Year: 1860

"Sir, we might have done a more daring
thing, but we certainly could not have
done a better thing Prolonged Ap-
plause.


cannot find words strong enough to
designate the Stiffness Of those who sneer-
ingly affected to see in Mr. Lincoln but a
second or third rate man, who, like Polk
and Pierce, had been taken mp merely for
the purpose of expediency. Let them ask
Mr.. Douglas, from whose hands he wrest-
ed the popular majority in Illinois, let
them ask those, who once felt the magic
touch of his lucid mind and honest heart;
let his de.ractors ask their own secret mis-
givings, and in their own fears they will
read the cause of tine joy and assurance of
his friends. Applause. They whistle
in order to keep up their courage; but me-
thinks, it is doleful sound. Laughte.
and cheers. SO. then, we stand, before
the people, with the platform of free labor
and upon il true representative of free
labor as candidate for the Presidency
On this attitude we challenge our enemies
to the battle





Constitutional Union-nondescript; by
that party of dry hearts and dead weights.
who recently assembled at Baltimore, and
conscious of their inability to make plat
form, adopted sentence from Fourth of
July Grafton as their common creed. and
will in all probability circulate Mr.. Ever
ett's Mount Vernon Papers as their princi-
pal campaign documents. Great laugh
ter and cheers. They know no North,
no South, no East, no West, no anything,
and least of all they know themselves -


Laughter. See them march on, ready
to charge, gently and with forbearance.
least they step on somebody's toes,


Laughter, and slowly and noislcssly. lest
their own soldiers frightened by their own
impetuosity, suspect themselves of sinister
designs-for theirs is an army which by
the accidental explosion of percussion cap
might be thrown into the most frightful
disorder. Great laughter and applause.
1t is said that one of their candidates con-
templates declining the nomination. Let
him well ponder what he is doing. Let
him not with his accustomed rashneSs in
political matters skip over SO awful res
possibility; upon his resolution SO OF SO
may depend difference of five or ten votes
at the next national election. Shouts o!
laughter and applause.


In front we face the Democracy
Thanks to the restless impatience of Mr..
Douglas ambition. and to his unscrupu-
lous duplicity, the Democratic party is fast
falling to pieces. Cheers. Indeed, we
are greatly indebted to that man. When,
by the Nebraska bill and the invention of
the Popular Sovereignty dodge. he tried
to gain the favor of the South he helped
buildup the Republican party in the North,
and when by refusing to acknowledge the
logical consequence Of his position, he tried
to retrieve his fortunes at the North, he
disorganized the Democratic party at the
South. And even lately he demonstrated
the existence of the irrcpressible conflict
more clearly and forcibly, with due defer
ence to Governor Seward be it said, than
ten Rochester speeches could have done.
He is like the fellow who, in order to get
at the apples that hung rather high. cut
down the tree. Applause.


Yes. that man has done much Of our
work, and he did it voluntary, gratis, for
nothing Let us be honest enough to con-
tess it; for, sir, really do not see why the
church should refuse to acknowledge its
obligations to the devil. Laughter and
cheers.


Is it not owing to his laudable exertions
that the Democracy have opened the cam
paign with two platforms and nary candi-
date? Shouts of laughter. In fact,
when taking all his kind services in consid-
Grafton, am almost sorry of ever having
said anything against that man. But the
thing is done. and Mr.. Douglas must be
satisfied with as humble an apology as
am able to offer. [Continued laughter and
applause.


The first attempt of the Democracy to
unite upon platform and nominate a can
dilate failed; it could not but fail as long
as some of them insisted on laying down a
party creed that meant something. A
Democratic Platform in order to he salts
factory, must mean nothing and everything,
as the Cincinnati Platform did, fCheers.
But they will try again to reprcss the ire.
pressible conflict which RACES in their own
ranks, and as the day of doing so, they
have with great propriety chosen the 18th
of June, the anniversary of the battle oi
Waterloo. [Applause What the re-
suit of that Convention will be, whether
one of the contesting facts will carry the
day. or whether they will succeed in uni.
ting them, by conceding to one the plat
form and to the other the candidate, thus
cheating each other in attempting to cheat
the people, is to me matter of supreme
indifference. The Democrats undoubtedly
thought they had done very smart thing
in adjourning the Convention without
nominating a candidate, SO as to deprive
us of the supposed advantage Of knowing
what antagonist we will have to deal with.
Without being aware of it, they have in
deed done great thing for us; for they
have obliged us to rely for success upon
the positive strength Of our cause, instead
of the accidental weakness of an opposite
candidate. Enthusiastic cheers. And
in this noble and many attitude we stand
before the n, the only united National party
in the land


While the Union savers did not dare to
lay down common party creed--while
the Democrats, with unscrupulous duplici