The daily gazette., 1880-07-01
SECOND EDITION
That Dover Speech.
AND HOW 1T CAME TO BE MADE
PUBLIC.

AND HOW 1T CAME TO BE MADE
PUBLIC.
The speech delivered by Hon.
Thomas F. Bayard at the peace
meeting held at Dover in 1861, and
which it is claimed was used as an
argument against his nomination
as the Democratic candidate for
President, has occasioned so many
vicious and untrue statements, that
a true version of the circumstances
leading to its publication will be
read with interest.
About two weeks after the meet
ing, a full, perbatim copy of the
speech was published in the DEL A.
WARE GAZETTE, for the reason that
the DelaDare Inquirer the journal
from which the present editor of
Epery Evening imbibed his political
inspirations and cultivated his mali
cious hatred of prominent Demo-
crats-the Republican, the Philadel-
phia Press, and other rabid Radical
journals had published garbled, un-
fair reports Of the speech, that were
a positive injury to the speaker, and
a real detriment to the State. This
action on the part of the GAZETTE
was Mr.. Bayard's vlndication, and
had it not been for this publication,
he would, through the present cam
paign, have been compelled to bear
the odium of the false, unjust, and
reasonable sentiments attributed
to him by the lying radical press.
Several months ago, when the
New York Sun began publishing re-
ferences to this Dover speech and
its alleged reasonable utterances, a
gentleman of this city-and one of
Mr.. Bayard's most loyal supporters
at the Cincinnati Convention-call-
ed at the GAZETTE office and exam
ined the file containing the perbatim
copy of the Dover speech. This file,
by permission of the office, he Dor
rowed, and at his leisure made a
careful and correct copy of the speech
as published in the GAZETTE. This
copy he sent to Washington, where,
according to information, obtained
from the most trustworthy sources,
a meeting of the friends of Senator
Bayard was held at the Senator's
house the next evening. The con-
ference was attended by Lieut.-Gov.
Dorsheimer, of New York, and
other prominent Democrats from
different parts of the country, and
the letter copied from the GAZETTE
was read, re-read, dissect ted and con-
sidered from every standpoint for
several hours. The unanimous con-
clusion was that it was good speech,
containing only sentiments of the
purest patriotism, and instead OF
working injury to Senator Bayard
its publication would set him right.
fully before the people of the coun-
try, and completely eradicate the
false impressions created by the gar
bled statements of the Radical press
of 1861. Thereupon it was resolved
to forward the speech to the New
York World for publication with ap'
propriate comment. About week
after the letter was copied from the
GAZETTE by Mr.. Bayard's friend, as
above stated, the New York Sun
correspondent dropped into the GA
zETTE office and asked permission to
make a copy of the same speech
At first the editor of this paper re-
fused, whereupon the Sun cores
pondent said in that event he would
be compelled to use garbled and
partizan synopsis of the speech
which he had obtained from o file oil
the Delaware Republican in the Viii
mington Institute; but that he woult
much prefer obtaining correct, Off
cial copy. The editor of the GA
zETTE then took the paper and care.
fully read the entire speech, and
finding therein nothing that could
affect the political or personal stand
ing of Mr.. Bayard in the slightest
degree, or that could, by the most
distorted construction, work to his
disadvantage, he told the Sun cores
pondent he might make the desired
COPY. The latter did so, but by the
laziness or carelessneSs of those tc
whom the first copy of the speech
was entrusted at Washington, the
Sun made the publication in advance
of the World.
This is true statement Of the
whole matter, and no Democrat has
ever claimed that the publication of
the speech injured Mr.. Bayard in
the slightest degree. On the con-
trary, it saved him from a deluge of
Radical lying andlmisrepresentation,
that without the medium of the GA
ZETTE could not have been success
fully combatted.
It is but proper to say that when
the file of the GAZETTE was borrow
ed by Mr.. Bayard's friend, no one in
this Office knew why he wanted it,
or what he desired to copy. Had
the information been given at the
time the Sun correspondent, when
he called might have been told to
wait a few days, and secure an Off
cial copy of the speech from the
New York World.
HOW THE SPEECH WAS USED.
During the continuance of the Gin
cinnati Convention the Dover speech
was used literally by the Delaware
ans as an argument in favor of the
candidacy of Senator Bayard. Some
of them desired to have copies of it
printed and spread broadcast through
out the city, but the majority OBJ
iected on account of the well-known
objections of Mr.. Bayard to having
any actions looking like the modern