and untrue, and bore witness to the services he had rendered to the Union cause.

Upon his return from the West he had an interview with Governor Morgan, and Adjutant-General Hillhouse, and at their request, was put at the head of the committee named to raise troops from the County of Oneida; and it is due to Governor Morgan and General Hillhouse to say, that at all times they have spoken in a just and honorable manner of the course of Governor Seymour, although they held political views at variance with his.

Governor Seymour has at all times felt the importance of a well regulated militia. He had urged this in his messages of 1853 and '54. The State military association was organized at that time by members of his staff. In 1862 he attended the meeting of this body at Albany, with a view of strengthening the military force of the State, and delivered an address from which we make the following brief extract:

too.

"We denounce the rebellion as most wicked, because it wages war against the best government the world has ever seen. Remember there is guilt in negligence as well as in disobedience; and there is danger, We complain that the arms of the General Government were, heretofore, unequally distributed. This is owing in part to the treasonable purpose of officials, but it is also due in part to our own neglect of our constitutional duties. Our enrolled militia should count more that five hundred thousand, but they do not exceed onehalf of that number. Hence our quota of arms was diminished, and that of the Southern States increased. The want of these arms and a proper military organization, has added immensely to the cost of this war and to the burden of taxation. More than this, if we had respected our constitutional obligation, we might, at the outset, have placed in the field a force that would have put out this rebellion when it was first kindled."

At its conclusion Governor Morgan moved a vote of thanks; and the great services of Governor Seymour to the national cause were of them freely acknowledged.

CHAPTER X.

ELECTION OF 1862.

In the course of the year 1862, the Government was falling into utter confusion; public confidence was weakened, and leading Republican papers proposed to push Mr. Lincoln from his place, and, bý a revolutionary act, to place another person in the Executive Chair. The following extracts will show the length to which these conspirators were prepared to go. The Times of April 25, 1861, under the head of "Wanted-a Leader," said :

"In every great crisis the human heart demands a leader that incarnates its ideas, its emotions, and its aims. The moment he takes the helm, order, promptitude, and confidence follow as the necessary result. When we see such results, we know that a hero leads. No such hero at present directs affairs."

"A holy zeal inspires every loyal heart to sacrifice comfort, property, and life even is nothing, because if we fail, we must give up these for our children, for humanity, and for ourselves. 'Where is

the leader of this sublime passion?' Can the administration furnish him?"

From the Times, April 21, 1861 :

"The President must direct the great national arm, which only waits his command to deliver a blow that will end the war at once, or that arm, fired with a public rage which will brook no control or guidance, will deal out, in its blind wrath, a destruction more terrible and complete than ever a people suffered before. The interest of humanity will be forgotten, and that will prove a war of utter extermination, which the President has now the power to control."

From the Times, April 26, 1861:

"George Law only speaks the universal sentiments of the whole community, without reference to party or class, when he tells President Lincoln that the Government must clear the path to Washington, or the people will do it for them. If any man of position as a military leader, or as a strong resolute commander, would offer to lead a force through Baltimore, with or without orders, he could have 50,000 followers, as soon as they could rush to his standard."

From the Times, April 21, 1861:—

"No one has observed carefully the development of public sentiment at the North, and especially in this city, during the last ten days, can doubt for a moment that our warning was perfectly justified by the condition of affairs, and absolutely demanded for the preservation of the public peace. We did not hesitate to say to the President that unless he acted with more vigor, with more courage, with a more thorough comprehension of public exigencies, and of public sentiment than had been displayed, he ran the risk of plunging the Government into embarrassments, from which it could only be rescued by some one who should more accurately represent the sentiments and purposes of the American people."

Further extracts of a similar character occur in the speech of 1862, which is given below.

Governor Seymour, while he felt the imbecility of the men in power—although he had opposed the election of Mr. Lincoin-denounced these treasonable purposes, in the Democratic Convention of Sept. 10, 1862. At this Convention he was again enthusiastically nominated for the office of Governor. He set forth, in the following terms, his views of the paramount duties of American citizens at that crisis:

"Two years have not passed away since a Convention, remarkable for its numbers, patriotism, and intelligence, assembled at this place, to avert, if possible, the calamities which afflict our people. In respectful terms, it implored the leaders of the political party which

had triumphed at a recent election to submit to the people of this country some measure of conciliation which would save them from civil war. It asked that before we should be involved in the evils and horrors of domestic bloodshed, those upon whom it would bring bankruptcy and ruin, and into whose homes it would carry desolation and death, should be allowed to speak. That prayer for the rights of our people was derided and denounced, and false assurances were given that there was no danger. The storm came upon us with all its fury -and the war, so constantly and clearly foretold, desolated our land. It is said no compromises would have satisfied the South. If we had tried them it would not now be a matter of discordant opinion. If these offers had not satisfied the South, they would have gratified loyal men at the North, and would have united us more perfectly.

"Animated by devotion to our Constitution and Union, our people rallied to the support of the Government, and one year since showed an armed strength that astonished the world. We again appealed to those who wielded this mighty material power, to use it for the restoration of the Union and to uphold the Constitution, and were told that he who clamored for his constitutional rights was a traitor!

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"Congress assembled. Inexperienced in the conduct of public affairs, drunk with power, it began its course of agitation, outrage, and wrong. The defeat of our arms at Manassas, for a time, filled it with terror. Under this influence, it adopted the resolution of Mr. Crittenden, declaring,—

"That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the Disunionists of the Southern States, now in arms against the Constitutional Government, and in arms around the Capitol; that in this National emergency Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country; that this war is not waged, on their part, in any spirit of oppression or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired, and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease.'

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'Again the people rallied around the flag of the Union. But no sooner were their fears allayed than they began anew the factious intrigues-the violent discussions and the unconstitutional legislation which ever brings defeat and disgrace upon nations. In vain were