The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-08-25

he
be,wcen himself ana his colleague Jaques, on the
one side and President DAVIS Oh the other III the
rrs.nce OF Mr. Benjamin. Ii asserts that the VISIT
ON the part of Jacques, was mere pret'At 10 oo-
tim = fa,loagh, and that Gilmore accompanied hun
.ley for the purpose Of gathering materials for an
e,..lc ,n n MAGAZINE Neither of them had any
fran,Sals To make or was authorized, IN any man
,,.r or shape by Lincoln to solicit the interview
The Herald adds, that although they had found it
mn easy matter 10 humbug Lincoln, they met their
MASTER when they encountered President Davis, who
wound them around his finger as he might nave
,ioue a thread of yarn, - and finally oornefed them
~ cruelty that they were ycy glad TO sneak out OIL
any further discussion" 1t adds, that, according
80 their oten aocoaot, their ignorance was rs great
as their inpudence," And more striking d's-
play II both qualities was, perhaps never mad" 10y
any two men in any situation OF condition Of life.
We have been compelled by the enormous pressure
o, advertisements upon our columns to forego the
publication Of eiimore'- account of this interview,
which appeared in the September number Of the At
Esst5e Monthly ASH; constitutes part of the history
81 the times, however, and the same reason Tor
emitting 1t as IA whole still exists should feel our
selves delinquent III duty faithful chroniclers
did We tail to give readers idea of what it
Is. We shall therefore attempt on analysis IN this
article, although confess that the whole tranSac-
ton, from its inception to its Close including tho
description Of Mr. benjamin and has books is emi-
nently characteristic Of the Yankee 10 defy
translation or imitation.
II seems that the self-constituted ambassadors
found no difficulty whatever in obtaining inter
view with the President that he received them with
great courtesy: and that they Immediately entered
upon the business of their mission They had come
IT appears with the hope that the President would
suggest some means OF putting stop to the war,
and to ask how it could be done. The President
gave them an answer which would have put end
all further discussion had the propounders Of the
question been any other than what they were gem
uine Yankees that is totally insensible to the sug
gestions of lelicacy and the acquisitions of good
breeding " In a very simple way said the Presi
dent. " Withdraw your army from our territory
and peace will of itself"
Let alone and peace will come at once' The
commissioners did not feel the force of the rebuff
They replied that they could not let alone 50
lung repuiiatei the Union for that was tlng
the Yankees would not surrender. Oh under
stand replied the President, Z" You would deny t.
lis what you would exact for yourselves-the right
of sef-governlaeut Here was another home
thrust but the impenetrable self-couceit III
which the Yankee habitually enca+as himself
prevented the point Of the steel from reach
ing the vitals. Gilmore replied that they
denied natural right, but that they ithe Yam
KEGS thought the Union essential TO peace, and ap
pealed to Davis TO say if it not impossible for
faro people, inhabting the country and speak
ing tho same language, to live at peace. The reply
deadly thrust than any that had PIE
ceded it "Undoubtedly, with this generation
You have sown bitterness at the South ; you have
put such an ceanoi blood between the two sections
that despair of seeing any harmony in my time
Our children may forget this war, but we cannot
Even Yankee impuience staggered and reeed be-
meath this tremendous blow. :" You put the case
too strongly" exclaims Gilmore and no doubt he
thought what he said. 1t put strongly enough
in all conscience. But ralying lie added a scrap or
two of the eloquence which he had culled from
peace meetings at the North The war must stop
somewhere-we cannot fight always-stOp the ettl,-
sion OF blood christian man-fightful carnage
try sny means, &c., &c, &c. This outbreak was
followed by another knock down. To the question
'Can you, 4 christian man, neglect any means %
&c, Mr. Davis answered:
No, l cannot. deeire peace as much as Won
do. deplore bloodshed "a much az YOU do: but /
feel that not drop of the blood shed in this war
Is on my hands can look up to my God and say
this / tried all in my power to avert this war. I
saw IT coming, and for twelve years l worked night
and day to prevent it, but could not. The North
was mad and blind; it would not let us govern our
selves, and so the war came and now it must go on
till the last of this generation falls in his tracks
and his children seize his musket and fight his bat
ties unless you acknowledge right self-govern-
ment. We are not fighting for slavery. We are
fighting for independence; and that or rxtermna-
tlon VIC will have"
And slavery: you say, is no longer an element
in the contest, !"
No, it is not; it never an essential element
1t Was only the means OF bringing other conflicting
clements TO an earlier elimination. 1t fired the
musket which was already capped and loaded
There are essential differences between the North
ANA S0uth that will, however this war may end,
make them two nations"
Yankee impotence alone could have dictated the
answer to this unanswerable exposure OF the true
state of the case.
"You ask NE to say what 1 think. viii you al
low me to say that l know the South pretty we'll
and never observed those differences
"Then You have not used your eyes My sight is
poorer than yours, but have seen them for years"
Here the Yankee coniesses that the laugh was
against him. We should say it Nothing dis
heartened, however, he continues to press the sub
jet. "Well, sir be that it may; if understand
you, the dispute between your Government and
ours is narrowed down to this: union disunion.'
Eyes; or, to put it in other words Independence
OF subjugaton."
The Yankee here tells the President that the Gov
ernments are irreconeileably hostile but that the
people are not and then comes his grand proposal
swell, suppose the two Governments should
agree to do something like this To go to the peo-
pie with two propositions, say, peace with dsInion
and Southern independence as your proposition
and peace with union, emancipation, confiscation
and universal amnesty as ours Let the citizens OF
all the United States las they existed before the
war; vote Yes, or No on these two PROPOSE
lions, at special election, within sixty days If
majority vote disunion, our Government TO be
bound by it, and to let you go in peace. If a ma
Jofity votes union, yours TO be bound by it, and
stay In peace The two Governments can contract
IN this way, and the people, though constutionally
unable to decide peace or war, can elect which OF
the two propositions shall govern their rulers Let
Lee ana urant, meantime, agree to arIn4stice.
IhAs would sheathe the sword and if once sheathed
IL would never again be drawn by this generation
To this splendid plan for submerging the rights of
the States beneath the waves of popular majority,
President Davis expressed decided repugnance.-
The people Of Virginia." he said, "cannot vote
slavery out OF South Carolina, and the people of
south carolina cannot vote slavery out Of Virginia
Nothing, however, could the loquacity Of the
Yankee lie had remedy ready for the disease -
" hat does the reader suppose it was. Why, three
iouithS OF the States Were to amend tn, Consttu
tio' ana slavery was to be abolished Nc That is to
say, 1t Is proposed to stop the war bv putting us
once more at the mercy Of Yankee majority. The
President calmly, and, we suspect somewhat COLI
temptaousy replied, We seeded to rid ourselves of