new life. It filled with the
spirit of true nationality all the great functions of the government. It
confronted a rebellion of unexampled magnitude, with slavery behind it,
and, under God, fought the final battle of liberty until victory was
won. Then, after the storms of battle, were heard the sweet, calm words
of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and saying to the conquered
foe that lay prostrate at its feet: 'This is our only refuge, that you
join us in lifting to the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine
like stars for ever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and
justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and stand equal
before the law.'

"Then came the question of reconstruction, the public debt, and the
public faith. In the settlement of the questions the Republican party
has completed its twenty-five years of glorious existence, and it has
sent us here to prepare it for another lustrum of duty and victory. How
shall we do this great work? We cannot do it, my friends, by assailing
our Republican brethren. God forbid that I should say one word to cast a
shadow upon any name on the roll of our heroes. This coming fight is our
Thermopylae. We are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts
are united, we can withstand all the Persians that the Xerxes of
Democracy can bring against us. Let us hold our ground this one year,
for the stars in their courses fight for us in the future. The census
taken this year will bring re-enforcements and continued power. But in
order to win this victory now, we want the vote of every Republican, of
every Grant Republican, and every anti-Grant Republican in America, of
every Blaine man and every anti-Blaine man. The vote of every follower
of every candidate is needed to make our success certain; therefore, I
say, gentlemen and brethren, we are here to take calm counsel together,
and inquire what we shall do. We want a man whose life and opinions
embody all the achievements of which I have spoken. We want a man who,
standing on a mountain height, sees all the achievements of our past
history, and carries in his heart the memory of all its glorious deeds,
and who, looking forward, prepares to meet the labor and the dangers to
come. We want one who will act in no spirit of unkindness toward those
we lately met in battle. The Republican party offers to our brethren of
the South the olive branch of peace, and wishes them to return to
brotherhood, on