2d. You mistake me in supposing that I have proposed that "this great nation should consent to die." Not so; as you must have seen by my second letter, which Mr. Lewis was charged to deliver to you. It is true that I think the Union as it was is dead, never to be revived, more especially by force, but honestly believing that twenty or more states, with twenty millions of people, united and without any jarring elements in their midst, would be stronger than thirty millions divided and distracted, surrounded by the antagonistic elements of free and slave labor, which has led to present troubles, I thought a peaceful separation would perpetuate and strengthen your government, while you know that my judgment has ever been that the Southern Confederacy would prove a failure, and that they would ultimately seck (in the absence of war) a reunion with the old government on such terms as both parties might be willing to accept.

However, a year from this time, or less, will probably bring us together on this subject; experience will prove that I am wrong, in which event I will confess my error, or it will prove that you are laboring under a delusion, when your own manliness will compel you to a similar confession.

But if you are right in your conjecture that "we shall be involved in a war more terrible than the world has witnessed since the thirty years' war in Germany," how can you attach blame to me for an effort to save my country from such horror and misery as it must carry with it?

There are two events in my life of which I can never be made ashamed; first, that I did all in my power to save the Union, and second, that when I felt that that was lost, I did all in my power to prevent the civil war that is to follow.

I am very truly your friend,

JOHN M. BOTTS.

P.S.-I concur in all you say respecting the action of this state.

The object of my proposition was to save Virginia (that had yet to give her popular vote on the ordinance of secession), and through Virginia, the other Border States, to the Union, and thus leave the Cotton or Gulf States to themselves; in which case, if matters had not been otherwise satisfactorily settled, then through the operation of what was understood to be the "Monroe Doctrine," or the principles of the "Ostend Manifesto" as laid down by Southern Democracy, or from difficulties resulting from the navigation of the Mississippi River, we should have had a foreign instead of a civil war, in which the Border States would have had no pretext for uniting with the rebellion, without even in their own minds, beyond all

doubt, incurring the penalties of treason-all of which was subsequently explained to Mr. Bates by the gentleman (Mr. John F. Lewis) who handed him my last letter in person, but which I thought it would be indiscreet to embody in the correspondence, as all letters to and from me were at that time opened and read.

That the suggestions here made, and so much objected to by Mr. Bates, were not made, as he supposed, under duress or at the instigation of others, may be clearly and distinctly established, I here give the following extracts from a letter written by me in reply to an invitation to unite in the celebration of the 22d of February in Troy, New York, in 1861, which it will be seen corresponds with the suggestions to Mr. Bates in my first letter to him, and is precisely the same proposition I made in Washington, and that I had every reason to believe met with the approval of Mr. Bates and Mr. Seward, and was treated with marked consideration by Mr. Lincoln. If they were as obnoxious to Mr. Bates at that time as they afterward proved to be, he did not deal with me in that spirit of candor and friendship that at the time he professed. It is very painful to me to labor under the necessity of recurring to this subject, but as I am aiming to vindicate my past course, I think it will be conceded that no alternative is left me.

Extracts from the Troy Letter.

"But the evil is upon us, and the question is, What can be done for our salvation?

"There are two rocks, upon either of which, if we strike, we must be shipwrecked. The ship of state is running with a full head of steam down a rapid current, with secession on the one hand, and civil war in some shape on the other. Can both be avoided? Can we pass between the two? The seceding states declare most peremptorily that no compromise will now be accepted; that no proposal for reconstruction, or of their restoration to the Union, will be entertained; that the recognition of independence and of their right to secede must be acknowledged, or that war must ensue; and their nominal President declares 'that a union with us is neither practicable nor desirable;' and he threatens that all who oppose them shall smell Southern powder and feel Southern steel.'

"I take it for granted that the right of any state to annul the Constitution and separate herself from the rest of the states, when no right is acknowledged on the part of all the others to get rid of that state, however obnoxious she may prove herself to be, never will be recognized by the

people or the government of the United States under any circumstances whatever, let the consequences be what they may.

"It is a proposition not to be entertained for a moment, because it would not only destroy the whole fabric of our existing institutions, but would utterly annihilate the possibility of ever establishing any other permanent and fixed government on the North American continent than that of an absolute monarchy or despotism.

"On the other hand, if such right is not recognized, how is civil war, in some shape or other, arising from the obligation to execute the laws, suppress insurrections, and punish treason, to be avoided? for if the right of secession does not exist, then the seceded states are in a condition of insurrection and treason, the first of which must be put down and the latter punished, according to the law and the Constitution, or else all government is at an end.

"I see but one mode by which, as it appears to me, it is possible to steer clear of both of these calamities, and that is to call a convention of all the states, and so amend the Constitution as to give to such states as desire to discontinue their connection with the present government leave to withdraw, and make the experiment of separate independence; it will not take twelve months to bring them to their senses, and if it will be desirable, they can be admitted again, on condition that they will surrender the absurdity of the right of secession, and behave themselves better for the future. This will save the constitutional question, and avert the necessity for civil war at the same time, and likewise save the necessity of hanging traitors by the thousand, or of having the laws of the country trampled with impunity under foot.

"Let them keep the forts, arsenals, arms, ammunition, revenue cutters, etc., that they have violently, and without the semblance of right, unlawfully seized, but require them to pay for them; and if they are not ready to pay for them in cash, let them be trusted, but let them settle fair if they never pay; they will be glad to get rid of the expense of keeping them in less than a year, and will ask leave to restore them to their rightful owners; for these forts are the property of the United States, built by and held for the benefit of the United States in common, in which, as long as they constituted a part of the United States, they had a certain interest, as they had in the army, navy, treasury, public lands, and other property of the United States; but the moment they left the United States their right and interest in this property of every description ceased as effectually as if the same number of its citizens had removed from the

United States and settled themselves in Germany or Russia. As no single state is responsible for any part of the debt of the United States, so no single state is entitled to any part of the property of the United States; while, as a constituent part of the government, they are equally bound for all its debts, and equally interested in all its property; but when the obligation to fulfill its contracts, and provide for the payment of its debts, and defend its indebtedness ceases, or is withheld, then they are, to all intents and purposes, aliens to us and to the government, and have forfeited all claims to any share of our honor, our glory, our greatness, our property, and our future destiny.

"The plan, gentlemen, which I have here suggested for the settlement of our difficulties may be objectionable to some, but no plan can be devised that will be acceptable to all; and this appears to me to be the only one by which we can possibly avoid one or the other of two evils, either of which would be calamitous and ruinous in the extreme. If the suggestion should lead to any good results, I shall have reason to thank you for the opportunity you have afforded me of offering it to you, as a feeble contribution on my part for the preservation of the work of our national Father on the commemoration of the day that Providence gave him to America for the benefit of mankind throughout the world; for without the benefit of his great and illustrious works, he will have lived for nothing."

As serving to show in what regard these letters were received in other and higher quarters, I hope I may stand excused for making use of the following extracts from one of very many similar letters received from different sources and sections of the country, but all from the strongest friends of the Union, and most determined opponents to secession.

"May 20, 1861.

"MY DEAR FRIEND,-Though I seem to be forgotten by you, I can not longer withhold from you the expression of my warmest admiration for your letters to Mr. Bates. Your noble and devoted efforts to spare the effusion of fraternal blood may be lost sight of now amid the wild and mad excitement of this carnival of evil passions, but whatever the result of the civil discord which now distracts our bleeding land may be, coming generations will bless your name for the effort and the sacrifices you have made.

"We are a ruined people. The only interest I have taken in politics for several years past, was produced by the hope of promoting, through you, the best interests of the country. Now that the greatest and best government the world has ever known has been destroyed by wicked,

reckless, and corrupt demagogues, I can do nothing but mourn over this consummation of human folly, until I may be called on to fight for Virginia in a struggle which I had no hand in bringing on.

"I have read your letters to many persons, and all agree in praising them and honoring you. Old Dr. - to whom had read them, told me, with tears in his eyes, that you were one of the last of the true patriots and wise men of the great republic that now exists only in history. Sincerely your friend,

THE PARTICULARS OF MR. BOTTS'S ARREST.

S. C."

After this last effort had failed, and no hope of a peaceful settlement was left, and with no power to resist the storm that was every where sweeping over the land, when the whole Southern country presented the appearance of one vast lunatic asylum turned loose to ravage and destroy whatever crossed their path, I retired to the country with a determination, as no means were left me by which to serve my country, that no human power, no despotic torture, should ever induce me to take part against it in this most unprovoked, uncalled-for, and wicked war. I rarely left my premises; I received a great deal of company under my own roof, but did not seek it elsewhere; yet I never withheld or concealed my opinions from any. These opinions it was supposed were exercising some influence upon the popular mind; and for the purpose of putting a padlock upon every man's mouth, and thus annihilating all freedom of speech, the Confederate Congress, on the 1st of March, 1862, suspended the writ of habeas corpus and declared martial law, thus conferring absolute and dictatorial power on Mr. Jefferson Davis, perhaps the most unscrupulous despot that has appeared since the days of Nero.

On the morning of the 2d, a little before the break of day, I was aroused from my sleep by the assistant provost-marshal-then Captain, but subsequently General Godwyn, at the head of one hundred armed men, who had surrounded my home-was arrested and carried off to a filthy negro jail, where I was imprisoned for eight weeks in solitary confinement, with instructions to my jailers not to permit any one to speak to me, nor I to them. Not even a chair nor a table were furnished me by those who had me arrested, but I was graciously allowed to supply my own necessities and comforts, which I did. This arrest was made during the administration of the "little Jew, Benjamin,” as the head of the War Department, who at once forbid all intercourse with my family and friends.

I was the first victim to loyalty in the state. Franklin Stearns, from