Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1860-10-27
Eloquent Tribute to Lincoln.


fcctiyc speech, Of which the following
was the pcroration:
Oh il is 9 glorious spectacle that is
now presented At last we are going
to illustrate orr capacity for self gov
ernment- to prove that the laborer
does not Of necessity belong to the cap
italist-that the working man must not
in the natural order Of things be the
mudsill--the bottom log, lying in the
slush; but the stone that the Demo
cratic oligarchy have rejected from the
building IS about to become the chief
stone Of the corner, loud applause,
the beautiful Corinthian column to
adorn the teI3i,.e of liberty, proclaim
ing bv its presence to ali the nations,
'Look! sec what liberty promises and
achieves for the down-trodIen and the
children Of the poor.'' Behold this
man, the heir Of poverty, tried by the
fire Of adversity, coming out as pure
gold strengthened in his intellect, and
developed III his person into the hardy
manhood Of a giant--a Saul among the
pecp.e--a true giant among his peers.
| (Applause). When the battle was to
be fought in Illinois two years ago be
tween free and slave labor, between
freemen and the oligarchy Of slavery,
where among aIi The active intelligent
millions Of this beautiful land was found
q standard bearer to lead the van in
fighting your battle against the Little
Giant who led the forces Of the slave
holders? None other more Fit was
found Chan honest, earnest, eloquent
Abe Lincoln. Immense applause).-- -
How well, how gallantly he bore him
self, you know, fer you were near by
and saw him struggling in the thick
est Of the fight, bearing aloft onr stand
ard, while Ghe eyes Of al the nation
were upon him. You Of alI the north
and we Of the south stood by and
! watched, with drawn breath, each Aac-
tuation in that memorable strife. And
how nohlv did he move forward, con
quering and TO conqaer. Here il Til
Iois, the home oi Dougias, q State that
| for . lifetime has been the Gibraltar Of
Democracy, Who"o Democratic major
lJies lie piled in thousands along TIE
track Of yonr political history, marking
with inyar;2hle certainty each rec0r-
ring election for over thirty years, he
led YOU 10 the conflict with the Dam0c-
racy under the lead Of their Giant;
and the people, after a fair hearing, de-
ciIed for Lincoln and liberty by a ma
I.iority Of 4,085 over DougIas. (Great
onthasiasm). And viii you 10 it again :?
t'Yes. ycs.1 Yes, I know yor will;
YOU Will give him the electoral vote Of
Illinois, Although, by Democratic ger
rymanaering, he WAS then cheated out
Of q place iD the Senate, We, the pc0-
pie, viii amply repay him the principal
and interest, when on the 4tn dav of
March, 1851, we place him in the White
! House. Ci'rcmendous chceriny) All
honor to Honest Old Abe. ''Tbou
hast been faithful over few things
we viii make thee ruler over many
things" prolonged cheerirg.)
But listen to this threat Of the King
THE slave power1: 'If we elect our
man, well and good; but If YOU elect
your man woe betide you! Wen
break up the government. UaughtoE).
We1l dissolve the Union, wen rule or
ruin" y hat does that mean? It
means that we are not to have equality
in these Statos-that you, the free peo-
pie Of the Northwest, shall not be equal
to the proud oligarchv Of three hun
dred thousand Shareholders. Is any
man here. inundated by these threats?
C'No." No.D Docs Gar Of Russia,
! welding the concentrated strength Of
sixty million Of people, hold You in
trembling submission? Are you slaves
whose abject spirits dare not rise to
shake off a despotism under which you
COVER? Are you il Illinois afraid p
('ENo," s'No.'O Do you give way p
| (''No," "No.m you are afraid, abol-
ish these demonstrations Of the popu,al
will, lay down the insignia of Republi-
canism, have no more Of these great
meetings Of the masses, destroy the
ballot-hox, and say to Douglas, "thou
art King" (E'Never," E'Neyer.'O IF
You are not, then elect your own man
by the constitution and laws. COVE
will.'') Place the star spangled ban
ner in old Abe's left hand and tie
sword of justice in his right, and re-
spond to these men who are threaten
ing dissolution Of the Union, in the Ian
guage of Jackson, "By the Eternal, the
Union shall be preserved" CTremen-
dous applause.l "In the Providence
of God, and by the liberties Of the peo-
pie, We say you shall neither rule nor
ruin" (Applause). And upon that
banner shall, be inscribed no such mis-
! erable motto IS .sSlayerv and / TEioun