ssing Secretary Welles's plans for
convening the legislature of Virginia. Says Mr. Welles in his Diary:
"His idea was that the members of the legislature, comprising the
prominent and influential men of their respective counties, had better
come together and undo their own work. Civil government must be
reestablished, he said, as soon as possible; there must be courts, and
law and order, or society would be broken up, the disbanded armies would
turn into robber bands and guerillas, which we must strive to prevent.
These were the reasons why he wished prominent Virginians who had the
confidence of the people to come together and turn themselves and their
neighbors into good Union men." Lincoln had no thought of leaving any of
these questions to the military authorities. In March he had directed a
despatch from Stanton to Grant, saying: "The President wishes you to
have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation
of his army, or on some other minor and purely military matter. He
instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon
any political question. Such questions the President _holds in his own
hands_, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions."
During his meeting with Grant at Petersburg the President revealed to
the General many of his plans for the rehabilitation of the South, and
it could easily be seen that a spirit of magnanimity was uppermost in
his heart. And at the conference with Grant, Sherman, and Porter, on
board the "River Queen," the same subject was broached. "Though I cannot
attempt to recall the words spoken by any one of the persons present on
that occasion," says General Sherman, "I know we talked generally about
what was to be done when Lee's and Johnston's armies were beaten and
dispersed. On this point Mr. Lincoln was very full. He said that he had
long thought of it, that he hoped this end could be reached without more
bloodshed, but in any event he wanted us to get the men of the Southern
armies disarmed and back to their homes; that he contemplated no
revenge, no harsh measures, but quite the contrary, and that their
suffering and hardships during the war would make them the more
submissive to law." Says Hon. George Bancroft: "It was the nature of Mr.
Lincoln to forgive. When hostilities ceased he who had always sent forth
the flag with every one of its stars in the field was eager to receive
back his returning countrymen."

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