The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-07-14
GEN. GARFIELD ON UNIVERSAL
Fourth Of July Grafton at Bavenna

FOURTH OF July OraI1On al n'aSenna'
General Garfield delivered the Grafton at
the celebration of the Fourth Of July in
RsvennAin which he argued Asiength and
with great force and power in favor of ad-
hitting the freedmen to the right Of snf-
frage. We regret thst our limited spsce
will permit III to copy only n or two u
tracts from the extended report of hisspeech
which we find in the Rsvenna Democrat:
We may now say that the past, with al
its wealth and glorious associations, is Sc
cure. The air is filed with brightness
the horizon is agloW with hope The future
is full of magnificent possibilities. But
God has committed to us 8 trust which we
must not, we dare not overlook. syr =s
By the d~ispensstion of His Providenee
the chains have been stricken from four
millions of the. inhabitants of this Repub-'
lie, and BE has shown US the truth Of that
early utterance Of Abraham Lincoidths
GThst this is 8 world of compensation (;
and he who would be no slave, must have
no slave Those who deny freedom to
others deserve it net fox themselves pand
under 8 just God cannot long retain it,
In the great crisis Of the war, God
brought us face to face with the mighty
truth that we must lose our own freedom,
or grant it to the slave. In the extreHi-
ty Of our distress we called upon the black
man to help US save the Republic, and
amid the very thunder of battle We made
8 covenant with him, sealed both with his
blood and ours, and witnessed by Jehovah,
and when the nation was redeemed he
should be free, and share with Us its giories
and its blessings. [Applanse yd.a.
The Omniscient witness will appeAr in
Judgment against US if we do not fulfill
that covenant. Have we done it2 Have
we given freedom TO the black man Z
What is freedom2 Il 1t 9 mere negstion Z
The bare privilege of not being chained,
of moi being bought and sold, branded and
scourged 2 If this be all, their freedom is
q bitter mockery, cruel delusion, and it
may well be questioned whether slavery
were not better. T65 II ta-s
But Liberty is no negstion,g 1t Is q sub
~stantive, tangible reality. 1t is the reali-
cation of those imperishable truths Of the
Declaration 'thst all men are created
equsl," that the sanction of sill just gov
eminent is 1.-THE consent Of the governed"
TApplause. Can these be realized until
each man has q right to be heard on all
matters relating to himselfP The plain
truth is, that each man knows his own in
terest best. ." H'ft" gCrf
f1t he is compelled to pay, if ne may be
compelled to fight, if he be required impli-
citely to obey, he should be legally entitled
to be told what for to have his consent
asked, and his opinion counted st what it
is worth. There ought TO be no psrishs in
a full grown and civilized nation, No per-
sons disqualified except through their own
defsUits.D ratv.
1 would notinsult your intelligence by dis-
cussing soplsin 8 truth, had not the passion
and prejudice of this generation called in
question the very axiOms of the Declars-
ton.
After arguing the subject Of suffrage at
length, and giving q sketch of the history
of the franchise in England, the General
-aannludas as follows.
The struggle is again gong on. Tho
great storm through which American lib
erty has just passed, gave a temporary Ti-
umph to the enemies of popular right in
England. But ou- recent glorious triumph
is the signal of disaster to. tyranny, and
victory for the people. The liberal party
in England are jlbilant, and will never
rest until the ballot Is in the hand of the
working man, and the temple of English
liberty rests upon the broad foundation of
popular suffrage. Let US learn from this,
that suffrage and safety, like liberty and
union, are one and insepsrable. Zap
plssue. ..o- on =.
1t is related in ancient fable that one OF
the gods, dissatisfied with the DEGREES of
destiny, attempted to steal the box in
which was kept the DEGREES of the Fates,
but he found that it was fastened to the
throne of Jupiter by a golden chem, and
to remove it would pull down the pillars of
heaven. ue
$50 is the sacred bsllot-box, which holds
the DEGREES Of freemen, linked by the in
dissoluble bond of necessity TO the pillars
of the Republic, and he who hampers with
its DEGREES, or plucks 1t away from its place
in our temple, will perish amid the ruins
hn has WrOnUht ~ .a-