"Gentlemen of the Convention, your present temper may not
mark the healthful pulse of our people. When your enthusiasm
has passed, when the emotions of the hour have subsided, we
shall find below this storm and passion that calm level of
public opinion from which the thoughts of a mighty people
are to be measured, and by which their final action will be
determined.
"Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteen thousand
men and women are gathered, is the destiny of the Republic
to be decreed for the next four years--not here, where I see
the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred and fifty-six delegates,
waiting to cast their lot into the urn and determine the choice
of the Republic; but by four millions of Republican firesides,
where the thoughtful voters, with wives and children about
them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and
country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the future,
and reverence for the great men who have adorned and blessed
our nation in days gone by, burning in their hearts--_there_
God prepares the verdict which will determine the wisdom of
our work to-night.
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