Year: 1864

ventlon 10 noIlly Neu. mcOlellau Oi HIS
nomination met this morning at the ST..
Nicholas Hotel. Nearly all the members
of the committee were present. At one
o'clock the committee left the hotel and
proceeded in carriages to the mansion of
Gen. Mcclellan, in Thirty-First street,
where they were received by the General
and Colonel Lansing. After the ceremo-
ny of introduction, and brief interview,
the committee presented to Gen. McClel-
Ian a copy of the proceedings Of the Chi
cago Convention, and letter advising
him of his nomination. The General ac-
cepted the nomination and his letter to
that effect was formally presented to the
Committee this evening. Besides the
Committee large number of prominent
gentlemen visited Gen. Mcclellan, among
them were Belmont, Peter Cragger, Dean
Richmond, and others. The following is
the reply:


ORANGE, N. j., Sept. 8, '64.


GENTLEMEN: l have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter in
forming me of my nomination, by the
Democratic National Convention, recent
ly assembled at Chicago, as their candi-
date at the next election for President Of
the United States.


1t is unnecessary for me to say TO you
that this nomination comes TO me un-
sought. / am happy to know that when
the nomination was made the record Of
my public life was kept in view. The ef-
feet Of long and varied service in the ar
my, during war and peace, has been to
strengthen and make indelible in my mind
and heart the love and reverence for the
Union and Constitution, for the laws and
flag of our country, impressed on me in
early youth. These feelings have thus far
guided the course Of my life, and will
continue to do so until its end. The ex-
isteuce of more than one government over
the region which once owned our flag is
Incompatible with the peace, the power,
and the happiness Of the people. The
preservation of our Union was the sole
avowed object for which the war was COM
menced. II should have been conducted
for that object only, and in accordance
with those principles which | took occa-
sion TO declare when in active service
Thus conducted the work of reconciliation
would have been easy, and we might have
reaped the benefit of our many victories
on land and sea. The Union was origi-
nally formed by the exercise of spirit of
concliation and compromise. TO restore
and preserve it the same spirit must pre-
val in our councils and in the hearts of
the people. The re-establishment Of the
Union in all its integrity is, and must con-
tinue to be, the Indispensable condition
in any settlement. So soon as it is clear,
or even probable, that our present adver-
saries are ready for peace upon the basis
of the Union, we should exhaust all the
resources of craftsmanship practiced by
civilized nations, and taught by the tra-
ditions Of the American people, consis-
tent with the honor and interests of this
country, to secure such peace, re-establish
the Union and guarantee for the future
the constitutional rights of every State.


The Union is the one condition of
peace, we ask no more. Let me add what
/ doubt not was, although unexpected,
the sentiment of the Convention, as it is
of the people they represent, that when
any one State is willing TO return to the
Union il should be received at once, with
a full guarantee of all its constitutional
rights. If frank, earnest and persistent
effort to obtain those objections should
fail, the responsibility for the ulterior con-
sequences will fall upon those who remain
in arms against the Union. But the Un-
ion must be preserved at all hazards
] could not look in the face Of my gallant
comrades of the army, and navy who
have survived so many bloody battles,
and tell them that their labors and the
sacrifice Of so many Of our slain and
wounded brethren had been in vain ;
that we have abandoned that Union for
which we have so often perilod our lives
a vast majority of our people, whether
we are in the army or navy or at home,
would, as | would, hail with JOY unbound
ed the permanent restoration Of peace, on
the basis of the Union and Constitution
without the effusion Of another drop of
blood. No peace can be permanent with
out Union.


AS to other subjects presented in the