I made a short stay at Cabinet to-day. The President was
about to admit a delegation from New York to an interview which I did not care
to attend. The vote was taken to-day in the House on the Constitutional
Amendment abolishing slavery, which was carried 119 to 56. It is a step towards
the reëstablishment of the Union in its integrity, yet it will be a shock to
the framework of Southern society. But that has already been sadly shattered by
their own inconsiderate and calamitous course. When, however, the cause, or
assignable cause for the Rebellion is utterly extinguished, the States can and
will resume their original position, acting each for itself. How soon the
people in those States will arrive at right conclusions on this subject cannot
now be determined.
John P. Hale is giving his last venomous rants against the Navy Department. He has introduced a resolution calling for certain information, the adoption of which was opposed by Conness, the small-pattern Senator from California. I should have been glad to have it slightly amended and adopted, although it might give me some labor, at a time when my hands are full, to respond.
