The daily gazette., 1880-11-20
SECOND EDITION
The Majesty of the Law

SPEECH OF HON. THOMAS F. BAY
ARD TO THE BOOT AND SHOE
MANUFACTURERS CONVENTION.
The following, from the Shoe and
Leather Reporter, is the full text OF
Senator Bayard's speech at the
banquet given to the Boot and Shoe
Manufacturers Convention, in Phil
adelphia, last week:
SIXTH ToAsT.-The Bar-The Ma
jesty of the Law. Its Seat is the
Bosom of God; its Voice is the
Harmony of the World"
RESPONDED TO BY HON THOMAS II.
BAYARD, OF DELAWARE.
The majesty of the law, Mr..
Chairman and gentlemen, that i'm
presses me most just now, is the law
Of hospitality and good-fellowship.
1 confess myself its willing subject.
Standing here surrounded by such a
body OF strong, intelligent, ener-
getic, and, am glad to say, sue
eessful men, 1 am penetrated by a
spirit and atmosphere which sur
rounds me. Applause. But it is
not the law of hospitality and good
fellowship, however gracious and
pleasant it may be, that you have
asked me to respond to; that we
may do with tinkling glasses and
clasped hands but ycu have asked
me on this occasion, illustrating your
prosperity and your welcome to the
guests whose prosperity is your
own; you have asked me to respond
to different sentiment. 1t is the
sentiment dear to every American
self-governed heart; order against
disorder, government against an
archy, it is law against the spirit of
force this is what we need, and this
Is what we suppose or propose that
our living as people shall illus
trate, and have we not illustrated
this spirit ? Have there not been
times when we, the young nation,
and the great Republic of the
worlds history-have we not illus
trated the power of law over force,
of law over our own passions and
our own tendency to insubordina-
tion9 There have been great occa-
sions, terrible occasions this con-
tinent itself rose in battle twenty
years ago and four years settled it,
and then the American spirit of law
and order came when the wonder
came at Appomattax, and no musket
has been fired against the govern
mental power of this country from
that day to this. Applause. 1t
was absolute; it was final ii
was complete it was the restora-
ton of law; it was the end of force
within ourselves against our law.
We have another and more pleasant
illustration. Our family Of States held
their party here as the place where II
should have been held. In the birth.
place of American independence came
the celebration Of its one hundredth
year. And whence came all our people
From every section Of every State
Within the gates of these beautiful
buildings, due to Philadelphia's energy
enterprise, skill and thrift, there came
wellnigh ten millions of people-ter
millions of people, lacking q small frac
tiou of hundred thousand, and from
the surgeon in charge of the sanitary
department there comes the report thai
nearly ten millions of American people
from all parts of the Union left, ,and moi
one man suffered from physical violence
at the hands of another. [Applause.]
have the high authority Of DR.. VIM
Pepper, distinguished visitor of YOU
city, to say that in the hospital created
for such possible accidents no single
man was ever wounded by fist, ,bludgeor
! or knife, who entered that hospital
That, citizens and friends, was a grea
triumph of law and order, and testified
to the love of our people for law and or
der. There, then, came another test
and terrible one, scarcely think tha
we fully appreciate the strain upon ou
, Government that comes at the end (
every four years in the possible transfe
of all the executive power of this Ma
tlon from the hands of one administra
ton to another. But it does come, AM
in 1876, under very trying circumstanc
es, we saw transfer of power from
one administration to another, aud
great body Of our fellow-citizens, com
, prising numerically more than major
ity, disappointed, saddened, and an
gered by the result, aud yet, what di
we see +?
Was there resort to force? Was tba
struggle for great power marked by bloo'
or was there not by dint of statemanshi
by dint of patriotism, remedy found b
which the law rose superior to party pas
sions and the safety and welfare Of ou
country was held higher than the party
[Applause.] And so again, submitting /
legal result most unwillingly, but sui
mitting because it was the law, and be
cause the majesty of the law was re
spected by the American people, it pas
: ed on that great conflict and contest froI
which we have just emerged. On on
side and on the other we have conduc.e
: this canvass earnestly, bitterly, perhaE
strenuously, on both sides, and it is owe
in peace, TO be crowned in peace, and th
law is our master, and not out passion
7 Applause Here, then, have been in tn
land exhibitiods ofa self-governing pee
pie for the laws were instituted by then
selves. That think, can stand in fai
comparison with the transaction of gre;
. affairs in any nation of our own time.
do not speak of this boastfully; l do n,
? speak of it lightly; l do not underra
disappointnents, for l feel them 9
keenly as any one, but still feel thi
the American method is the true metho,
Its reason and argument are to contr
our discussion, and the law is to renal
supreme; supreme over our final action
: Applause. There is a saying, "sdIl
popuLi supremG leG"-that the safety
o the people is the supreme law Of Il
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