SEYMOUR, HORATIO. 



801 



lished, and on Monday the rioting broke out. 

 The rioters stopped at no outrage, not even the 

 murder of the innocent and helpless. That 

 night the Governor reached the city. The 

 next day he issued two proclamations, the first 

 calling upon all citizens to retire to their 

 homes and preserve the peace; and the sec- 

 ond declaring the city in a state of insurrec- 

 tion. The same day he took measures for en- 

 rolling volunteers, and gathering all available 

 troops. On that day also he spoke to the mob 

 in front of City Hall. Then and ever after- 

 ward his impromptu speech was the subject 

 of the bitterest criticism. The reports of what 

 he said do not agree, but it seems clear that he 

 promised the crowd that if they had griev- 

 ances they would be redressed ; declnred him- 

 self their friend, and urged the necessity of 

 obedience to law, and the preservation of or- 

 der. Ic is not certain, but very probable, that 

 he addressed the rioters as " my friends/' The 

 design of the speech was twofold to per- 

 suade the crowd to disperse, and in any event 

 to gain time for the concentration of the re- 

 sources within reach to crush out the riot. 

 Under the direction of Gen. Wool, but by the 

 State and municipal authorities, with slight aid 

 from the Federal forces, order was restored 

 within forty-eight hours. The rioting lasted 

 from Monday afternoon until Thursday evening, 

 cost about a thousand lives, and involved the 

 destruction of property estimated at from half 

 a million to three million dollars invalue. 



At the close of July, Gen. Dix was put in 

 command of New York, and some letters 

 passed between him and Gov. Seymour in re- 

 gard to the latter's course in the event of a 

 renewal of the draft. Gov. Seymour also ex- 

 changed letters with President Lincoln on the 

 subject. He pointed out the injustice done to 

 the State, and especially to the metropolis, in 

 the enrollment, and asked to have the draft 

 stopped, and so secure for New York the privi- 

 lege of filling her quota by volunteers. This 

 point the President would not concede, though 

 virtually acknowledging that the assignment of 

 quotas in the districts of the State was appar- 

 ently unfair, and promising that it should not 

 be carried out. A commission, appointed by 

 the War Department to investigate the matter, 

 declared that the enrollment under the act of 

 March 3, 1863, was imperfect, erroneous, and 

 excessive, especially so with reference to the 

 cities of New York and Brooklyn. On April 

 16, 1864, a Republican Legislature passed a 

 resolution thanking Gov. Seymour for his 

 " prompt and efficient efforts " in pointing out 

 the errors of the enrollment, and procuring a 

 correction of them. 



In the State canvass of 1863 the Governor 

 took an active part, making many speeches in 

 the month of October, in defense of his own 

 record and the principles of his party, and at- 

 tacking the policy of the Administration. On 

 April 22, 1864, Gov. Seymour sent to the 

 Legislature a special message asking that pro- 

 TOI,. xxvi. 51 A 



vision be made to pay the interest on the 

 State debt in gold, as the debt was contracted 

 on a gold basis, and the payment of interest 

 in depreciated paper would injure the credit 

 of the Commonwealth. This action was con- 

 strued by political opponents as a covert at- 

 tack on the national credit. On Aug. 30, 1864, 

 the Democratic National Convention assem- 

 bled at Chicago, and Gov. Seymour presided, 

 refusing to be a candidate for the presidential 

 nomination. He consented to become the can- 

 didate for the governorship again, but was de- 

 feated by Reuben E. Fenton, Republican, by a 

 majority of 8,293. After the close of the war, 

 Mr. Seymour remained a prominent figure in 

 politics. He made speeches in the State can- 

 vasses of 1865, 1866, and 1867, and presided 

 over the State Conventions of his party Oct. 3, 

 1867, and March 11, 1868. 



The Democratic National Convention of 

 1868 met in New York city, July 4, and nomi- 

 nated Mr. Seymour for the presidency July 9. 

 His name had been frequently mentioned in 

 connection with the nomination, and he had 

 repeatedly declared that he would not be a 

 candidate. There is now no reason to doubt 

 the sincerity of his declarations; for it is 

 known that he was convinced that the true 

 course for the party was to nominate Salmon 

 P. Chase, under whose leadership he consid- 

 ered victory probable through the alliance of 

 disaffected Republicans. Just before the con- 

 vention, he said that neither inclination nor 

 honor would permit him to accept a nomina- 

 tion. He was made chairman of the conven- 

 tion. The candidates were many, and the 

 contest was bitter. On July 7, North Carolina, 

 on the fourth ballot, cast nine votes for Sey- 

 mour, and he protested against that action, 

 saying: "My own inclinations prompted me 

 to decline at the outset; my honor compels 

 me to do so now." After twenty-one ballots 

 had been taken in vain, the Ohio delegates de- 

 termined to withdraw the name of George H. 

 Pendleton, and present that of Mr. Seymour. 

 On the twenty-second ballot Gen. McCook, 

 after a brief and enthusiastic speech, cast the 

 twenty-one votes of Ohio for Horatio Sey- 

 mour, who at once rose and made a protest as 

 strong as it was possible to make it, closing 

 with the emphatic declaration : " Gentlemen, I 

 thank you, and may God bless you for your 

 kindness to me ; but your candidate I can not 

 be." But he could not stay the movement in 

 his favor, and at the close of the twenty-sec- 

 ond ballot he was the candidate of the con- 

 vention, receiving the full vote of the dele- 

 gates. He allowed himself to be overborne by 

 the enthusiasm of his party, and accepted the 

 nomination in the face of these declarations. 

 That acceptance was the great mistake of his 

 life, and he knew it to be so then, and ever 

 afterward acknowledged it as such. The whole 

 thing was represented by Republican politi- 

 cians as a trick to secure the nomination, and 

 believed to be so by some of the friends of 



