tional surrender of their hostility, and return to their first allegiance to the Constitution and Laws of the United States, and that we call upon the Government to maintain this position, and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrifices, the patriotism, heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to the country and its free institutions.

RESOLVED, That as slavery was the cause and now constitutes the strength of this rebellion, and as it must be, always and everywhere, hostile to the principle of republican government, justice and the National safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic; and that we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Government, in its own defense, has aimed a death blow at the gigantic evil. We are in favor furthermore of such amendment to the Constitution to be made by the people, in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or jurisdiction of the United States.

RESOLVED, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the Army and Navy who have periled their lives in defense of their country and in vindication of the honor of the flag; that the nation Owes to them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of their survivors who have recently received disabling and honorable wounds in the service of the country, and that the memory of those who had fallen in its defense shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance.

RESOLVED, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and the principles of American liberty, with which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the Presidential office; that we approve and endorse as demanded by the emergency, and essential to the preservation of the Nation, and as within the Constitution, the measures and acts which he has adopted to defend the Nation against its open and secret foes; that we approve, especially, the Proclamation of Emancipation, and the employment as Union soldiers of men heretofore held in slavery; and that we have full confidence in his determination to carry these and all other Constitutional measures, essential to the salvation of the country, into full and complete effect.

RESOLVED, That we deem it essential to the general welfare that harmony should prevail in the National councils, and we regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust, those only who cordially endorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the Government.

RESOLVED, That the Government owes to all men employed in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protec

tion of the laws of war, and that any violation of these laws, or of the usages of civilized nations in the time of war by the rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of full and prompt redress.

RESOLVED, That the foreign emigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth and development of resources and increase of power to this Nation-the asylum of the oppressed of all nations should be fostered and encouraged by a wise and just policy. RESOLVED, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific.

RESOLVED, That the National faith pledged for redemption of the National debt must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditure, and a vigorous and just system of taxation; and that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the credit and promote the use of the National currency.

RESOLVED, That we approve the position taken by the Government, that the people of the United States can never regard with indifference the attempt of any European power to overthrow by force, or to supplant by fraud, the institution of any republican government on the Western Continent, and that we view with great jealousy as menacing to the peace and independence of this, our country, the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for monarchial governments, sustained by a foreign military force, in near proximity to the United States.

A

This

The nomination for President was attended with but little excitement, as it was a foregone conclusion. A motion of Simon Cameron's that Abraham Lincoln be renominated for President, and Hannibal Hamlin for Vice-President, by acclamation, was quietly tabled. motion that Mr. Lincoln be renominated by acclamation was objected to, on the ground that it had too much the appearance of rushing the nomination through, without giving opportunity for individual choice, and it was therefore ordered that the roll of states be called. was done without excitement, and with but very few remarks in announcing the votes of the states. The result was 484 votes for Abraham Lincoln and 22 for Ulysses S. Grant, the latter being the instructed vote of the Missouri delegation. Mr. Hume, of Missouri, then announced that the delegation from that state changed their vote to Lincoln. The Secretaries announced that the vote was unanimous, 506 votes for Abraham Lincoln, and the Convention received the announcement with vociferous applause, as the band struck up "Yankee Doodle” and “Hail Columbia.”

The nomination for Vice-President was attended with much more interest. Vice-President Hamlin had not been counted among Mr. Lincoln's earnest supporters, and the relations between them were

neither intimate, nor especially friendly. Besides that, Mr. Lincoln had become convinced that it would be good policy to nominate a War Democrat for the second place on the ticket. His first choice was General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, but Butler positively refused to be a candidate. He then began quietly to exert his influence in favor of Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee. As things appeared then, Johnson had much to recommend him, and he had not yet exhibited those traits which afterwards rendered him obnoxious to the people of the North. He was of humble origin, and was indebted

to his wife for the first rudiments of his book education. Yet by the force and energy of his character he had risen, through various positions, to that of United States Senator, in which position he had stood manfully for the Union, though living in a State that had seceded. As Provisional Governor of Tennessee, he had shown boldness and vigor. His assessment of rich secessionists to support the des titute families of Confederate soldiers, though an arbitrary act, had a grim justice

about it that was approved by the people, while his vigorous treatment of rebel sympathizers in 1862-3, his ready acceptance of the emancipation policy-these all tended to inspire Lincoln and the Northern people generally with confidence in him.

With all these things in his favor, however, Lincoln well understood that it would not answer for him to work openly against Hamlin, nor to favor too strongly any candidate. He was a good deal of a politician before he went to Washington, and associations and antagonisms with such trained politicians as Seward, Chase and

Cameron, had not dulled his political wits. He took his most intimate political friends into his confidence, one at a time, without telling one what he had said to another, but in each case urging the advisability of Johnson's nomination. There was no organization in Johnson's favor, no general conference in promotion of his candidacy, yet when the Convention met it had come, somehow, to be well understood that the President desired Johnson as his associate on the ticket and it was this understanding that gave him the nomination. The ballot for a candidate for Vice-President, as first footed up, stood as follows:

Before there was opportunity to announce the result different states rapidly changed to Johnson, until his vote counted 494, to 17 for Dickinson, 9 for Hamlin, and 1 for David Tod, of Ohio. The nomination was then made unanimous, a National Committee was appointed, of which Marsh Giddings was the Michigan member, a little routine business was transacted and the Convention adjourned. Hamlin did not learn till quarter of a century afterwards that Lincoln had secretly opposed his renomination. "I was really sorry to be disabused," he said in 1889.

XII.

THE LINCOLN AND JOHNSON CAMPAIGN.

Changing Prospects of the Campaign-The Democrats Give the Republicans Valuable Aid-They Put a War General on a Peace Platform-The War-is-a-Failure Utterance Reacts Against Them -Union Victories Help the Republican Cause-McClellan Virtually Repudiates the the Platform, and This Causes Great Dissatisfaction-Vallandigham, and His Grievances-Peace Negotiations-The September and October Elections FavorableA Sweeping Republican Triumph.

The prospect of Republican success fluctuated with the varying fortunes of war. Grant had lost the battle of Cold Harbor a short time before the Baltimore Convention was held, but the full effects of that disaster were not yet felt, and the prospects were considered good. But the heavy losses in that battle, as they were afterwards reported; the prospect that it would take many months of hard fighting before Lee's army could be forced to surrender; the failure of Sheridan to unite with Hunter in Lee's rear; Hunter's failure to capture Lynchburg and his disastrous retreat; Early's bold dash across the Potomac; the burning of Chambersburg; the mine explosion at Petersburg, and demonstrations near Washington and Baltimorethese, following each other in quick succession, served to demoralize the Republicans, and to produce a feeling of deep despondency.

The Democrats, however, gave them great encouragement by their action at the National Convention held in Chicago, August 29. The make-up of the Convention was such as to repel any Peace Republicans who might be inclined to bolt the Lincoln ticket. It contained, among others, William W. Eaton, of Connecticut, who said in 1861: "If the Massachusetts troops attempt to cross the sacred soil of Connecticut, to coerce our Southern brethren, they will go over my dead body," but his body wasn't there when the Massachusetts regiments passed through Hartford. It included Governor Horatio Seymour, who, during the draft riots in New York City in 1863, had addressed the rioters as "my friends," and who, instead of using his authority