The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1864-10-05
SPEECH OF
HON.. PAUL LEIDY,
OF MoNToUR COUNTY,
AT BLOOMSBURY, FRIDAY EVENING.
SEPT. 80. 1864. .
reported by d F NurPhy ]


FELLOW CITIZENS: /" Uuion-saversvi
" Union savers y! Democrats, look around
you among this crowd and as you point 10
a Republican here, and there, and there,
r%ecolleci that ter years ago, eight years ago,
four years ago, that Republican was scOrn-
fully pointing his finger at YOU aud denoun-
cling you as a I" Union-saver" And why
was this epnhet so scorniuIiy applied to ali
De who dared to advocate the prin-
ciples OF The Democratic party They adj
vecated the principles OF that parry as fonn-
dsd aud based upon the Constitution of the
United States, the bond OF lhi- Union and
IT was Tor This reason and This alone that we
were then pointed al and hi>ssd' down as
"Union-sasers'. When We talked TO Them
about The danger of producing d disruption
tot The Union by The adoption OF the doc
Irlnes which they advocated, they said TO
US, 'lhe South cannot be kicked out OF the
Union; lei them 90 of, what DO we wantwith
The South'2 This was The language OF Re-
Publicanism in its earliest days.
Tonight The same individuals, wilhou, a
parlIcle OF change OF principle or honesty,
are pointing at o. as "CopperheaJs, )" obs
unionisls,' ''Sy paihizers with Secession -
s'Traiiors TO our County,. And why? Be-
cause we stand here now Advocating the
same principles which We advocated ter,
eIghl, SIX, Tour years ago,-.he principles of
the Constitution OF the United States . hich
Is The bond OF the Union. the onlv bond
that holds together these Siales aud forms
Ne a raIion. ! AK them TO poinI 10 a single
principle of the Democrauc parry to-day
that was not advocated by US when We
were stigmatIZed as "Union-savers'. 1T
them point 10 a single CHARACTERISTIC of our
parry which has been changed in thai fine.
WY then are we now siIgmatiZed as Coop
perheads" and S.traiiofsn aud sdisunionI<ts''
and "symPalhiZers with secession and re-
beillon"a We sympathize with rebellion /
we who doTlng our whole lives and our
:orelathers before pS as Democrats have
ever advocated a strict and rigid adherence
10 The Constitution OF the United States IN
all lis parts, in all It's principles. We dis
unlonisis +! we who have denounced section
alisn OF every character and in every form,
-seciionalism of The North and sectional
ism Of the South we who have proclaim-
ed that Abolition and Secession were twin
brothers we who have fought them both
from The days Of Jackson down 20 this lime.
I've dlsunIonists Where j. the man who
IN day light dare ui'er soch a charge against
his fellow CITIZEN whom he has known dur
lhg this whole period and whom he has
denounced for these very thingsl II such
a man does not blush, il is because he has
no shame.
Fsllow citizens, why are We met here
;o-nlehi We have not mel here TO eucour
age rebellion we have not met here to al
vocate secession , we have not met here
TO do anything against the interests of this
fUnIOn- No man enleriains such a suspi-
cien land the man who alters such a charge
does not believe IL and knows that he uiters
ialsehood when he says II. We have met
here Tonight Tor the purpose OF renewing
our VOWS OF fidelity to the Constitution aud
ttEe Vaion-lhai Constitution which sheds
its projecting power over every Stale in This
0niOn and under wEish every man ir every
State claims his rights as a citizen of the
United States
Lam not going 10 abuse jeff Davis. I
need moi occupy yonr time and waste nv
own breath IN abusing that man who is SO
well abused By Republicans. Whenever
al JAIL cQuef 70 be 4 candidafa In these