Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-08-27
GARFIELD TO YOUNG VOTERS.

SATURDAY NIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTION OF
1879.
Now, fellow citizens, aword before leave
you, on the eve of the holy day of Coda fit
moment to consecrato ourselves finally to the
great work next Tuesday morning. l sec in
this great audience tonight u great many
young men-young men who are about to
cast their first vote. l want to give you
word of suggestion and advice. | heard Il
bright thing said by boy the other day up
in one of our Northwestern counties. He
said to me General, I have a great mind to
vote the Democratic ticket That was not
the bright thing. Laughter. l said to
him, Why Why, said he, my father is
Republican, and my brothers are Ropubli-
cans, and am Republican all over, but
want to be an Independent man, and don't
want anybody to say "That fellow votes the
Republican ticket Just because his dad does"
and have half mind to vote the Democrat
ic ticket just to prove my independence l
did not like the thing the boy suggested, but
/ did admire the spirit of the boy that want-
ed to have some independence of his own.
Now l tell you, young man, don't vote
the Republican ticket just because your faith
er votes it, Laughter. But let me give
you this one word of advice, as you are about
to pitch your tent in one Of the great polih
cal camps Your life is full and buoyant
with hope now, and | beg you, when you
pitch your tent, pitch it among the living
and not among the dead. Applause. II
you are at all inclined to pitch it among the
Democratic people and with that party, let
me go with you for a moment while we sur
vey the ground where / hope you will not
shortly lie. daughter 1t is sad place,
young man, for you to put your young life
into. 1t is to me far more like graveyard
than a camp for the living. Look ut it 1t
is billowed all over with the graves of dead
issues, of buried opinions, of exploded theo
ros, of disgraceful doctrines. You cannot
live in comfort in such place, Laughter.
Why, look here Here is little double
mound. ! look down on it and l read, Sa-
cred to the memory of Squatter Sovereignty
and the bred Scott Decision million and
n half of Democrats voted for that, but it has
been dead fifteen yCars-diod by the hand Of
Abraham Lincoln, and here 1t lies. Ap-
pauso. Young man, that is not the place
for you.
but look little further. Here is anoth-
er monumental black tomb-and beside it,
as our distinguished friend said, there towers
to the sky monument of four million pairs
of human fettcrs taken from the arms of
slaves, and l read on its little headstone this
Sacred to the memory of Human Slavery
For forty years Of its Infamous life the Dem
ocratic party taught that it was diyinc-GOds
institution. They defended it, they stood
around it, they followed it to its grave as a
mourner But here it lies, dead by the hand
of Abraham Lincoln. [Applause. Dead by
tho power of the Republican party Ap-
plause. Dead by the justice of Almighty
God. Great applause and cheers. Don't
camp there, young man.
'But here is another little birthstone
tomb laughter and read across its yellow
face i'll lurid, bloody lines these words 'Sa-
cred to the memory of State Sovereignty and
Secession Twelve millions of Democrats
mustered around it in arms to keep it alive
but here it lies, shot to death by the million
guns Of the Republic. Applause. Here it
lies, its shrine burnt to ashes under the blaz-
ing rafters of the burning Confederacy Ap-
plnuse. 1t is dead. l would not have you
stay in there minute, even in this balmy
night air, TO look at such place. Laugh
ter
But Just before | leave it l discover
ne W made grave, a little mound-short The
grass has hardly sproutod over it, and all
around it | see torn pieces Of paper with the
word fiat on them laughterl, and look
down in curiosity, wondering what the little
grave is, aud / read on it Sacred to the
memory of the Rag Baby [laUghter nursed
in the brain of all the tanRticiSm of the
world LlAughterl rocked by Thomas Ewing,
Geo. Ii. Pendletou, Samuel Cary and few
others throughout the land But it died on
the LIST of January, 1879 and the one hun
dred and forty millions Of gold that Godmade,
and not fiat power lie upon its little carcass
to keep it down forever. Prolonged ap-
plause.
"Oh, young man, come out of that
Laughter That is no place in which to
put your young life. Come out, and come
over into the camp of liberty, of order, of law,
of justice, of freedom Amen of all that is
glorious under these night stars.
as there any death here in our camp
Yes! yes! Three hundred and fifty thous-
and soldiers the noblcst band that ever trod
the earth, died TO make this camp a camp of
glory aud of liberty forever. Tremendous
applause.
But there are no dead issues here. There
are no dead issues here. Hang out our ban
ner from under the blue sky this night until
it shall sweep the green turf under your feet.
1t hangs over our camp. Read away up un-
der the stars the inscription We have written
on it, 10. these twenty five years.
Twenty five years ago the Republican
party was married to Liberty, and this is our
silver wedding, fellow-citzens. Great ap-
plause. A worthily married pair love each
other better on the day of their silver we'd
ding than on the day of their first espousals
and We are truer to Liberty to-day, and dear
er to God than we were when we spoke our
first word Of liberty. Read away up under
the sky across our starry banner that first
word We uttered twenty. five years ago! What
is it II Slavery shall never extend over an
other foot of the Territories of the great
West Applause. Is that dead or alive
Alive, thank God, forevermore Applause
Then it was hope, a PROMISE purpose.
Tonight il is equal with the stars-immOrtal
history and immortal truth. Applause.
Come down the glorious steps of our ban
ner Every great record We have made we
have vindicated with our blood and our
truth. 1t sweeps the ground and it touches
the stars Come there, young man, and put
in your young life where all is living, and
where nothing is dead but the heroes who de-
Tended it [Applause.l think these young
men will do that. OF course they will. J
"Gentleman, we are closing this memora-
ble campaign We have got our enemies on
the run everywhere. Laughter. And all
you need to do in this noble old city, this
capital of the Western Reserve, is to follow
them up and finish it by showing the rebel
lion under once more. We stand on an 18TH
mus. This year and next is the narrow 18TH
mus between us and perpetual victory. If
you can win now, and win in $780, then the
very stars in their courses will fight for us.
Applause. The census will do the work,
and will give us thirty more freemen of the
North in our Congress that will make up for
the rebellion of the South. Great applause
We are posted here as the Greeks were post
ed at ThermOpyl@, to meet this great barba-
rian Xerxes of the isthmus. Stand in your
places, men of Ohio! Fight this battle, win
this victory, and then one more puts you in
safety forever!"