Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-10-10
Union Rally at OberIln.
GRAND MEETING UKDER DIFFIOBL
TIES.
GREAT SPEECH OF GENER-
AL GARFIELD.


I 4
"Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."
Accepting this maxim as our measure it
would be very natural, though perhaps not '
-ery logical, to conclude that the Union
nen of Lorain County were especially be-
owed of heaven. For never was a politi-
al rally held under greater difficulties
han the Union mass meeting which met
1t Oberlin on Saturday, October 9Th. Pre-
oarations had been made for one of the
greatest political gatherings everheld within
the limits of old Lorain and as that eoun-
ty is always among the staunchest IN the
State, and its people are thoroughly awake
this fall to the importance of the issues be-
fore them, the meeting would have been,
under other circumstances, most triumph
ant success. A splendid banner had been
offered to the township sending the largest
delegation. which would have been contest
ed for, had the weather allowed any |
travel, by delegations from every township |
in the county. A stand for speaking had
been erected under the shade OF the
beautiful elms on the spacious Col
lepe green, and the Union population
of Lorain were expected to be present en-
oaasse. But with the dawn Of day came
storm as fierce as it was unreasonable and
unexpected. By what unaceountable re-
nissness of the weather-clerk it happened,
we cannot say; but certain it is that, on
the eighth of October, stray snow-storm
swept with unequalled ferceness across our
autunnal sky. 1t was no feathery, downy
snowfall, such as, dropping in January on
hard and level roads, is hailed by delighted
boys and girls as the harbinger OF sleigh
ing, but a 'fiaw-blown sleet" icy and
keen-pointed, filling the air with February
blasts, mixed with gusts of drenching rain,
which left the roads impossible. All day
the storm continued, with an energy
worthy of better cause" and at night
two inches of snow lay unmelted on the
ground.
OF course all idea of an outdoor meet
ing was given up, TbesnOw lay untracked
around the platform on the square, and no
procession attempted to "drag its slow
length along" through the fathomless mud
A few notices were hastily postId up, an
nouncing that the meeting would be held
in the First Congregational Church-s
building which will seat three thousand
people-and there, at half-after one o'clock
the people assembled.
THE MEETING.
And such q meeting Those unas
auainted with the fidelity of the Unionlst
of old Lorain would have looked for s
gathering of few hundred those VIII
F knew their incorporating devotion
would have expected. perhaps. to see th'
house half filed but all were surprised t.
find the vast building crowded to its ut
most capacity by an audience of thre
thousand Union-loving citizens Old mel
aud young, sts.4onts. to-vaaraon and farm
ers, ladies and gentlemen, made up tn
throng, gathered in spite of mud and snow
After stirring music from the excellen
Oberlin Brass Band, Prof H E. Peck, tn
President of the Day, introduced Genera
. : Garfield, who was most enthusiastieall,
! greeted. Great desire had been felt by tn
/ people of Oberlin to see and hear this gal
liant soldier and eloquent orator, who
g though still young, has already achieves
l fame. He spoke for more than two hours
E to closely attentive audience. We regre
t that-our crowded space prevents a full re
port of his most powerful speech, an
D forces US to content ourselves with mos
3 barren and meagre synopsis.
GENERAL GARFIELD SPEECH.
General Garfield commenced his speecI
with the remark that, as English ships, i
> passing Copenhagen, always fire a salute
not because there is any enemy there, bu
: in honor of battle once fought, and a vic
. tory once won, upon that spot, so he cam
to Oberlin, not to enter into combat wit
:, any enemy, but to fire a salute in honor {
: the victory which the Unionists Of Lorai
!, had long ago achieved. He proceeded t
= examine the questions at issue in this rebel
7 lion. The first was the theory oil State
. Rights, the falsity of which he ably dc
: monstrated In this connection he remark
4 ed that our form Of government seemed t
be modelled on the great law Of the Chri.
tian dispensation, and that Just as, with bu
= a slight change, that law applied to the's(
n lar system, and it was ordered that eac
n planet should "attract the sun with all il
-. heart and soul and mind and strength, an
its sister planets as itself" so it was the la
Of our political system that each Stst
b should "love the UNION with all its heal
s and soul and mind and strength, an
if its sister States as itself" Applause.
! Another question in issue was that 0
slavery, or the greater and higher questio
= of human labor Labor was the conditio
e of life. 1t was the highest gift of God {
> man. There we're but two ways Of solvin
- this question-either TO accept the cond
ton of life and meet the responsibility Q
labor, or to seize on another, weaker tha
Il yourself and make him do your worl
70 while you go through life and take it eas1
: This was slavery, and it found its centri
:. root in love of ease-in the wicked an
II profsne purpose of throwing aside the la
q of God and substituting our own desires
D These two diverse ideas were planted 0
d this continent in the same year. And tn
idea of free labor came to US in good con
pany, TOR it was welded to the great Pr
% testant idea. Here the speaker, in an ell
% quent paragraph, referred to the great ide
,e of Luther, that private judgment was Il
h rightof every man, showing how it ha
:: brought about free religion, frea govern
Is ment and free labor. In the same yes
a Dutch schooner landed at jamestown
g cargo of slaves, and so the great war
% ideas commenced on this continent.
= The speaker next adverted to the Chic
go platform, declaring that it was made &
Niagara Fails, and that the three contra,
b. ting parties we're northern democrat