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 Copy 1 HO 
 
 The War Record of a Peace Demoorat. 
 
 A PEACE MAN IM WAR, A WAR MAN IN PEACE 1 
 
 published by the Union Eepublican Congressional Commilteei Washing'toB, D, C. 
 
 Hcratio Seymour, of Utica, New York, a local politician of some note, is the 
 Democratic candidate for President. 
 
 Mr. Seymour was nominated for that office bij a convention of rebel Democrats, 
 which assembled in New York on the 4th day of July, 1868, after he had re- 
 peatedly declared thatheioould not accept </ie^o«;7io», BECAUSE IT WOULD 
 BE DISHONORABLE for him to do so, and would BRING PERIL UPON 
 HIMSELF AND HIS PARTY. 
 
 The Convention which nominated Mr. Seymour had one hundred and eight)}' 
 ■iix Southern dcUgateSy one hundred and ten of whom "WERE IN THE 
 REBEL SEI^VICE, and all of whom, both North and South, either gave active 
 aid to the rebellion, or warmly symjiathized xoithits authors. Its policy was shaped, 
 ha platform dictated, and its candidates designated by rebels, whose hands v)ere 
 diU red loith the blood, of murdered Union soldiers. 
 
 C. L. VALLAJ^DIGHAjSI, a man banished the country for treason, and who 
 acted as the spy of the '• Confederate Government" after he run the blockade 
 and reached Canada, was the man they selected to nominate him to the Conventiov. 
 The presentation of Mr. Seymour's name by such a man to a Convention com- 
 posed of such materials was received with the wildest applause, as it was fit it 
 jhoukl be; and he was accepted as their candidate by acclamation. Wade 
 Hflmpton, and N. B. Forrest, and "Admiral" Semmes, and every rebel in the 
 (~'onvention, claimed his nomination as a concession to their demands, and 
 boasted that by his election THEY WOULD GAIN ALL THEY HAD 
 LOST by the failure of the rebellion. His record during the war, and his re- 
 .^istanoe since to a restoration of the Southern States to the Union, except upon 
 such conditions as the rebels might approve, justified this confidence in his 
 ■ulapt-ation to their purposes. 
 
 Hi? efibrt to defeat a draft to fill our depleted rank's after the terrible slaughter 
 which had resulted from McClellan's imbecility, or disloyalty, and his approval 
 of the doctrine that all the recomtructed State governments MUST BE OVER- 
 THROWN, is the only guaranty the Southern leaders required of his fidelity 
 fo their interesta. 
 
 The following record of this "peace man in war and war man in peace" 
 will show how well they have judged his character, and how safely they may 
 rely on hLs efforts to restore to them the Constitution as it was and the Union as 
 they would have it. As the Democratic press, becoming alarmed at the aiyay ot 
 
 -v? 
 
i 
 
 2 
 
 evidence against him, are quoting Mr. Lincoln's and Mr. Stanton's certificate 
 of good character to prove his loyalty, we present the other side of the picture : 
 
 / Why They Complimented Seymour. 
 
 Gov. Tod/ of Ohio, in a recent speech at Orwell, in that State, thus satis- 
 factorily explains the matter : 
 
 '' Seymour is an intelligent man. 1 know him well. He was Governor at 
 the same time I was Governor. Mr. Lincoln called for volunteers. I sent him 
 only thirty thousand, while Seymour sent fifteen thousand. The President went 
 round complimenting Seymour, and saying nothing about what I had done. I 
 took Mr. Lincoln to task for this. I said, 'How is it you are complimenting 
 Seymour fat' his ffteeu thousand men, and neglecting to compliment Morton and 
 mef 'WHY, TOD, I NEVER THANKED MRS. LINCOLN FOR A 
 CUP OF TEA IN MY LIFE.' The truth was, Morton and I had done noth- 
 ing more than what was expected of us, w/n/e Seymour had. He had never done 
 the like before and never did afterward.'" 
 
 Seymour Forced to Sustain the War. 
 
 Captain Edward Marshal, a brother of Thomas F., made a speech at a recent 
 Democratic ratification meeting, whicli is thus sketched in a Kentucky paper : 
 
 *' He was enthusiastic in support of Seymour, and gave his reasons therefor. He said 
 Seymour was nominated as a war Democrat for the reason that no other could win, BUT 
 HE HAD NEVER GIVEN ANY AID OR SUPPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT 
 IN THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR WHEN IT COULD BE AVOIDED, 
 la 1863, when the rebel troops were in Pennsylvania, and the Government called on Sey- 
 mour, who was then Governor of New York, to furnish troops to expel them, he an- 
 swered, in the same manner, if not in the same language, as the Governor of Kentucky 
 in 1S61, viz : THAT HE WOULD NOT SEND THEM. He did send them, however, 
 FOR THE REASON THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO DO OTHERWISE." 
 
 An Original Secessionist. 
 
 Mr. W. H. Russell, tlie well-known correspondent of the London Timeg, 
 throws some additional and still stronger light upon the question of Mr. Sey- 
 mour's secession views in the following passage from his published "Diary North 
 and South." Mr. Russell is describing a dinner party in New York in 1861 : 
 
 "The occasion oflered itself to Mr. Horatio Seymour to give me his views of 
 the Constitution of the United States, and by degrees the theme spread over 
 the table. * * * * There was not a man who maintained that 
 tlie Government had any power to coerce the people of a State or to force a 
 State to remain in the Union or under the action of the Federal Government, i 
 ^- * ^- * Mr. Seymoui' is a man of compromise, but his views go 
 farther than those which were entertained by his party two years ago. Although 
 secession would produce revolution, it xvas,' nevertheless, in his opinion, a right] 
 founded on abstract principles, which could scarcely be abrogated ivith due regard] 
 to the original compact." 
 
 Preferred the Eebel Constitution. 
 
 In 1861, Mr. Seymour, meeting Judge Charles H. Ruggles, asked him : 
 " Judge, have you read the Confederate [Montgomery] Coastitution ? I have ; I 
 and IT IS BETTER THAN OURS [the Federal] Then, why not," he con- 
 tinued, "OBVIATE ALL DIFFICULTY BY SIMPLY ADOPTINGl 
 THAT [Confedei-ate] CONSTITUTION?" 
 
 He proposed to settle the war by having the whole North join the Confed-'' 
 eracy, and adopting the rebel constitution. 
 
 "An Inglorious Warfare." 
 Following up this right which "could scarcely be abrogated," he again said 
 a^t the Tweddle Hall Convention in Albany, New York, January 31, 1861, 
 
before Siimter wa^s fired on, and before any measure of an arbitrary ymture was 
 
 5^ instiiuied: 
 
 ^ " We are advised by the conservative States of Virginia and Kentucky, that if 
 w force is to be used, it must be exerted against the united South. It would be 
 ■^anactof folly and madness, in entering upon this contest, to underrate our 
 
 v^ opponents, and thui subject ourselves TO THE DISGRACE OF DEFEAT IN 
 AN INGLORIO US WARFARE. LET US ALSO SEE IF SUCCESSFUL 
 COERCION BY THE NORTH IS LESS REVOLUTIONARY THAN 
 SUCCESSFUL SECESSION BY THE SOUTH. Shall we prevent revolu- 
 tion by being foremost in overthrowing the principles of our Government, and 
 all that makes it vakiablc to our people and distinguishes it among the nations 
 of the earth ?" 
 
 His "Friends" Threaten Bloodshed North. 
 
 At the same Convention, James P. Thayer, a delegate and friend of Seymour, 
 followed this speech in the following words : 
 
 "The public mind will bear the avowal, and let us make it — that if a revolu- 
 tion of force is to begin, IT SHALL BE INAUGURATED AT HOME. And 
 if the incoming Administration shall attempt to carry out the line of policy 
 that^haa been foreshadowed, we announce that, when the hand of Black Repub- 
 licanism turns to blood-red, and seeks from the fragment of the Constitution to 
 coni(ruct a scaffold for coercion — another name for execution — WE WILL RE- 
 VERSE THE ORDER OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND SAVE 
 THE BLOOD OF THE PEOPLE BY MAKING THOSE WHO WOULD 
 INAUGURATE A REIGN OF TERROR THE FIRST VICTIMS OF A 
 NATIONAL GUILLOTINE." [Enthusiastic applause.] 
 
 Shall we Compromise Before or After War? 
 
 ' " Tliis question is simply this : SHALL WE HAVE COMPROMISE 
 AFTER WAR, OR COMPROMISE WITHOUT WAR ? Shall we be aided 
 in this settlement by the loss of national honor, the destruction of individual 
 interests, and the shedding of blood?" — Speech at Albany', Jan., 1861. 
 
 "How fihall the War be Conducted?" 
 
 '* We have been mad enough to muster armies to occupy their territory. * * 
 * * But some have suggested with complacent air, that the South might be easily 
 wibjugated by blockading their ports with a fewships-of-war." — Seymour's Speech. 
 
 Assailing his Government. 
 
 " What a spectacle do we present, to-day ! Already six States have withdrawn 
 from this Confederacy. Revolution has actually begun. The term 'secession' 
 divests it of none of its terrors, nor do arguments to prove secession inconsistent 
 with our Constitution stay its progress or mitigate its evil. ALL VIRTUE, 
 PATRIOTISM, AND INTELLIGENCE SEEM TO HAVE FLED FROM 
 OUR NATIONAL CAPITAL; ithas been well likened to a conflagration of an 
 asylum for madmen — some look on with idiotic imbecility ; some in sullen silence ; 
 and soms scatter the firebrands which consiime the fabric above them, and bring 
 upon all a common destruction. IS THERE ONE REVOLTING ASPECT 
 IN THIS SCENE WHICH HAS NOT ITS PARALLEL AT THE CAPI- 
 TAL OF YOUR COUNTRY ? DO YOU NOT SEE THERE THE SENSE- 
 LESS IMBECILITY, THE GARRULOUS IDIOCY, THE MADDENED 
 RAGE, DISPLAYED WITH REGARD TO PETTY PERSONAL PAS- 
 SIONS AND PARTY PURPOSES, WHILE THE GLORY, THE HONOR,- 
 AND THE SAFETY OF THE COUNTRY, ARE ALL FORGOTTEN? 
 The same pervading fanaticism has brought evil upon all the institutions of our 
 land. Our churches are torn asunder and desecrated to partisan purposes. 
 
The wrongs of our local legislation, the growing burdens of debt iind taxation, 
 the gradual destruction of the African in the Free States, which in marked by 
 eacli recurring census, are all due to the neglect of our own duties, caused by a 
 complete absorption of the public raind by a senseless, unreasoning fanaticism." 
 
 Opposed to Coercion. 
 September 1, 1864, Horatio Seymour, the Dem^Tcratic condidate for Pres- 
 ident, made a speech at j\Iilwaukee, Wisconsin. In that speech he declared that 
 h©; "would not denounce this [Abraham Lincoln's] Administration for casual acts 
 of wrong — I would not denounce it because its members have erred in judgment 
 —BUT I DENOUNCE IT BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT HAS ENTERED 
 UPON A SETTLED COURSE OF POLICY DANGEROUS TO THE 
 WELFARE OF THE COUNTRY. It proposes to put down the rehelliQU bij 
 two poxvers — the power of policy and the power of the army." 
 
 The Hebel Spirit in 1864. 
 Seymour was a delegate to the Democratic Rebel Chicago Convention of 18G4, 
 and was chosen President; upon taking- the chair, he said : 
 .'•"The bigotry of fanatics and the intrigues of placemen have made the bloody 
 pa<^es of the history of tlie past three years. TliEY WILL NOT STOP THE 
 SHEDDING OF BLOOD EVEN FOR A LITTLE TIME TO SEE IF 
 CHRISTIAN CHARITY OR THE WISDOIM OF STATESMANSHIP 
 MAY NOT WORK OUT A METHOD TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY. 
 Nay, more . than this, they will not listen to a proposal for peace which does 
 not offer that which this Government h:is no right to ask.'" 
 
 No Condition but Unconditional Suirender. 
 
 ^' WE DEMAND NO CONDITIONS FOR THE RESTORATION OF OUR'UNION ; 
 we are shackled with no hates, 210 p?'<yi(d/ces, no passions. We wish for fraternal rela- 
 tionship with the people of the South. We demand for them what we demand for oiu-- 
 selves— THE FULL RECOGI^ITION OF THE RIGHTS OF STATES. 
 
 "But if the Administration cannot save the Union, we can. Mr. LINCOLN VALUES 
 MANY THINGS ABOVE THE UNION ; we put it first of all. HE THINKS A PRO- 
 CLAMATION WORTH -MORE THAN PEACE ; we think the blood of our people more 
 precious than the edicts of the President. THERE ARE NO HINDRANCES 1 N OUR 
 PATHWAY TO UNION AND PEACE." 
 
 The Union Cannot be Saved. 
 
 " THIS ADMINISTRATION CANNOT NOW SAVE THE UNION IF IT WOULD. 
 It haa by its proclamation, by vindictive legislation, by displays of hate and passion, 
 placed obsticles in its own pathway which it cannot overcome, and has hampered its own 
 freedom of action by unconstitutional acts." 
 
 He Votes the War a Failure 
 
 Second Plank of the National Democratic Platform of 1804: 
 Resolved, That this Convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American 
 People, that AFTER FOUR YEARS OF FAILURE TO RESTOP.E THE UNION BY 
 THE EXPERIMENT OF WAR, DURING WHICH, UNDER THE PRETENSE OF A 
 MILITARY NECESSITY OF A WAR POWER HIGHER THAN THE CONSTITU- 
 TION, THE CONSTITUTION ITSELF HAS BEEN DISREGARDED IN EVERY 
 PART and public liberty and private right alike trodden down and the material prosperity 
 of the countrv essentially impaired; justice, humanity, libertj', and the public welfare 
 DEMAND THAT IMMEDIATE EFFORTS BE .MADE FOR A CESSATION OF 
 HOSTILITIES WITH A VIEW TO AN ULTIMATE CONVENTION OF ALL THE 
 STATES, or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment 
 peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States. 
 
 Seymour and the New York Convention Endorse Blair. 
 The New York Copperhead Convention, which did not contain a loyal dele- 
 gate from the South, nor oaewho had not taken an active part against the Gov, 
 
enuuent, gav<! Geiicnil Hampton, the bitterest rebel of them all, uneonditionnl 
 authority to place any plank in tlie platform the .South might demand ; and he 
 placed there this endorsement of Blair's threat of civil war, which the Con- 
 vention approved bv acclamation : 
 
 -Eesolved, THAT WE REGARD THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS (SO CALLED) 
 OF CONGRESS AS USURPATIONS, AND UNCONf?TITUTIONAL, REVOLU- 
 TIONARY, AND VOID.-' 
 
 Beymour's letter of acceptance say.^ : 
 
 "1 HAVE CAREFULLY READ THE RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE CON- 
 VENTION, AND MOST CORDIALLY CONCUR IN EVERY PRINCIPLE AND 
 SENTIMENT THEY ADVANCE." 
 
 Seymoiir Pledged to devolution. 
 
 Mr. Seymour cordially endorses ■ the Net/- York Platform which endorses 
 Blnir's treason and promises tlie overthrow of the reconstructed State govern- 
 ments and all the reconstruction laws of Congress, and repudiates our bonds. 
 The Montgomery (Ala.) iVe^i'-s thus defines Mr. Seymour's position : . 
 
 "The Democratic party piit Mr. Seymour on the same ticket with General 
 Blair after the latter wrote his celebrated letter, and tee have never heard thctt any 
 of the parties to 'the copartnership have ever fallen oid ahoid it. On the contrary, 
 Ihey have not only not fallen out about it, but they have all fallen in about it, 
 and the country is imitating their example. Our correspondent MAY REST 
 ASSURED THAT UNDER SEYMOUR AND BLAIR, WITH OR 
 V/ITHOUT PLATF0R:M or letter, ' THE COB-PIOUSES OF RE- 
 CONSTRUCTION,' TO USE THE LANGUAGE OF MILLARD FILL 
 MORE, 'MUST GIVE WAY TO DEMOCRATIC STRUCTURES.' 
 THAT'S ALL ABOUT IT." 
 
 On the Greenbacks Before the Ccnvention. 
 
 On the 2Gth of June, only ten days before the Copperhead and rebel Con- 
 vention in Nev,' York, Mr. Seymour made a speech in the Cooper Institute upon 
 the wickedness and folly of the greenback-Pendleton system, in which he said : 
 
 " The amount in savings banks, in this State alone, is $140,000,000. This shows that 
 tbore must be at least $GOO,000,000 of money thus deposited in all the States. The aver- 
 age of the deposits in 1867, in the State of New York, was $270. THE NUMBER OP 
 DEPOSITORS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK IS ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED 
 THOUSAND, (487,479,) and in the city tliey numher more than one-third of the popida- 
 iion. This will make the number of depositors in the Union more than ONE MILLION 
 EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND. In the State of Connecticut, in 18G5, one-quarter 
 of its population had deposit's in sanings bardcs. It is not usual for men of small prop- 
 erty to insure their lives. The number of policies given, out by all the life insurance com- 
 panies are about four hundred and fifty thousand, and the amount of insurance about one 
 thousand two hundred and fifty millions. The money invested i?. held as a sacred trust, as 
 it is a fund laid aside for their families when the insured die. All of the funds of sav 
 ings bank and life insurance companies are not nut in Government bonds. BUT THEY 
 HOLD AN AMOUNT WHICH WOULD CRIPPLE OR RUIN THEM IF THE 
 BONDS ARE NOT PAID, OR IF THEY ARE PAID IN DEBASED PAPER. IP 
 WE ADD THE TRUSTS FOR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS WE FIND THAT 
 TWO MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND PERSONS ARE INTEl^ESTED 
 IN GOVERNMENT BONDS WHO ARE NOT CAPITALISTS, andwho are eompul- 
 i5ury_ owners at present prices under the operations of our laws. There is a fear that this 
 siaite of things will make a clashing of interest between the labor of the East and the 
 
 labor of tile West. 
 
 ^ -.;- * ^ ■>;- * -x -V -ir -x * 
 
 " If we make our paper money good by a harsh system of contraction, we shall cripplo 
 the energies of the country and make bankruptcy and ruin. IP, ON THE OTHER 
 HA!JD Vv^E DEBASE THE CURRENCY BY UNWISE ISSUES, WE SHALL 
 EQUALLY PERPLEX BUSINESS AND DESTROY SOBER INDUSTRY, AND 
 MAKE ALL PRICES MERE MATTERS OF GAMBLING, TRICKS, AND CHANCES. 
 This will end as it did in the Southern Confederacy. At the outset the citizens of Rich- 
 mond went to market with their money in their vest pockets and brought back their din- 
 ners in theJr baskets j in tbe end they took their money in their baskets and took home 
 
their dinners in their vest pocliets. Make our monei/ >jood by an honest and wise course, 
 and when this is done it icill be worth twentij-jive jjer cent, more than it is now, which will 
 be equal to an increase of one-quarter in the amount of currency.''' 
 
 After the Convention. 
 
 The Convention having practically decided to repudiate our debt, or in Mr. Seymour's 
 language, to debase our currency and render it worthless by paying our bonds in green- 
 backs, he turned a short corner and declares his cordial approval of the platforni. 
 
 The ITnion as it Was. 
 
 '' Mr. Seymour is for the restoration of the States pure and simple under the Constitu- 
 tion, and, of course, for the discontinuance of the Freedman's Bureau, the withdrawal of 
 troops, the self-government of each State by its own citizens, and under such a rule of suf- 
 frage as its own separate sovereignty shall prescribe. He styles the uprising of the South 
 a rebellion, but he is in favor of restoring the statis quo ante bellum. In the same con- 
 nection appears the most useful sentence of the letter. HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF A 
 PARTY TO THE PLATFORM, WHICH IS, IN HIS OPINION, IN THE NATURE OF 
 A CONTRACT WITH THE PEOPLE. That platform, as our readers understand. 
 TREATS ALL THE STEPS OF THE SO-CALLED RECONSTRUCTION, BY THE 
 MULTITUDINOUS ACTS OF CONGRESS, AS REVOLUTIONARY, AND NOT 
 SIMPLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL."— Oinct"nnah* West and South. 
 
 Letter to the Military Authorities Justifying Mobs. 
 
 The day Meade whipped the rebels at Gettysburg, Seymour was thus talking 
 treason in New York. Our armies were in sore need of reinforcements, and 
 a draft had been ordered. Volunteering failed to fill the requirements of the 
 service. The di'aft was a matter of necessity. Horatio Seymour said : 
 
 " We only ask that j^ou shall give to ua that which you claim for yourselves, and that 
 which every freeman and every man who respects himself will have, freedom of speech, 
 the rieht to exercise all the rights conferred by the Constitution upon American citizens. 
 [Great applause.] CAN YOU SAFELY DENY US THESE? Will yon not trample 
 upon your own rights if you rf;fnse to listen? DO YOU NOT CREATE REVOLU- 
 TION WHEN YOU SAY THAT YOUR PERSONS MAY BE RIGHTFULLY 
 SEIZED, YOUR PROPERTY CONFISCATED, YOUR HOMES ENTERED? ARE 
 YOU NOT EXPOSING YOURSELVES, YOUR OWN INTERESTS, TO AS GREAT 
 A PERIL AS THAT WITH WHICH YOU THREATEN US? REMEMBER THIS, 
 THAT THE BLOODY, AND TREASONABLE, AND REVOLUTIONARY DOC- 
 TRINE OF PUBLIC NECESSITY CAN BE PROCLAIMED BY A MOB AS WELL 
 AS BY A GOVERNMENT. [Applause.] 
 
 '■'When men accept despotism, they may have a choice as to who that despot shall be. 
 The struggle then will not be, shall we have Constitutional liberty? But, having accepted 
 the doctrine that the Constitution has lost its force, EVERY INSTINCT OF PER- 
 SONAL AMBITION, EVERY INSTINCT OF PERSONAL SECURITY, WILL 
 LEAD MEN TO PUT THEMSELVES UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THAT 
 POWER WHICH THEY SUPPOSE MOST COMPETENT TO GUARD THEIR 
 PERSONS. 
 
 More Eebel Sympathy. 
 
 In the fall of 1862, a Triennial Episcopal Convention was held in Trin- 
 ity Church, New York. Murray Hoffman, Dr. Vinton and others moved 
 and advocated patriotic resolutions ; and the eloquent Dr. Goodwin deliv- 
 ered an exhaustive speech on the subject, in which he earnestly pressed 
 their adoption. The next day the subject came up again, the question being 
 on Judge Carpenter's (of New Jersey) resolution, calling on the Bishop for a 
 form of prayer in relation to the wicked rebellion now prevailing in the land, for 
 the safety of our country and the success of our armies. Horatio Seymour took 
 the floor and made a long speech in opposition. "HE WAS OPPOSED TO 
 PRONOUNCING AN OPINION AGAINST OUR SOUTHERN BRETH- 
 REN. The measure seemed to him lik-e the Pope's hull against the comet. He 
 begged them to pause before condemning tlie absent, condemning thousands and 
 hundreds of thousands of brethren, not a man of whom was there to speak for hiin- 
 
Mr- Seymour by an Impartial Foreigner. 
 
 Gen. De Trobriand is the highest French authority on military matters, la 
 his history of over five years' operations on the Potomac he has a word to say 
 on the attitude of the Governor of New York in the dark days of the Union, 
 the summer of 1863: 
 
 "The Governor, Horatio Seymour, whose attitude and conduct toward the National 
 Government had been of a character to cnconraqe rather than to jjrccent the riots, HAD 
 NO THOUGPIT EXCEPT IN CONCERT W'lTH HIS PARTY, TO MAKE CAPI- 
 TAL OF THEM IN ORDER TO HINDER THE ENROLLMENT. Under the pretense 
 of ascertaining whether some error had not stolen into the reckoning of the State's contin- 
 gent, and of waiting until the question of the constitutionality/ of the law coidd be sub- 
 mitted to judicial tribunala, he demanded of the President the indefinite postponement of the 
 draft. The object of tliis attempt was plain. IT WAS TO DRY UP THE SOURCE OF 
 THE REINFORCEMENTS NECESSARY TO THE ARMY, IN ORDER TO LESSEN, 
 IF NOT DESTRuY, THE RESULT OF THE VICTORIES OF GETOYSBURG AND 
 VICKSBURG, and, while the Confederate government should renew its forces by uni- 
 versal conscription, to reduce our forces by stopping the draft and discouraging volunteer- 
 ing. These were the means by which the peace Democrats of the North attempted to obtain 
 either the final recognition of the Southern Confederacy, or the establishment of a new 
 Union, founded on the subjection of the free States to the supremacy of the slave States.'' 
 
 Proof of the Above. 
 
 Governor Seymour appealed to President Lincoln to stop the draft, as though 
 it were an act of wanton, needle&s, tyrannical exaction, and not a stern neces- 
 sity required for the national safety — saying : 
 
 "It is believed by AT LEAST ONE-HALF THE PEOPLE OF THE LOYAL 
 STATES that the conscription act, which they are called upon to obey, because it is on 
 the statute-book, IS IN ITSELF A VIOLATION OF THE SUPREME CONSTITU- 
 TIONAL LAWS. * * * - I do not dwell upon what I believe would be the conse- 
 quence of a violent, harsh policy, before the constitutionality of the act is tested. THE 
 TEMPER OF THE PEOPLE TO-DAY YOU MAY EASILY LEARN." 
 
 Slavery First— the Union Afterwards. 
 The Democratic candidate for the Presidency said in Utica, in 18G1 : 
 
 "IF IT BE TRUE THAT SLAVERY MUST BE ABOLISHED TO SAVE THE 
 UNION, THEN THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO 
 WITHDRAW THEMSELVES FROM THE GOVERNMENT WHICH CANNOT 
 GIVE THEM GUARANTEES IN ITS TERMS.'' 
 
 The War Worth what it Cost 
 
 "THE WAR HAS HAD THIS COMPENSATION: IT ENDED SLAVERY, 
 HISTORY WILL SAY ALL WAS WELL SPENT IN ERASING THIS BLOT, 
 TRANSMITTED FROM A COMMON ANCESTRY, TARNISHING OUR FAME, 
 AND BELYING OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE."— i7o«. lieverdy 
 Jofinson, at Sheffield, August, 1868. 
 
 Seeking English Intervention. 
 
 Not satisfied with liis eflbrts to stop the draft and destroy the credit of the 
 Government, Mr. Sevmour attempted to procure the intervention of England. 
 Lord Lyon, the English minister at that time, gives this account of the effort 
 wf himself and his friends to procure that result : 
 
 •Several of the leaders of the Democratic party sought interviews with me both before 
 
 )f 
 them seem to think that this mediation must come at last ; but they appeared to be 
 
 PEACEFUL PLANS OF THE CONSERVATIVES. They appeared to regard the 
 present moment as peculiarly unfavorable for such an offer, and indeed, to hold that il 
 would be essential to the success of any proposal from abroad that it should be deferred 
 
 LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 iillllliilliliiililllllllllllll 
 
 lilllllllllillllllllllilllilllliillHIIIi 
 011 895 660 6 # 
 
8 
 
 until the control of the Executive Government should be in the hands of thr Conservntir^e 
 party. 
 
 "I gave no opinion on the subject. I did tiot say whether or no I myself thought for- 
 eign intervention probable or desirable ; but I listened with attention to the accounts given 
 me of the plana and hopes of the Conservative party. At the bottom I thotnjht I jierceived 
 a desire to imt an end to theivar, EVEN AT THE RISK OF LOSING THE SOUTH- 
 ERN STATES ALTOGETHEiri ; but it teas plain it was not ihouaht prtident to avow 
 this desire. INDEED, SOME HINTS OF IT, DROPPED BEFORE THE ELEC- 
 TIONS, WERE SO ILL RECEIVED THAT A STRONG DECLARATION IN 
 THE CONTRARY SENSE WAS DEEMED NECESSARY BY THE DEMOCRATIC 
 LEADERS." 
 
 Clamoring for Victory. 
 
 On the 4th of July, I880, Mr. Seymour made a r^peech in Kcw York. A 
 patriot would have "taken the occasion as one to inspire hope in the people and 
 faith in their cause, and not one to ridicule the efforts of our soldiers in the 
 field. But Mr. Seymour sats : 
 
 -" When I accepted the invitation to apeak, with ethers, al this meeting, v:c wercproir- 
 ised the downfall of Vi'-k-slnny, tiic openipf/ of the 3fi:mssi2->2)i, the probable vapfurc of the 
 Ch»ftderaie cajntal and the exhaustion of the rebellion. By common consent, all parties 
 had fixed upon the same day when the results of the campaign should be known, to mark 
 out the line of policy which they felt that our country should pursue. BUT, IN THE 
 MOMENT OF EXPECTED VICTORY, THERE CAME THE MIDNIGHT CRY FOR 
 HELP FROM PENNSY^LVANIA TO SAVE ITS DESPOILED nELDS FROM THE 
 INVADING FOE ; and, almost within sight of this great commercial metropolis, the 
 ships of your merchants were burned to the waters edge. 
 
 Talk to His Triends- 
 
 This was on the 4th of July. On the loth of July the mob came. It HW«pt 
 New York as with the besom of destruction. It had Governor Seymour'.* 
 threat to ju.stify its action. Governor Seymour L< sent for. He coraee. He 
 .speaks to the rioters. He^ says : 
 
 " Mt Friends— I have come down from the rpiiet of the conntry to see what was the 
 difficulty, to learn that all the trouble was concerning the draft. Let me assure you that 
 T am your friend. [Uproarious cheering.] You have been «»;/ fiends, [cries of ' ytjs," 
 ' that's so,' 'we arc and will be again,'] and now, I assure you, my fellow-citizens, that [ 
 am hereto show YOU aTESTOK MY FRiEXDSHip. [Cheers.] I WISH TO INFORM YOU 
 THAT I HAVf]' SENT MY ADJUTANT GENERAL TO WASHINGTON TO CON- 
 FER WITH THE AUTHORITIES THERE, AND TO HAVE THIS DRAFT ST:S- 
 PENDED OR STOPPED. [Vociferous cheering.] I ask you as good citizcn.9 to waif 
 for his return. I wish you to take good care of all property as good citizens, and see that 
 overv person is safe. The safe keeping of persons and property re-^ts with you, and I 
 charge you to disturb neither, 'it is your duty to maintain tlie good order of fhe^ city ; and 
 T know you will do it. I wish you to separate as good citizens and YOU CAN ASSEM- 
 BLE VGAIN WHENEVER YOU WISH TO DO SO. I ask you to leave all to ni>« 
 now, and I will see to your rights. WAIT UNTIL MY ADJUTANT GENERAL RE- 
 TURNS FROM WASHINGTON.'- 
 
 Seymour and Vallandigham— Interposing More Obstacles. 
 
 "If this proceeding is apnroved by the Government and sanctioned by the people, it it 
 not merely a step toward revolution— IT IS REVOLUTION. It will not only lead to 
 military despotism— it establishes military despotism. In this aspect it must be accepted, 
 or in this aspect rejected. * * * -x- The people of this country now wait 
 with the deepest anxiety the decision of the Administration upon these acts. Havjn^ 
 Kivenita generous support in the conduct of the war, WE PAUSE TO SP^E WHAT 
 laND OF A GOVERNMENT IT IS FOR WHICH WE ARE ASKED TO POUR 
 OUT BLOOD AND TREASURE. THE ACTION OF THE ADMINISTRATION 
 WILL DETERMINE IN THE MINDS OF MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF THE 
 PEOPLE OF THE LOYAL STATES, WHETHER THIS WAR IS WAGED TO 
 PUT DOWN THE REBELLION AT THE SOUTH, OR DESTROY FREE INSTI- 
 TUTIONS AT THE NORTH." 
 
 PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE GREAT REPOBLiC, WASniNGTON, T>. C. 
 
UBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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