Mr. Chairman,--When, in the month of July, 1830, the people of Paris
rose against the arbitrary ordinances of Charles the Tenth, and, after
three days of bloody contest, succeeded in that Revolution which gave
the dynasty of Orléans to the throne of France, Lafayette, votary
of Liberty in two hemispheres, placing himself at the head of the
movement, made his way on foot to the City Hall, through streets
impassable to carriages, filled with barricades, and strewn with wrecks
of war. Moving along with a thin attendance, he was unexpectedly joined
by a gallant Bostonian, who, though young in life, was already eminent
by seven years of disinterested service in the struggle for Grecian
independence against the Turks, who had listened to the whizzing of
bullets, and narrowly escaped the descending scimitar. Lafayette,
considerate as brave, turned to his faithful friend, and said, "Do not
join me; this is a danger for Frenchmen only; reserve yourself for your
own country, where you will be needed." Our fellow-citizen heeded him
not, but continued by his side, sharing his perils. That Bostonian was
Dr. Howe. And now the words of Lafayette are verified. He is needed by
his country. At the present crisis, in our Revolution of "Three Days,"
he comes forward to the post of danger.
I do not disguise the satisfaction I shall feel in voting for him,
beyond even the gratification of personal friendship, because he is
not a politician. His life is thickly studded with labors in the best
of all causes, the good of man. He is the friend of the poor, the
blind, the prisoner, the slave. Wherever there is suffering, there his
friendship is manifest. Generosity, disinterestedness, self-sacrifice,
and courage have been his inspiring sentiments, directed by rare
sagacity and intelligence; and now, wherever Humanity is regarded,
wherever bosoms beat responsive to philanthropic effort, his name is
cherished. Such a character reflects lustre upon the place of his
birth, far more than if he had excelled only in the strife of politics
or the servitude of party.
He has qualities which especially commend him at this time. He is
firm, ever true, honest, determined, a lover of the Right. With a
courage that charms opposition, he would not fear to stand alone
against a fervid majority. Knowing war by fearful familiarity, he is an
earnest defender of peace. With a singular experience of life in other
countries, he now brings the stores he has garnered up, and his noble
spirit, to the service of his fellow-citizens.
But we are assembled to-night less to consider his praises--grateful
as these would be to me, who claim him as friend--than to examine the
principles now in issue. Not names, but principles, are now in issue.
Proud as we may be of our candidate, we feel, and he too feels, that
his principles on the grave questions now pending are his truest
recommendation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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