The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1888-06-29
JAMES A. GARFIELD.

Speech in the National Republican Con-
vention at Chicago. Juno, 1880, Nomi-
mating John Sherman for the Presidency.
have witnessed the extraordinary
scenes Of this convention with deep sole
itude No emotion touches my heart more
quickly than O sentiment in honor of
great and noble character. But as sat
on these seats and witnessed these dem
onstrations 1t seemed to me you were
human ocean in tempest. / have seen
the sea lashed into fury and tossed into
q spray, and it's grandeur moves the soul
Of the dullest man But l remember that
1t is not the pillows. but the calm level of
the sea, from which all heights and depths
are measured. When the storm has
passed and the hour of calm settles on the
ocean, when sunlight bathes its smooth
surface, then the astronomer and surveyor
takes the level from Which he measures
all terrestrial heights and depths Gen
tlemen of the convention, your present
temper may not mark the healthful pulse
Of our people. When our enthusiasm has
passed, when the emotions of this hour
have subsidized. we shall find the calm
level Of public opinion below the storm
from which the thoughts of a mighty
people are to be measured, and by which
their final action will be determined. Not
here. in this brilliant circle, where 15, 900
men and women are assembled, is the
destiny Of the republic to be decreed; not
here, where see the enthusiastic faces
of 756 delegates waiting to cast their
votes into the urn and determine the
choice of their party; but by 100000
Republican fresides, where the thought
full fathers. with wives and children about
them, with the calm thoughts inspired by
love Of home and love of country, with the
history Of the past. the hopes of the
future, and the knowledge Of the great
men who have adorned and blessed our
nation in days gone by-there God pre-
pares the verdict which shall determine
the wisdom of our work tonight. Not in
Chicago in the heat Of June, but in the
sober quiet that comes between now and
the melancholy days of November, in the
silence of deliberate Judgment will this
great question be settled. Let us aid them
tonight.
But now, gentlemen Of the conven
tion, what do we want7 Bear with me a
moment. Hear me for this cause. and
for moment be silent. that you may
hear. Twenty-Five years ago this repub
Long familiarity with traffic in the body
6bAAo ooS44o "a AA1OA 1eaA PaA ~ ACo pLO ScA
science of majority Of our people. The
baleful doctrine of state sovereignty had
shocked and weakened the noblest and
most benefcient powers Of the national
government, and the grasping power of
slavery was selling the virgin territories Of
the west and dragging them into the den
of eternal bondage At that crisis the
Republican party was born. 1t drew its
first inspiration from that fire of liberty
which God has lighted in every man $
heart. and which all the powers of ignol
ance and tyranny can never wholly es
ting,1ish. The Republican party came TO
deliver and save the republic. 1t entered
the arena when the beleaguered and as
sailed territories were struggling for free
i dom, and drew around them the sacred
circle of liberty which the demon of slav
cry has never dared to cross 1t made them
free forever. Strengthened by it's victory
on the frontier, the young party, under
the leadership of that great man who. on
| this spot, twenty years ago, was made its
leader, entered the national capital and
assumed the high duties of tho govern
ment. The light which shone from its
banner dispelled the darkness in which
slavery had enshrouded the capital and
melted the shacliles Of every slave. and
consumed, in the fire of liberty, every
slave pen within the shadow of the capi