The Portland daily press., 1872-10-04

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS ON THE PREsIDEN-
TIAL QUESTION. 'Is Me
George William Curtis opened the Parker
Fraternity course of lectures Tuesday eve
ming with his lecture entitled Grant or Gree
ley and Why" He said: .tt @
In the old Swiss cantons of Uri and Valais
the pureSt popular government yet known
has existed for more than thousand years.
On some bright morning of spring the little
| head 1f auri uri, bearing the banner of the bulls
mountains: noun al al It4 fna green meadow among the
and the magistrates on f6tf f6fasse fase follow on foot,
istrate wearing the sword. Reaching gghagg- az
meadow the people gather around the chief
ruler, there is a brief pause for silent prayer,
and then and there, in the general assembly
of the people, the magistrates resign their
trust, the chief magistrate delivers up his
| sword, leaves the chair, and descending, takes
| his place with the other citizens. If he have
served them well they bid him take the chair
| again, for in these simple democracies there is
no rule that the chief magistrate shall not be
| reelected, if the people shall have decided by
experience and not by a theory whether the
chief be worthy, and the rejection of the retir-
ing magistrate is the exception both in the
single canton and in the whole Swiss confed-
Grafton. The observant traveller tells us that
| for eighteen years no member of the executive
council had failed to obtain reelection when
ever he had so desired, except in two in
stances, and yet constant reelection has not
impaired the Swiss traditions of popular free
dom, which remain to this day. 1t is pleas
ant picture, that OF the Swiss peasants in the
green mountain pastures, gathered in the
summer morning to make their laws and
choose their magistrate, and so continue
from age to age. You say this is possible in
poetry and in States too small for Europe to
regard,-but the political custom of Uri and
Valais are the basis of ours the term of the
presidential election in America flows from
these clear and Alpine systems. What are
we now doing at this moment but assembling
on day, which lasts from June to Novem-
ber, to decide whether we shall say to our
chief magistrate, who is about to resign his
trust, 'VictOr of Appomatox, leave the chair
that you have disgraced,' or whether we
shall say to him as Mr.. Lincoln said to him
in handing him his commission as general OF
the armies, ''Gen. Grant, the nations appre
citation OF what You have already done, and
its reliance upon you of what still remains to
be done, are now presented you with this
commission. As the country herein trusts
you, so under God it will sustain you." LAD
plause. The country said so to Washington
to Jefferson, to Madison, to Monroe, to Jack
son, to Lincoln, and already on the outskirt:
of the great congregation of the people tho
VOICE DeSllS 10 make ltSelf heard. On the
edge we call Maine, on the heights we cal
| Vermont, already we hear the cry, General
Grant, as the country herein trusts you, sc
under God it will sustain you" For happily
| ours is government not of men, but of laws
and public opinion. Every four years we
elect not only President, but we choose al
so a party; the party determines the princi'
Piles and spirit of the administration it brings
into power. We at this moment deal will
two parties, and with two only; and which o
these who have presented us with candidat,
do we believe will more surely secure the vel
fare of this country-the Democratic party
with a few Republican recruits, headed b,
Mr.. Greeley, or the Republican party, heade,
by General Grant? Listen to the cry of eacl
as it falls upon us this autumn night. TIL
Democratic party shouts from the mountain
edge to the sea, ''Forgive and forget! forgiy
and forgetv' And what is the Republica
response? 1t is in the air; it beats in ou
hearts; it trembles upon our tongues; it ra
lies all the great heart of the loyal Americas
people, in which was never thought of ven
geance-"By all the memories of the dead
! I by all the hopes of liberty, we will forgiv
! everything, and God helping us, we VIII lor
! get nothing" loud applause.) IL we Woor' ',,'
know for which party to vote, we mus o. -. 80
derstand what it is we vote for. IL y nUS
concliation, it is not reform-iit. Is i;oh II,
deeper than both; it is sometnlhS Mrlen e, \, !,
cludes all that the progress anu re'orn