794 



UNITED STATES. 



OKANOE, N. J., September 8th. 



To Son. Horatio Seymour and others, Committee, &c. : 

 GENTLEMEN : I havs the honor to acknowledge the 

 receipt of your letter informing me of my nomina- 

 tion by the Democratic National Convention recently 

 held at Chicago, as their candidate at the next elec- 

 tion for President of the United States. 



It is unnecessary for me to say to you that this 

 nomination comes to me unsought. I am happy to 

 /know that when the nomination was made, the 

 , record of my public life was kept in view. The 

 eS'ect of long and varied service in the army, during 

 war and peace, has been to strengthen and make in- 

 delible in my mind and heart the love and reverence 

 for the Union, Constitution, laws, and flag of our 

 country impressed upon me in early youth. These 

 feelings have thus far guided the course of my life, 

 and must continue to do so until its end. The exist- 

 ence of more than one Government over the region 

 which once owned our flag, is incompatible with the 

 peace, the power, and the happiness of the people. 

 The preservation of our Union was the sole avowed 

 object for which the war was commenced. It should 

 have been conducted for that object only, and in 

 accordance with those principles which I took occa- 

 sion to declare when in active service. Thus con- 

 ducted the work of reconciliation would have been 

 easy, and we might have reaped the benefits of our 

 many victories on land and sea. 



The Union was originally formed by the exercise 

 of a spirit of conciliation and compromise. To re- 

 store and preserve it, the same spirit must prevail in 

 our councils and in the hearts cf the people. The 

 reestablishment of the Union, in all its integrity, is 

 and must continue to be the indispensable condition 

 in any settlement. So soon as it is clear, or even 

 probable, that our present adversaries are ready for 

 peace upon the basis of the Union, we should exhaust 

 all the resources of statesmanship practised by civil- 

 ized nations and .taught by the traditions of the 

 American people, consistent with the honor and in- 

 terests of the country, to secure such peace, reSstab- 

 Jish the Union, and guarantee for the future the con- 

 stitutional rights of every State. The Union is the 

 one condition of peace. 'We ask no more. 



Let me add what I doubt not was, although unex- 

 pressed, the sentiment of the Convention, as it is of 

 the people they represent, that when any one State 

 is willing to return to the Union it should be received 

 at once with a full guarantee of all its constitutional 

 rights. If a frank, earnest, and persistent effort to 

 obtain these objects should fail, the responsibility 

 for ulterior consequences will fall upon those who 

 remain 171 arms against the Union, but the Union 

 niust be preserved at all hazards. I could not look 

 in the face my gallant comrades of the army and 

 navy who have survived so many bloody battles, and 

 tell them that their labors and the sacrifice of so 

 many of our slain and wounded brethren had been in 

 vain, that we had abandoned that Union for which 

 we have so often perilled our lives. A vast majority 

 of our people, whether in the army and navy or at 

 home, would, as I would, hail with unbounded joy 

 the permanent restoration of peace on the basis of 

 the Union under the Constitution, without the effu- 

 sion of another drop of blood, but no peace can be 

 permanent without Union. 



As to the other subjects presented in the resolu- 

 tions of the Convention, I need only say that I 

 should seek in the Constitution of the United States, 

 and the laws framed in accordance therewith, the 

 rule of my duty and the limitation of Executive pow- 

 er; endeavor to restore economy in public expendi- 

 tures, reestablish the supremacy of the law, and by 

 the operation of a more vigorous nationality resume 

 our commanding position among the nations of the 

 earth. The condition of our finances, the deprecia- 

 tion of the paper money and the burdens thereby 

 imposed on labor and capital, shows the necessity 

 of a return to a sound financial system, while the 



rights of citizens and the rights of States and the 

 binding authority of law over the I resident, army, 

 and people, are subjects of not less vital importance 

 in war than in peace. 



Believing that the views here expressed are those 

 of the Convention and the people you represent, I 

 accept the nomination. I realize the weight of the 

 responsibility to be borne should the people ratify 

 your choice. Conscious of my own weakness, I can 

 onlv seek fervently the guidance of the Ruler of the 

 Universe, and, relying on His all-powerful aid, do 

 my best to restore Union and peace to a suffering 

 people, and to establish and guard their liberties and 

 rights. Very respectfully, 



GEO. B. McCLELLAN. 



The political discussions which now ensued 

 were conducted with great vigor and spirit. 

 The Democratic party were early made to tako 

 a defensive position instead of being assailants. 

 It was charged that the second resolution con- 

 templated a cessation of hostilities under an 

 armistice which might lead to peace with a dis- 

 solution of the Union. Notwithstanding this 

 disadvantage they marshalled their^forces with 

 all their ancient energy. They urged in reply 

 that the war was conducted not so much to 

 restore the Union as to destroy the State insti- 

 tution of slavery. Mr. Seward, the Secretary 

 of State, met this argument in a speech at 

 Auburn on September 3d, with these words : 



Although altogether unauthorized to speak for the 

 President upon hypothetical questions, I think I can 

 give an answer upon the subject of slavery at the 

 present day an answer which will be explicit, and, 

 I hope, not altogether unsatisfactory. While the 

 rebels continue to wage war against the Government 

 of the United States, the military measures affecting 

 slavery, which have been adopted from necessity, to 

 bring the war to a speedy and successful end, will 

 be continued, except so far as practical experience 

 shall show that they can be modified advantage- 

 ously, with a view to the same end. When the in- 

 surgents shall have disbanded their armies and laid 

 down their arms, the war will instantly cease ; and 

 all the war measures then existing, including those 

 which affect slavery, will cease also ; and all the 

 moral, economical, and political questions affecting 

 slavery as others, which shall then be existing, be- 

 tween individuals, and States, and the Federal Gov- 

 ernment, whether they arose before the civil war 

 began, or whether they grew out of it, will, by force 

 of the Constitution, pass over to the arbitrament 

 of the courts of law, and to the councils of legis- 

 lation. 



Again, at Washington, on Sept. 14th, in an ad- 

 dress to the members of the Lincoln and John- 

 son Association, he said : 



Fellow-citizens, the Democracy at Chicago, aftei 

 waiting six weeks to see whether this war for tue Union 

 is to succeed or fail, finally concluded' that it would 

 fail, and therefore went in for a nomination and plat- 

 form to make it the sure thing by a cessation of hos- 

 tilities and an abandonment of the contest. At Balti- 

 more, on the contrary, we determined that there 

 should be no such thing as failure, and therefore we 

 went in to save the Union by battle to the last. 

 Sherman and Farragut have knocked the bottom out 

 of the Chicago nominations, and the elections in Ver- 

 mont and Maine prove the Baltimore nominations 

 staunch and sound. The issue is thus squarely made 

 up McClellan and disunion, or Lincoln and Uuion. 

 Have yon any doubt of the result on that issue? 

 (Cries of "No." "No.") Nor do I have any doubt. 

 Many thanks, my friends, for this visi* 



