The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Volume IX Part 30

I had an old friend down in Woodford County, Charley Mulidore. He won a coffin on Lincoln's election. He took it home and every birthday he called in his friends. They had a little game of "sixty-six" on the coffin lid. When the game was over they opened the coffin and took out the things to eat and drink and had a festival, and the minister in the little town, hearing of it, was scandalized, and he went to Charley Mulidore and he said: "Mr. Mulidore, how can you make light of such awful things?" "What things?" "Why," he said, "Mr. Mulidore, what did you do with that coffin? In a little while you die, and then you come to the day of judgment." "Well, Mr. Preacher, when I come to that day of judgment they will say, 'What is your name?' I will tell them, 'Charley Mulidore.' And they will say, 'Mr. Mulidore, are you a Christian?' 'No, sir, I was a Republican, and the coffin I got out of this morning I won on Abraham Lincoln's election.' And then they will say, 'Walk in, Mr.

Mulidore, walk in, walk in; here is your halo and there is your harp.'"

If you want to live in good company vote the Republican ticket. Vote for Black for Governor of the State of New York--a man in favor of protection and honest money; a man that believes in the preservation of the honor of the Nation. Vote for members of Congress that are true to the great principles of the Republican party. Vote for every Republican candidate from the lowest to the highest. This is a year when we mean business. Vote, as I tell you, the Republican ticket if you want good company.

If you want to do some good to your fellow-men, if you want to say when you die--when the curtain falls--when the music of the orchestra grows dim--when the lights fade; if you want to live so at that time you can say "the world is better because I lived," vote the Republican ticket in 1896. Vote with the party of Lincoln--greatest of our mighty dead; Lincoln the Merciful. Vote with the party of Grant, the greatest soldier of his century; a man worthy to have been matched against Caesar for the mastery of the world; as great a general as ever planted on the field of war the torn and tattered flag of victory. Vote with the party of Sherman and Sheridan and Thomas. But the time would fail me to repeat even the names of the philosophers, the philanthropists, the thinkers, the orators, the statesmen, and the soldiers who made the Republican party glorious forever.

We love our country; dear to us for its reputation throughout the world.

We love our country for her credit in all the marts of the world. We love our country, because under her flag we are free. It is our duty to hand down the American inst.i.tutions to our children unstained, unimpaired. It is our duty to preserve them for ourselves, for our children, and for their fair children yet to be.

This is the last speech that I shall make in this campaign, and to-night there comes upon me the spirit of prophecy. On November 4th you will find that by the largest majorities in our history, William McKinley has been elected President of the United States.*

* The final rally of the McKinley League for the present campaign, was held last night in Carnegie Music Hall, ana the orator chosen to present the doctrines of the Republican party was Robert G. Ingersoll. The meeting will remain notable for the high character of the audience. The great hall was filled to its utmost capacity. It was crowded from the rear of the stage to the last row of seats in the deep gallery.

The boxes were occupied by brilliantly attired women, and hundreds of other women vied with the sterner s.e.x In the applause that greeted the numerous telling points of the speaker. The audience was a very fashionable and exclusive one, for admission was only to be had by ticket, and tickets were hard to get.

On the stage a great company of men and women were gathered, and over them waved rich ma.s.ses of color, the American colors, of course, predominating in the display Flags hung from all the gallery rails, and the whole scheme of decoration was consistent and beautiful. At 8.80 o'clock Mr.

John E. Milholland appeared upon the stage followed by Col.

Ingersoll.

Without any delay Mr. Milholland was presented as the chairman of the meeting. He spoke briefly of the purpose of the party and then said; "There is no Intelligent audience under the flag or in any civilized country to whom it would be necessary for me to introduce Robert G. Ingersoll." And the cheers with which the audience greeted the orator proved the truth of his words.

Col. Ingersoll rose impressively and advanced to the front of the stage, from which the speaker's desk had been removed in order to allow him full opportunity to indulge in his habit of walking to and fro as he talked. He was greeted with tremendous applause; the men cheered him and the women waved their handkerchiefs and fans for several minutes.

He was able to secure instant command of his audience, and while the applause was wildest, he waved his hand, and the gesture was followed by a silence that was oppressive. Still the speaker waited. He did not intend to waste any of his ammunition. Then, convinced that every eye was centred upon him, he spoke, declaring "This is our country." The a.s.sembly was his from that instant. He followed it up with a summary of the issues of the campaign. They were "money, the tariff, and whether this Government has the right of self-defence."

As he said later on in his address, the Colonel has changed in a good many things, but he has not changed his politics, and he has not altered one whit in his masterful command of forceful sayings.--New York Tribune, October 80th, 1896.

Note:--This was Col. Ingersoll's last political address.