The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-13 00:00:00

NG, MAY 13 1F65.

A Conversation with General Lee.

The New York Herald of the 29th ult. has a long
letter from a special correspondent, giving some
account of a conversation at Richmond with Gen.
Lee. Writing from Richmond on the 24th ult.,
the correspondent says :
In order, if possible, to get some clear light for
the solution of the new complications growing out
of the murder of President Lincoln I yesterday
sought and obtained an interview with that distin-
guished soldier and leader of the rebel armies, Gen.
Robert E. Lee, and was permitted to draw out his
views on the very important questions suggested.
It is proper to say that my reception was every-
thing that could be expected from a gentleman who
has always been considered a type of the once
famous chivalry, and, I had almost said, nobility of
Virginia. Pen and ink sketches of General Lee
have been so numerously made of late, by news-
paper writers, that any attempt at this time by me
in that direction would be a work of supererogation.
I may simply say, that the firm step, the clear voice,
the bright, beaming countenance, the quick intelli-
gence, the upright form, and the active manner of
the general very strongly belie the portraitures of
him which are so common. All the vigour and
animation and ability of ripe manhood are promi-
nelitly conspicuous in his bearing. His venerable
white hair and beard simply inspire respect for the
mature ideas and deliberate expressions that come
from this conspicuous rebel leader, but in nowise
convey an impression of decay or old age.

It will not be possible to relate the extended con-
versation that ensued with any approach to exact-
ness, no notes having been taken, and it will not,
therefore, be attempted ; but I will confine myself
to a record of the views expressed by General Lee
on several prominent topics, as I understood him-to
express himself.
The general's attention was directed to his
written and spoken determination to draw his
sword in defence only of his native State, and the
inquiry was raised as to what he considered the de-
fence of Virginia, and what degree of deliberation
he had given to that expression. He stated that,
as a firm and honest believer in the doctrine of State
rights, he had considered his allegiance due primarily
to the State in which he was born and where he had
always resided. And although he was not an advo-
cate of secession at the outset, when Virginia seceded
he honestly believed it his duty to abide his fortune.
He opposed secession to the last, foreseeing the ruin
it was sure to entail. But when the state withdrew
from the Union he had no recourse, in his views of
honour and patriotism, but to abide her fortunes.
He went with her, intending to remain merely a
private citizen. When he resigned his commission
in the United States army he had no intention of
taking up arms in any other service, and least of all
in a service antagonistic to the United States. His
state, however, called for him, and entertaining the
fixed principles he did of state sovereignty, he had
no alternative but to accept the service to which he
was called. When he made use of the declarations
that have been so extensively quoted of late, he had
accepted only a commission from Virginia. Subse-
quently, when Virginia attached herself to the
Southern Confederacy, the same political impres-
sions impelled him to follow her, and when he ac-
cepted service under the rebel government he did so
on the principle that he was defending his native
state. And yet, by the act of accepting such service,
he was bound in honour to serve in any part of the
Confederacy where he might be called without re-
ference to state lines; and the reconciliation with
his farmer avowal, if any were necessary, was found
in the fact that Virginia, standing or falling with
the other Southern States, in defending them all he
was defending the one to which he considered his
allegiance primarily due. As to the effect of his
surrender, he was free to say it was a severe blow to
the South, but not a crushing blow. It was of mili-
tary, not political significance. I asked, was not that
surrender a virtual surrender of the doctrine of state
rights ? By no means the general replied. When the
South shall be wholly subdued, there will thenundeni-
ably be a surrender of that doctrine. But the surrender
of a single army is simply a military necessity. The
army of Northern Virginia was surrendered because
further resistance on its part would only entail a
useless sacrifice of life. But the army was merely
a part of the force of the South. When the South
shall be forced to surrender all its forces and returns
to the union, it indisputably, by that act, surren-
ders its favourite doctrine of secession. That prin-
ciple will then be settled by military power.
On the question of state sovereignty the general
contends that there exists a legitimate casus belli.
In the convention that formed the organic law of
theland, the question of defining the relative powers
of the States, and their relation to the general go-
vernment, was raised, but after much discussion was
dropped and left unsettled. It has remained so un-
settled until the present time. This war is destined
to set it at rest. It is unfortunate that it was not
settled at the outset ; but as it was not settled then,
and had to be settled at some time, the war raised
on this issue cannot be considered treason. If the
South is forced to submission in this contest, it of
course can only be looked upon as the triumph of
Federal power over state rights, and the forced
annihilation of the latter.

With reference to the war in the abstract, the
general declared it as his honest belief that peace
was practicAble two years ago, aml has been prac-
ticable from that time to the present day whenever
the general government should see fit to seek it,
giving any reasonable chance for the country to
escape the consequences which the exasperated
North seemed determined to impose. The South
has, during all this time, been ready and anxious
for peace. They have been looking for some word
or expression of compromise or conciliation from
the North upon which they might base a return to
the Union. They were not prepared, nor are they
yet, to come and beg for terms ; but were ready
to accept any fair and honourable terms, their
own political views being considered. The question
of slavery did not lay in the way at all. The best
men of the South have long been anxious to do
away with this institution, and were quite willing
to-day to see it abolished. They consider slavery
for ever dead. But with them, in relation to this
subject the question has ever been, " What will you
do with the freed people ?" This is the serious
question to-day, and one that cannot be winked at.
It must be met practically and treated intelligently.
The negroes must be disposed of, and if their dispo-
sition can be marked out, the matter of feeing them
is at once settled. But unless some humane course
is adopted, based on wisdom and Christian principles,
you do a gross wrong and injustice to the whole
negro race in setting them free. And it is only this
consideration that has led the wisdom, intelligence,
and Christianity of the South toisupport.and defend
the institution up to this time.

The assassination of the President was spoken of.
The general considered this event in itself one of
the most deplorable that could have occurred. As
a crime it was unexampled and beyond execration.
It was a crime that no good man could approve from
any conceivable motive. Undoubtedly the effort
would be made to fasten the responsibility of it upon
the South ; but, from his intimate acquaintance
with the leading men of the South, he was confident
there was not one of them who would sanction or
approve it. The scheme was wholly unknown in
the South before its execution, and would never have
received the slightest encouragement had it been
known ; but, on the contrary, the most severe exe-
cration. I called the general's attention, at this
point, to a notice that had been printed in the Nor-
thern papers, purporting to have been taken from a
paper published in the interior of the South, pro-
posing, for the sum of one million of dollars, to un-

dertake the assassination of the President and his
Cabinet. The general affirmed that he had
never seen nor heard of such a proposition, nor
did he believe it had ever been printed in the
South ; though if it had, it had been permitted
merely as the whim of some crazy person that
could possibly amount to nothing. Such
a crime was an anomaly in the history of our country,
and we had yet before its perpetration to learn that
it was possible either of earnest conception or
actual execution.
It was a most singular and remarkable expression
to escape the lips of such a man as General Lee,
that " the South was never mere than half in earnest