My previous
high estimate of General Grant has been maintained and heightened by
what has occurred in the remarkable campaign he is now conducting, while
the magnitude and difficulty of the task before him do not prove less
than I expected. He and his brave soldiers are now in the midst of their
great trial, and I trust that at your meeting you will so shape your
good words that they may turn to men and guns, moving to his and their
support."
With such gracious approval of the movement the meeting naturally fell
into the hands of the Lincoln men. General Grant neither at this time
nor at any other, gave the least countenance to the efforts which were
made to array him in political opposition to the President.
These various attempts to discredit the name of Mr. Lincoln and nominate
some one else in his place caused hardly a ripple on the great current
of public opinion. Death alone could have prevented his choice by the
Union convention. So absolute and universal was the tendency that most
of the politicians made no effort to direct or guide it; they simply
exerted themselves to keep in the van and not be overwhelmed. The
convention met on June 7, but irregular nominations of Mr. Lincoln for
President had begun as early as January 6, when the first State
convention of the year was held in New Hampshire.
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