Clear, and moderating.
To-day at 10 A. M. three
commissioners start for Washington on a mission of peace, which may be possibly
attained. They are Vice-President Stephens, Senator R. M. T. Hunter, and James
[sic] A. Campbell, Assistant
Secretary of War, and formerly a judge on the bench of the Supreme Court of the
United States, all of them heartily sick of war, and languishing for peace. If
they cannot devise a mode of putting an end to the war, none can. Of course
they have the instructions of the President, with his ultimata, etc., but they
will strive earnestly for peace.
What terms may be expected?
Not independence, unless the United States may be on the eve of embarking in a
foreign war, and in that event that government will require all the resources
it can command, and they would not be ample if the war should continue to be
prosecuted against us. Hence it would be policy to hasten a peace with us,
stipulating for valuable commercial advantages, being the first to recognize us
over all other powers, hoping to restore the old trade, and ultimately to
reconstruct the Union. Or it may proceed from intimations of a purpose on the
part of France and England to recognize us, which, of itself, would lead
inevitably to war. The refusal of the United States to recognize the Empire of
Mexico is an offense to France, and the augmentation of the armament of the
lakes, etc. is an offense to England. Besides, if it were possible to subjugate
us, it would be only killing the goose that lays the golden egg, for the
Southern trade would be destroyed, and the Northern people are a race of
manufacturers and merchants. If the war goes on, 300,000 men must be
immediately detailed in the United States, and their heavy losses heretofore
are now sorely felt. We have no alternative but to fight on, they have the
option of ceasing hostilities. And we have sufferred so much that almost any
treaty, granting us independence, will be accepted by the people. All the
commissioners must guard against is any appearance of a PROTECTORATE on the
part of the United States. If the honor of the Southern people be saved, they
will not haggle about material losses. If negotiations fail, our people will
receive a new impulse for the war, and great will be the slaughter. Every one
will feel and know that these commissioners sincerely desired an end of
hostilities. Two, perhaps all of them, even look upon eventual reconstruction
without much repugnance, so that slavery be preserved.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp
Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 402-3
No comments:
Post a Comment