"SPRINGFIELD, ILL., _March 2nd, 1877_.
"DEAR SIR,--It is done, and the Presidential office, fairly
awarded you by the voice of the people and the electoral colleges,
passes to another. I sympathize with you in this your deprivation of
right and official dignity. I sympathize also with the country in
its consequent humiliation. A stain is cast upon its escutcheon and
Republican institutions.
"The result might have been different but for a mistake, honest,
doubtless, though it was. If the chairman of our national committee
had not wavered and hesitated at a decisive moment, and thereby
awakened doubts as to your purpose, the spirit and courage of the
Democracy, then showing a bold front, would have precluded the
possibility of the electoral commission and its decision, and have
settled everything satisfactorily without a blow. I say this in the
belief that the capital and business of the country would not have
seconded the Republican leaders in an appeal to arms to uphold fraud
and usurpation. Right armed with confidence is seldom vanquished.
"But regrets are now idle. Our part is to repair the past in the
future. Your leadership in the late canvass regenerated and renewed
the Democratic party, and brought it back to the mansion of its
fathers. It revived its ancient energy and devotion. It is now
capable of great achievements. This is saying much for both you and
it, yet not more than the truth. You are now the acknowledged leader
of the _reform Democracy_, and your leadership must be continued for
the contest of 1880. This is the sentiment and demand of the _Old
Guard_ who never desert or surrender.
"Your ob't ser't,
"JOHN A. MCCLERNAND."