Year: 1866

journey and was shown two roads, one of
which led to his destination and the other
in the opposite direction, and his decision
finally was that he had not good sense
enough to take either road and tits with
Congress they take neither road. There
they are. Laughter and cheers. Where
are they They say we should adhere to
party. / have been q party-man. have
belonged to three or four parties, and have
beengenera lily considered a very consistent
party-man, and the enemies of those parties
have generally thought me tolerably effect
i've one. / was never accused of instability.
know, as party man, that the course of
wisdom is to follow the head of the party,
but there are great many who differ from
me, and if they think that instead of follow
ing the nominated and chosen head of their
party the way make that party successful
is by following the tail. If they are such
fools they must take the consequences
[Cheers. will not follow the tail of a par
ty, am not such fool Who is the head
of their party in the State of New York A
voice, Thad. Stevens. Laughter and cheers
I ask who is their head in the State of New
York A voice Horace Greeley. Renew
ed laughter and cheers Very well, i'll
mean to do party any good want to make
it successful. Now invite them to put
their head man in nomination. and I do not
agree with you in your opinion of Mr.. Gree
ley, by any means. Laughter and cheers
I want them to nominate the man they in
State of New-York to test their principles,
and in the election, now some six weeks
of, if he is not defeated by majority
of 10000, do not call me a prophet. L augh-
ter and cheers. Must I desert my course, my
Government and my country to follow a par
ty divided, distracted, weak, imbecile, vacil-
lating and absurd, seeking its own destruc-
ton? have done very different thing
We set the railway train on the track, the
cars were all empty. 1t was under the guild
ance of the conductor, Andrew johnson. All
the privileged seats were offered to this party
that complains of desertion. They were the
very first invited to enter; but no, they would
not enter, and now when they see that it is
fast filling up with outsiders and is passing
by them, they say they been deserted by the
conductor. Laughter and cheers Now I
want to know who the leader of their party
is in the United States There is no party
that can exist, stand and live in the United
States that does not exist in every part of it
in state of peace and not in revolutionary
condition. Who is their leader9 "A voice,
"Thad. Stevens" No, they will not accept
him as their leader. They offer you no indi-
vidual name. Their name is The Congress
of the United States" and the Congress of
the United States is force that exists until
the 4th of March next then their party is to
have no head whatever, because that Con-
gress so constituted is gone, and the next lot
will in all probability be in direct opposition
to it, and suppose in that event the party
will be gone, too. Laughter and applause
That is the wisdom of their partisanship.-
Why, fellow-citizens, l have known some
thing about what it costs to make a party
successful. have known what it costs to
create party in the United States of Amer


lea that shall take control of the Government
of the United States. Let me tell you that
you are seeing to-day the other and most un-
pleasant experiment, that of great party
that has controlled the destinies and powers
of the country, and saved it lying down and
destroying itself That is what they propose


to do. propose to have no lot nor share in
that thing, not because it would bepersonal-
ly unwise, but because the country requires
your services and mine upon higher princi-


piles than the success OF durability of any
party. [Cheers.] Fellow citizens, in thus adj


dressing you have yielded against my judg-


ment to your wish to hear me. think that
the President satisfied your ear, and that it


is your eye filled with the light ofjoy spring


ing from all your grateful emotions to the


Army and the Navy and their illustrious


representatives that is waiting to be gratifed


You want to see Gen. Grant [Cheers] and
Admiral Faragut [Cheersl and Gen. Custer


and the rest of them; and you are the best


behaved people have seen on the excursion,
for you have kindly and patiently listened to


me before seeing them. Laughter and cheers.


If you are not satisfied with looking at them,


just ask Gen. Grant for speech, and he will


give you an eloquent one. [Cheers.