Ohio. Mr. Long was a member of Congress, and next to Mr.
Vallandigham had been most active in resisting war measures. For
a speech which was treasonable in tone he had been publicly censured
by the House. His proposition provided for the appointment of a
committee to proceed at once to Washington, and urge President
Lincoln to stop the draft until the people could decide the question
of peace or war. These various propositions, following the usual
course, were referred to the Committee on Resolutions.

THE PEACE POLICY PROCLAIMED.

Governor Horatio Seymour of New York was chosen president, and on
taking the chair made the most elaborate and important address of
the Convention. He was exceedingly popular with his party, and
was justly recognized as among the ablest defenders of its views.
By virtue both of his official position and of his personal strength
he was looked to more than any other leader for the exposition of
Democratic policy. Singularly prepossessing in manner, endowed
with a rare gift of polished and persuasive speech, he put in more
plausible form the extreme and virulent utterances of intemperate
partisans. He was skilled in dialectics, and his rhetorical
dexterity had more than once served him and his friends in good
stead. He was well-nigh the idol of his party, and no other man
could so effectively rally its strength or direct its policy. His
address as presiding officer was intended to be free from the
menacing tone which marked most of the speeches of the Convention,
but it veiled the same sentiment in more subtle and specious phrase.
He charged both the cause and the continuance of the war upon the
Republican party. "Four years ago," he said, "a convention met in
this city when our country was peaceful, prosperous, and united.
Its delegates did not mean to destroy our government, to overwhelm
us with debt, or to drench our land with blood; but they were
animated by intolerance and fanaticism, and blinded by an ignorance
of the spirit of our institutions, the character of our people,
and the condition of our land. They thought they might safely
indulge their passions, and they concluded to do so. Their passions
have wrought out their natural results." Governor Seymour had no
criticism for those who had drawn the sword against the government;
he did not impute to them any responsibility for the war; but he
charged the wrong upon those who