neighbors, to pray that I may have that Divine assistance, without
which I can not succeed, and with which I can not fail." In that
spirit I ask you to deal with me. If it shall be the will of the
people that this nomination shall be ratified, I know I shall have
your good wishes and your prayers. If, on the other hand, it shall
be the will of the people that another shall assume these great
responsibilities, let us see to it that we who shall oppose him
give him a fair trial.

My friends, I thank you for the interest you have taken in this
reception, and that you have laid aside partisan feeling. There has
been too much bitterness on such occasions in our land. Let us see
to it that abuse and vituperation of the candidate that shall be
named at St. Louis do not proceed from our lips. Let us, in this
centennial year, as we enter upon this second century of our
existence, set an example of what a free and intelligent people can
do. There is gathered at Philadelphia an assemblage representing
nearly all the Nations of the world, with their arts and
manufactures. We have invited competition, and they have come to
compete with us, and with each other. We find that America stands
well with the works of the world, as there exhibited. Let us show,
in electing a chief magistrate of the Nation--the officer that is
to be the first of forty or forty-five millions--let us show all
those who visit us how the American people can conduct themselves
through a canvass of this kind. If it shall be in the spirit in
which we have met to-night, if it shall be that justness and
fairness shall be in all the discussions, it will commend free
institutions to the world in a way which they have never been
commended before.

Well, friends, I am detaining you too long. Therefore I close what
I have to say by expressing the feelings of gratitude entertained
by myself and family for the kindness and regard shown us by the
people of Fremont.

About the middle of the war, General Sherman lost a boy, named
after himself, aged about thirteen years. He supposed that he
belonged to the Thirteenth Infantry, and when they went out to
drill and dress parade, he dressed in the dress of a sergeant and
marched with them. But he sickened and died. The regiment gathered
about hi