Within an hour he grew to be illustrious.
It would be a pretension, which we do not mean to put forward, to assert
that, whether considering the length and amount of his public services,
or his prominence before the country, General Pierce stood on equal
ground with several of the distinguished men whose claims, to use the
customary phrase, had been rejected in favor of his own. But no man, be
his public services or sacrifices what they might, ever did or ever could
possess, in the slightest degree, what we may term a legitimate claim to
be elevated to the rulership of a free people. The nation would degrade
itself, and violate every principle upon which its institutions are
founded, by offering its majestic obedience to one of its citizens as a
reward for whatever splendor of achievement. The conqueror may assert a
claim, such as it is, to the sovereignty of the people whom he
subjugates; but, with us Americans, when a statesman comes to the chief
direction of affairs, it is at the summons of the nation, addressed to
the servant whom it deems best fitted to spend his wisdom, his strength,
and his life in its behalf. On this principle, which is obviously the
correct one, a candidate's previous services are entitled to
consideration only as they indicate the qualities which may enable him to
render higher services in the position which his countrymen choose that
he shall occupy.
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