ated for President by the Republicans in 1856; and
he made his newspaper so dreaded and feared by the opposition that he
was indicted in Virginia for circulating incendiary documents through
its columns. During these years he was an incessant and untiring worker,
and produced for the columns of his own and other newspapers a
prodigious amount of matter. He had heretofore labored in politics in
conjunction with William H. Seward, Governor, and afterward United
States Senator. In 1854 the separation between Greeley, Seward, and
Thurlow Weed became established, and Mr. Seward's friends prevented the
election of Mr. Greeley as a delegate to the Republican Convention which
nominated Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Greeley, however, obtained a seat as
delegate in the Convention as a representative from the State of Oregon,
and in that capacity he, more than any other man, doubtless turned the
tide against Mr. Seward and in favor of Abraham Lincoln, who was
nominated by the Convention.

At the breaking out of the Civil War Mr. Greeley manifested great
trepidation and reluctance to face the issue. He even advised in _The
Tribune_ that the "Erring Sisters" be allowed to depart in peace; but
later he rallied manfully to the cause of the defence of the Union, and
his newspaper rang with impassioned appeals for the freedom of the
slaves held in bondage in the South. He incessantly urged a more
vigorous prosecution of the war, and called upon President Lincoln to
take every possible measure for the emancipation of the Southern
bondmen.

In 1864, being convinced that the cause of the rebellion was gradually
weakening, he urged upon the President the policy of negotiating with
the leaders of the Confederate government for a surrender of their
warlike policy, on conditions to be arrived at by commissioners from
both sides. This proposition excited much indignation throughout the
country, and when, in answer to repeated demands from Mr. Greeley,
President Lincoln authorized him to undertake such a conference at
Niagara Falls, the people generally applauded the wisdom of the
President, as well as the disappointment of Mr. Greeley, when the
conference came to naught.

After the final surrender at Appomattox and the capture of the
Confederate President, Mr. Greeley visited Richmond and signed the bail
bond of Jefferson Davis. This action raised a storm of public censure,
and he was for a time overwhelmed by the wrath and indignation of those