Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-08-11
A PufF FOR TILDES.

United States believe that the day Of BIZ
Inauguration will be the beginning Of {
ne" era OF peace. purity and prosperity il
ali the departments of our government
an, m,'gentleman. your obedient servant
Thomas \. HENDRICKS.
Tllden During The War--TIIs Connection With the
! surrender Resolution of1>6f
! From Harper's Weekly.
The charge that Mr. Tilden was very
lgke-warm patriot during the war, and that
he reported the famous surrender platform
OF the democratic convention Of 1851. has
been laboriously denied and eyaded. 1t ha,
heen alleged that the resolution did not
express Mr.. Tildens sentiments But Mr..
Illden was the member of the committee
IRON New York, and he made no protest
against the platform then or subsequently,
nor was there anything in the resolution
which was IN any degree inconsistent with
ms attitude through the war In plain
words, Mr.. Tilden was, in the political
iintse OF the W a pperhead-cautious,
prudent, discreet, indeed, for he Is ALWAYS u
skiliul politician lie had none OF the foul
m0uthed hoStliIJies to the war and its
sDiiIerS that characterized such men Is Henry
Clay Dean. but be was none the less one of
that class Of citizens who, under cover of
respect i0T the constitution. constantly
Ieiple1ed and embarrassed the admistration,
chilled the patriotic arder of the people.
anf thereby gave the most substantial moral
ald and comfort to the emmy Lhe platform
committee OF the democratic convention Of
lNri, OF which Mr.. Tilden was the member
of New York, and Nallandigham, the typical
eoTperhead, was ruling spirit, reported the
following resolution
"Eeso'i,d. That this Convention does explicitly
declare as the sense oi the American people, that
AZ er iNug years Of failure 70 restore the union by
'Ae eAlcI fnent ui wdr-durins which, under the
tl,ti-r y a military necess = or war power high
er than the constitution, the constitution itself
~ loan dlsre-af' ed n every part, and puhlc
liberty a-d pr yate lie alike trodden down. and
ihe mate al prosperity OF the country essenta ily
n'pArei i-iustce,nuntnlty, liberty and the public
Nc--are demand that immediate Efforts he made
iir easlt - OF hostilities, with view TO an III
Innate invention OF the states other .peacedhle
means O. the end that at the earliest practicable
m ,iueri peace may be restored the hasis Of tho
federal States
There i. nothing in this resolution, We
say, which is inconsistent with Mr. Tilden'S
action and position throughout the war
.itt N'A AttN AAtt-f i'lNN- ~ ttlI
ciiJrtS Of the government to save the country
was the society for the diffusion Of useful
political edge-that Is, of what were
known aS copperhead sentiments which
Was formed in New ork in February, lS65,
nl,e 90 81 -i---l- L..,-- IT the war. IL was
time when every gencr va. patriotic heart
was seeking how To encourage and multiply
the soldiers in the field, ard how TO stimulate
81. J r. -, -
administration. This was the moment in
which a circular was issued for a meeting
az Delmonicos ON the Fifth avenue. 1t
Was addressed. of course, to those who were
known u be unfriendly to .he war and was
signed, among others, by \. Belmont. ;. +.
Il. Morse. George Ticknor Curtis. Loring
Andrews and Samuel j. Tilden. 1t l.
notorious that these are the names Of some
OF the most mali isnant" of the New York
opponents of the war. Sidney L. Morse. OF
New York Observer, presided at the meeting.
Among the speakers was James Brooks.
who made the remark. which became at,er-
ward noted that he had seen men sitting
on the stumIs on the roadside in the wlods
of the south who were unable to read n
write. but who knew more of governm oat
England children with all their book learn
ing and he Justify denounced northern
fanatics and abolitoniStS lie was followed
by Cyrus Mason "a man well known 10
many New Workers., by George Tickn0r
Curtis, and Samuel j. Tilden. The meet
ing decided to form society to publish and
diiiu>e sound political information that l.,
a. the result showed, the most unc0mprOmls-
Ing corperheai speeches and pamphlets
\ committee on publications and one on I'm
ance, of which Samuel j. Tilden was a
member, were appointed and week later
the organization was completed by making
;. F. B. Morse permanent president, LOrins
Andrews treasurer, and Cyrus Mason cor
responding secretary and general agent.
Then operations began.
These consisted of the occasional publica-
tion # pamphlets, the study OF which Is to-
DAY profoundly suggestive. Their main
object was two-fold first, to show the
blessings Of human slavery and second, to
prove that every great measure Of the war
was unconstitutional The first pamphlet
contained an account OF the speeches of Mr..
Morse and George Ticknor Curtis at the
Delmonico meeting, with letter from
Samuel !. Tilden to the Evening Post deny
ing that the movement was in any sense u
revolutionary conspiracy or intrigue. Mr..
Tilden's letter, written at the moment when
the issue IF the contest was most uncertain.
was calculated To persuade the country that
the measures al the war were peril0uS
usurpatiOn-, and that liberty and the gov
ernment were perk ing amid the follies and
fanltS of Abraham Ancoln's administration.
Mr.. Tilden stated that when Preston King
asked him to cooperate in the formation of
the republican party he replied that it would
be dangerous agency, and either political
hundcr or crime, as creating a conflict in
which the government would probably per-
ish. This first pamphlet was followed by
speech Of Mr.. Tdrp.e. then Senator from
Indiana, OF the kind that Mr.. Pendleton
and Fernando Wood and the other "peace"
men were ia the habit of making. Other
numbers of the series were, Emancipation
and its Results showing hat it thad always
been a misfortune, and the ovation at the
academy Of music, on the fourth of July,
1868, when GOV. Seymour made a speech
iomentlng the utmost hostility to the ad-
ministration, and unquestionably melting
the draft riots ten days later. There were
the bible view of slavery" the speech of
Pugh for Vallandighsm. the letter of the
Albany eopperheads to Mr.. Lincoln of June
80. 1868, and others of the same kind.
This was the business in which Mr.. Til
den was engaged in the crisis of the struggle
for national existence. This was the mea-
sure of his patriotism, and this was his
view of Mr.. Lincoln's policy and conduct.
Is there anything in the democratic resolu-
ton of 1864 which is inconsistent with it ?
Is that resolution anything else than a
declaration of the sentiments which Mr..
Tilden had inculcated and fostered? And |
this is the way in which Mr.. Tilden main |
tained the government and served human
liberty and equal rights.