Excerpt from Great Republican Speeches of the Campaign of 1880
Whoever is given greeting and audience in such a presence ought indeed to have something worthy - something fit and wise to say. Inadequate in all, save only grateful and respectful appreciation, must be my return. We are citizens of a Republic, We govern ourselves. Here no pomp of eager array in chambers of royalty awaits the birth of boy or girl to wield a hereditary sceptre whenever death or revolution pours on the oil of coronation. We know no sceptre save a majority"s constitutional will. To wield that sceptre in equal share is the duty and the right, nay, the birthright, of every citizen. The supreme, the final, the only peaceful arbiter here is the ballot-box; and in that urn should be gathered, and from it should be sacredly recorded, the conscience, the judgment, the intelligence of all. The right of free self-government has been in all ages the bright dream of oppressed humanity - the sighed-for privilege to which thrones, dynasties and power have so long blocked the way. France seeks it by forced marches and daring strides. Mr. Forster, Secretary for Ireland, tells the peerage of England it must take heed lest it fall, and Westminster and England ring with dread echoes of applause. But in the fullness of freedom the Republic of America is alone in the earth; alone in its grandeur; alone in its blessings; alone in its promises and possibilities, and, therefore, alone in the devotion due from its citizens. The time has come when law, duty and interest require the Nation to determine for at least four years its policy in. many things.
Two parties exist; parties should always exist in a Government of majorities, and to support and strengthen the party which most nearly holds his views is among the most laudable, meritorious acts of an American citizen, and this whether he be in official or in private station. Two parties contend for the management of national affairs. One or the other of these two contestants is sure to manage the Nation"s concerns for some time to come. The question is, which of the two is it safer and wiser to trust. It is not a question of candidates. A candidate, if he be an honest genuine man, will not seek and accept a party nomination to the Presidency, Vice-Presidency or Congress, and after he is elected become a law unto himself. Few things are more despicable than first to secure elevation at the hands of a party, and then, in the hope of winning pretentious non partisan applause, to affect superior sanctity, and meanly to imply that those whose support and confidence were eagerly and deferentially sought are wanting in purity, patriotism, or some other title to respect.
The higher obligations among men are not set down in writing and signed and sealed - they reside in honor and good faith. The fidelity of a nominee belongs to this exalted class, and, therefore, a candidate of a party is but the exponent of a party. The object of political discussion and action is to settle principles, policies and issues. It is a paltry incident of an election affecting fifty million people, that it decides for an occasion the aspirations of individual men. The Democratic party is the Democratic candidate, and I am against the ticket and all its works.
The general issue confronting us is in itself and in its bearings sectional. I would, and you would, it were not so, but it is so. If in one portion of the country one party outnumbers the other even by overwhelming odds, the fact need not be blamable, nor proof of sectional aggression. But if in any section a party gains and keeps control, not by numbers, not by honesty and law, and then, stifling free discussion and action, attempts to grasp the government of the whole country, the proceeding is sectional, guilty, and monstrous. In twelve States of the Union the approaching election is to be no more than a farce, unless, as has sometimes happened, it be turned into a t. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Great Republican Speeches of the Campaign of 1880 (Classic Reprint) (Staten Island Publishing Company)