Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-09-30


so heavily by taxation. We attributed 1t
to the differences in their langusge-the
great number Of nationalities, divided by
imaginary lines--the petty jealousles
and strifes, and consequent necessity Tor
maintaining large standing armies We
then spoke Of the blessed condition
of Europe if all these rival governments
could be moulded into one, speaking a
common language, having common SYM
pathies, with no customhouses to annoy,
aud no standing armies to threaten; and
nv Quaker friends warmed with enthusi-
asm at the glorious picture, and ex-
pressed the earnest wish that such day
might dawn, for with 1t would come the
true millennium. But, said /, when
all this has been achieved, suppose some
man should rise up in England, and say
that all this genial fellowship among the
nations, this community of interest and
of language shall be DESTROYED unless
serfdom be abrogated in Russia and
polygamy in Turkey. What would you
say regarding such man 2 Say z
said the Quakers; we would say that
he deserved the anathemas Of all good
men, as a traitor to the best interests
of mankind for doubling that God, in bis
own way and in his own good time, would
work out remedy for all these
wrongs. Now, said !, my friends,
when we drew this picture of Europe
it was not all fancy. / described
the broad land which extends fiom the
Atlantic to the Paci6c--from the great
lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Go two
thousand miles over this land and no
custom-house shall stop you--travel to
its farthest limits, and you shall see no
standing armies-you shall hear COM
mon language and shall feel a common
sympathy. Then you shall know what
it is to live upon great, broad continent,
where there is brotherhood, unalloyed by
your hatreds and antipathies Why,
therefore, do you come here to teach us
the language of strife Long and loud
applause Now, my friends, to make
the application--had we from the begin.
ming been arrayed one State against an
other--had we disregarded our commu-
nifty of language and of interest, and fos-
tered the hatreds and jealousies which we
are now taught to cherish, this beautiful
Minnesota would yet have been wilder
ness, the painted savage would yet glide
down the noble Mississippi, and the wa
ters of that mighty cataract, whose thur
ders / now almost hear, that by the art of
man has been taught to leap forth to their
labors at the rising of the sun and retire
to their rest at its setting, would still
pursse their precipitous course undis
turbed. [Applause. ] But am keeping
you 10 long. / stand before you to night
impressed with more than ordinary feel
ings. / never knew the greatness ofthis
country of ours until now. Inever knew
before of the vastness of this great val
ley, whose beginnings you hold in your
hands, nor appreciated the infueoce
which it is yet to exercise upon the des-
TIMES Of our country. And therefore 1t
is that / now most earnestly entreat you,
as you are about to enter upon an elec
tion not altogether local, and which is
to affect your position in this confed-
Grafton of States, to cherish and
sustain those principles which are
founded upon love of our whole coun-
try, and whose influence will tend to ce-
ment it more closely together. You
have seen the great men Of this Republi-
can party go up to their National Con-
ventions When the roll of the States
was called, there was no man there to
speak for the State where Washington
was born; there was no man to answer
for the State where Jacksons ashes lie;
there was no man to respond when the
land of Sumter and Marion was called.
lApplause. But how will it be when our
next Democratic convention is held ?
You will see then no such spectacle as
this. When we call the roll of States
which compose the confederation, every
commonwealth from Maine down to young
Minnesota, and still younger Oregon,
will attest the nationality of our party by
the presence of its representatives.
lCheers The Atlantic will shout forth
10 the Paci6c-the great lakes to the
Gulf; and when we shall nominate our
candidate for the Presidency, the loud
voices Of the representatives of the whole
nation will name the man who will sd.
minister its affairs for the next four years.
Loud cheering Let me tell you, my
fellow citizens, that those who may an
iicipate political success, basing that
hope upon agitation and upon Injustice,
will most certainly be disappointed, be-
cause their expectations are not founded
upon those great principles Of magma
nimity, wisdom and patriotism which
underIie the political questions that now
agitate our country. And beE aud ex-
hort Of you, the people Of Minnesota,
who have the future for your heritage
you who are about to lay the foundations
Of q great State-to enroll il in the proud
list Of Democratic commonvealths-of
States devoted to the maintenance Of the
Union-snd that, with them, you viii
seek TO uphold every star and every
stripe in our Hetional fAg-msy il wave
forever. [Deafening applause, with six
cheers, daring which the distinguished
.,,o.t.~ tr,t IL. .o.t