The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-06-10
PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
President Lincoln and the vir-
gInia Rebels.

~ 80 IT'S @aAf@@
WAsEIyGToy. April 2O-The following j.
the history Of the authority recently given
Tor the assembling o. the Ie5el Legislature
q Virginia :
While President Lincoln was II Rich
mon1, ne was waited upon by Judge John
A. Campbell, who observed :
Il had an Interview with Jefferson Davis,
Benjamin and BrecklnEtge Just before thew
left, and said 10 them The military power
Of the Confeteracy is broken. Is iade1end-
ence is hopeless. Il only remains Tor Us 70
make the bet terms We can. The trouble
is, the President Of the United States canao;
enter into negotiations with you; but he
does recognize the States, and can confer
with their regular authorities. Under the
doctrine Of State rights, 50 universally held
IN the South, the troops from Virginia-,he
Confederate Government BEING d fugitive
vii recognize the right Of the Virginia Leg
isat1re 70 control them. If you, Mr.. Lin
coin, Will permit that body 70 convene, II
WI doubtless recall them from the field.
CampbeNis argunent for TINS course were
many and specIous. The President was ac-
t1ated by his absorbing desire for peace 10
listen attentiyely but he said
Judge Campbell, let Us have no misun-
de~rstandIng. Will gave you 6nce more, in
black and white, my only terms" And he
immediately wrote the same propositions
which Seward took from him to the Hamp-
ron Roads conference 4:
l. The territorial integrity Of the Republic.
II. No retraction Of Executive or Congress
sional action Oh the subject Of slavery.
Ill. No armistice.
To these he added a fourth condition. that,
II leading Confederates still persisted in the
war, now II had become so utterly hopeless.
their property should be reIentlessly conis-
Gated.
Campbell prayed for a modification Of the
third article, but the President was immo-
vabie. He said .
" We Will not negotiate with men as long
as they are fighting against US. The last
established this as the deliberate de-
termination Of the country"
On the steamboat which brought Lincoln
Down the James river, he wrote this order to
General Weitzel
." You will permit the persons who call
the Virginia Legislature TO con- e.
Iene IN Richmond, for the purpose Of with I
the Virginia troops from the rebel 4
'rmy but you will not allow them to use :
my reasonable language or adopt any trea- Q
Onable measures" .
Without consulting with any person what {
yer, or advising any one Of its contents, ne h
called this documen and sent it to General Il
Neltzel by a United States Senator. I
But, on the very day of his death. he re- b
eived a letter from Judge Campbell, tinged =.
Nth the usual rebel insolence, ignoring alto =
ether the proposition which the President Y
adj made to him IN writing. and urging Il
at IS true that the military power Of the 4
.oniederacy is destroyed, but the spirit of =
ne Southern people still remains unbroken.
III you want 10 conciliate them, IL will be
Use Tor you 10 grant an armistice, and nee
'sary for you 10 treat leniently their leadinr
lbllc men, and seek their assistance" d.
This was too much even for Lincoln's a
bod nature. He characterized Campbelrs ca
'uTse as ungrateful and outrageous. Mean 10
hIle, the ca pitulatiOn Of General Lee obyi- ~ n,
ed the necessity Of converting the rebel M
legislature, and he sent an order counter of
the call. @,
One Of the Presidents last official acts be
as a deed of mercy toward his enemies. or
e expressly stated that he meant 10 give DE y,
e leading Confederate an opportunity to -
ave the country. This telegram from ct
,rtland came to Washington en-
" Beverly Tucker and Jacob Thomson 81.
ii be here Tomorrow in disguise, TO leave sti
the steamer for Europe. What shall we br'
2" era
Lincoln directed the authorities 10 let i q
I'm 90. A few hours later he fell By the ste
'assin's bullet, and beside his death-bed 4 ger
.mber of the Cabinet countermanded tina. if
Fortunately for their OWN lives. we
lompson and Tucker did not come into the IA
Ii,ed States after the coaspirators had muir Gro
red the only man who could have saved ~
IN from their doom. a.