Headquarters Army oF The Potomac, July 26, 1864.
I consider the peace movement in Canada, and the share
Horace Greeley had in it, as most significant. The New York Times of the
23d has a most important article on the President's “To whom it may concern”
proclamation, in which it is argued that Mr. Lincoln was right to make the
integrity of the Union a sine qua non, but not to make the abandonment
of slavery; that this last is a question for discussion and mutual arrangement,
and should not be interposed as a bar to peace negotiations.
It is a pity Mr. Lincoln employed the term “abandonment of
slavery,” as it implies its immediate abolition or extinction, to which the
South will never agree; at least, not until our military successes have been
greater than they have hitherto been, or than they now seem likely to be.
Whereas had he said the final adjustment of the slavery question,
leaving the door open to gradual emancipation, I really believe the South would
listen and agree to terms. But when a man like Horace Greeley declares a peace
is not so distant or improbable as he had thought, and when a Republican paper,
like the Times, asserts the people are yearning for peace, and will not
permit the slavery question to interpose towards its negotiations, I think we
may conclude we see the beginning of the end. God grant it may be so, and that
it will not be long before this terrible war is brought to a close.
The camp is full of rumors of intrigues and reports of all
kinds, but I keep myself free from them all, ask no questions, mind my own
business, and stand prepared to obey orders and do my duty.
SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George
Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 215-6
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