Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-09-10
Garfield on the g,ump.

General Garfield delivered a stump
speech In Cleveland last October. II
was a magnificent piece Of popular ora
tory. Every sentence struck with the
force Of trip-hammer His closing
appeal 10 young men is here given. Il
is full Of pathOs, humor and stirring
eloquence, and just as appropriate now
as when delivered:
Now, follow-citlzcns, a word before leave
you, on the very eve " the holy day Of Cod
~ moment 20 cgnHcGrate ourselves finally
20 tho great work Of next Tuesday morning. /
sec IN this great audience tonight q great
many young men who are about to cast their
irHt vote. / want 10 give you word Of sug-
RestiOn and advice. / heard very brilliant
thing said by boy the other day up IN one Of
our nOrihwestorn counties. lie said 70 me,
Democratic Ticket That was not The brilliant
thing. / said TO him 'WhyY Why said be
my father Is a Republican. and nv br1tbers' bld er7'
are Republicans, and I am Republican all
over, but ] want 10 be an independent man,
and don't want anybody to say THAT fellow
votes the Republican ticket just because his
dad docs and have half a mind 10 vote the
Democratic ticket Just to prove my independ-
ence.' did not ike the thing the boy sugs
Restcd, but did admire the spirit Of the boy
that wanted to have some independence Of
snow, tell you, young man, don't vote the
Republican ticket Just because your father
votes Il. Don't vote the Democratic ticket
even IL he docs vote IL. But let me give you
this one word of advice, rs you are about 10
pitch your tent ia one OF the great political
camps. Your life is full and buOyant with
hopes now, and ! beg you, when you pitch
your tent pitch II among the living and not
among the deud. II you are at ali inclined
TO pitch II among the Democratic people and
with that party, let me 20 with you for mo-
ment while we survey the ground where
hope you will not shortly lie. II Il sad place
young man, for you to put your young life
Into. II is 20 me far more like a graveyard
than like a camp for the living. Look az 10!
IL Is biOwed all over with the graves Of
dead issues, Of buried opinions, Of exploded
theories, of dsgrlced doctrines. You can
not live in comfort In such place. Laugh
teri Why, look herel Here 4 little dou Bile
mound. look down on u aud / read, Sacred
to the memory Of Squatter Sovereignty and
Of Democrats voted for that but Il has been
dead fifteen years-died by the hand of Abra-
ham Lincoln, and here It lies. Young man,
that Is not the place for you.
But look little further Here is another
monumental black tOmb-and beside IL, as
our distinguished friend said, there towers to
the sky monument Of four million pairs Of
human fetters taken from the arms Of slaves,
and read on its little headstone this: sacred
20 the memory of human slavery For forty
years of its infamous life the Democratic par
~ taught that 1t was divnc-Gud's instiu-
tion. They defended IL, they stood around It,
they followed 1t to its grave as mourner. But
here II lies, dead by the hand of Abraham Lin
coin. Dead by the power of the Republican
party. Dead by the Justice Of Almighty God.
Don't camp there, young man.
But here is anOthCr-a little birthstone
tomb, and read across its yellow face in lurid,
bloody lines, these words: Sacred TO the
memory of state Sovereignty and Secession.
| Twelve millions of Democrats mustered
around 1t in arms TO keep it alive; but here II
lies, shot to death by the million guns OF the
Republic. Here it lies, its shrine burnt to ash
es under the blazing ratters OF the burning g
Confederacy 1t is dead 1 would not have
you stay In there minute, even in this balmy
night air, to look at such place
I'M haF no.
made grave, little mOund-shOrt. The grass
has hardly sprouted over It, aud all around it
sec torn pieces Of paper with the word fiat
on them, and look down In curiosity, won
dering what the little grave is, and | read on
1t, Sacred TO the memory Of the Rag Baby,
nurscd In the brain Of all the fanaticism Of
| the world, rocked by Thomas Ewing, George
ii. PendlctOn, Samuel Cary, ana few others
throughout the land But II died on the lst
| Of January, 1873, and the one hundred and
| forty millions Of gold that God made, and not
fat power, lie upon its little carcass to keep il
/ down forever.
"Oh. young man. come out of that That Is
| no place In which to put your young life.
| Come out, and come over into this camp of
liberty, of order, of law, of justice, of freedom,
of all that is glorious under these night stars.
rs there any death here IN our campr Yes /!
| yes Three hundred and fifty thousand
| soldiers, the noblest band that ever trod the
| earth, died to make this camp camp Of
| glory and of liberty forever.
" But there are no dead issues here. There
are no dead issues here. Hang out our BAN
| nert from under the blue sky this night until it
| shall sweep the green turf under your feet! Ii
| hangs over our camp. Read away up under
| the stars the inscription we have written on il,
| lol these twenty-five years.
"Twenty-tive years ago the Republican par
| ty was married to Liberty. and this is our
silver wedding, fellOw-citizens. a wOrthly-
married pair love each other better on the
day of their silver wedding than on the day of
their first espOusals; and we are truer to Lib
erty to-day, and dcarer TO God, than we were
when we spoke our first word of liberty. Read
away up under the sky across our starry ban
ner that first word we uttered twenty-five
years agol What is IN Slavery shall never
extend over another foot of the territories of
the great West Is that dead or HliYey Alive,
thank God, for evcrmOre! And truer tonight
than II was the hour it was writtenl Then it
is equal with the stars-immOrtal history and
immortal truth.
"Come down the glorious steps of our ban
ner Every great record we have made we
have vindicated with our blood and our truth.
II sweeps the ground and IL 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 defended 1t! think
these young men will do that.
"Gcntlemen, we are closing this memOra-
BILE campaign. We have got our enemies
on the run everywhere. And all you need
TO do in this noble old city, this
low them up and finish it by showing the lie.
belliOn under once more. We stand on an
isthmus. This year and next is the narrow
isthmus between us and perpetual victory. If
you can win now, and win in 1880, then the
| very stars in their courses will fight for us.
The census will do the work, and will give us
thirty more treemen of the North in our Con-
gress that will make up for the rebellion of
the South. We arc posted here, as the Greeks
were posted at Thcrmopylje, to meet this one
great barbarian, AerNes, on the isthmus.
Stand in your places men Of Ohio! Fight this
battle, win this victory, and then one more
puts YOU in sufctv forever"