PART III. Chapter IV.

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THE first session of the Thirty-eighth Congress terminated on the 4th day of July, 1864. On the 10th day of February, Mr. Trumbull, in the Senate, had reported from the Committee on the Judiciary a joint resolution proposing to the legislatures of the several States (to become valid when ratified by three-fourths of the same) the following article as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States:

ARTICLE XIII.—Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

This resolution passed the Senate on the 8th of April, by a vote of 38 to 6 (the negative votes being given by Messrs. Davis and Powell, of Kentucky, Riddle and Salisbury, of Delaware, Hendricks, of Indiana, and McDougall, of California). The resolution having been transmitted to the House of Representatives, was taken up on the 31st of May, when, Mr

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Holman, of Indiana, having objected to its second reading, that body was brought to a direct vote on its rejection, which stood, yeas 55, Bays 76, the Democratic opposition voting unanimously against any consideration of the question. On the 15th of June, the resolution was directly voted on, and rejected for want of the requisite two-thirds vote —the yeas being 95, and the nays 66. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, having voted in the negative, with a view to secure a reconsideration of the vote at the next session, entered a motion to that effect on the same day. Thus a great measure of vital consequence to the nation for all time, was defeated by the Democratic opposition, still unwilling to cut loose from the doomed institution, and still apparently hopeful of renewing a Southern bondage which had been so long the basis of their political power. On the other hand, the Republican Union party had adopted this measure in its platform, as a vital issue of the time, and supported it with entire unanimity in both branches of Congress. President Lincoln himself had already given his hearty approval to this method for the utter and final extinction of slavery wherever the jurisdiction of the United States extends.

The time had now come when the odious legislation for returning to bondage the slaves who had asserted their natural right to freedom by escaping into free territory, should cease to have a place among the laws of a free republic. Various attempts had been made to this end, both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, during this and the previous sessions of Congress, without final effect, until, on the 13th of June, 1864, Mr. Morris, of New York, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported an act repealing the fugitive slave act of 1850, and the third and fourth sections of that of 1793. This repealing act passed by nearly a strict party vote —yeas 86, nays 60— the Administration members, save Mr. Smithers, of Delaware, voting unitedly for the repeal, and the Opposition members, except Mr. Griswold, of New York, voting in the negative. This bill passed the Senate on the 22d day of June, and received the approval of the Executive on the 28th.

The Bureau of National Currency, in the Treasury Depart-

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ment, was created at this session, and Hon. Hugh McCulloch, of Indiana, appointed to the office of Comptroller of the Currency. In the War Department, the Bureau of Military Justice was established, at the head of which Hon. Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, was appointed, as Judge Advocate General, with the rank of brigadier-general. An additional loan of $400,000,000 was authorized; the enrollment act was materially modified, by repealing the commutation clause (releasing any drafted man on the payment of three hundred dollars), and otherwise rendering it more efficient; important amendments were made in the pension laws; and acts were passed for the punishment of guerrillas, for increasing the efficiency of the navy, and in aid of the proposed international telegraph by British and Russian America to Asia.

In his annual message, with the accompanying proclamation of amnesty, President Lincoln had, somewhat at length and in detail, given his views as to the best means of restoring practical relations between the insurrectionary States and the National Government. These views were in accord with those hitherto acted upon, and approved by every branch of the Government, although,coupled as they were with proffers of amnesty, they were extended to embrace particular suggestions aot before presented. The methods of reorganization proposed were recommendations merely, properly guarded, and the purpose of prescribing any invariable rule of action in the premises, was distinctly disavowed. As already seen,* the President, in this proclamation, of amnesty with certain conditions, was not only exercising the prerogative belonging to the pardoning power conferred on him by the Constitution, but was also carrying out the formally expressed will of Congress. Early in the session (December 15, 1863), Mr. Davis, of Maryland, moved the reference of so much of the President's message as related to this subject to a committee of nine, which was agreed to, the mover being appointed chairman. On the 4th of May following, a bill and preamble were reported by Mr. Davis, embodying a fixed and elaborate plan of " reconstruction." It provided for the appointment of a Provisional

* Ante page 459

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Governor by the President, in each State declared to bo in rebellion, to serve until a State government should have been organized and recognized by the National Government. On the suppression of military resistance to the authority of the United States in any such State, an enrollment of white male citizens was to be made, and a convention was to be called, when a majority of them should have taken the oath of allegiance, to act upon the reestablishment of a State government. All persons having held any office in the Rebel service, civil or military, State or Confederate, and all those having voluntarily borne arms in such service, were to be prohibited from voting for or being elected as delegates to the State convention. The convention was required, by the bill, to insert in the new constitution to be framed by it, provisions (1st) disfranchising those who have " held or exercised any civil or military office (except offices merely ministerial, and military offices below a colonel), State or Confederate, under the usurping power; "(2d), prohibiting slavery; and (3d), repudiating all debts created by or under sanction of " the usurping power," "State or Confederate." The State government thus created was to be recognized by the President, after obtaining the assent of Congress, and only after such recognition, the State to be represented in Congress, and in the electoral college. Slavery was further formally declared to be abolished in all the States in question, with remedies and penalties to give this declaration effect. Those Rebels holding any civil or military office, with the conditions above stated, after this bill should become a law, were declared not to be citizens of the United States.

This bill passed the House on the day it was reported, yeas 74, nays 66. Among the latter were several Administration members. The preamble, giving a key-note to the spirit and purpose of the bill, was in these words :

WHEREAS, The so-called Confederate States are a public enemy, waging an unjust war, whose injustice is so glaring that they have no right to claim the mitigation of the extreme rights of war which are accorded by modern usage to an enemy who has a right to consider the war a just one ; and whereas. none of the States which, by a regularly recorded majority of

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Its citizens, have joined the so-called Southern Confederacy, can be considered and treated as entitled to be represented in, Congress, or to take any part in the political government of the Union.

This was rejected, ayes 57, nays 75.

In the Senate, on the 1st of July, Mr. Brown, of Missouri, moved the following substitute for the entire bill which was carried, yeas 20, nays 13:

That when the inhabitants of any State have been declared in a state of insurrection against the United States, by proclamation of the President, by force and virtue of the act entitled " An act to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," approved July 13, 1861, they shall be, and are hereby declared to be, incapable of casting any vote for electors of President or Vice President of the United States, or of electing Senators or Representatives in Congress, until said insurrection, in said State is suppressed or abandoned, and said inhabitants have returned to their obedience to the Government of the United States, nor until such return to obedience shall be declared by proclamation of the President, issued by virtue of an act of Congress, hereafter to be passed, authorizing the same.

The bill having been returned to the House, as thus amended, the amendment was non-concurred in. The Senate ultimately receded from its amendment;, yeas 18, nays 14, thus concurring in the passage of the bill as it first came from, the House. It is manifest, from the action taken on this bill, that it was not unobjectionable to the majority of the Senate, and that, on free discussion of its prominent details, it could not certainly command a majority in the House on a full vote. That it could ever have received a two-thirds vote in both houses, had it been returned by the Executive with objections, probably its most zealous supporter never imagined. It so happened that the bill, passed just at the close of the session, only reached the President about an hour before the actual adjournment, when numerous other bills were awaiting his signature, allowing him hardly time to even read it with care, much less to prepare a veto message. Much of it he fully approved. Other parts he thought seriously objectionable. Committed, too, as he

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already had been, publicly, to the recognition of the new State governments of Louisiana and Arkansas, he could not, in good faith, repudiate his promises to the people of those States, as would have been done by approving the Davis bill. Only a dictatorial and factious spirit could call in question the President's unrestricted right to withhold his signature, or the purity of the motive which led him to do so. Not less evidently was it proper for him to publish the bill, with a statement of his reasons for the course he had taken, and to give it a place with his own suggestions made in the amnesty proclamation, reserving his former action in regard to Louisiana and Arkansas, and declining to make compliance with the terms of this bill indispensable in any case. He had long before appointed military governors in Tennessee and North Carolina. The power to do so clearly belonged to him, as Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy. But it was questionable, to say the least, whether Congress could constitutionally exercise any " provisional" local jurisdiction in the States, as proposed.

On the 8th of July, 1864, President Lincoln issued the following proclamation, on the subject, accompanied by the Davis Reconstruction bill:

WHEREAS, At the late session, Congress passed a bill " to guarantee to certain States, whose governments have been usurped or overthrown, a republican form of government," a copy of which is hereunto annexed:

AND WHEREAS, The said bill was presented to the President of the United States for his approval less than one hour before the sine die adjournment of said session, and was not signed by him:

AND WHEREAS, The said bill contains, among other things, a plan for restoring the States in rebellion to their proper practical relation in the Union, which plan expresses the sense of Congress upon that subject, and which plan it is now thought fit to lay before the people for their consideration :

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known, that, while I am (as I was in December last, when by proclamation I propounded a plan for restoration) unprepared, by a formal approval of this bill, to be inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration ; and, while I am also unprepared to declare that the free State constitutions and governments already

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adopted and installed in Arkansas and Louisiana shall he set aside and held for nought, thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who have set up the same as to further effort, or to declare a constitutional competency in Congress to abolish slavery in States, but am at the same time sincerely hoping and expecting that a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery throughout the nation may be adopted, nevertheless I am fully satisfied with the system for restoration contained its the bill as one very proper plan for the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt it, and that I am, and at all times shall be, prepared to give the Executive aid and assistance to any such people, so soon as the military resistance to the United States shall have been suppressed in any such State, and the people thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Constitution and laws of the United States, in which cases Military Governors will be appointed, with directions to proceed according to the bill.

It was not unnatural that the mover of this bill should be unpleasantly affected by its failure to become a law. He had matured, to his own. entire satisfaction, a method of " reconstruction "—the vexed question which had been so much and so prematurely discussed—and it had received the indorsement of both Houses of Congress. He could not doubt its perfect sufficiency as a solution of the problem; yet his work had become of no effect for the lack of the President's signature.

Mr. Davis, however, was mistaken in supposing that the people attached any special value to his scheme, or that any appeal he could make to them would avert their ready and intuitive conclusion that he, rather than President Lincoln, was in the wrong. Such an appeal was, nevertheless, determined upon. At a moment when the country was growing impatient and apprehensive over severe losses in the field, without the decisive victories hoped for, when the Opposition was exultant in the prospect of a Presidential triumph in November, and when all cordial supporters of the Baltimore nominations were earnest and united in their efforts to avoid a possible defeat of the cause, Mr. Davis' arraignment of the President was issued. The paper was published on the 5th of August; Senator Wade also giving it his signature. In its imputation of bad motives, in its sweeping denunciations and in its angry

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uncharitableness of temper, it was more remarkable than in the weight of Its arguments or in the accuracy of its representations.* The New York Tribune, which was chosen as the medium for laying this address before the people, although unfriendly to Mr. Lincoln's renomination, and although its chief editor, at a later day, was concerned in a secret movement to bring about his withdrawal, promptly expressed its approval of the President's action in withholding his signature from the measure in question. The principal effect to be anticipated from this manifesto was a weakening of public confidence in the Government, and an embarrassment of the Administration party at the most critical period of the political canvass. The

* I have not deemed it worth while to copy, in the test, from a passionate effusion so speedily forgotten by the public, and which its -author would, perhaps, gladly forget. The following brief extracts will suffice to justify what I have said as to its general character:

The President, "by preventing this bill from becoming a law, holds -the electoral votes of the Rebel States at the dictation of his personal ambition ..... The President's proclamation ..... discards the authority of the Supreme Court, and strides headlong toward the anarchy his proclamation of the 8th of December inaugurated ..... A more studied outrage on the legislative authority of the people has never been perpetrated ..... He has already exercised this dictatorial usurpation in Louisiana, and he defeated the bill to prevent its lim-itation.

Bearing in mind that the President has a qualified veto power, by the Constitution, in regard to all legislation; and, further, that the Davis bill was opposed fey a considerable minority of " Union men " in both Houses, the accuracy of the following extract from the same paper, will be fully appreciated :

But he must understand that our support is of a cause and not of a man; that the authority of Congress is paramount and must be respected; that the whole body of the Union men of Congress will not submit to be impeached by him of rash and unconstitutional legislation; and if he wishes our support, he must confine himself to his executive duties —to obey and execute, not make the laws— to suppress by arms armed rebellion, and leave political reorganization to Congress.

If the supporters of the Government fail to insist on this, they become responsible for the usurpations which they fail to rebuke, and are justly liable to the indignation of the people whose rights and security, committed to their keeping, they sacrifice.

Let them consider the remedy for these usurpations, and, having found it, fearlessly execute it.

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event showed, however, that its influence with the people was inconsiderable.

As illustrating President Lincoln's views in regard to the deportment of Southern Union men in the early part of the struggle, and his mode of dealing with the people of Louisiana in particular, a characteristic letter of his, written in 1862, is subjoined. A Mr. Durant had written to the President, through Mr. Bullitt, a gentleman known to him, and a former resident of Kentucky, manifesting dissatisfaction with the policy pursued by the Government at New Orleans, after the capture of that city. Among other things complained of, was the alleged protection given to escaping slaves, and their retention from their masters. It was also urged as a grievance, that men choosing to avail themselves of the benefits of the re-established Government were required to take the oath of allegiance, and that trade with the Rebels was prohibited. The President replied to this singular appeal as follows:

WASHINGTON, D. (I. July 28, 1862.

Sir: The copy of a letter, addressed to yourself by Mr. Thomas J. Durant, has been shown to me. The writer appears to be an able, a dispassionate, and an entirely sincere man. The first part of the letter is devoted to an effort to show that the secession ordinance of Louisiana was adopted against the will of a majority of the people. This is probably true, and in that fact may be found some instruction. Why did they allow the ordinance to go into effect? Why did they not exert themselves? Why stand passive and allow themselves to be trodden down by a minority? Why did they not hold popular meetings, and have a convention of their own to express and enforce the true sentiments of the State. If pre-organization was against them, then why not do this now, that the United States army is present to protect them ? The par-alyzer—the dead palsy—of the Government in the whole struggle is, that this class of men will do nothing for the Government—nothing for themselves, except demanding that the Government shall not strike its enemies, lest they be struck by accident.

Mr. Durant complains that, in various ways, the relation of master and slave is disturbed by the presence of our army; and he considers it particularly vexatious that this, in part, is done under cover of an act of Congress, while constitutional

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guarantees are superadded on the plea of military necessity The truth is, that what is done and omitted about slaves is done and omitted on the same military necessity. It is a military necessity to have men and money; and we can not get either, in sufficient numbers or amounts, if we keep from or drive from our lines slaves coming to them.

Mr. Durant can not be ignorant of the pressure in this direction, nor of my efforts to hold it within bounds, till he, and such as he, shall have time to help themselves.

I am not posted to speak understanding on the public regulations of which Mr. Durant complains. If experience shows any of them to be wrong, let them be set right. I think I can perceive in the freedom of trade which Mr. Durant urges, that he would relieve both friends and enemies from the pressure of the blockade. By this he would serve the enemy more effectively than the enemy is able to serve himself.

I do not say or believe that to serve the enemy is the purpose of Mr. Durant, or that he is conscious of any purposes other than national and patriotic ones. Still, if there were a class of men, who, having no choice of sides in the contest, were anxious only to have quiet and comfort for themselves while it rages, and to fall in with the victorious side at the end of it, without loss to themselves, their advice as to the mode of conducting the contest would be precisely such as his.

He speaks of no duty, apparently thinks of none, resting upon Union men. He even thinks it injurious to the Union cause that they should be restrained in trade and passage, without taking sides. They are to touch neither a sail nor a pump—live merely passengers (" dead heads " at that)—to be carried snug and dry throughout the storm and safely landed right side up. Nay, more— even a mutineer is to go untouched, lest these sacred passengers receive an accidental wound.

Of course, the rebellion will never be suppressed in Louisiana, if the professed Union men there will neither help to do it, nor permit the Government to do without their help.

Now, I think the true remedy is very different from what is suggested by Mr. Durant. It does not lie in rounding the rough angles of the war, but in removing the necessity for the war. The people of Louisiana, who wish protection to person and property, have but to reach forth their hands and take it. Let them in good faith reinaugurate the national authority, and set up a State Government conforming thereto under the Constitution. They know how to do it, and can have the protection of the army while doing it. The army will be withdrawn so soon as such Government can dispense with its presence, and the people of the State can then, upon the old terms, gov-

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ern themselves to their own liking. This is very simple and easy.

If they will not do this —if they prefer to hazard all for the sake of destroying the Government— it is for them to consider whether it is probable I will surrender the Government to save them from losing all. If they decline what I suggest, you scarcely need to ask what I will do.

What would you do in my position? Would you drop the war where it is, or would you prosecute it in future with elder-stalk squirts, charged with rosewater ? Would you deal lighter blows, rather than heavier ones ? Would you give up the contest, leaving every available means unapplied ?

I am in no boastful mood. I shall not do more than I can, but I shall do all I can to save the Government, which is my sworn duty as well as my personal inclination. I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing.

Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN.

The following response to a petition in behalf of a secessionist clergyman in St. Louis, will afford an example of President Lincoln's mode of disposing of impudent pretensions set up by rebellious people in the Border States, and is otherwise memorable :

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

WASHINGTON, December 23, 1863.

I have just looked over a petition signed by some three dozen citizens of St. Louis, and their accompanying letters, one by yourself, one by a Mr. Nathan Ranney, and one by a Mr. John D. Coalter, the whole relating to the Rev. Dr. McPhee-ters. The petition prays, in the name of justice and mercy, that I will restore Dr. McPheeters to all his ecclesiastical rights.

This gives no intimation as to what ecclesiastical rights are withdrawn. Your letter states that Provost Marshal Dick, about a year ago, ordered the arrest of Dr. McPheeters, pastor of the Vine-street Church, prohibited him from officiating, and placed the management of affairs of the church out of the control of the chosen trustees; and near the close you state that a certain course "would insure his release." Mr. Ranney's letter says :"Dr. Samuel McPheeters is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, but can not preach the gospel!" Mr. Coalter, in his letter, asks: "Is it not a strange illustration of the condition of things, that the question who shall be allowed to preach in a

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church in St. Louis shall be decided by the President of the United States?" Now, all this sounds very strangely; and, withal, a little as if you gentlemen making the application do not understand the case alike —one affirming that this doctor is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, and another pointing; out to me what will secure his release! On the 2d of January last, I wrote to Gen. Curtis in relation to Mr. Dick's order upon Dr. McPheeter's; and, as I suppose the Doctor is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, I only quote that part of my letter which relates to the church. It was as follows: " But I must add that the United States Government must not, as by this order, undertake to run the churches. When an individual, in a church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest, he must be checked; but the churches, as such, must take care of them-selves. It will not do for the United States to appoint trustees, supervisors, or other agents for the churches." This letter going to Gen. Curtis, then in command, I supposed, of course, it was obeyed, especially as I heard no further complaint from Dr. Mc. or his friends for nearly an entire year. I have never interfered, nor thought of interfering, as to who shall or shall not preach in any church; nor have I knowingly or believingly tolerated any one else to interfere by my authority. If any one is so interfering by color of my authority, I would like to have it specially made known to me. If, after all, what is now sought is to have me put Dr. Me. back over the heads of a majority of his own congregation, that, too, will be declined. I will not have control of any church or any side. A. LINCOLN. On the 16th of June, President Lincoln, by invitation, attended the great Fair, for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission, at Philadelphia. His reception was such as to leave no doubt that he had the cordial affection of the people of that city. After two or three hours spent by him (Mrs. Lincoln being also present), in passing through the rooms of the fair, which contained rare works of art and varieties of objects attractive to the intellectual taste, he was conducted to the supper-room, where Edward Everett and other distinguished guests joined him at the table. His health having been proposed, the President made the following remarks: War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and duration, is one of the most terrible. It has

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deranged business, totally in some locations, and partially in all locations. It has produced a national debt and taxation unprecedented, at least, in this country. It has carried mourning to almost every home, until it may almost be said that "the heavens are hung with black," Yet the war continues, and several relieving coincidents have accompanied It from the beginning, which have not been known, as I understand it, in former wars in the history of the world. The Sanitary Commission, with all its benevolent labors ; the Christian Commission, with all its benevolent and Christian labors, and the various places, arrangements, institutions, so to speak, that have contributed to the comfort and relief of the soldier. You have two of these places in your city: the Cooper Shop and the Union Volunteer Refreshment; Saloons; and, lastly, these fairs, which, I believe, began only in last August, if I mistake not, at Chicago, then at Boston, at Cincinnati, at Brooklyn, at New York, at Baltimore, and at the present at St. Louis, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, and, perhaps, at some other places which I do not remember. The motives and objects that lie at the bottom of all these are the most worthy; for, say what you will, after all, the most is due to the soldier, who takes his life in his hand, and goes to fight the battles of his country. [Loud cheering.] In what is contributed to his comfort as he passes to and fro, from city to city; in what is contributed to him when he is sick and wounded; in whatever shape it comes, whether from the fair hand of woman, or from whatever source it may, it is much, very much. But I think that there is still that which is of much value to him, in the continual reminders he sees in the newspapers, that while he is absent he is yet remembered by the loved ones at home. [Cheers.] Another view of these various institutions, if I may so call them, is worthy of consideration, I think. They are voluntary contributions, given zealously and earnestly, on top of all the disturbances of business, of all the disorders, of all the taxations, and of all the burdens that the war has imposed upon us, giving proof that the national resources, are not at all exhausted ; that the national spirit of patriotism is even firmer and stronger than at the commencement of the war. It is a pertinent question, often asked in the mind privately, and from one to another, when is the war to end? Surely I feel as great an interest in this question as any other can. But I do not wish to name the day, or the month, or the year with which it is to end. I do not wish to run the risk of seeing the time come without our being ready for the end, for fear of disappointment, because the time had come and not the end.

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We accepted this war ; we did not begin it. But we accepted the war for an object, a worthy object, and the war will end when that object is attained, and I hope under God it never will without. [Tumultuous cheering.] Speaking of the present campaign, Gen. Grant is reported to have said: "I am going through on this line if it takes all summer." This war has taken three years. It was begun or accepted on the line of restoring the national authority over all the national domain. And for the American people, as far as my knowledge enables me to speak, I say we are going through on this line if it takes three years more. [Great cheering]. My friends, I did not know but that I might be called upon to say a few words before I got away from here but I did not know it was coming just here. [Laughter.] I have never been in the habit of making predictions in regard to the war, but I am almost tempted to make one. If I were to hazard it, it is this: That Grant is this evening, with Gen. Meade and Gen. Hancock, of Pennsylvania, and the brave officers and soldiers with him, in a position where he will never be dislodged until Richmond is taken. And I have but one single proposition further to put now, and perhaps I can best put it in the form of an interrogatory. If I shall discover that Gen. Grant, and the noble officers and men under him, can be greatly facilitated in their work by a sudden pouring forth of armed men to their assistance, will you give them to me? [Cries of "yes." and cheers.] Are you ready to march? Then, I say, stand ready, for I am watching for the chance. [Merriment, and applause.] I thank you, gentlemen. It will be remembered that Gen. Grant, at the date of this speech, had just advanced beyond the James and appeared before Petersburg. The details of this movement were then but imperfectly known, but the President's prediction—a cautious one, by no means over sanguine, yet distinct and definite —was strictly fulfilled. It well illustrates the firm confidence, without extravagant anticipations, which he reposed in the Lieutenant-General and the brave men under his command. The Opposition party, styling itself Democratic, had early in the season called a National Convention, to be assembled at Chicago on the 4th of July, for the purpose of nominating candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States. As the time approached, however, the Democratic

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leaders, perhaps unable to determine whether it were better to adopt a war or a peace basis, perhaps anxious for the Union of the various elements of opposition to Mr. Lincoln, and cer-tainly willing to afford the fullest scope for the development and strengthening of divisions on the Administration side, by deferring to present any definite opponent or issue, decided to postpone their Convention until the 29th of August. It was somewhat earlier in the season, that a band of Rebel leaders, including Jacob Thompson, Buchanan's Secretary of the Interior, Clement C. Clay, once a Senator from Alabama, J. P. Holcombe, of Virginia, and George N. Sanders, a rene-gade New Yorker of notorious worthlessness, ran the blockade, safely reaching Bermuda, and embarked from thence to Canada, being, as they subsequently represented, " in the confidential employment" of Jefferson Davis. At the time, their mission was supposed to have more immediate reference to political movements in the loyal States, with a view to a change of the Administration by the election of Peace Democratic candidates. It was then hardly suspected that their purposes extended to such desperate and infamous measures in behalf of the " Confederacy " as have since been associated with their names. These persons, with the exception of Thompson, who appears to have divided his time chiefly between Montreal and Toronto, soon made their appearance at Niagara Falls, whither leading Democrats were reported to be resorting, to hold with them confidential conferences. Sanders, on whose suggestion is not known, addressed a note to the Hon. Horace Greeley, on the 12th of July, suggesting that Clay, Holcombe, himself "and one other," not named by him, would like " to go at once to Washington, upon complete and unqualified protection being given, either by the President or Secretary of War." No object is assigned for the proposed journey. Mr. Greeley assumed that the purpose was to talk of negotiations for peace, an assumption scarcely warranted by the facts then known, and much less in the light of information since disclosed. In a communication written not long after, Mr. Greeley thus refers to this note and its results :

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As I saw no reason why the Opposition should be the sole recipients of these gentlemen's overtures, if such there were (and It is stated that Mr. Clay aforesaid is preparing or to pre-pare an important letter to the Chicago Convention), I wrote the President, urging him to invite the Rebel gentlemen afore-said to Washington, there to open their budget. I stated expressly that I knew not what they would propose if so invited, but I could Imagine no offer that might be made by them which would not conduce, in one way or another, to a restoration of the integrity and just authority of the Union, The President ultimately acquiesced in this view so far as to consent that the Rebel agents should visit Washington, but directed that I should proceed to Niagara and accompany them thence to the capital. This service I most reluctantly under-took, feeling deeply, and observing that almost any one else might better have been sent on this errand. But time seemed precious, and I immediately started. In his notes to Clay and others, written after reaching the Falls, Mr. Greeley more clearly indicates the understanding upon which President Lincoln consented that the parties should be thus escorted to Washington. The ingenious efforts of Mr. Greeley to throw into the background the writer who opened the correspondence are noticeable, as well as the insertion of Thompson's name, without any warrant, so far as publicly appears : NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. July 17, 1864 GENTLEMEN: I am informed that you are duly accredited from Richmond, as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace; that you desire to visit Washington in the fulfillment of your mission, and that you farther desire that Mr. George N. Sanders shall accompany you. If my information be thus far substantially correct, I am authorized by the President of the United States to tender you his safe conduct on the journey proposed, and to accompany you at the earliest time that will be agreeable to you. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, yours, HORACE GREELEY. To Messrs. CLEMENT C. CLAY, JACOB THOMPSON, JAMES P. HOLCOMBE, Clifton House, C. W. On the next day, Messrs. Holcombe and Clay replied: The safe conduct of the President of the United States has

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been tendered us, we regret to state, under some misapprehension of facts. We have not been accredited to him from Rich-mond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establish-ment of peace. We are, however in the confidential employment of our Government, and are entirely familiar with its wishes and opinions on that subject; and we feel authorized to declare that, if the circumstances disclosed in this correspond-ence were communicated to Richmond, we would be at once invested with the authority to which your letter refers; or other gentlemen, clothed with full powers, would be immedi-ately sent to Washington with the view of hastening a consum-mation so much to be desired, and terminating at the earliest possible moment the calamities of the war. We respectfully solicit, through your intervention, a safe conduct to Washing-ington, ,and thence, by any route which may be designated, through your lines, to Richmond. We would be gratified if Mr. George N. Sanders was embraced in this privilege. To which Mr. Greeley, after acknowledging their note, rejoins : The state of facts therein presented being materially different from that which was understood to exist by the President when he intrusted me with the safe conduct required, it seems to me on every account advisable that I should communicate with him by telegraph, and solicit fresh instructions, which I shall at once proceed to do. I hope to be able to transmit the result this afternoon; and at all events I shall do so at the earliest moment. This last application for a safe conduct for Rebel emissaries to visit Washington, was met by the following memorable passport in President Lincoln's own handwriting: EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 18, 1864. To whom it may concern : Any proposition which embraces the restoration, of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States, will be received and considered by the Executive Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on sub- stantial and collateral points; and the bearer thereof shall have safe conduct both ways. ABRAHAM LINCOLN

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The Indispensable conditions mentioned in this paper were such as to put an end to all further trifling on the part of self-constituted, irresponsible or insincere negotiators. Many would have preferred that no occasion had been presented requiring Mr. Lincoln to connect himself in the remotest man-ner with an affair of this sort. Yet if he were to speak, good faith and plain dealing admitted of no less than was actually said. The fact was definitely recognized, that the vital force of the rebellion was in " the armies now at war against the United States," and peace agitators on both sides were given to understand, once for all, that only when those armies were vanquished, or disbanded, and the Emancipation policy, to which the Government had plighted its faith, was accepted as a finality, could peace be expected. As the event proved, it may be well that these issues, "the abandonment of slavery" included, were thus directly presented to the people in the Presidential canvass. While this pacific exterior was maintained by the Rebel emissaries in Canada, a monster conspiracy was becoming revealed in the North-west, the object of which was a counter-revolution in the loyal States, in concert with the Rebellion. In the latter part of June, important facts in regard to the secret combinations to this end were made public by Gen. Carrington, and several of the leaders were arrested in Indiana. The enormity and extent of the schemes disclosed on the sub-sequent trials surpassed the worst suspicions at first enter-tained, involving crimes of the darkest shade, and evincing a depth of disloyal hate not unworthy of the arch-fiends in Milton's Pandemonium. Premature outbreaks occurred in Coles County, Illinois, and elsewhere in the North-west; soldiers were murdered; enrolling officers waylaid and shot; and arms were secretly distributed for the equipment of men who had other purposes than the service of their country. The discovery of this plot was timely, and the prevention of its fuller consummation most fortunate. The full connection of these men with leaders of the Rebellion admits of no doubt, and it is known that a day bad been fixed—and nearly reached at the late of the arrests—for a concerted and general outbreak.

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Two months passed after the Baltimore nominations, and the third month was well on toward completion, before the so-called Democratic Opposition began to contemplate in earnest the work of preparation for the canvass. Faction and discontent were doubtless hoped to be doing more for the defeat of Lincoln and Johnson, than could be accomplished by direct and energetic opposition. Fremont was still a candidate. The German Republican voters were reported to be every-where hostile to Mr. Lincoln. Grant was still before Petersburg, after fruitless mining and disappointing losses. Farragut had captured Fort Gaines, but Mobile still held out against both Navy and Army. Sherman was still at bay before Atlanta. What remained now but for an exultant Democracy—with its Vallandigham returned from across the border, and his place in Canada supplied by a bevy of Confederates giving aid and comfort —to name its candidates, make up its issues, and stride directly to the high places of power? Emboldened by the seeming divisions of the Republicans, cheered by the lack of decisive and final Union victories, to reconcile the country to heavy losses of life and treasure, the Peace Democrats were growing more and more determined in asserting the prerogative of leaders and dictators. Their compact organization and the favoritism of the multitude for the " victims" who had suffered for defiant attempts to arrest the war, gave them an advantage over the probably more numerous leaders who not only believed the war should be sustained, but also thought the nominations and platform should, from policy, have a decided leaning toward "coercion." The Democratic Convention met on the day last fixed— August 29. It presented the name of George B. McClellan for President, and of George H. Pendleton for Vice-President. The former nomination was esteemed so decided a concession to the War Democracy—having encountered some opposition from such " Democrats " as B. G. Harris, the "unworthy" Congressman from Maryland, a delegate to the Convention-that the nomination for Vice-President was conferred upon an unequivocal Peace Democrat, and the resolutions, or platform, were made very explicit on the " failure " of the war, and in

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demanding " that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities." The entire "Chicago Platform," (Democratic, 1864,) is as follows : Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution, as the only solid foundation of our strength, security, and hap-piness as a people, and as a framework of government equally conducive to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and Southern. Resolved, That this Convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American People, that, alter four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretense of a military necessity of a war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare, demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate Convention of all the States, or other peaceable means to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States. Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authority of the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and Delaware, was a shameful violation of the Constitution, and the repetition of such acts in the approaching election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under our control. Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired; and they hereby declare that they consider the administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by the Constitution, the subversion of the civil by military law in States not in insurrection, the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment trial and sentence of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full force, the suppression of freedom of speech and of the press, the denial of the right of asylum, the open and avowed disregard of State rights, the employment of unusual test-oaths, and the interference with and denial of the right of the people to bear arms, as calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation of a government deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed. Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the Administra-

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tion to its duty in respect to our fellow-citizens who now and long have been prisoners of war in a suffering condition, deserves the severest reprobation, on the score alike of public interest and common humanity. Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily and earnestly extended to the soldiery of our army, who are and have been in the field under the flag of our coun-try; and in the event of our attaining power, they will receive all the care and protection, regard and kindness, that the brave soldiers of the Republic have so nobly earned. The nomination of Gen. McClellan had been a foregone con-clusion from the first. There were dreams, for a time, that Gen. Fremont, or an active War Democrat, like Gen. Dix, might be taken as the candidate, for the sake of uniting all elements of opposition in a grand effort to defeat Mr. Lincoln. But the visionary notion was not entertained for a moment by Belmont and his associates. Their hopes were firmly fixed on McClellan. Democrats like the New York Woods, denounc-ing the war altogether, manifested delicate scruples in regard to " epauletted gentlemen;" and Maryland Secessionists indignantly remembered the " arbitrary arrests " made in their State by the Peninsular hero; but it was not doubted that these objections would promptly enough disappear before the magic power of a regular nomination. And so it was. Mutterings of discontent were momentarily heard, only in quarters where such responses were preferable to warm support. Candidates and platform were accepted by the united Democracy, and the canvass at length actually opened. On the Administration side, the issue was joined, with pros-pects immediately brightened. There was now an organized opponent to meet, and he had presented himself in an attitude that promised an advantage to the supporters of Mr. Lincoln. Dissension, and factious opposition speedily disappeared. More cheering news began to come from our armies, and the affectionate confidence of the great majority of the loyal people in Abraham Lincoln manifested itself more and more clearly as the day of election approached. The action of the Border States in adapting themselves to the new order of things, never failed to interest the President;

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who, at an earlier day, had earnestly endeavored to impress upon the Representatives of those States, the expediency of prompt measures in preparation for the inevitable event of emancipation. It was not many days after the adjournment of the Baltimore Convention, that the delegates of the people of Maryland decided upon abolishing slavery in that State; subject only to the test of a popular vote, to be taken a few months later. The State Convention of Maryland consummated this action, bringing the issue directly before the people for their full deliberation and ultimate action, on the 24th day of June. In the State of Louisiana, a new Constitution prohibiting slavery was adopted by a State Convention, duly chosen by the loyal people, on the 22d day of July. All the great champions of freedom were near to the affections of Mr. Lincoln, but no one of them was, perhaps, more personally endeared to him than the late Owen Lovejoy, his intimate friend for many years. No one, on the other hand, had a more earnest, loving confidence in the President during all his trials, and not the least when he was assailed by men who questioned his "radicalism." In one of the last speeches ever made by Mr. Lovejoy to any public assembly, not many months before his death, he defended the President from such attacks, and warmed into a heartfelt eulogy of his friend, such as brought tears to many eyes, and will long be remembered by those who listened. All complaint, for the time, was hence-forth silenced. " On a recent occasion," said Mr. Lovejoy, illustrating the high and unselfish motives which controlled all the President's actions, "I ventured, in the freedom of our private intercourse, to speak of the temptations besetting a man in his exalted position, with such patronage and power in his hands, and to counsel him to rise above all regard to or thought of perpetuating his power by a reflection, adhering firmly to the higher plane of simple duty. With characteristic earnestness of tone and expression, the President replied: ' If I know my own heart, Mr. Lovejoy, I can assure you that it does not cost me an effort so to do.' That answer, gentlemen, I firmly believe to have been given in honest truth. That

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great heart is incorruptible, and constantly lives in the pure, high region into which false motive and selfish scheming never come." The death of Mr. Lovejoy was mourned by Mr. Lincoln as that of a dear friend. When a meeting was to be held in the former home of the deceased veteran in the cause of liberty, to take measures for the erection of a monument to his memory, the President was invited to be present. This being impossi-ble, he sent the following letter : EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 30, 1864. HON. JOHN H. BRYANT. —My Dear Sir: Yours of the 14th inst., inclosing a card of invitation to a preliminary meeting contemplating the erection of a monument to the memory of Hon. Owen Lovejoy, was duly received. As you anticipate, it will be out of my power to attend. Many of you have known Mr. Lovejoy longer than I have, and are better able than I to do his memory justice. My personal acquaintance with him commenced only about ten years ago, since when it has been quite intimate ; and every step in it has been one of increasing respect and esteem, ending with his life, in no less affection on my part. It can be truly said of him, that, while he was personally ambitious, he bravely endured the obscurity which the unpopularity of his principles imposed, and never accepted official honors until those honors were ready to admit his principles with him. Throughout my heavy and perplexing responsibilities here to the day of his death, it would scarcely wrong any other to say he was my most generous friend. Let him have the marble monument, along with the well-assured and more endearing one in the hearts of those who love liberty unselfishly for all men. Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN. From the time Mr. Stanton succeeded Mr. Cameron as Secre-tary of War, on the 11th of January, 1862, until this summer, only one change had occurred in the Cabinet of President Lin-coln—that occasioned by the appointment of Secretary Smith as Judge of the District Court of Indiana, who was succeeded by Hon. John P. Usher, of the same State, on the 8th of January, 1863. Several months previous, on account of opposition manifested by a number of Senators, Mr. Seward had

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tendered his resignation as Secretary of State, and Mr. Chase had, at the same time, proposed to withdraw from the Secretary-ship of the Treasury. Both these resignations, the President peremptorily refused to accept, On the 30th of June, 1864, Secretary Chase, for personal reasons, again tendered his resignation, which Mr. Lincoln deemed it expedient to accept. A want of cordiality on the part of Mr. Chase toward the President had been noticed for a good while previous, and his attendance on Cabinet meetings had been irregular, or, in fact, practically intermitted altogether. The occasion of his final resignation —the acceptance was perhaps not confidently anticipated— was a disagreement with, the President in regard to an important appointment for New York City. There was, perhaps, no period during the war when the financial condition of the country was deemed more critical than at this date and during the few weeks succeeding prior to the 1st of September. The place thus made vacant was first tendered to Ex-Gov. David Tod, of Ohio, who declined the appointment. Senator Wm. P. Fessenden, of Maine, was afterward appointed, and entered upon the duties of the office on the 5th of July. In the midst of a Presidential canvass, while the people were becoming weary over hopes deferred and indecisive campaigns, it may well be supposed that an executive who was studying the chances of a reflection would have long hesitated to call for five hundred thousand more men for the army, to be made good by a draft, after a very short period, if not previously filled by volunteers. But the success of our arms demanded it, and President Lincoln promptly determined to do what duty required. The following proclamation was accordingly issued: WHEREAS, By the act approved July 4, 1864, entitled "An act further to regulate and provide for the enrolling and call-ing out the national forces, and for other purposes," it is provided that the President of the United States may, " at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number of men as volunteers, for the respective terms of one, two, and three years, for military service," and " that in case the quota of any part thereof, or any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of a county not so subdivided,

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shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such call, then the President shall immediately order a draft for one year to fill such quota, or any part thereof, which may be unfilled;" AND WHEREAS, The new enrollment heretofore ordered is so far completed as that the aforementioned act of Congress may now be put in operation for recruiting and keeping up the strength of the armies in the field, for garrisons and such military operations as may be required for the purpose of sup-pressing the rebellion and restoring the authority of the United States Government in the insurgent States; Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do issue this my call for five hundred thousand volunteers for the military service: Provided, nevertheless, that this call shall be reduced by all credits which may be established under section eight of the aforesaid act, on account of persons who have entered the naval service during the present rebellion, and by credits for men furnished to the mil-itary service in excess of calls heretofore made. Volunteers will be accepted under this call for one, two, or three years, as they may elect, and will be entitled to the bounty provided by law for the period of service for which they enlist. And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct, that immediately after the fifth day of September, 1864, being fifty days from the date of this call, a draft for troops, to serve for one year, shall be had in every town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or county not so subdivided, to fill the quota which shall be assigned to it under this call, or any part thereof which may be unfilled by volunteers on the said fifth day of September, 1864. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred [L. s.] and sixty-four, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. The governments of the several loyal States at once set about the work of filling their quotas by volunteering, and the response showed an alacrity and confidence among the people which disappointed alike those who had hoped our armies

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could not again be replenished, and those who feared disaffection to the cause from the heavy sacrifices demanded. No disheartening circumstances could shake the people from their firm purpose of wrenching from the hands of treason its weapons of revolt. No hour was so dark that loyal eyes could not clearly see the duty of keeping up our armies, and of steadily pressing forward to ultimate and decisive victory, however long deferred the consummation.