The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 09 (of 12): Dresden Edition—PoliticalIngersoll, Robert Green
History
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 09 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Political
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
Men are to-day blackening his reputation, who are not fit to blacken
his shoes. He is a man of brain. Since his nomination he must have made
forty or fifty speeches, and every one has been full of manhood and
genius. He has not said a word that has not strengthened him with the
American people. He is the first candidate who has been free to express
himself and who has never made a mistake. I will tell you why he does
not make a mistake; because he spoke from the inside out. Because he was
guided by the glittering Northern Star of principle. Lie after lie has
been told about him. Slander after slander has been hatched and put in
the air, with its little short wings, to fly its day, and the last lie
is a forgery.
I saw to-day the fac-simile of a letter that they pretend he wrote upon
the Chinese question. I know his writing; I know his signature; I am
well acquainted with his writing. I know handwriting, and I tell you
to-night, that letter and that signature are forgeries. A forgery
for the benefit of the Pacific States; a forgery for the purpose of
convincing the American workingman that Garfield is without heart. I
tell you, my fellow-citizens, that cannot take from him a vote. But Ohio
pierced their centre and Indiana rolled up both flanks and the rebel
line cannot re-form with a forgery for a standard. They are gone!
Now, some people say to me, "How long are you going to preach the
doctrine of hate?" I never did preach it. In many States of this Union
it is a crime to be a Republican. I am going to preach my doctrine until
every American citizen is permitted to express his opinion and vote
as he may desire in every State of this Union. I am going to preach my
doctrine until this is a civilized country. That is all.
I will treat the gentlemen of the South precisely as we do the gentlemen
of the North. I want to treat every section of the country precisely as
we do ours-. I want to improve their rivers and their harbors; I want
to fill their land with commerce; I want them to prosper; I want them to
build schoolhouses; I want them to open the lands to immigration to all
people who desire to settle upon their soil. I want to be friends with
them; I want to let the past be buried forever; I want to let bygones
be bygones, but only upon the basis that we are now in favor of absolute
liberty and eternal justice. I am not willing to bury nationality or
free speech in the grave for the purpose of being friends. Let us
stand by our colors; let the old Republican party that has made this a
Nation--the old Republican party that has saved the financial honor of
this country--let that party stand by its colors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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