Year: 1866

vention. In them are reflected, as wa
| believe the true sentiments of the great
mass not only of those who were soldiers
and sailors of the Unior army and navy,
but of the patriotic people of the whole
country. And, sir, permit me in con-
Guiding to express to you our confidence
in your sincerity of purpose, and IN your
devotion to what you believe to be the
highest and best interests of the country,
and our hope and belief that during
your administration the Union will be
restored, and that it will be better and
stronger than ever. and as enduring as
truth itself.


The President responded as follows:


Mr.. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLRsIEN OF
THE COMMITTEE: have no formal reply
to make; but the presentation of the
record of the proceedings of the Cleye-
land Convention is peculiarly acceptable
in the present posture of public affairs.
To receive the encouragement and ex-
preston of confidence in me of gentle
men so intelligent and patriotic inspires
me with renewed and increased zeal to
progress in the discharge of my duty i'll
strictly adhering to and maintaining the
Constitution of the country. You have
performed your part in the field. That
has become a portion OF the history OF
the country. But after having done
that, there is, as you have just evinced,
an important part TO perform as citizens,
equal. if not superior, to the service
which you have rendered as soldiers and
sailors of the Union, while the war was
a physical contest conducted, of course,
with intellect and intelligence SO far as
the science Of war was concerned. The
struggle now is purely of q civil charac-
ter and for the establishment of basis
on which our institutions shall hereafter
rest And the query comes up-and a
very serious one 1 think whether the
character, nature, and genius Of the
Government shall be changed, or wheth-
er it shall settle down and be maintained
on the basis and principles of the Con-
stitution 1t is known to all OF you the
part l have borne since the civil war
commenced, both in the camp and out of
it, and l must refer you to that as evi
dence and proof of what my course and
conduct will be in the future. l have
I been cooperating with you in
every capacity since the struggle
commenced, l think we are now
at the most important crisis OF tie
country's history when we are to deter.
mine and fix q substantial and enduring
basis on which cur institutions are to
rest We must return to constitutional
limits establishing the great fact that
ours is a government of limited powers
with written Constitution with bouu
daries both national aud State and that
these limitations and boundaries must
be observed and strictly respected II free
government is to exist; and coming out
of rebellion, we ought to demonstrate
to mankind that q. free government can
not live on hate and distrust and with
ill-will ono toward another, and that the
time has come for reconciliation and q
restoration of confidence and the return
of the Southern States in all their rela-
tions to the Federal government, which
| look upon as equally If not more i'm
| portant than all the work which could
now engage our attention. have, gen
tlemsn, said more than l intended to
say; buu l repcatIthe encouragement,
countenance, and confidence given to me,
coming from the source they do, is pecu-
liarly acceptable to me, and, God being
| willing, and with your help, shall con-
| tinue to pursue the course | have been
pursuing in trying to restore and save
the government Some enc has said that
the founders of governments are entitled
to the most conspicuous places in history,
but my conviction is tnat those who pre-
serve the governments are entitled to
the higher honor. But few who were
living when this government was found.
ed now remain. We, however, live at
an important time Let us all perform
our part according to the theory and
genius of our government, and the. result
will be a preservation Of our institu-
tions, aad we will take our place where
history may assign rs"


The members Of tho committee were
then severally introduced to the Presi


dent, and after u pleasant interview they
withdrew.