such acts in the approaching election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under our control. "Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired, and they hereby declare that they consider that the Administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by the Constitution; the subversion of the civil by military law in States not in insurrection; the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and sentence of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full force; the suppression of freedom of speech and of the press; the denial of the right of asylum; the open and avowed disregard of State Rights; the employment of unusual test-oaths; and the interference with and denial of the right of the people to bear arms in their defense, is calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation of a Government deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed. "Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the Administration to its duty in respect to our fellow-citizens who now are and long have been prisoners of war in a suffering condition deserves the severest reprobation on the score alike of public policy and common humanity. "Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily and earnestly extended to the soldiery of our army and sailors of our navy, who are and have been in the field and on the sea under the flag of our country, and, in the event of its attaining power, they will receive all the care, protection, and regard that the brave soldiers and sailors of the Republic so nobly earned." Although the "Peace Democracy" fought with desperation, this contest was notably one-sided, the majority against McClellan being even beyond the most sanguine calculations of his opponents, the popular vote standing: Lincoln and Johnson, 2,216,067; McClellan and Pendleton, 1,808,725, giving a majority on the Union ticket of 407,342 votes. Eleven States did not vote, or their votes were not counted, and among these were Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Of all the States voting only Delaware, Kentucky, and New Jersey gave majorities for McClellan. The House of Representatives had passed the following joint resolution : "WHEREAS, The inhabitants and local authorities of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee, rebelled against the Government of the United States, and have continued in a State of armed rebellion for more than three years, and were in said state of armed rebellion on the 8th day of November, 1864; therefore, "Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the States mentioned in the preamble to this joint resolution are not entitled to representation in the electoral college for the choice of President and Vice-President of the United States for the term of office commencing on the 4th day of March, 1865; and no electoral vote shall be received or counted from said States concerning the choice of President and Vice-President for said term of office." Early in January, 1865, this matter came up in the Senate and a strong attempt was made to strike out Louisiana in the preamble, admitting her electoral vote. This led to a futile discussion of the status of the rebellious States, their election laws, etc., and to the display of folly and lack of wisdom by incompetent and captious Senators. The proposition to admit into the electoral count Louisiana or any of the so-called seceded States was, however, very properly rejected, and the joint resolution, with slight needless amendments in phraseology, was passed by the Senate on the 4th of February. The House concurred in the amendment, and the President, in very strange and doubtful language, approved it, and at five minutes past one o'clock on Wednesday, February 8, 1865, the Senate entered the Hall of the House, and Congress in joint session, Vice-President Hamlin presiding, proceeded to open and count the electoral votes. After all that had happened another foolish effort was here made to count the votes of some of the States in rebellion. The Vice-President finally made the following announcement: "The tellers report that the whole number of votes cast for President and Vice-President of the United States is 233; necessary to a choice, 117. For President of the United States, the tellers report that Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, has received 212 votes; George B. McClellan, of New Jersey, has received 21 votes. For Vice-President of the United States, the tellers announce that Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, has received 212 votes, and George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, has received 21 votes: "Wherefore, I do declare that Abraham Lincoln, of the State of Illinois, having received a majority of the whole number of electoral votes, is duly elected President of the United States for four years commencing on the 4th day of March, 1865; and that Andrew Johnson, of the State of Tennessee, having received a majority of the whole number of electoral votes for Vice-President of the United States, is duly elected Vice-President of the United States for four years commencing on the 4th day of March, 1865." Nevada had three votes, but only two of them were cast. The States voting, with their electoral votes, were as follows: Maine, 7; New Hampshire, 5; Massachusetts, 12; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 4; Connecticut, 6; Vermont, 5; New York, 33; New Jersey, 7; Pennsylvania, 26; Delaware, 3; Maryland, 7; Kentucky, 11; Ohio, 21; Indiana, 13; Illinois, 16; Missouri, 11; Michigan, 8; Wisconsin, 8; Iowa, 8; California, 5; Minnesota, 4; Oregon, 3; Kansas, 3; West Virginia, 5; Nevada, 2; Total, 233. CHAPTER VIII. THE SHORT VICE-PRESIDENCY-THE PRESIDENT'S CHAIR AGAIN EMPTY - ANDREW JOHNSON BECOMES THE HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT-PATRIOTIC HANDS UP- ON N the 4th of March, 1865, Mr. Johnson appeared in the Senate Chamber at the appointed hour, delivered the following address, and took the oath of office as Vice-President of the United States: "SENATORS,-I am here to-day as the chosen VicePresident of the United States; and as such, by Constitutional provision, I am made the presiding officer of this body. I therefore present myself here in obedience to the high behests of the American people to discharge a Constitutional duty, and not presumptuously to thrust myself in a position so exalted. May I at this momentit may not be irrelevant to the occasion-advert to the workings of our institutions under the Constitution which our fathers framed and Washington approved, as exhibited by the position in which I stand before the American Senate, in the sight of the American people? Deem me not vain or arrogant; yet I should be less than man if, under such circumstances, I were not proud of being an American citizen; for to-day one who claims no high descent, one who comes from the ranks of the people, stands, by the choice of a free constituency, in the second place of this Government. There may be those to whom such |