a little imagination it is easy to understand the difficult position of the orthodox Democrats, who two years before had voted against restricting the extension of slavery, and were now asked for the sake of the Union to support a Government which was actually abolishing slavery by martial law.  Also the attitude of the thoroughly self-righteous partisan is perfectly usual.  Many of Governor Seymour’s utterances were fair enough, and much of his conduct was patriotic enough.  His main proceedings can be briefly summarised.  His election as Governor in the end of 1862 was regarded as an important event, the appearance of a new leader holding an office of the greatest influence.  Lincoln, assuming, as he had a right to do, the full willingness of Seymour to co-operate in prosecuting the war, did the simplest and best thing.  He wrote and invited Seymour after his inauguration in March, 1863, to a personal conference with himself as to the ways in which, with their divergent views, they could best co-operate.  The Governor waited three weeks before he acknowledged this letter.  He then wrote and promised a full reply later.  He never sent this reply.  He protested energetically and firmly against the arrest of Vallandigham.  In July, 1863, the Conscription Act began to be put in force in New York city; then occurred the only serious trouble that ever did occur under the Act; and it was very serious.  A mob of foreign immigrants, mainly Irish, put a forcible stop to the proceeding of the draft.  It set fire to the houses of prominent Republicans, and prevented the fire brigade from saving them.  It gave chase to all negroes that it met, beating some to death, stringing up others to trees and lamp-posts and burning them as they hung.  It burned down an orphanage for coloured children after the police had with difficulty saved its helpless inmates.  Four days of rioting prevailed throughout the city before the arrival of fresh troops restored order.  After an interval of prudent length the draft was successfully carried out.  Governor Seymour arrived in the city during the riots.  He harangued this defiled mob in gentle terms, promising them, if they would be good, to help them in securing redress of the grievance to which he attributed their conduct.  Thenceforward to the end of his term of office he persecuted Lincoln with complaints as to the unfairness of the quota imposed on certain districts under the Conscription Act.  It is true that he also protested on presumably sincere constitutional grounds against the Act itself, begging Lincoln to suspend its enforcement till its validity had been determined by the Courts.  As to this Lincoln most properly agreed to facilitate, if he could, an appeal to the Supreme Court, but declined, on the ground of urgent military necessity, to delay the drafts in the meantime.  Seymour’s obstructive conduct, however, was not confined to the intelligible ground of objection to the Act itself; it showed itself