I acknowledge before this assemblage, representing, as it does,
every section of our country, the obligation I am under to my
countrymen for the great honor they have conferred on me by
returning me to the highest office within their gift, and the
further obligation resting on me to render to them the best
services within my power. This I promise, looking forward with the
greatest anxiety to the day when I shall be released from
responsibilities that at times are almost overwhelming, and from
which I have scarcely had a respite since the eventful firing upon
Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, to the present day. My services were
then tendered and accepted under the first call for troops growing
out of that event.
I did not ask for place or position, and was entirely without
influence or the acquaintance of persons of influence, but was
resolved to perform my part in a struggle threatening the very
existence of the nation. I performed a conscientious duty, without
asking promotion or command, and without a revengeful feeling
toward any section or individual.
Notwithstanding this, throughout the war, and from my candidacy
for my present office in 1868 to the close of the last
Presidential campaign, I have been the subject of abuse and
slander scarcely ever equaled in political history, which to-day I
feel that I can afford to disregard in view of your verdict, which
I gratefully accept as my vindication.
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