Year: 1870

more, and that is he who is about to
speak to you. We are all miserable
together this afternoon. Laughter


We are gathered together upon our
annual patriotic boasting day; we
tell what great men our fathers
were, and, as like begets like, we
elegantly leave it to be inferred what
sons our fathers had. Great Laugh
ter We read again the Declaration
of Independence as we kept the old
Queen Anne's firearms over the man
tel-pieceS of our chimneys to show
what sort Of guns our fathers shot,
though it be fifty years past. So we
exhibit again the old copy of the
Declaration of Independence, which


was good at the beginning. and was
good at the end, and good in the
middle. But that WAS gone by long
ago. What do you care and what
do I care what our fathers suffered
before they licked Great Britain :?
They settled that long ago and the
only good of such rehearsal on this
occasion is to hear it read by good
voice AS historical document it
is interesting. l ex"ected to hear
and was net disaE pointed, some al
lusion made to the great conflict
which has recently been concluded.
After all the fighting was the least
part Of the business. Although
Gen. Grant is here present, aching
to make a speech to you on the mat


ter great laughter] have no doubt
he thinks there was some fighting.
Yet, after all, measure it as much as
you please, make the diameter coe


quail with that of tue earth's, and
then double it, and it was the least
part of all that was done in that
great four years that elapsed; for,
while we were fighting, this country
was enabled to unfold an example,
and to make a demonstration Of
Government which it never made
before, and could not have been
except under some such pressure
as that. Any yatch will stand
weather when it is lnoored in New
York harbor;put it out to sea where
the tornado catches it, and then she
is brought to her moorings, anu she
shows you how she is made and
what stuff she is made of. So with
a great people spread on a great
continent, almost rather in abund-
ance. Why shouldn't she be pros
porous :? Men said this is no test
Of republican governments, and no
test that its people were the greatest
in the world, and its Government
the greatest. There are two govern
ments in the world, the imperial and
democratic--everything between
them being bastard It's an exper-
iment. | would not say that repub


licanism was not the best form of
government in the world, but it Is
the one that suits the American peo-


pie, and I will not determine wheth-
er it would not be q better form Of
government for monarchies than
that they hold. When / spoke at
London, in Exeter Hall, in 1868 on
this subject, several Americans
nudged me and said Explain how
it is liberty loving democrats are
hobnobbing with the Russian officers
in New York - And my reply was
II have found more sympathy from
mankind for the enslaved and more
liberty in the heart of the Russian
Government, than I did in the heart
Of the English Government, which
had its face against US in the attempt
to emancipate the slaves" App I
But am not here this afternoon to
make out a case for his Majesty the
Emperor; l am to speak this after
noon for your majesties, the demo


Gratis, and / hold that the great con-
fiict through which we have passed
the great ten years which is now
rounding out and ripening itself
has done a great deal more than to
show we could overcome the South.
That is the least. | am glad it has
done that; that we were able to do
it. / knew we should we knew we
should. I knew it for this reason j:
that this people are slow, cautious,
mighty particular, and hard to get
agoing, but, like huge heap of
green hickory, when they get agoing
nothing can put them out; and so


we gained momentum daily as we
went on. The South are more mar


curial. They start quicker, and stop
quicker. They charge we did not
beat them, but wore them out. I
take it so, for fighting means wear


ing out; and it does not mean mere
ly the bayonet or the bullet, for
there are great many things be-
sides to constitute war. But the
great point Is this: They were
whipped and the Government was
saved, and the great line Of lonei-
tude that God put round about the
North and South to hold them to-


gether was not snapped and it will
be one country unless we betray
those principles on which unity de
pends. OF the few things which
have been demonstrated by this
conflict, one is that a democratic
government can contain all those
great functions which have been
supposed to be peculiarly the prop
efty CT strong governments boasts
of, that is law and the execution of
law; for it must maintain order in
the community. I point out the ex-
ample of the States of the North ito
more than twenty millions ofpeople
convulsed with civil war, and who
devoted themselves to the struggle
Of five years duration; and | point
the world to the examnIe of tho na