y 
 
 .0' 
 
 -**^\ V.e,** _^'^%id\ v,<.« /jfe'v V.^** .'^s 
 
 .« 4."^ 
 

 
 
 * <^ .. -^ '"*' f° 
 
 
 ^.> r,^ ^- • 
 
 w <& <^. * 
 
 0" "^^ *"•'■••' .'?»'^' '^'^.'^•-o 
 
 4 V «1» 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ p. 
 
 f'j> \'^^''J- "o^-^^-/ %'^-''^^ 
 
 
 
 
 ' * ^ ^«» * • " 
 
 ' .*:;ei^'- '^ ■ -<■'" •' 
 
LOYAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 
 
 LETTERS OF LOYAL SOLDIERS. 
 
 lEow (Aeneral Sherman proclaimed Peace at •Itlanta. 
 
 Motv General •fict-all pronounced for Peace in 
 Pen nsyl vania. 
 
 Who knows most about the Kebellion ? Politicians, who have 
 lived at home, outside of the reach of its cannon — or Generals, 
 M'ho have been turnino; its flank all summer ? Read the Chicao;o 
 outrage and then listen to Generals who are further inside of the 
 Rebel lines, than the Chicago politicians were outside of them, 
 and judge between the two. • 
 
 All of these gallant soldiers hate War and love Peace. They 
 know something of both. Yet not one is willing to give up by 
 disgraceful suirender, the glories and the honor, which have cost 
 so much blood and treasure ; all they ask of us, is, to see to it, 
 that there is no fire in the rear; they will take care of the Re- 
 bellion in the tVont. 
 
 Letter of General Sherman to the People of Atlanta. 
 
 On the 11th lust, the Mayor and Council of Atlanta addressed 
 an elaborate letter to General Sherman, requesting a revocation 
 
,_ 
 
 .s^^ 
 
 or iiiodiftcation of his order for the removal of the inhabitants of 
 the city. General Sherman replied as follows : 
 
 "Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, ) 
 IN THE Field, ' (. 
 
 Atlanta, Ga., September 12, 1864. ) 
 ''James M. Calhoun, Mayor. K E. Bawson, and S. C Wells 
 representing City Council of Atlanta : ' 
 
 "Gentlemen : I have your letter of the 11th, in the nature of 
 a petition to revoke my orders removing all the inhabitants from 
 Athinta. 1 have read it carefully, and give full credit to your 
 statements ot the distress that will be occasioned bv it, and yet 
 shall not revoke my order, simply because my orders are not de- 
 signed to meet the humanities of the case, but to prepare for the 
 future struggles in which millions, yea hundreds of miUions of 
 good people outside of Atlanta have a deep interest We must 
 have peace, not only at Atlanta, but in all America. To secure 
 this we must stop the war that now desolates our once liappy and 
 tavored country. To stop war we must defeat the rebel armies 
 that are arrayed against the laws and constitution, which all 
 must respect and obey. To defeat these armies we must pre- 
 pare the way to reach tliem in their recesses, provided with the 
 arms and instruments which enable us to a(tcomplish our Dur- 
 pose. ^ '■ 
 
 "I^ow, I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, and that 
 we may havff many years of military operations from this 
 quarter and therefore deem it wise and prudent to prepare in 
 time. The use of Atlanta for warlike purposes is inconsistent 
 with Its character as a home for families. There will be no 
 manufactures, commerce or agriculture here for the maintenance 
 wu ^' sooner or later want will compel the inhabitant to 
 
 go. Why not go now, when all the arrangements are completed for 
 the transfer, instead of waiting till the plunging shot of contending 
 armies will renew the scenes of the past month ? Of course I dS 
 not apprehend any such thing at this moment, but you do not 
 suppose that tliis army will be here till the war is over I can- 
 not discuss this subject with you fairly, because I cannot impart 
 to you what I propose to do, but I assert that mv militarv plans 
 make it necessary for the inhabitants to go awav; and I can only 
 renew my offer of services to make their exodus in any direction 
 as easy and comfortable as possil^l^. You cannot qualify war in 
 harsher terms than I will. ^ 
 
 "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those M'ho 
 brouglu war on our country deserve all the curses and male- 
 dictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in mak- 
 ing this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices than any of 
 you to secure peace. But you cannot liave peace and a division 
 of our country. It tlie United States submits to a division now. 
 It will not stop, but will go on till we reap the fate of -Mexieo 
 

 which is eternal war. The United States does and must assert 
 its authority wlierever it has power ; if it relaxes one bit to pres- 
 sure it is gone, and I know that such is not the national feeling. 
 This feeling assumes various shapes, but always comes back to 
 that of Union. Once admit the Union, once more acknowledge 
 the authority of the national government, and instead of devot- 
 ing 3^our houses and streets and roads to the dread uses of war, 
 I, and this army, become at once your protectors and supporters, 
 shielding you from danger, let it come from what quarter it may. 
 I know that a few individuals cannot resist a torrent of error 
 and passion such as has swept the South into rebellion ; but you 
 can point out, so that we may know those who desire a govern- 
 ment and those Avho insist on war and its desolation. 
 
 " You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as 
 against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, 
 and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to 
 live in peace and quiet at home is to stop this war, whicli can 
 alone be done by admitting that it began in error and is per- 
 petuated in pride. We don't want your negroes or your horses, 
 or your houses, or your land, or anything you have, but we do 
 want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United 
 States. That we will have, and if it involves the destruction of 
 your im])rovements, we cannot help it. You have heretofore 
 read public sentiment in your newspapers, that live by falsehood 
 and excitement, and the quicker you seek for truth in other 
 quarters the better for you. 
 
 " I repeat, then, that by the original conq^act of government, 
 the United States had certain rights in Georgia which have 
 never been relinquished, and never will be ; that the South be- 
 gan war by seizing forts, arsenals, mints, custom-houses, &c., &c. 
 long befui'e Mr. Lincoln was installed, and before the South 
 had one jot or tittle uf provocation. I myself have seen in Mis- 
 souri, Kentucky, Tennesse and Mississippi, hundreds and thou- 
 sands of women and childern fleeing i'roni your armies and des- 
 peradoes, hungry and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicks- 
 burg and Mississippi we fed thousands upon thousands of the 
 families of rebel sokliers left on our hands, and whom we could 
 not see starve. Now that war comes home to you, you feel very 
 diflferent — you deprecate its horrors, but did not feel them when 
 you sent car-loads of soldiers and ammunition, and moulded 
 shell and shot to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
 desolate the homes of hundreds and thousands of good people, 
 who only asked to live in peace at their old homes, and under 
 the government of their inheritance. But these comparisons are 
 idle." I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through 
 Union and war, and I will ever conduct war purely with a view 
 to perfect and early success. 
 
 '' But. my dear sirs, when that peace does come, you may call 
 
on me for anything. Then will I share with vou the last crack- 
 er, and watch with you to shield your homes and families against 
 danger from every quarter. Xow, you must go. and take with 
 jou the old and feeble : feed and nurse them, and build for them 
 in more quiet places proper habitations to shield th^m against the 
 Aveather, until the mad passions of men coordoTrn, and allow 
 the L nion and peace once more to settle on your old homes at 
 Atlanta. 
 
 "■ Yours, in haste, 
 
 "AV. T. SHERMAX, 
 
 JIajor- General. " 
 
 General McCall on the War and the Election. 
 
 The follo\ving letter from General McCaix was read at a 
 Union meeting in West Chester, Pennsylvania, on Saturday : 
 
 ^Belaiu, September 30, 1S64. 
 "Jft6*ros. TT. E. Ba,l-ii\ IT'. 1'. Marshall and oihers. corri'mitUe : 
 
 Gentlemen : I am in receipt of your letter of the :29th instant, 
 inviting me ' to preside over a mass meeting of the loyal citizens 
 of Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, to be held at 
 the Agricultural Fair Grounds, "on Saturday next, the 1st of 
 October.* Although I am constrained to decline the honor you 
 have thus intended to convey, I will avail myself of the occasion 
 to express to you my views with respect to the great question 
 (the conduct of the war) now before our country, and soon to be 
 decided at the coming Presidential Election, which views in the 
 main have never, under any circumstances, undergone a change. 
 Xo one deplored more than myself the stem necefesity which re- 
 quired the I^y'onhem states to take up ai-ms to qneU the rebellion 
 of the South, yet no one more than myself felt the necessity of 
 rousing and exerting all the energies of the country- to this end. 
 One of two things then stared us in the face : either the positive 
 suppression of the rebellion and the preservation of the Union, 
 or the utter or irretrievable loss of position among the nations 
 of the earth, and the entailment on our children of an everlasting 
 disagreement, contention and war, with the southern people. I 
 now beheve, as I ever have believed, that if the Union is worth 
 preserving, it is worth the prosecution of the war to a successful 
 conclusion. With regard to the conduct of this war, I cannot 
 say that I have approved or would now endorse ail the measures 
 of the present administration ; Ijut 1 reyard any administration 
 tjiot wdl energetically proaecute tJu: war as prtjeralAe to one thai 
 U infacor of art, anni^tice and a conrcocaiiorv of the stales — untU 
 tfu states of rehell'ion foace laid down tJvevr arms. 
 •' Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 GEOEGE A. MoCALL." 
 
LOYAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 
 
 J%'o. 64.— JP«rf 3. 
 
 LETTERS OF LOYAL SOLDIERS. 
 
 How Douglas Democrats will Vote. 
 
 Letters of Generals Wool & Logan. 
 
 General Jt^ool upon ,JicCUUan Sf the Chicago Platfin^tH. 
 
 Gen. "Wool has written a letter to Hon. J. A. Griswold, of 
 Troy, which concludes thus : 
 
 " With the unlimited confidence of the President and his 
 Cabinet, having the control of all the resourctB at their disprvsal, 
 with a ' splendid army ' of one hundred and twenty thousand 
 strong, increased to one hundred and fifty-eight thousand, as re- 
 ported by the Adjutant-General of the Army, the goal was 
 within the reach of General MeClellan, but he knew not how to 
 grasp it. He possessed ' the sword of Scanderberg. but could not 
 wield it' He neither comprehended the value of time, nor the 
 advantages of prompt action and celerity of movement. His 
 encamping in the swamps of the river Warwick, and the mud in 
 front of I'orktown, for a month besieging the place, permitting 
 its rebel garrison to be increased from nine thousand to over 
 one hundred and twenty thousand men, as he represented, (the 
 rebels say only seventy-five thousand.) and then allowing them 
 to cscajte from Yorktown unobserved, was no less fatal to him 
 as a commander than the result was disastrous to his array — at 
 the same time it disappointed and depressed the hopes of every 
 patriot throughout the Union. "With advantages that few gene- 
 rals ever possessed, he signally failed. 
 
 Gen. MeClellan expects to be President under the convention 
 whose leaders sympathize with the Southern rebels, and whose 
 platform was dictated by traitors calling themselves Democrats. 
 

 His friends say he repudiated the platform in his letter of accept- 
 ance. Can any one doubt, if the leaders succeed in electing 
 him, no matter what he may have said in that letter, that he will 
 be governed by the Chicago platform ? It appears by the Neio 
 York Daily News, the organ of the Peace men, that the plat- 
 form was approved hy the General two months lefore the conven- 
 tion met at Chicago. The editor says : " Early in July last— we 
 have it upon the authority of a delegate from Indiana ,who was 
 selected by the delegation from his State to act as one of the 
 committee to inform the candidates of the action of the conven- 
 tion—the platform, with its peace planks, almost word for word 
 as adopted, was presented to General McOlellan, and was hy 
 him approved loth in its letter am,d spirits Under such 
 circumstances, coming from the source it does, the truth of the 
 statement cannot be doubted. The Oerieral is hound hy his 
 Righted faith to he governed hy the platform should he he elected. 
 To violate it, he would exhibit more courage than most men 
 possess. 
 
 Allow me to ask, is there a Democrat who voted for Senator 
 Douglas for President, that will vote for any candidate who ac- 
 cepts a nomination from a convention that sympathizes with the 
 rebels, and which was dictated to by Southern traitors in the 
 formation of its j)latform ? I hope there is not one. Althono-h 
 Douglas was defeated in his election by the Southern I)e- 
 mocracy, and a few Demorats in the North who co-operated with 
 them, he was one of the fii'st to declare his attachment to the 
 Union and his readiness to sacrifice all he possessed, with life 
 itself, if need be, to protect and defend the Republic in its unity 
 and integrity. 
 
 In conclusion, I will simply remark that I belong to no party, 
 whether Democrat, Whig, Republican, or any other, that is not 
 for the preservation of the Union and the Constitution, without 
 compromise or lines of demarcation, and which is not in favor of 
 the prosecution of the war until the rebels lay down their arms 
 and are willing to submit to the laws and Constitution of the 
 
 United States. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN E. WOOL. 
 
 Why General John A. Logan supports Lincoln 
 and Johnson. 
 
 That gallant and successful soldier, Major-General John A. 
 Logan, who has been claimed by the Democrats as a supporter 
 
 01503 
 
 >05 
 
8 
 
 of the Chicago Platform and the peace-at-any-price candidates, 
 made a grand Union speech at Carbondalo, Illinois, on the 1st 
 inst., in which he lashed the copperheads with just severity. We 
 make the following eloquent extract: 
 
 I tell you, gentlemen, when you see men coming home from 
 the army, it makes no difference what their politics may have 
 been, if they have been honest, true and faithful men, you find 
 that they would suffer their tongues to be torn out by the roots 
 before they would lisp a word in behalf of that Cliicago Platform 
 or the men who made it. They can not and will not do it. 
 
 I used to be a follower of the illustrious Stephen A. Douglas. 
 They called me a Douglas worshiper. I believe many others 
 thought as much of Douglas as I did. If that great and good 
 man were alive today, and I wish he were, he would stand on 
 this "War and Union Platform side by side with me, and advo- 
 cate the same measures that I do. Listen to what he said in the 
 last letter he ever wrote. It was a letter to YmGrL . Hickox, 
 Chairman of the State Democratic Central Committee. Virgil 
 was looking around, not knowing exactly what he ought to do. 
 Douglas wrote: 
 
 "All hope of compromise with the Cotton States was abandon- 
 ed when they assumed the position that t\w separation of the 
 Union was complete and final, and that they would never con- 
 sent to a reconstruction in any contingency — not even if we 
 should furnish them with a blank sheet of paper, and permit 
 them to inscribe their own terms. 
 
 "I know of no mode in which a loyal citizen may so well de- 
 monstrate his devotion to his country as by sustaining the Con- 
 stitution, the flag and the Union, under all circumstances and 
 every administration, regardless of party politics, against all as- 
 sailants at home and abroad." 
 
 That was the Douglas doctrine just before he died. It would 
 be his doctrine to-day if he were alive. It is my doctrine to- 
 day, and has been all along, and I intend to stand by it to 
 the last. [Applause.] 
 
 This, then, is all that I care about saying in reference to these 
 party platforms, or in reference to the candidates So far as Mr. 
 Lincoln is concerned, I know this. There were a great many 
 people in this country who opposed him four years ago. I 
 know I did it just as heartily as any other man in the country. 
 If any man had told me four years a^o, that I would ever make 
 a speech in favor of his election, I would have told him it 
 was not so, and you could have proved it. 
 
Indignant Copperhead in the crowd — "I think I could." 
 
 General Logan — But you couldn't do it now, [Laughter.] 
 But when I find the leaders of the party I acted with betraying 
 the trust the people reposed in them, when I find them repudi- 
 ating the doctrine of Jackson, who was for hanging traitors to 
 the highest tree he could find, and for preserving the Union at 
 all hazards, either with blood or without it ; when I find them 
 leaving behind them all the doctrines of the Democratic party, 
 renouncing their allegiance to their God, their country and our 
 flag, I am not compelled to follow you any farther, I cannot go 
 with you into the precincts of treason and disloyalty. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln stands, I say, upon the true Union platform, and, 
 therefore, I am for him. 
 
 I believe he has endeavored to sustain the Government hon- 
 estly and faithfully. Although he may not have acted just to 
 suit my views in some particulars, that shall make no diff'erence. 
 
 Andrew Johnson I believe to be equally honest and faithful. 
 I have but one choice to make between the Constitution, the 
 Union and its heroes, on one side, and their defamers, on the 
 other; I will act with no party who is not for my country, and 
 must refuse my support to the nominees of the Chicago Con- 
 vention. [Applause.] 
 
 A Soldier on the Chicago Platform. 
 
 City Point, September 6, 1864-. 
 
 When I first read the platform of the Chicago Convention I 
 felt as if I could whip every enemy the country had, and if I 
 had been put in action the next minute I doubt very much if 
 I would have shown a particle of quarter whatever. 
 
 Only to think of a cowardly set of villians and traitors gather- 
 ing together and making proposals of peace with a gang of out- 
 laws, when any man of common sense and courage (which I sup- 
 pose this convention never heard of) can see that they are about 
 giving up the contest, knowing themselves that they are beaten 
 as badly as any people ever was in the whole world. I don't 
 believe there is a soldier in the army willing to abide by a ces- 
 sation of hostilities, unless it may be a few bounty jumpers, and 
 I don't call them friends to the cause, nor even men, much less 
 soldiers. If I had my way, Jeff. Davis would have to call for 
 peace twice, at least, before I would listen to him, and then I 
 would answer, "Peace and pardon to all except Jeff. Davis, and 
 hemp for him and for all others who are found bearing arms 
 against the Gorernraent ten days after the issue of the pro- 
 clamation." G. F. 
 
LOYAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 
 
 LETTERS OF LOYAL SOLDIERS. 
 
 LETTER OF GENERAL DIX, 
 His Opinion of the Chicago Platform. 
 
 The following letter, from General Dix, was addressed to the 
 
 Committee of the Union mass meeting, held in Independence 
 
 square, in Philadelphia, on Saturday : 
 
 " New Yokk, October 6, 4864. 
 
 " Gentlemks : I have received your invitation to address the 
 mass meeting to be held in Independence Squai-e, on Saturday. 
 The duties incident to the active command of a military de- 
 partment render it impossible for me to attend public meetings, 
 or make political speeches ; but I accede with pleasure to your 
 fequest to write you a letter. 
 
 " There is but one question before this country in the ap- 
 proaching cauvase. Shall we prosecute the war with unabated 
 vigor until the rebel forces lay down their arms ; or shall we, 
 to use the language of tlie Chicago Convention, make ' imme- 
 diate efforts' for 'a cessation of hostilities,' wdth a view to an 
 ultimate convention of all the States, &c. 
 
 " l^elieving that the latter measure, for whatever purpose 
 adopted, would lead inevitably to a recognition of the indepen- 
 dence of the insurgent States; and believing, moreover, that 
 true policy, as well as true mercy, always demands, in the un- 
 happy exigencies of war, a steady and unwavering application of 
 all the means and all the energies at command, until the object 
 of the war is accomplished, I shall oppose the measure in every 
 form in which opposition is likely to be effective. 
 
 "General McClellan, the candidate of the Chicago Convention, 
 by force of his position, must be deemed to approve all the de- 
 clarations with which he was presented to the country, unless he 
 distinctly disavows them. Unfortunately he is silent on the only 
 question in regard to which the people cared he should 
 speak. He does not say whether he is in favor of a cessation 
 of hostilities — the measure announced by those who nominated 
 
bioi as the basis for action in case of his election — or whether he 
 is opposed to it. He does not meet the question with manly 
 frankness, as I am confident he would have done if he had taken 
 counsel of his own instincts, instead of yielding to the subtle 
 suggestions of politicians. The Chicago Convention presented a 
 distinct issue to the people. As the nominee of the Convention 
 he was bound to accept or repudiate it. He has done neither ; 
 and whatever inference may be drawn from his silence, either 
 the war democrats or the peace democrats must be deceived. 
 
 " In calling for a cessation of hostilities, the members of the 
 Chicago Convention have, in my judgment, totally misrepre- 
 sented the feelings and opinions of the great body of the demo- 
 cracy. The policy produced in its name makes it — so far as 
 such a declaration can — what it has never been before, a peace 
 pai'ty, degrading it from the eminence on which it has stood in 
 every other national conflict. In this injustice to the country, 
 and to a great party identified with all that is honorable in our 
 history, I can have no part. I can only mourn over the reproach 
 which has been brought upon it by its leaders, and cherish the 
 hope that it may hereafter, under the auspices of better counsel- 
 lors, resume its ancient, eft'ective and benificent influence on the 
 administration of the Government. 
 
 " Does any one doubt as to the true cause of our national 
 calamities? I believe it to be found in the management of the 
 leaders of both the principal political parties during the last 
 quarter of a century. 
 
 In 1840, the great men of the Whig party — Webster, Clay, 
 and others — men of universally acknowledged ability and long 
 experience in civil life — were thrust aside, and General Harrison, 
 a man of moderate capacity, was selected as its candidate for 
 the Presidjency. The principle of availability, as it was termed, 
 was adopted as the rule of selection, and the question of fitness 
 became obsolete. The concern was to know, not who was best 
 qualified to administer the government, but who, from his com- 
 parative obscurity, would \)e least likely to provoke embittered 
 opposition. This was the beginning of a system of demoralization 
 which has ended in the present distracted condition of the 
 country. It reversed all the conservative principles of humane 
 action by proscribing talent and experience, and crowning medi- 
 ocrity with the highest honors of the republic. In 1844, the 
 democratic party followed the successful example of its oppo- 
 nents in 1840. It i3ut aside Van Buren, Cags, Marcy, and its 
 
 »0B 
 
oMier eminent statesmen, and brought forward Mr. Polk — a man 
 of merely ordinary ability. Parties which have neither the 
 courage nor the virtue to stand by their greatest and best men 
 soon fall into hopeless demoralization. This system of retro- 
 gradation in all that is manly and just, has continued, with two 
 or three abortive efforts at reaction, for twenty-four years. 
 It has driven pre-eminent talent out of the paths which lead to 
 the highest political distinction ; and multitudes, with a simpli- 
 city which would be ludicrous, were it not so deplorable, ask 
 what is become of our great men. The inquiry is easily 
 answered. They are in the learned professions — in science, lite- 
 rature and art, and in the numberless fields of intellectual exer- 
 tion which are opened by the wants of a great country in a rapid 
 career of developement. The intellect of the country is neither 
 diminished in the aggregate, nor dwarfed in its individual pro- 
 portions. The political market, like the commercial, under the 
 influence of the inflexible law of demand and supply, is furnished 
 wiih the kind of material it requires. It calls for mediocrity 
 and it gets nothing better. The highest talent goes where it is 
 a passport to the highest rewards. It withdraws from a field in 
 which the choice of accession to the first civic honor is in 
 an inverse ratio of eminence and qualifications. 
 
 " Thus, under the rule of the inferior intellects, which party 
 management has elevated to the conduct of the public affairs, 
 the peace, the prosperity, and the high character of the country 
 have gone down. 
 
 " If the great men of the republic luid conti'oUed the policy 
 and action of the Government during the last quarter of a 
 century, we should have had no rebellion. Distraction within 
 invites agression from without ; and we are enduring the humi- 
 liation of seeing a monarchy established in contact with our 
 southern boundary by one of the great powers of Europe, in 
 contempt of our repeated protestations ; and another of these 
 powers permitting rebel cruisers to be armed in her ports to 
 depredate on our commerce. 
 
 '" Under such a system of political management no government 
 can last long. I know it is not easy to change what such a lapse 
 of time has fastened upon us. Politicians have the strongest 
 interest in placing in the chair of state feeble men, whom they 
 can control, instead of men of self-sustaining power, to whom 
 they would be mere subordinates and auxiliaries. But the time 
 will come — it may not be far distant — when the people, tired of 
 
voting for men of inferior capacity, thrust upon them through 
 the machinery of couventions, (in which they have no voice), will 
 rise in their majesty, and place the conduct of their affairs in 
 more capable hands. If such a change is not speedily effected, 
 it is my firm belief that our republican institutions will fall to 
 pieces, and an arbitrary government rise upon their ruins ; for, 
 unless the testimony of all history is to be discarded, no political 
 system can be ujiheld except by giving to its administration the 
 benefit of the very highest talent and the largest experience. 
 
 "Till this reform shall come, my advice to the great body of 
 the people is, to hold fast to their traditionary principles and 
 good name, by giving an earnest support to the war, and to 
 scan with the severest scrutiny the conduct of those who control 
 party movements. Many of the men who are most prominent 
 in conventions have personal interest to subserve. Even those 
 who are comparatively disinterested are not always the safest 
 advisers. They have lived so long in the turbid atmosphere of 
 party excitement and party traffic, that they have contracted 
 morbid habits of thought and action, which, like chronic diseases 
 in the human system, it is hard to alleviate and still harder to 
 cure. The only hope left to us lies in the patriotism and dis- 
 interestedness of the great body of the people of all parties, who 
 are facing the enemies of their country on the battle-field with a 
 heroism unsurpassed in any age, or who at home, amid the pre- 
 vailing tumult or disorder, are working out, in the quiet pursuit 
 of their varied occupations, the momentous problem of the pub- 
 lic prosperity and safety. When they shall send out, fresh from 
 their own ranks, new men to consult together for the salvation of 
 all that is most precious in government and society, there will be 
 cause for hope and faith in our redemption from impending evils 
 and dangers ; bearing, in the meantime, as well as we can, the 
 heavy burdens which have been cast upon us by a quarter of a 
 century of political mismanagement and public misrule. 
 
 *'It is time the people should understand these truths. No one 
 perhaps, can tell them wuth more propriety than myself, having 
 been, much of the period referred to, in public life, fruitlessly 
 contending against party contrivances which have involved the 
 country in all the evils of civil strife. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 JOHN A. DIX. 
 
 "James H. Okme, Chairman, dbc, 
 
 "Cadwalladeb Biddle, Secretary^ 
 
 W6d 
 
■» o 
 
 T^i 
 
 
 -^^o^ 
 
 ^t''"- -^^ 4!^ *^i^'- ^^ ^-^ -^ 
 
 
 ^^-^^ 
 
 
 ^ ^o *•_* « • . *<^ 
 
 
 •^o^ 
 
 ^^\ %<^ 
 
 
 
 
 ^""^4 
 
 
 
 <. *'T: 
 
 
 
 'V* *-'•'./ 
 
 
 
 
 °o 
 
 v* .'::^', <z. 
 
 -" /.^i^W..** .>^%fA% u .^^ /^fe'-V,^'^* •i\'