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Convention as the only tribunal for negotiation upon that question which the Federal Government regarded as the vital one, and as underlying "all matters in dispute," the Confederate Commissioners replied in a style which shows that diplomacy and negotiation were at an end. They say to the Secretary, in their final note:

Persistently weddea to those fatal theories of construction of the Federal Constitution always rejected by the statesmen of the South, and adhered to by the Administration school, * * * you now, with a persistence untaught and uncured by the ruin which has been wrought, refuse to recognize the great fact presented to you of a complete and successful revolution; you close your eyes to the existence of the Government founded upon it, and ignore the high duties of moderation and humanity which attach to you in dealing with this great fact.

It thus appears, that in each and every instance of attempted negotiation, beginning with the South Carolina Commissioners and Mr. Buchanan, and coming down to the proposed visit of the Rebel "Vice-President," in July, 1863, and to the time of putting forth this Address by the Rebel Congress in February, 1864, the rebel authorities. have uniformly adhered to their claim of nationality; and yet, in the face of all this, they pretend to have repeatedly offered "terms of conciliation and compromise," and directly charge the Federal Government with "the repeated rejection" of such terms.

In all the instances of plain, deliberate, unvarnished falsehood, both official and unofficial, which have characterized the leaders in this rebellion,-and they have been neither few nor far between,-this case of the Rebel President and the Rebel Congress is among those which are noteworthy; first, on account of its perfect stark nakedness, having not the least shadow of a basis to rest upon; and secondly, because it is a hypocritical whining to make an impression that they are the most peaceful and meek creatures upon earth.

The case is a simple one. The facts show that the South are responsible for beginning the war, as they are responsible for beginning the rebellion. They also show that both parties are ready for peace, when their terms can be granted; and that they are equally bent on war, in the hope that their ends may be gained.

ANOTHER

EFFORT FOR PEACE.-NIAGARA FALLS CON

FERENCE.

We have already seen that every movement, official and unofficial, on the part of the rebels, for peace, has been based on a dismemberment of the Union, and the recognition and establishment of the Southern Confederacy as a separate nation. From the beginning till now, while mourning over the horrors of the war, and attempting to fix the whole responsibility for its continuance upon the Government, the rebel leaders and their presses have insisted on this condition as a sine quâ non in any terms of peace; and generally, too, they have taken a course which involved this condition, as antecedent even to entering upon negotiations.

The case is not in the least altered by the latest efforts which have come to our knowledge. Mr. C. C. Clay, Jr., formerly in the United States Senate from Alabama, and Professor James P. Holcombe, lately of the Rebel Congress, from Virginia, met at Niagara Falls with Hon. Horace Greeley, of New York, about the middle of July, and held a consultation about terminating the war and settling conditions of peace. It was at first supposed, as appears from the correspondence which has been widely published, that Messrs. Clay and Holcombe were "duly accredited from Richmond, as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace." That impression was in some way made upon the mind of Mr. Greeley, and

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as he had been requested by them through a third person to obtain for them a safe-conduct to Washington, he communicated their desire to the President of the United States; and, thereupon, Mr. Greeley and the President's Private Secretary were promptly authorized to go to Niagara to consult with them, and to "tender" to them the President's "safe-conduct on the journey proposed," provided their character and mission were such as Mr. Greeley had imagined. It turned out, however, that they were not authorized by the Rebel Government. They wholly disavow any official character in which to conduct negotiations "looking to the establishment of peace," but declare that they are "in the confidential employment of their Government, and are entirely familiar with its wishes and opinions on that subject," and think, if they can be allowed to go to Washington and to Richmond, that they, or other gentlemen, "would be at once invested with the authority" to negotiate.

Mr. Greeley thereupon determined to "solicit fresh instructions" from the President. He immediately obtains them; and the President announces the terms on which he will receive and consider a proposition for peace "which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States." No terms had been intimated, by Messrs. Clay and Holcombe, on which "their Government" would make peace, though they claimed to be "familiar with its wishes." Among the terms named by the President as a basis for negotiations, is that which has always lain at the bottom of the strife, and to maintain which the Government has been at war from the first, viz.: "the integrity of the whole Union." This has always been deemed the great and unalterable condition,-the maintenance of our nationality.

At this point, this conference on the part of the " con

fidential" employés of the Rebel Government breaks down. Jefferson Davis "controls the armies now at war against the United States," as the head of that "Government" with whose "wishes and opinions" on peace they "are entirely familiar." Knowing that "their Government" is unalterably determined on maintaining independence against "the integrity of the whole Union," they declare that their rulers "have no right to barter away their priceless heritage of self-government." They also say for their people at large: "While an ardent desire for peace pervades the people of the Confederate States, we rejoice to believe that there are few, if any among them, who would purchase it at the expense of liberty, honor, and self-respect. If it can be secured only by their submission to terms of conquest, the generation is yet unborn which will witness its restitution." And so the affair terminates.

It thus appears from this last semi-official effort, conducted by these "confidential" gentlemen, that the rebel authorities and people, although anxious for peace, and anxious to throw the whole responsibility of continuing the war upon our Government and people, still insist, as the only possible basis for peace, on a total dismemberment of the Union, and a complete establishment of the Southern Confederacy as a separate nation.

MISSION TO RICHMOND.-PEACE AGAIN.

About the time that the Niagara Falls conference was in progress, a mission was undertaken by two gentlemen to the rebel capital, which has generally been understood to have some connection with movements for peace; or, at least, to ascertain, if possible, the temper of the Richmond authorities on that subject.

Whatever its object may have been, it is known that

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Colonel Jaques, commanding an Illinois regiment in the Federal army, and Mr. James R. Gilmore, of Boston, made a visit to Richmond in July, and after having intercourse with the Rebel President and other officials, returned within the Union lines. Their mission was authorized or permitted by the Government at Washington, and they were passed through the lines of the army by General Grant. They were kindly and hospitably received, as they report, during their brief stay in Richmond, and had an opportunity to gain valuable information.

All that bears upon our immediate subject, so far as the object of this mission has been made public, is found in a letter of Mr. Gilmore, under date of July 22, 1864. Referring to the Niagara Falls conference, between Messrs. Greeley, Clay, and Holcombe, he says:

It will result in nothing. Jefferson Davis said to me last Sunday,and, with all his faults, I believe him a man of truth,-"This war must go on till the last of this generation falls in his tracks, and his children seize his musket and fight our battle, unless you acknowledge our right to self-government. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for Independence, and that, or extermination, we will have.”

This statement shows, that the position taken by Mr. Davis as late as Sunday, the 17th of July, is precisely the same in terms, upon peace, as that declared by Messrs. Clay and Holcombe, in their final note to Mr. Greeley, under date at Niagara of July 21st. The great point which divides the parties is the same now as in the beginning, and is that which led to the war; the rebels determined on dividing the Union, destroying our nationality, and claiming "self-government and independence;" and our Government determined on maintaining our nationality and preserving "the integrity of the whole Union."

Whatever Mr. Davis,-who is indorsed by Mr. Gilmore as "a man of truth,"—may find it convenient to say at this