Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-05-17

In New YORK C1ty.
Mr.. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF
THE CHAMBER OF CoMMERCE--lt must
be very delightful thing to gain the
Presidency Of the United States. l
am sure il must be very delightful.
Judge Of this from the fact that find
so many many men of great sense
anxious to get that place, striving for
il, taking all honorable means to gain
ii. They are all eminent men, and
believe they are all honorable men,
Some Of them are Republicans, some
of them are Liberal Republicans, and
some, 1 lately find, are Reform Re
publicans, and some of them are
Democrats without any prefix. Now
| am acquainted with one man, very
well acquainted with him, who has
been President for the last nearly
eight years, and have had some pri-
vate talks with him in the delights of
that place; and am able to commu-
nicatc something to these men who
are anxious to get that place, how
very charming it is. When this man
Of whom / speak was as years old,
you called him from great Office
which he held for life. insisted that
he should be President of the United
States. And you placed him in that
responsible station when he was utter
| ly unused to public affairs, wholly in
Inexperienced in politics, knowing
nothing of the tricks and traitors
which belong to that life. You pla-
ced him there, at the end Of great
civil war, when you had released
from bondage 100000 of ignorant
slaves, when the country was utterly
demoralized by war, corrupted by
the over-issuc Of paper money, and
there you placed this inexperienced
soldier, and, as honest men. / ask you
did you expect that he could commit
no blunders, that he could make no
mistake? l think you could not have
Expected such an impossibility and a
| thing so unreasonable. He will tell
you that he has committed blunders,
that he has made mistakes; but he
will tell you, and every NAN will tell
you, that when malignity has done
its worst, that when the boundaries
OF the insane asylum have collected
their witnesses, his friends may defy
any man to find In his entire record a
single thing that will be blot upon
his integrity. And know that the
people of this country, remembering
the services which he did do, will not
allow his name to perish [great ap-
plausel, but they will place him on
the roll Of imperishahle renown, and
they will say that whatever faults he
may have committed, he was an hon
est man to tho last. [Applause.
| Now, my friends, he has gone thro'
a fiery trial-it is not done yet--but
don't have any doubt that he will
come out of it unsingcd, and that you
will find this great General on whom
you have reposcd and whom you have
SO admired deserving of all the favor
and all the admiration which you
have bestowed. He is 50 generous a
man, gentlemen, that he will not be
unwilling to see any good, hon
cst, patriotic man take his place at the
end of eight months, and he will be
willing to see him enjoy all the luxu-
ries, and the delights, and the charms
and the undisturbed repose which be-
longs to that place; and if there il
any man here wing Is thinking at all
about that place, l can assure him
that when Gen. Grant has stepped
out Of that place, he will look serene
ly on and see him enjoy the Luxurious
repose Of that place Without a single
twinge Of envy. ! admit, gentlemen
that the vapor from the breath .o1
of many enemies, some of whom have
been disappointed, some of whom
have not been satisfied, has at time;
been generated into cloud which
has absorbed for an hour thf bright
reputation of that great man but, Sc
sure as there is sun in the heavens
it so surely will pass away, and wher
he goes ont of that place, as he soor
will do, his fame will become al
bright as you said it should, when he
a poor man. received the sword Of
Lee, when, after he had unlimited
power in the army and by scrape OF
his pen could have put untold mil
lions in his pocket, he came out utter
ly poor and scarce knew where tc
to lay his head, Applause. Lin
coin was murdered Of tho beginning
of his second term, and wise mel
think his was the happiest ending o.
a noble life. Most men think tina
had Lincoln lived to have passef
through eight years, that envy and
malignity would have blackened hi
fancy. y. Tribune.