Ladies and Gentlemen—It so happened that the first speech, the very first public speech, I ever made I took occasion to defend the memory of Thomas Paine.

I did it because I had read a little something of the history of my country. I did it because I felt indebted to him for the liberty I then enjoyed; and, whatever religion may be, ingratitude is the blackest of crime. And whether there is any God or not, in every star that shines, gratitude is a virtue.

The man who will tell