The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-07-16
The Tattoo Of History.

The Tattoo Of History.
Every man who ever amounted to
anything at all had his enemies. Even
George Washington, "the first, the last,
the best; the Cincinnatus of the West"
had contemporaries to envy and decry
him. His enemies are dead, their cal
umnies are forgotten, but the Father Of
his Country lives on, immortal and inn
perishable, enshrined among the great
names Of the world. 70
Abraham Lincoln was in his day the
target for unmeasured abuse; his very
nomination was regarded as an outrage
and an insult by those who thought.
that Seward should have been the chosen
Of the Republican convention. At the
recent convention which nominated
James G.. Blaines there was a handful
of so-called Independents who thought
that Edmunds should have been the
nominee, and, failing him, they desired
nobody. The Edmunds followingin 1884
was by no means as large or as respect
able as was the Seward following in
1860, but in James G.. Blaine the
country has a nan from whom it may
expect as much in time of doubt or
difficulty as it received from Lin
clon., Seward is gone, Edmunds is
buried out of sight beneath a mountain
of Republican votes, but in Blaine we
have a man in whom the glories Of Lin
coin will live again. The very spite
and venom of the attacks made upon
him show how formidable he is in the
eyes Of his enemies. With such weap-
ons Washington was assailed nearly a
century ago; they were turned against
Lincoln; they were leveled at Garfeld's 8
breast asked the country Gas it
will be asked in November) how much
they regard them. No more and no
less than Blaine regards them to-day.
Party spite will have its fling; no
quarry is too noble for the campaign
mud-slingers.
But take the majority of the party;
take the great concensus of public opin-
ion, and see what it thinks of Blaine.
Take the great political papers OF the
West and read of Blaine. He is no
halfway politician--no shirker from
his party's ranks in the tents of Inde-
pendence. He is Republican of Re-
publicans, and represents all that is
noblest in the grand old party. He was
in it at its birth, and so fixed in
his principles that he will be in it at its
death if it dies within his time. He is
hated by the opposition more intensely
than any other Republican, because he
is the most intense Republican living.
He is not only in accord with his party.
but is in the extreme advance. He
hated slavery with hatred that had
no limits, and he hated all of its out
growths. He is, a believerin protection
to American industry; he is staunch
upholder of National integrity; he is a
champion of equal rights and Of honest
money.
No wonder his opponents are afraid
of him. No wonder that weakened
Republicans shrink from the path that
he treads SO boldly. He is the ablest
statesman III America, and the brayest.
He never held principle that he was
afraid of; and he never shrank from its
logical consequences
Of course, he has been maligned as
few men have. He possesses a power
that makes him dangerous to his ene-
mics. His greatness has invited at
tacks, and he has been the shining mark
that scandal loves. Malicious slander
has been poured out upon him in tor
rents, but to no purpose. His integrity
has made him proof against attacks.
The people know him to be honest
know him to be great in his integrity as
in his other magnificent qualities, and
they have never lost confidence in him.
Is it the slur of a partizan press that
can injure such man as thisp Is il
the anonymous whispering Of accusa-
tions that have never been proved that
can shake the peoples confidence in
himp Wait till next November, and
the American Nation viii vindicate at
the polls the Justice of their choice and
the character of their favorite leader.
They will force the malicious slanderers
to swallow their own lies. as the Sian.
derers of Washington, of Lincoln, Of
Garfield, have been forced to swallow
theirs; and, if God spares James G.
Blaine's life, the United States will
have one more President Of whom we
may be unqualifedly, unreservedly
IL