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PAGES ERO PI PIE SCRAP ROOK
LINCOLN’S PLANS OF RECON
STRUCTION.
A Bit of Secret History.
By Allan B. Magruder.
President Lincoln came to Rich
mond on its surrender to the forces
under General Grant in April, 1865.
He came in the wake of the invad
ing, victorious Federal army. He oc'
cupied for a short time the late pres
idential mansion of Jefferson Davis.
There was no longer any resist
ance. No useless signs of despair or
defiance were exhibited. There was
silence and calmness, but no unman
ly regrets or repinings, no words of
reproach or crimination. No people
ever behaved with more firmness and
dignity. The issue of the war —so
disastrous to the Southern cause, to
the hopes and wishes of the Southern
people—had been foreseen and rec
ognized for days, if not weeks, be
fore it came; yet in the presence of
the actual event, “the boldest held
his breath for a time.” The late
Confederate president and his cabi
net had departed in the rear of Gen
eral Lee’s retreat.
s The governor of the common
wealth, the legislature and the offi
cials, both State and Confederate,
with many eminent and substantial
citizens, had followed in the some
what general exodus. Os course
many remained in the Virginia me
tropolis because they could not get
away, and many more from a gener
ous and manly care for and sympathy
with the weak, the timid, and the un
happy, who feared violence or ill
treatment from a rude soldiery,
flushed with the triumph of victory
and conquest, and scarcely capable
of restraint.
Among the latter was the calm,
patient, self-possessed, and venerat
ed John A. Campbell, of Alabama,
formerly one of the judges of the su
preme court of the United States,
and but recently Assistant Secretary
of War of the Southern Confeder
acy. Regardless of his own safety,
but full of sympathy with the citi
zens of Richmond and the people of
Virginia, and rightly interpreting
the duties and responsibilities of the
hour, he went forward courageously
and sought an interview with Mr.
Lincoln. This was readily accorded.
Judge Campbell said, in substance:
“The war is over. The Southern
people have lost their cause, without
any hope, I suppose, of redemption.
This is neither the time nor the oc
casion to consider the right or wrong
of the conflict, or the merits of the
questions involved in it. You are
here in triumph, and are certainly
the victorious masters of the situa
tion. No resistance will be attempt
ed further by those who remain in
this city. It would be fruitless if it
were designed or intended, but it is
not even desired by any of the people
of Richmond. I have felt myself at
liberty, indeed impelled, in the inter
est of peace and humanity, to seek
this interview and acquaint you with
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
the spirit and temper of the people
here, and to venture to remind you
of what I am sure you will not for
get, that with really great and good
men the hour of victory and triumph
is also the hour of moderation and
magnanimity. Though not a Virgin
ian myself, I know the people of
Virginia to be brave and honorable,
and they will scrupulously respect
any pledge or promise they may
make. They accept the result of the
war without sullen resentment on the
one hand or unmanly despair on the
other, and will abide, in good faith,
by any fair and equitable terms of
pacification and adjustment that may
be offered them.” He added that he
had sought this interview in order
to learn the president’s views as to
his course, and that of the govern
ment, towards the people of the
states lately at war with the Federal
government, and particularly in re
spect to the people of Virginia, now
that the war on her territory had
ceased.
President Lincoln (who had lis
tened with interest and earnestness)
replied that he was so much im
pressed by the words of Judge Camp
bell, that, in order to consider his
reply maturely, he would relinquish
his intention of returning to City
Point on James River, and give the
subject a full night’s reflection.
Accordingly, another and final in
terview took place the next morning
on board the steamer Malvern,
moored in the river below Richmond.
The particulars of this meeting were
preserved in a paper written by
Judge Campbell very soon after the
event, to which by his leave the
writer has had access. As the sub
ject is one of such curious interest
and importance, and possesses a rare
historical value in view of the quick
ly succeeding tragedy of President
Lincoln’s death, and the events both
political and social which followed,
it seems every way proper that Judge
Campbell’s narrative, hitherto un
published, should appear.
He says: “I recommended that
he should sanction a meeting of the
influential, leading men in Virginia
at Richmond, and have their counsel
and co-operation in reconstructing its
political and social system so as to
meet the new and extraordinary con
ditions of society. But the calling
together of the political body, ‘the
rebel legislature,’ was the suggestion
of Mr. Lincoln’s own mind. He men
tioned it for the first time in
our second interview as a matter he
was considering, and that was desira
ble in many points of view, which
he specified, adding that if he came
to a satisfactory conclusion he would
make it known to General Weitzel
on his return to City Point, by let
ter. The general principles I had
expressed included such a proposi
tion, and I was grateful that the
president had been led to its consid
eration; but I did not intimate such
a course in any remarks of mine be
fore he suggested it.
“At the interview on the Malvern,
President Lincoln produced a mem
orandum in writing, which he read
over, and commented on the various
clauses as he read them. When he
had concluded, he gave me the paper.
It is not dated, signed, or addressed.
The memorandum is:
“‘.The restoration of the nation
al authority throughout all the
states.
“ ‘2. No receding by the execu
tive of the United States on the slav
ery question from the position as
sumed thereon in the late annual
message and in preceding documents.
“ ‘3. No cessation of hostilities
short of an end of the war and the
disbanding of all force hostile to the
government.
“ ‘That all propositions coming
from those now in hostility to the
government, not inconsistent with
the foregoing, will be respectfully
considered and passed upon in a
spirit of sincere liberality.
“ ‘I now add that it seems useless
for me to be more specific with those
who will not say they are ready for
the indispensable terms even on con
dition to be named by themselves. If
there be any who are ready for the
indispensable terms on any condi
tions whatever, let them say so and
state their conditions, so that the
conditions can be distinctly known
and considered. It is further added
that, the remission of confiscation be
ing within the executive power, if
the war be now further persisted in
by those opposing the government,
the making of confiscated property
at the least to bear the additional
cost will be insisted upon, but the
confiscations (except in the case of
third-party intervening interests)
will be remitted to the people of any
state which shall now promptly and
in good faith withdraw its troops and
other support from further resist
ance to the government. What is
now said as to remission of confisca
tion has no reference to supposed
property in slaves.’
“The president, after reading and
commenting upon the various pas
sages of this memorandum, noticed
that he had said nothing on the sub
ject of fines and penalties as applica
ble to individuals. He said, in ref
erence to this, that he supposed that
he ought not to force a pardon upon
any person who did not want it; that,
for instance, ‘lf Mr. Davis, whom we
familiarly call Jeff Davis, will not
take a pardon, we ought not to press
one upon him.’ But this he would
say, that ‘almost anybody could have
anything of that kind by asking for
it.’
“My intercourse with President
Lincoln, both here and at Hampton
Roads, impressed me favorably and
kindly toward him. I believe that he
felt a genuine sympathy for the be
reavement, destitution, impoverish
ment, waste and overturn that the
war had occasioned at the South, and
that he fully and exactly discriminat
ed the wide difference, both in rea
son and policy, between the mode of
proceeding in reference to the disor-
derly or criminal acts of individuals
which disturb the security of a state,
and the course to be taken in regard
to those civil dissensions and com
motions which arise from the agita
tion of great questions involving the
social and political constitution of a
great empire, composed of distinct
and in some respects independent
communities.
“My direct interview with Presi
dent Lincoln terminated with my vis
’it to him on the Malvern. I never
spoke to him or wrote to him after
wards.
“The following day General Weit
zel sent for me, to read the letter of
President Lincoln to him on the sub
ject of calling the Virginia legisla
ture. Mr. Lincoln in the course of
his conversation had expressed his
object in desiring them to meet and
to vote. It was desirable that that
very legislature should recognize the
national authority. It was ‘the sit
uation of a tenant between two con
testing landlords, who was called up
on to attorn to the one who had
shown the better title.’ This was
his remark.”
Here were no humiliating terms of
submission imposed on a brave peo
ple; no amnesty qualifications exact
ed; no banishment or confiscation
laws; no test-oaths, to incite to per
jury or foster the resentments of
war. On the contrary, relief and
protection should be denied to
none, while the common rights of
fraternity and citizenship should be
freely accorded to all.
In propounding these conditions
the president showed a just apprecia
tion of the Southern people. Had
the policy thus declared been carried
out faithfully, what untold misery
and suffering would have been pre
vented I The humane and generous
heart of President Lincoln repelled
with horror the cruelty and weak
ness which would involve in punish
ments and penalties a whole people.
Such wrongs and injuries, such in
justice and impolicy, were reserved
for those less moderate and magnan
imous, who, on his violent and de
plorable death, succeeded to the reins
of government.
The president returned to Wash
ington filled with joy that the war
was ended, and satisfied with him
self at having secured, as he sup
posed, just and generous treatment
to the vanquished, who had suffered
so severely in the late strife. His
cruel death, so lamentable in itself,
and so disastrous in its effects, w’hich
occurred only a few days after these
generous overtures of peace and
kindness, inflicted new sorrows on
the already crushed and smitten
South.
We willingly draw the veil over
the unwelcome picture, and remit its
harsh features to the verdict of im
partial history, or to that oblivion
of wrong and folly which, happily
for mankind, time and our better na
ture will ultimately bring.
Already there is a gratifying
(Continued on Page Seven.)
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