interpretation of it, and to abide by that interpretation until I received other orders.

Disclaiming any intention, now or heretofore, of disobeying any legal order of the President, distinctly communicated, I remain,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

IX.

U. S. GRANT, General.

NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY.

IN May, 1868, the Republican Convention for the nomination of candidates to the offices of President and Vice President met in Chicago, and after the acceptance of the following Platform, unanimously selected Grant as the candidate for the Presidency, and Colfax as the candidate for the Vice Presidency.

A careful study of the principles enunciated in the platform, will show that this party, with such a leader, are desirous of realizing, in the fullest degree, the principles of justice which we have seen can be the only foundation of a stable, democratic government. In his letter of acceptance Grant, with the modesty and truthfulness which have always characterized his acceptance of any public trust, pledges himself only to do his duty. The best assurance that this will be his course, lies in his past career, and it now remains for the American people to elect him to the highest office in their gift, and by thus crowning the confidence they have hitherto shown in him, continue in their course towards the destiny of this Republic, in realizing the spread of justice, with the consequent stability of our institutions, and the happiness of those who live under them. With this result, economy and ability will prevail in the administration of public affairs; productive industry will be recognized as the fundamental interest of the country; the unity of the nation will be secured, and America in the future, as in the past, will lead the world towards the freedom in which alone the race can arrive at its destiny.

THE PLATFORM.

The National Republican Party of the United States, assembled in National Convention in the City of Chicago, on the 20th day of May, 1868, made the following declaration of principles:

1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the Reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption in the majority of the States lately in rebellion, of Constitutions securing equal civil and political rights to all, and it is the duty of the Government to sustain those institutions, and to prevent the people of such States from being remitted to a state of anarchy.

2. The guarantee by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the South, was demanded by every consideration of public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the question of suffrage in all the loyal States properly belongs to the people of those States.

3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime; and the national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad; not only according to the letter, but the spirit of the laws under which it was contracted.

4. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be equalized, and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will permit.

5. The National debt contracted, as it has been, for the preservation of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair period for redemption; and it is the duty of Congress to reduce the rate of interest thereon, whenever it can be honestly done.

6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is to so improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower rates of interest than we now pay, and must continue to pay, so long as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened or suspected.

7. The Government of the United States should be administered with the strictest economy, and the corruptions which have been so shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson, call loudly for radical reform.

8. We professedly deplore the untimely and tragic death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession of Andrew Johnson to the Presidency, who has acted treacherously to the people who elected him, and the cause he was pledged to support; who has warped high legislative and judicial functions; who has refused to execute the laws; who has used his high office to induce other officers to ignore and violate the laws; who has employed his executive powers to render insecure the property, the peace, liberty and life of the citizen; who has abused the pardoning power; who has denounced the National Legislature as unconstitutional; who has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every measure in his power, every popular attempt at the reconstruction of the States lately in rebellion; who has perverted the public patronage into an engine of wholesale corruption, and who has been justly impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote of thirtyfive Senators.

9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers, that because a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted at every hazard by the United States, as a relic of the feudal times, not authorized by the law of nations, and at war with our national honor and independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to be protected in all their rights of citizenship as though they were native born, and no citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done or words spoken in this country; and if so arrested and imprisoned, it is the duty of the Government to interfere in his behalf.

10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there were none entitled to more especial honor than the

brave soldiers and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and imperiled their lives in the service of the country; the bounties and pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation, are obligations never to be forgotten; the widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the people, a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's protecting care.

11. Foreign emigration-which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development and resources and increase of power to this nation, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.

12. This Convention declares itself in sympathy with all the oppressed people which are struggling for their rights.

The committee which was appointed by the National Union Republican Convention, under instructions from that body to present to Gen. Grant and the Hon. Schuyler Colfax a record of its proceedings, and to inform them of their nomination, performed that duty on the evening of the 29th of May, between eight and nine o'clock, at the residence of Gen. Grant. About two hundred persons witnessed the ceremony, including delegates to the Convention, several members of Congress, Gen. Grant's staff, and the ladies of the families of Gen. Grant and Speaker Colfax, respectively. These two gentlemen stood side by side, and the spectators formed in a semicircle in front of them, thus affording a full view of the proceedings.

Gen. J. R. Hawley, the President of the Convention, delivered the following address:

GEN. HAWLEY'S ADDRESS.

GENERAL: The National Union Republican party, assembled in the National Convention on the 20th of this month, appointed us, the officers of the Convention, to wait upon you. In obedience to its instructions we give to you a copy of the record of its proceedings. You will perceive that it was

Harmonious, enthuyour own words, to We mean to make it

governed by the most patriotic motives. siastic, and determined, we mean, in 66 save in peace what we won in war." a solemn and practical reality in the United States that "all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We intend that there shall never be cause or opportunity for a civil war in this nation, originated either by those who would enslave their fellow-men or those who must fight to regain their freedom. We believe that there can be no permanent peace save in justice and equal rights, the equality of all men before the law. We hope to see our government reaching to the remotest corner, and to the humblest person, securing to him by impartial and irresistible power his personal safety, the right to the avails of his labor, and the right and the opportunity for physical, mental, and moral advancement. The best guarantee for the continuance of such a government is to give to all classes impartially, a share in its management. We hear much of forgiveness and fraternity; we, too, do most earnestly desire a speedy return of the policy and measures of peaceful times, none long more for a fully restored Union than those who sustained the government during the late dreadful war; but the dead men have left a trust in our hands. We long for peace and good-will, but we have no friends who oppress their fellow-men. We do not idly and hopelessly ask for indemnity for the past; we seek only security for the future. You will see that the Convention believes that integrity, simplicity and economy in governmental affairs are the duties of good citizens and honorable men. It makes the strict fulfillment of national obligation a point of honor never to be waived. What the civilized world recognizes as full and final payment is the only payment the Union Republican party will ever consent to tender. The equal rights of adopted citizens are strictly asserted, and all people who love our government are hospitably invited to come and enjoy its benefits, and