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Caspar Butz, M.
George Field, N. Y.
Edward Gilbert, N. Y.
Peter Gillen, N. Y.
Isaac W. Haff, N. Y.
Wm. Herries, N. Y.
James Hill, Me.
K. Heinzen, Mass.
8. P. Dinsmore, D. C.
And. Humbert, Pa.
J. W. Alden, N. J.
L. Sieboldt, Iowa.
Wm. Morris Davis, Pa.
E. M. Davis, Pa.
Wm. F. Johnston, Pa.
THEO.

Emil Pretorius, Mo.
Nath. P. Sawyer, Pa.
Ernest Schmidt, Ill.
James Redpath, Mass.
Walter II. Shupe, Ohio.
Wm. II. Smith, Me.
P. W. Kenyon, N. Y.
James Taussig, Mo.
Ph. Stoppelrein, N. Y.
Wm. H. Dwinelle, N. Y.
Samuel Taylor.
Jas. S. Thomas, Mo.
F. Munch, Mo.

J. Q. Westbrook, Me.
J. F. Whipple, N. Y.
OLSHAUSEN, Missouri,

of the People's Committee. TO THE PEOPLE. Citizens of the United States who mean to uphold the Union, who believe that the rebellion can be suppressed without infringing the rights of individuals or of States, who regard the extinction of slavery as among the practical effects of the war for the Union, and favor an amendment of the Federal Constitution for the exclusion of slavery, and who demand integrity and economy in the administration of government, are respectfully invited to meet in Mass Convention, at Cleveland, on Tuesday, the 31st day of May ist, for consultation and concert of action in respect to the approaching Presidential election.

Lucius Robinson.
John Cochrane.
Andrew J. Colvin.
Thomas B. Carroll.
Edward Wade.
George W. Demers.
Ira Porter.
Brace Millerd.
Howard Holdridge.
Francis G. Fine.
Lemon Thomson.

Charles Requa.
Smith Requa.
Thomas P. White, Ky.
Edward Cole, Ky.
Francis F. Williams, Ky.
Smith Thompson, Ky.
Leroy McArdle, Ky.
William Bentley, Ky.
John F. Smithers, Ky.
David S. Whiteley, Ky.
Peter McCall, Ky.

Charles F. French, Ky.
Rob. Kraus, Mo.
Hanson Brent, Mo.
J. B. Clairbour, Mo.
Wm Freel, Mo.
Charles H. Frost, Mo.
Thomas J. Riddle, Mo.
Wm. L. Bookstaver, Mo.
Fred. L. Braden, Ill.
Caspar O. Fitch, Ill.
Wallace Furman.
Frederick Smith.
Peter B. Lent, Ind.
Andrew F. Butler.
Thomas Willks.
O. Whaley, Mass.
Johnson Stemmer.
Alfred Moses.
Leonard J. Timon.
John F. Pendleton, N. J.
Patrick Clare.
Simon Munson.

LETTER FROM MRS. STANTON.
MAY 14, 1864.

TO THE CENTRAL FREMONT CLUB:

GENTLEMEN: To your call "to the radical men of the nation," taking it for granted you use "men" in its larg st sense, I desire to append my name, and for the following

reasons:

1. This is the only call ever issued for a political convention, demanding the right of suffrage for the black manthat safeguard of civil liberty, without which emancipation is a mockery.

2. When a body of men thus consecrate themselves to "freedom and peace," and declare their high resolve to found a republic on the eternal principles of justice, they bave lifted politics into the sphere of morals and re igion, and made it the duty of all true men and women to unite with them in building up the New Nation. Yours respectfully,

E. CADY STANTON. LETTER FROM WENDELL PHILLIPS. BOSTON, April 21. JUDGE STALLO: DEAR SIR: Since you asked my judgment as to the course to be taken in nominating a candidate for the Presidency I have been requested to sign a call for a convention for Let me that purpose, to meet at Cleveland, in May next. tell you the national policy I advocate: Subdue the South as rapidly as possible. The moment territory comes under our flag reconstruct States thus: Confiscate and divide the lands of rebels; extend the right of suffrage broadly as possible to whites and blacks; let the Federal Constitution prohibit slavery throughout the Union, and forbid the States to make any distinction among their citizens on account of color or race.

I shall make every effort to have this policy pursued. Believing that the present Administration repudiates it and is carrying us to a point where we shall be obliged either to acknowledge the Southern Confederacy or to reconstruct he Union on terms grossly unjust, intolerable to the

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masses, and sure soon to result in another war, I earnestly
advise an unpledged and independent convention, like that
proposed, to consider public affairs and nominate for the
Presidency a statesman and a patriot.
WENDELL PHILLIPS.

Yours, faithfully,

The Convention was called to order by Edward Gilbert, of New York, on whose motion Ex-Governor William F. Johnston, of PennsylMr. vania, was chosen temporary Chairman. B. H. Brooks, of California, and Mr. Walfe, of the District of Columbia, were chosen Secretaries. A Committee on Credentials was proposed but not created. It was subsequently reported that the following States were repsented:

Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Maine, Indiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia.

The Committee on Permanent Organization reported officers, with General John Cochrane, of New York, as President.

Gen. Cochrane, on returning his thanks to the Convention, said:

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: The formal routine of duty for the presiding officer, prescribes that he return set thanks for the honor conferred upon him. I am not disposed to follow in this path. The formality is too heartless for the solemnity and importance of the occasion. I assume my duties with cheerfulness and I trust that in this grand army of freedom I may well perform my humble part, and that that duty may be so performed that we may command the universal applause of all men. [Cheers.] I see before me representatives of the West, on which de pends so much of the interests and destinies of the countryof the great central region of the country-its support and sustenance. I look further to the East and see before me the companions of my early life, assembled now by a common motive from the devious paths in which the exigencies of politics had lead them-the War Democrats of the State of New York. [Applause.] For them party possesses no claims when it is not identified with principle. There are also those here, who while they wait anxiously the tidings from the shattered cohorts under the later of freedom, still turn affectionately to a Fatherland on the other side of the raging sea. [Applause.] We meet with such emotions suggested by the melancholy vista of the past-such reflections upon the scenes of the present. We have come together regarding party as nothing-country as everything.

Our national existence is at issue. Three years ago the question of national life fell like a thunderbolt at the feet of the people and they sprang to arms, with a wild shout in which all faction, all party, went down. Everywhere was heard the steady tramp of armed men and the patriotism and power of the North has swept on until the hour is almost striking when time shall proclaim the rebels defeated and the Union triumphant. [Applause.] In this hour men should review the past and speculate as to the dangers and vicissitudes of the future. For this purpose you assemble here-intending to support the army in the field, and at the same time to organize a great civil army, to fight for prinples, and to save for all generations the precious legacy ob tained for us by the sacrifices of the soldiers of the Union. The rebellion, it must be suppressed-The [Applause.] Union, it must be preserved. [Great applause.] But we shall allow no criticism of the Government which represents us all, shall cast no impediment in the way of our Union soldiers, shall entertain no thought unworthy of American citizens.

The speaker then referred to the various discussions of the past. Since 1787 slavery has been the root of every politi cal party of the country. The convention had assembled from all positions on this question, and now occupied one common ground. All are now united in demanding that slavery be destroyed and its last vestige wiped out. [Cheers.] In this connection the speaker referred to the War Democrats of New York-virtual and virtuous-denying that the convention at Syracuse represented them, and denone ing that convention as a medley party of trading, scurvy politicians. He solemnly declared before high heaven that, since the war broke out, he had never belonged to party, that his feet had not been soiled by its touch, that he never crossed its lines, that he would never till the war was over consent to be "cabined, cribbed, confined" by party influ ences. As he had gone up and down the Hudson, he had indeed heard echoes from these "convocations of most political worms," and they had all been tuned to the key of "roast beef and cabbage on a trencher."

But he had been betrayed into prolixity by the interest | net. What will be the result of another four years of such of the occasion. Before closing he wished to speak of one policy? Unless the South is recognized the war will conother thing. All men on this continent are free and equal, tinue; the taxation needed to sustain our immense debt, and our Government must regard the private rights of ci-doubled by that time, will grind the laboring man of the vilians. If private rights are not respected, public liberty | North down to the level of the pauper labor of Europe; dies. We contend for individual rights, and whoever attacks and we shall have a Government accustomed to despotic them wounds the vital parts of the Republic. Not even power for eight years-a fearful peril to democratic institu the plea of necessity allows any one to trample upon them. tions. To be sure these rights depend on circumstances, and may be superceded by martial law. Till that is proclaimed they must not be infringed. Law is the reflex of order, which is the principle of the universe and God himself. When it is stricken down all things fall with it.

Most sacred is the grand, noble old liberty of the press. Over that, in far Europe the struggle for freedom has been most steruly and pertinaciously waged. Let a free people guard with jealous care the liberty of the press, and declare the administration who would strike at it as guilty of incivism and little less than traitors. [Applause.]

Gen. Cochrane referred to his early belief that America was the light-house of the world-the asylum of the oppressed. He had heard that the light had been extinguished. He demanded that America should remain the sanctuary of freedom, the asylum of the oppressed throughout the world. The refugee from other lands must be held innocent until, in accordance with law, you pronounce him guilty. (Applause.]

The speaker closed with a brief reference to the Monroe doctrine, and an enthusiastic assertion of his belief in the speedy triumph of our arms, which was rapturously applauded.

After the adoption of the platform, nominations were made.

Mr. Lincoln's model of reconstruction is the experiment in Louisiana, which puts all power into the hands of the unchanged white race, soured by defeat, hating the laboring classes, plotting constantly for aristocratic institutions. To reconstruct the rebel States on that model is only continuing the war in the Senate Chamber after we have closed it in the field. Such reconstruction, leaving the South with its labor and capital at war, puts the whole payment of the debt on the industrious North, and in that way it will hang on us for a century. Such reconstruction makes the freedom of the negro a sham, and perpetuates slavery under a softer name. Such reconstruction, leaving the seeds of discontent and division in the South in the places of power, tempts and facilitates another rebellion, at the instigation or with the aid of French-Mexico. Such reconstruction dooms us to a second or third-rate place among nations, and provokes foreign insult and aggression.

There is no plan of reconstruction possible within twenty years, unless we admit the black to citizenship and the ballot, and use him, with the white, as the basis of States. There is not in the rebel States sufficient white basis to

build on. If we refuse this method we must subdue the
South and hold it as territory until this generation of white
men have passed away, and their sons, with other feelings,
have taken their places, and northern capital, energy, and
immigration have forced their way into the South. Shoud
we adopt that plan, and wait for those changes, twenty
years must clapse before we can venture to rebuild States.
despotic power by a Government holding half its territory
ble for the fate of free government.
and citizens as subjects, make every thoughtful man trem-

JOHN C. FREMONT was nominated for Presi- Meanwhile a large and expensive army, and the use of dent by acclamation.

Gen. JOHN COCHRANE was nominated for Vice President, with but few voices in the negative.

The following letters were addressed to the Convention that of Wendell Phillips, read in Convention, is reported to have been warmly applauded:

FROM WENDELL PHILLIPS.

BOSTON, May 27, 1864.

DEAR SIR: I deeply regret that it is out of my power to attend the Cleveland Convention. Allow me to suggest one or two things which I hoped to urge on its attention. Without denying what the friends of the Administration claim that it has done something toward crushing the rebellion-my charge against it is that it has not done half that it should and could have done toward that end, had it used the means in its hands with an earnest and single purpose to close the strife thoroughly and forever. It has thought more of conciliating rebels than of subduing them. It has avowedly forborne the use of lawful and efficient means (to wit, the abolition of slavery) until it was thought indispensable, and even then has used it in a half-hearted, halting way, wishing to save the feelings of rebels.

A quick and thorough reorganization of States on a democratic basis-every man and race equal before the law-i black man's sake alone, but for ours-for the nation's sake. the only sure way to save the Union. I urge it not for the Against such recognition of the blacks Mr. Lincoln stands pledged by prejudice and avowal. Men say, if we clect him he may change his views. Possibly. But three years have been a long time for a man's education in such hours as these. The nation cannot afford more. At any rate, the Constitution gives this summer an opportunity to make President a man fully educated. I prefer that course.

The Administration, therefore, I regard as a civil and military failure, and its avowed policy ruinons to the North in every point of view. Mr. Lincoln may wish the end-peace and freedom-but he is wholly unwilling to use the means which can secure that end. If Mr. Lincoln is re-elected I do not expect to see the Union reconstructed in my day, unless on terms more disastrous to liberty than even disunion would be. If I turn to General Fremont, I see a man whose first act was to use the freedom of the negro as his weapon, I see one whose thorough loyalty to democratic institutions. without regard to race, whose earnest and decisive character, whose clear-sighted statesmanship and rare military ability justify my confidence that in his hands all will be done to save the State that foresight, skill, decision, and statesmanship can do.

I think the Convention should incorporate in its platform the demand for an amendment to the Constitution prohib iting slavery everywhere within the Republic, and forbid

We have three tools with which to crush the rebellionmen, money, and the emancipation of the negro. We were warned to be quick and sharp in the use of these, because every year the war lasted hardened the South from a re-ding the States to make any distinction among their citizens bellion into a nation, and doubled the danger of foreign interference. Slavery has been our great trouble in the past, and, as every man saw, was our great danger in the future. Statesmanship, said, therefore, seize at once the God-given opportunity to end it, at the same time that you, in the quickest, shortest, and cheapest manner, annihilate the rebellion.

For three years the Administration has lavished money without stint, and drenched the land in blood, and it has not yet thoroughly and heartily struck at the slave system. Confessing that the use of this means is indispensable, the Administration has used it just enough to irritate the rebels and not enough to save the State. In sixty days after the rebellion broke out the Administration suspended habeas corpus on the plea of military necessity-justly. For three years it has poured out the treasure and blood of the country like water. Meanwhile slavery was too sacred to be used; that was saved lest the feelings of the rebels should be hurt. The Administration weighed treasure, blood, and civil liberty against slavery, and, up to the present moment, has decided to exhaust them all before it uses freedom, heartily, as a means of battle.

Mr. Lincoln's friends tell us that if he is re-elected he is re-elected to pursue the same policy and obey the same Cabi

on account of color or race. I think it should demand a reconstruction of States as speedily as possible on the basis of every loyal man, white or black, sharing the land and the ballot. But if some of these points are not covered I shall still support its action with all my heart if it puts the name of Fremont or Butler on its flag. Fremont is my first choice, but I can support either of them; and this is an hour of such peril to the Republic that I think men should surrender all party and personal partiality, and support any man able and willing to save the State.

If the Baltimore Convention shall nominate Mr. Lincoln, then I hope we shall fling our candidate's name, the longhonored one of J. C. Fremont, to the breeze, and appeal to the patriotism and common sense of the people to save us from another such three years as we have seen. If, on the contrary, the Baltimore convention shall give us the name of any man whom the Radicals of the Loyal States can trust, I hope we shall be able to arrange some plan which will unite all on a common basis and carry our principles into the Government.

Wishing you all success, and prepared to second your effort to remove the Administration, I am, yours &c, WENDELL PHILLIPS.

EDWARD GILBERT, Esq., New York.

FROM LUCIUS ROBINSON.

STATE OF NEW YORK,
COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE, ALBANY, May 28.

To Hon. A. J. COLVIN:

My official duties and the illness of my deputy will prevent me from attending the meeting called for consultation at Cleveland, the 31st instant. I trust that you will be there with your judicious advice.

There was never a time when the safety and welfare of the country more imperatively demanded careful deliberation, with wise and resolute action. We have lived through three years of war, and have survived many bad mistakes, simply because the popular mind has been intensely fixed upon the single purpose of suppressing the rebellion at all hazards and at every cost. This one idea has had such controlling power, and the masses have followed so steadily, that it has served as a substitute for proper governmental leadership. But it is evident that the time is near at hand when the re-establishment of order, the removal of the cause of the rebellion and the repairing of the terrible desolation it has produced, will require at the head of the Government the very highest qualities of leadership. How can we hope to live as a nation through the crisis before us with a weak Executive and Cabinet in a state of discord and anarchy? Will not the country be in imminent danger of falling into the same condition when it ceases to be held together by the pressure of war? It appears to me that a firm assertion of sound principles and the election of the greatest men, regardless of former party organizations, are essential to the safety of the nation.

Whether a nomination should be made at Cleveland or not can best be determined after meeting and consulting with those who will assemble there; but if it shall be decided to nominate I have no hesitation in saying that I believe the hopes of the people throughout the country are resting upon General Grant as the candidate. He has displayed the qualities which give all men confidence. He has shown himself possessed of great ability and skill, the most indomitable courage and most unselfish devotion to the cause of his country. Victory has attended him wherever he has gone. One year ago all confidence in the Administration was lost. The brilliant victories which have since been won by Gen. Grant have so far restored it as to encourage the Administration to attempt to re-elect itself on the strength of his achievements. But in my judgment we should let him who has won the honors wear them, and should entrust power to one who has shown that he knows how to wield it; we shall then have a leader at the head of affairs in whom all loyal men will have 'confidence, against whom there will be no prejudices, and whom all will aid with alacrity. Yours,

LUCIUS ROBINSON.

FROM FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

ROCHESTER, May 23, 1864.

SIR: I mean the complete abolition of every vestige, form, modification of slavery in every part of the United States, perfect equality for the black man in every State before the law, in the jury-box, at the ballot-box, and on the battlefield; ample and salutary retaliation for every instance of enslavement or slaughter of prisoners of any color. I mean that in the distribution of offices and honors under this against any class of citizens, whether black or white, of native or foreign birth. And supposing that the Convention which is to meet at Cleveland means the same thing, I cheerfully give my name as one of the signers of the call. Yours, respectfully,

Government no discrimination shall be made in favor of or

E. GILBERT, Esq.

Second. That the Constitution and laws of the United States must be observed and obeyed.

Third. That the rebellion must be suppressed by force of arms, and without compromise.

Fourth. That the rights of free speech, free press, and the habeas corpus be held inviolate, save in districts where martial law has been proclaimed.

Fifth. That the rebellion has destroyed slavery, and the Federal Constitution should be amended to prohibit its reestablishment, and to secure to all men absolute equality before the law.

times in the administration of the Government; and that in Sixth. That integrity and economy are demanded at all time of war the want of them is criminal.

subject to law, is a recognized principle of American lib Seventh. That the right of asylum, except for crime and erty; that any violation of it cannot be overlooked, and must not go unrebuked.

doctrine" has become a recognized principle, and that the Eighth That the national policy known as the "Monroe establishment of an anti-republican Government on this continent by any foreign power cannot be tolerated.

Ninth. That the gratitude and support of the nation are due to the faithful soldiers and the earnest leaders of the

Union army and navy for their heroic achievements and deathless valor in defence of our imperiled country and of civil liberty.

Tenth. That the one-term policy for the Presidency, adopted by the people, is strengthened by the force of the existing crisis, and should be maintained by constitutional amendments.

Eleventh. That the Constitution should be so amended that the President and Vice President shall be elected by a direct vote of the people.

Twelfth. That the question of the reconstruction of the rebellious States belongs to the people, through their representatives in Congress, and not to the Executive.

Thirteenth. That the confiscation of the lands of the

rebels, and their distribution among the soldiers and actual settlers, is a measure of justice.

Mr. Carroll stated that the committee were unanimous on all the resolutions, save one-the last. As a matter of expediency it was thought not advisable to recommend it, but the majority of the committee had instructed him to report it for the consideration of the Convention.

At this juncture, Mr. Gilbert announced the receipt of a letter from Wendell Phillips, which was warmly applauded while being read by the secretary.

Mr. Ransom of New Jersey, moved that the question on the resolutions be taken separately. It was then decided to take up the resolutions separately. The first, second, third, and fourth were adopted without dissent.

Mr. Goodell moved to amend the fifth by declaring that slavery shall die, instead of saying that it is dead; for, said the mover, although it is legally dead, the fact is that there are over three millions of people now enslaved in the He moved to substitute these

southern States. FREDERICK DOUGLASS. words: "That the rebellion must be suppressed by the destrnotion of its motive cause, slavery."

THE PLATFORM.

Mr. Carroll, Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions,* reported the following resolutions:

First. That the Federal Union shall be preserved.

* During the Convention, Mr. Langer, of Iowa, offered these resolutions, which, on the suggestion of the Chair, were referred to the committee:

"Resolved, That the members of this Convention, or of any Convention arising from this, to nominate or participate in the nomination of a candidate for the next Presidential term, and the Presidential electors of this party, pledge themselves upon their honor not to accept offices of trust, honor, or pront from the Administration in power during the next Presidential term, and not to be connected directly or indirectly with any contract or business transaction in the power of the Administration.

"Resolved, To make it obligatory on the Presidential candidate of this party, if successful, to act accordingly.

"Resolved, That this is not to be construed to prevent any member from becoming an active combatant in the Navy and Army of the United States, in such capacity as his respective State may elect to employ him."

This was lost after a debate, and the resolu tion was adopted.

The remainder were then adopted.

LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE.

FROM GENERAL FREMONT.

NEW YORK, June 4, 1864. GENTLEMEN: In answer to the letter which I have had the honor to receive from you, on the part of the representatives of the people assembled at Cleveland, the 31st of May, I desire to express my thanks for the confidence which led them to offer me the honorable and difficult position of their candidate in the approaching Presidential election.

Very honorable, because in offering it to me you act in the name of a great number of citizens who seek above all things the good of their country, and who have no sort of selfish interest in view. Very difficult, because in accepting the candidacy you propose to me, I am exposed to the

reproach of creating a schism in the party with which I have been identified.

Had Mr. Lincoln remained faithful to the principles he was elected to defend, no schism could have been created, and no contest could have been possible. This is not an ordinary election. It is a contest for the right even to have candidates, and not merely, as usual, for the choice among them. Now, for the first time since 76, the question of constitutional liberty has been brought directly before the people for their serious consideration and vote. The ordinary rights secured under the Constitution and the laws of the country have been violated and extraordinary powers have been usurped by the Executivo. It is directly before the people now to say whether or not the principles established by the Revolution are worth maintaining.

If, as we have been taught to believe, those guarantees for liberty which made the distinctive name and glory of our country, are in truth inviolably sacred, then here must be a protest against the arbitrary violation which had not even the excuse of a necessity. The schism is made by those who force the choice between a shameful silence or a protest against wrong. In such considerations originated the Cleveland Convention. It was among its objects to arouse the attention of the people to such facts, and to bring them to realize that, while we are saturating Southern soil with the best blood of the country in the name of liberty, we have really parted with it at home.

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indorse a policy and renew a power which has cost us the lives of thousands of men, and needlessly put the country on the road to bankruptcy-there will remain no other alternative but to organize against him every element of conscientious opposition with the view to prevent the misfortune of his re-election.

In this contingency, I accept the nomination at Cleveland, and, as a preliminary step, I have resigned my commission in the army. This was a sacrifice it gave me pain to make. But I had for a long time fruitlessly endeavored to obtain service. I make this sacrifice now only to regain liberty of speech, and to leave nothing in the way of discharging to my utmost ability the task you have set for me. With my earnest and sincere thanks for your expressions of confidence and regard, and for the many honorable terms in which you acquaint me with the actions of the Convention, I am, gentlemen, Very respectfully and truly yours,

J. C. FREMONT. To Worthington G. Snethen of Maryland, Edward Gilbert of New York, Casper Butz of Illinois, Charles E. Moss of Missouri, N. P. Sawyer of Pennsylvania, a Committee, &c. FROM GENERAL COCHRANE.

NEW YORK, June 4, 1864. GENTLEMEN: I have received your note informing me officially of my nomination by the Radical Democracy at Cleveland, on the 31st ultimo, as their candidate for Vice President of the United States, on the ticket with John C. Fremont as their candidate for President.

To-day we have in the country the abuses of a military dictation without its unity of action and vigor of execution an Administration marked at home by disregard of constitutional rights, by its violation of personal liberty and the liberty of the press, and as a crowning shame, by its abandonment of the right of asylum, a right especially dear to all free nations abroad. Its course has been characterized by a feebleness and want of principle which has misled European powers and driven them to a belief that only commercial interests and personal aims are concerned, and that no great principles are involved in the issue. The admirable conduct of the people, their readiness to make every sacrifice demanded of them, their forbearance and silence under the suspension of everything that could be suspended, their many acts of heroism and sacrifices, were all rendered fruitless by the incapacity, or to speak more exactly, by the personal ends for which the war was managed. This incapacity and selfishness naturally produced such results as led the European powers, and logically enough, to the convic-discretion of the people, hereafter manifested through their tion that the North, with its greatly superior population, its immense resources, and its credit, will never be able to recover the South. Sympathies which would have been with us from the outset of this war were turned against us, and in this way the Administration has done the country a double wrong abroad. It created hostility, or at best indifference, among those who would have been its friends if the real intentions of the people could have been better known, while, at the same time, it neglected no occasion for making the most humiliating concessions.

Against this disastrous condition of affairs the Cleveland Convention was a protest.

The principles which form the basis of its platform have my unqualified and cordial approbation, but I cannot so heartily concur in all the measures which you propose. I do not believe that confiscation extended to the property of all rebels, is practicable, and if it were so, I do not think it a measure of sound policy. It is, in fact, a question belonging to the people themselves to decide, and is a proper occasion for the exercise of their original and sovereign authority. As a war measure, in the beginning of a revolt which might be quelled by prompt severity, I understand the policy of confiscation, but not as a final measure of reconstruction after the suppression of an insurrection.

In the adjustments which are to follow peace no consid-
erations of vengeance can consistently be admitted.
The object of the war is to make permanently secure the
peace and happiness of the whole country, and there was
but a single element in the way of its attainment. This
element of slavery may be considered practically destroyed
in the country, and it needs only your proposed amendment

of the Constitution, to make its extinction complete.
With this extinction of slavery the party divisions cre-
ated by it have also disappeared. And if in the history of
the country there has ever been a time when the American
people, without regard to one or another of the political
divisions, were called upon to give solemnly their voice in
a matter which involved the safety of the United States, it
is assuredly the present time.

If the Convention at Baltimore will nominate any man whose past life justifies a well-grounded confidence in his fidelity to our cardinal principles, there is no reason why there should be any division among the really patriotic men of the country. To any such I shall be most happy to give a cordial and active support.

My own decided preference is to aid in this way, and not to be myself a candidate. But if Mr. Lincoln should be nominated-as I believe it would be fatal to the country to

I have been accustomed to regard simply as a duty performed what you are pleased to represent as personally meritorious, and to regret the physical disability which alone withdrew me from the immediate scene of war. I concur in the action and agree with the principles of the Convention. Where by its twelfth resolution the quee tion of reconstruction is referred to the constitutional ao tion of the people, it wisely committed to them an issue peculiarly within the province of the future, and not yet sufficiently emerged from war, to warrant positive opinion. While I have ever supposed confiscation and use of the property of an enemy in arms to be a laudable exercise of an established and essential rule of civilized war, I am pleased to observe that the Convention, when asserting the justice of the principle, intended to remit its exercise to the representatives in Congress, when considering the pars mount question of reconstruction. This was judicious; for, indeed, so blended must be the various methods-sequestration, confiscation, military absorption and occupa tion-that shall hereafter co-operate to evolve order from confusion, and to restore the Government, that it is difficult, if not impossible, now, when affirming the principle, to provide for its application.

I have the honor, gentlemen, to accept the nomination for the Vice President of the United States, which you have tendered to me under the direction of the Convention. I am, very respectfully, yours,

To the COMMITTEE.

JOHN COCHRANE.

Speech of Colonel Cochrane. DELIVERED TO HIS REGIMENT, FIRST UNITED STATES CHAS SEURS, NOVEMBER 13, 1861.

It having been announced that Colonel John Cochrane would speak to his regiment, at their camp, on the occasion of their first appearance in new uniforms, on the afternoon of Friday, the 13th of November, instant, a large assemblage of ladies and gentlemen was congregated to hear him. A staging had been improvised beneath a spreading oak, where, conspicuous among the audience, sat the Secretary of War, dignified and composed. In front, in enclosing line, stood the imposing regiment-the first United States Chasseurs, steady, exact, and attentive. Within the square a regimen tal band uttered harmonious music, while the reddening rays of the descending sun enveloped the audience, soldiers Secretary, and orator, in rosy rays, that imparted a soft beauty to the scene, and conveyed the pleasing illusion at tendant upon dramatic effect. The Colonel then advanced, and notified his hearers that one of the companies of the regiment had selected this as a fitting opportunity to pre sent to one of their lieutenants (Morton) a small token of their admiration and esteem. The preliminary ceremony was agreeably and satisfactory finished. It was then that Colonel Cochrane arose, and, justly inspired by the scene and the circumstances which produced it, spoke as follows Soldiers of the First United States Chasseurs:

[Bravo Colonel.] I have a word to say to you to-day. You have engaged in an arduous struggle. You have prosecuted it: you intend to prosecute it; you have stood unflinchingly before the enemy; you have proved yourselves patriotic able, and tried soldiers, and you are entitled to the meed of

praise. 1, your commander, this day feel that it is a proud
duty to extend to you the hand of approbation, and to de-
clare that you are worthy of your country.
Soldiers, you have undergone labor; you have faced the
enemy; you have stood without retreating before their fire;
you have borne the inclemencies of the season, and you are
ready to advance with that grand army of which you are a
part. Your country opens its arms, and receives you to its
bosom. It will always praise and applaud you. Its com-
manders stand at the head of the column, and, with you
behind them, they are not to be deterred. But the com-
mand is forthcoming-forward, march! toward the enemy.
Take his possessions, for they are yours; they are yours to
occupy; they are yours to enjoy; you are no marauders,
you are no plunderers of property not your own, but you
are the avengers of the law; you are the right arm of the
Constitution; under your flag march patriotism and order,
and republican institutions; in your train follow peace,
prosperity and liberty; you are the servants of these high
potentates, and the arm through which they strike is the
arm of the worthy public servant who stands behind me
on this occasion, the Secretary of War.

mighty honors, not merely to the triumph which moves in glorious procession along our streets. But it is a war which moves towards the protection of our homes, the safety of our families, the continuation of our domestic altars, and the protection of our firesides. In such a war we are jus tified, are bound to resort to every force within our power. Having opened the port of Beaufort, we shall be able to export millions of cotton bales, and from these we inay supply the sinews of war. Do you say that we should not seize the cotton? No; you are clear upon that point. Suppose the munitions of war are within our reach, would we not be guilty of shameful neglect, if we availed not ourselves of the opportunity to use them? Suppose the enemy's slaves were arrayed against you, would you, from any squeamishness, refrain from pointing against them the hos tile gun, and prostrating them in death? No; that is your object and purport; and if you would seize their property, open their ports, and even destroy their lives, I ask you whether you would not use their slaves? Whether you would not arm their slaves [great applause.] and carry them in battalions against their masters? [Renewed and tumultuous applause.] If necessary to save this Government, I would plunge their whole country black and white, into one indiscriminate sea of blood, so that we should in the end have a Government which would be the vicegerent of God. Let us have no more of this dilletante system, but let us work with a will and a purpose that cannot be mistaken. Let us not put aside from too great a delicacy of motives. Soldiers, you know no such reasoning as this. You have arms in your hands, and those arms are placed there for the purpose of exterminating an enemy unless he submits to plode every thing that comes in your way. Set fire to the cotton. Explode the cotton. Take property wherever you may find it. Take the slave and bestow him upon the non-slaveholder if you please. [Great applause.] Do to them as they would do to us. Raise up a party of interest against the absent slaveholder, distract their counsels, and if this should not be sufficient, take the slave by the hand, place a musket in it, and in God's name bid him strike for the liberty of the human race. [Immense applause.] Now, is this emancipation? Is this abolitionism? I do not regard it as either. It no more partes of Abolitionism than a spaniel partakes of the nature of the lion. Abolitionism is to free the slaves. It is to make war upon the South for that purpose. It is to place them above their masters in the social scale. It is to assert the great abstract principles of equality among men. But to take the slave and make him an implement of war in overcoming your enemy, that is a military scheme. It is a military necessity, and the commander who does not this, or something equiv alent to it, is unworthy of the position he holds, and equally unworthy of your confidence. Emancipation! Are we engaged in a war of emancipation? If so, who commenced the war? Not we. And if we did not commence the war, we cannot be charged with its consequences. Where had it its origin? It had its origin in the South. It was and has been a war of the South against the free institutions of the North. Let me illustrate. Are we to free their slaves? We do not intend it. Do you recollect the resolution which was passed the last session of Congress, which distinctly declares that it never was intended by anybody in this wide

Soldiers, you have been called to the field, not as marauders and mercenaries, but as the defenders of our high faith, defenders of our glorious reputation, defenders of our honor and renown, around which cluster the memories of the past, and whose feats and performances will yet distinguish the future. You are led forward by a commander under whom to serve it is a pride for the highest among us. He enjoys the confidence of the people, and his reputation already renders powerless the arms of your enemies. By him we have won victories in the South, and by these vic-law, order, and the Constitution. If he will not submit, extories we have assurances of triumph yet to come. Beaufort is ours-Charleston may be ours-the whole country now disintegrated may shortly be united by the force of those arms of which you are a part, and the Union once more signify to the world the intent of that glorious motto, E Pluribus Unum. Then no longer shall be heard that fell | doctrine of secession, which would tear us asunder, and distract, part from part, this glorious Union; but we shall all be as we have been, one and inseparable, under the flag of our glorious nationality, won by our fathers, and preserved by you. [Applause.] Here is assembled upon the banks of the Potomac an army the like of which the world has never seen. The motive which has gathered that army together never before was presented to the eye of history. It was congregated by no despotic order; it was the voluntary wish, the motive power, of every man composing it-the power of men rushing, as with one purpose, to reinstate the flag of our Union and save the Republic. That, soldiers, is your mission; and you have a commander who with lightning speed will lead you to conquest, and with equal speed will transmit the glory of your labors to the remotest corners of our country. And now permit me, though the shades of night are falling upon us, to indulge in a few words as to the cause of the war, and the means by which it is to be brought to a successful termination. The material aid I have already averted to; the motive power remains to be commented upon. On the one side you have the Confederate army; on the other side you have the grand Union-the Federal army. Now, the difference between these two words, in their common acceptation, is the cause for which these two armies are fighting. It is Secession against Fed-land to free the slave. "Compromise," too, has been talked eration, Federation against Secession. Nationality against disunion; confusion against order; anarchy against a good, free, and liberal Government-a Government made equally by the Fathers of the South and the Fathers of the North. We are in a revolutionary period. The South contends for the right of revolution. We admit the right; but, while we admit it, we invoke the sole umpire which may be invoked on such occasions-the umpire of the sword, the umpire of force, the ultima ratio, that last effort to which men appeal when they have differences otherwise irreconcileable.

They-the South-have resorted to arms, and they have compelled us to the same resort; and if they claim that it is a war of self-preservation on their part, it is equally a war of self-preservation on ours; and if we are in controversy for very existence, then I contend that all the resources, all the means within ourselves, individually, collectively, and nationally, must be resorted to and adopted. [Applause.] But some friend-a doubter-exclaims: “Would you disrupt and tear asuuder the Constitution?" Where is the Constitution? Would you tread and trample upon that sacred instrument, and no longer acknowldge its binding force, no longer be bound by its compromises and decrees? I answer, no. The Constitution, by the necessity of the controversy, is cast behind the arena of the strife. May it rest there safe, until the present strife being over it shall be restored to its original purity and force. Like the sibyl leaves when lost, the remainder become more valuable in our eyes, and in the midst of the carnage we will clasp to our bosoms that instrument whose worth has never been transcended by human efforts. Soldiers, to what means shall we resort for our existonce? This war is devoted not merely to victory and its

of this matter. Why did they not compromise? Because it was not their object. I say this fearlessly, for I infer it from scenes in which I was an actor.

At Charleston, I remember, that when satisfied that Mr. Douglas could not, while they remained in the convention. be nominated for the Presidency, they nevertheless withdrew. It was, if my remembrance is not at fault, near the midnight hour, at the prominent headquarters of the southern array, that Messrs. Yancey and Percy Walker entered the room. Those present had previously concluded, upon careful calculations, that the South abiding by the convention, Judge Douglas could not receive two thirds of the vote of the convention. This conclusion was communicated to these gentlemen, who, as I understand, having reviewed the calculations, and expressed their reliance upon them, declared, when leaving, their determination to remain in the convention. It was at the opening of the convention on the very next morning, that Mr. Walker sent to the chair the act of secession of Alabama therefrom. The morning deed declared marvelously, when contrasted with the midnight profession, that the act of secession was but a foregone conclusion, necessary to precipitate the only issue to which they desired to be a party.

Nothing could be satisfactory to these, except that arms should be resorted to, and the fate of revolution abided by. I declare, therefore, that the war is not of our originating, but it has been forced upon us by a crafty enemy-an enemy resolved to do or die; to destroy our free Government, or perish in the attempt. And what is their object? Why, their object is to tear down this proud, noble, and beneficent Government, to establish a reign of terror, anarchy, and

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