T

VII

WADE-DAVIS MANIFESTO

HE revolt against President Lincoln which was of all such demonstrations the most painful to him and the most dangerous to the Union cause was what is known in history as "The Wade-Davis Manifesto." The leader in that revolt was Hon. Henry Winter Davis, a member of Congress from Maryland from 1855 to 1861, and from 1863 until his death on December 30th, 1865.

Mr. Davis was an exceptionally strong personality—a man of great intellectual force, of wide range of scholarship, and intensely and unyieldingly purposeful in all his relations to public matters. High spirited and of violent temper, he was imperious in bearing, and being one of the most gifted and accomplished orators in Congress, and a republican from a slave state, he exerted a very great influence in Congress. His aggressive nature swept him along into extremes in opinion and in speech. It would have been unlike Mr. Davis to characterize any man or measure as unwise. That would have been a term too weak to express his haughty disdain of any matter of which he did not heartily approve. The heroic warfare which he waged against slavery and secession was of that extreme denunciatory character which developed and strengthened the distinctive and dominant characteristics of his nature. Therefore, when he had occasion to differ from the President, his opposition was expressed in severe denunciation which unfortunately was carried to such extremes as greatly to annoy Mr. Lincoln and embarrass the administration.

At the period of which I am now writing the status of the states in rebellion had come to be a question of overshadowing importance. Upon that question the party in power was sharply and seriously divided. The radical element claimed that the states which joined in the secession movement and in rebellion had thereby lost their identity as members of the Union; and that they could be restored to their former standing only by processes similar to those by which territories were admitted into the Union as states.

As private secretary of the Hon. James M. Ashley, who was quite prominent and influential at that time, and who was one of the leading advocates of views held by the most radical of the Union party, I became thoroughly familiar with their plan of reconstruction, and with the arguments by which their views were defended. General Ashley, by changing his vote on the Constitutional Amendment abolishing and prohibiting slavery when that measure was defeated in the House, had obtained charge of that amendment, when upon his motion it was for the second time brought before the House, and as mover of the motion made the first speech in the debate which followed.

At his home in Toledo, Ohio, in an extended interview, he conferred with me relative to his views on that subject, and I read with care the manuscript of his speech upon that amendment before it was delivered in the House. Thus, at the beginning of the controversy, I became thoroughly acquainted with the radical programme of reconstruction. Mr. Davis was the leading advocate of that doctrine in the House, and Senator Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio, was his closest and most zealous associate in that work.

President Lincoln was pronouncedly opposed to this theory of reconstruction, claiming that the war was being conducted as an emphatic declaration that the states had no power to renounce their allegiance to the national government, or to destroy or forfeit their standing in the Union; and that when the rebellion was suppressed, the general government should

by wisely chosen methods restore to the several states their former rights and privileges in the Union.

A man possessing the statesmanlike forecast for which President Lincoln was distinguished, would not fail to realize the importance of taking definite position on the important question of reconstruction as early as would be advisable. Therefore, in his message to Congress, December 8th, 1863, he introduced the subject, stating with very great clearness his views relative to the matter, and presenting arguments of irresistible force in defense of his views on the question. Every member of his Cabinet, with the exception of Mr. Chase, was in favor of the policy which the President in his message indicated as the one which he would pursue. There had been in portions of the speeches of leading members of Congress, and also in some resolutions introduced by them, some indefinite expressions of conviction relative to the status of the states in rebellion. Senator Charles Sumner had, in a resolution, spoken of "State Suicide" in such a way as to indicate that his views on reconstruction were not in harmony with those which subsequently were advocated by the President in the message above referred to.

While the message was being read in the two Houses of Congress it received unusually marked attention. There was a solemn hush when it launched boldly out upon the untried and unknown sea of reconstruction. Some of the great leaders of the radical portion of the Union party leaned forward in their seats and seemed intent upon catching every word which fell from the lips of the reading clerk. This was continued until it became evident that the President would take the more conservative view of the subject, at which point extremists like Mr. Sumner became restless, and some by their manner indicated impatience.

But so definite and clear was the statement of the President's views, and so tremendous was the strength of the arguments by which they were defended, that not even the extremists were able to appear inattentive while that portion of

the message was being read. The influence of the reading of the message in both House and Senate was scarcely less than marvelous. The recognized adherents of the kind and conservative policy of the President listened throughout with marked intensity, and no manifestation of disapproval was anywhere to be seen.

At the close of the reading of the message Mr. Chandler, the big, burly senator from Michigan, was delighted. The deep-toned voice of Mr. Sumner expressed with emphasis his joyous satisfaction. Mr. Dixon and Reverdy Johnson said the message was satisfactory. Henry Wilson, "in the overflowing kindness of his great big heart," requested the President's private secretary "to tell the President that he had struck another great blow, God bless him!" Quite as pronounced was the endorsement received from leading members of the House. Hon. George S. Boutwell, who was regarded as the leader of the extreme antislavery New England sentiment, said of the message: "It is a very able and shrewd paper, and it is all right." Owen Lovejoy, of Illinois, was outspoken and emphatic in his approval of the position taken by the President, and with characteristic religious fervor said he could "see on the mountains the feet of one bringing good tidings." Of like character, and quite as emphatic, were the expressions of approval from General Garfield, Francis W. Kellogg, and H. T. Blow. Even Horace Greeley, who always gave approval of Mr. Lincoln's acts with strange reluctance, being on the floor of the House when the message was read, declared in characteristic language that it was "devilish good." All day long and into the night the Executive Mansion was thronged by delighted members of the Senate and the House, army officers, prominent politicians from every portion of the country, and newspaper men galore, all expressing their unreserved and unqualified approval of the policy announced by the President, and his unanswerable argument in its support.

A still stronger indication of the impression the President's message had made was seen in the changed appearance and

manner of the leading members of the two branches of Congress, and especially of the Union members. It was like the "clearing up" in autumn after dark and threatening clouds had for several days covered the sky, and given evidence of approaching storms. This burst of sunshine lighted up and softened the strong and classic features of the great Massachusetts senator, which, though they did not quite reach the point of wearing a pleasing smile, were without any trace of the determined expression they usually bore. The same light, like the rising sun in Indian summer, glorified the face of Hon. Henry Wilson, Mr. Sumner's colleague in the senate. Most marked of all were the changes in the very thoughtful and strong features of Hon. Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, who was probably the ablest lawyer in the senate. His sloping shoulders were elevated, and he walked with an erectness and springing step which I never noticed in him at any other time.

The coming man of the House, the thorough scholar, the untiring student and able advocate, General James A. Garfield, freely expressed his great satisfaction at the position taken by the President and his admiration of his exceedingly able argument in defense of that position. And so in both branches of the national legislature, there was a spirit of exuberance and settled satisfaction which I saw at no other time during the five years of my connection with the legislative branch of the government. It seemed that the millennium had come and that the anthem, "Peace on earth, good will to men," again was being chanted by the heavenly choir.

But the millennium had not come, and the celestial music soon was smothered by a rumbling sound that seemed to presage a coming conflict. The first tangible indication of antagonism to the reconstruction policy of the administration was in a motion by Henry Winter Davis, in the House, that the portion of the President's message relating to reconstruction be referred to a special committee of which he was made chairman. This motion was adopted by the House without