The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-08 00:00:00

the end; and when rebellion shall have laid down
its arms may we peacefully reconstruct whatever
the war for the Union shall be found to have spared.
' Lay down your arms,' then, as it was at the com-
mencement, so it is now, all that is demanded by
loyal Americans of their rebellious brothers. I
would certainly prefer that the American people
could be brought to a vote on the several proposie
tions peculiar to the Cleveland platform. The right
of asylum, the one term policy, the direct vote of
the people for their national chief magistrate, the
Monroe doctrine, the confining exclusively to the
representatives of the people in Congress the re-
construction of States, and the amendment of the
Federal Constitution to prohibit slavery, are princi•
pies of primary magnitude and importance. But
before all these is our country. It is menaced by rebel-
lion. Loyal armies alone protect it. Should those
armies retreat, and our protection be withdrawn ;
or should they advance, and our safety be esta-
blished, shall there be peace through the concessions
of politicians, or peace through the action of war ?
That is the question. Peace and division, or war
and the Union. Other alternative there is none.
And, as I am still of the mind that once led me to
the field with the soldiers of the republic, I cannot
now hold a position which, by dividing, hazards the
success of all those who, whatever their differences
at other points, agree, as upon the question of first
consequence, that the restoration of the Union can-
not be effected without the uninterrupted continua-
tion of the war. I therefore withdraw my name
from the Cleveland ticket.—Very truly, yours,

" JOHN COCHRANE.

"New York, Sept. 21."
Lincoln and M'Clellan are thus the only candi-
dates left in the field for the Presidency. An irn
mense ratification meeting for the nomination of
Abraham Lincoln as President and Andrew Jack-
son as Vice-President was held at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music in New York, on the night, of
the 22d ult. While the Hon. Henry Wilson, of
Massachusetts, was epeaking, General Hooker,
" fighting Joe," as he is called, made his appearance
on the platform, and was received with boisterous
applause. In obedience to loud cries of "Hooker,
Hooker," " Speech, speech," General Hooker came
forward and said :
Ladies and Gentlemen,—l need not tell you that lam
totally unprepared for this. I cannot and I do not take this
demonstration, or any part of it, to myself. I am not
worthy of this reception. (Yes you are, and loud cheers.)
lam not more worthy than you. We are all in the same
boat. You have been working in the cause in one place,
and I have been working in another. Your victories here
are as dear to us in the front as those in the front are dear
to you here. (That's so,) The victories of last fall—l
speak from a full knowledge of the facts—were hailed with
as much joy and enthusiasm in the army as though those
victories had been achieved by another army than the
army that I belonged to. The victory of Ohio was also hailed
with joy, and I felt glad at the sesult. I hope I may feel
many more, and I do not doubt that before next November
we will taste of one like which this rebellion has furnished
no parallel. (Cheers.) I need not tell you that lam re-
joiced to find such an assemblage. It shows that it is all
right with our cause and our country. (Applause.) Nothing
—no reverses, no misfortune, can befal us when our people
are animated by the feeling evinced here to-night. If the
war has been prolonged, it has not been from weakness but
rather from conscious strength. 'We have never put forth
our resources nor our strength, although we have put forth
such resources as have amazed the world. (Applause.) But
it is true that the North has never yet made one great effort
to crush the rebellion. It can and will do it when it moves
for that purpose. (Cheers.) The people in these loyal
States, and I am proud to say it, have been in advance of
the authorities during the whole of this rebellion. They
will be so until we reach the end, and that end is not remote.
I am rejoiced to meet you to-night, and to meet you under
such auspices. Tidings, glorious tidings, reach us from all
the armies. The work goes bravely on there. There are no
copperheads (cheers) in the army. (Loud applause.) They
will fight well, and will vote well also. (Loud applause.)
More loyalty, more devotion never animated the heart and
the hands of men more brave. I thank you most earnestly
for the kindness with which you have received me this
evening. lam unworthy of it. (" No, you are not—no,
sirree.") I have in a humble capacity served my country,
and have never failed to do my duty—(" That's so")—and I
trust never will. I bid you good night.
General Hooker then retired amid renewed ap-
plause, and Senator Wilson proceeded with his
speech which had been interrupted by this episode.
While the meeting was in progress a large and en-
thusiastic meeting was held outside in Montagne,
street, at which addresses fa ere delivered from two
platforms simultaneously, and the feeling indoors
and out is described as very enthusiastic for Lincoln
and the Union.
The following despatch from Washington an.
nounces the resignation ofPostmaster-General Blair
at the request of the President

Washington, Sept. 23.
When the resolution of the late Baltimore Convention,
declaring that they " deemed it essential to the general wel-
fare that harmony shall prevail in the national councils, and
regarding as worthy of public confidence and official trust
those only who cordially endorse the principles proposed in
the series of resolut one, and which should characterize the
administration of the Government," was shortly after its
passage read by Postmaster-General Blair, he at once ver-
bally tendered his resignation, which was not formally made
and accepted until to-Jay, as will be seen from the following
correspondence. It is understood that ex-Governor Denni-
son, of Ohio, will be his successor :
THE PRESIDENT TO THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL.

Executive Mansion, Washington, Sept. 23.
My dear Sir,—You have generously said to me more than
once that whenever your resignation could be a relief to me
it was at my disposal. The time has come. You very well
know that this proceeds from no dissatisfaction of mine with
you personally or officially. Your uniform kindness has
been unsurpassed by that of any friend, and while it is true
that the war does not so greatly add to the difficulties of
your department as to those of some others, it is yet much
to say, as I most truly can, that in the three years and a
half during which you have administered the General Post-
office, I remember no single complaint against you in con-
nexion :herewith. Yours, as ever,
Hon. Montgomery Blair. A. LINCOLN.
TILE POSTMASTER-GENERAL TO THE PRESIDENT.

Post-office Department, Sept, 23.
My dear Sir,—l have received your note of this date
referring to my offers to resign whenever you should deem
it advisable for the public interests that I should do so,and
stating that, in your judgment, that time has now come.
I now, therefore, formally tender my resignation of the
office of Postmaster-General. I cannot take leave of you
without renewing the expressions of my gratitude for the
uniform kindness which has marked your course towards
yours, very truly, M. BLAIR,
The President.

Ex- Governor Dennison, of Ohio, is to be appointed Post-
master-General in the place of Mr Blair. It is said that Mr
Blair has taken this step to be at liberty to stump the border
States in favour of Lincoln and Johnson ; but it is believed
that there are other reasons impelling him to resign.
The 10 days' truce between Generals Sherman
and Hood expired on the 22d nit., bat, in order to
complete the removal of families from Atlanta, it
was renewed, to continue for some days. Sherman
had effected the exchange with Hood of 2,000 pri..
Boners. The reply of General Sherman to General
Hood's protest against the depopulation of Atlanta
was received in Washington on the 21st :
Headquarters, Military Division of the Mississippi,
in the Field, Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 10.
General J. B. Hood, commanding army of the Tennessee
Confederate army :

General,—l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter of this date at the hands of Messrs Ball and
crew, consenting to the arrangements I had proposed to fa-
cilitate the removal south of the people of Atlanta who pre-
fer to go in that direction. I enclose you a copy of my orders
which will, I am satisfied, ace 3mplish my purpose perfectly.
You style the measures proposed "unprecedented," and ap-
peal to the dark history of war for a parallel as en act of
"studied and ungenerous cruelty." It is not unprecedented,
for General Johnston himself very wisely and properly re-
moved the families all the way from Dalton down, and I see
no reason why Atlanta should be excepted. Nor is it neces-
sary to appeal to the dark history of war when recent and
modern examples are so handy. You yourself burned dwel-
ling houses along your parapet, and I have seen to-day 50
houses that you-have rendered uninhabitable because they
stood in the way of your forts and men. You defended Atlanta
on a lino so close to the town that every cannonshot and many
musket-shots from our line of investments that overshot
their mark went into the habitations of women and children.
General Hardee did the same at Jonesborough, and General
Johnston did tke same last summer at Jackson, Mies. I
have not accused you of heartless cruelty, but merely in-
stance those cases of very recent occurrence, and could go
on and enumerate hundreds of others, and challenge any fair
man to judge which of us has the heart of pity for the fami-
lies of a " brave people." I say it is a kindness to these
families of Atlanta to remove them now at once from scenes
that women and children should not be exposed to, and the
brave people should scorn to commit their wives and chil-
dren to the rude barbarians who thus, as you say, violate
the laws of war, as illustrated in the pages of its dark his-
tory. In the name of common sense, I ask you not to ap-
peal to a just God in such a sacrilegious manner—you, who
in the midst of peace and prosperity, have plunged a nation
into civil war, "dark and cruel war," who dared and
badgered us to battle, insulted our flag, seized our arsonals
and forte that were left in the honourable custody of a