A Speech For Douglas

Sketch 'f tte lie mar kt of the Ilon. A 1 C. DoJge, of Toma, at the Itecnt. I Ratificalion Meeting in Phtlwlelphia, Fellow Citizons - I am proud of the ' opportunity to moot and addrom so 1 1 irge nnd ruspeet oble un assombly of I tha unterrified domocruoy ui the good old Commonwealth of' Pennsylvania. I ■ atn one of the Bqmttter sovereigna - i bom n a Territory, and having lived iu ' Territories alway until lova bacame a I State. ["Sound democrat," and applause.] We democrrts of the West regard you aa the koystone of the Fed eral arch, and nevi-r in the history of the Republio have you had a more important duty to discharge than that whioh you will be eulled npon to perform at the approacbing Presidential election. Most unexpectedly, the democracy - the party which bas ruled the nation for the nation's good froni the daya of Thomas Jofferson, with a fuw slight exoeptions - hnvo, in their recent convention, met with aeceasion and disunion. A small portion of the dele gatea to the democratie national convontion have bolted, and this defection came frora the South - that southern wing of our forcee whiüh, in time past, alwtiya stood truo to the party and the country - but still there were left in the convention two-thirds of the dtslegates, as upright nnd as putriotic men as ver ! asseinbled togather in any othor country. Gentlemen of the Kev.stono State, in the approaching election you will be called upon not only to give your vote for Stephen A. Doaglas [cheurs), but also for ITenry D. Foster, the gullant champion of the democrncy from Westmoreland county. I havo known him long and well, and kQow thut he is emnently worthy the high station to wbicfa he has been nnminitted, and to which high place he is soon, I trust, to be elevated bv your united suffrages, - ['That's so," and great qiplause.] What would you have thought ot the convention which phiccd (Jeneral Foster in nomination if one-fourth or one-third of the dolegates to your Keiiding oonvention, uuting by the advice of sorne of the othor gentlemen whose narnes had been before the convention for the office for which he was nominated, bad bolted from that body, and placed in nomination one of the gentlemen who had been a candidato against him ? Would you not have branded him s a traitor ? ["Yes," and applause ] Now, gentlemen, the proceedings at B„ltimoro werajust such as might have occurred in your IStute conyeiitioo under the circnmstances I have indioated to you. liet us, then rt'gíird ourselvoá as most fortúnate that, notwithstanding all the diffculties with whiüh we have had to contond in thir' uontest, we have securod the choice of the nation. We have not got the man the politiciaus desired, but we havo got the one man whose nomination the people prèfnrred over uil othera ; nnd as ours is a nation in which the poople rule, the result of that nomiottüuD must be a triurnph at the ballot-box. - [Great applause.J I ndignantly repel the charge whiüh has beun made by the seceders and their confedérate, that the majority of the democracy in the Baltitnore conveution were wedded to man and not to principies. We pieler our priiiciples to auy man; butitao happened that tha man lor whom we contended was tho man of the people, the man for whom the States of the great Northwest had instructed in i b:dy. And, huiling from that section as I do, I teil you that you will hear a good roport from it. [Chiern.] We will hardly take time to notioe the socessionists out thore. In all thut sec tion there will bn but liltle en'ounigciment offered io them there ; but we are looking to a bitter struggle with that other and more formidablb enomy, tho black repubüean party, which luis triumphed in numurous State elec'ions, and which is now expecting totake advantage of our división and therefore elect Lincoln Presideut of the Ijnited States. ["Never, never."] Fellow citizens, let tho remembranco that your stiindard-bearer has alivudy met and defoatod tho renroser.tativo of tho black republicans inspire yon with new energy, and inito you on to viotory. Douglas is already in the habit oí beating Lincoln in theirown Stto, and, whilst h' reoeived Lincolu's fire in front, anotber battery was opeoeu upon him in the rear; but thoir joint efforta wero in vain. He triumphed after one of the hottest figh u lht over inaikod a Senatorial or uny oiher contest, und ií you are onlv true to yourselvos he vvil triumph agaio over theoombined torces of the alliea. He vi!l bout thein all back if bis frión da stand firm. The evos óf the nntiun are now turnod to l'ennsylvania, to seo if sho will not maintain the reputiition whichshffhaa iilwys enjoyed in the democratie party. I address men many of ffhorn stond by "Oíd llickory'1 in h's memorable oontest with the Uniced States B.tnk, and this circumstance recaMs to niy tnind a iTiost gratifying reoainioence connectod with our leader. Who wai it who on the flour of the Ilouxe of lïepresentatives tnado t.io greatest sjieüoh over made in tïiat body in tho dcfonso of ' Old Hinkory," and for refmiding the fine imposed' on him for sa ving New Orleana ? It was Stephen A. Douglas who did it, and who enjoya the great and heartielt satislaction uf having re coived the thankü of the glorious old nero of the Hermitage a short timo beforo bis death - Gen. Jacksotl stating it was the ablest vindica tion ever made of bis conduct. Again, who was it that de'ivered the most tnemorabl and eloquent speech ev er made in the House of Representa tives in the advocacy of the prosecution of the Mexican war f Who was H who crossed steel with John Quiocy Adams, and overthrew hiin in cjebute ? It was Stephen A Douglas, your nominee. Who was it who droiv wjtfa hi.s goodly right hand the bilis which organizöd all the Torritories ndinitted into the Unioo since 1843, and who aidod to figiit all the compromiso raeasuree through tho Sunatu ? Tho same great man. I was in Washington ai that time as B northwostern Senator, an humble friend and follower of his, and oí Glay, Wobster, and Ouss, aiul I happen to know bis Borvieos at that critica! period of our coun'.ry's destiuy. I kuow th -t Uenry Clay relied upon him more thuu upon anv other man, entrusted tohim tho drawiog up of tho oompromit-o bijlü, ajjd called upon bim, H-ben bw voics bfcatuctid fteble that he could no ongor fill his sent a the Senate, to tufce iis place and light thebattle forthe adnissioa of California, Utah, and New Mexico [great applauaej, and for the establishment of the principio ttrat tha people shall be left frea to shape their ovvn doraestic institutiona and control thoir own dostiniea. Who was it tiiat lashed Suraner, Seward & Co., and triumphed over them in the debate upon the Kuiisas-Nebraska b'H, which establ'whed a living principie by whiuh the matter of alavery ia to be aettled, and that vt-xed question to be forever bunished (rem the halls of Cona;rosa f It was Stephen A. Douglas. [Cheors] You all know him. [A voiu, ' And lovo hui) ; cheers.j 1 kuew hun when ho was an humble pioneor witb his pack uu his back. [Cheers.j I knevv hlii. whan he pushed the jack-plane in a village in Uünois. [Oheers J I knetv him as a village schoolraaster; ns the Attorney General of his State ; as u Judgo upon the Suprume Court btinch, and, subsetjuently when he was electeu to the lowor branch of Congress, and from there to tho Senate, where he is noiv serviug his third term. [Applau.se.] And gentlemen, f the bohera and poHtical tricksters who ore uow at work to defeat tbe choice ol the peoplo for the highest office ia their gift succeed, he will grow upon their hands jast as Old Hickory did, when he was defeatud for tho same position, in 1824. [Cheers.j Tho familiar ñama by which he is now known among his countrymen is thut of the Little Giant, but it hu is cheated by these secessionists and disunionats ha wiü be knovv in tho future as the "Big Giant," before whoin intriguing politicians will fly as from tho wrath to come. I teil you that if he ever comee down on any of them, theunfortu nate man will think that he weighs more thao a ton. [Qieat applause.] If he is beaten now, his succoss in the futura is curtain while those who opposo the party, bucause he is its nomine, will be consigned to oblivion. [" That's so," aiid cheer?.] The people love hirn bcnua he is true to them and muintaina their rights. Thoy have watched with interest the persocutiuns to which ho has been subieoted ; they havo seen him removud trom the Chainnanship of tho CoromhtCM on Territories by a tyranoical ruujoriiy, because of hia independeiice, aml they have seen those who sbould havo sustaiued him and strengthened bu hands, resort to every trick to disgraco kim, b(;caiise they worejealous and envious ol his hold npon the popular heurt. The result of theao attumpts ure befura you. Without pat.onage, without power, he has stood forth in tho Democratie convention at Charleston und ut H-illitnore triuinphant and viutorious He received from that convention tha greateat honor it could pay bim, the regular, legrtimate nomination for tht Presidtncy, and, if you ure true to yourselves, you will ratify that nomination at the ballot-bos. If he cannot carry uil the S-utas, let, at least Pt-nnnylvaaia, as well as Iowa and tha Northwest, give a good Ifeoaot of themselvos ["We will," and cbeera.J Let us, now thut we have a man who is true to us, bo true him, and fight him through. If we mako a good Üght. lor him, we will elet;t him triumplian.'ly. ["Neper f ar, we'il do it," oud great applause. I