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[45] were adopted by the Southern States. What was done in the case of Tennessee was an earnest of what would be done in all cases. Even the disqualification to hold office imposed on certain classes by one article of the amendment would, no doubt, be removed at once, except it might be in the cases of the very highest offenders, such, for instance, as those who went abroad to aid in the Rebellion, those who left seats in Congress, etc. All or very nearly all would soon be restored, and so far as security to property and liberty is concerned, all would be restored at once. I would like exceedingly to see one Southern State, excluded State, ratify the amendments to enable us to see the exact course that would be pursued. I believe it would much modify the demands that may be made if there is delay.

Yours truly,


But the President's endeavors did not cease. His was one of those tempers which opposition aggravates, and he became at last violent in his obstinacy. He went over entirely to those whom he had fought for a lifetime; he made political bedfellows of his bitterest enemies, and of those who had been the avowed enemies of his country. He used all the authority of his office to dissuade the Southerners from accepting the amendment which the entire North had ratified. His counsels proved more than pernicious, for the Southerners were dazzled by the fallacious hope of obtaining all that he promised. They forgot that they had been conquered and were still at the mercy of the conquerors, and assumed the airs of wronged and outraged claimants; they acted as if they were already equals in that Union which they had attempted to destroy. They, however, were far less to blame than the injudicious and ill-tempered man whom Fate had placed at this critical moment at the head of affairs. Human nature can hardly be expected to resist such overtures as he proposed, to put away the chance of escaping the penalties they had expected, and

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