shape is to be given to the retribution? Can we take the man who was captured at Vicksburg, and shoot him for the victim of this massacre? If it should happen that it was the act of only one man, what course is to be pursued then? It is a matter requiring careful examination and deliberation; and, if it shall be substantiated by sufficient evidence, all may rest assured that retribution will be had."

And now we leave these minor matters, for the consideration of great and decisive events, concerning alike the life of Mr. Lincoln and the life of the nation.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE year 1864 was distinguished by two grand campaigns: one, political; the other, military: and, as the latter did not terminate with the year, it is well, perhaps, to give the former the precedence in the record. After four years, marked by mighty changes in the nation, the year of the presidential election had come again. It came in with doubt and darkness. The country was feeling the distresses of the war, and was wincing under the drafts made upon its vital and financial resources. Call after call for men had been made. Draft after draft had been enforced. Taxation brought home the burden to every man's door; and still no end appeared. Still the rebel confederacy seemed full of vitality; still it commanded immense resources of men and material; still its spirit and its words were uncompromising and defiant. During four years of administration, Mr. Lincoln had made many enemies, among those who had originally supported him; and the democratic party were not scrupulous in the use of means to bring him into disrepute with the people. Many republicans suffered under private grievances. Their counsels had not been sufficiently followed; their friends had not been properly served. Some thought Mr. Lincoln had been too fast and too severe in his measures; others thought that he had been too slow. All this was to have been expected; and it may well be imagined that no decision as to the true policy of the republican party, in its nominations, could have been made, without an exhibition of all the elements of discord.

That this period had been anticipated by friends and ene

mies abroad as one of the most terrible tests to which the republican institutions of the country had been or could be subjected, was evident. We were called upon in the very heat of civil war-that war involving questions upon which even the loyal portion of the country was almost evenly divided→→ to elect a president for four years. With immense armies in the field and immense navies afloat, with fresh drafts for troops threatened or in progress,-with discord among the friends of the government and the foes of the rebellion,—and with a watchful opposition, skilled in party warfare, taking advantage of every mistake of the government and every success of its enemies, to push its own fortunes in the strife for power, it is not strange that cool observers looked doubtfully upon the result, as it related to the power of a republican government to take care of itself, and maintain its hold upon the nation and its place among the governments of the world. How well the people behaved in this startling emergency, the calm discussions of the presidential campaign, the solemn and conscientious manner of the people at the polls, the triumph of the national arms, and the present peace and stability of the country, bear witness.

Mr. Chase, the distinguished Secretary of the Treasury, had his friends, and they were many and powerful. General Fremont had also his friends, who felt that he had not been well treated by the administration, and who were anxious for a diversion in his favor. Although both of these gentlemen had strong adherents among the politicians, and although either of them would have been cordially supported by the people under favorable circumstances, it was abundantly evident that the great masses of the people were in favor of Mr. Lincoln. He had had experience, and had grown wise under its influence. His unobtrusive character and his unbending honesty had won their confidence; and, although the future looked dark, they were conscious that progress had been made toward the destruction of the rebellion, and that, if the policy of war should be pursued, it would inevitably ultimate in the national success. They were convinced, also, that the way to

a permanent peace was through war.

Under these circum

stances, they were reluctant to change leaders and rulers The result was, that, at an early day, Mr. Chase withdrew his name from the list of candidates, and left much of the disaffected element afloat.

Outside of the republican and democratic parties, there was no organization; and, to institute one, an irresponsible call was issued, for a convention to be held at Cleveland, Ohio, on the thirty-first of May. The call represented that the public liberties were in danger, and declared for the "one-term principle," by which Mr. Lincoln should be set aside, however efficiently he might have served the government. The regular convention of the republican party, which was to be held at Baltimore on the eighth of June, was denounced in the call, as failing to answer the conditions of a truly national convention, in consequence of its proximity to "administrative influence."

The people recognized this call to be simply what it, in reality, was—an anti-Lincoln demonstration; and paid no attention to it, except in one or two instances. The Germans of Missouri did something by way of indorsement; as did also a few radicals elsewhere, who had really never been members of the republican party proper.

The convention was held at the appointed time; and it brought together an insignificant number of politicians, selfappointed to their seats in the convention. It was, in no sense, the offspring of the popular feeling or conviction; and its action found no response in the popular heart. Fremont's name formed the rallying point of the convention. Wendell Phillips and Frederick Douglass sent letters to it. Mrs. E. Cady Stanton approved of the convention in a letter. John Cochrane presided, and was honored with the nomination for Vicepresident, on the ticket with General Fremont. The platform adopted dealt briefly with generalities, condemning no person save by implication, and containing no vital element which had not already been appropriated by the mass of republicans throughout the nation. Although the convention was organ

or from personal considerations, does not appear. He withdrew his name from the list of candidates before the people in September, after it became evident to everybody that his position was a damage to the national cause, administering a parting thrust at Mr. Lincoln in the words: "In respect to Mr. Lincoln, I continue to hold exactly the sentiments contained in my letter of acceptance. I consider that his administration has been politically and financially a failure, and that its necessary continuance is a cause of regret for the country." General Fremont, an old favorite of the republican party, and a man who virtually claimed to be a better republican than the majority of his party, said this, and said it with a purpose, or, wantonly, without a purpose, when he knew that the alternative of Mr. Lincoln's election was the election of General McClellan, on a peace platform, supported by such patriots as Fernando Wood and Clement L. Vallandigham.

Four days before the date appointed for the assembling of the Baltimore Convention, a meeting was held in New York to do honor to General Grant. The General had not then concluded the war, and had not, in fact, met with decisive successes with the army of the Potomac. There was no special occasion for the meeting, except to influence the Baltimore Convention in the selection of a candidate. To cover their real intent, they invited Mr. Lincoln to attend; and he sent the following letter in response:

"Gentlemen-Your letter inviting me to be present at a mass meeting of the loyal citizens, to be held at New York on the fourth inst., for the purpose of expressing gratitude to Lieutenant-general Grant for his signal services, was received yesterday. It is impossible for me to attend. I approve, nevertheless, whatever may tend to strengthen and sustain General Grant and the noble armies now under his direction My previous high estimate of General Grant has been maintained and heightened by what has occurred in the remarkable campaign he is now conducting; while the magnitude and difficulty of the task before him does not prove less than I expected. He and his brave soldiers are now in the midst of their great trial; and I trust that, at your meeting, you will so shape your good words that they may turn to men and guns moving to his and their support.