roslyn, September 15, 1862.
Your letter of the 7th instant makes a very natural
suggestion. Lest you should suppose that the real friends of the country in
this neighborhood have been remiss, I would inform you that this very method
which you mention has been tried with Mr. Lincoln. Some of our best and most
eminent men have visited Washington to remonstrate with him, but with only
partial effect. The influence of Seward is always at work, and counteracts the
good impressions made in the interviews with men of a different class. I was
strongly pressed to go to Washington myself, and went somewhat reluctantly, not
having any confidence in my powers of per suasion. I saw Mr. Lincoln, and had a long conversation
with him on the affairs of the country, in which I expressed myself plainly and
without reserve, though courteously. He bore it well, and I must say that I
left him with a perfect conviction of the excellence of his intentions and the
singleness of his purposes, though with sorrow for his indecision. A movement
is now on foot to bring the influence of our best men to bear upon him in a
more concentrated manner, by a wider concert among them. Meetings have been
held for that purpose and a committee raised.
SOURCE: Parke Godwin, A Biography of William Cullen
Bryant, Volume 1, p. 178-9
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