Resolved, That the temporary chairman of the convention. appoint a committee of eleven on the credentials of members that are contested, and that the members will entertain no proposition and do no business until the report of said committee shall have been acted upon by the convention; and that, until otherwise ordered, the rules of the last House of Representatives of this state be the rules for the government of this convention.

Mr. Holmes accepting this as a substitute for his motion, the preamble and resolution were adopted.

The president appointed as the committee the following persons: Hon. Sam. Holmes, of Adams; Hon. James Mitchell, of Stephenson; Hon. S. S. Hayes, of Cook; Hon. John A. M'Clernand, of Sangamon; Hon. W. C. Gondy, of Fulton; Hon. U. F. Linder, of Coles; Hon. Zadoc Casey, of Jefferson; Hon. W. J. Allen, of Williamson; Hon. W. H. Roosevelt, of Hancock; Gov. J. A. Matteson, of Sangamon; and F. Goodspeed, Esq., of Will. The secretary called the list of counties in alphabetical order, and it was found that all the counties in the state except Lake and Union were represented, and represented each by one delegation. When all the credentials had been handed in, and the Committee on Credentials were about to retire, Mr. HOLMES rose and said:

"The Committee on Credentials are about to retire to the adjoining room to examine the certificates of all persons claiming seats in the Illinois Democratic State Convention of 1858, and if there are any persons claiming seats in such convention who have not yet presented their claims, they are hereby notified to make known their claims without delay, or hold their peace forever."

Not a contestant appeared then or at any time during the session of the convention. In fact, so bald and fabulous was the pretense of the new delegation, "got up" under the instructions of the administration, that not even a federal office-holder could command sufficient impudence to lay claim to a seat in the convention. The entire number of persons present at Springfield whose names were used by the administration as delegates to a "National Democratic State Convention" was thirty-nine, of which some twenty-three were from Chicago. These met in the Senate Chamber, and never claimed seats in the state convention, but declared themselves a convention un

der the new organization mentioned in Cook's letter to Wright. This meeting of the "new delegations" of the administration, or, as they were at the time jocularly styled, the "Thirty-nine Articles" of Lecomptonism, having no instructions from Washington as to what they should do, except the general one to "defeat Douglas," passed some resolutions declaring that the state convention had been held too soon, and adjourned till June, in order "to give the Democracy time to turn out."

The state convention was in many respects the greatest ever held in the State of Illinois. The names of many of the delegates had long previously been familiar to the party and to the country.

The Committee on Resolutions consisted of the following persons, one being selected from each congressional district and two from the state at large: Gov. Joel A. Matteson; John D. Crouch, of Jo Daviess; Richard T. Merrick, of Cook; John Hise, of La Salle; John M'Donald, of Peoria; James M. Campbell, of M'Donough; John A. M'Clernand, of Sangamon; Zadoc Casey, of Jefferson; J. S. Post, of Macon; S. A. Buckmaster, of Madison; J. S. Robinson, of White.

An abler committee never was appointed by any state convention. The members were all men of standing, and most of them had occupied positions under the state and federal governments. Mr. M'Clernand had represented one of the districts in Congress during many years, and until he declined a re-election. John Hise was known all over the state for his long and able services in the Legislature. Mr. Casey had been lieutenant governor and member of Congress for many years. Messrs. Crouch and M'Donald were experienced editors; Buckmaster, Campbell, and Post were men of sterling Democracy, and known to the central portions of the state as unfaltering supporters of Democratic principles. Mr. Merrick had been an Old Line Whig, who, in the disruption of that party, had united in 1856 with the Democracy, and had rendered earnest and vigorous aid in the election of Mr. Buchanan.

The convention nominated W. B. Fondey and Hon. A. C. French, the former for state treasurer, and the latter for superintendent of public instruction.

The committee on resolutions, through the Hon. JOHN A. M'CLERNAND, reported the following resolutions, which were

read, and the question having been taken upon each resolution as it was read, and then upon the whole, they were adopted without one dissenting voice, and with an enthusiasm that was extraordinary even in conventions of the Democracy of Illinois.

Resolved, That the Democratic party of the State of Illinois, through their delegates in general convention assembled, do reassert and declare the principles avowed by them as when, on former occasions, they have presented their candidates for popular suffrage.

Resolved, That they are unalterably attached to, and will maintain inviolate, the principles declared by the National Convention at Cincinnati in June, 1856.

Resolved, That they avow, with renewed energy, their devotion to the federal Union of the United States, their earnest desire to avert sectional strife, their determination to maintain the sovereignty of the states, and to protect every state, and the people thereof, in all their constitutional rights.

Resolved, That the platform of principles established by the National Democratic Convention at Cincinnati is the only authoritative exposition of Democratic doctrine, and they deny the right of any power on earth, except a like body, to change or interpolate that platform, or to prescribe new or different tests; that they will neither do it themselves, nor permit it to be done by others, but will recognize all men as Democrats who stand by and uphold Democratic principles.

Resolved, That in the organization of states, the people have a right to decide at the polls upon the character of their fundamental law, and that the experience of the past year has conclusively demonstrated the wisdom and propriety of the principle that the fundamental law under which a Territory seeks admission into the Union should be submitted to the people of such Territory for their ratification or rejection at a fair election, to be held for that purpose; and that before such Territory is admitted as a state, such fundamental law should receive a majority of the legal votes cast at such election; and they deny the right and condemn the attempt of any convention called for the purpose of framing a Constitution, to impose the instrument formed by them upon the people against their will.

Resolved, That a fair application of these principles requires that the Lecompton Constitution should be submitted to a direct vote of the actual inhabitants of Kansas, so that they may vote for or against that instrument before Kansas shall be declared one of the states of this. Union; and until it shall be ratified by the people of Kansas at a fair election held for that purpose, the Illinois Democracy are unalterably opposed to the admission of Kansas under that Constitution.

Resolved, That we heartily approve and sustain the manly, firm, patriotic, and Democratic position of Stephen A. Douglas, Isaac N. Morris, Thomas L. Harris, Aaron Shaw, Robert Smith, and Samuel S. Marshall, the Democratic delegation of Illinois in Congress, upon the question of the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution; and that by their firm and uncompromising devotion to the Democratic principles, and to the cause of justice, right, and the people, they have deserved our admiration, increased, if possible, our confidence in their integrity and patriotism, and merited our warm approbation, our sincere and hearty thanks, and shall receive our earnest support.

Resolved, That in all things wherein the national administration sustain and carry out the principles of the Democratic party as expressed in the Cincinnati platform and affirmed in these resolutions, it is entitled to and will receive our hearty support.

The probability of the reassembling of the Danite meeting was a subject of much discussion. Hundreds of Democrats who had agreed with Mr. Buchanan upon the subject of Lecompton expressed the earnest hope that the ill-advised movement to divide the Democracy would receive no farther countenance from the President. At this time, too, the House of Representatives adopted the English amendment, and in a few days thereafter the Senate concurred. Lecomptonism was at an end. The question of the admission of Kansas with the Lecompton Constitution was referred to the people of Kansas. The struggle was over. Both sides claimed a victory. The advocates of the admission of Kansas with the Lecompton Constitution had all voted to remand the issue of the admission of the state with that Constitution to the people of Kansas for their decision at the polls. It is true they did not submit the approval or disapproval of the Constitution directly to a vote of the people, but they did submit to the people of Kansas a question, in voting on which they were practically to decide whether they were willing to be admitted as a state with Lecompton, or remain a Territory without it.

Many of the opponents of the admission of Kansas with the Lecompton Constitution voted for the English Bill, because they thought it accomplished the same result that would have been accomplished had the Constitution been submitted directly to the people for ratification or rejection. Those AntiLecompton men who voted against the English Bill claimed a practical victory, though they could not consistently vote to admit Kansas with that Constitution without a direct vote approving it. There was really, then, not the slightest justification for continuing the proscription of Democrats for having agreed with Judge Douglas. But the official axe was not idle. It was wielded in all the departments of the government. Nor was it confined to Illinois. Postmasters were cut down with a suddenness that was intended to be terrifying; mail agents were dismissed a service that was thereafter to be devoted to the especial aid of Republicanism.

The secretary of the treasury struck down the venerable JACOB FRY, collector of Chicago, who for forty years had been an active Democrat, and had never sullied his own name, nor that of his party, by any act, personal or official, that was unworthy a gentleman. The same secretary continued in office

a man who had violated every law recognized by the government or by society for the regulation of official or personal honesty.

The war was continued. Francis J. Grund, "the basest Hessian of them all," was dispatched to Chicago. He was the mouthpiece and a fitting one-through which despotism spoke its decrees to its cringing servitors in Illinois. The Danite Convention was officially called to meet again at Springfield. Grund was a delegate. Dr. Brainard, having in the mean time made arrangements with Grund for the place of surgeon to the Marine Hospital, was also made a delegate. O. C. Skinner, who had been an active member of the Democratic State Convention, and who had moved the adoption of the resolutions without the change of a word, was also a delegate. The promises of office had been cast far and wide over the state, and, strange to relate, almost every man who had abandoned General Cass and supported the Buffalo platform in 1848 now rallied at the Danite call to defeat Douglas on a suspicion of Free-soilism! The convention was held. The proceedings were boisterous. The principal operators were Grund, Lieb, Carpenter, and Pine; the resolutions, which were of the most denunciatory character, were reported by Carpenter. What has become of those men can be ascertained upon application to Howell Cobb or Attorney General Black. With the exception of Lieb, who is now a Republican, they have all left the State of Illinois. Why they have done so let the government that clothed them with official patronage and power an

swer.

The effort to compel the attendance of postmasters by threats of removal failed. It is true that the names of many postmasters were published as delegates, but not one in a hundred paid the slightest attention to the matter. The "delegates" consisted principally of men who hoped for office. Nine of the "most eminent" men in the convention subsequently were candidates for Congress in their respective districts, and the manner in which their eminent abilities and their perfidy to the Democratic party were appreciated can be seen by the record of the votes at the election. At this time more than one member of the cabinet was at work denouncing Douglas and urging his defeat. The issue was well known. It was Douglas or Lincoln-a Democrat or a Republican. Yet the defeat of