Litchfield enquirer., 1864-10-06
Speech of Hon. Henry c. Demins.

ing of one of his speeches is as good a treat al one could ask for. The following is the Isl 6une's report of his address at the great Unior Ratification Meeting, held in New York or the 27th of September. The perusal of ever, word of it will reward the reader;
 Mir. Moves. the Chairman, said he had the honor to present distinguished gentleman formerly of the so.called Democratic party, who had left his profession, placed himself at the head of regiment, shared in the capture of New Orleans with that other Democrat, Beni. F. Butler. Great applause; cheers for But. Ter. He introduced the Hon. Henry c. Dem. ing of Hartford, who said :-
 MR. PRESIDENT, LALIEs AND GENTLE N EN =
 We had party once-a party alm ost coeval with the birth of the Government, and which for nearly two-thirds of it's career has admins. tered it's afairs-a party which was emphat- ically the soar party of this land, ready to cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war at the faintest threat or intimation of aggression upon our national rights. When that greedy old aobber seated upon a small cluster of islands in the ocean, ventured to place an illegal foot upon one of our wandering vessels, for the pur pose of impressing our seamen the old Demo- cratic party caught her by the throat and held her there until she cried peccavi. When she fixed her coveteus eye on @ few acres on the Northwest boundary, "5 54 70 or fight" was the motto of the rampant Democracy. Laugh ter. When few of her miserable squatters roasted for night in the forests of AIoostook, without compunction or legislation the Democ- racy but not only the whole military array of the nation into the hands of the President, but it's purse and it's sword also. When our dispu- table right to that barren and inhospitable de sert between the Brazos and the Rio Grande was called in question by feeble power, why, the Democracy roared like wounded lion, laughter until the whole nation was summon ed to arms. Applause Quite recently we have had party which claims the name and professes to have inherited the antecedents and traditions of the Democratic Party meeting in grand Convention at Chicago. They met, gentlemen. when war was not merely threaten ed they met when the war cloud was not merely seen in the distant horizon but they met in the midst off the most merciless, fero- cious and unprovoked war that ever desolated this continent, and when our foe ar, aiming not at a disputabe right on the seas, not at a few worthless acres, but attempting to rene our national unity in twain, and tear out its still bleeding heart and leave the carcase of the Republic bye-word and hissing to the nationsl (Applause.) What, under such cir cumstances, did these degenerate heirs of the great unterrifed do? Q.aughter.l Why, in this agony of the Republic, when the PhliSt-
 ines were on us. when the foe was in the front and on the Very eve ofa general engagement, they contented themselves with forgetting all the dash and brag of their warlikc history, and with nominating war general OH peace platform lgreat laughter. Why this alliance would be shameful enough fit HOW stood where it was lief: by the Chicago Convention, and will perhaps, find parallel fitting and apt when the disciples of Wm. Penn shall nominate Cae.ar Napoleon, or some other thunderbolt uf war as their presiding elders laughter and cheers. or when the Society for the prupaga- tion ot the Gospel na,nes Vol,aire or some oih CT notorious inhel for their lnouthpiece and representative great applause But this an. tagonsm between the peace platform and the war candidate becom $ gross and farcical when We consider that the War candidate did not ac- cept the nomination internationally on the peace platform. but accepted it interpoiating his own record and antecedents which are al together warlke. [Great laughter.l Thus we have nitric acid and milk. and birthstone and the balm of Gilead, loud laughter and cheers, and that is the apothecary dose you are asked to swallow. Renewed laughter. It would be worse than folly, it would be idiocy, at this period, when we are supposed to have our political eyeteeth cut, to be deceived oy any such transparent necromancy. We have party protesting to be for peace, themselves running thorough bred, full grown sucking of war. [Cheers.] A party which has been loud mouthed in it's claim that it is unconstitu- tional to coerce sovereign State, supp porting for the Presidency General whose first i'm portant military order commanded the troops of Ohio to cross the frontier and invade the sovereign State of old Virginia. We have party which has denounced the draft as a wan ton and unnecessary invasion of private rights; supporting for the Presidency general who first suggested and recommended the draft party which has made night and day hideous with it's denunciations ot arbitrary arrests, sus taining for the highest office in the gift of the people General who in one fell swoop gath cred into durance vile the whole Legislature of sovereign Maryland. Loue laughter and cheers. We have party which has proclaim the first butchers for the Presidential chair. Now, when you brush away all this, thia dra- pery of second hand and worn out jugglery aud deception. and look at the real substantial, and unmistakeable issue, you will fad it has been entirely unchanged by the nomination of the war general on the peace platform. IApplau- sell It is the old issue, which has divided par
 ties ever since these hostlities commenced it is the old issue, which in every State election we have gone to the jury upon; the old ques- tion, whether you will prosecute this war un- til these Rebels, ,shorn ftheir military strength bow internationally to the Courts and iuris- diction of the general Government, or whether you will make peace on the terms which the Rebel authorities have affirmed and still affirm to be their only ultimatum-the absolute Independence of the seeded States? Cries of ''never, neverr'l That is the question, stripped of all disguises, and it is unnecessary for sane man to go into any analysis, either of the platform or the candidate, for tue purpose of making this discovery.
 The peace party now, has heretofore claim ed that the war has been a failure, and that the only alternative, of course, is peace Moth ing's been done,' Nothing's been done,' is the shibboleth with which you now most frequent ly detect the venomous reptile in the grass i; and regret to say it is too often found on the lips of snarling and fault-6nding Republicans. .Thats so.'l In the few moments l shall de. tain you, propose to address brief discourse to this large class of Nothing's-b -been-dones | In the first place, let me inquire, has nothing been done to strengthen and fo.tify, in the con
 victions of the people, those moral and politi. |