Page:Speeches of Carl Schurz (IA speechesofcarlsc00schu).pdf/121

Rh delegates from other States stood together to the last. Thus was this debt of honor discharged; we considered it honestly due, and it was honestly paid. [Great applause.]

I need hardly say, sir, that when the motion was made to make Mr. Lincoln's nomination unanimous, we seconded it without any sacrifice of feeling, and, when it was carried, we heartily joined in the general enthusiasm. [Cheers.] We had not gone there, to have our candidate nominated, or none; but with the loyal intention to subordinate our individual judgment to the judgment of the majority, provided the Convention asked of us nothing inconsistent with our consciences as anti-slavery men and the dignity of the Republican cause [cheers]; and I do not hesitate to say that, if Governor Seward had not been in the field, Mr. Lincoln, unless I mistake the temper of our people, would, in all probability, have been the first choice of Wisconsin. Although governor Seward failed, Mr. Lincoln's nomination nailed the good old Republican banner to the mast as boldly and defiantly as ever. [Prolonged applause.]

Mr. President, I had the honor to be a member of that committee who were to carry to Mr. Lincoln the official announcement of his nomination. The enthusiasm with which we were received at Springfield was boundless. There we saw Mr. Lincoln's neighbors, and it became at once apparent that those who knew him best, loved and esteemed him most. [Cheers.] And then I saw Mr. Lincoln again; for I had met him before in that memorable Senatorial campaign in Illinois, when he, as a man of true and profound convictions, although discountenanced and discouraged by many leading Republicans, who thought it good policy to let Mr. Douglas return to the Senate without opposition, threw himself forward for the imperiled purity of our principles, grasped with a bold hand the Republican banner, which was in danger of sinking