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Cade i of me. Pasbena Lineola, by invitation, amanded the greas Fun for the beards of the Sanitary Commission, at Philadelphia... His receptia was such as to leave no doubt that he had the errill affection of the people of that dity After two or three hours spent by him (Mrs. Lincoln being alto present, in passing through the rooms of the fair, which contained rare works of art and varieties of objects attractive to the intellectual taste, he was conducted to the supper-room, where Edward Everett and other distinguished guests joined him at the table. His health having been proposed, the President made the following remarks:

War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and duration, is one of the most terrible. It has

deranged business, totally in some locations, and partially in all locations. It has produced a national debt and taxation unprecedented, at least, in this country. It has carried mourning to almost every home, until it may almost be said that "the heavens are hung with black."

Yet the war continues, and several relieving coincidents have accompanied it from the beginning, which have not been known, as I understand it, in former wars in the history of the world. The Sanitary Commission, with all its benevolent labors; the Christian Commission, with all its benevolent and Christian labors, and the various places, arrangements, institutions, so to speak, that have contributed to the comfort and relief of the soldier. You have two of these places in your city: the Cooper Shop and the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloons; and, lastly, these fairs, which, I believe, began only in last August, if I mistake not, at Chicago, then at Boston, at Cincinnati, at Brooklyn, at New York, at Baltimore, and at the present at St. Louis, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, and, perhaps, at some other places which I do not remember.

The motives and objects that lie at the bottom of all these are the most worthy; for, say what you will, after all, the most is due to the soldier, who takes his life in his hand, and goes to fight the battles of his country. [Loud cheering.] In what is contributed to his comfort as he passes to and fro, from city to city; in what is contributed to him when he is sick and wounded; in whatever shape it comes, whether from the fair hand of woman, or from whatever source it may, it is much, very much. But I think that there is still that which is of much value to him, in the continual reminders he sees in the newspapers, that while he is absent he is yet remembered by the loved ones at home. [Cheers.]

Another view of these various institutions, if I may so call them, is worthy of consideration, I think. They are voluntary contributions, given zealously and earnestly, on top of all the disturbances of business, of all the disorders, of all the taxations, and of all the burdens that the war has imposed upon us, giving proof that the national resources are not at all exhausted; that the national spirit of patriotism is even firmer and stronger than at the commencement of the war.

But

It is a pertinent question, often asked in the mind privately, and from one to another, when is the war to end? Surely I feel as great an interest in this question as any other can. I do not wish to name the day, or the month, or the year with which it is to end. I do not wish to run the risk of seeing the time come without our being ready for the end, for fear of disappointment, because the time had come and not the end.

We accepted this war; we did not begin it. But we accepted the war for an object, a worthy object, and the war will end when that object is attained, and I hope under God it never will without. [Tumultuous cheering.] Speaking of the present campaign, Gen. Grant is reported to have said: “I am going through on this line if it takes all summer." This war has taken three years. It was beguu or accepted on the line of restoring the national authority over all the national domain. And for the American people, as far as my knowledge enables me to speak, I say we are going through on this line if it takes three years more. [Great cheering].

My friends, I did not know but that I might be called upon to say a few words before I got away from here; but I did not know it was coming just here. [Laughter.] I have never been in the habit of making predictions in regard to the war, but I am almost tempted to make one. If I were to hazard it, it is this: That Grant is this evening, with Gen. Meade and Gen. Hancock, of Pennsylvania, and the brave officers and soldiers with him, in a position where he will never be dislodged until Richmond is taken. And I have but one single proposition further to put now, and perhaps I can best put it in the form of an interrogatory.

If I shall discover that Gen. Grant, and the noble officers and men under him, can be greatly facilitated in their work by a sudden pouring forth of armed men to their assistance, will you give them to me? [Cries of "yes." and cheers.] Arc you ready to march? Then, I say, stand ready, for I am watching for the chance. [Merriment, and applause.] I thank you, gentlemen.

It will be remembered that Gen. Grant, at the date of this speech, had just advanced beyond the James and appeared before Petersburg. The details of this movement were then but imperfectly known, but the President's prediction—a cautious one, by no means over sanguine, yet distinct and definite -was strictly fulfilled. It well illustrates the firm confidence, without extravagant anticipations, which he reposed in the Lieutenant-General and the brave men under his command.

The Opposition party, styling itself Democratic, had early in the season called a National Convention, to be assembled at Chicago on the 4th of July, for the purpose of nominating candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States.

As the time approached, however, the Democratic

leaders, perhaps unable to determine whether it were better to adopt a war or a peace basis, perhaps anxious for the Union of the various elements of opposition to Mr. Lincoln, and certainly willing to afford the fullest scope for the development and strengthening of divisions on the Administration side, by deferring to present any definite opponent or issue, decided to postpone their Convention until the 29th of August.

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It was somewhat earlier in the season, that a band of Rebel leaders, including Jacob Thompson, Buchanan's Secretary of the Interior, Clement C. Clay, once a Senator from Alabama, J. P. Holcombe, of Virginia, and George N. Sanders, a renegade New Yorker of notorious worthlessness, ran the blockade, safely reaching Bermuda, and embarked from thence to Canada, being, as they subsequently represented, "in the confidential employment" of Jefferson Davis. At the time, their mission was supposed to have more immediate reference to political movements in the loyal States, with a view to a change of the Administration by the election of Peace Democratic candidates. It was then hardly suspected that their purposes extended to such desperate and infamous measures in behalf of the "Confederacy as have since been associated with their names. These persons, with the exception of Thompson, who appears to have divided his time chiefly between Montreal and Toronto, soon made their appearance at Niagara Falls, whither leading Democrats were reported to be resorting, to hold with them confidential conferences. Sanders, on whose suggestion is not known, addressed a note to the Hon. Horace Greeley, on the 12th of July, suggesting that Clay, Holcombe, himself "and one other," not named by him, would like "to go at once to Washington, upon complete and unqualified protection being given, either by the President or Secretary of War." No object is assigned for the proposed journey. Mr. Greeley assumed that the purpose was to talk of negotiations for peace, an assumption scarcely warranted by the facts then known, and much less in the light of information since disclosed. In a communication written not long after, Mr. Greeley thus refers to this note and its results:

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