The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-25
T,ha1.ata hfraI.incoln.

we published on Iharauay5
Mr.. LINCOLN VAS IN advance of DIS 9a,s
net IN his liberal and wise vleWs y. ", Wv
no,,cv Of reconstruction Of the Union y!
the restoration of the southern .,o,
He was opposed In bis sns.rrs rss
irw,s~and was, according to Mr.. "kIhts,
nr,s,sd that his Cabinet were not prepared
o. socond him. His object, he said' was %
"ef,ect n reconciliation as soonas possible "''"
he thought it best to meet the reoelsas n'eh
.s,,,ow.countrymen who were reasonable anu
:. ;ute1,irent. and had rights which we were
willing and disposed to respect, ihes naa
" been in error, had appealed to arms, ana
"ofter having fought well were beaten anu
..brmbled.'' This speech was tho keynote
to his policy, and it was the saddest Gay 'na'
over fell, upon this country when he was as
sassinated.
His advisors were not ready to follow him.
They wanted to look further into matters ana
to see how much of party capital was to he
made out Of the situation before they "let
mn" on the South. And when Mr. LINCOLN
was dead and JOHNSON came in, the ia'ter
was debauched, and in his drunken humor,
excited BY the malice of those VINO useo h''i''
he issued his misnamcd amnesty prociama-
tion-the most cruel and abominaDle docu-
ment that was ever signed by President
Mr.. LINCOLN was man Of kind heart, ana
he was possessed of more practicalsense thah
any member of his Cabinet. There was not
man to advise Mr.. LINCOLN whose maDce
did not seriously warp his judgment. Inc
Judgment of LINCOLN, we believe; was much
less biassed by malice or passion than that ol
fine great bulk of northern statesmen. had
he been entirely left TO himself there would
have been no war, we believe. His heart
was for peace, and under his kind disposition,
when the Peace Congress assembled in WASH
ington in 1851, had the ten northern Govern
ors who came there with hearts full Of venom
remained ut home, settlement OF our M
tional difficulties would have taken place
without war.
We believe all this of Mr.. LINCOLN, and for
that reason think much more kindly OF his
memory than do hundreds of the bitter fa-
natics and party knaves who were ererlabor-
ing to inspire his mind with bitterness and to
increase the rigor of his policy. We heard an
"anccdote" from one who was present and
reported it as having occurred in his hearing
which is a happy illustration of the DISPOSE
ton Of the man: The Confederate and Fed
ND d buH
swept to and fro over Il part of Arkansas and
consumed or troddcn under foot everything
for subsistence of man and beast, and that
district was finally left in the possession of
the Federal army. The people, in starving
condition, sent commissioners to Washington
to beg for food. Mr.. LINCOLN heard the
petition, and while he was considering
it, Tom CoRwIs, of Ohio. came in, and
was thus addessed by the President:
"CoRwN, the people of Arkansas
"who are left without subsistence by the
"dcpredations of the armies, have sent to ask
''tor food. What answer shall / give?"
II would send it to them, Mr.. President"
But replied Mr.. LINCOLN, Suppose
KIRBY Smith comes back to them, and they
Turn rebels, after ! have fed them ?"
"Then," said CoRw1N, 81 would hang them"
Mr.. LINCOLN arose and paced the room for
single moment, when, returning, be good
naturally looked CoRwIN in the face, and
said: Hang them, would you? Well, that
/" is not the way we do in Illinois. We never
"feed hog when we are going to kill him."
And he sent the provisions.
This is a true illustration of the man
rough, good-humored, practical, and kindly
disposed. His reply greatly amused those
present, and none that heard it had the heart
to say that the decision was not right and
humane.
1t was his human nature and deep sinccri-
ty that excited towards him the aversion OF
some Of the more vindictive of his associates.
They found it constant labor to push him
up to sanctioning or acquiescing in the heart
less measures Of STANTON.
Mr.. LINCOLN in marked manner showed
his very strong intellect and the philosophic
forecast of his reflections in his famous inter-
view with the negro delegation which visited
him in 1864 to thank him for the emancipa-
ton proclamation. His reply to them was q
model of good sense, humanity, and states.
manlike sagacity. He told them that
freedom brought with it the serious response
bilities of the citizen. and these he described.
He furthermore informed them that lie did
not think it possible for them to live in peace
as freemen upon footing Of equality with the
white man. The distinctions of race between
them was too great to permit of social har-
mony in society in which the two
were blended. Therefore, he said, for the
promotion of the peace and welfare of both
it would be necessary for the Federal Govern.
ment in due time to provide a territory to
which the blacks could 60 and live to them
selves, and govern themselves according to
their own notions and tastes, and where there
would be no conflicts of race to disturb their
peace. Inferentially, the whites at the same
time would be freed from continual source
of disturbance and irritation, which would
bring about teverish anxiety and apprehen-
sions and violent collisions.
No northern man except Mr.. LINCOLN has
conceived this way of restoring this country
to order and peace-the only way, indeed, in
which its true power and glory can ever be
thoroughly established. The Caucasian alone
is capable of establishing the highest con-
dition of society, and he cannot achieve his
greatest hbOrs While encumhered hu the