presentative of the race which
America had so long held in chains, was presented to the President. The
account of the conference, given by Douglass, is singularly interesting.
He says: "I was never more quickly or more completely put at ease in the
presence of a great man than in that of Abraham Lincoln. He was seated,
when I entered, in a low arm-chair, with his feet extended on the
floor, surrounded by a large number of documents and several busy
secretaries. The room bore the marks of business, and the persons in it,
the President included, appeared to be much overworked and tired. Long
lines of care were already deeply written on Mr. Lincoln's brow, and his
strong face, full of earnestness, lighted up as soon as my name was
mentioned. As I approached and was introduced to him, he arose and
extended his hand, and bade me welcome. I at once felt myself in the
presence of an honest man--one whom I could love, honor, and trust,
without reserve or doubt. Proceeding to tell him who I was and what I
was doing, he promptly but kindly stopped me, saying: 'I know who you
are, Mr. Douglass; Mr. Seward has told me all about you. Sit down; I am
glad to see you.' I urged, among other things, the necessity of granting
the colored soldiers equal pay and promotion with white soldiers, and
retaliation for colored prisoners killed by the enemy. Mr. Lincoln
admitted the justice of my demand for equal pay and promotion of colored
soldiers, but on the matter of retaliation he differed from me entirely.
I shall never forget the benignant expression of his face, the tearful
look of his eye, and the quiver in his voice, when he deprecated a
resort to retaliatory measures. 'Once begun,' said he, 'I do not know
where such a measure would stop.' He said he could not take men out and
kill them in cold blood for what was done by others. If he could get
hold of the persons who were guilty of killing the colored prisoners in
cold blood, the case would be different; but he could not kill the
innocent for the guilty. Afterwards we discussed the means most
desirable to be employed outside the army to induce the slaves in the
rebel States to come within the Federal lines. The increasing opposition
to the war in the North, and the mad cry against it because it was
being made an abolition war, alarmed Mr. Lincoln, and made him
apprehensive that a peace might be forced upon him which would leave
still in slavery all who had not come within our lines. What