New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-12-01
yGLI NrEER AsxzNE.

Precisely because We ardently Labor ana
hope for an carly conclusion Of our great Civil
War do We deprecate any public proposition or
discussion on our side, by persons without
authority in the premises, Of the terms whercon
Peace may be restored TO this distracted,
blOod-soaked country. We may all properly
give expression to our ardent desire for Peace
VIC may DO our best 10 cultivate and diflGse the
spirit that hcrads and facilitates the close Of hos
tilitcs-but, since our Government alone can
make Peace, 20 it should be left unembarrassed
BIZ superscv;ceablc volunteer efforts in the pro.
posal and settlement Of conditions. We shall
thus sooner and more safely attain The great end
than If individuals and Journalists are perpetual
ly interposins theirusually well.meant but often
maladroit and mischieyous suggestions.
And yet, there are some commanding utter
ances from supposed friends of Peace across the
lines which cannot, without inviting misappre'
henson, he suffered TO pass unnotlced, and par
tcular'y those Of Mr.. Alex. Ii. Stephens OF
Georgia.
M Stephens is widely known at the North as
one Of the abest men in the Confederacy, a
Wing ~ to 1850, and Unionist down to the
secession Of his State, in defiance Of his persist
ent efforts and energetic protest, near the close
OF IeGC Mr.. Stephens was made Vice-Prcsi.
dent OF the Confederacy as sop TO The ex-
Unionisis ofDixe-not because the original and
hearty traitors loved or trusted him, but be-
cause they needed and would fain conciliatc
him. No man has demonstrated more forcibly
than he the folly, the waDtonness, the crimi-
nal.ty Of SECESSION and we do not doubt that
his opinion is the same to-day as when he voted
Nav On the passage Of the fatal Ordinance.
Nj. Stephens s hence very widely 1--WE think
property regarded in the loyal States as still at
heart n UniOnist, and the natural focus aud
leader Of the visiby growing repugnance at
the South 10 the Davis despot;sm. Hence the
widespread regret that lie WIS not permitted
nay, inyited-to visit Washington in July, 1869,
nithon, his preposterous gunboat, and there sub
NIT his propositioI-i1 proposition he had, or
was authorized to make-lor the restoration OF
Peace. 1t is therefore with pain as well az
that the loyal States learn that
he has recently issued manifesto which would
seem expressly calculated TO render Peace i'm
possible otherwise than through the complete
exhaustion ard prost1aion OF one Of the bel
ligeren,s.
ME. Stephens, writing privately on tho 9Th
ult.-tlyec days before our Presidential Elec-
tion-to Mr.. T. j. Semmes OF the Rebel Senate,
adduces many considerations which should in
duce the Rebels greatly to prefer and do their
best TO promote the triumph of Mcclellan over
Lincoln. and he accuses JEFF. Davis of acting
as though be preferred LiDcolns election. All
this is pow ont Of date. But on the 14th--of
eonrse. after hearing Of Mr.. Lincoln's rGelec-
fior-he Sends this letter to The augusta Con-
s.itntional.a for publication. thus giving new
and enduring significance TO certain Of its posi-.
tons. These We feel impeled here to coz.
slider:
i. Mr.. Stephens cOolly assumes that, because
the Democrats Of the Free States were accns'
toned to assent to platforms indorsing the noto-
nous Kentucky ard Virginia resolutions OF 80
and '9-the,eiore they agree with the Rebels In
maintaining the right Of each State TO defy or
desert the Union at pleasure. There never was
a gTaver misapprehension. Apart from the fact
that Messr.. Jefferson and Madison, who sew
orally drafted the resolves in question, never
themselves believed in the right or rghtfulness
Of State secession, it is demonstrabls that the
great mass Of the Northern people concur en-
Iursly in Eenyy Clay's lucid avsrmoat: ~ owe