Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-02-15

Of Mississippi, and Mcmillan, Of Virginia.
At night the Church was again crowded.
Addresses were delivered by Senator
Semmea, J. B. Tucker and DR.. Hoge And
50, with the adoption of war resolutions
already ppblished, the great War Meeting
At Richmond closed. -
Appearance and Anecdotes OF the
Rebel Peace Commissioner.
The New York EsrqtGs Fortress Mon.
roe correspondent says of the appearance
of Messrs. Stephens, Hunter and Camp
bell: r.
The ordinary texture of their clothing
bespoke the fact that textile fabrics Of the
best kinds were somewhat scarce In the
ConfederAcy. They wore good, thick-soled
Rnglish shos1, no doubt got in through the
blockade runners. Their appearance was
They looked more like men who had not
had regular succession Of good dinners
for come time past s-.-e- --..-., ,--.
The first thing they. wanted to know
was whether there was any good whisky
on our side. The answer was prompt
t'0f course there was, and any quRntity Of
It" The ambassadors thereupon express
ed deIire to have some, and were imme-
diGtely grstihed. It was evidently long
time since they had tasted so prime an
article, for in a brief time they had con-
Eumed what was sent them, and were un-
der the necessity Of requesting 8 further
supply. The aromatic tast0 of such fine
liquor, which they had rarely heard Of since
the rebellion, no doubt put them in very
good humor, snd all feelings Of hostility
to the Yankees were for the moment tin
the desp bosom of the ocean buried" and
they at once proposed an interview. 8
hn sTElEEHs Oh AN EXCHANGE OF PRIs.
Before the close Of the interview Mr..
Stephens spoke to Mr. Lincoln on the
subject Of the exchange Of prisoners, and
asked him what was proposed TO be done
In the matter. The President saId that
every thing connected with that subject
had been oonfded to the care of General
Grant, and that all information must come
from him, through the regularly establilh-
ed channels of Communication. Mr. Ste
phens then said he had 3 favor to ask of
Mr.. Lincoln, and which, If hs could grant,
he would esteem 3 personal obligation.
The President, Of course, inquired what
the favor was. Mr.. Stephens said It was
in reference 10 3 nephew Of his, who had
been taken prisoner some time ago, and
who Is still confined In the North. His de-
sire was to have him released. swell" I"
said Mr.. Lincoln, "I don't think I have
the power to do that; but will give you
q note 70 General Grant, who will no doub.
do An he can to oblige yo9. But. by the
wsy,nr he added, 'there Is, 1 believe, a
young man, \ Union Lieutenant, in one
Of your prisons In the South, Of about tho
same rank ss the young man you wish TO
get released. II you will try and get him
out Of prison ! will use my influence for
the liberation Of your nephew, and they
can be easily exchanged one for the otherb
Mr.. Stephens asked the name of the young
lieptensnt and, on beipg informed, boF-
rowed pencil and tearing 8 slip Of paper,
took note of it, sayiug that he would do
Whist he could in the matter. EVery well, !"
said Old Abe, .isend him to US and your
nephew shall go down to you"
.-5.,--- ONE OF OLD ABE's sToRIKs. Ia
After the formal interview was over,
there was lengthy general conversation
held. It seems thst It WIS during his in
formal talk that the rebel ambassadors first
heard Of the passage of the constitutional
amendment by the Lower House of Con-
gress, One Of the number remarked that
this action might compicate affairs little
with the South. The heavy planters in-
listed upon maintaining that institution
and defending it, and aafed Mr.. Lincoln If
he thought he could get around that fact.
Old Abe was ready for them with one of
his stories, and said:
There Is an old farmer out In Illinois,
who bad made his arrangements to raise q
large herd Of hogsj he informed his neigh
borl that he had found 8 way to raise
cheap pork. This excited the curiosity of
neighborS, and they asked him how he was
going to do ie The old farmer replied
that he should plant large field of pota-
toes, and Whsn they had got their growth
would turn the hogs In and let them dig
and eat, thus saving the expense Of dig
ging the pototoes, and feeding them.
aBut,n said the neighbors, g the frost will
come before they sre fattened, and in all
probability the ground will be frozen 9
foot deep. How do you propose to get
around thAtP d- iH1 --s1'l1 71-}
Goh,n replied the farmer, Gthey will
root somewhere anyway, and they may
as we'll root sway there, even if It is hard
work. % A'ii's1q ~
WHAT TAE REBELS THINK OF GENERAL.
I -gs-z t-G31 l GRANT.
On their return up the river, and on
passing through our lines to their own,
they were much attracted by the appear.
Anos and manner Of General Grant and
remarked to some Of our officers that they
had never expected TO find SO modest and
uRAsSuming 4 man a. General Grant.
Their ideAof his character and appearance,
was, Of oourle drawn from the fsnaeity
and purpose with which he fights. They
declared that for g man holding SO high
and important position, it was astonish-
ing 70 them TO ind him 50 mo7est. They
len with most favorable impressions Of cur
General-in-Chief. But 1t must be stated
that the expressions which fell from them
on leaving, showed that they regarded this
6emi-ohei1 mission as q failure. Never
thelesh they expressed hope that good
would ultimately come out Of It, seeing
that the, authorities in the South would
now know better what the Northern Gov.
eminent L willing to do.