The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-05-31
MIR. PHILLIPS RECORD.
MON ue Tribttne.


Mr.. Wendell Phillips lauds "the platform"
as the foremost instrumentality in promoting
the intellectual, moral, and political education
of our people. II is unquestionably a great
power, mainly through the aid of the press.
Mr.. Phillips has exerted wide influence, not
merely over the thousands who listen to his
harangues, but over the hundreds of thou
sands who read their substance, as reported in
the journals. How wisely, humanely, con-
sistently that influence has been exerted, will
be better understood when his recent fulmina-
tions respecting the bailing of Jefferson Davis
are contrasted with the following from his
earlier yet still recent orations. In his speech
at the meeting Of the American Anti-Slavery
Society, held at Cooper Institute May IL
1865, Mr.. Phillips said:-
'The idea of jury impannelled to try Jeffer-
language OF the age of Shakespeare, n most
lamentable and tragical comedy should rs
soon try adders by jury, and claim the benefit
OF hd6eas corpus for rattiesnakes
81 shall never consent TO the death OF Jefier-
son Davis until fear mis- life He is weaker
alive, q ridiculous fugitive, than dead and
buried in the sympathies of millions. Let him
live, then. once said of John Brown:-'Vir-
ginia dared not let him live No man. with
my consent, shall have il to say of this strong,
serenely secure nation, IL dared not let Davis
In his speech at Cooper Institute, October
%, 1866, Mr.. Phillips said -
II do not want any man hanged. JEFF Davis
will never get his deserts this side of Oalvin's
or Dante's hell But do not want him TO get
his deserts here The President may give him
back his plantation for all me. do not believe
our people are capable of the double virtue of
man. Sol will compromise: they may set all
the traitors free, If they will only enfranchise
theblacks (Applause.V
At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Feb
ruary 13, 1866, Mr.. Phillips said -
"Well, our President once said that traitors
to he nuniShed He has not DuniShed 81
traitor. He never will. L, for one, do not ask
him to-. The hour has gone. Eight months of
life such as we have been living, which is eight
and eighty of common national existence, have
foated by since il was possible. When James
sent Raleigh TO the scaffOld, IL did not stir colder
horror through a large part of the civilized
world than in America woul1 be stirred to-day,
jefferson Davis was sent to the scaffod. The
action OF government has closed the door Of
the Ecaf1old."
At the annual meeting of the American
Anti-Slavery Society, held in New York May s,
1866, Mr.. Phillips said:--
"If 10000 900 of loyal people have not learned
enough from this war TO bear Jefferson Davis,
then nationality is a failure. Adjourn the dis
pute, and walt for better generation. But we
nave elements, we have sufficient strength, to
ignore Jefferson Davis and a thousand like
him, if they still live; and that strength is
justice (Applause.V
In his speech at Cooper Institute, October
25 1866, he said:-
they see a traitor in the White House, to
spread IL to the wings of the wind until the
people rebuke 1T out of existence. (GooJ.D
And what demand OF the army of the United
States, from Lieutenant. General down, is that
they make the streets of the cities of the con-
quered republic safe for every man to tread.
(Cheers) listen to no talk of constitutional
amendments. want to hear nothing of recon-
sruction. l do not care what becomes OF JEFF
ferson Davis. He is older than the ark (Laugh-
ter.l The question of his punishment is one
that landed on Mount Ararat."
is the man honest who thus talked few
months ago, and now talks as Wendell
Phillips doesS