ng the millions who read his paper that peace was at any time
possible if Abraham Lincoln would only agree to accept it. As a
Southern-born man, the President knew the workings of the mind of
Jefferson Davis as clearly as he understood his own. Both these men were
born in Kentucky within a few miles of each other on almost the same
day. The President knew that Jefferson Davis would never consider any
settlement of the war except on the basis of the division of the Union
and the recognition of the Confederacy. 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. R. Gilmore, of the _Tribune_, on a secret mission to
Richmond for this purpose. They must go without credentials or
authority, as private individuals and risk life and liberty in the
undertaking.

Both men promptly accepted the mission and left for Grant's headquarters
to ask General Lee for a pass through his lines.

The Democratic Party was now a militant united force inspired by the
Copperhead leaders, who had determined to defeat the President squarely
on a peace platform and put General McClellan into the White House.
Behind them in serried lines stood the powerful Secret Orders clustered
around t