Year: 1868

y
Give me man that strikes fair blows
atTme in theifaee. Deliver me from a
man who takes me by the hand and
says, "HoW art thou?n while he smites
me under the fifth rib with a conceal
ed dagger. Applause. Every step
gained in the progress Of the war by
the Republicans emancipation, the
enrolment Of colored men in the army,
their <self-prOtectiOn by suffrage; at
every step OF development the Demo
cratic party was in opposition. They
hung heavily. on the wheels, not of
Pharoah, but of the Israelites. They
resisted by one plea and another, one
pretense and another, every step
by which the Republican party sought
to work out the problem Of liberty
during the blaze of war. Ah, If you
were to select q party that was to car
-ry out the great work of rendering
liberty to every man. in the. land, if
you were to search the world, it seems
to me you could not find another par
ty that by its antecedents-by its
present influences at 'least-was less
qualified to do it than the Democrat
ic party. Here, before the people,
stands on one side a party made up Of
men loyal to principle, loyal to their
country, loyal to the Union, who
have given their sons, and have given
themselves, many of whom have come
home MANNED, wounded; who poured
out their blood, their money; who
have counted nothing too dear for the
salvation Of the nation by liberty, and


this for ten years has been their con-
sistent and unvarying course. e On the
other side, there comes. a party that
for ten years has left untried no expe-
dient to undermine the cause of Iber-
ty, to rivet the old doctrine of Oppres-
sion upon the country again; and now
at this last moment they come before
the country and claim the privilege Of
of taking possession of the Government
and Ousting the Republican party
Gentlemen, do you remember the par
able: when the bridegroom came, the
five virgins that were wise filed their
lamps with oil, and trimmed them,
and were ready and went in with the
bridegroom. Now come the five
Democratic virgins, saying, "We have
no oil; give US of your oil, for our
lamps have gone out" [Prolonged
applause and laughter. 1t is too
late. While they were gone to buy,
the doors were shut [renewed laught-
er1 and Or mt elected. CONTINUED
laughter and applause.1 But it is
proposed by them, in their newborn
zeal of patriotism, in their desire to
serve the country, they come saying
the Republicans have been false to
their trust, self-seeking; that they have


etverslaughed the great principles OF
liberty and that they will reverse the


policy of the Republican party, and


undo all that they have done, declar-
ing it to be unconstitutional and void.


Let US then see what they propose to
do if they shall be elected to power
There is at least this merit--they pro-
posed frankly their programme. All
the states that have brought in, &C
cOrding to Democratic purposes, are
now to be cast out again. They are
to pass again into confusion, and by
the shockand recoil he turmOiled anew,
as if nothing had been done. For the
last five years no complaint Ohas been
more incessant than that the Republi-
can party were keeping odt the South
ern States, and for their own bad pur-
poses it was charged. Now they are
brought in, the Democratic party say
they shall not stay in; they shall go
out again. They. would not receive
the Southern members when they Of
fered to take the ''iron-cIad Oath;"they
would not admit the representatives
and Senators. Now that they have
admitted them, the Democratic party
says they shall be kicked out; they
shan't stay in Congress, they shall 90
back again. Now that governments
have been formed in the South, and
the machinery is working smoothly,
the Democratic platform boldly pro
poses to overthrow it, to supplant
those governments and plunge again
those States into confusion, if not ac-
tuaI rebellion. At least, gentlemen,
there is the merit of frankness in this
enunciation. 5 It is said however, that
there. are in these. States conditions
and usages which destroy liberty and
violate the Constitution. Now what
is the nature ofthese new constitutions
that are existing in the Southern


States, and by whom have they been


ordained? 1t is said that these con-
stitutions were framed under military
coercion. Oh! gentlemen, in the old


en- time I have stood in Norwich on


the old green Of the church, where our
Puritan fathers used to. come to wOr-
ship in the first Settlement of that
town. They were obliged to come


with their rifles and have their senti-
nels standing out, because the Indians
prOwling would otherwise steal upon
them in their worship and destroy
them. Suppose some man had raised
the charge that these e men were sing
ing psalms under the coercion Of rifles


held by these men who stood there to
protect them. Where Legislatures


who attempted to do the work of re-
construction, and violent men in the
South undertook to destroy them, and


our army put sentineIs there simply
to protect them, did they form their
constitutions under the coercion Of the


hayonet? 1t was a protector and not


an arbitrator; a sentinel, not despOt.
T TApplause. But it is said these con-
stitutiens were not. formed by the
whole people. No. : They would not
have been so good if they had. II
the men dhat had before that framed
laws to execute iniquity, if the old


plantation class that had done the


thinking and lpgislating for the South
for any time for fifty years, if they had


had their way to form those cOnstitu-
tons, they would not have been, 1
venture to say, just what they are
now, [Applause. s


VINO were they formed by? They


were formed by the common people.
Very common they are down there
They were formed by the people, it is
said, but thew were the poorest, La