When Greeley declared that the
Confederate Commissioners were in Canada with offers of peace, the
President sent Greeley himself immediately to meet them and confer on
the basis of a restored Union with compensation for the slaves. The
Conference failed and Greeley returned from Canada angrier with the
President than ever for making a fool of him.
In utter disregard for the facts he continued to demand that the
Government bring the war to an end. The thing which made his attack
deadly was that he was rousing the bitterness of hopeless sorrow in
thousands of homes whose loved ones had fallen.
Thoughtful men and women had begun to ask themselves new questions:
"Is not the price we are paying too great?"
"Can any cause be worth this ocean of tears, this endless deluge of
blood?"
The President must answer this bitter cry with the positive assurance
that he would make peace at any moment on terms consistent with the
Nation's preservation or both he and his party must perish.
He determined to draw from Mr. Davis a positive declaration of the terms
on which the South would accept peace. He dared not do this openly, as
it would be a confession to Europe of defeat and would lead to the
recognition of the Confederacy.
He accordingly sent Colonel Jaquess, a distinguished Methodist clergyman
in the army, and J.
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