r revision; but
to this there was a decisive objection. It would have depreciated, if
not destroyed, the accuracy of the report. Although I do not believe
that any gentleman would have been tempted to change the tenor of his
remarks by subsequent events, the view of the public might not have
been so charitable.

I have therefore made my own notes the standard of authority, and have
admitted nothing into the report which has not been justified by them
aided by my own recollection. The manuscript has not been changed or
added to, except by my own hands. The few instances in which I have
availed myself of the materials furnished by others, are distinctly
stated either in the notes or the appendix.

During the sessions of the Conference I was able to secure but little
practical assistance from the members. Although many of them desired
that my purpose should be accomplished, and some were taking brief and
general notes, I soon discovered that an accurate report of a speech
required an amount of labor and a degree of attention to the subject,
which few gentlemen were inclined to give. The work, therefore, was
thrown almost exclusively upon myself. Some idea of its amount and
severity may be formed when it is stated, that the sessions usually
commenced at about ten o'clock in the morning, and with a brief
intermission were continued late in the evening, in one instance as
late as the hour of two o'clock, A.M. The necessity of these long
daily sessions, arose from the fact, that the Congress then in
existence terminated on the fourth of March, and but few days
remained in which to discuss and perfect the report, and to submit it
to that body for its action.

I do not claim to have furnished a _verbatim_ report of the speeches
delivered in the Conference of 1861, but I insist that I have given an
accurate account of all its official proceedings, and the substance of
the remarks made in the course of those proceedings. I think, also,
that I have preserved nearly all the propositions made in the course
of the debate, and generally have presented the ideas in the very
language used. The gentlemen who have critically examined the report,
all concur upon the question of its general accuracy, and I am content
in this respect to rely upon their testimony.

I have suggested these considerations simply by way of explanation,
and not for the purpose of avoiding criticism. I have endeavored to
follow, so far as was in my power, the e