"I think this the only way of preventing war and saving the Union.
"I hope the resolutions will refrain from condemning the seceding States, also from demanding the forts to be reclaimed, and, in fact, everything that can lead to war.
"I had a talk yesterday with Mr. Loomis, and he understands my views, and will, I believe, act in accordance with them, as they seemed to be his also.
"Wednesday Morning.
"The two sides of my face are too unequal to show it in Albany, so I will add a few words which I think the most important I have ever penned, unless there should be some one or more who have by careful reflection come to the same conclusion; and I hope you will not reject them on the first perusal, but weigh them, reflect upon them, suggest them to Richmond, Van Buren, O'Connor, etc.
"To direct the whole action of the convention to initiate a call of a national constitutional convention through a requisition upon Congress by the States, and demand the necessary and indispensable time to effect this object.
"Such action will drive the Republicans to abandon their warlike measures, and will very likely hurry them either to the adoption of some of the measures before Congress or to take the initiative this winter for the call of a national convention while they have the apparent power of controlling it.
"Such a movement would carry every Northern State except Massachusetts and Vermont, would restore the Democracy to power, and revive and invigorate the Union. Start it, I implore you, and do not let the convention exhaust itself on the rubbish now before Congress. We must strike a blow at the overwhelming patronage of the Federal government, and restore it to the States to augment their power. We must place the South in a position where it will feel its equality, and have the means of defending itself in its own hands.
"By taking this course, simple and pure, invigorating it with all the spirit and vehemence of the convention so as to arrest the attention of the whole country, you will open a door for the reunion of all Democrats at home and abroad, and save all that is worth saving in our institutions.
"You recollect Act. 5—Cons. U. S.—that Congress shall, on the call of 2/3 of the States, call a convention.