“ [323] to the music, heard the voices to which you have listened, I have turned back one third of a century to that little assemblage of God-fearing and libertyloving men that laid the foundation in America for the triumph which we enjoy to-day. I remember that national convention of humble men from ten States to whom we owe everything sanctioned by law, humanity, and religion, for the abolition of slavery, and for the elevation of every person of color. The work began one-third century ago. (That's so.) Humble, devoted men have since gone on from struggle to struggle, until, to-day, there is not a slave that treads the soil of the country from the Delaware to the Rio Grande. Not a cradle of yours can be robbed in America to-day; not a wife of yours can be torn from your bosom; not a bloodhound can bay on your track. Thanks be to God for the labors of these faithful men. Every fetter of yours is broken, and every man born in America can stand up and say: I am a man, a brother, a citizen of the American Republic!” About this time the platform gave way and sank enough to frighten the people on and near it; but fortunately nobody was seriously hurt. As soon as it was again properly propped up Senator Wilson resumed:
Ladies and gentlemen, I have come back again. We sometimes during the last thirty years have had falls, but we always rose again. The friends of human freedom, sometimes baffled for a time, sometimes checked, sometimes even temporarily defeated, always rose stronger and marched forward with a bolder front.My own speech came after Mr. Wilson finished. It showed pretty clearly my feeling at that time toward the emancipated.
Fellow-citizens and fellow-soldiers: It gives me
