ry necessity.... The Vice-President says, 'There are men in your
midst who want the Union as it was and the Constitution as it is,' and
he adds, sneeringly, 'They can't have it.' We will tell him there are
many such men, and we say to him we will have it. There has never been
a sentiment in the North or South put forth more treasonable,
cowardly, and base than this." Referring to the President's call, on
October 17, for 300,000 volunteers, to be followed by a draft if not
promptly filled, he exclaimed: "Again, 600,000 men are called
for--600,000 homes to be entered. The young man will be compelled to
give up the cornerstone of his fortune, which he has laid away with
toil and care, to begin the race of life. The old man will pay that
which he has saved, as the support of his declining years, to rescue
his son. In God's name, let these operations be fair if they must be
cruel." In conclusion he professed undying loyalty. "We love that flag
[pointing to the Stars and Stripes] with the whole love of our life,
and every star that glitters on its blue field is sacred. And we will
preserve the Constitution, we will preserve the Union, we will
preserve our flag with every star upon it, and we will see to it that
there is a State for every star."[924]

[Footnote 923: Seymour spoke at Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, and New York
City, on October 26, 28, 29, and 31 respectively.]

[Footnote 924: _Record of Horatio Seymour_, pp. 168-176.]

In their extremity Dean Richmond and Peter Cagger, taking advantage of
the President's call for more troops, issued a circular on the eve of
election, alleging that the State would receive no credit for drafted
men commuted; that towns which had furnished their quotas would be
subject to a new conscription; and that men having commuted were
liable to be immediately drafted again.[925] This was the prototype of
Burchard's "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" in 1884, and might have
become no less disastrous had not the Provost-marshal General quickly
contradicted it. As a parting shot, Seward, speaking at Auburn on the
night before election, declared that if the ballot box could be passed
through the camps of the Confederate soldiers, every man would vote
for the administration of our government by Horatio Seymour and
against the administration of Abraham Lincoln.[926]

[Footnote 925: New York _Tribune_, November 2, 1863.]

[Footnote 926: New York _Herald_, November 6, 1863.]

The October elections for