New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-09-24

COLONEL lNGRRso,.l. IN NEW YORK.
Thrilling Speech of that EHslnes 1T Ora tor

Thrilling Speech of that Ensinest Ora tor
On Monday evening, September II
Colonel Robert G. lngersoll spoke to a.
immense mass meeting at Copper Institute
in New York city. The following extract
are taken from his address:
My friends, two political parties are asA
ing the votes of this people; one wishes t.
retain the power that il has held for six
teen years, the other wishes Office. Tn
Democratic party, with the hungry, starv
ing eyes of q volt, has been looking in a
the national Capitol and scratching at tn
doors of the White House for sixteen years
Occasionally it has retired to come con
ahOEt the cor stitution. By George, that
it exactly. The Republican party comes t.
you with it's record open, and asks ever.
man, woman and child in this broa1 .udn
| try to read its every word; and l say to yo'
there is not line. paragraph, or pag
in that record that is not only an honor t
| the Republican party, but to the human
race. On every page Of that record is re
| corded some great and glorious action dom
either for the liberty of man or the preser
| walton of our common country. W.
| ask every body to read it's every word. Tht
Democratic party comes before you with it,
record closed, a record OF blot and blur, ant
| stain and treason, and SANDER and mali e
nifty, and asks you not to read solitary
word Of what it has done, but be kline
| enough to take it's infamous promise fol
| what it will do. ALLOW me to say here that
| character-good characteristics upon q
record and not ups II prospectus. A man
| has q good or bad character by what
he has really done, by what he has really
accomplished, and Eot by what he promises
to do. If promises would make good
reputation, Samuel j. Tilden and the Dem.
ocratic party would have one in twenty-tour
hours. propose to tell you this evening,
my friends, little of the history of the Re-
publican party, little of the history of the
Democrat party, and first the Republican
party.
Tue United States Of America is free
country; it is tho only free country upon
this earth; it is the only republic that was
ever established among men. We have
read, we have heard Of the republic of
Greece, of Egypt, Of Venice; we have heard
Of the tree cities of Europe There never
was a republic in Venice, there never was a
republic in Rome, there never was repub
lie in Athens, there never was a free city in
Europe, there never was government not
cursed with caste, there never was a gov
eminent not cursed with slavery, there
never was government not cursed with
almost every infamy until the Republican
party Of the United States made this free
nation. l want NO grander, no higher title
of nobility than this. that l belong to the
Republican party, and did little toward
you to ascertain what the Republican party
did for us-foi us-I mean to refresh our
selves, for we all know it, but it is we'll
enough to cay it now and then IN order
to refresh ourselves. In order to under
stand what this great party has
accomplished, let US for moment consider
the state of the country when the Repub-
licsn party was born. When the Repub-
lican party was born there was on the stat
ute book Of the United States OF America q
Law known as the fugitive slave law of
1850, under the provisions of which every
man in he State of New York was made by
law bloodhound, and could be set, could
be hissed upon negro who was simply at
tempting to attain his birthright of free
dom, the same as you would hiss dog
upon wild beast. That was the fugitive
law Of 1850. 1t made every man, every
Northern man, dog; 1t PIT round his neck
Q collar, and they did not have the d. cercy
to put the mans name on the collar, but
they put the name of his master. l have
said it in the State of Maine several rimee,
and l expect to say it several times again,
l heard / outraged the religious |
sentiment of the Democratic party and |
shocked the piety of that organization by
saying i'll did say there and l now say |
have disgraced hell in her palniest days. |
At the came time in nearly all of the |
Western States there VI as law by virtue |
IT which hospitality became an indictab,e |
,hense. There was law by virtue of |
which charity became crime, and |
nan, simply for an act Of kindness exer-
Used, could be indicted, imprisoned and
ined. 1t was the law of illinois, of nv
state. that If gave drop OF cold water,
r crust OF bread to poor fugitive from
lavery, l could be indicted, fined, and in
risoned. Under the infamous slave law Of
$50. under the infamous black laws Of the
Western States when the Republican party
vas born, if q woman, ninety -nine-one-
undredths white, had escaped from
lavery, carrying her child in her arms, had
one through wilderness and tangle and
wamp and river, and finally got within
ne foot of free soil, with the light of the
Iorth star reckoning her to freedom, it
'Ould have been an jndictable otfense to
ave given her drop Of water and crust
bread. And under the fugitive slave |
W it was the dnty Of Northern citizen !
aiming to De freeman to clutch that We !
an and hand her back to the dominion of |
10 hound. the Democrat, and the lash.
mat mOres The institution of slavery had
diluted and corrupted the church, not only
the South, but q large proportion Of the ,
lurch in the North, so that ministers stood :.
, in their pulpits here and in New Eng.
we mentioned. Not only so, but the
'esbyterian Church South, in 1863, met in {
neral synod and passed three resolu.
me, two of which were:
Resolred, That slavery ls divine ins'itu-
IN. =
Resolred, That God raised up the Presby.
Ran Church South to protect and per-
tuate that Institution.
All have to say is that if God did it he n
yer chose more infamous instrument to :
try out more jiabobical Object What +
,re had slavery done! 1t had corrupted +
r courts SO That in nearly every State Of y
ls Union, it Democrat had gone to the t
t of poor negro and shot down his wife a
d child en- before his very eyes and y
angled the babe in the cradle, his testi- a
my WAS valueless, and he was not allowed d
appear before grand jury and prosecute Il
wretch. Justice to him was not only a
nd, but it was deaf, and that was the | q
"a Of justice in the United States when | i
, Republican party was born. o
When that party was born the bay of the ! d
'OdhOund was the music OF tine nation | a
e dome of the Capitol at Washington | b.
1t it's shadow upon slave pens in which u
uched and shuddered mothes from ~
Ose breasts babes had been torn by d
etches who are now for honesty and re- m
m. Then if y poor negro had titled a cl
N and watered it with the sweat of hon In
labor, and if Democrat came along u,
seized upon the result of his labor, the pt
rts OF the Unite d States did not know to 81
ON that corn belonged. And when that I'll
'stion came to be tried the learned pt
ges read all the books and all the plat III
MS of the Democratic party, and pushed NJ
ir spectacles back on their noble and ex. II
lsive fOreheads, and came to the con- m
sion that the Democrats owned that W
n. At the time the Republican party di
ne into existence, slavery was not salts ey