Whig Party has been revived in the national banking system, while the
Independent Treasury, the leading measure of the old Democratic Party,
has been preserved in all its features as the guide of the Treasury
Department in its financial operations.

When General Grant became President, these three measures had been
incorporated into the policy of the Republican Party. Their full
acceptance by him did not require any change of opinion on his part.
It was true that he had voted for Mr. Buchanan in 1856; but his vote
was given in obedience to an impression that he had received touching
the qualifications of General Fremont. The fact that he had voted
for Mr. Buchanan excited suspicions in the minds of some Republicans,
and it engendered hopes in the bosoms of some Democrats that he might
act in harmony with the Democratic Party. The suspicions and the
hopes were alike groundless.

As early as the month of August, 1863, in a letter to Mr. E. B.
Washburne, he said: "It became patent to my mind early in the
rebellion that the North and South could never live at peace with
each other except as one nation, and that without slavery. As anxious
as I am to see peace established, I would not, therefore, be willing
to see any settlement until this question is forever settled."

Thus was General Grant, at an early moment, and upon his own judgment,
brought into full accord with the Republican Party upon the two
debatable and most earnestly debated questions during Mr. Lincoln's
administration--the prosecution of the war and the abolition of
slavery.

And thus it is apparent that in 1868 he was in a condition, as to all
matters of opinion, to accept a nomination at the hands of the
Republican Party; and it is equally apparent that he was separated
from the Democratic Party by a chasm wide, deep, and impassable. It
is, however, true that General Grant's feelings were not intense, and
in the expression of his opinions his tone was mild and his manner
gentle. It often happened, also, that he did not undertake to
controvert opinions and expressions with which he had no sympathy.
This peculiarity may at times have led to a misunderstanding, or to
a misinterpretation of his views. Upon this basis of his early
impressions, and matured opinions his administrative policy was
constructed.

When he became President, there was a body of American citizens, not
inconsiderable in numbers, who doubted the ability of the Government
to p