PART III. Chapter III.

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President Lincoln himself was not deceived, however gratified he might have been with such successes as had been first gained, as to the desperation with which the military campaigns of this season were to be contested. His customary moderation of tone, and his habitual confidence in the cause, appear in the following speech in response to a serenade, on the night of May 9th, after the Wilderness battles:

FELLOW-CITIZENS: I arn very much obliged to you for the compliment of this call, though I apprehend it is owing more to the good news received today from the army than to a desire to see me. I am, indeed, very grateful to the brave men who have been struggling with the enemy in the field, to their noble commanders who have directed them, and especially to our Maker. Our commanders are following up their victories resolutely and successfully. I think, without knowing the particulars of the plans of Gen. Grant, that what has been accomplished is of more importance than at first appears. I believe I know (and am especially grateful to know), that Gen. Grant has not been jostled in his purposes; that he has made all his points ; and today he is on his line, as he purposed before he moved his armies. I will volunteer to say that I am very glad at what has happened; but there is a great deal still to be done. While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory.

There is enough yet before us requiring all loyal men and patriots to perform their share of the labor and follow the example of the modest General at the head of our armies, and sink all personal considerations for the sake of the country. I commend you to keep yourselves in the same tranquil mood that is characteristic of that brave and loyal man. I have said more than I expected when I came before you; repeating my thanks for this call, I bid you good bye. [Cheers.]

A month later, the public heart was less exultant. The war had dragged wearily on, to a great extent disappointing the popular hope. The "short, sharp, decisive" battles once promised were found to be partly too real, partly illusive. An almost unlimited vista of bloodshed and devastation still opened

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It may, indeed, be affirmed that there was a vantage -ground in the possession of the chief executive power and its patronage; but never, probably, were officers of the Government so closely and exclusively occupied with their immediate duties, or so little attentive to any supposed interest in the succession. Scarcely any one of them certainly took an active part in any organized efforts to influence the Presidential nomination, except in behalf of other candidates. Thus, whatever personal adherents were gained by the possession of the Presidential office, must have been more than counterbalanced by the inevitable alienations resulting from the disappointment of expectants, and by the adverse efforts of many in place.

Mr. Lincoln had, further, the disadvantage of an active and perhaps increasing party in Congress, from whom he might at least have expected a partisan support, who manifested on all occasions a zealous personal opposition. To such an extent was this opposition carried, in fact, now upon one ground and now upon another, that it was even doubtful whether, in the Spring of 1864, a majority of either branch of Congress could be relied on for the support of distinctively Administration measures, A " Radical" movement was organized, with its central club In Washington and an extensive correspondence throughout the country, with the earnest purpose of bringing forward a leading member of the Cabinet as the next Presidential candidate. Whatever thorough organization and energetic political management could do to bring forward a new man, under the "Radical " party cry, was done. And after the refusal of the Secretary of the Treasury to allow a further use of his name as a rallying point, there was still a resolute remnant who joined their

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A proper devotion to "the truth of history" would seem to require an effort to understand the exact meaning of this "Radical" movement, and the justice of its opposition to Mr. Lincoln. For this end, it will be necessary to go backward a little, to consider the state of affairs in Missouri, out of which this division arose, and in Louisiana, where further material was furnished to the growing flame.

The early policy of the Administration in regard to the restoration of loyal State Governments, in place of those in complicity with the rebellion, received the explicit sanction of Congress and the people, as illustrated in the case of Virginia, in 1861. It was held that the loyal people of that State, in disowning the authority of officers in rebellion, and in establishing, through a State Convention, a new government, at the head of which was Gov. Pierpoint, were to be sustained by the United States, under the guarantees of the Constitution. Practically, it mattered little as to the relative numbers of the loyal and disloyal in any State thus to be rescued from treasonable sway. It was only expedient that the numbers, in general terms, should be such as to justify the attempt to maintain their ascendency, with such aids as could be reasonably given by the National Government. The disloyal inhabitants, having forfeited their rights as citizens by joining the rebellion, were not entitled to be regarded, in reconstituting loyal State governments. Their pleasure was not to be consulted. The fact that they might be a majority, abated nothing from the rights of a loyal minority to be sustained in organizing a legitimate government. The carrying out of this principle —so obvious that at the outset it was scarcely controverted, except by undisguised traitors— led to the emphatic recognition of the government established at Wheeling in 1861, in the name of the whole State of Virginia. A National force was sent into Western Virginia, to prevent the armed intervention of the Rebel Government to defeat this purpose. The Pierpoint Government was distinctly recognized by every branch of the

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In Missouri, no pretense of secession had been consummated. The people represented in State convention, had distinctly refused to join hands with the traitors of South Carolina and Mississippi. Yet the Governor of Missouri, defying the loyal majority of the people of that State, openly levied war against the National Government, and endeavored to coerce his State into the movement, which its people had emphatically repudiated. Gov. Jackson's organized forces were captured or driven out, and he himself ere long fled from the State, leaving no loyal successor entitled to assume his functions. The State Convention, whose loyalty had already been demonstrated, reorganized the State Government, with Gov. Gamble at its head. This Government, too —and the principle of its establishment was the same, though the circumstances differed, as that applied in the case of Virginia —was recognized at Washington, and the State fully represented in Congress. In both States, a system of emancipation had been adopted, which was nominally gradual, instead of being unconditional and immediate. This action was originated by the people of those States, not forced upon them by the National Government. Unhappily, Gen. Fremont, during his brief military administration in Missouri, had been less successful in restoring order than had Gen. Rosecrans in Western Virginia. Fremont had been appointed a Major-General among the very first after the outbreak of war, by Mr. Lincoln, of his own motion, with only the support and approval, as may now, without impropriety, be stated, of a single Cabinet officer, Mr. Blair. This former Republican stand-

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When Gen. Fremont was subsequently relieved from his command in Missouri, during which, by his misfortune or other-wise, disorder and commotion had been but too prevalent, and the Rebel army under Jackson and Price, had gathered strength, the Blairs were known to have cast their influence against him, while Judge Bates, in the Cabinet, and Gov. Gamble, at home, were also held responsible as advisers of the change. The name of Fremont, which was identified with

* Given at length on pp. 278-9 ante.
t Ante, p. 280.

537/p> the Republican organization in the canvass of 1856, had become, in the minds of many, a symbol of a sacred cause. When he was displaced from his command in Missouri, it was easy to associate this action with causes on which it never, in the remotest degree, depended. The true reasons were strictly military and administrative; the fancied ones were political. The act itself, which few can have recently doubted to be wise, may have hastened a party division. Missouri " Radicalism " desired to deal promptly and finally with slavery, and organized for that end at home, in the exercise of the prerogative of " popular sovereignty." The State Convention, loyal but "conservative," adopted a more quiet and gradual process of disposing of the great evil. Perhaps something too much of personal feeling entered into the hostility toward the late Gov, Gamble. Certain it is, that Att'y.-Gen. Bates —years before a practical emancipationist, while one of his leading " Radical" enemies was actually enriching himself by the slave-trade —was either greatly misjudged, or wantonly maligned. The "Conservative" party had the disadvantage in reputation, whatever the gain in votes, of attracting to its support many of those whose loyalty was doubtful, or whose treason was indisputable. Yet the masses of the two parties really differed less in principle than in personal feeling The attempt to expand this local strife into a National division of parties appears to have been thought of by no one, until a comparatively late day. To Mr. Lincoln, the feud was one too deeply regretted for either side to gain his confidence. He thought both should adhere to the Government against its enemies, their own as well, and settle their disagreements, when both so nearly meant the same thing —personalities excepted.

Precisely how Mr. Lincoln regarded this matter, may best be shown by his own words, addressed to Gen. Schofield when the quarrel was still local, ere the plan of National diffusion had been invented:

EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, May 27, 1863.
Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD— Dear Sir: Having removed Gen. Curtis, and assigned you to the command of the Department of

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The two concluding sentences of this characteristic letter afford a key to the course of Mr. Lincoln himself, in dealing with a difficulty to him so unpleasant, until partly as a result of his policy, affairs assumed a more satisfactory phase.

In the Autumn of 1863, a committee representing the "Radical" wing in Missouri, waited on President Lincoln to urge the removal of Gen. Schofield, who, whether justly or not, seemed to have become as much the special object of attack as a "Conservative," as had Gen. Curtis for his identification with the opposite side. The letter addressed to Gen. Schofield, on the 1st of October, the day after the formal petition of this committee had been presented, shows the attitude in which that officer now stood in the eyes of President Lincoln, and the policy of the latter, as exhibited in his communications with the one whom the "Radicals" were now chiefly opposing. The letter is as follows:

EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, D. C., October 1, 1863.
Gen. JOHN M. SCHOFIELD: There is no organized military force in avowed opposition to the General Government now in

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Under your recent order, which I have approved, you will only arrest individuals, and suppress assemblies or newspapers, when they may be working palpable injury to the military in your charge; and in no other case will you interfere with the expression of opinion in any form, or allow it to be interfered with violently by others. In this you have a discretion to exercise with great caution, calmness and forbearance.

With the matter of removing the inhabitants of certain counties en masse, and of removing certain individuals from time to time, who are supposed to be mischievous, I am not now interfering, but am leaving it to your own discretion.

Nor am I interfering with what may still seem to you to be necessary restrictions upon trade and intercourse. I think proper, however, to enjoin upon you the following: Allow no part of the military under your command to be engaged in either returning fugitive slaves, or in forcing or enticing slaves from their homes; and, so far as practicable, enforce the same forbearance upon the people.

Report to me your opinion upon the availability for good of the enrolled militia of the State. Allow no one to enlist colored troops, except upon orders from you, or from here through you.

Allow no one to assume the functions of confiscating property, under the law of Congress, or otherwise, except upon orders from here.

At elections, see that those, and only those, are allowed to vote, who are entitled to do so by the laws of Missouri, including as of those laws the restrictions laid by the Missouri Convention upon those who may have participated in the rebellion.

So far as practicable, you will, by means of your military force, expel guerrillas, marauders, and murderers, and all who are known to harbor, aid, or abet them. But, in like manner, you will repress assumptions of unauthorized individuals to perform the same service, because, under, pretense of doing this, they become marauders and murderers themselves.

To now restore peace, let the military obey orders; and those

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In this letter of instructions, an attempt was made to insure practical remedies for all the evils camplained of that seemed to have a substantial ground, yet without the removal of Gen. Schofield as asked. In other words, it was the aim to cure real grievances, without granting the complainants a merely personal triumph. To the latter party he replied more at length, and his words are worthy of careful reading, as showing, better than any other language can do, Mr. Lincoln's actual opinions and policy regarding the matters at issue. The letter is in these words:

EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, October 5, 1863.

Hon. CHAS. D, DRAKE and others, Committee —Gentlemen: Your original address, presented on the 30th ult., and the four supplementary ones presented on the 3d inst., have been carefully considered. I hope you will regard the other duties claiming my attention, together with the great length and importance of these documents, as constituting a sufficient apology for my not having responded sooner.
These papers, framed for a common object, consist of the things demanded, and the reasons for demanding them. The things demanded are:

1st. That Gen. Schofield shall be relieved, and Gen. Butler be appointed as Commander of the Military Department of Missouri;

2d. That the system of enrolled militia in Missouri may be broken up, and National forces be substituted for it; and

3d. That at elections persons may not be allowed to vote who are not entitled by law to do so.

Among the reasons given, enough of suffering and wrong to Union men, is certainly, and I suppose truly stated. Yet the whole case, as presented, fails to convince me that Gen. Schofield, or the enrolled militia, is responsible for that suffering and wrong. The whole can be explained on a more charitable, and, as I think, a more rational hypothesis. We are in a civil war. In such cases there always is a main question; but in this case that question is a perplexing compound —Union and Slavery. It thus becomes a question not

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Among these, again, is a subdivision of those who are for gradual, but not for immediate, and those who are for immediate, but not for gradual extinction of slavery.

It is easy to conceive that all these shades of opinion, and even more, may be sincerely entertained by honest and truthful men. Yet, all being for the Union, by reason of these dif-ferences, each will prefer a different way of sustaining the Union. At once, sincerity is questioned, and motives are assailed. Actual war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is spilled. Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. Deception breeds and thrives. Confidence dies, and universal suspicion reigns. Bach man feels an impulse to kill his neighbor, lest he be killed by him. Revenge and retaliation follow. And all this, as before said, may be among honest men only. But this is not all. Every foul bird comes abroad, and every dirty reptile rises up. These add crime to confusion. Strong measures deemed indispensable, but harsh at best, such men make worse by maladministration. Murders for old grudges, and murders for pelf, proceed under any cloak that will best serve for the occasion.

These causes amply account for what has occurred in Missouri, without ascribing it to the weakness or wickedness of any general. The newspaper files, those chroniclers of current events, will show that the evils now complained of, were quite as prevalent under Fremont, Hunter, Halleck, and Curtis, as under Schofield. If the former had greater force opposed to them, they also had greater force with which to meet it. When the organized rebel army left the State, the main Federal force had to go also, leaving the Department Commander at home, relatively no stronger than before. Without disparaging any, I afiirm with confidence, that no Commander of that Department has, in proportion to his means, done better than Gen. Schofield.

The first specific charge against Gen. Schofield is, that the enrolled militia was placed under his command, whereas it had not been placed under the command of Gen. Curtis. The fact is, I believe, true; but you do not point out, nor can I conceive how that did, or could, injure loyal men or the Union cause.

You charge that Gen. Curtis being, superseded by Gen.

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To restrain contraband intelligence and trade, a system of searches, seizures, permits and passes, had been introduced, I think, by Gen. Fremont, When Gen. Halleck came, he found and continued the system, and added an order, applicable to some parts of the State, to levy and collect contributions from noted rebels, to compensate losses, and relieve destitution caused by the rebellion. The action of Gen. Fremont and Gen. Halleck, as stated, constituted a sort of system which Gen. Curtis found in full operation when he took command of the department. That there was a necessity for something of the sort was clear; but that it could only be justified by stern necessity, and that it was liable to great abuse in administration, was equally clear. Agents to execute it, contrary to the great prayer, were led into temptation. Some might, while others would not resist that temptation. It was not possible to hold any to a very strict accountability; and those yielding to the temptation, would sell permits and passes to those who would pay most, and most readily for them ; and would seize property and collect levies in the aptest way to fill their own pockets. Money being the object, the man having money, whether loyal or disloyal, would be a victim. This practice, doubtless, existed to some extent, and it was a real additional evil, that it could be, and was plausibly charged to exist in greater extent than it did.

When Gen. Curtis took command of the department, Mr. Dick, against whom I never knew any thing to allege, had gen-eral charge of this system. A controversy in regard to it rapidly grew into almost unmanageable proportions. One side ignored the necessity and magnified the evils of the system, while the other ignored the evils and magnified the necessity; and each bitterly assailed the other. I could not fail to see that the controversy enlarged in the same proportion as the professed Union men there distinctly took sides in two opposing political parties. I exhausted my wits, and very nearly my patience also, in efforts to convince both that the evils they charged on each other were inherent in the case, and could not be cured by giving either party a victory over the other.

Plainly, the irritating system was not to be perpetual ; and it was plausibly urged that it could be modified at once with advantage. The case could scarcely be worse, and whether it

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I gave the new commander no instructions as to the administration of the system mentioned, beyond what is contained in the private letter afterward surreptitiously published, in which I directd him to act solely for the public good, and independently of both parties. Neither any thing you have presented me, nor any thing I have otherwise learned, has convinced me that he has been unfaithful to this charge.

Imbecility is urged as one cause for removing Gen. Schofield, and the late massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, is pressed as evidence of that imbecility. To my mind, that fact scarcely tends to prove the proposition. That massacre is only an example of what Grierson, John Morgan, and many others, might have repeatedly done on their respective raids, had they chosen to incur the personal hazard, and possessed the fiendish hearts to do it.

The charge is made that Gen. Schofield, on purpose to protect the Lawrence murderers, would not allow them to be pursued into Missouri. While no punishment could be too sudden or too severe for those murderers, I am well satisfied that the preventing of the threatened remedial raid into Missouri was the only way to avoid an indiscriminate massacre there, including probably more innocent than guilty. Instead of condemn-ing, I therefore approve what I understand Gen. Schofield did in that respect.

The charge that Gen. Schofield has purposely withheld protection from loyal people, and purposely facilitated the objects of the disloyal, are altogether beyond my power of belief. I do not arraign the veracity of gentlemen as to the facts complained of; but I do more than question the judgment which would infer that these facts occurred in accordance with the purposes of Gen. Schofield.

With my present views, I must decline to remove Gen. Schofield. In this I decide nothing against Gen. Butler. I sincerely wish it were convenient to assign him a suitable command.

In order to meet some existing evils, I have addressed a letter of instruction to Gen. Schofield, a copy of which I inclose to you. As to the "Enrolled Militia," I shall endeavor to ascer-

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Few things have been so grateful to my anxious feelings, as when in June last, the local force in Missouri aided General Schofield to so promptly send a large general force to the relief of Gen. Grant, then investing Vicksburg, and menaced from without by Gen. Johnston. Was this all wrong? Should the Enrolled Militia then have been broken up, and Gen. Heron kept from Grant, to police Missouri? So far from find-ing cause to object, I confess to a sympathy for whatever relieves our general force in Missouri, and allows it to serve elsewhere.

I therefore, as at present advised, can not attempt the de-struction of the Enrolled Militia of Missouri. I may add, that the force being under the National military control, it is also within the proclamation with regard to the habeas corpus.

I concur in the propriety of your request in regard to elec-tions, and have, as you see, directed Gen. Schofield accordingly. I do not feel justified to enter upon the broad field you present in regard to the political differences betwen Radicals and Conservatives. From time to time I have done and said what appeared to me proper to do and say. The public knows it well. It obliges nobody to follow me, and I trust it obliges me to follow nobody. The Radicals and Conservatives each agree with me in some things and disagree in others. I could wish both to agree with me in all things; for then they would agree with each other, and would be too strong for any foe from any quarter. They, however, choose to do otherwise, and I do not question their right. I, too, shall do what seems to be my duty. I hold whoever commands in Missouri, or elsewhere, responsible to me, and not to either Radicals or Conservatives. It is my duty to hear all; but at last I must, within my sphere, judge what to do and what to forbear.

How any Chief Magistrate, consistently with duty, to say nothing of the dignity becoming his office, could make himself a partisan of either side in a petty local conflict, mainly personal in its origin, or what more befitting attitude could have

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The condition of affairs in Louisiana, on the capture of New Orleans, in 1862, had been materially different from that in Virginia and Missouri. The restoration of order seemed to require a temporary pupilage under a military governor. The proportion of loyal inhabitants was not such as to justify, in the opinion of the Government, an immediate attempt to restore civil authority in the State. So large a portion of its territory was yet in disloyal hands, and so small a number of its people of tested fidelity as to require the continued presence of armies and the prolonged ascendency of military jurisdiction. Even then, however, the popular branch of Congress had generously recognized and admitted Representatives from two of the districts of Louisiana. In due time, the state of affairs had so changed that the formation of a loyal civil gov-ernment, repudiating slavery, as well as all the acts consequent upon pretended secession, was favored by the National Government, and by the military commander, Gen. Banks, under directions from President Lincoln.

Tennessee had early been placed under a military governor, in the person of Gen. Andrew Johnson, who had resigned his seat in the Senate, and accepted a military commission, in order the better to further the great work of redeeming his State and

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The national Executive was ready to extend his cordial support to the movements thus diversely organized, according to the circumstances, in these three States, as he had done to those in Virginia and Missouri. All were proceeding on the same substantial principle, yet Congress, through the opposition of a sufficient number of Republican Union members to break the Administration majority, turned back from its former pol-icy, and disappointed the hopes which the President, adhering to the course heretofore approved, had properly encouraged. It is not strange that this opposition should come to be regarded as either factious or visionary. Different reasons were assigned for this conduct. Honest differences of opinion undeniably existed. It is also manifest that a positive element of this opposition, which endeavored to find a nucleus in the local " Radicalism" of Missouri, and materials for coalescence in every kind of discontent existing among adherents of the dominant party was something aside from mere zealous patriotism.

An issue was raised in the House of Representatives on the Monroe doctrine, by a "Radical" member who very well knew that Mr. Lincoln's views of Maximilian's usurpation were no less emphatic than his own. The surrender of Arguelles to the punishment due the crime and infamy of the slave-trader, though not absolutely required by any treaty of extradition, was bitterly denounced by some of the " Radicals," while the great majority of those thus designating themselves, would have still more vehemently demurred at the "Conservatism " which could for a moment hesitate to give up the criminal. Some affecting " Radicalism " even joined the Opposition cry against military trials, the suppression of treasonable papers, summary arrests, and the silencing of orators endeavoring to demoralize the army and to incite insurrection in a time of great national peril. In some instances, beyond doubt, the same parties who made these proceedings a ground of complaint against Mr. Lincoln, would have declaimed against him

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Mr. CHASE ON ARBITRARY ARRESTS. —The subject of arbitrary arrests was incidentally discussed in Cabinet council to-day. Mr. Chase manfully denounced them. The suppres-sion of the New York papers, and extradition of Arguelles were both condemned by him as devoid of policy and wanting law. The defense of these measures was more irritable than logical and assured.

It is unimportant to contradict any such statements, except to illustrate the wantonness of this apparently organized sys-tem for undermining the popular attachment to Mr. Lincoln. But, in fact, this dispatch was sheer fiction throughout. No such matter was discussed at the Cabinet council named, nor was Mr. Chase himself present, having for months habitually absented himself from such meetings. It may be doubted, even, whether he entertained the views thus attributed to him, or was grateful for this apparent attempt to commend him to the good will of "Copperhead" malignants. But where abuse and perversion were demanded of professional correspondents, the columns waiting for such material would not be empty.

It was in spite of all these disadvantages, of the military situation, of partizan intrigue, of Congressional disaffection, and of manifold personal discontents among influential men who were personally passed by, or whose counsels had not been implicitly regarded in the dispensation of patronage, that the people, almost by a spontaneous uprising, demanded the re-nomination of Mr. Lincoln as the Union candidate for the

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As indicated in previous pages, fourteen States had declared, either through their legislatures or popular conventions, a decided preference for Mr. Lincoln's re-nomination. Before the assembling of the convention, the popular will was too clear to admit of any doubt as to the result on that point. The call for the national convention was addressed to "all qualified voters who desire the unconditional maintenance of the Union, the supremacy of the Constitution, and the complete suppres-sion of the existing rebellion, with the cause thereof, by vigorous war, and all apt and efficient means," inviting their participation in the choice of delegates. Each State was to be represented by a number equal to twice its electoral vote.

The key-note of the convention may be said to have been given by the Rev. Dr. R. J. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, who was selected as the temporary presiding officer. This distin-guished gentleman had been chosen as a delegate by the Ken-tacky State convention, after assuring that body that he would only accept the trust on condition of being instructed to vote "first, last, and all the time for Abraham Lincoln."

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In the first place, nothing can he more plain than the fact that you are here as the representatives of a great nation —voluntary representatives chosen without forms of law, but as really representing the feelings, the principles, and if you choose, the prejudices of the American people, as if it were written in laws and already passed by votes —for the man that you will nominate here for the Presidency of the United States, and ruler of a great people in a great crisis, is just as certain, I suppose, to become that ruler, as anything under heaven is certain before it is done. And, moreover, you will allow me to say— though, perhaps, it is hardly strictly proper that I should—but as far as I know your opinions, I suppose it is just as certain now, before you utter it, whose name you will utter, and which will be responded to from one end to the other of this nation, as it will be after it has been uttered and record-ed by your secretary. Does any man doubt that this convention intends to say that Abraham Lincoln shall be the nominee? [Great applause.]

Ex-Governor William Dennison, of Ohio, was chosen permanent President of the Convention. Delegates were admitted from such of the Territories as had sent them, and from the District of Columbia. Questions arose in regard to the admission of delegates from Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas and Virginia; (West Virginia was duly represented;) and there were two contesting delegations from Missouri, representing the two parties there, already referred to. The Convention admitted the " Radical " delegation, with almost entire unanimity. The delegates from Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas were cordially received. The Virginia delegation was excluded.

On the ballot for the Presidential candidate, Mr. Lincoln received every vote in the convention, with the single excep-tion of the delegation from Missouri, whose vote was changed, making the nomination unanimous. The joyous demonstrations with which this announcement was received in the ver-

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The ballot on the nomination of Vice President stood, before any changes, as follows: Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, 200; Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, 145; Daniel S, Dickinson, of New York, 113; B. F. Butler, of Massachusetts, 28; Lovell H. Rousseau, of Kentucky, 21; all others, 12, The States of Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia, Delaware and Connecticut, voted unitedly for Gov. Johnson. A majority of the votes of New York and Vermont were also east in the same direction. A sufficient number of votes were at once changed to give a majority to Andrew Johnson, and he was unanimously declared the nominee for Vice President.

The following resolutions were adopted by the convention:

THE BALTIMORE PLATFORM, 1864.

Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union and the paramount authority of the Constitution and the laws of the United States ; and that, laying aside all differences and political opinions, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the Government in quelling, by force of arms, the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment, due to their crimes, the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.

Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Government of the United States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer them any terms of peace except such as may be based upon an "unconditional surrender " of their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and the 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 rebel-lion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrifices, the patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to their 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 principles of republican government,

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Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the army and the navy, who have periled their lives in defense of their country, and in vindica-tion 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 received disabling and honorable wounds in the ser-vice of the country ; and that the memories of those who have 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 indorse, 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 indorse 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 protection of the laws of war, and that any violations of these laws or of the usages of civilized nations in the times of war by the rebels now in arms should be made the subject of full and prompt redress.

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Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific.

Resolved, That the national faith pledged for the redemption of the public debt must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxation; that it is the duty of any 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 over-throw by force or to supplant by fraud the institutions of any republican government on the Western Continent, and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of this, our country, the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for monarchical governments, sustained by a foreign military force in near proximity to the United States.

Immediately after the Convention, a committee of one from each State represented therein, waited on the President, orally communicating the fact of his re-nomination, and presenting a copy of the foregoing resolutions. Responding to the address of their Chairman, Mr. Lincoln said:

MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE: I will neither conceal my gratification nor restrain the expression of my gratitude that the Union people through their convention, in the continued effort to save and advance the nation, have deemed me not unworthy to remain in my present position.

I know no reason to doubt that I shall accept the nomination tendered; and yet, perhaps, I should not declare definitely before reading and considering what is called the platform.

I will say now, however, I approve the declaration in favor of so amending the Constitution as to prohibit slavery throughout the nation. When the people in revolt with a hundred days of explicit notice that they could within those days resume their allegiance without the overthrow of their institutions, and that they could not resume it afterward,

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In response to a call from the Ohio delegation in the Baltimore Convention, accompanied by Menter's band, of Cincinnati, the President remarked:

GENTLEMEN : I am very much obliged to you for this compliment. I have just been saying, and as I have just said it, I will repeat it: The hardest of all speeches which I have to answer is a serenade. I never know what to say on such occasions. I suppose that you have done me this kindness in connection with the action of the Baltimore Convention which has recently taken place, and with which, of course, I am very well satisfied- [Laughter and applause]. What we want still more than Baltimore Conventions or Presidential elections is success under General Grant. [Cries of "Good," and applause.] I propose that you constantly bear in mind that the support you owe to the brave officers and soldiers in the field is of the very first importance, and we should therefore bend all our energies to that point. Now, without detaining you any longer, I propose that you help me to close up what I am now saying with three rousing cheers for General Grant and the officers and soldiers under his command.

In an interview with a delegation of the National Union League, in the East Room, he used substantially the following llanguage — the homely illustrations at the close (and the manner of presenting it), exciting prolonged laughter and applause:

GENTLEMEN: I can only say in response to the kind remarks of your Chairman, as I suppose, that I am very grate- ful for the renewed confidence which has been accorded to me both by the Convention and by the National League. I am not insensible at all to the personal compliment there is in this and yet I do not allow myself to believe that any but a small portion of it is to be appropriated as a personal compliment. That really the Convention and the Union League

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The Committee to notify President Lincoln of his renomination subsequently transmitted to him a letter, formally announcing the choice of the Convention, in the course of which they said :

We believe, sir, that the honest will of the Union men of the country was never more truly represented than in this Convention. Their purpose we believe to be the overthrow of armed rebels in the field, and the security of permanent peace and union, by liberty and justice under the Constitution. That these results are to be achieved amid cruel perplexities, they are fully aware. That they are to be reached only by cordial unanimity of counsel, is undeniable. That good men may sometimes differ as to the means and the time, they know. That in the conduct of all human affairs the highest duty is to determine, in the angry conflict of passion, how much good may be practically accomplished, is their sincere persuasions. They have watched your official course, therefore, with unflag-ging attention; and amid the bitter taunts of eager friends and the fierce denunciation of enemies, now moving too fast for some, now too slowly for others, they have seen you throughout this tremendous contest patient, sagacious, faithful, just; leaning upon the heart of the great mass of the people, and satisfied to be moved by its mighty pulsations.

It is for this reason that, long before the Convention met, the popular instinct had plainly indicated you as its candidate; and the Convention, therefore, merely recorded the popular will. Your character and career prove your unswerving fidelity to the cardinal principles of American Liberty and of the American Constitution. In the name of that Liberty and

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To this letter, Mr, Lincoln replied in the following words:

Hon. WILLIAM DENNISON and others, a Committee of the Union National Convention: Gentlemen —Your letter of the 14th instant, formally notifying me that I have been nominated by the Convention you represent for the Presidency of the United States, for four years from the 4th of March next, has been received. The nomination is gratefully accepted, as the resolutions of the Convention -called the platform— are heartily approved.

While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of republican government upon the Western Continent is fully concurred in, there might be misunderstanding were I not to say that the position of the Government in relation to the action of France and Mexico, as assumed through the State Department, and indorsed by the Convention, among the measures and acts of the Executive, will be faithfully maintained so long as the state of facts shall leave that position pertinent and applicable.

I am especially gratified that the soldier and the seamen were not forgotten by the Convention, as they forever must and will be remembered by the grateful country for whose salvation they devote their lives.

Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in which you have communicated the nomination and other proceedings of the Convention, I subscribe myself Your obedient servant,

Every-where through the loyal States, and not less among our heroic armies fighting for the Republic on disloyal soil, and among our brave forces afloat on gunboats and men-of-war, the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for a second term was received with joy, and ratified with hearty good will More than thirty years had passed since any President of the United States had received the honor of a reflection. Never, as yet, had any President from the North been chosen for a second term, although every Southern President, elected as such, un-til the time of Mr, Polk, had served for eight years. Aside

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There was also a certain earnest devotion in President Lincoln's calm faith in the guidance and aid of Divine Providence, which strongly impressed all sober minds—a religious trust which became more and more his support in the severe trials of his official station. This trait of his character, and the confidence reposed in him by the churches, can not be better illustrated than by giving the following address of sympathy and loyal attachment which belongs to this period, although of somewhat earlier date than the President's re-nomination— presented in person by a delegation of distinguished clergymen, headed by Bishop Ames, on behalf of the General Conference of Methodist Episcopal churches, together with the brief, unpremeditated reply made on that occasion.

To His EXCELLENCY ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES : The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now in session in the city of Philadelphia, representing nearly seven thousand ministers, and nearly a million of members, mindful of their duty as Christian citizens, takes the earliest opportunity to express to you the assurance of the loyalty of the Church, her earnest devotion to the interests of the country, and her sympathy with you in the great responsibilities of your high position in this trying hour.

With exultation we point to the record of our Church as having never been tarnished by disloyalty. She was the first of the churches to express, by a deputation of her most distinguished ministers, the promise of support to the Government in the days of Washington. In her Articles of Religion she has enjoined loyalty as a duty, and has ever given to the Government her most decided support.

In this present struggle for the nation's life, many thousands of her members, and a large number of her ministers, have rushed to arms to maintain the cause of God and humanity, They have sealed their devotion to the country with their blood, on every battle-field of this terrible war.

We regard this dreadful scourge now desolating our land and

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Our earnest and constant prayer is, that this cruel and wicked rebellion may be speedily suppressed ; and we pledge you our hearty cooperation in all appropriate means to secure this object.

Loyal and hopeful in national adversity, in prosperity thankful, we most heartily congratulate you on the glorious victories recently gained, and rejoice in the belief that our complete triumph is near.

We believe that our national sorrows and calamities have resulted, in a great degree, from our forgetfulness of God, and oppression of our fellow-men. Chastened by affliction, may the nation humbly repent of her sins, lay aside her haughty pride, honor God in all future legislation, and render justice to all who have been wronged.

We honor you for your proclamations of liberty, and rejoice in all the acts of the Government designed to secure freedom to the enslaved.

We trust that when military usages and necessities shall justify interference with established institutions, and the removal of wrongs sanctioned by law, the occasion will be improved, not merely to injure our foes and increase ,the national resources, but, also, as an opportunity to recognize our obligations to God, and to honor His law. We pray that the time may speedily come when this shall be truly a republican and free country, in no part of which, either State or Territory, shall slavery be known.

The prayers of millions of Christians, with an earnestness never manifested for rulers before, daily ascend to Heaven, that you may be endued with all needed wisdom and power. Actuated by the sentiments of the loftiest and purest patriot-ism, our prayer shall be continually for the preservation of our country undivided, for the triumph of our cause, and for a per-manent peace, gained by the sacrifice of no moral principles, but founded on the Word of God, and securing, in righteousness, liberty and equal rights to all.

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President Lincoln replied in the following words:

GENTLEMEN: In response to your address, allow me to attest the accuracy of its historical statements, indorse the sentiments it expresses, and thank you, in the nation's name, for the sure promise it gives.

Nobly sustained, as the Government has been by all the churches, I would utter nothing which might in the least appear invidious against any. Yet. without this, it may fairly be said that the Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is, by its greater numbers, the most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven than any. God bless the Methodist Church; bless all the churches ; and blessed be God, who, in this our great trial, giveth us the churches.

There was some corresponding action on the part of nearly or quite all the general ecclesiastical bodies of the United States. "All the churches," without regard to sectarian difference, not only confided in his high character, but also received from him a reciprocation of kindly feeling and thankfulness.

The first stage of the Presidential canvass was now passed, The nominations were made. The Administration platform was before the people. It now remained to be determined whether the Republican Union party should continue in the ascendant— whether a majority of the people of the nation, entitled to a voice on the question, should fully confirm and ratify what the party itself had with such cordial unanimity agreed upon, or should intrust the power of the nation to new men, on an entirely different basis of public policy.