Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-09-13
SPEECH OF non. JAMES LYONS.


On taking the chair as permanent Pres.
ident of the Convention, Judge Lyons
spoke as follows
GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION, DEMO.
GRATIS OF THE UNITED STATES / utter no
words of praise when say to you that
appreciate the honor which you have con-
ferred upon me more than / am able of
expressing. 1t Is not because the honor
of presiding over an honorable convention
like this Is anovelty to me, because 1t Is not,
but 1t Is because | regard this as one of the
most remarkable bodies that ever assembled
In this country, and one which almost mex
presslbly, using the language which 1t Is
proper to employ on occasions like this, Is
entitled to admiration and respect. / am
among you almost an entire stranger. l
hayeIhe honor to know few of YOU but TO
the rest am known only as a whole.souled
and grateful deyotee OF the cause which has
brought us together. Who are they who
have bestowed this mark of respect and
kindness upon me- 1t is convention of
the unbought, the unpurchasable, true Dem
ocrats. tremendous applause
II is convention of party teachers, brought
together for the purpose of obtaining par
ty creed, or the success of party leader.
We are here without leader, except that
Great Leader who shines from above, truth
and fidelity. Tremendous applause. We
have come together from all parts of the
tanning and advancing the prospects of this
| party or that party, this leader or that
| leader, but we have come together like pill
| grims in the face of the shrine of our coun-
| try, to defend that country and our Consti-
| tuition Tapplausel; not influenced by any
hopes of reward, and deferred by no threats
of ostracism, which are so freely circulated.
| You have come together in solemn regard to
! your principles, to your convictions and
| your devotion to the Constitution of your
country to maintain those principles, and,
by maintaining them, to defend that Consti.
! tuition.
if it can be honorable for any man to be
selected as the representative of any body,
surely it must be to be selected as the or
| gan and representative of such body, and
| so in my earnest heart / feel it. The con-
dition In which you came together is so re.
| markable that regard the honor as much
more than ordinary. A great party on the
one hand, with all the power of the Gov
| ernment in its control, organized III all de
tails, prepared for battle, is in the field. On
the other side not party but n coalition has
| been formed more remarkable than any that
has ever been formed in any country since
and including the time of Lord North and
"Junius." 1t may be emphatically described
as Dolly Nardenn party lapplausel, the
peculiar faculties Of which are, according Ia
Dickens description, and it was his creature
all sorts of colOrs collected together without
at u clam bake in New England girl was SC
strongly imbued with this as characteristic
of the party that she put on her Dolly Var
den costume and went and threw her arms
around old Horace aud gave him kiss
Laughter and applause. ! cay, i
this is not Dolly Warden party, Don,
Warden never had and never vii
have party. Poor Dolly Warden But, Il
be more serious, my friends this coalition o
the Dolly Warden is for that purposey IL
advance any principle? No; unless it is IN,
principle OF the highwayman unless tn,
man VINO is bent upon plnnder may be con
sidered TO have principle. They say tina
their object is 10 turn Grant out. They hav,
wandered around the corn pen for lonl
time. They have nosed around the rails ant
inyeighed about their poverty until they car
stand II no longer, and have finally deter
mined to tear their own pen down. Laugh
ter and applause. They say: 1--WE viii
pay no regard TO any right or principle; corr
we must have; we cannot live without il
and into this corn.crib we must get" lap
! plause.l II is calculated to eVcite ynur NOR
I riment, and yet again it is calculated to ex
cite the gravest and most serious regards
Your country is the corn-pen; her plunde
is the corn-your corn. You constitute
large part of the people of the country, ant
when YOU see that there has been formed, il
the face of the people, a coalition between
these dissatisfied and sorchead politician
and men who have been out OF office, but de
tGrmined to get into Office at all hazards, Vol
see that your country is in danger, and tha
you are called upon at once as men Of char
acter to come To the rescue of that country
Now, how can you do it? You can only d
1t by defeating that coalitiOn-that coalition
which, in the language of its leader and o
its lieutenant, l am authorized to say, i
founded upon no principles whatever eXcep
what have described. For, observe, afte
the Baltimore Convention had gone throug
! he rinHmO So
duty, they selected certain clock peddlel
and very dishonest one, too, as Dougla
says he was, one Mr.. DoOittle, as the chaiI
man OF a convention to put upon its homes
Horace-GOd save the mark [applausel- /
the man who never honestly maintained an
opinion for twenty-four hours together in hi
life; no. never for twenty-four minutes, fo
he never conceived one in honesty, TO my III
derstanding of his character. Applause
Mr.. Doottle waited upon him and tendere
him the cap and bells, and when he offere
them, made speech in which there was nc
one word OF truth, and every word of whic
could be disputed by the acts of Mr.. Doolit
tie and His confederates.
What was honest Horace's replSY an
frlend," said he, ~ am as good Republica
to-day as ever was, and you are rs goo
Democrats as you ever were" l am free t
say that if man could make such a speec
as that made to Horace Greeley at that time
he never was a Democrat.
What is the meaning of that 81 am to.da
as good Republican as | ever was and yo
are as good Democrats as you ever were?
Gentlemen, either one of two things mus
follow: Democracy and Republicanism, i
the more radical form, were always synony
nous, or those two parties are as wide apaI
as the poles; which is true of still Republ
can and Of that sort which he was hereto
fore. Never having the courage in his Iii
to meet man face to face, and yet capabl
of that most dastardly outrage of assailn
women. If he is as good Il Republican as Ii
ever was before, what are the Democrat
who can 60 up to him and say: "I am q