“I am a Democrat.” To this, the biggest cheers yet. “For my part, I ask no Irishman to do that which I myself am not prepared to do. My heart, my arm, my life is pledged to the national cause. I care not to what party the Chief Magistrate of the Republic has belonged. I care not upon what plank or platform he may have been elected—” “Hear, hear!” “The platform disappears before the Constitution, under the oath he took on the steps of the Capitol, the day of his inauguration—” “Hear, hear!” “The party disappears in the presence of the nation . . .” And then, a jab at the enemy of more than 500
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