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do not let them sleep. I see again the cunning twinkle of the eye, I see the white necktie again, (great laughter;) they try to adjust it like a halter around the throat of the Republic, to throttle her to death. (Continued cheers.) Truly, the sons are greater than the sire. For what he did, we may say he did as a weak old man, whose life had been spent in a constant exercise of his knee-joints; and who, when the rebellion first raised its Gorgon-head, had neither the firmness of a patriot nor the courage of a traitor. But what they do, they do after thousands of noble men have stained the battlefields of their country with their precious blood; after the people have poured out their money like water to save the Republic; after our invincible navy has battered down the Southern forts, and is commanding the Southern waters; they do it when the hero of Vicksburgh is thundering at the gates of Richmond; when our victorious flag waves over the ramparts of Atlanta, and Victory is the cry! (Long-continued cheering.) Ah! poor old man, hide thy head in shame, for thou canst no longer claim such proud preëminence in baseness. There are those that are greater than thou, and whose vaulting ambition laughs thy iniquity to scorn. Those are the men who made that platform! (Tremendous applause.)
And upon that platform they placed a soldier by profession as their candidate—a General who once commanded the armies of this Republic. Was there ever a man more cruelly insulted by his friends? Was there ever irony more cutting? A General nominated for the Presidency for the distinct purpose of trading away other generals’ victories! A soldier appointed to make the successes of other soldiers useless! And he did not resent it by flinging platform and nomination into the faces of those who had made it, without losing a single moment! Alas! he did not. He waited. He endured this most outrageous insult—this mortal offence—without saying a word! Meanwhile murmurs of indignation arose, like a black cloud, from the army, against him who was once their commander—from every corner of the country cries of anger and contempt burst forth against the infamous Chicago surrender. But that was not all. A thrill of joy and enthusiasm flashed through the heart of the nation when the word came: “Atlanta is ours!” And, then, surrender! (Loud applause.)
But now, at least, when the promptings of prudence came to the aid of the voice of just resentment, now, at last, he spurned the platform, and he scorned to be the candidate of the men that made it, and of the party that adopted it? Oh! no. For him, I regret to say, the opportunity for showing the metal of a great character was lost. He chose a middle way. He did not repudiate, nor did he approve, but he ignored the platform and took the nomination. This has, at least, the charm of novelty. The candidate wrote a skilfully worded political letter, showing that the art, How not to say it, can be brought to as high a degree of perfection as the art, How not to do it. (Laughter and cheers.) It is upon record. But that was not the first political letter of his life. The General had written one about a year ago, before he was a candidate. That letter was endorsing the principles and advocating the election of Judge Woodward to the Governorship of Pennsylvania. And that letter is on record too. Who was Judge Woodward? You know better than I can tell you, that he went as far as any of the class called peace-copperheads dared to go; peace at any price, surrender, and all. And when was this letter endorsing his principles written? The circumstances are significant. We had just then suffered a very disastrous defeat at the battle of Chicamauga, our Western army was in a most critical situation, in Virginia the campaign had come to a complete standstill, the affairs of the country looked dark. And then the General endorsed the principles and advocated the election of a peace-man. This is most interesting for the people to remember. Thus we know how he is capable of speaking after a defeat. This gives us the advantage, since he has now somewhat changed his tune after a victory, to conclude with safety how he is likely to speak in case of a defeat again. It is far from me to insinuate that the General was dishonest in writing his war-letter; nor was he dishonest in writing his letter for the peace-man. He means what he says now; he meant what he said then. The General is a gentleman, and I sincerely believe he was honest both times. But this kind of honesty is a fair indication of the policy we may look for from that quarter. While I detest that sort of peace-spirit, I am afraid of that sort of war-spirit. And this is the war-spirit of a party which deemed it necessary to postpone its convention from the fourth of July to the twenty-ninth of August, to give events time to develop themselves, and to shape their policy accordingly.
For peace when the horizon of the country is gloomy, and for war when it is bright! Is that the kind of patriotism we want? This fair-weather patriotism, which is ready to give up the country in the hour of misfortune, although it makes a show of standing by the country in the hour of success? And upon that shifting sandhill you will build the future of the Republic! (Great cheering.) What if to-morrow an untoward accident should overtake our armies; will it stand the test, or will it give up the country again? Remember, that it is in the hour of gloom and despondency that the country stands most in need of the unswerving devotion of her sons! (Loud applause.) Give me the man, who, in storm as well as in sunshine, amidst the cries of distress as well as the jubilee of victory, will stand by the cause of his country with a faith unshaken, with a courage undismayed, with a purpose unbending, and him I will call a patriot; but not those whose firmness depends upon the revolutions of the wheel of fortune! (Enthusiastic cheering.) And this kind of firmness will have to stand a singular test. We shall have the alarming spectacle of an honest but not altogether inflexible character in very bad company.
There is no American who does not know that a President’s policy is not made by him alone, but by those who made him; and there is no American who will forget that the strength of the vote which nominated this candidate at
