yet destroyed. Seriously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, etc. "R. E. LEE, General." "U. S. GRANT, "Lieutenant-General." "APRIL 9, 1865. "GENERAL-I received your note of this morning, on the picket line, whither I had come to meet you, and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposal of yesterday, with reference to the surrender of this army. I now ask an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday, for that purpose. "Lieutenant-General GRANT." "R. E. LEE, "General." "APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE, VA., April 9, 1865. "GENERAL-In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to-wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States' authority as long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside. "General R. E. LEE." "U. S. GRANT, "Lieutenant-General." "HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, "April 9, 1865. “GENERAL-I received your letter of this date containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. "R. E. LEE, "Lieutenant-General GRANT." 66 General." General Grant closed his final report on the conduct of the war, in these words: "It has been my fortune to see the armies of both the West and East fight battles, and from what I have seen I know there is no difference in their fighting qualities. All that it was possible for men to do in battle, they have done. The Western armies commenced their battles in the Mississippi Valley, and received the final surrender of the remnant of the principal army opposed to them in North Carolina. The armies of the East commenced their battles on the river from which the Army of the Potomac derived its name, and received the final surrender of their old antagonist at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The splendid achievements of each have nationalized our victories, removed all sectional jealousies (of which we have unfortunately experienced too much), and the cause of crimination and recrimination that might have followed, had either section failed in its duty. All have a proud record, and all sections can well congratulate themselves and each other for having done their full share in restoring the supremacy of law over every foot of territory belonging to the United States. Let them hope for perpetual peace and harmony with that enemy whose manhood, however mistaken the cause, drew forth such herculean deeds of valor." AN INSULT TO THE NATION AND THE PRESIDENT. During President Grant's second administration, there was a concerted effort upon the part of his personal and political enemies to bring his name into utter disgrace. We refer to the sad spectacle of a causeless attempt to connect the name of this grand man and great soldier, criminally with the whisky-frauds of the country. In 1875, when the great frauds of the Whisky Ring of the United States culminated in a complete expose, men very close to the administration of President Grant, and high in authority, were arrested and tried as conspirators in the crimes committed by that ring, and a few men in the country hoped it would be shown in the investigation that followed that the President himself would be found to be connected in some way with the frauds which would result in his impeachment; but no sooner had the designs of hist enemies been made known to him, than this brave, silent man sent forth the official direction that there should be the most thorough investigation of the charges against the men who had been implicated in the whisky-frauds, and to let no guilty man escape, no matter how close he might claim to be to the administration. The trial of these men, as most of our readers know, was of the most searching character, and while the guilty were punished, it was evident that President Grant had been made the subject of the most wicked and foul conspiracy that had ever been attempted upon mortal man, in the very house of his friends; but he came out of the trying ordeal like pure gold, and the verdict of the people of the whole country was that he was as innocent of any connection with the infamy of that ring as the unborn babe. But slander loves a shining mark. Gen. Grant had retired from the presidency, had traveled around the world, and had been received by the people and governments of foreign climes with far more distinction than any citizen of this country who had ever traveled abroad. In his absence, and without consulting his wishes, his warm political friends conceived the idea that it would be a fitting tribute to the eminent services of the distinguished soldier-citizen to again make him President of the United States, and then it was that slander raised for the second time its hydrahead. John McDonald, who had been severely punished for his connection with the whisky-frauds, lent himself to certain political leaders in an attempt to break down the character of Gen. Grant by resuscitating the whisky trials of St. Louis, into popular book form; and J. W. Buel, a facile and pleasing writer, was employed to do the work, which he did with a master hand, but utterly regardless of the truth of history or the consequences to follow. But to the consternation of the political leaders engaged in Mr. McDonald's infamous book enterprise, Gen. Grant did not receive the Republican nomination for President; and although the advent of the book had been extensively advertised in all the leading Democratic journals of the country, and in many of the Republican papers whose editors were opposed to his nomination for a third term, by the publication of liberal extracts from the most striking features of its pages, it came forth stillborn, and the dastardly slander, intended to destroy the good name of the man who had done so much for his country upon the field of carnage, and won for it imperishable honors abroad, went out like a spark in the ocean. But we can imagine nothing so debased in the scale of infamy as an attempt to destroy the good name of such a man, a man who came from the private walks of life in 1861, and modestly offered himself to the Governor of Illinois as a defender of his country; a man who advanced from a clerkship in the Adjutant General's office in his State to the proudest position in the military arm of his Government; a man who advanced to the highest and most exalted civil station within the gift of the people, simply by the force of his own manly moral character, and without asking or seeking the advancement; a man whose hands were known to be free from the spoils of office, to be charged with or suspected of such corruption, is an insult to him and his country, for which there can be no adequate atonement. God has not allotted to man a life long enough to atone for such an offense; for such an indignity; for such a crime. CHAPTER XLI. STATE GOVERNMENT-1881. Governor-Shelby M. Cullom. Superintendent of Public Instruction-James P. Slade. THIRTY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY. The Thirty-second General Assembly convened January 5, and adjourned May 30, sine die. It was composed of the following members. SENATE. Geo. E. White, Chicago. A. W. Berggren, Galesburg. Horace S. Clark, Mattoon. |