The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1866-02-08
An "Aannesty'' from Hon.
y. 3. Cox IN
HE Speech IN Tdmmany Hall, Nt,c York
on tie Night Of JanNary 6, 1866.

AOaG, Luz lusIre OF united patriotism
VIII be tarnished tonight by no unchsri-
aGie memories. join you In that @nnfeign-
ed JOY with which you hail the advent of
aSeason when we can recur to an event
which no achievements in our subsequent
history can ever dim, and which reunited
| brethren in every portion ofour glorious
republic can celebrate with equaf, pride"
In celebrating this fiftieth anniversary Of
the victory at New Orleans over foreign
roe we not only bury for a season our own
domestic strifeS; we give the statueSque
iorm OF Andrew jackson to the marbleand
that or his heroic namesake "Stcnewallu
Jackson. to the dust. To me this is the
chief attraction Of tlis BANQUET. If the
chief Magistrate, welding the civil auth
olity, can pardon the errors and crimes of
his own recusant section; if General Grant
cal wreath his sword with the garlands Of
5000 will; ii the organized Government In
all It's branches (save the Legislature), can
temper justice with mercy, may not the
great Democratic heart, whose pulse is here
IN Iammany-and In whose honor am re-
quested to speak-sweeten its festivities
with tue associations of forgiy eness? II,
6y reuniting IN spirit again with that
Dfanch OF the Democracy which left us in
ieGO we meet the reproaches ofthe revenge
tul ald sullen, we share them along with
our clement Executive. If he, in civil af-
lairs, can accept victory without reprlsal
and raise the fallen foe, without piercing
him with additional punishment-may we
nor, in our party relations. be excused for
following so christian an example?
Inc crime which followed the defect Of
the Democratic party In 1860 has been pun
lshed. In the charred homes, the wasted
Eelds, the sacked towns, the ruined thor
oughmres. the rude swath ofdesolation and
misery which had their saddest climax Of
woe IN the bereavement so comfortless and
thc mourning so poignant for the dead all
speak OF penalties so heavy that none but q
ilend would Willingly add to their weight.
That these results were q CONSEQUENCE Of
tie desertlon Of the Democracy by the
Southern portion of the party Is now his
tory. That great party whose beginnings
were'coeyal with the Constitution, whose
philosophy Is in JeiferSon's Inaugural,
whose successes. had thirteen out Of the
fifteen Presidents since the election of jeff
erson' whose achievements in foreign war,
terri orlal expansion and domestic progress,
constitute the advancement ourcountry;
the party which, through shine and shadow,
advanced the starry flag and the civic fas-
ces, at last succumbed, not TO an enemy, but
to its own internal dissentions. None but
itself could be its conqueror! We know
how the div yisicss eames The little creyice
IN 1874 became fracture in .184S and al
though csmented and trellised over In 1852
and 1856 as II by quake of nature irl'lS60,
became an unbridgable chasm. The agita-
tions Of the slavery question, beginning in
1870, with the Missouri contest, creeping
into Congress in 1885, in the form of peti.
tion. at last touched territorial government,
But during these years the Democracy we're
unaffected, The Presidency, in 1852 and
1856. was won on the ground Of non-inter-
vention. Pro-slavery and anti-slayery
men. forgetting their differences, united BY
a love of union, to leave this yexed matter
TO the local authority. Gradually the ex-
trcmes of the North produced their coun-
teri prrt South, and while the nation, in
lSGO by its majorities for Bell and Douglas,
voted and hoped for union, the fatal Demo-
cratic fracture gave the President to q
minority and the land to sectional strife and
fraternal bloodshed.
| recall these things because it is neces-
sary to have 4 plain talk with Southern
men. Forgetting the usage and law Of
Democratic conventions, they deserted the
flag under which they had ever found hon.
orgble protection. They left us alone to
battle with the common foe. They left US
and retired sullenly to the rear. at a time
when the well appointed and tiercely in
spired Republicans we're laundering ON our
hanks!
The Convention met at Charleston. There
was a division nearly sectional among the
delegates. While many eloquent champi-
DnS of Democratic unity, North and South,
were ready TO concede much for the imper-
He'd country, the Convention was distrac-
ted. The report of the committee, affirm
Ing the Cincinnati platform aud leaving
The subject Of slavery where the contests Of
lSlS 1882 acd 1856 left ito the people Of
the territOries-was passed by vote l75to
1872. By Democratic usage this should have
settled the platform. BY the code Of honor
this was the law of our party. But Ala
hHma followed by Mississippi, Florida,
Texas and part Of .ouisana. South Carolina,
Arkansas. Delaware and North Carolina,
withdrew. They withdrew because the
Convention held that SLAYER; might be des.
.roycd by tie people of Territory. and
would not agree to protect it by code.
Under the brilliant lead Of Mr.. Yancy a se-
,cdiug Convention met. Then began the
,hasm which widencd till stream Of blood
allCd its abyss. Oh sirs it was a sad hour
for this nation when that severance took
lhltC' L utCu lOJ uNell Oh tile UllIeTEeSS
Of that hour. only refer to tito show that
4 power ofcohesion was in that Democracy;
aud what consequences followed its disrup-
ton. Religious societies had parted; tract
societies had been severed; domestic, liter
nry. social. political and religious circles
were all disorganized; the last and only
link-the Democracy, remained Ruthless
hands, which spared not the Union after
wards, spared not the Democracy then!
Assassins stabbed that party, and the nation
remember too well the tannts
and jeers hurled at Northern Democrats in
that bitter hour. 1t was on that hour on
the Goth ofJune, at Baltimore, that General
read the dispatch from Doug
las: II learn that there is danger that the
Democratic party will be broken up by the
breaking up of the conyention-such an
event would expose the country to sectional
strife. Intervention means disunion." He
begged his friends to withdraw his name,
but not to sacrifice the principle. 1t was
too late. The wisdom of his friends may
well be questioned. The Democracy might
have united on james Guthrie, Andrew
Johnson or some other statesman; and its
union would have been the harbinger Of
Peace. .-9uIs
DO you know the sequel. Notwithstand-
ing Douglas was nominated by the lawful