Speech of Hon. Edwards Pierrepont

It was 1868, the first presidential election year after the end of the Civil War, and the Republican Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was being opposed by the Democrat Horatio Seymour for the presidency. This Speech of Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, documented in 20 pages of text, presents his arguments in favor of Grant. He does this by adopting the approach that Grant, as the General who defeated the South's Gen. Lee to end the war, was the God of Battles who ended the bloody fight, and that Grant was the best man to be the Prince of Peace, and achieve a far more glorious victory. The speech then proceeds to go through all the actions, arguments, positions and beliefs proposed by the defeated South to win the Peace, including seizure of the Government, restoration of slavery, and, by using diplomatic arts, win what was lost by the war, i.e. restore the Lost Cause!

The speech is contained in a booklet that measures approximately 5.5 inches wide by 9 inches tall. The booklet, which originally had 22 pages, is without covers and missing it title page. The speech is present in its entirety, starting on page 3 and ending on page 22. The pages are tanned, with some chipping around the edges and several pages detached. The text is clear and easily read. The overall condition of the booklet is fair/good.

The illustrations accompanying this description show the first page of the script, a typical 2-page spread of the speech, and the final page.

Edwards Pierrepont (March 4, 1817 – March 6, 1892) was an American attorney, reformer, jurist, traveler, New York U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Minister to England, and orator. Having graduated from Yale in 1837, Pierrepont studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1840. During the American Civil War, Pierrepont was a Democrat, although he supported President Abraham Lincoln. Pierrepont initially supported President Andrew Johnson's Conservative Reconstruction efforts having opposed the Radical Republicans. In both 1868 and 1872, Pierrepont supported Ulysses S. Grant for president. For his support, President Grant appointed Pierrepont United States Attorney in 1869. In 1871, Pierrepont gained the reputation as a solid reformer, having joined New York's Committee of Seventy that shut down Boss Tweed's corrupt Tammany Hall. In 1872, Pierrepont modified his views on Reconstruction and stated that African American freedman's rights needed to be protected. [Wikipedia]