ance Blair's visit to Richmond by a visit of his own to
Washington. In attempting to pass through the Confederate lines he was
arrested by the military authorities. With this fiasco Foote passes from
the stage of history.

The doings of Blair, however, continued to be a topic of general
interest throughout January. The military intrigue was now simmering
down through the creation of the office of commanding general. The
attempt of the congressional opposition to drive the whole Cabinet from
office reached a compromise in the single retirement of the Secretary
of War. Before the end of the month the peace question was the paramount
one before Congress and the country. Newspapers discussed the movements
of Blair, apparently with little knowledge, and some of the papers
asserted hopefully that peace was within reach. Cooler heads, such
as the majority of the Virginia Legislature, rejected this idea as
baseless. The Mercury called the peace party the worst enemy of the
South. Lee was reported by the Richmond correspondent of the Mercury as
not caring a fig for the peace project. Nevertheless the rumor persisted
that Blair had offered peace on terms that the Confederacy could
accept. Late in the month, Davis appointed Stephens, Hunter, and John
A. Campbell commissioners to confer with the Northern authorities with
regard to peace.

There followed the famous conference of February 3, 1865, in the cabin
of a steamer at Hampton Roads, with Seward and Lincoln. The
Confederate commissioners represented two points of view: that of the
Administration, unwilling to make peace without independence; and that
of the infatuated Stephens who clung to the idea that Lincoln did not
mean what he said, and who now urged "an armistice allowing the States
to adjust themselves as suited their interests. If it would be to their
interests to reunite, they would do so." The refusal of Lincoln to
consider either of these points of view--the refusal so clearly foreseen
by Davis--put an end to the career of Stephens. He was "hoist with his
own petard."

The news of the failure of the conference was variously received.
The Mercury rejoiced because there was now no doubt how things stood.
Stephens, unwilling to cooperate with the Administration, left the
capital and went home to Georgia. At Richmond, though the snow lay thick
on the ground, a great public meeting was held on the 6th of February
in the precincts of the African Church. Here Davis made