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CHAPTER XXIII.

1864.

Renomination at Baltimore- The Fremont Convention at Cleveland -Thirteenth Amendment in Congress —Winter Davis's Reconstruction Bill-Speech at Sanitary Fair in Philadelphia - Secretary Chase Resigns — Succeeded by Senator Fessenden-"Confidential" Confederates in Canada - Greeley's Mission to Niagara.

*

The Republican National Convention met at Baltimore on the 7th of June. Robert J. Breckinridge, D.D., of Kentucky, was its temporary president. On taking the chair he avowed his lifelong conviction of the evil and wrong of slavery, and his earnest desire that it should come to an end throughout the land a declaration which brought very enthusiastic applause. He was equally clear, and was as warmly indorsed by cheers from delegates and spectators, in the expression of his belief that the nation demanded the re-election of Abraham Lincoln.

West Virginia was duly represented, and there was a delegation claiming to represent Virginia-the "Pierpont" commonwealth, which had its seat at Alexandria.

* Called by the regular Republican committee, this was formally styled a “Union" Convention, and it included, in accordance with the invitation extended, some members not identified with the Republican party.

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The admission of Senators and Representatives to seats in Congress from Arkansas was still pending at Washington, and Representatives from Louisiana had already been recognized by Congress. Both States were treated by the convention as reconstructed, and the delegates from Louisiana and Arkansas were seated. The like hospitality was shown to the delegates from Tennes- all the more readily, no doubt, that many members of the convention desired to make a citizen of that State the candidate for Vice-President. A growing antagonism between the President and Congress in regard to reconstruction was echoed in the discussions here; and a majority of the convention found it expedient to draw the line on "Virginia," whose delegates were excluded. There were contesting delegations, Radical and Conservative, from Missouri. The Radicals, though less friendly to Lincoln than their rivals, were admitted. Ex-Governor William Dennison, of Ohio, was chosen as the permanent presiding officer.

The convention pledged its members, irrespective of political differences, " to aid the Government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority," and in bringing "the rebels and traitors arrayed against it" to the "punishment due to their crimes"; approved "the determination of the Government not to compromise with rebels, or to offer 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"; called upon the Government "to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor"; affirmed that "slavery was the cause and now consti

tutes the strength of the rebellion," and that justice and the national safety "demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic"; promised to "uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Government, in its own defense, has aimed a death-blow at this gigantic evil," and pronounced in favor of a constitutional amendment to "terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States." There were resolutions giving thanks and promising liberal consideration to soldiers and sailors; encouraging foreign immigration; favoring the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific; and insisting that the national faith pledged for the redemption of the national debt be kept inviolate. There were general allusions to the Fort Pillow massacre and to the French invasion of Mexico which were sufficiently explicit. Two resolutions more directly personal were:

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 contained in these resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the Government.

The somewhat indefinite resolution last quoted was construed by radical interpreters to mean that the Cabinet needed reconstruction. One member aimed at was understood to be Postmaster-General Blair. The formula was broad enough to make room for others.

A ballot for the Presidential nomination having been moved, ex-Secretary Cameron proposed instead a resolution declaring the renomination of both Lincoln and Hamlin. This met with so much objection that, after a brief discussion, the amendment was withdrawn, and the original motion prevailed. As the roll was called, the entire vote of every State save one was cast for Lincoln. The exception was Missouri, which gave an undivided vote for General Grant. Having thus obeyed the instructions of their constituents, the Missouri delegates agreed to make the vote unanimous.

Of the votes cast for Vice-President, 200 were for Andrew Johnson, 145 for Hannibal Hamlin, and 113 for Daniel S. Dickinson, of New York. Mr. Johnson had the entire vote of Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut, and a majority of the votes of New York and Vermont. Illinois and Pennsylvania were unanimous for Hamlin.* Without another roll-call enough votes were changed

*As stated by Colonel A. K. McClure, one of the Pennsylvania delegates, this vote for Mr. Hamlin was only complimentary, the majority really preferring Mr. Johnson, for whom they would have voted as a unit on another ballot.

to give Johnson a majority. The nomination of a candidate from Tennessee was especially agreeable to the Secretary of State for its effect abroad, where the possibility of reclaiming any Confederate State was persistently denied. There was, too, a general impression, in which Lincoln shared, that the ticket would be strengthened by the nomination of a Southern Democrat who had persistently adhered to the Union side. Nevertheless, the President felt a strong personal sympathy with his first associate on the Republican ticket - a sympathy that was nothing less than sincere regret for his defeat by the entirely free action of the convention. This sentiment would very naturally be uppermost in Lincoln's mind for the moment. As attested by Mr. Tinker, then of the telegraphic service at the War Department, where the President first received the news, he remarked, as if soliloquizing: "Well, I thought possibly he might be the man. Perhaps he is the best man, but"— The sentence remained incomplete. What he expressed can be readily interpreted, but even with the light of later events, we cannot read his hidden misgiving or the reflections to which it led.*

The convention having finished its work and dissolved, the committee appointed for the purpose waited on the President at the White House, on the 9th of

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*Mr. Tinker's reminiscence appeared in the New York Sun, in July, 1891. Major Albert E. H. Johnson, who was confidential clerk to Secretary Stanton at the time in question, said of this incident (New York Evening Post, July 13, 1891): The door had scarcely closed upon the President . . . when Mr. Tinker came in and told me the entire story, just as he has now told it in print. I remember it as if it were but yesterday."

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