The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 09 (of 12): Dresden Edition—PoliticalIngersoll, Robert Green
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The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 09 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Political
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
I have a right to express my opinion, in common with every other human
being, and I am willing to give to every other human being the right
that I claim for myself. Republicanism means justice in politics.
Republicanism means progress in civilization. Republicanism means that
every man shall be an educated patriot and a gentleman. I want to say to
you to-day that it is an honor to belong to the Republican party. It
is an honor to have belonged to it for twenty years; it is an honor to
belong to the party that elected Abraham Lincoln President. And let
me say to you that Lincoln was the greatest, the best, the purest, the
kindest man that has ever sat in the presidential chair. It is an honor
to belong to the Republican party that gave four millions of men the
rights of freemen; it is an honor to belong to the party that broke the
shackles from four millions of men, women and children. It is an honor
to belong to the party that declared that bloodhounds were not the
missionaries of civilization. It is an honor to belong to the party that
said it was a crime to steal a babe from its mother's breast. It is an
honor to belong to the party that swore that this is a Nation forever,
one and indivisible. It is an honor to belong to the party that elected
U. S. Grant President of the United States. It is an honor to belong to
the party that issued thousands and thousands of millions of dollars
in promises--that issued promises until they became as thick as the
withered leaves of winter; an honor to belong to the party that issued
them to put down a rebellion; an honor to belong to the party that put
it down; an honor to belong to the party that had the moral courage
and honesty to make every one of the promises made in war, as good
as shining, glittering gold in peace. And I tell you that if there is
another life, and if there is a day of judgment, all you need say upon
that solemn occasion is, "I was in life and in my death a good square
Republican."
I hate the doctrine of State Sovereignty because it fostered State
pride; because it fostered the idea that it is more to be a citizen of a
State than a citizen of this glorious country. I love the whole country.
I like New York because it is a part of the country, and I like the
country because it has New York in it. I am not standing here to-day
because the flag of New York floats over my head, but because that flag
for which more heroic blood has been shed than for any other flag that
is kissed by the air of heaven, waves forever over my head. That is the
reason I am here.
The doctrine of State Sovereignty was appealed to in defence of the
slave-trade; the next time in defence of the slave trade as between the
States; the next time in defence of the Fugitive Slave Law; and if
there is a Democrat in favor of the Fugitive Slave Law he should be
ashamed--if not of himself--of the ignorance of the time in which he
lived.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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