The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1864-06-23
Speech of DR.. Breckinridge at the Union
State Convention, May 81. -

L was inclined, when the suggestion was
made to me from various quarters, that
it was in the minds of many members of
the Convention to confer this distinction
upon me, to earnestly decline to accept it.
Because l have never sought honors, l
have never sought distinction. | have
been a working man, and nothing else
But certain considerations led me to
change my mind. [Applause.] There
is class of men in the country far too
small for the good of the country. These
are the men who-merely by their exam
pie, by their pen, by their voice-try to
do good, and all the more in perilous
times, without regard to the reward that
may come. 1t is given to many such
men to understand, by the distinction
conferred upon me, one Of the humblest
of their class, that there are men whom
the country will cherish, and who will
not be forgotten. Here is another mo-
tive relative to yourselves and to the
country at large. 1t is good for you; it
is good for every nation and every peo-
pie, every State and every party, to cher
ish all general impulses, to follow all no.
BILE instincts (and where are men more
noble, more generously, to purge your
selves of all selfseckers aud betrayers,
and to confer Offices, if it be only in mere
form, upon those who are worthy to be
trusted, and ask nothing more. ZAP
plaasc. Now, according to my convic-
tions Of propriety, having said this, |
should say nothing more. [Cries of Go
on !. But it has been in;imated to me
from many quarters, and in a way which
| cannot disregard, that | should disap-
point the wishes of my friends, and per-
haps the just expectations of the Conven-
ton, if did not as briefly and yet as
precisely as l could, say something upon
the great matters which have brought US
here. Therefore, in very few words,
and as plainly as | can, | will endeavor
tc draw your attention to one and anoth-
er of these great matters in which We are
all engaged. In the first place, nothing
can be more plain than the fact that you
are here as representatives of great ma
. tion-vo!autary representatives, chosen
without forms of law; but as really repre-
scrting the feelings and principles-and
if you choose, the prejudices-of the A.
merican people as if it were written iii
their laws and already passed by their
votes. For the man that you will nomi-
nate here for the Presidency of the Uni
ted States and ruler of a great people, in
great crisis, is just as certain, | sup
pose. TO become that ruler, as anything
under Heaven is certain before it is done
i prolonged cheering]; ard moreover,
you wilLalIew r,e to say, though perhaps
it is hardly strictly proper that / should,
but as far rs | know your opinions, | sup
pose it is just as certain now as before
you utter it, whose name you will utter,
and which will be responded to form one
end to the other of this nation, as it will
after it has been uttered and recorded by
your Secretary. Does any man doubt
that this Convention intends to say that
Abraham Lincoln shall be the nominee?
Great applause. What wish, howev-
e., to call your attention to is the gran
deur Of the mission upon which you are
met, and therefore the dignity and
solemity, earnestness and conscientious
ness with which, representing one of the
greatest, and certainly one Of the first
people cf the world, you ought to dis
charge these duties. I applause Now,
beside the nomination Of President and
Vice President, in regard to which latter
Office will say nothing, because | know
there is more or less difference of opinion
among you-but beside these nomina-
tons, you have other most solemn duties
to perform. You have to organize this
party throughout the United States.-
You have to put it in whatever from your
wisdom will suggest, that will unite all
your wisdom, energy, and determination
to gain the victory, which / have already
said was in our power. More than that,
you have to lay down with clearness and
precision the principles on which you in
tend to carry on this great political CON
test, and prosecute the war which is un-
derneath them, and the glory of the coun-
try which lies before rs if we succeed,
plainly not in double sense, briefly not
in treatise, with the dignity and preci-
sion of great people-to utter by its
representatives the poliSical principles by
which they intend to live. and for the
sake of which they are willing to die, SO
that all men everywhere may understand
precisely what we mean, and say that fur
row so deeply and clearly that while eve-
ry man who is worthy to associate with
freemen may see it and pass over it, eve
ry man who is unworthy may be either
unable to pass it, or may be driven far
from it. We want none but those who
are like us to be with us. Applause.
Now among these principles, if you will
allow me to say it, the first and most dis
tinct is that we do not intend to allow
this nation to be destroyed. IApplause,
We are a nation, no doubt peculiar one,
a nation formed of States, and no nation
except as these states form it; and these
States are no States except as they are
States In that nation. They had no more