XL.
'4s&
1f
THE BLESSINGS OF GOVESNMENT, T.TTTE THE DEWS OF HEAVER, SHOULD BE jhSTpSlSTED ALIKE UPON THE HIGH AND THE LOW, THE BICH AND THE POOB,
JtfEW SERIES.
EBENSBTJRG, APRIL, 2, 1856.
VOIi.-3.-lTO.-23.
Pi s
T B II M 8 :
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Bpeeches delivered before the Demo
e'ratio State Convention.
uabch 4th, 185C.
nOS." O. B BCCKALSW.
Mr. President and gentlemen of the Con
tention it ia scarcely a fit thing to set cold
tneats before a company after a feast ; but sir,
this is an occasion when the feeble may stand
p, and even the ill come forward. I have
tut little to say, and as I have been much in
the habit, of recent years, of speaking to
business questions and confining myself to the
question, I shall do so at this time.
Mr. President, this Convention is composed
of one hundred and thirty-three members. It
is full. No delegate is absent from Lis place
in this Ilall. Upon the first vote for the selec
tion of a candidate to be presented by Penn
sylvania to her sister States, ono hundred and
twenty-eight gentlemen are placed upon the
reoord in favor of a distinguished personage
not now resident within the limits of our
State, although a native of it, nor within the
limits of the United States or contiguous ter
ritory, but located beyond three thousand
miles of dreary water, and there discharging
with distinguished ability the duties attached
to the position which he holds. No intrigue
attaches this nomination. It has not been
begotten in caucus nor in the brain of any
human being who expected therefrom person
al advantage or promotion. Whatever may
have been said of previous conventions in
this Commonwealth or elsewhere whatever
of reproach or of doubt may have heretofore
attached to any transaction in which our proud
and gallant party has been concerned, this
transaction, this event, stands upon an eleva
tion where reproach doth not assail it. Great
applause.
Sir, from whence comes this nomination by
"the Convention here assembled? It comes
from the hearts and tho judgments of the peo
ple of Pennsylvania. (Cheers.) That is the
quarter from whence it proceeds, and here i3
the proof of it. Une hunared and twenty-
eight votes of this body, lacking but five of
the entire number, were given with prompt
ness and alacrity for the nominees of the Con
vention. Four gentlemen voted under the
pressure of instructions for another, but im
mediately afterwards, after that technical duty
was discharged, they enrolled themselves along
with their colleagues for the candidate nomi
nated. One gentleman only, did not join in
the nomination, but he is just as certainly
committed, and just as sure eventually to be
u rolled with others, as any future event can
be certain. lie voted for the nominee of the
Cincinnati Convention. We have him there !
SippiMose.) Plr. President this has teen
e action of tho Convention. Thus much
has been done and well done. It has been
accomplished at the right time and in the
right way. It has proceeded from just and
proper motives and is emphatically sanctioned
by and based upon, the judgment and con
viction of the people. Now, sir, what next?
Another duty of this Convention will be to
dtflect gentlemen to represent our Common
wealth our State in the Convention at Cin
cinnati. They will go there charged with the
message which we have prepared. And what
is that message ? It is to ask of the assem
bled Representatives of the thirty odd States
of the Union, to concur with us in this work
which we have begun, in all honesty and in
all earnestness ; with deep conviction of its
justice, of its wisdom, and of the necessity
which has suggested and which sanctions it.
We have spoken here, and our seech has
been put upon record. And there has been
cnt trembling along the wires, with the
swiftness of lightning, to the remotest cor
ners of the confederacy, this voice, thus utter
ed. What next? As a business question
for I am speaking with tht idea predomi
nantwhat next is to be done ? . Why, sir,
we are to convince our party friends in other
States that we are right, and that duty and
policy require them to go with us. That is
the point to which our common and united
-efforts should now be directed. And of what
can we assure them to induce them to go with
ns m the action proposed ? Why, we can as
re them with united voice and without hesi
tation, that the electoral .vote of this State
Will bo given to the candidate whom we have
earned. TV e can tell them with entire truth.
that members of the opposite party by hun
dreds and thousands have been considering
r the nomination of Mr. Buchanan, and stand
ready to endorse it. If he be nominated,
they are r with us. I know many such, i
have heard, and others have heard, many
such voices of late, of active members of what
was recently the Whig party. This nomina
tion, therefore, has strength vastly beyond
the limits of our own : party. It grasps and
collects the suffrages of honest,' independent,
patriotic men, who have never before been
Vith us. . .
What more need we urge upon the Demo
eratic party of other States and those repre
senting them ? Why, sir, we can point them
jo the. faotr that at this moment, from the At
S! we,t,r"df through all th Ccu-;
tral States, where tl battle of the Constitu
tion is to be fought out, there ia no man - who
can be named as the peer and equal, on
grounds of fitness, of the candidate whom we
have named. The distinguished citizen of
Michigan, long and favorably known to our
people, is not before the country in connec
tion with this subject. Excepting one or two
of all the great men who commenced public
life thirty or forty years ago of all that band
of worthies that have distinguished the histo
ry of our own State, or of the general govern
ment, from these Middle States, and especial
ly from Pennsylvania, there is but one proud,
bold head yet above the waves. Applause.
Some of them have been struck down by the
hand of death some have fallen away from
us in the pressure of hot contests, and from
apostates at first, have become open and event
ually insignificent ' enemies. Applause.
And, some have been found otherwise unfit
for, or unworthy of the continued confidence
and respect of the people. But, 6ir, through
all the vicissitudes, when our glance has gone
abroad in search of the faithful and the great,
one figure has fixed attention and commanded
respect. There has been with him a steady
virtue and a mental power, that have con
founded his enemies and fixed him firmly in
the affections of the people.
When we have looked, of recent years, for
one who stood up like a whole man in former
times, and yet stands up ; who has travelled
through the storm and the tempest with un
impaired power and popularity, but one man
meets the expectant gaze, and that man is
James Buchanan. Applause. Sir, our
people have been thiukiog of this thing for
some years. They have thought upon it earn
estly, they have turned it over in their minds
as they pursued their avocations in their res
pective neighborhoods, and they have express
ed here to-day through their delegates, the
conclusions to which they have come. May
we not trust that this voice, thus intelligent
and thus decided will be respected by our sis
ter States when they assemble in council in
Juno next. Yes, sir, there is no other candi
date in the central portion of the Union who
can be presented as the fair and equal com
petitor of the choice of this Convention, no
other man about whose name such recollec
tions, such evidences of fidelity and ability
arc gathered, as his who is now proposed as
our standard bearer in the coming campaign,
and who will secure to us, if nominated, a
signal triumph.
But what more? When I read, cither
backwards or forwards the history of our
Commonwealth, I perceive, and afterwards
recollect, one important and striking fact : and
it is this : that while the little coast bound
State of Massachusetts and the State of Vir
ginia, inferior to our own in many respects,
have often furnished incumbents for the Pres
idential chair, our own State has been entire
ly overlooked, if not forgotten. We have
occasionally reminded our brethren of the
other States of some moderate and modest
pretensions which we hold to on this subject,
but for one reason or another they have never
yet received their attention, and they have
not accetfed to our wishes.
Sir, the time has come when this favor
ought no longer to be refused to this noble
State of ours. Applause. The time has
come when a fair claim of right arises on our
behalf, and when it is our duty, founded upon
self-respect, to urge it with zeal and a deter
mination that it shall be acknowledged.
There are reasons why Pennsylvania should
be listened to by the other States. In the
most critical moment of every political engage
ment, of every political contest, since the
foundation of our general government, to
what point of the Union has the anxious,
strained gaze of the Democratic party been
turned? Whither? Why, sir, in a lett:r of
Mr. Jefferson's written in the dark and
stormy days when he lifted up that flag which
those who came after him have held up since
he wrote : "Let but Virginia maintain
O -
her position and Pennsylvania stand firm up
on her basis, and our Union will be perpetual
and our prosperity boundless." Great ap
plause. Yes, sir, there was then an anxious,
patriotic eye turned from the heights of Mou
ticello towards Pennsylvania, in hope, for the
rescue of principle from the contests of fac
tion. Away back, half a century ago, the
sagacity of Mr Jefferson discovered in this
State the foundation upon which Republican
ism could safely rest; he pronounced his
judgment that so long as she stood with Vir
ginia upon solid principles everything was
well, and the prosperity of the country secure
and certain. It has been so since. In every
party emergency, when the cause of the Re
publican or Democratic party looked dim and
doubtful, -when faint hearts failed, when the
treacherous fell from us, and the feeble halted
in their course, Pennsylvania was looked to
as tho point from which redemption must
come. Sir, we have ordinarily been faithful
to these expectations. Time after time, when
the battle was doubtful, and threatened to go
against our party, Pennsylvania came forward
and grasped victory from the jaws of despair.
We have also in other respects performed our
duty to our Sister States and to" the Union.
No State stood forward more promptly to form
the Constitution and Government of the Uni
ted States ; to establish solid Benevolent and
patriotic principles at the base of the structure
which has become the admiration of the world.
We have, sir, assisted our sister States when
their interests were involved or their rights
in jeopardy. To protect the Virginia fron
tier and Kentucky settlements against the
treacherous savage, our soldiers rushed into
the wilderness under "Mad Anthonv Wayne."
In the war of 1812, in' the western wilder
ness, along the Northern Lakes and upon the
Atlantic seaboard. Pennsylvanians were found
laboring and suffering to uphold the common
interests of the States and maintain the hon
or of the national flag. Sir, there are many
here to whom I may appeal as witnesses, that
in the more recent struma in whinh ami.
... -QO - . u.
a!
tropical sun, from the shores of the Gulf far
away into the interior of Mexico, the Penn
sylvania volunteers plodded their weary way
fighting when required, suffering where suffer
ing was to be endured, and zealously assisting
to uphold the American character for forti
tude and prowess before the civilized world.
Why, sir, upon an appeal from Simon Snyder,
the Democratic Governor of this State, at a
time when Massachusetts refused her jails to
the general government for prisoners of war,
our Legislature opened ours wide for national
use, and gave an additional evidence of that
patriotic spirit which I trust will always be
characteristic of our people.
We have been very much complimented,
Bir. We have received compliments without
number. This State has been literally loaded
with them. She has been complimented du
ring her whole history, for half a century, for
her steadiness of purpose, her devotion to the
Union, the valor of her sons, and for all those
Eublic virtues that elevate a State and make
er admired and respected among the nations.
Have you not heard it said just before an
important national election, that "as Penn
sylvania goes so goes the Union," as goes
Pennsylvania so ii the result ; and the hearts
of our brethren in other States have been
made to dance with joy when Pennsylvania
has gone as they desired her to go. Yes sir,
they have rejoiced exceedingly, and been
deeply grateful for our efforts, devotion and
zeal I speak in all kindness, with a proper
appreciation of these compliments which have
been showered upon us. We have been as
signed a very important position in what is
designated as the "federal arch" (an expres
sion which I confess I have never exactly
comprehended.) This State has been called
the Keystone of that arch ; which holds it in
place, and without which it would crumble
into ruins ; without which everything would
go to destruction connected with it. We
have been told that upon this State has rested
the Republican system of Government; that
it has constituted the base of it, and that our
steady and solid population are to be relied
upon under all circqmstanceF. All this is
well enough, and agreeable enough, but we
can afford to dispense with further compli
ments, and therefore, what we now ask of
our sbter States of the Union, is this ; that
waiving all pleasant words, the coinage of
kindness, politeness, or gratitude, they give
us the request that we arc about to make of
them. Loud and long continued applause.
We ask them to do this as no special or sole
favor to Pennsylvania, but as a thing in itself
honest, honorable, and without reproach, and
above all, as one in which their welfare and
our own aie jointly and mutually interested.
Mr. President, they will do it. Sir, tho
Convention that ia to meet in June next, will
do it. I venture to pronounce this upon evi
dence that appears conclusive to my own
mind. I venture to pronounce it upon infor
mation received from other quarters of the
Union. I venture to pronounce it, because
it is so reasonable and just a thing, that I be
lieve the Democratic party will not miss do
ing it. I believe it will be done, because it
is seen, rfnd can be seen, by all intelligent
members of our party in all parts of the
Union, that the nomination of Mr. Buchanan
gives us a political position so broad and
strong, that all the power of the combined
political opposition in the country cannot pre
vail against us. Be it understood, then, in
the first place, that Pennsylvania, in this
nomination, is in earnest; in the next, that
in her judgment, it would be unwise, and
possibly disastrous for other States to refuse
a, concurrence iu her action.
I have spoken suddenly and impromptu,
and have addressed myself simply to the du
ties of the occasion imposed on members of
this Convention and those chosen by them to
represent the popular will. I say to all, there
is a public national duty upon us to unite in
securingthe nomination of Mr. Buchanan at,
Cincinnati. The reasons for it are many and
weighty : but I have only glanced at some of
those niOBt prominent and obvious, cumco it
to say, our hearts and judgments sanction
this whole movement. Together, heart and
soul, without opposition, without divisions,
aye, sir, without a protest, we go into this
thing, and we ask that the other States, for
their own interest and honor, as well as ours,
and for the success of our party, may join
with us, and permit the people of Pennsylva
nia to show what kind of a majority they can
give for a Pennsylvania Candidate for Presi
dent of the United States. (Great cheering.)
SAMUEL W. BLACK.
Col Samtel W. Black was greeted with
loud and long continued applause. He said :
Mr. Presides! I trust that when it comes
to the performance of a doty to the Democratic
partyand to our country, I shall always be
readyand obedient to the call of those who have
a right tocommand, and whom it is always my
pleasure to obey I thought, sir, yesterday,
when the members of this Convention were
gathered together for the first time within this
Ilall, that there was an auspicious omen be
cause there was an auspicious contradiction of a
fact believed by almost every one present. I
happened to notice it because, perhaps, my
education has been different from that of others,
& perhaps in the one great question which now
stirs, and has stirred the heart of the count
ry, I have been more, deeply enlisted than
other gentlemen here present.
The gentleman who has just taken his scat,
and whom I have the honor to call my friend,
touched on the question of Know-Nothing-ism.
He touched it lightly, because time
does not allow a weighty or a tedious discus
sion ; but, sir, when the question is touched
at all, every true Democrat, and every man
who truly loves his country, feels himself
painfully and pleasantly affected at the same
time painfully affected,- as - the 'body being
pricked with a pin at the extremity of the
finger, writhes through every string that up
holds the heart ; applause ; and pleasantlv,
u we uda vvwiuou a full ana gyrious
assurance that cannot and Will not deceive us,
that its days are numbered, and that to dust
and ashes, tho place of its birth, it shall
speedily return, trampled upon by .the heels
of men, women and children,: who care for
the common inheritance of freemen which we
have derived from our fathers. Applause.
s In what, air, does it consist I - because I
start out without a theme, and I take up this,
the most natural one that lies before me In
vrhat does it consist? In proscription of msn
because ef their birth place, and intolerant
proscription of them because of the manner
in which they see fit humbly to kneel down
and ask the Almighty to forgive their num
berless tiansgresaions. Great applause.
Now, sir, for the incident of which I have
spokon, a contradiction to all that they say
in regard to this persecuted and abused peo
j'e. We were standing in an indiscriminate
masson yesterday morning, just such a one as
you see here, when the Speaker of this Honse
took his seat, and his gavel announced that
members were to prepare for business ; the
crowd at first, pell mell, rushed towards the
door, but in the next instant the Minister ef
the Almighty raised his hand and voice in
ifayer, and instantly, Protestant and Catho
io, paused, and putting his hand upon his
leart, prayed, in common with him, for the
perpetuity of our country, and' the advance
f those free institutions enjoyed under our
Constitution and our flag. Applause. The
scene was dramatic, but, sir, it was to the
Ife, and if any man's attention had been cal
led to it, he must have been less than human
if his heart bad not filled with warm emo
tions, and a tear of true sympathy had not
stood in his eye, powerless to move because
his whole nature was fixed by the grave and
glorious, yet simple spectacle. Cheers.
Now, sir, in regard to this question of
Know-Nothingism if I do not run into a
tedious speech instead of making a few de
sultory remarks (cries of no, no) I beg
leave, since I have made this my starting
point, to call the attention of gentlemen to a
few facts from the record which can neither
dissemble nor lie I heard a respectable gen
tleman in this Hall, within the last three or
four weeks, when I happened to be in Har
risburg, make an earnest and anxious and
sometimes a very eloquent appeal on behalf
of the Bible. He belonged to that peculiar Na
tive American party which, whether dark or
shining, whether open or shut, I neither know
nor care, but I can tell them, whatever it
'may be, they will find before the year is ended
that it is a dead open and shut. (Applause
and laughter.) This party claims to be di
rected and governed by the Bible. Why,
sir, I happened to find a Bible under ono of
the members' desks, not under that of the
gentleman to whom I have alluded, however,
and I looked at that very part which the Je ws
recognized as a Law to them a'system com
monly known as the Mosaic economy and
in that you will find more than six or seven
times within a few different books, a command
laid down to the children of Israel, in regard
to the kind treatment of the stranger. And
what was the character of the strangers, so
far as that character had any relation to the
people, who were to receive them ? Why,
they were all alien enemies ; they constituted
the nations that surrounded the favored
people, and yet here is the command given
over and over again, that " the Btranger that
is within thy gates thou shaltnot vex him, or
oppress him," and the reason given is, "for
ye were strangers in the land of Egypt, thus
saith the Lord, thy God." (Great applause.)
Again, "love ye, therefore, the stranger, for
ye were etrangcrs in tho- land--of Ugypt."
Let us apply these commands to ourselves.
Onr fathers came to this country, pilgrims for
the sake of personal freedom, for the sake of
political freedom, for tho sake of religious
freedom, for the sake of the poor right of a
poor sinner to seek his own way to Heaven ;
they were of their own consent banished to a
wilderness; they were strangers in a 6trange
land, and yet these "Children of the Star
Spangled Banner," who will let no others
live under its light, these " children" under
take to say, and that in the hardest, crudest
and most proscriptive manner, that the Bible
authorizes, nay, commands them to vex and
oppress the stranger who comes here to seek
a home with the very same object as that our
fathers had in visw, and upon the very same
shore of the same unchanging sea. Ap
plause. I will not stop, however, to argue this, nor
will I run through the New Testament ; for
there is neither time, nor is this the occasion
to undertake it ; but if you will look at all
the doctrines taught by the New Testament,
you will find them the same. Our Saviour
winds them up in his last words to his Disci
ples, when he bids them go into lands where
he himself had never been. "Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel unto ev
ery creature " He himself repudiating the
Know-Nothingism that would have kept them
with their glad tidings at home, and repudia
ting Know-Nothingism even in the lands to
which they were sent. Applause. Now,
I myself, feel a little on this subject, for a
reason. I am the son of in Irishman. r Ap
plause. I heard a very respected friend of
mine, who happened to be born surrounded
by the billows, on the Gresn Isle I heard
him say that an Irishman's son was not half
as good as an Irishman, because he was second-handed.
Laughter and applause.
Well, sir, I will admit, that perhaps the son
is not as good as the father on that account,
but we must endeavor to be as good as we j
can. I put this plain, practical argument in j
a plain way to the sons of foreigners, whether j
they are the sons of Irishmen, of irenchmenj
or of Germans, I care not whose they are, or
from what country their ancestors may have
come ; I put this question in a plain and sim
ple way to them how much better do you
think you are than your fathers ? Applause.
Why, if I," at home in Allegheny county,
were to pretend that I was or ever hoped to
Ve hali1 as good a "man ts my father, th !
people would rise up and drive me from
amongst them. ' And yet if I am i Know
Nothing I must go and say, nay, go and
swear, that I am fit to be a citizen I am fit
to hold office, but that that beloved and re
spected old gentleman, my father, was not
I ask every son of a foreigner who enters
into a Know-Nothing lodge if, as he passes
over the threshold of the door, he does not,
on taking that step, trample on tho grave of
his father, and tread in dishonor upon the
name of him from whom he derived . his ex
istence. Cheers. Let us apply to this
act some more Scripture for I confess that,
poorly as I follow it, I do like to get into a
talk about it Let us see what it promises to
those who dishonor their father. In the 5th
commandment is laid down, in the most sol
emn language that inspiration could draw it,
the command contained in the decalogue, re
newed rnd repeated in the New Testament
" Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy
days may be long in the laud which the Lord
thy God hath given thee" the first com
mandment that contains a promise, and the
only one. Applause. Now, sir, what is
converse and the opposite of this? It is
"Dishonor thy father and thy mother, ye
sons of the Star Spangled Banner,' that
your days may be short in the land which
the Lord your God hath given you great
laughter and applause and I am glad that
their days are short laughter and applause
and they themselves should, with a double
gratitude, thank Providence that their days
are short, through our means, and that they
have fallen into our hands and not into the
hands of the Almighty. Renewed laughter
and applause.
I will now pass to another instrument which
I like to dwell upon, and that is this, (point
ing to a book which he held in LL hand,)
the Constitution of the United States. Why,
sir, when I wanted to find this book, I had
only to look under the desk where I found
the Bible, and it was there too. How they
always go together I Wherever you see a
member of the Assembly or Congress who
has the Bible under his desk, jou may always
take it for granted as a certainty, that along
side of that Bible you will find the Constitu
tion. Applause. For no man who vio
lates the one can keep the other ; and no man
who keeps the one will violato the other.
Applause.
Now, sir, I undertake to say but perhaps
I trespass ?
Cries of " oh, no," and " go on." I un
dertake to say, that in this instrument, in the
farewell address of Washington,and in the
Declaration of Independence which preceded
this government, thrre is not one word that
encourages that idea called the American
idea but ?acb and all of them are in contra
diction and rebuke of it. If you begin with
the Declaration of Independence, (I will not
stop to refer to it, for you are all familiar with
it,) in that Declaration, dated the 4th day of
July, 1776, there is nothing but one spirit of
universal brotherhood, one spirit of universal
manhood, one spirit of universal and unre
strained patriotism for a new born and com
mon country. But in the Constitution, from
the first article to the last, there is no word
that encourages Know-Nothingism or. pro
scription of a man because of his birth or re
ligion, but the very reverse, and there is that
which meets and repels any such idea. Now
it is sometimes very important, in ascertaining
what is meant by an instrument, to look at
the heading with which it commences, to the
declaration of purpose contained at the be
ginning ; and let me call your attention to
this one. "We the people of the United
States," in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defence, promote the
general welfare, and . secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do or
dain and establish this Constitution." As
large, as wide, as comprehensive in its terms
and language as it is possible to make it. It
does not say the citizen it does not say the
"Natives" it does not say the men who
have resided here twenty-one years it does
not pay that a man must be dug up out of the
soil like a mud turtle. Applause. For I
heard a man good-naturedly call the Know
Nothing party the mud turtle party. -'We
the people." Who comprise the people?
Why men born here and every day coming
here from distant shores, the German, French
man and Englishman, who flees from the op
pression under which he suffers in his own
country to find a home in ours, and the Irish
man who will hunt everywhere for freedom
until he finds it Applause. All of these
were included in the ono common name of
equality, " We the people." They .iade the
Constitution. I now ask your attention to
two sections, and two alone, and before doing
so, I beg leave to say that at the adoption of
the Constitution, all other things being equal,
he having remained in the country. General
Lafayette was as eligible to the Presidency of
the United States as George Washington
That is, that the first President of the United
States might have been born in any foreign
country you please, and if other things were
equal, he was eligible to that high and honor
able seat which was first occupied by the Fath
er of his Country ; and so iu regard to the
oflSee of Senator.
There is not one word said in regard to
them beyond this : " that no person shall be
a Senator who shall not have attained the age
of thirty years, and been nine year a citizen
of the United States, and who shall, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for
which he was chosen." Now, what does this
mean ? Why it means that if a man was born
abroad, and was twentyione years of age, and
had been nine years a resident, that he could
be a Senator of the United States ; for at the
time of the adoption of the Constitution, bo
naturalization law had been passed. But it
is sufficient for my purpose to say that at tho
time of the adoption of the Constitution no
naturalization law had been passed, and thatj
IhewcTd ritiafn" meant perori? a cop:uiC'D,
whether born here or abroad. Then, what
was necessary to mako a man eligible to be a
Senator of the United States ? Why, that h
should be thirty years of age. and should b .
nine years a resident of the State for which
ho should bo chosen after he Lad attained the
age of twenty-one years. No more was re
quired under the Constitution of 1769. But
further and far more important is tho section
in regard to the President of the United'
States, which reads, that " no person, except
a native-born citizen or a citizen of the Uni
ted States at the adoption of this Constitution,
shall be eligible to the office of Piesideut, .
neither shall any person be eligible to that
office who shall not have attained the age of
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a .
resident of the United States." Now, mark
all these restrictions. " No person except a
natural born citizen, or a citizen of the Uni
ted States, at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution " Any man who was a citizen
at the time of the adoption of the Constitu
tion could be President of the United States ;
but there is a further condition required, and
that is this ; that he shall have been for four
teen years a resident of the United States.,
whether he was a native or natural born citi
zen, or whether he was an adopted citizen.
Why, this, sir? For a very good reason.
The first blood in the cause of our country
was shed in 1775. Gen. Washingtou took
command of the American army at Boston,
on the first of June, 1775, and at that time
a great many natives and a great many, for
eigners had adopted the side of the United
States, and at that time a great manv, whether
natives or foreigners, instead of adopting the
side of struggling 'veaknees, shamefully fled
their country, and lived around the Court at
London, like flies around a putrid carcass, and
there remained until after peace was declared,
or ut all events, until after eaco and Indepcn
dence were within the grasp of the country.
You will see that from 1775 to 17S0 io juat
fourteen years, the timo required that a tnaa
shall be a resident of the country, and a man
having left home because of the thick clouds
that gathered in diro and dreadful darkness
over the heads of the patriotic, was to be pre
cluded because of his cowardice and want of
love for his country, from coming in and en
joying the benefits and rights conferred npon .
other citizens when the Constitution was adopt
ed. So that you see that whilst the Consti
tution makes no distinction between men,
whether born here or abroad, yet it does make
this distinction, that those men who ran away
from the dangers that threatened our institu
tions, forfeited the most glorious and rioheet
part of its inheritanes. Applause.
Now, Mr. President, I will not atop to dis
cuss this matter further, but pass rn to anoth
er question of some interest, not omiting to say,
however, before I bid the subject farewell,
that I do hope that if there is within the sound
of my voice a single Know-Nothing son of a
foreign born father, le that fathor living or
dead, he will for the sake of his father's good
name and his own self respect turn from his
present path of shame. We open the books
for the campaign of '50. The day dawns, tb
shadows flee away ; let all that will, come.in,
and, although we will not mako them Presi
dents, we will let the worst tf them occupy
a place on this platform, the platform of our
general rights, and join with us to promote ,
the honor and interests of the country. This
one question is deeply involved in the cam
paign of 1856. I have touched it, not elab
orated it, and I will not weary you by elabo
rating it ; but bear this in mind, that this ques
tion is an important one for this campaign
and one that we will have to meet.. These
men who belong to the so-called American
party, whether it is the dark or light party ; I
do not care which bless me, how would
these glorious jets of light (pointing to the
chandeliers) that resemble the stars of heaven,
look in the cellar of a Know-Nothing Lodge t.
applause have arrayed themselves in op
position to us, and will have to bo met.
They have nominated Mr. Fillmore. He is.
called an open and shut candidate, a candi
date of the Northern American party, and it
is very clear that before long the Northern
or Black Republican portion of the party wi 1
have a separate candi-Jatc, and that other or
ganizations of the isms of the day will be at
tempted. Fusions, and unions even, may be
tried and most ' fantastic tricks" to gather
the elements of mischief, discord and divisions
into a solid mass, to be arrayed against us.
But divided or united, wo are prepared to
meet them, and under the lead of the candi
date named this day, to achieve a great and
enduring victory.
Well, then, we go into the campaign with
a full heart and high hope. And why, sir ?
because the principles that we hold near and
dear, and which have been so long highly
cherished, are all at stake ; and because we
believe that in tho struggle we shall advance
the interests of the entire country from one
extremity to the other. We go into it for
our own pakes and the sakes of those who are
to come after us. We go into it for the take
of the Constitution, for the sake of the flag of
our country all, all of those are iuvolved in
the one great struggle that the Democracy
will have to make against a common enemy.
Why do we conceive it possible that the op
position may unite? For this reason, they
have no bond of Union but one ; and what is
that bond of union ? Is it love for each other ?
No: it is a common hatred to the Democratic
party Great applause. And while every
other ijtimeiit in the heart may die, I say to
you, f-ir, thfit hatred never dies. That eri
sir, which has exibted from the fall lo the
present day in the human heart, the passion
af hate, has had no death oud ,ever found a
grave. Sometimes it sire?", but you may
rest assured that it dies- -ncvor! Why do I
say that we go into it with high Lopes? Why.
because at last tbo hopes of Pennsylvania ai e
almost realized. Applause At last we
begin to feel and see that the cential State of
the L nion has not been ostracised by the
other States that Hurround her in a bright and
glorious eonjtellAfitra Web-gin to fetl-thkt