have to answer is a serenade. I never know what to say on these 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. What we want still more than Baltimore Conventions, or Presidential elections, is success under General Grant. 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. The rousing cheers were given-Mr. Lincoln himself leading off, and waving his hat as earnestly as any one present. The written address of the Committee of the Convention announcing his nomination, sent to him a few days afterwards, was as follows: Hon. ABRAHAM LINCOLN : NEW YORK, June 14, 1864. SIR:-The National Union Convention, which assembled in Baltimore on June 7th, 1864, has instructed us to inform you that you were nominated with enthusiastic unanimity for the Presidency of the United States for four years from the 4th of March next. The resolutions of the convention, which we have already had the pleasure of placing in your hands, are a full and clear statement of the principles which inspired its action, and which, as we believe, the great body of Union men in the country heartily approve. Whether those resolutions express the national gratitude to our soldiers and sailors, or the national scorn of compromise with rebels, and consequent dishonor, or the patriotic duty of union and success; whether they approve the Proclamation of Emancipation, the Constitutional Amendinent, the employment of former slaves as Union soldiers, or the solemn obligation of the Government promptly to redress the wrongs of every soldier of the Union, of whatever color or race; whether they declare the inviolability of the plighted faith of the nation, or offer the national hospita..ty to the oppressed of every land, or urge the union by railroad of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; whether they recommend public economy and vigorous taxation, or assert the fixed popular opposition to the establishment by armed force of foreign monarchies in the immediate neighborhood of the United States, or declare that those only are worthy of official trust who approve unreservedly the views and policy indicated in the resolutions— they were equally hailed with the heartiness of profound conviction. Believing with you, sir, that this is the people's war for the maintenance of a Government which you have justly described as "of the people, by as I believe it would be fatal to the country to 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 alternative butto organize against him every element of conscientious op position, with the view to prevent the misfortune of his re-election." And he accepted the nomination, and announced that he had resigned his commission in the army. The convention, the nomination, and the letter of acceptance, fell dead upon the popular feeling. The time had been when Fremont's name had power, especially with the young men of the country. Many had felt that he had received less than he deserved at the hands of the Administration, and that if the opportunity had been afforded he would have rendered to the country distinguished and valuable service. But the position which he had here taken at once separated him from those who had been his truest friends, whose feelings were accurately expressed by Governor Morton, of Indiana, in a speech at Indianapolis on the 12th of June, when he said: "I car ried the standard of General Fremont to the best of my poor ability through the canvass of 1856, and I have since endeavored to sustain him, not only as a politician, but as a military chieftain, and never until I read this letter did I have occasion to regret what I have done. It has been read with joy by his enemies and with pain by his friends, and, omitting one or two sentences, there is nothing in it that might not have been written or subscribed without inconsistency by Mr. Vallandigham." The next form which the effort to prevent Mr. Lincoln's nomination and election took, was an effort to bring forward General Grant as a candidate. A meeting had been called for the 4th of June, in New York, ostensibly to express the gratitude of the nation to him and the sol diers under his command, for their labors and successes. As a matter of course the meeting was large and enthusi astic. President Lincoln wrote the following letter in answer to an invitation to attend : Hon. F. A. CONKLING and others: EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 3, 1864. GENTLEMEN:-Your letter, inviting me to be present at a mass meeting of loyal citizens, to be held at New York, on the 4th instant, 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, of 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. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN. Whatever political purposes prompted the call for this meeting, they were entirely overborne by the simple but resistless appeal, made by the President in this letter, to the patriotism of the country. Its effect was to stimulate instantly and largely the effort to fill up the ranks of the army, and thus aid General Grant in the great campaign by which he hoped to end the war. In a private letter to a personal friend, however, General Grant put a decisive check upon all these attempts of politicians to make his name the occasion of division among Union men, by peremptorily refusing to allow himself to be made a candidate, and by reiterating in still more emphatic and hopeful terms the President's appeal to the people for aid and support. None of these schemes of ambitious aspirants to political leadership had any effect upon the settled sentiment and purpose of the great body of the people. They appreciated the importance of continuing the administration of the government in the same channel, and saw clearly enough that nothing would more thoroughly impress upon the rebels and the world the determination of the people to preserve the Union at all hazards, and at whatever cost, than the indorsement by a popular vote, in spite of all mistakes and defects of policy, of the the people, for the people," we are very sure that you will be glad to know, not only from the resolutions themselves, but from the singular harmony and enthusiasm with which they were adopted, how warm is the popular welcome of every measure in the prosecution of the war which is as vigorous, unmistakable, and unfaltering as the national purpose itself. No right, for instance, is so precious and sacred to the American heart as that of personal liberty. Its violation is regarded with just, instant, and universal jealousy. Yet, in this hour of peril, every faithful citizen concedes that, for the sake of national existence and the common welfare, individual liberty may, as the Constitution provides in case of rebellion, be sometimes summarily constrained, asking only with painful anxiety that in every instance, and to the least detail, that absolute necessary power shall not be hastily or unwisely exercised. 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 through 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 persuasion. They have watched your official course, therefore, with unflagging 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 throughom 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 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 Constitution, sir, we earnestly request your acceptance of this nomination; reverently commending our beloved country, and you, its Chief Magistrate, with all its brave sons who, on sea and land, are faithfully defending the good old American cause of equal rights, to the blessing of Almighty God. We are, sir, very respectfully, your friends and fellow-citizens. WM. DENNISON, O., Chairman. W. BUSHNELL, Ill. L. P. ALEXANDER, Mich. A. H. BULLOCK, Mass. E. P. TYFFE, Ohio. CYRUS M. ALLEN, Ind. THOMAS SIMPSON, Minn. REPLY OF MR. LINCOLN. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 27, 1861 HON. WM. DENNISON and others, a Committee of the Union National Convention: GENTLEMEN:-Your letter of the 14th inst., 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 in 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 seaman 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, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The platform adopted by the Baltimore Convention met with the general approval of those of the people who claimed to be the supporters of the Government. One exception was, however, found in the person of Mr. Charles Gibson, Solicitor of the United States in the |