Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1865-02-16
The Presidents Message on the
Peace Conference.
WAsuISGToN, Feb. 10.


inst. ItlUeNAillb lllii tidII1n III relation 10
conference recently held in Hampton
Roads, have the honor to state that on
the day otthc date | gave Francis +. Blair
senior, card Written On as follows.
"Anow the bearer f. L. Blair. ST., to
pass our lines to GO South aud return
Signed A. LIScoIN.'
That ut the time | was inlormcd that Mr..
Blair sought the card a. means of getting
to Richmond, Va, but he was given no AT
thority to speak or act for the Government,
nor was | informed Of Anything he would
say OF DO on his own account, or otherwise
Mr.. Blair told me that he had been to Rich
mond and had seen Davis and he blair
at the same time left with me manuscript
letter as follows, to.wit:
RICHMOND, VA, Jan. II. 1865.
T. p Blaih Esq.
SRI have deemed it proper, and prob
ably desirable to you, to give you in this
form the substance Of the remarks by me
TO be repeated by you to President Lincoln
/ have no disposition to find obstacles in
forms. am willing now. as heret oiore to
enter into negotiations for the restoration
of peace. am ready to send a commission
whenever have reason to suppose it will
be received, or to receive commission if
the L. 5. Government shall choose to send
one. Notwithstanding the rejection Of our
former offers, / would, if you could promise
that commissioner or minister or other
agent would be received, appoint one imme-
dlately, and renew the effort to enter into
conference with view to secure peace to
the two countries.
Yours, &c, JEFF. DAVIS"
Afterwards, with the view that it should
be shown to Davis, [ wrote and delivered
to Mr. Blair letter as follows
WAsHINGToN, Jan. II, 1865.
"F T. Bidir Es7 SIR--You having
shown me Mr.. Davis letter to you on the
18th inst. you may say to him that ! have
constantly been, am now, and shall continue
ready to receive any agent whom he. or any
other influential person, now resisting the
National authority, may informally send
me, with view Of securing peace to our
common country.
lSignedI a. LINCOLN
Afterwards Mr.. Blair asked for ncrmis-
sion and was authorized to mako an entry
on the back Of my retained copy Of the let
ter last above recited, which is as follows
January 18th, 1865.
To-day, Mr. Blair told me that on the 2lst
he delivered to Mr. Davis the original Of
which the within is a copy, and left it with
him; that at the time Of delivering it Mr..
Davis read il over twice in Mr. Rloir' {
presence; at the close Of which he Blair
remarked that the paragraph tour one 60 m.
mon country related to the part of Mr..
Davis letter about the two countries; to
which Davis replied that he 50 understood
it, Signed A. LINCOLN"
Here follows number Of toIccroms rclo.
ting TO the admission If StonLons Urntor
and Campbcll into our lines, thorc havine
been some DELAY ronscoucut On tbn ahsanca
of Gen. Grant The Prc,iJnnt thcn sovs
Afterwards. hy my d;rnrtions tLn Sccro
tary of War telcarorbnJ Gcroor,i 0rd as
follows,
v,,n D,,,,ra.,,,.,,.. ,,-..........,
'> ',"r,, 'on,""' 9n .i,'Ii ~ " NJ 'E,IoN' ES.'
n, "'""''y "'' ~ ~ w. 1000.
h"h GrR' Otd, headquarters 1fmy q
, me L0t0mdc:
, By direction OF the President you are in.
S,ructcu To INFORM the gentlemen lNtephens,
Hunter and Campbell that Il messenger
T.n DC ueSpatcneI 10 them at or near where
'"qS S;n"1 n"" '''' WITHOUT u THn',I'CSsnry & uoay
t Sncro,,rv ' ,'ofIWVn ~ War -
f. ,c
Ai.erW",ds pTS"pared a. ana put INTO th' th,'
2 n larls =. ng9t noi1Ias /, iNhert Tue iol
t'"''e '"''' ,I. - ~ 'S''
r EXECUTIVE MANSION,
, AsiiiNdroN' jan "oth
Kqor T. T. EcEcH!
SIR You willproceod with the documents
placed IN your hands, and on reaching Gen.
Ord Will deliver him the letter addressed
him by the Secretary of War then, by
Gen. Ord s assistance, procure an interview
with Stephens, Hunter and Campbell, or
any OF them, and denver To nm or them the
papers on which your own letter is written
Note on the copy which you retain the time
,ot delivery and towhom delivered. Receive
their answer IN writing, waiting rca casonable
+ time for 1t, and which, II 1t contain their
design. to come through without further
S0pna,tions, 0H W., % pe your T"al"n' 70 AK uGh
u 10 l, o Snnnat 70 - 'oIr'I ~ .nv
nn',n ,r''u, " ,hor Joc,;ncS ~ @ " m ~ .nva
- o,hcr terms do not have tbom noss bronpob bopobb
|, and his hoinr your whole dntv return onr
! report to mo.
= Yours truly, \. LINCOLN.
y Nfs9s Alcrdndey II .StcDbeps, J. 4
= Campbell and II. w. l. Hunter:
, GrNTs--I am instructed by the Preriden
T. of the United States to place this paper il
, your hands, with information that If you &,