. The biography and public services of Hon James G. Blaine : giving a full account of twenty years in the national capital . t attracts attention by its vast proportions,and excites disgust by the falsity of its inscriptions. The casualobserver, knowing nothing of the previous life of the deceased,who reads this eulogy upon the tomb, might imagine that all thevirtues, the intellect, and the genius of the age were buriedthere. But to him who knows that the life had been a livinglie, an incessant pursuit of base ends, the stone is a mockeryand the panegyric a fable. It is my purpose to show, sir
. The biography and public services of Hon James G. Blaine : giving a full account of twenty years in the national capital . t attracts attention by its vast proportions,and excites disgust by the falsity of its inscriptions. The casualobserver, knowing nothing of the previous life of the deceased,who reads this eulogy upon the tomb, might imagine that all thevirtues, the intellect, and the genius of the age were buriedthere. But to him who knows that the life had been a livinglie, an incessant pursuit of base ends, the stone is a mockeryand the panegyric a fable. It is my purpose to show, sir, that this Democratic platform isa mockery of the past, and that its promises for the future arehollow, evasive, and fabulous; that it disregards the sanctities oftruth, and deals only in the language of the juggler. It is likethe words of the weird witches who wrought a noble nature tocrime and ruin, and then in the hour of dire extremity Kept the word of promise to the ear,And broke it to the hope. What are the pledges of this platform, made by a party whichnow asks place and power for themselves, and retirement and. THE PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION. 547 obscurity for us ? They pledge peace to the country. Well, sir,the country should have peace. They pledge a uniform andvaluable currency to the country. Sir, the country desires sucha currency. They pledge economy in the administration of theGovernment. Judicious economy is among the first maxims ofgovernment. They pledge payment of the public debt andreduction of taxation. I agree that the public credit must bepreserved at all hazards, and that taxation should be reduced byall means. They pledge reform of all abuses. Sir, when oncean abuse is discovered, no man will deny that it should be atonce reformed. They pledge the observance of the laws, theguarantees of the Constitution, the rights of the people, and thepromotion of the public weal. It requires an unusual condition of public affairs to producesuch an unusual platform, a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectblainej, bookyear1884
