The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-23 00:00:00

THE WAR IN AMERICA.

THE PEACE MISSION.

The following was enclosed in the message sent to
;he Senate :

64 31R. SEWARD'S MEMORANDA.

" Department of State, Washington, Feb. 10.
" The Secretary of State, to whom was referred a resolu-
tion of the Senate of the Bth inst., requesting the President
of the United States, if in his opinion it isnot incompatible
with the public interests, to furnish to the Senate any in-
formation in his possession concerning recent conversation
or communications with certain rebels, said to have oc-
curred under Executive sanction, including communica-
tions with the rebel Jefferson Davis, and any correspon-
dence relating thereto, has the honour to report that the
Senate may properly be referred to a special message of the
President, bearing upon the subject of the resolution, and
transmitted to the house this day. Appended to this
report is a copy of the instructions, which have been
addressed to Charles Francis Adams, Esq., Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at
London, and which is the only correspondence found in
this department touching the subject referred to in the re-
solution.—Respectfully submitted,
" To the President." " Wm. H. SEWARD.
MR. SEWARD TO MR. ADAMS.
" Department of State, Washington, Feb. 9.
" Sir,--It is a truism that in times of peace there are
always instigations of war ; so soon as a war begins, there
are citizens who emphatically demand negotiations of peace.
The advocates of war, after an agitation longer or shorter,
generally gain their fearful end, though the war declared
is not unfrequently unnecessary and unwise. So peace
agitations in time of war ultimately bring about an aban-
donment of the conflict, sometimes without securing the
advantages which were originally expected from the con-
flict. The agitators for war in time of peace, and for peace
in time of war, aro not unnecessarily, or, perhaps, ordi-
narily, unpatriotic in their purposes or motives. Results
alone determine whether they are wise or unwise. The
treaty of peace concluded at Guadaloupe Hidalgo was
secured by an irregular negotiation under the sanction of
the Government.
"Some of the efforts which have been made to bring
about negotiations with a view to end our civil war are
known to the whore world, because they have employed
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foreign as well as domestic agents. Others with whom you
have had to deal confidentially are known to yourself,
although they have not publicly transpired. Other efforts
have occurred here, which are known only to the persons
actually moving in them and to this Government. I am
now to give, for your information, an account of an affair
of thesame general character which recently received much
attention here, and which, doubtless, will excite inquiry
abroad.

" A few days ago Francis P. Blair, Esq., of Maryland, ob-
tained from the President a simple leave to pass through our
lines without definite views known to the Government. Mr.
Blair visited Richmond, and on his return he showed to
the President a letter which Jefferson Davis had written to
Mr. Blair, in which Davis wrote that Mr. Blair was at liberty
to say to President Lincoln that Davis was now, as he
always had been, willing to send commissioners, if assured
they would be received, or to receive any that should be
sent ; that he was not disposed to find obstacles in forms ;
that he would send commissioners to confer with the Pre-
sident with a view to a restoration of peace between the two
sections, if he could be assured they would be received.
The President, therefore, on the 18th day of January, ad-
dressed a note to Mr. Blair, in which the President, after
acknowledging that he had read the note of Mr. Davis, said
that he was, is, and always should be willing to receive any
agents that Mr. Davis, or any other influential man now
actually resisting the authority of the Government, might
send to confer informally with the President with a view to
the restoration of peace to the people of our common country.
" Mr. Blair visited Richmond with this letter, and then
again came back to Washington,
" On the 29th ult. we were advised from the camp of
Lieut.-Gen. Grant that Alex. H. Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter,
and J. A. Campbell were applying for leave to pass through
the lines •to Washington as peace commissioners to confer
with the President. They were permitted by the lieute-
nant-general to come to his head-quarters to await there
the decision of the President. Major Eckert was sent down
to meet the party from Richmond at General Grant's head-
quarters. The major was directed to deliver to them a
copy of the President's letter to Mr. Blair, with a note to
be addressed to them and signed by the major, in which
they were directly informed that they would be allowed
to pass our lines if understood as coming for an informal

conference upon the basis of the aforenamed letter of the
18th January to Mr. Blair. If they should express their as-

sent to this condition in writing, then Major Eckert was

_
directed to give them safe conduct to Fortress Monroe,
where a person coming from the President would meet
them. It being thought probable, from a report of their
conversation with Lieut.-Gen. Grant that the Richmond
party would, in the manner prescribed, accept the condi-
tion mentioned, the Secretary of State was charged by the
President with the duty of representing this Government
in the expected informal conference. The Secretary arrived
at Fortress Monroe on the night of the Ist of February.
Major Eckert met him on the morning of the 2d February,
with the information that the persons who had come from
Richmond had not accepted in writing the condition upon
which he was allowed to give them conduct to Fortress
Monroe. The Major had given the same information by
telegraph to the President at Washington. On receiving
this information the President prepared a telegram direct-
ing the Secretary to return to Washington. The Secretary
was preparing at the same moment to so return, without
waiting for information from the President, but at this
juncture Lieutenant-General Grant telegraphed to the
Secretary of War, as well as to the Secretary of State, that
the party from Richmond had reconsidered and accepted
the condition tendered them through Major Ekert, and
General Grant urgently advised the President to confer in
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person with the Richmond party. Under these circum-
stances the Secretary, by the President's direction,
.
re-
mained at Fortress Monroe, and the President paled him