New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1894-02-07
ABE LINC0LN'S ONE WORD
A Secret of the Famous Hampton Roads
Conference Bequeathed by Alexander
q. Stephens.

h. Stephens.
No man in Atlanta has a greater funo
of incident than Judge Samuel B. Herit
who is now seriously i'll at Suwanee
Springs, Fla, says the New York World
The judge was born in Blount county in
1923 and coming to Atlanta before the
woods were cleared away for the coming
city, grew up with it, and carries in his
memory the full details of most re-
.markable era of city building.
While reclining upon his sick bed
Judge Herit spoke of a conversation he
had with the late Jefferson Davis.
sIn that conversation Mr.. Davis lam
ented the fate which deprived the Con-
federate States of recognition by Euro
pean powers.
"'To the last moment, said Mr.. Davis
was confident that this recognition
would come to US. The landing of the
French in Mexico was then our interest.
If we could have consolidated our forces
down in Texas under Kirby Smith, the
alliance would have become effective.'
"And yet," said Judge Herit, "this was
all dreaming. It was like following a
RAINBOW. How different all might have
been if the less brilliant but more prac-
tical mind of Alexander H. Stephens had
dominated the councils of the nation.
Almost with tears in his eyes Mr.. Steph-
ems once told me of the inner history of
the Hampton Road conference.
"'When the intimation came to US,
said Mr.. Stephens, that the Federals de-
sired conference, it was we'll known
that Mr.. Davis was opposed to it. The
majority of the confederate senate took
its cue from the president, and therefore
the subject could not be directly b1oach-
ed then. AS consequence we were
forced to strategy. 1t was proposed
that Gen. Lee should appear be-
fore the senate in executive session, and,
under the cloak of secrecy, to be removed
only for the personal information of the
president, give an exact statement of the
real position of the two armies.
"''T'''' Great reluctance Gen Lee con-
sen.~u " ....~ ''nns, the result
being to show that the confederate army
had been reduced to mere shell, with
neither defenses, refuge nor supplies to
to fall back upon. With this plain state
ment the senate consented to the ap-
pointment of peace commissioners. But
when resolution was offered and passed
that those commissioners should act un-
der instructions passed by Mr.. Davis, all
hope in my heart failed. Only the con-
vlction that I should loose no chance to
bring about peace induced me to with
hold my resignation
'After describing the meeting with
President Lincoln and associates, con-
tinued Judge Herit, Mr. Stephens went
on to say: FINALLY, all preliminaries
over, President Lincoln said: 80 an
xious am I for peace that will offer
terms which am sure will surprise you
all. On this sheet of paper will write
but one word, while will leave to your
own judgment every other condition
and requirement. Writing, Mr.. Lincoln
passed the sheet over to me, and found
written upon it the one word. Union
AL order TERMS continued MI. Lincoln
may be of your own direction'
6" my heart sank within me- said Mr..
Stephens. Here, on simply accepting
the union we could dictate our own terms
of peace, preserve our state anatomies,
maintain our fortunes, gain recompense'
for our slave property, and all the con-
sequences following defeat could be
sverte6. But our instructions from Mr..
Davis, the corner stone Of which was the
Recognition Of the Confederate States,
forbade the acceptance of this
most magnanimous and generous
offer. When I 50 informed Mr..
Lincoln, he sank batk in his chair with
"a look Of utter disappointment. We all
felt the gravity of the situation, and it
was recognized that one of the great mis-
takes of history was being enacted. With
an army whose defeat was already &C
knowledged by Gen. Lee, PresidentDavis
insisted on annihiliation.' --.=...
''The facts" continued Judge Herlt,
cit was agreed should he kept secret
until the death of the principals. That
time having arrived, there's no good rea.
son why they should not be made pub.
lic'' - IS. >-..---t.s E.l1s =. -