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character of the representatives in this Congress from that State,” said the old man, with a malicious smile, “I should decide unhesitatingly that the proper pronunciation was ‘All noise!’
”
In the
Augusta (Ga.) “Chronicle,” of the 17th of June, 1865, there appeared a report of this conference, purporting to have been written out from the lips of
Mr. Stephens, so characteristic of
Mr. Lincoln, that I subjoin the following extracts:--
The three Southern gentlemen met Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward, and after some preliminary remarks, the subject of peace was opened.
Mr. Stephens, well aware that one who asks much may get more than he who confesses to humble wishes at the outset, urged the claims of his section with that skill and address for which the Northern papers have given him credit.
Mr. Lincoln, holding the vantage-ground of conscious power, was, however, perfectly frank, and submitted his views almost in the form of an argument.
... Davis had on this occasion, as on that of Mr. Stephens's visit to Washington, made it a condition that no conference should be had unless his rank as commander or President should first be recognized.
Mr. Lincoln declared that the only ground on which he could rest the justice of the war — either with his own people or with foreign powers — was that it was not a war for conquest, for that the States had never been separated from the Union.
Consequently, he could not recognize
