ty-sixth
Congress, Part II, p. 1247.]

[Footnote 131: See "Congressional Globe," _ut supra_. As this letter,
last referred to, is brief and characteristic of the temper of the
typical so-called Republicans of the period, it may be inserted entire:

"Washington, _February_ 11, 1861.

"My dear Governor: Governor Bingham and myself telegraphed you
on Saturday, at the request of Massachusetts and New York, to
send delegates to the Peace or Compromise Congress. They admit
that we were right, and that they were wrong; that no Republican
State should have sent delegates; but they are here, and can not
get away; Ohio, Indiana, and Rhode Island are caving in, and
there is danger of Illinois; and now they beg us, for God's
sake, to come to their rescue, and save the Republican party
from rupture. I hope you will send _stiff-backed_ men, or none.
The whole thing was gotten up against my judgment and advice,
and will end in thin smoke. Still, I hope, as a matter of
courtesy to some of our erring brethren, that you will send the
delegates.

"Truly your friend,

"(Signed) Z. Chandler.

"His Excellency Austin Blair."

"P.S.--Some of the manufacturing States think that a fight would
be awful. Without a _little bloodletting_, this Union will not,
in my estimation, be worth a rush."

The reader should not fall into the mistake of imagining that the
"erring brethren," toward whom a concession of courtesy is recommended
by the writer of this letter, were the people of the seceding, or even
of the border, States. It is evident from the context that he means the
people of those so-called "Republican" States which had fallen into the
error of taking part in a plan for peace, which might have averted the
bloodletting recommended.]

CHAPTER IX.

Northern Protests against Coercion.--The "New York Tribune,"
Albany "Argus," and "New York Herald."--Great Public Meeting in
New York.--Speeches of Mr. Thayer, ex-Governor Seymour,
ex-Chancellor Walworth, and Others.--The Press in February,
1861.--Mr. Lincoln's Inaugural.--The Marvelous Change or
Suppression of Conservative Sentiment.--Historic Precedents.

It is a great mistake, or misstatement of fact, to assume that, at the
period under consideration, the Southern States stood alone in the
assertion of the principles which have been laid down in this work, with
regard to the