with the command and direction of the armies, seeking to control the elections, growing fat upon the public distresses. Many of them were grieved and alarmed at the absence of respect, to use no harsh word, manifested by some of their servants for the ancient and sacred muniments of personal liberty; without which, free government is a mockery, and life itself a burden. Hope deferred was making the heart sick. In that day of distraction and anxiety and thick gloom, one thing seemed to be as clear as the sun at mid-day; and that was, the necessity of an united North; that all its wisdom, all its energy, all its strength, should be combined, converged, projected into one purpose, one issue, one aim, suppression of armed rebellion by force of arms.

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As this was a common cause, infinitely transcending all party questions, with which Republican, Whig, and Democrat were alike concerned; for which, justice compels us to say, they had made equal sacrifices, and must share equal burdens; as the peculiar objects for which the party in power had been organized were already attained by the legislation of Congress; no sound, substantial reason existed for upholding the old party barriers, or drawing, with any rigor, the old party lines. On the other hand, patriotism and sound policy seemed to require that party organizations should, during the war at least, be given up; for these organizations, though often the result of differences of opinion, are as often the cause. When men are working together for a common end, and with no visible line of separation, they will converge, assimilate, and cleave together. Make a breach between them which is palpable, and, however

narrow at first, it will constantly widen. Differences, slight at the start, will enlarge by conflict and repulsion, till unity of action and effort are no longer practicable.

The Republican party has had, and has now, the ascendency in this Commonwealth. It was inclined at first. to pursue a liberal policy. It would to-day, if its wise and prudent men controlled its movements. It is made up of two wings. The first consists of those who are opposed to slavery; who desire to see its restriction within its present limits, and its removal from places where the power of the National Government is supreme; but who also hold, "that the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of powers on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends" (Chicago Platform); and that the war is prosecuted "for the purpose of practically restoring the constitutional relations between the United States and each of the States and the people thereof, in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed" (President's Proclamation of Sept. 22); and that, when this object is attained, the war ought to cease. This is the Conservative wing.

The other wing consists of those, who, for want of a better word, may be called Abolitionists; men who, with more or less indirection, circuitous navigation of thought and word, come at last to the point, that Constitution or no Constitution, Union or no Union, endure the war as long as it may, be the cost and carnage and exhaustion what they may, slavery shall be abolished. This wing

of the party is now in the ascendant, and rules the party with a rod of iron. They arranged and controlled the Annual Convention. They saw to it that no man was nominated who did not embrace their extreme views, though they were kind enough to include some very recent converts. They covered their leaders with adulation thicker than a man's loins, and snubbed the President of the United States because their platform was too narrow for him to stand upon. They made the test of loyalty, fidelity to men, instead of devotion to the country. This wing of the party arranges and controls all the preliminary meetings, sets in motion all the party machinery, and makes all the party nominations. So far as its So far as its power extends, not a man, holding what are usually termed conservative views, will be elected to any place, state or national. Never was proscription so rigid, so bitter, so universal. They go now one step further. Assuming that the President has at last yielded to their pressure, and has adopted their policy, they denounce as a traitor every man who hesitates as to the wisdom of the proclamation, or who fails to give it their interpretation. Without stopping to murmur or complain, one may be permitted to say, that such charges come with little grace from men, who, but a few weeks ago, felt the defence of the country, under the then policy, to be a heavy draft upon their patriotism; with still less grace from those of them who have for years been laboring to destroy the blessed Union of our fathers, and who even now repudiate it with hissing and scorn.

In this condition of things, the severance of political associations is natural, is perhaps inevitable. The differ

ences of principle and of policy are too great to be reconciled. The Radicals, upon their own showing, neither want nor need our aid. We, the Conservatives, must be true to our convictions of duty, and stand to the last by the Union and Constitution. But, while these differences of opinion and policy exist, we can unite in the vigorous prosecution of this war till the rebels lay down their arms, whoever shall constitute the National and State administrations. We can give them a vigorous and unhesitating support in the discharge of this great and imperative duty. We can and should avoid all captious opposition or criticism; but we may not and will not surrender our judgments or our consciences. We will not forget who are the servants, and who the masters. We will elect, if we can, to places of power, men who reflect our opinions. We will send men to Congress who will sustain the Administration in all constitutional and just measures, and hold them back, if possible, from a radical and destructive policy. We don't propose to rehabilitate the doctrine of passive obedience, or of an infallible political church. In war, as in peace, freedom of thought and utterance is to the body politic what vital air is to the human system. It cannot live without it.

I am one of those who are content with the Constitution as it is, and the Union as it was; the Constitution fairly interpreted in the spirit of its founders. I have felt no misgivings, and had no mental reservations, in swearing to support it. To me the oath was the pledge, not of duty merely, but of love and devotion. I mean to keep that oath; and, with such strength as may be

given me, to uphold and defend that Constitution, because the life of the nation is bound up in it; because the preservation of the Constitution, and the preservation of the Union, are not two questions, but one question; are not two issues, but one and the same issue. I have lived half a century without discovering or suspecting that the " Constitution was a failure." On the other hand, I have ever regarded it as the noblest product of the human mind; the work of men chastened by adversity, disciplined by trial; in their conscious weakness, seeking the Divine Strength; believing that God governs in the affairs of men; assured that, "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it." That Constitution has given us a Government felt only in its blessings; under whose benign and quickening influences the nation sprung up to greatness, her commerce whitening every sea, the stars on her banner kindled by the light of a never-setting sun; a model Republic, which won for itself the homage and admiration of mankind, the fear of kings, to struggling humanity, inspiration and hope. It is very easy to say the Constitution is not perfect. I am not wise enough to build a better, and do not know the men who are. It is easy to express regret at what are called its compromises. You may as well regret it was ever made. All government is compromise, save as it is rooted in the Divine Will. Social order is mutual concession. The Constitution was the best compromise that could be made; and the experience of more than seventy years has not taught us how to make a wiser one.

That Constitution is the bond of national unity. Re