The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1876-09-28
SPEECH OF
COL. ROBERT G. INGERSOLL,
IN NEW YORK.
SEPTEMBER IL, 1876.
SEPTEMBER IL, 1876.


SEPTEMBER IL, 1875.
My friends, two political parties
arc ask ing the votes of this people;
one wishes to retain the power that
it has held for l6 years, the other
wishes Office. Laughter.1 The
Democratic party, with the hungry,
starving eyes of wolf, has been
looking in at the National Capital
and scratching at the doors of the
White House for 16 years. Laugh
teri Occasionally it has retired to
some congenial emrnence and lugu-
briously howled about the Constitu-
ton. Cheers and laughterl [By
George that is it exactly.l Laugh.
teri The Republican party comes
with record open, and asks every
man, woman, and child in this broad
country to read its every word; and
| say to you there is not u line,
paragraph, or page in that record
that is not only an honor to the Re-
publican party, but to the whole hui
man race. [Cheers. On every
page of that record is recorded some
great and glorious action, done eth
er for the liberty of man or the pre-
servation of oul common country.
Applause. We ask everybody to
read its every word. The Demo
cratic party comes before you with
its record closed, a record of blot and
blur, and stain and treason, and SLAM
der and malignity, and asks you not
to read solitary word of what it has
done, but be kind enough to take its
infamous promise for what it will do.
Allow me to say here that charac-
ter-good character-rests upon
record and not upon prospectus.
Applause. A man has a good or a
bad character by what he has really
done, by what he has already accom-
plished, and not by what he promises
TO do fpromises would make
good reputation, Samuel ]. Tilden
and the Democratic party would have
one in "a hours. Laughter l pro-
pose to tell you this evening, my
friends, ii little of the history OF the
Republican party, a little of the his
tory of the Democratic party, but
first the Republican party.
The United States Of America is
free country;i it is the
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 free cities of
Europe. There never was Repub.
lie in Venice, there never was Re-
public in Rome, there never was a
Republic in Athens, there never was
Il free city in Europe, there was
Government not cursed with caste,
there never was a government 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. ICheers.l l want no
grander, no higher, title of nobility
than this, that l belong to the Repub-
lican party and did a little toward
making this Republican party a fact.
In order for you to ascertain what
the Republican party did for us-for
us-1 mean to refresh ourselves, for
we all knew it, but it is well enough
to say it now and then in order to re-
fresh ourselves. In order to under
stand what this great party has ac-
complishcd, let us for moment con-
slider the state of the country when
the Republican party was born.
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
1880, under the provisions of which
every man in the State of New York
was made bloodhound and could
be set could be Kissed upon negro
who was attempting to attain his
birthright of freedom, the same as
you would hiss a dog upon II wild
beast. That was the Fugitive law
of 1850. 1t made every man, every
northern mama 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. 1 have said it IN the
State of Maine several times; and
expect to say it several times again,
although heard outraged the reli-
gious sentiment of the Democratic
party and shocked the piety of that
organization by saying it { Laughter
| did say there and now say here
that the fugitive slave law of 1850
would have
DAYS.
lTLaughter. At the same time in
nearly all of the Western States
there was a law by virtue of which
hospitality became an indictable of
tense. There was law by virtue of
which charity became crime, and a
man, simply for an act of kindness
exercised, could be indicted, impris-
oned and fined. 1t was the law of
Illinois, of my state, that if | gave a
drop of cold water, or crust ofbread
to a poor fugitive from slavery, |
could be indicted, fined and impris-
oned. Under the Infamous slave
law of 1850, under the infamous laws
of the Western States when the Re-
publican party was born, if a woman
99-100 white, had escaped from slav-
cry, 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 on to freedom, IT
would have been an indictable offense
to have given her drop of water
and crust of bread. And under the
fugitive-slave law, it was the duty of
a northern citizen claiming to be a
freeman to clutch that woman and
hand her back to the dominion ofthe
hound, the Democrat and the lash
/ fCheers.l What more? The insti-
tuition of slavery had polluted and
corrupted the church, not only in
the South, but large proportion OF
the church in the North, so
that ministers stood up in their pull
pits here and in New England and
defended the very laws that l have
mentioned. Not only SO, but the
Presbyterian Church South in 1868
met in General Synod and passed
three resolutions two of which were
"Resolved that slavery is a divine in
stitution; Resolved, That God raised
up the Presbyterian Church South to
protect and perpetua.e that insti
tuition" All | have to say is, that i
God did it, He never chose more
infamous instrument to carry out {
more diabolical object. Laughter.