The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-11
HOW EDMUNDs WAS NOMINATED.


that we are to account for it hereafter. Iappeal
to the unimpassioned judgment of this conven-
ton. | appeal from the excitement of this vast
concourse, to the afterthought of the fresides of
the people. And, remembering that an Ameri-
can audience never fails In fair play, l appeal,
even at this late hour, for an opportunity for
brave little Vermont.
The Republican party ommands to-day the
confidence of the country. 1t need not invoke
its record of twenty-five years, for that is the
common knowledge and admiration OF the
world. 1t need not appeal to its principles. for
those are the very foundation OF the marvellous
progress and prosperity of this great republic.
There only needs that, in its candi-
date, in the simple elements of his
personal and public character, it fur
nished a guarantee of its continued fidelity to
itself. There only needs that it respond to the
instinct of the people. That done, and its tri-
umph in the coming presidential election is as
sure as the coming election day. But, gentle
men. that instinct must be obeyed. 1t repre-
sents a demaud which is as inexorable as fate
itself. 1t recognizes the merits and the
services of all the candidates before
us. It obtrudes no word OF depreciation
for any of them. 1t cares lite for issues, of eX-
pediency, or preferences of personal or party lik-
ing. But by that awful voice of the people which
is as the voice of God. it sets an imperative
standard of its choice, and bids us rise to that
or fall. We are convened, therefore, in behalf
of no man. The country and the party are
greater than the fortunes or the interests of any
one man, however dear or honored to us.
We are here as Republicans, and yet brave and
broad enough not to be here in the interest of
the Republican party alone. Even in this tu-
multuous excitement we do feel that, charged
with the most sacred responsibilities that can
fall upon representatives of the people, we are
here in the interests of the people and of the
people of the country and the whole country.
We are here to select for President a man
from our own ranks, but a man whose record
and character, whose tested service, whose tried
incorruptibility. whose unscathed walk through
tho ctOrYnc aud HraG Of r,hlo Efn whOca ~
proved wisdom, equal to every emergency,
whose recognized capacity to put a firm, safe
hand upon the helm, and whose hold upon the
public confidence of the people make him not our
choice for them, but their choice for themselves.
He must be one who will command their undi-
vided support. Not merely brilliant qualities on
the one hand, or meritoriousq qualities on the other
are enough. He must be of the staying
qualities of the sturdiest American character.
He must represent no wing or faction of the
party, but the whole. He must be one who will
hold every Republican to his cordial allegiance,
who will rally Indifference and independence
even into aroused conviction and an earnest
front on our line: one who will stand for every
beat that ever throbbed in the national heart for
humanity, freedom, conscience and reform; one
who will stand for whatever has been honest and
of good report in our national history; for what
ever has made safe economy, financial wisdom,
cIean politics and the integrity of national life.
And, above all, he must be one whose name
will carry in the coming canvass that sense of
security w WHICH, az cdCH pT6SlueItldl eitCllOu,
the country turns as to a very rock of salvation.
Such a man, honest and capable, will first mas
ter the sober Judgment and approval of the peo-
pie, and thenceforward stir them to the only en-
thusiasm, my friends, that counts, and that is
the enthusiasm of public confidence. And then,
on election day, conscious where their safety
lies, the irresistible uprising of the people, like
the mighty inrolling of the ocean tide, will
sweep him, never fear, into the
highest seat of your public service.
That is the measure, not of the
party, but of the country. Meet it, and you
have done your work and won your victory in
advance. Respond here and now to this in
stinct of the people, and they will take care of
TINS result. The measure is high, but the can
didate 1 name rises to it. If there be an ideal
American citizen in the best sense it is he. You
know-the people know-that his character, his
ability, his worth, his courage, are as recognized
and familiar as a household word. Calumny
dare not assail him; and, if it dare, recoils as
from a galvanic shock. Against what other can
didate can less be said than against him? For
no other candate can more be said.
l stand here, Mr.. President, hOnored, though
it were alone, with the duty of presenting his
name to this convention. But it is not 1 it is
not the State, nor the delegates whom l here
represent, who present that name to you. 1t is
presented by uncounted numbers of our fellow
citizens; good men and true all over this land,
who only await his nomination to spring to the
swift and hearty work of his election. 1t is pre-
sented by an intelligent press, from Maine to
California, representing a healthy public senti-
ment and an advance public demand. 1t is the
name of one whose letter of acceptance of an
unsolicited honor will constitute all the ma
chinery he will have put into it's procure
ment. 1t is a nal. a which in itself
is a guarantee of lnfexible hon
esty in government, of the best and wisest Cab
met the country can afford, and no man in it
greater than its head. 1t is a
guarantee of appointment to office, fit, clean,
and disinterested all the way through guar
antee of an administration which | believe, and
which in your hearts you know, will realize not
only at home but abroad the very highest CON
ceptions of American citizenship. 1t is a name,
too, which will carry over all the land a grateful
feeling of serenity and security like
the benignaRt promise pro- of a bright day
and refreshing as the Green Mountains of his
native State. Their SUBMITS tower not higher
than his worth; their foundations are not 6rmer
than his convictions and truth; the green and
prolific slopes that grow great harvests at their
feet are not richer than the fruitage of his long
and lofty labors in the service of his country;
honest and capable, unexceptionable and fit, the
best and the most available, the very stanchest
of that old Republican guard, the most unfiinch-
ing of American patriots, with the kindly heart
of a courteous gentleman, as well as the robust
and rugged mind of a great statesman, not more
sternly just in the halls of Congress than
tender in that sanctity of the American
heart, the American home; a man of no class, no
caste, no p~retense, but a man of the people, East
West, North, South, because a representative of
their homeliest, plainest, and best characteristics,
Massachusetts, enthusiastically leaping her own
borders, and dominates him to this
great Republican convention as the man it seeks,
as the man of its instructive and honest choice,
as the one man whom its constituents every
where will hail with one unbroken shout, not
only of satisfaction, but of relief.
Gentlemen, | nominate as the Republican
candidate for the next President of the United
States the Honorable-ayel the Honorable
George F.. Edmunds, of Vermont.
Caricatures of $50.