Court of Chancery, but a sort of combination of the religious missionary and school commissioner, with power to feed and instruct, and this for an empire half as large as Europe. But few officers of the army would have had the moral courage to accept such appointment, and fewer still were as well fitted to fill it, and discharge one-half its complicated and multifarious duties. As soon as General Howard concluded to accept his new appointment, he apprized his old commander of the fact by a friendly letter, and received the following in answer :

"IN THE FIELD, DUMFRIES, Va., May 17th, 1865–9 P. M. "Your letter of May 12, inclosing General Orders, War Department, No. 91, of May 12, reached me here, on arrival at camp, about dark.

"Colonel Strong is camped just behind me, General Logan about two miles back, and the Fifteenth Corps at Acquia Creek, eight miles back. Copies of orders No. 91 are being made, and will be sent back to them. I hardly know whether to congratulate you or not, but of one thing you may rest assured, that you possess my entire confidence, and I cannot imagine that matters that may involve the future of four millions of souls could be put in more charitable and more conscientious hands. So far as man can do, I believe you will, but I fear you have Hercules' task. God has limited the power of man, and though, in the kindness of your heart, you would alleviate all the ills of humanity, it is not in your power; nor is it in your power to fulfil one-tenth part of the expectations of those who framed the bureau for the freedmen, refugees, and abandoned estates. It is simply impracticable. Yet you can and will do all the good one man may, and that is all you are called on as a man and Christian to do; and to that extent count on me as a friend and fellow-soldier for counsel and assistance. I believe the negro is free by act of master and by the laws of war, now ratified by actual consent and power. The demand for his labor, and his ability to acquire and work land, will enable the negro to work out that amount of freedom and political consequence to which he is or may be en

titled by natural right and the acquiescence of his fellow

men.

"There is a strong prejudice of race, which over our whole country exists. The negro is denied a vote in all the Northern States, save two or three, and then qualified by conditions not attached to the white race; and by the constitution of the United States, to States is left the right to fix the qualification of voters. The United States cannot make negroes vote in the South, any more than they can in the North, without revolution; and as we have just emerged from one attempted revolution, it would be wrong to begin another. I notice in our country, one class of people make war and leave others to fight it out.

"I do believe the people of the South realize the fact that their former slaves are free, and if allowed reasonable time, and are not harassed by confiscation and political complications, will very soon adapt their condition and interests to their new state of facts.

"Many of them will sell, or lease on easy terms, parts of their land to their former slaves, and gradually the same political state of things will result as now exists in Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. The people cannot afford to pay the necessary taxes to maintain separate colonies of negroes, or the armies needed to enforce the rights of negroes dwelling in the Southern States, in a condition antagonistic to the feelings and prejudice of the people, the result of which will be internal war, and the final extermination of the negro race. But I am not familiar with the laws of Congress which originated your bureau, but repeat my entire confidence in your pure and exalted character, and your ability to do in the premises all that any one man can do."

CHAPTER XXXVI.

AT HOME.

RELIEVED from the cares and responsibilities of his command, and while awaiting the further orders of the Government, Sherman sought and obtained permission from the lieutenantgeneral to visit his home, his family, and his friends.

On his arrival at his old home, at Lancaster, Ohio, on the 24th of June, 1865, General Sherman was met at the railway station by several thousands of his friends, neighbors, and veteran soldiers, and was welcomed by Judge Hunter, on the part of the citizens, and Colonel Connell, on behalf of the veterans.

The general replied:

"FRIENDS OF MY BOYHOOD :

"I thank you for this most hearty welcome. I am especially thankful for the kind words of the tried and valued friend of my family, Mr. Hunter, and for the warmth with which Colonel Connell and the soldiers have received me. With the latter, I can deal in very few words, for they know that with us words are few and mean much, and that when the time comes again, we will go where the stars and stripes lead, without asking many questions.

"My old friends and neighbors, I knew your fathers before you better than yourselves, for it is near thirty years since I left here a boy; and now, in full manhood, I find myself again among you, with a name connected with the history of our country.

During the past four years my mind has been so intent upon but one thing-the success of our arms-that I have thought of nothing else. I claim no special honor, only to have done a full man's share; for when one's country is in danger, the man who will not defend it, and sustain it, with his natural strength, is no man at all. For this I claim no special merit, for I have done simply what all the boys in blue have done. I have only labored with the strength of a single man, and have used the brains I inherited and the education given by my country. The war through which we have just passed has covered a wide area of country, and imposed upon us a task which, like a vast piece of machinery, required many parts, all of which were equally important to the working of the whole. Providence assigned me my part, and if I have done it, I am well satisfied.

"The past is now with the historian, but we must still grapple with the future. In this we need a guide, and, fortunately for us all, we can trust the constitution which has safely brought us through the gloom and danger of the past. Let each State take care of its own local interests and affairs-Ohio of hers, Louisiana of hers, Wisconsin of hers-and the best results will follow. You all know well that I have lived much at the South, and I say that though we have had bitter and fierce enemies in war, we must meet this people again in peace. The bad men among them will separate from those who ask for order and peace, and when the people do thus separate we can encourage the good, and, if need be, we can cut the head of the bad off at one blow. Let the present take care of the present, and with the faith inspired by the past, we can trust the future to the future. The Government of the United States and the constitution of our fathers have proven their strength and power in time of war, and I believe our whole country will be even more brilliant in the vast and unknown future than in the past.

"Fellow-soldiers and neighbors, again I thank you. I do not wish you to consider this a speech at all, for I do not profess to be a man of words. I prefer to see you separately, at

your leisure, in a social way. I shall be with you for some days, and shall be pleased to have you call in whenever you feel like it, in the old familiar way, without any of the formality and reserve which were proper enough in the midst of the armies."

He remained with his family but a few days when an invitation from his old comrades of the Army of the Tennessee to attend their barbecue at Louisville, on the approaching 4th of July, in honor of victory and peace, again drew him from his retirement. On his way to Louisville, he passed through Cincinnati, arriving there on the night of the 30th of June, to find that the citizens had hastily arranged a formal welcome.

On making his appearance on the balcony of the Burnett House, General Sherman was greeted with deafening cheers. Mr. Stanberry, in a pleasant and courteous speech, formally tendered the welcome of the city, and then, with a brief reference to the general's extraordinary career, introduced him to the citizens. Mr. Stanberry was frequently interrupted by applause, and at the close of his address three cheers were given for Sherman, who, in response, said :

"FELLOW CITIZENS-I am not so accustomed to speaking as my friend Stanberry, and therefore you must be a little more silent as to noise, and charitable as to words. I am very proud that he, before every other man, has received me here on this portico, for, as he says, he knew my father before me, and all my family. He knew me when I was a little redheaded boy, running about Lancaster stealing his cherries. I am thankful that he has introduced me, for I believe he understands the workings of my heart as well as I do myself, and I know that he can tell it better than I can, therefore I accept his version without qualification.

"While we are here together to-night let me tell you, as a point of historical interest, that here, upon this spot, in this very hotel, and I think almost in the room through which I reached this balcony, General Grant and I laid down our maps