sentiment which might lead us to some errors of judgment and some errors of action; but I, for one, believe that that danger is passed.  I never doubted that the danger was exaggerated, because I had learned long ago, and many of you will corroborate me by your experience, that it is not the men who are doing the talking always who represent the real sentiments of the Nation.  I for my part always feel a serene confidence in waiting for the declaration of the principles and sentiments of the men who are not vociferous, do not go about seeking to make trouble, do their own thinking, attend to their own business, and love their own country.

I have at no time supposed that the men whose voices seemed to contain the threat of division amongst us were really uttering the sentiments even of those whom they pretended to represent.  I for my part have no jealousy of family sentiment.  I have no jealousy of that deep affection which runs back through long lineage.  It would be a pity if we forget the fine things that our ancestors have done.  But I also know the magic of America; I also know the great principles which thrill men in the singular body politic to which we belong in the United States.  I know the impulses which have drawn men to our shores.  They have not come idly; they have not come without conscious purpose to be free; they have not come without voluntary desire to unite themselves with the great nation on this side of the sea; and I know that whenever the test comes every man’s heart will be first for America.  It was principle and affection and ambition and hope that drew men to these shores, and they are not going to forget the errand upon which they came and allow America, the home of their refuge and hope, to suffer by any forgetfulness on their part.  And so the trouble makers have shot their bolt, and it has been ineffectual.  Some of them have been vociferous; all of them have been exceedingly irresponsible.  Talk was cheap, and that was all it cost them.  They did not have to do anything.  But you will know without my telling you that the man whom for the time being you have charged with the duties of President of the United States must talk with a deep sense of responsibility, and he must remember, above all things else, the fine traditions of his office which some men seem to have forgotten.  There is no precedent in American history for any action of aggression on the part of the United States or for any action which might mean that America is seeking to connect herself with the controversies on the other side of the water.  Men who seek to provoke us to such action have forgotten the traditions of the United States, but it behooves those with whom you have entrusted office to remember the traditions of the United States and to see to it that the actions of the Government are made to square with those traditions.