St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-09
DRUMMER BOY OF MARENGo
Congressman Hall Corrects Young
MIR. Bryan.

y
The grandiose withdrawal of Con-
gresham Bryan from the Democratic
party makes pertinent a happy dressing
down given him by Hon. o. NJ. Hall in
the close of the latter's speech in the
Wilson repeal bill. 1t is said that Sec
rotary Morton was so pleased with
Halls speech that he sent 500 copies
into Nebraska, and it may have had
sonnet hing to do with the turning down
OF this ''Drumm er Roy of Marengo" in
the Democratic convention by vote of
to l. Mr.. Hall, in closing, said:
81 listened TO the eloquent gentleman
us the enchanting story of the 'Drum-
mer Boy of Marengo.' Pardon me if
enclose his charming picture in the rude
frame of my remarks"
Mr.. Bryan said:
Muehlbach relates an incident in the
life OF the great military hero of France.
At Marengo the Man of Destiny, sad and
dlSheartened. thought the battle lost.
He called to drummer boy and or
dered him to beat a retreat. The lad
replied: "Sire, l do not know how.
DesaiX has never taught me retreat, but
L can beat charge. | beat that charge
at the Bridge of Lodi; | beat it at Mount
Tabor; l beat it at the Pyramids: oh.
ordered. the battle won, and Marengo
was added to the victories of Napoleon.
On. let our gallant leader draw inspira-
tlon from the street gamin of Paris.
do not know, sir. that historical &C
curacy is at all essential 10 a free coin
age speech; but as student of correct
history deeply regret that my friend
should have torn from the gallant
DeSaiX the laurels he won at Marengo,
and plastered them over the cropped
head of Partisan gamin. Laughter
am sure my friend is mistaken both
as 10 the time and place of the incident
to which he refers. If memory fails me
not. 1t was upon another field, and on
that dread, eventful day in June, 1915,
that the historic drummer boy was sum-
moned into the war councils of the great
emperor.
All day long Napoleon had hurled his
veteran forces against the British
guards upon Mount st. Jean; the grena-
diers, hardened by Moscow's terrors.
had been driven back IN irreparable dis
order; the steel-clad cuirassiers who
decided the day at AuSterlitz had been
shattered and crushed in the storm of
battle; even the invincible Old Guard,
with Ney at its head, had reeled, hest
tated, and fled under the fire OF the I'M
broken squares; far to the east, through
the shimmeriug dust-clouds, came the
gray mustaches of old Butcher and his
sturdy PruSsians. The field of Water
loo was lrretrievably lost. The time to
retreat had come. The battle was lost:
1t was time TO save the army.
Then 1t was that Napoleon drew in
spiration from the street gamin of Paris.
Laughter. Confident still in his destiny
and bewitcned by the rub-a-dub-dub of
the little drummer boy, he ordered the
remnant of the guard to charge. Side
by side with CambrOnhe and surrounded
by The heroes of hundred victories, he
went in himself; and he came out so
Hugo says, 1.-THE mighty somnambulist
OF shattered dream" Laughter.
Years afterwards, on st. Helena's
stormy isle, chained like Prometheus to
the ocean rock, unwritten history saws
the great Corsican fought his battles
over again, and in tremulous accents
left to his faithful Bertrand the diving
injunction, Put not your trust in drum
mer boys" Laughter and applause.l
This country has gone far enough-it
has gone too far-upon the road to Mex
leo. Threatened now with financial
disaster. it is time to retreat. Let not
our great commander heed the rub-a-
dub-dub of the drummer boys of Mis-
souri, and Nebraska; let him rather
listen to the throbbing heartbeat of a
distressed and indignant people, and
lead us back to the security of honest
finance.
The battle for the free coinage of I'M
limited quantities of silver is irretrieva-
bly, lost. There is yet time to save the
armies Of honest bimetallism. Jap
plauSe.