July 17

Table Rock, NE

Omaha World-Herald (Morning Edition), Omaha, NE, 18 July, 1896.

"Ladies and Gentlemen: I hardly know what to say, I supposed that when I came to Nebraska I would be met by some enthusiastic friends who have been loyal during years past, and by some that have been endeared by ties of personal friendship. But I hardly expected from Rulo, where we entered the state, to this point such continued manifestations of your affection. I came to Nebraska a young man knowing none of you, and I cannot complain of what Nebraska has done for me. If I have been able to do for Nebraska some part of what she has done for me, I have done a great deal. I owe to these people what there has been of my public life. Although I have been made the nominee, I come back just as I came nine years ago—a private citizen who will vie with you, in public as in private, in doing what seems best for the glory of the country and the welfare of our people. If I should talk until the end of the campaign, if I were able to speak all the languages of the world, all the tongues of Christendom, I should not be able to express how I thank you from my heart for your kindly feelings manifested, and for what you have done for me. My highest ambition is to so live that those who have put their trust in me will never have cause to regret it." (Cheers.)