Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1860-07-11
The Stapoato..

The S tfaplo'aalf5'l, .I;srs
Mr. DOUGLAS LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE
: - y $3.50 WAsRlNGToN, June 25, 1860
s,s. The National Committee Of the Democratic
,.irtv which met IN Charleston on the twenty.tnIo
Sav of April last and adjourned to meet at bait''
more on the eighteenth day Of June has un ANN;
,usly nominated you us their candidate ior ffes''
lent of the United States.
We have been delegated to inform you Of snch
nomination., and to ask your acceptance Of ~
The Convention have re-asserted the time. honoieu
principles Of the party, as enuncateo At CnS,ni.u
in 1855. upon which we won the glorious held IN
that contest and carried, with single eAcoP''o''
every Southern State. Assaulted as we are oy sec
,ionalsm, endangered by the efforts OF d'sunonls1
a,d in the midst Of crisis threatening the very
arnat,;tv Of our Union we believe tnat to you the
neonle turn. and have long since involuntar'iy
Iurned as one whose firmness and ability, whose
consistent nationality and unvarying recogniti"h Oh |
the constitutional rights of all sections OF our COM
mon country, can alone lead in safety to that re-
nose demanded by every true patriot 49,.
We tender to you onr heartfelt congrath'ations'
and have the honor 10 be your fellow citizens,
WIN. H. LUDLOW, New York,
RIP. DICK, th-Carolina,
...-.ae J. L. SEWARD, Georgia,
u5l .l, J. I. DAWSON, Pennsylvania,
&c WICKLIFFE, Louisiana, '"
81 -s---' W. A. GORMAN, Minnesota,
J. B. FLOURNOY, Arkansas,
A. A. KING, Missouri; 'h
B[ON BRADBURY, Maine.
To Hon. STEPHEN A. poueLAs.
The fos.owing is Mr.. Douglas letter accepting the
nomination for the Presidency:
-. e-7--".e~ WAsHiNGroN June ~, 1860.
.,,,,, :; II oc,,rd.pca with the verbal assn.
rance which gave when you placed I'm my hands
the authentic evidence of my nomination. rot the
Presidency by the National Convention OF the Denl-
ocratc party | now send you my formal acceptance.
Upon careful examination of the platform OF pr,n-
cipes adopted at Charleston and affirmed Mt bait'-
more, with an additional leso'utiSh. which Is IN per-
feet harmony with The others. find it to be faith.
ful einbotiiirrnt Of Tile ti,nehonored principles of
the Democratic party as the same were proclaimed
and understood by all parties in the Presidential
contests of 1913, 1852, and 1856. Upon looking
into the proceedings of the convention also, find
that the nomination was made with great unanimty
in the presence and with the concurrence of more
than two.:hirds Of the whole number of delegates.
and in exact accordance with the long-established
usagcs Of the party.
Nv ,niex,be purpose not to be candidate nor
accept the nomination in any contingency except
the regular nominee Of the national Democratic
party, and in that only upon the condition that
the usages as well as the principles Of the party
should be strictly adhered to. had been proclaimed
for long time and become we'll known to the coun-
try. These conditions having been complied with
BY the free and voluntary action Of the Democratic
masses and their faithful representatives without
any agency, interference, or procurement on my
part, feel bound in honor and duty to accept the
nomination.
In taking this step am not unn inGful of the re-
sponsibilities it imposes but with firm reliance
on Divine Providence, have faith that the people
will comprehend the true nature OF the issues IN
volved and eventually maintain the right. The
peace of the country and the perpetuity of the
Union have been put in jeopardy by attempts to in
terere with and control the domestic affairs of the
people in the Territories through the agency Of me
federal government. If the power and duty of fed
eral interference he conceded, two hostile sectional
parties must he the inevitable the one IN
flaming the passions and ambition of the North, and
the other of the South; and each struggling to use
the federal power and authority for the aggrandize-
ment Of its section at the expense Of the equal
rights of the other and in derogaton of those fun
damental principles of selfgovernment which were
firmly established in this country by the American
revolution as the basis of our entire republican
system.
During a memorable period in our political bis
tory when the advocates of federal intervention up
the subject Of slavery in the Territories had we'll
nigh 'precipitated the country into revolution, "
the northern interventionsts, demanding the Will
mot proviso for the prohibition of slavery, and the
southern interventonists. then few in number and
without single representative in either house Of
Congress, insisting upon Congressional legislation
for the protection Of slavery in opposition to the
wishes of the people in either case, it will he re.
membered that it required all the wisdom. power,
and influence Of Clay, and Webster and Cass,
supported by the conservative and patriotic men,
Wing and Democratic of that day. to devise and
carry out line Of policy which would restore peace
to the country and stability to the Union.
The essential living principle of that policy as ap.
piled in the legislation of 1850, was and now is,
non-interrention By Congress Nth slarery in the
Territories. The fair application of this just and
equitable principle restored harmony and fraternity
to . distracted country.
five now depart from that wise and lust policy
which produced those happy results and permit the
country to be again distracted, if not prccpitated
into revolution, by sectional contest between
pro.savery and anti-savery interventionists where
shall we look for another Clay, another Webster o,
smother Cas- to pilot the ship of State over the
breakers into the haven of peace and safety?
The federal Union must be preserved. The Con
stituton must be maintained inviolate in all its
parts. Every right guaranteed by the Constitution
must be protected by law in all cases where egisla
ton is necessary to its enjoyment. The judicial au
tholNy, as prOVloeu IN the constitution, must bt
sustained, and its decision implicitly obeyed anc
faithfully executed. The laws must be administered
and the constituted authorities upheld, and all un
lawful resistance suppressed. r-.....
These things must all be done with firmness, i'm
partiality and fidelity, if We expect to enjoy an,
transmit, unimpaired to our posterity, the biesse
inheritance which We have received in trust iron
the patriots and sages Of the revolution
: With sincere thanks for the kind and agreeabl
manner in which you have made known to me tn
action Of the convention, have the honor to be,
Very respectfully,
si44s. Your friend and fellow citizen,
~ S. A. DOUGLAS.
Hon. W. H. Ludlow, of New York; R. p. Dick, ,
North. Carolina R. G. Wickliffe, of Louisian,
Il and others of the committee -
TIE OLD K N. GAxE.-The Salisbury Banne
noticing the game of misrepresen, at;or nc 70 III.