the course of the Radicals, Weed sternly rebuked
those, now called Copperheads,[884] who endeavored to force peace by
paralysing the arm of the government. Their denunciation of arrests
and of the suspension of _habeas corpus_ gradually included the
discouragement of enlistments, the encouragement of desertion, and
resistance to the draft, until, at last, the spirit of opposition
invaded halls of legislation as well as public meetings and the press.

[Footnote 884: This opprobrious epithet first appeared in the New York
_Tribune_ of January 12, 1863, and in the _Times_ of February 13.]

To check this display of disloyalty the Union people, regardless of
party, formed loyal or Union League clubs in the larger cities, whose
densely packed meetings commanded the ablest speakers of the country.
John Van Buren, fully aroused to the seditious trend of peace
advocates, evidenced again the power that made him famous in 1848. In
his inimitable style, with admirable temper and freshness, he poured
his scathing sarcasm upon the authors of disloyal sentiments, until
listeners shouted with delight. The _Tribune_, forgetful of his
flippant work in the preceding year, accorded him the highest praise,
while strong men, with faces wet with tears, thanked God that this
Achilles of the Democrats spoke for the Republic with the trumpet
tones and torrent-like fluency that had formerly made the name of
Barnburner a terror to the South. Van Buren was not inconsistent.
While favouring a vigorous prosecution of the war he had severely
criticised arbitrary arrests and other undemocratic methods, but when
"little men of little souls," as he called them, attempted to control
the great party for illegal purposes, his patriotism flashed out in
the darkness like a revolving light on a rocky coast.

The call of the Loyal League also brought James T. Brady from his law
office. Unlike Dickinson, Brady did not approve the teachings or the
methods of the Radicals, neither had he like Van Buren supported
Seymour. Moreover, he had refused to take office from Tammany, or to
accept nomination from a Democratic State convention. However, when
the enemies of the Government seemed likely to carry all before them,
he spoke for the Union like one divinely inspired. Indeed, it may be
said with truth that the only ray of hope piercing the gloom and
suspense in the early months of 1863 came from the brilliant outbursts
of patriotism heard at the meetings of the Uni