Litchfield enquirer., 1864-09-01
"Our Visit to Richmsud ;,

The following extracts arc taken from m ar., ticle in the September number of the .Atiantic c Monthly entitled "Our Visit to Richmond' bv J. E. Gilmore. being an account of the Jaq ues peace mission. After describing his journey to , Richmond and the manner in which he obtain. ed an interview with the Confederate Secretary Uf tate, ],e says
 We found the Sccrctary-a -hort, plump. oily little man in black, with keen black eve. ,p Jew face. yellow skin, curly black hair cIosa. ly trimmed black whiskers and a ponderour gold watch-chain-in the northwest room of the United States" Custom-house. Over the door of this room were the words ''State De- pertinent" and arornd it's walls were bung A few maps and battle plans. In one corner was tier of shelves filled with books, among '' Pictorial History" Parton's Butler. Greeley's "Amsrican Conflict" complete set of the Rebellion Record and dozen numbers and several bound volumes of the Atlantic sionthly and in the center of the apartment was black walnut table, covered with green cloth, and filled with multitude of State papers At this table sat the Secretary He rose as we entered, and as Judge Ould in- troduced us, took our hands and said
 Il am glad, very glad, to meet you, ge Btle- men. have read your note, and"-bowing to me-'the open letter you bring from - Your erfand commands my respect and sym pathy. Pray be seated"
 After a short conversation in regard to their mission Mr. Bryan said to them: Well. gentlemen, will repeat what you say to the President. and if he follows my ada vice--and think he will-he will meet you: He will be at church this afternoon so, sup pose you call here at six this evening. If any thing should occur in the meantime to prevent his seeing you, will let you kuow through Judge ould; " with the Judge, watching the Eassers by in the street. should like to tell who they were and hon they looked, but such information is just now contraband-we called again at g o'clock at the State Department.
 | MT. Benjamin occupied his previous seat at the table, and at his right sat spare. thia fea- | tured man, with iron gray hair and beard, and q clear gray eye full of life and vigor. He had broad massive forward. and mouth and chin denot:ng great energy and strength of will His face was ernaciated and mulch wrlnkled, but his features were good, especially his eyes though one of them bore scar, apparently made by some sharp instrument. He wore suit of grayish brown evidently of foreign man. ufacture, and as he rose, saw that he was about fiv, feet ten inches high, with slight stoop in his shoulders. His manners were simple, easy and quite fascinating and he threw an indescribabe charm into his voice, as he extended his hand and said to us-"l am glad to see you gentlemen You are very well come to Richmond"
 And this was the man who Was Presidsnt of the United States under Frank Pierce. and who | is now the heart, soul ard brains of the South crn Confederacy.
 His manner put me entirely at my ease-the Colonel would be at his if he stood before Casar-and replied
 ! N you meet men of our clothes and our principals in Richmond"
 "Not often, moi so often as I could wish and trust your coming may lead to moro frequent and more friendly intercourse be- tween the North and South.''
 "We sincerely hope it may" "Mr. Benjamin tells me tath yeu have asked
 And he paused, as if desiring we should in- ish the sentence. The Colonel repied-- i "Yes, sir. We have asked this interview in hopes that you may suggest some way by W ich this war can be stopped Our people desire peace your people do, and your Con- gress has recently said that you do. We have ,me to ask how this can be brought about
 'In very simple way. Withdraw your arr mics from our territory, and peace will come | of itself We do not seek to subjugats ycu.- | We are not waging offensive war, except so' far as it is offensive defensive-that is, so far as we are forced to invade you to prevent your invading as. Let us alone and peace willcOme | at O lcc.
 But we cannot let you alone so long as you repudiate the Union hat is the one thing the Northern people will not surrender
 II know. You would deny to us what you expect for yourselves the right of self-gov- | crnment
 "No, sir," I remarked. ''We would deny you no natural right; but we think Union es- eential to peace and, Mir. Davis, could two people, with the same language. separated ny only an imaginary line live at peace with each other Would not disputes constantly arise, and cause almost constant war between them ?'
 ''Undoubtedly y-with this generation. You have sown such bitterness at the South, you have put such an ocean of blood between the two sections, that despair of scciu2 any har- mony in my time. Our children may forget this war, but Ue cannot "
 Il think the bitterness you speak of sir" said the Colonel, "Goes not exist. We must talk here as friends our soldiers meet and fraternize with each other; and feel sure that if the Union were restored, more friend ly feeling would arise between us than has ev- CT existed The war has made us know and respect each other better than before. This is | the view of very many Southern men have 1t from many of them your leading citizens"
 "Thcy are mistaken" replied Mir. Davis.- ''They do not understand Southern sentiment. | F1UW CaH WS Ice1 do ytHlHS Dut UtbteInOso IV- ward men who deny us our rights II you enter my house and drive nre out of it, am l not your natural enemyT'
 c You put the case too strongly. But we cannot fight forever the war must end at some time; we must finally sgree on some thing can we not agree now and stop this dreadful carnage We are both christian men, Mir. Davis Can you, as a christian man, leave untried any means that may load to peacef" .'No cannot. desire peace as much as you do. deplore bloodshed as much as you do; but feel that not one drop of the blood shed in this war in on my hands and look up to my God and say this. tried all in my power to avert this war, saw 1t coming. and for twelve years worked night ar day to pre- vent it, but could not The North was mad and blind it would not let us govern our selves and 80 the war came. and now 1t must go on untiEthe last man of this generation falls in his tracks. and his children seize his musket and fight his battles, unless you &C., knowledge our right to self-Rovernment. We are not fighting for Slavery. We are fighting for independence, and that or extermination we will have"
 ''And there are at least four and half mil lions of us left, so you see you have work before you" said MT. Benjamin with a decided | sheer.
 We have not space for further extracts for