St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-11-28
A POLITICAL REVIEW.
The Speech of Hon. Ignatius DonneIly
at the Wednesday Evening
Iuhiloa

received with great favor by the large audi
enee which assembled At the rink Wednes
day night and that it may reach a still large
audience we give it substantially, below:
FELLow CITIZENS: In the presence o.
this tremendous demonstration / feel that
words are vain, that all talk is mere twaddle.
II is said that the great humOrist, Sydney
Smith, when be first looked upon that i'm
mense creature, the giraffe, made the re.
mark TO friend, ''What throat that would
be for a toper-imagine him tastiug his groe
through ten feet Of swallow." Great laugh
ter. The thought has occurred to me.
would that could fuse all these ten thousand
throsts into one-yes the Threats of all tie
millions who the other day voted the Demo-
cratic ticket into q single throat, aud let n
give forth one gigantic cry Of exaltAtios, that
would be heard throughout the world: that
would make John Bull and Johnny Capesu
and Bismarck and the Gar cock their ears
and ask, ''what IN thunder has broken loose
in the universal Yankee nGtion;" that would
ring through the heavens and
'COnjure the wandering stars aud tia them
Like wonder-woanded bearers"
and the burden Of the gigantic roar should
| be "Hurrah for Cleveland and Hendricks -
There are a thousand reasons why we re-
ioice tonight. We rejoice that we live
in the greatest age Of the worlds history
In the greatest nation that has ever
dweli on Gods fo6tstoOl; under the most
benign institutions that have ever blessed
mankind. Applause.
We rejoice that We have so great aud wise
aud Self-controlled population that the pol
itical government OF fifty millions Of people
aud thousands Of millions OF wealth, can
pass from one great party 10 another without
the shedding OF one drop Of blood; with less
disturbance, in fact, than oftenumes accom-
panies parliamentary struggle in siugle
shire in England. Applause.
We rejoice in the character OF our oppo-
nents; In the moderation aud good-natu
with which, after twentT-four years Of power,
they hsys taken defeat. To my mind one Of
the finest illustrations OF American ciVilizA-
ton was given the other day In Philadelphia
when the great Republican club house, the
Union league, Illuminated in honor Of the
Democratic celebration. lCrles OF good,
! good. This 10 as IL should be-. Our con-
tests are not battles OF armies, tbirsting for
each others destruction but tue disputations
OF brothers, ss 10 which possesses tue best
policy for the happiness OF both. APP
plause.
trust the time 10 not far distant when all
ferocity shall disappear from our politics, and
all abuse Of political opponents from the
daily press Of our country. We are the most
warlike people in the world, We can afford,
therefore, TO be the most courteous and the
most gentle. 1t is only the coward that is
cruel; only the degraded that are abusive.
As we march higher up the slope CT civihza-
ton the time will come when the sntioarisn
will look back upon the fierce ISLANDERS OF to-day
/ 81.
OF 300 years agO-a sort OF horrible common
tary upon the imperiectly developed condi-
ton OF the people.
We rejoice in the Democratic parry; in its
victory, and more than all, in its possibih-
ties for good
II any one thing Is clearer than all others
it is that God holds this nation in the hol-
J low Of bis hand; that he is bear
ing 1t forward, freighted with the happl-
ness Of the human family and the redcmp-
ton OF the world.
Our fathers, when they founded this ma
ton, planted it upon a new conceptiOn-that
conception was the equality and happiness OF
mankind; not Of the favored few but the
universal many. In the old world all the
forces Of government were bent to help those
who were ON top; here they were bent TO
help those who were at the bottom. The Old
creed was: Take care Of the rich and the
rich will take care Of the poor" The new
creed was: Take care Of the poor and the
rich will take care OF themselves. [ApplSusel
The old creed meant: prescription, privi-
lege, concentration Of wealth, injustice, deg
relation, aristocracY, monarchy. The new
creed meant: equality, opportunity, uni
versal labor, universal happiness, great
wealth, and an undying republic, unexam pied
growth.
For government so established there
must needs be political organization with
identical principles aud aspirations. The
government represents . equalization Of
the best thought Of past generation; there
must needs be in the living generation a
body infused with the same purposes; there
must be soul for this frame; q spirit for
this creature. Applause.
The man whose mighty brain lay at the
base Of the Declaration Of Independence and
OF the Republic, Thomas jefferson, created,
in his profound provision, great party that
should accompany that government forever;
its nurse, its minister, its interpreter, its de-
fender. That party is the Democratic party.
| [Grest applause.
BY species OF divine instinct it has al
ways ranged itself on the side Of the common
people. While not the enemy Of wealth, or
enterprise, or cultivation, it has said to
itself, ''these things will flourish
under any form Of government; but we must
battle for the heritage OF tie masses, liberty
we must labor 10 lift them up; We must pre-
serve their rights under the constitution and
declaration, every phrase OF which is the
distillation Of some great human struggle in
the past" and the party has therefore con-
stantly repeated TO itself the words OF its great
founder: ''The price OF liberty is eternal
vigilance"
TWenty-four years ago there came a part
ing of the ways. A great suffering fell upon
this country. God, dwelling in His eternal
mansions, having brought mankind steadily
forward through all these latter ages, said 10
himself, slavery Is an obstruction in the
path OF NV purposes, It must perish" He
put it into the heart OF Christianity 10 slowly
obliterste it from most OF Europe; He fred
the heart OF the despotic car to wipe il out
in his vast domains; produced IN the United
States a mighty unrest, prodigious swelling,
like that caused when the earthquake shakes
oceanic floors; q passionate protest that
spreads from heart 10 heart The Democratic
party was the party Of the constitution; the
constitution was the outgrowth OF \ com pact
with slavery. The Democratic party
said-"We love not slavery. but
We stand by the bargain We
have made with the south. It is distssteful
to us but it is nominated Ia the bond" But
God who cares nothing for constitution
called up from the bosom Of the people a
mighty party, led by intelligent giants. aud
they smote slavery, hip and thigh. and drove
it from the face of the continent Not by
themselves alone did they do this work, for
hundreds Of thousands Of Democrats
marched into the ranks and went down IN