Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-01-20
"I'd rather be a dog,
And bay the moon,
Than be such a Roman I"

Samuel J. Tilden is the President
elect. He must be inaugurated. Ire
mendous cheering We demand il
in the name of large majority of the
American people we demand it in the
the name of the American people; we
demand it in the name of the majority
of States; we demand it in the name
of the majority of the electors; we de-
mand it In the name of the present
House of Representatives; we demand
it in the name of the next House of
Representatives we demand it in the
name of the Constitution; we demand
and all the traditions and precedents
of the Government since the days OF
Washington; we demand it in the in
terest of right and justice; we demand
it in the interest of the people, in the
interest of true peace, in the interest
of humanity; we demand it to save the
Republic! Tremendous applause.
l hear: What resistance?" Yes,
I unhesitatingly answer, resistance
This word has no terror to my soul. |
offered resistance to the rebels of 1861
because l sincerely believed in the
cause of the Union. How, then, can
| hesitate to resist the rebels of 1877 ?
Then I only fought for the preserva-
tion of the Union now [ must, if in
evitable, fight for the preservation of
the Republic. | served a good cause
then, but [ would serve even a better
cause now. Then only the division;
now the destruction of the Republic
is threatened. [Great applause.
The new confederates of o-day speak
of submission for the sake of peace "
So spoke the President of the French
Republic when - becoming an infamous
perjurer and emperor at the same time,
he declared, The Empire is peace p
Sospoke the Russian general in Poland,
when, after the most barbarous cruel
ties, he reported: Peace reigns in
Warsaw" So ospoke George III when
he wanted to subjugate the American
colonies. So spoke and speaks every
tyrant and every coward. Yes, it
would be peace, profound peace-the
peace of death, the funeral of the Re-
public. There can, there shall, there
must be no peace with crime. As
Burke says: ITO be at peace with
fraud and crime is to be an accomplice
ofitr" Obedience to the Constitution
demands resistance to treason and ty-
ranny. Resistance to tyranny is obe-
dience to God" Loud and prolonged
cheering
| hear the twaddlers' cry of moder-
alton p 1t is wicked lie. This is
no time for moderation without deter
mination. Moderation is but another
word for apathy and submission.
There are moments in our lives when
every true man must feel excited, The
fathers of this country were excited a
hundred years ago. They were excited
on the day we celebrate. We must
feel excited when those who are
dearest to us are in danger-when the
house in which they live is on fire and
they are asleep. And are not our
dearest rights in peril2 Does our
whole political structure seem to stand
upon volcanic ground? The first duty
of the hour, the first instinct of
patriotism, should be feeling of ex-
citement. | would that every church
throughout the land rang the alarm
bell to warn and excite the people
against the coming danger. [Great
applause In a crisis like this moth
ing can be more deplora BILE than apa-
thy-nothing more desirable than a
realizing consciousness of the situa-
tion.
| hear the enemies cry of 1.-THE
army" Isiit possible that the paltry
handful of soldiers strike terror into
the hearts of the four million three
hundred thousand men who voted for
Tilden and Reform? Never?
I hear the question, will Tilden
lead ?" | am confident he will. Ap-
plause. There is no instance in all
history where millions of people were
earnestly determined upon a course
wanting leaders. These are the very
timeg thatoraate leaders, Ifthe old ones
fail new ones will spring up oyer night.
The large majority of the people ofthis
country, certainly those in py own
section, for whom l can speak, are
thoroughly determined upon the course
They want to preserve this Union,
They want to save this Republic. They
want President elected by the peo.
pie, of the people, and for the people
They do not want a President by
fraud, of fraud, and for fraud. They
do not want an administration created
by four jail l-birds-branded as such BY
| their own party-called returning
| board. They do want Chief Execu:
tive chpsen, not by the grace of Goo
or the grace of :he people, but by th'
grace of Mr.. Tom Ferry, lumber mer
chant in Michigan. Laughter ant
applause They do not want politi
cal party, charged and convicted Q
high crime, to act at once as defend
ant, Judge, and jury in their own case