University of South Carolina Libraries
AN ELOQUENT SPEECH. A. Democratic ratification meeting was field at the Cooper Institute, New j York, on the night of the 31st ultimo, j At this meeting Hon. 1). V.\ "Voo-! rhees, of Indiana, was the principal orator, and lie came fully up to tlie occasion, delivering a speech rarely excelled in power. We extract from ; it the following sad but truthful delineation of the oppression of our country: "In our school books we learned to mourn over the cruel fortunes of IV , land, and to flame with indignation ; against her barbarial executioner; the funeral and wailing shadow of murdered Hungary convulsed this couti-j nent a few short years ago, and made j the name of Austria hateful to the; ears of the cililizcd world; the per- j turbed spirit of Irish liberty walks j the earth at all hours, in all its dis- j tant four quarters, adding every disci- j pie of freedom in every clime beneath | the sun to their train 01 lonowcrs, and pointing to England as the odious assassin of a people entitled to he free; but, at our own doors, under the folds of our own flag, a vast and magnificent portion of the American Itepublic lays this hour in a condition beside which Poland, Hungary, and Ireland arc the radiant homes of happy freemen?it lays there a victim to a needless, vengeful and remorseless tyranny, beside which the worst tyrannies of the old worid are liberal and respectable forms of government. Instead of ten States existing in their original beauty and strength, as our fathers made them, we have incorporated into the same work of the American Itepublic, live military districts entirely unknown to the Constitution, and utterly inconsistent with the first and plainest principles on which our Government was founded. Not a vestige of civil liberty remains beneath the shadow of this stupendous usurpation. The great muniments of freedom?those high and adamantine walls of personal 4V>,. wlintu ?'L'ilOr ill St'l/Ul 1 1 Ul ations have toiled with bloody .sweat, have all perished under the destructive and treasonable assaults of Congress. The right to the wtit of hobcen corpus?that resplendent right of freemen by which the hand of unlawful power can alone be restrained, now lies dead, powerless and despised on the very battle plains where its enjoyment was secured by the surrender of Cornwallis to Washington.? Trial by jury is a mockery, a delusion, and a snare at Eutaw Springs, the Cowpens and Guilford House.? Over the sunken graves of the Revo A. uxor ** <1. of Congress, controls elections and dictates the use of the elective franchise at the mouth of the cannon and with levelled muskets. Aye, the Southern sky of the American heavens is shrouded in black. Once it was filled with stars more radiant and lovely than Arcturus, Orion, or the Pleiades. Our fathers of immortal memory planted them there. They burned with the light of liberty rcg?Kxt l.iir "Rnf-. tlmv burn tin ui aiui u j inn. -^v?w v more. Rayless and quenched they wander in a dark and trackless void. The baleful wrath of Radicalism, coming up thick and poisonous as the "dimmest suioke of licll'" lias extinguished one-third of the constellation of the American glory. Who will question the fidelity of this picture? Who so bold as to deny that Congress has overturned every institution of free government in those regions now held by military power? And who dares to say that lie finds a warrant for this action in the C011stitutiofi which an oath requires him to support? But the stable and miserable answer to this terrible accusation is that the people of the South have been in rebellion and deserve no better at the hands of victorious power. Does this fact, even if it were so, justify revolution, usurpation, broken oaths and deliberate treason on the part of Congress ? Ad- j mit that the South attempted to rcv4-lia fi-z-umvumnn!' n ml UlUtlUliJZi^ v.w stroy its institutions, does that mitigate the crime of the North in completing what the South labored for in vain ? No ! Nor can this destructive and despotic policy be pursued with impunity to the North itself. While it is only your neighbor who is prostrate by the wayside, bruised and bleeding, the priest and the levite of Radical vengeance will pass on heedless of his groans. While the Soutli alone suffers in chains, the North may still sleep softly on the bed of luxurious wealth. But the day is close at hand when the blighting influences of a standing army and military power in one section of the country will be spread and be felt over all. Indeed, the day is now already upon us. The public mind of the North is almost fatally accustomed to acts of Federal usurpation? We have stood with folded arms in a species of astonished apathy, while pillar after pillar of the temple of nr institutions has been torn away, ntil I fear, at times, that if the sa- j crcd edifice itself should fall, we1 would be content to emerge from! the ruins Avitli no present intention of rebuilding its glorious proportions.; A wandering Committee of Congress j is now tra /cling at the public expense over the face of the country, commissioned to enquire whether certain*; States, some of whom were born with , the 11 evolution, have republican forms ! of government. The public mind; scarcely heeds such monstrous proceeding. This committee is as lawless iii its formation, and with no more legal power to enter upon such a mission than so many Italian Banditti, and so all men km-Tv; yet they arc at their work at the home and grave of j Henry Clay and by (lie tomb of! Pinckney, preparing to destroy other and more States and subject them to the increasing and insatiate demands of military force. ti-i3 alabama convention. aiuxtgo.mliiiv, A i.a., November 21. The following is the article on the elective franchise, as finally adopted | by the Reconstruction Convention as ! a part of the nev.' constitution: iSi?tJ. 1. Every mala' person, born in the United Stales, and every male person who has been naturalized, or who has legally declared his intention i-/ ' to become a citizen of the United States, twcnty-onc years old, or upwards, who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding the election and three months in the County in which lie oilers to vote, except as hereinafter provided, shall be declared an elector. Provided, That no soldier, sailor or marine iri the military or navai service of the United State, shall hereafter acquire a residence by reason of being stationed on duty i.i ibis Slate. SKt*. 2. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide, from time to time, for the registration of all electors, but the following classes of persons shall not *e permitted to register, vote or hold office: First? those who, during the late rebellion. inflicted, or caused to be inflicted, any cruel or unusual punishment upon soidier, sailor or marine, employee or citizen of the United States, or vlio, in any other way, violated the rules of civilized warfare. Second?those who arc, or may be, disfranchised by the proposed Constitutional Amendment, known as the fourteenth article, and the Act of Congress passed March 2, 1807, except such persons as have aided the plan of reconstruction proposed by Congress, and accepted the political equality of all men before the law. Pro nTli a t General A^~ ' semwy sIiuIT have power to remove the disabilities incurred under this last chaise. Third?that (Iiosc who shall have been convicted of treason, embezzlement of public funds, malfeasance in office, crime punishable by law with imprisonment in the penitentiary, or bribery. Fourth?no idiot or insane person shall be permitted to register or vote in this State. Six'. 3. All persons, before registering, must take and subscribe the following oath : "I do solemnly swear, (or affirm) that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the Constitution and laws of the.State of Alabama; that I am not excluded from registering by any of the clauses in section 2 of this article; that I will never countenance or aid in 1 ho secession of this ?tate from the United States; that I accept the civil and political equality of all men, and agree not to attempt to deprive any person or persons, on account of color, race or nvoviniw r>niu1if'irm nf !imr nnlii-tful or I ^ , ?J civil right, privilege or immunity enjoyed by unv other class of men; and, furthermore, that I "will not, in any way, injure, or countenance in others any attempt to injure, any person or persons, on a ccount of past or present support of the Government of the United States, or the principle of the political and civil equality of all men, or of affiliation with any political party-" Resolutions were adopted, express- j ing entire satisfaction with the military administration ofMaj. Gen. John Pope, and tendering him the thanks of the people of Alabama, for the firm and impartial course which he has pursued. Three votes were given against these resolutions. Several brunches of the Constitution were considered and adopted, involving unimportant changes in the old Constitu tion, except the creation of the ofiicc of Lieutenant-Governor. The Convention "will probably complete its work this v.*eek. . ?? reconstruction policy of TILE j South.?Via extract the following' from an article in the National In- j telligcnccr, upon the subject of recoil- j struction, giving its opinion as to the ! policy of the South under existing j circumstances: "It is now probable that all, or nearly all, of the ten Southern States ' will have Conventions under the Mil-1 itary Reconstruction Acts. For va i rious reasons attempts to defeat the call of Conventions have failed. In some of these States, persevering efforts will he made, and probably with success, to reject, by the necessary majority, any Constitution which may be submitted to the people for their acceptance, unless it shall he of a just and liberal and anti-radical character. Possibly, in some of the Stales, the form of a Constitution may he such as to secure the acquiescence of the people generally. A constitution removing from citizens all disabilities arising from participation in the rebellion, and placing suffrage upon the same basis which exists in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ohio, New Veil:, and other Northern j States; but such a Constitution would be rejected by Uongrcss. v> cji, 11 it be thus rejectci!, t!ie State will sim])]y remain under military government, till the process of organisation be again undertaken. "It is absurd to suppose that Congress, in litis case, will resort to positive measures?to Confiscation, disfranchisement, &c. The people will not tolerate this. The only salvation for the South and J#r the whole country, is to he found in the possible chance that the Southern people will reject Constitutions fixing upon them and upon the whole Union, the despotic rule of the radical party, through the establishment of negro supremacy. Tiik Deaiockatic Emblem?"Ye Roostee."?A correspondent of the Ohio Statesman enquires why the Rooster is used by the Democracy as an emblem of victory. That paper replies: Because the game Rooster is the gam est bird, when encroached upon by his fellows, that ever existed, and the Democracy is the gamest party that ever voted at an election or resented oppression. Both the party and its emblem, when they go into the figlit, make it a matter ol hie or death. Both may be whipped, but act conquered, fur giving up when once in the fight, is a word unknown to the practice of the Rooster aml.is net found in the Democratic vocabulary. The following historical incident induced the adoption of the emblem ; During the war of 1312, the British fleet on Lake Champlain was attacked by the American fleet under Commodore McDonough. The fleet of McDonough, much inferior to that of the English, suffered terribly in the first part of the battle. At the moment when it was xacin.c.-fiov^i* i-Lo. heaviest fire of the eneny was directed against the flagship of McDonough ?his men driven from their guns by the fierce cannonade, and dismay sat upon every countenance, aiidtheslorui of iron bail which seemed to threaten destruction not only to the ship but to every living soul therein, was at its height, a cannon hall struck a chicken coop and knocked it to pieces, killing ill if f ?i 11 /wl Knf i iimiYiAiif I Uil 4 1/ VVMJ illll I v\i wm- JiiUHltlll MV/iUlV) save only a game lloostcr, whose battered comb bore tlie marks of man}7 a death light. Flying upon the bulwarks of MeDonough's flagship, the noble bird, undaunted by the noise and confusion and carnage around him, with clarion voice rang out his notes of defiance and victory. Sailors arc ever superstitious, and when, iri the pau.-o of the thunder of the enemy's cannon, they heard the shrill "cock-a doodlc-doo," of the undaunted bird, they gathered new courage, and repairing again to their guns, returned anew the fire of the enemy, cheered by the loud crow of the brave emblem of the Democracy, until the battle ended, and MeDonough, on Lake Champlain, like the Democracy in Ohio and Pennsylvania was victorious over the enemies of the country. Every naval historian makes mention of the fact, and history says that 1.11 i J t:io nravcry snown on that occasion b}r the Booster was the cuus? of the victory, by the renewed courage it gave the sailors in McDonough's fleet. From that day to this, in political contests, the lioostcr has been the Democratic emblem of victory, and when it is scon in the act of sending forth its "cock-a-doodle-doo," at the head of a Democratic newspaper, it is right to say the country is safe, for the victory is with the Democracy. The Cotton Tax and a General Funding Scheme.?A special dispatch from Washington to the "Baltimore Sun," under date of the lltli,says, that, from the members of Congress who have been here recently; and others now in the city, it appears that there is strong probability that the tax on cotton will be repealed shortly after Congress convenes. The pressure in favor of this repeal, in all directions of the North; from influential citizens, is almost irresistible. From the same source it is learned that there is also powerful influences in favor of a general funding scheme, covering the whole national debt, thus extending the time of payment of our liabilities, and iri the meantime providing for the gradual liquidation by judieious'systcm of taxation. THE JOURNAL." Thursday, Ravctiibor I8G7. Superior Cotton Seed. 1Wo call attention to Mr. David Dickson's advertisement in this paper, of his select cotton seed, and invite planters to call at the Journal offieo, or at the store of C. J. McDowall, Esq., and see a specimen of the stalk with the bolls and lint upon it. This cotton has for some years, borne off the palm from every other, and been pronounced unequivocally, the lesl by all who have trind it. In some resnocts. however. tlio specimens excel even what wo had imagined of its superiority. Especially with respect to its early and uniform maturity. There being scarcely a boll which was not fully matured and opened before frost, among the many with which the stalk and branches are loaded and heaped until there is no room for more. A few bags of these invaluablo cotton seed have been left for sale at this office, and at tin1 store of C. J. McDowall Esq., where orders will be received for them until tho supply, which is limited? shall have boon exhausted. The Trial of Mr. Dsvis. "While wc write, another scene in the great drama of the revolution is being enacted at Richmond. Mr. Davis is at last put upon his trial for treason, a crime so clearly defined by judicial writers, that no tyro in tho law can doubt for a moment, his acquittal from the charge, if anything else be consulted than the bitter prejudices of party interest It may be that his conviction is predetermined in the councils of Radicalism, as surmised by the .Foreign Press, and perchance the office of the Chief Justice is to be invoked to add the externals of dignity and solemnity to a party mout court, but iu the great forum of tho eulightencd public opiuion of the world, Mr. Davis stands acquitted now, and must ever remain so, of amenability to?tho law of treason. Tlio head of a great belligerent power which measured the strength of a great nationality with tho United States for four years of mortal struggle, taxing the full power of the great Bepublic its inmost strexen or endurance, mu9t bo treated in law as a public enemy, entitled to tho protection of tho laws of civilized warfare, and cannot be condemned as an obscure leader of seditious agitation against tlio peace of tho State. But when \Vc come to consider the groat constitutional principles upon which State secession rested, wo encounter tho nether millstone, upon which tho flimsoy arguments of the treason of Mr. Davis must bo ground to powder. The very incorporation of the abnegation of the right of secession into tho oath of allegeanco, and the corresponding amendment of tho Constitution of tho United States, is sufliciont to show that 110 such principle as the perpetuity o; tho Union against the will of tho States, was heretofore a settled and recognized feature of tho Government, and is quite enough for the dofouco of Mr. Davis. That principle was incorporated into our system as a result of the war. It was the one necessary, logical sequence of the bloody issue, and henceforth, secession will be treason, but that decision cau claim no retroactive force to affect the case of Mr. Davis. For ourselves, we are freo to confess, that we have long desired that this trial should take place, because it j will furnish the triumphant argument j of the jurist against tho criminality of those who obeyed the mandates of their ! nntivo States to which, they believed their primary allegiance to havo boon justly due. The proceedings of this trial will bo read throughout the world, and millions will learn therefrom, the true nature of this government, before 1 the war, and the great principles which j arrayed the tvisest and best of the land ! on the side of the seceding States. Since the abovo was written and put in type, the telegraph informs us, that j the trial of Mr. Davis, at the instance ! of the Counsol for tho Government, has ! been postponed till the :22nd of March, j The postponement was made in order to ! havo Judgo Chase to sit with Judgo . UiiDEiiwooD on tho trial. The Impeachment^of'President Johnson. , It is a singular coincidence that the 1 impeachment of Mr. Jouxsox" and the . trial uf Mr. Davis should bo engaging tho public attention at the same moment. That anything serious will como out of the attempt to impeach the Pros- : Ldcnt, we cannot bring ourselves to bo-' lieve. It is a party measure and noth- i < ing more, and in the present temper i: of the people, is, fur more apt to recoil > upon the heads of the agitators than to advance their views. It is dictated by passion and passion is a blind guide that inevitably leads its followers into the ditch. Among the acts proposed to Congress, is 0110 that is intended to provide for tho suspension from office, any civil officer during tho pendency .of the charges against him. If this is intended, us appears to be the case, to i apply to Mr. Johnson, it is the boldest specimen of an ex post facto law ever enacted, and unparalleled in the annals of the Anglo-Saxon race, since the tyranny of the Stuarts. If the bill pusses Ave shall see whether tho President will yield obedience to a Iuav so utterly violative of the snirit of libertv and jus tice. If lie should so yield, tho radicals will liavo accomplished in advance, all that thoy could gain by successful impeachment, and we venture to say tho trial will never bo had until after tho next Presidential election. If he should not submit, then wo shall have something exciting from "Washington. "Southern Opinion." Under this title wo have seen a paper published weekly at Biclimond edited by Paul H. Hayne. It is a large and handsome sheet with much and most interesting reading matter, in lino clear type and printed on excellent paper. Tho vignette at the head of the paper is well conceived and handsomely executed and altogether our first impressions were most pleasing and favourable to this claimant for Southern favour. We regret however, that we are obliged to say, that tho character of tho correspondence from New York and Washington in tho number which wo sow, is such as should iu our opinion, exclude it from the circle of any Southern house. The gross scandal of tho unfortunate Mrs. Lincoln in the "Washington letter and the meretricious description in that from New York of the sensual pantomining scenes disgracing that city cannot meet with favour where /Southern opinion prevails. Norfolk Oysters. Friend Rodgkus, of the DcKalb Rouse, having received a supply of Fresh Oysj ters, as he always does, rememlxered J the printers, and on Monday last, sent | tlioni a sample Can. Our devil, who has an extensive, if nut long experience as an epicure in that line, pronounces them superior to any he has seen for a long time, and advises those who are fond of tho article, to call on Mr. It., and take a plate fixed up in his inimitable style. , Wheat We paid a flying visit to tho country tho first of this week, and are glad to find that the planters of Kershaw have sown largely of wheat. On Lynches Creek, we learned that the breadth of I laud sown is much larger than was ever j # # I known in that section. On several I plantations by which wo passed, tho wlioat is up aucl looks very hue. Tlio farmers of that section, aro pursuing the right plan?sowing small grain, and hiring few or no laborers. Congress. This august body assembled on Thursday last. The proceedings are important only j so Tar as they iudicate the Radicals. ! "We notice in tho proceedings that bills liavo been introduced, to enquiro j the reasons, if any, for continuing tho ! Freedmen's Bureau?to inquiro into ; tho expediency of reducing the regular army?a resolution returning thanks to Gen. Schofield, Sickles, Pope and Sheridan, and a resolution to repeal the tax on cotton. Tho latter will probably be passed at an early day. Jtfc Convention. 1 J} a.1. _ ~ \v u ieu.ru jrom tae v.uiu.iei9i.uij papers that there is a strong probability that a majority of the voters of this State has determined that wo will have no Convention. Tho JVcics publishes a table of tho number, who registered and thoso who voted, and says :? "It will be observed that the total registration of blacks was 79,535, and yet the total black vote "For Convention" has been only "0,139, or onethird of tho former number. It is true that returns havo yet to bo received from Anderson, Clarendon, Georgetown, Greenville, Horry, Lancaster, Lexington, Spartanburg, Sunitor, and Williamsburg; but bearing in mind . the ratio of votes in the Districts from which wo havo received returns to the < registration therein, it is fair to presume that not more than 8,000 more J votes remain to bo reported. Wo have ' not taken into consideration tho num- ' bur of registered while, voters, and it will therefore be observed that the col. s J # ored people themselves are responsible for this extraordinary and unexpected decision. They have remained away from the polls of their own accord." The Sqcabe axo Compass.?We have received a very neatly printed pa- ' A per of eight pages, bearing the above title, published at Raleigh, N. C. As its name indicates, it is a Masonic publication, but Temperance and General Literature are not neglected. From: V the specimen before us, we should say *' V it is well worthy of the patronage of the y J craft. With our brother of the Daily Chronicle, we say, "More light" would ^ certainly be beneficial to Masons; and we know of no bi tter source from wliichi to receive it than from such journals as. the one above mentioned. ^ TheTjCoticn^Q^otationa. C.VMDKX, 13 to 14c. - t/v / clt.vitlf.stox, 15 7-8 to tuc. Liverpool, 8il to 8 l-4d. General Joseph Kersiiaw.? Wo were privileged, during the session of the Court, last week, to meet and grasp the cordial hand of General Joseph B. Kershaw. The General seemed in fine health and spirits? his manly form as erect and vigorous ?his intelligent and benevolent eye M as brilliant, as when he led the brave ^ sons of Carolina in the fight. In ma- I ny respects, General Kershaw stands; i forth as one of nature's noblemen.? | With a sentiment and sympathy as. tender and humane as that of woman ?and yet with a spirit brave and fearless, with high manly instincts and principles, and with a talent of wh&li any man might well feel proud, ^ he justly ranks among the first men. ^ of the State.?Sumter Watchman. Wealth^ Coloured Men.?The following paragraph is going the rounds of the press: "There are two coloured men in Georgetown, D. C,, named Lee and Conner, who are said to be worth, fifty thousand dollars each; the first* 4 keeps a feed store, and tho second is a, \ teamster." The persons referred to arc Alfred; Lee, the feed dealer, a resident of' Georgetown, who is well known throughout this District, where he is, much respected, and whose property may no sately set down at a figure nearer $100,000 than $00,000, and John Council (not Conner,) a team-. ^ ster, also a resident in Georgetown* where he has many friends among the whites, whose fortune does not reach the latter amount. Besides. ^ these there arc several other respectable coloured men- in business here who have accumulated fortunes byindustry and prudence. Alfred Jones, a well known feed dealer, of this, city, is one of these, and he has probably, made more money than any other coloured man except A1-. frcd Lee. It may be added that the prominent coloured men above named have persistently refused to waste their time and money in the unrcmunerative business of dabbling with local politics, and the records of ward meetings will be searched in vain for any mention of their sayings and doings.? Washington Star. Impeachment not Piiobable.?The Judiciary Committee held another session to-day, and all the members were present, Mr. Woodbridgc, of Vennnnt. lm.vm<r lino mnm ing. There is good authority for saysng that the complexion of the committee has changed since the last session?a fact only discovered by the. committee since the arrival of Mr. Wood bridge. This change seems to C O have taken the members themselves by surprise. In the meantime, the Republican friends of General Grant have inaugurated a movement looking to a defeat of impeachment, and the entire suppression of the testimony. Thcv regard, the testimony if published, as damaging to the General as a Radical candidate. and would suppress it if possible. The action of the committee today in determining not to allow any copies of the printed testimony to get into the hands of the correspondents of the press, would seem to prove that the outside movement for the suppression of the testimony has some friends upon the committee. ( '/!) n.4 VV/ jLSt/Otf/C -L Udl* War and Suicide.?Suicides are said to have been usually more frequent after great wars than at other times. Certainly they have been more numerous in this country since the war than ever before. But it i's not possible, by any analysis or com-'1 parison of cases, to discover any connection between them and the war.? There is more, probably, in conncc:ion, with the corrupt and corrupting item tore in reading. Suicide lias generally been deemed infamous.?L'he law that excluded the remains of elf murderers from christian bur id