Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-11-30

In tangible form. and before q trustwor-
thy witness, the ultimstum Of the rebel
President That ultimatum spread far and
wide,S would convince every honest North.
ern man that war was the only load to
lasting peace. ...
To get that ultimatum, and to give It TO
the four winds of heaven, were my real
objects In going TO Richmond.
Idldi not shut my eyes to the possible
ity of.our. paving the way for negotiations
that might end In peace, nor my ears 70
tho blessiugs a grateful nation would
shower on us, II our visit had such q re.
suit; hut Idtd not eEPect these things I
expected 70 be smeared from head to foot
with Oopperhead slime, TO be called o
knight,eFrant, o seeker after notorietyi an
abortiVei negotiator,l and meddlesome
volunteer diplomatist; but expected also.
IL good Providence spared our lives, and
my pea did not forget the English Ian
guage, 70 be able TO tell the North the
Sruthj Aud Il knew, thRt the 1fufh would
atayI the Peace epIde demlo, and Kill the feAu9
party. And by the blessing Of God, and
the help Of the Devil, 1t did do that. The
Devil helped, for he inspired Mr.. Benja'
minis circular, and that forced home the
bolt we had driven, and shiyered the
Peace party into million Of fragments,
every fragment now good War man until
the old flag shall float again all over the
country
live accomplished this. "the scoffer
need not laugh. nor the judieious grleve,"
for our. mountain did not bring forth n
mouse-our mission to Richmond was
not q failure.
II was q difficult enterprise. At the
outset Is seemed we'll nigh impossible to
gain access to Mr.. Davis, but We finally
did gain 1t, and we gained IL without OFF,
Cial aid. Mr.. Lincoln did not assist us.
He gave us pass through the army lines,
stated on what terms he would grant am
nesty TO the rebels, and said "Good bye,
good luck tofyou," when We went away,
and that Is all he did.
Itwas also O hazardous enterprise
no holiday adventure, no pastime for
boys. It was sober, serious, dangerous
ICork, and work for men, for cool, earnest,
fearless, determined men, who relied on
God, who thought more Of their object
than Of their lives, and who, for truth
and their country, were ready to meet
the prison or the scaffold.
II any one doubts this let him call to
mind what we had to accomplish. We
had to penetrate the enemy's lines, to
enter q besieged city, to tell home truths
to the desperate, unscrupulous leaders of
the foulest Rebellion the world has ever
known, and to draw from those leaders,
deep, adroit and wary as they are, their
real plans and purposes. And all this
we had to do without any official safe
guard while entirely in their power, and
while known to be their earnest and ac-
tive enemies. One false step, one un<
guarded word, one untoWard event.
would have consigned us to Castle Thun.
der or the gallows.
Can any one believe that men who
undertake such work are mere lovers of
adventure, or seekers of notorietyl 1fany
one does believe it, let him pardon me
il say that he knows little Of human ma
ture, and nothing of human history.
lam goaded to these remarks by the
structures of the Copperhead press, but !
make them in no spirit Of boasting. God
forbid that should boast of fanything we
did For tce did nothing. Unseen iniu-
ences prompted us, unseen friends
strengthened us, unseen powers were all
about our way. We felt their presence as
if they had been living men; and had we
been atheists, our experience would have
convinced US that there was God, and
that He means that all men, every
where, shall be free.