first time in almost a score of years the Democracy have won public applauca. By the nomination of Winfield S. Hancock, a soldier of the Republic and an irreproachable citizen, they have re-established some 1 # * 1*1? 1 ... 11 ? Claim 01 political sagacity as wen as iu au apparent desire to get en rapport with the best sentiment of the people. [Baltimore Gazette?Dem.] Brave ip the field, sagacious in the council chamber, loyal to the flag of his country and devoted to the great cause of constitutional freedom, always an uncompromising Democrat, but never a narrow-minded partisan, he commands to day to as great an extent as any man living the respect and confidence of the millions of free men over whose destinies he will be called upon to preside. [Washington Post? Dem.] Happy is it for the Democratic party, fortunate is it for the people of the United States, that the delegates at Cincinnati made so wise a decision. Without diparagejnent of other candidutes, each of whom had his peculiar elements of strength, it may be safely asserted that no name would have evoked greater enthusiasm or infused into the public mind stronger confidence of victory than the name of this gallant son of the Keystone State. [Boston Journal?Rep.] Next to ex-Governor Seymour, Gen. Hancock is the strongest man that the Democrats could nominate. We would have our Republican friends fully understand this. There is, however, this thing about it: Among thoughtful men and those known as independent voters, Gen. Hanoock will lose strength with the lapse of time. They will see that be has no special qualifications for the office, no experience in civil life and no familiarity with civil administration. [Springfield Republican?Jnd.] But why Hancock? In fitness for the Presidential office he does not rank before the country with Bayard, Randall and Seymour, men of proved ability and political independence, experience, in public office and known sound and considered ve opinions, but in availability as a candidate, where the illumination of a long public career is often a weakness, Gen. Winfield S. Hancock is stronger than these men of Presidential t.tature. The knowji is good, and the argument that candidate Hancock will rise to the responsibilities of greater opportunities is glausible and effective. He is strong in the outh, popular in the North and obnoxious nowhere. GEN. HANCOCK !AND MRS. SURRAT. 80ME 8TALE SLANDERS REFUTED., A correspondent of the New York Hwald visited Bishop Keane, of the Catholic Church, at Richmond, Va., Thursday, and asked him if the charges as to Gen. Hancock's connection with the Surrat case would affect him with the Catholics. He answered that most undoubtedly they would, and with Protestants as well as Catholics and all others, if the truth were riot told. Since these charges, however, had been denied and had been disproved as preposterous and false, he could not see how Gen. Hancock could be affected by them. The Bishop then referred to the fact that Rev. J. A. Walter, pastor of St. Patrick'8 Church, Washington, *the spiritual adviser and confessor of Mrs. Surrat, had several months ago published a card stating in emphatic language that there was no truth whatever in the charges. Bishop Keane was the assistant of Rev. Mr. Walter for twelve years, up to the time he became Bishop of Richmond. The card referred to by Bishop Keane was written November 13 of last year, and is as follows: "Truth and justice compel me to deny the statement with reference to Gen. Hancock's participation in the execution of Mrs. Surratt, which appeared in the Washington Pod of this morning. I attended Mrs. Surratt on that occasion, and met with no interference on the part of Gen. Hancock. Gen. Elancock had great sympathy for this unfortunate lady, and waited until the last moment, hoping for a reprieve. I consider it an act of justice to Gen. Hancock that this statemeht should be made. J. A. Walteh. "Pastor ofSt. Patrick's Church, Washington." A Washington dispatch to the New York Herald, describing the reception of the news of Gen. Haqcock's nomination, says : "The question of Gen. Hancock's position in the execution of Mrs. Surratt was freely discussed, and the General was in a great measure exonerated from doing anything more than bis duty as a soldier. "Mr. John T. Clampett, the only surviving attorney for Mrs. Surratt, said to your correspondent the t Hancock was the best selection the Conve ition could have made. "It is ? a splendid nomination," said Mr. Clampett, with emphasis, and his part in the Surratt execution will not affect him, as the General only obeyed the orders of his superiors, and that is recognized by all well-informed Democrats. Gen. Hancock was not in the court-room during the entire time, and on the morning of the execution came into the penitentiary, and was met by ma 'Hancock said : "I ?m carrying out the death sente ice, and it is the most painful act of my life. I would rather take my chances on the battlefield, but I am a soldier and must obey orders." Rev. Father Walter, who was Mrs. Surratt's spiritual adviser, said: "I do not desire to become mixed up with politics. Gen. Hancock has a letter which explains my opinion of the part he took in the execution." The New York World says that when Geu. Hancock's attention was called, Thursday, to a paper containing charges against him in connection with Mrs. Surratt's execution, he pronounced them "downright falsehoods, without one scintilla of foundation." He added that he was not on the defensive, having nothing to defend himself from, but named Gen. F. A. Darr, of New York, ex-Congressman Tarbox, of Massachusetts, and others who knew all the facts, and would quash such falsehoods. I?????* ABOUT OUR POSTAL SYSTEM. A post-office system for the colonies was established by the British government in 1710. Under this system Benjamin Franklin was post-master at Philadelphia, being appointed in 1733, when he was twenty-seven years old. He held the office until 1753, when he was made the colonial postmaster-general, and the British government guaranteed him a salary of ?600, "for himself and his issistant." The system was not completely organized until the general management of postal affairs came into his hands. He held the office of postmaster-general twenty-one years. He was removed in a rather summary manner in 1774 because he was an outspoken patriot who couldn't be a tory. After the national constitution was adopted in 1789, a postal system for the United States was established by Congress. The first postmaUer-general was Samuel Osgood of Massachusetts. In 1790 the first year of hitf administration, the whole number of postoffices was seventy-five; the whole amount* of postage received, $37,935 ; and the whole net revenue to the government, $5,795. In 1800 the whole number of post-offices was nine hundred and three; the whole amount of postage, $280,840; the whole net revenue, $66,810. The first rates of postage were as follows: For a single letter, under forty miles, eight cents; over forty and under ninety miles, ten cents; over ninety and under one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents; over one hundred and fifty and under three hundred, seventeen cents; over three hundred and under five hundred miles, twenty cents; over five hundred miles, twenty-five cents. In 1816 these rates were changed, as follows: A single let ' 3 * iL ter, not over I,tarty miles, six ana one-icurm cents; over thirty and under eightv miles, ten cents; over eighty and under one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and one-half-cents; over one hundred and fifty and under four hundred miles, eighteen and three-fourths cents; over four hundred miles, twenty-five cents. In 1813 there was another change, and rates were established as follows : for a letter weighing not more than half an ounce, carried not over three hundred miles, five cents; over three hundred milesr ten cents. In 1851 Congress enacted that a letter weighing not more than half an ounce might be carried three-thousand miles, if prepaid, for three cents, or for five cents, if not prepaid. For over three thousand, six cents, if prepaid, or twelve cents, not prepaid; but in 1852 the twelve was reduced to ten. In 1855 the rates were made to be three cen ts for all distances under three thousand miles ; ten cents for all ever three thousand miles; postage to be prepaid in all cases. Finally, by means of several acts and amendments, the rates were established as we have them now. Cheap postage cannot be as well afforded in this country as in Great Britain, because the expenses of the postal system are necessarily much greater here than there. Great Britain is a small country in extent, with a great population. Ours is a country of "magnificent distances," and large portions of it, where there are post-offices to be served, are thinly inhabited. In a majority of the States the amount of postage paid is far below the cost of the postal service they receive. In some of the States the amounts paid for postage are much greater than the cost of th a service. Nevertheless, the poet-office department does not pay expenses. Every year there is a deficit of several million dollars. In England the posts,1 service yields the government a net revenue; and so it is in France and in most of the other countries of Europe.