The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-07-11
THE ELOQUENT SPEECH.

The following is the speech of the Hon.
John L. Dawson, Pennsylvania, upon casting
the vote of Pennsylvania delegation, of which
he was Chairman, for Stephen A. Douglas, in
the National Convention at Baltimore:
Mr.. President and Gentlemen of the Con-
vention.-It is scarcely necessary for me to
say that at no time during the sitting of this
body did Judge Douglas receive the united
vote of the delegation from Pennsylvania, and
may further add that in the consideration of
a platform, a majority of US united with our
Southern friends, ready to give them all that
we believed them entitled to under the FEEDER
al Constitution. In our judgment they asked
for nothing more, and we were not willing to
offer them less. (Applause.) In our action
then we have been overruled by decided ma
Fjofity of this boo 3, and for Pennsylvania / am
free to say that, attached as we are to the De-
mocratic party, its principles, its discipline, its
organization, standing there forever, in the ell
oquent language of the President in his open
ing speech at Charleston, standing as perpetual
sentinels upon the outposts of the Constitution,
we will, trust, abide its decision and support
its nominee. (Cheers and applause.)
Judge Douglas is a man of acknowledged
talent, and every where regarded as an accom-
plished statesman, skilled in the art of ruling
Born under New England sun, yet by adop-
ton citizen of the West, honored in the
Valley of the Atlantic, he now should be of
the whole country. (Cheers.) Unframed, to
some extent, ie early life in the learning of the
schools, the deficiency, if any exists, has been
largely compensated by the generous measure
in which nature has dealt upon him her choic-
est gifts of intellect and character. Gap
plause) Like Henry of the Revolution;
Like Peel of England, these noble qualities
have made him the architect of his own future.
(Cheers and applause.) That the Union is
a confederacy endowed with special powers,
the States composing it retaining all the un-
delegated attributes of sovereignty, is the fun
damental truth of our political system. In
defence of this truth we are about to engage
in a new contest, and in the comprehension of
its character we have thoroughly to educate
the public mind. The popular heart is to be
won back to loyalty, by holding up to its con-
temptation the image of the Constitution, in
its serene beauty of lineament and proportion.
The erring conclusions of our fellow citizens
of all sections are to be corrected by thor
ough and persevering exposition of their fall
lacy, and in place of these are to be inculca-
ted the paramount claims of the Federal COM
pact to the hearty allegiance, in letter and
spirit, of every American who can comprehend
and appreciate the institutions of his country,
and who really cherishes a desire for their per-
petuity. (Applause.) If here, in this beau
tiful city, which looks out on the Chesapeake,
we have needed any excitement to broad
patriotism in our deliberations, it should have
been found in the associations in the midst of
which we are assembled; for it was at Annapo-
lis, at the close of the Revolution, that Wash
ington resigned his commission. 1t is also
within sight of the spot at which we are con-
vened that imposing monuments rise to the
greatness of his memory and to the patriotism
of the sons of Maryland. (Cheers.)
Pennsylvania, the State in which Indepen-
deuce was first proclaimed, and the work of the
Revolution received by the construction of the
Federal Compact; the State which holds with
in her bosom tie ashes of Franklin, and boasts
the first battlefield of Washington, will be
true to her noble memories. (Applause,) and
in the fulness of that enlightened conservative
sentiment, for which she has been distinguish
ed, will rally, [ hope, in giant strength, east
the dust from her eyes and aid the friends of
the Democratic party once more to elect their
nominee. (Cheers and prolonged applause.)