Year: 1865

of nationality, and thst representation.
connected with q properly adjusted


system OF taxation, VII result IN a har-


mOnlous restoration Of the relations Of


the States to the National Union


There is q little more testimony vet.


Mr. President; aud it Is worth While 10


consider while We are here 70 take


counsel and to know what we ought to


do in the extraordinary situation in


which We find ourselves, from whom


viii We take that counsel Are We %


take it from men, the purpose Of whose


whole life seems 70 be 70 wage war upon


these people and their Institutions ?


Shall We take it from men whom they


hate personally snd BY name, and %


whom Il IS almost impossible to suppose


they ever VII be recOnciledg or are


we TO take il from the men who have


not made this personal war, who have
/ treated it IS 3 national war and who
/ N their conduct Of il have won The an-
plause Of both sec6oas2


I The President says that part Of his
l Information has been received from
Gen. Grant Who is General Grant
W no Is 70 be put in the scale with that
Scared soldier, and whose testimony is
to weigh down his ? Is he white /
washing here too Has he forgotten I
the position he occupies before The |
American people With the highest /


military character Of any man to-day 1
upon the earth, has he coudescended to |
come here 70 deceive the Senate Of his I
country, and to lie about ths condition I
Of affairs Ia the South, which he has I
recently visited Let N hear what he I
says, and listen with patient reverence /
20 the utteFance Of a man Of sense, q
patriot, and prudent man, who de
sires not 70 embrol, not 70 embitter.
not 70 widen the gap that already ex-
lists between two people who ought 70
be fraternaliy united, but man who
desires to heal and to pacify; a msn
imbued with the spirit Of Hoehe when
he went to la Nendee, and where he
succeeded when Others failed What
does he say IL is not the tone or
manner Of the letter-writeT, but il is
the manner Of 3 man and q soldier.


81 am satisfied -


says he, and when be is satisfied who
dsres say he is not satisfied upon the
score Of honesty and good intent To-
ward this Republic


i am satisfied that the mass Of
thinking men in the South accept the
present situation Of affairs in good
faith


That is what General Grant says Ia
that "White-washingy


The questions which have hereto
fore divided the sentiments OF the pee
pie Of the two seclions-slavery and
state rights, or the right Of state 20
secede from the UniOn--they regard as
having been settled forever by the
highest tribunal arms, that man can
resort to


lt is now said that they do not think
so, that they are only pretending and
have q covert purpose OF doing some
thing hereafter about this thing. no
body can tell exactly what Perhaps
We will be told they will not abide the
result


was pleased to learn from the
leading men whom met, that they not
only accepted the decision arrived &C I
IS iiual, but that now, when the smoke I
Of battle has cleared away and time ,
has been given for reflection, this de
cisiOn has been a fortunate one for the
whole country, they receiving like ben
eiits from il with those who opposed
them in the field aud in council


Why, Mr. President the common I
sense Of that last utterance Is worth
more as testimony than that Of a thou
sand scribblers who merely look at de
tached points Of this great held. They /
have resolved to accept the decision as
hnal and, what we ought all 10 be glad I
to know, they have found that 4 Is fof
their benefit They have found, too,
after the smoke has cleared away,
that they are really in a better condi
tiOn than they were before, that they /
have been relieved from the incubus
which has oppressed them for 80 long
a time, and they are ready nov 10 take
their places in the Union, aud along
aide of the Northern States who have
msde liberty their great principle
rather than slavery. Why should they
not2 II any man eau give a reason
why they should desire 20 keep up this
strife any longer, with their devastated
felds, with their treasures empty,
with their society disorganized,
should like 10 hear il


/ therefore hope, Mr.. President, that /
we may meet them in a different spirit; /
that We may show to them that we 4
made this war, not 10 make them eter 1
nal enemies Of ours, not 10 humiliate /
them, but to rescue them; that we made /
this war to 20 and get them out OF the /
clutches Of the bad men who had mis- |
led them into the gloomy realm Of Sc
cessiOn and disunion; and that We in |
tend, after the great military victory
which We have achieved, to achieve an
other by magnsuimity and clemeney
in our conduct toward them; that We
will win them back to be a. they we're
before, our friends and our brothers, Of
the same race and Of the same lineage.
hope, too, that this angry, irritating,
and exciting mode Of treating thls
subject, Whieh is calculated 80 make Us
anything else than friends, will be dis
olrded hereafter, aud that We shall
oOolly and calmly aud in the spirit Of
the nation, (becsuse that Is the spirit
Of the nation,) examine the question
and do with il that which will be cal
culated 70 restore the old harmony and
peace and the old Union ag4iu