Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1866-01-25
s5rJ;I;CIT or
HON. SAMUEL S. COX.
At THE
DEMOCRATIC FESTIVAL,
fieio in Tammany Hail, n. ".
January Sth, 1866.

'sh. tDOo.
Your invitation gentlemen of the Tam.
many Society, has 10 it the phrase and soul
Of amnesty 1t bids US forget all victorie.
since that great victory which closed the
war OF ISL" The luster Of united patri-
otiSm VIII DC tarnshed tonight by no un.
charitable memories. | join you in that
'unicigned joy with which you hail the ad-
vent OF a season when We can recur to an
event which no achievements 10 our subse
qucnt history can ever dim, and which re-
united brethren IN every portion Of our glori-
qusrcpublic can celebrate with equal pride. 4"
In celebrating this fiftieth Anniversary Of
the victory Of New Orleans over foreign
foe, we not only bury for a season our own
domestic strifes; We give the statuesaue
form OF Andrew jackson TO the marble, and
that of his heroic namesake, 'Stonewall"
Jack sou, to the dust. To me this is the
chief attraction Of this banquet. If the
Chief Magistrate welding the civil author
ity, can pardon the errors and crimes Of hi,
own recusant section; If General Grant can
wreath his sword with the garlands of good
VIII; II the organized government in all its
branches Save the Legislature) can temper
justice with mercy, may not the great Dem
ocrauc heart, whose pulse is here ia Tam
TenlrNfE0
to spcak-sweeten its icstivity with the ay
sOciations of forgiveness. IT, by reunitino
in spirit again with that branch of the De.
mocracy which left in 1860, we meet the re-
proacheS ofthe rcvengeful and sullen. we
share them along with our clement cxec1
tive. III he, III civil AFFAIR.", can accept vic
tory without rcprisal and raise the fallen foe.
without piercing him with additional pun
lshment-may We not, in our party relations.
be excused ior following so Christian an OK
ample.
The crime which followed the defeat of
the Democratic party in 1860 has been pun
lshed. In the charred homes, the wasted
tclds, the sacked towns. the ruined thorough
lores the rude swath ofdesolation and misery
which had their saddest climax Of woe in
the bereavement SO comfortless and the
mourning so poignant for the dead, all sneak
OF penalties SO heavy that none but fend
wonld willingly ad d to their weight.
That these results were consequence OF
the desertion Of the Democracy by Tie South
ern portion Of the party is now history. -
The great party whose beginnings were
coeval with the Constitution, whose philos-
ophy Is IN Jetlerson's inaugural, whose sue
cesses had thirteen out Of the fifteen Presi-
dents since the election Of Jefferson, whose
achievements III foreign war, territorial ez-
pansion, ana domestic progress, constitute
the advancement Of our country; the party
which, through shine and shadow, alyanccl
the starry flag and the civic fasces, at last
succombed, not to an enemy, but to its own
internal disscntions. None but itself could
be its conqueror! We know how the di.
visions came. The little crcvice in 1914 be-
came pcrccptibly fracture in 1913, and al
though cemented and trellised over in Isl:
and 1896, as ifbya quake ofnlture in 1850
became on unbridgable chasm. The acita
I tions of the slavery question, beginning in
1870 with the Missouri contest. creening
| into Congress in 1885 in the form of neti.
ton, at last touched territorial government.
But during these years, the Democracy were
unaffected. The presidency, in 1852 and
1886, was won on the doctrine of non-inter-
yention. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery men.
forgetting their differences united BY a love
of union to leave this vexed matter to the
local authority. Gradually the extremes Of
the North produced their eircounterpart South,
and while the nation, in 1860, by its major
tiles for Bell and Douglas, voted and hoped
for union, the fatal Democratic fracture rave
the PRESIDENT to minority, and the land to
sectional strife and iraternal bloodshed.
L recall these things because it is neces-
sary to have plain talk with Southern men.
Forgetting the usage and law of Democrat
lc conventions, they deserted the flag under
which they had ever found honorable pro-
lection. They left us alone to battle with
the common foe. They left US and retired
sullenly to the rear at time when the well
appointed and tiercely inspired Republicans
were thundering on our hanks!
The Convention met at Charleston. There
was division nearly sectional among the
delegates. While many eloquent champions
OF Democratic unity, North and South, were
| ready to conccde much for the imperiled
country, the Convention was distracted. -
The report otthe committees affirming the
Cincinnati platform and leaving the subject
OF slavery where the contests of 1918. 1852
and 1906 left ito the people of the Terri
t9res-was passed by vote Of rs to ! S.
BY Democratic usage this should have set
tied the platform. BY the code of honor
this was the law Of cur party But Ala
bama, followed by Mississippi, Florida,
Texas, and part ofI.ouisiana South Caro-
lima, Arkansas, Delaware. and North Caro-
lima, withdrew They withdrew because the
Convention held that slavery might be de-
stroyed by the people of territory, and
would not agree TO protect it by code -
Under the brilliant lead of Mr. Iancey Il
seeding Convention met. Then began the
chasm which widencd till a stream Of blood
filed its abyss. oh sirs it was sad
hour for this nation when that severance
took place need not dwell on the bitter
ness OF that hour. | only refer to it to show
what power Of cohesion was in that De
mocracy; and what consequences followed
its disruption. Religious societies had
parted tract societies had been severed /;
domestic, literary, social, political, and re-
ligious circles were all disorganized; thelast
and only link-the Democracy remained. -
Ruthless hands, which spared not the Union
afterwards, spared not the Democracy then!
Assassns stabbed that party, and the nation
tottercd | remember too well the taunts
and jeers hurled at Northern Democrats in
that bitter hour. 1t was in that hour on
the 26th Of June, az Baltimore, that Gen
eral Richardson read the dispatch from
Douglas. II learn that there is danger that
the Democratic party will be broken by the
breaking up of the convention-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
we'll 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
But you know the sequel. Notwithstand-
ing Douglas was nominated by the lawful
vote and the platform adoptedby majority,