Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1888 — THE OLD ROMAN. [ARTICLE]

THE OLD ROMAN.

Ex- Senator Thurman Formally Notified of Hu Nomination for the Vic* Presidency. He Accepts the High Honor More as a Duty Than as a Gratification of Ambition. Mr. Cleveland He Considers a Great and Good Man Who Should Be Chosen for Another Term. [Columbus (0.) special.] The members of the Democratic committee ■appointed to notify ex-Senator Allen G. Thurman of his nomination to the office of Vice President arrived in this city Thursday morning on a special train. At 1 o’clock the committee started for Judge 'Thurman’s residence, and it was announced that the meeting would be in that portion occupied by his son. The party was received in the north reception-room of Mr. A. W. Thurman’s residence, which had been bedecked with flowers and plants. Gen. .Collins and Mayor Jacobs of Louisville stationed themselves at the head of the room in front of the window, the other members of the committee, and the various gentlemen present, having arranged themselves in a semi-circle, awaited the entrance of Judge Thurman, who speedily made his appearance from the drawing-room on the south. Judge Thurman was greeted with a burst of applause as he came forward leaning on the arm of his son, Mr. A. W. Thurman. As soon as Judge Thurman had taken his seat and bowed to the gentlemen standing ready to receive him, Gen. Collins advanced and, after shaking him by the band, spoke as follows : “Judge Thurman, we bear a message from the great council of your party. It is but a formal notice of your nomination by that body for the high office of Vice President of the United States. Rich as our language is jin power and expression, it contains no word to adequately convey the sentiment of that convention as its heart went out to you. I present my friend, Hon. Charles D. Jacobs, Mayor Of Louisville.” Mr. Jacobs, who is a gentleman of exceedingly handsome appearance, stepped forward, and in an earnest voice read the following formal letter of notification: “ Columbus, 0., June 28,1888. ■“To Hon. Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio: “Sir—lt has become the highly agreeable duty of this committee to inform you that upon the first ballot of the National Democratic Convention, held recently in the city of St. Louis, and representing every State and Territory of our Union, for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, you were unanimously chosen as the nominee of that great party for the eminent and responsible office of Vice President of the United States. In thusl spontaneously and emphatically demanding a return to that political arena which you graced with so much wisdom, dignity, and vigor, the Democracy of this country have honored themselves by relieving their party from the charge of ingratitude, and we believe that in November next the people will off ice such a taint from the republic by electing you to preside over the most august deliberative body in the world —the Senate of the United States. [Applause.] Should so desirable a consummation be achieved, then, indeed, could every lover of his country, regardless of partv or creed, rejoice that in you is embraced the highest type of the enlightened and refined American citizen, and that, no matter what the crisis might be, this Government would be safe in your hands. [Applause.] “An engrossed copy of the platform of principles, couched in language that admits of no doubt and adopted without a dessenting vote, is herewith presented. In discharging their trust this committee desire to convey to you assurances of the most profound esteem and admiration, and to express their sincerest good wishes for your happiuess and prosperity. ” (The letter was signed by the entire committee.) Judge Thurman replied as follows: “Mb. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: I pray you to accent my very sincere thanks for the kind and courteous manuer in which you have communicated to me he official iulormatiou o my nomination b the St. Louis convention. You know without my saying it that I am profoundly grateful to the convention and to the Demo:ratic party lor he honor conferred upon me a d the more so that it was who ly unsought and undesired by me—not that I un erva ued a distinction which any man of our part y, however eminent, migh highly prize, but simply because I had ceased to be ambitious of public life. But when I am told in so earnest and impressive a manner that I can still render service to Ihe good cause to which I have ever been devoted—a cause to which lam bound by the ties of affection, by the dictates of judgment, by a sense of obligation for favors so often conferred upon me, and by a fervent hope that the party may long continue to be able to serve the republic, what can I, under such circumstances, do but yield my private wishes to the demand of those whose opinion I am bound to respect? [Applause.] “Gentlemen, with an unfeigned diffidence in my ability to fulfill the expectations that led to my nomination, I yet feel it to be my duty to accept it, and do all that it may be in my power to merit so marked a distinction. “Gentlemen, the country is blessed by an able and honest administration of the General Government. [Applause.] We have a President who wisely, bravely, diligently, and patriotically discharges the duties of his high office. [Applause.] I fully believe that the best interests of the country require his re-election, aud the hope that I may be able to contribute somewhat to bring about the result is one of my motives for accepting a place on our ticket, and I also feel it my duty to labor for a reduction of taxes and to put a stop to that accumulation of a. surplus in the Treasury that, in my judgment, is not only prejudicial to our financial welfare but is, in a high degree, dangerous to honest and constitutional government. [Applause.] “I suppose, gentlemen, that I need say no more to-day. In due time and in accordance with established usage I will transmit to your chairman a written acceptance of my nomination, with such observations upon public questions as may seem to me to be proper." [Applause.] A reception and elegant collation then followed. Every one remarked that Judge Thurman appeared so vigorous and earnest, and old friends say that they have not seen him so vivacious and happy for months. It was a grand sight to see the old Roman surrounded by hiß admirers, and nothing would satisfy the committee but that a photographer should take a group picture of the gathering, which was done, and the committee then departed.