Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1876-09-21
A Smashing Speecb--Traths that
Burn.

A Smashing SpeccIl--Truths that
Burn.
Col. Bob. IsGERsoLL, of Illinois,
made a speech in New York last
week, from which we extract some
vigorous utterances:
When the Republican party was
born there was on the Statute Book of
the United States of America law
known as the Fugitive Slave law of
1850, under the provisions OF which
every man in the State of New York
was made by law a bloodhound and
could be set, could be Kissed upon a
negro who was simply attempting to
attain his birth right of freedom, the
same as you would hiss dog upon a
wild beast. That was the Fugitive
Slave Law of 1850. 1t made every
man, every Northern man, dog; it
put round his neck collar and they
did not have the decency to put the
mans name on the collar, but they
put the name of his master. have
said it in the State of Maine several
times, and | expect to say it several
times again, although heard l out
ragged the religious sentiment of the
Democratic party and shocked the
piety of that organization by saying
it. laughter l did say there,
and I now say here, that the Fugi-
tive Slave Law of 1850 would have
disgraced hell in her palmiest days.
Laughter. At the same time, in
nearly all the Western States there
was law by virtue of which hospi-
tality became an indictable offense.
There was law by virtue of which
charity became crime, and man,
simply for an act of kindness exer-
cised, could be indicted, imprisoned
and fined. 1t was the law of Hi
nois, of my State, that if I gave a
drop of cold water or crust OF
bread to a poor fugitive from slavery,
could be indicted, fined and i'm
prisoned. Under the infamous slave
law of 1850, under the infamous
black laws of the Western States
when the Republican party was born,
if woman, ninety nine one-hun-
dredths white, had escaped from
slavery, carrying her child in her
arms, had gone through wilderness
and tangle and swamp and river, and
finally got within one foot of free
soil, with the light of the North star
beckoning her to freedom, it would
have been an indictable offense to
have given her drop of water and a
crust of bread. And under the Fu-
gitive Slave Law it was the duty of q
Northern citizen claiming to be a
freeman to clutch that woman and
hand her back to the dominion of
the hound, the Democrat and the
lash.
The Democratic party in the South
collected themselves together for the
purpose of breaking up this Union.
The Republican party said to them:
'EYou try and break up this Union
and we will break your necks," and
they did it. Applause. The Re-
publican party came into power upon
the heels of the Buchanan admins
tration. The Treasury was as empty
of coin as the Democratic party was
of patriotism and honor. We had to
borrow money of whom we could.
We had to issue bonds and green
backs. What for? Why, to buy
shot and shell and musket and can
non to shoot enough Democrats to
save the Union. Great applausel.
After speaking of the action of
the Democrats during the war, the
speaker continued;
Recollect, my friends, that it was
the Democratic party that did these
devilish things when the great heart
of the North was filled with agony and
grief Recollect that they did these
things when the future of your coun
try and mine was trembling in the
balance of war; recollect that they
did these things when the question
was liberty, or slavery and perish;
recollect that they did these things
when your brothers, husbands and
dear ones were bleeding or dying ON
the battle fields of the South, lying
there alone of NIGHT. the blood slowly
oozing through the wounds of death;
when your brothers, husbands and
sons were lying in the hospitals
dreaming of home pictures they
loved. Recollect that the Democracy
did these things when those dear to
you were in the prison pens, with no
covering by night except the sky,
with no food but what the worms re-
fused, with no friends except insani-
ty and death. Applause.