Washington, 25 August
1864
Hell is to pay. The
N. Y. politicians have got a stampede on that is about to swamp everything. Raymond and the National Committee are here
today. R. Thinks a commission to
Richmond is about the only salt to save us—while the Tycoon sees and says it
would be utter ruination. The matter is
now undergoing consultation. Weak-kneed
d----d fools like Chas Sumner are in the movement for a new candidate—to supplant
the Tycoon. Everything is darkness and
doubt and discouragement. Our men see
giants in the airy and unsubstantial shadows of the opposition, and are about
to surrender without a fight.
I think that today and here is the turning point in our
crisis. If the President can infect R.
and his committee with some of his own patience and pluck we are saved. If our friends will only rub their eyes and
shake themselves, and become convinced that they themselves are not dead we
shall win the fight overwhelmingly.
SOURCE: Michael Burlingame, Editor, With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and other Writings
of John G. Nicolay 1860-1865, p. 152
