resence of a trustworthy witness, at the very time
when the _small_ Rebels were opening their Quaker guns on the
country,--would not the Niagara negotiators be stripped of their false
colors, and their low schemes be exposed to the scorn of all honest men,
North and South?

I may have thought so; and that may have been another reason why I went
to Richmond.

Third: I had been acquainted with Colonel Jaquess's peace-movements from
their inception. Early in June last he wrote me from a battle-field in
Georgia, announcing his intention of again visiting the Rebels, and
asking an interview with me at a designated place. We met, and went to
Washington together. Arriving there, I became aware that obstacles were
in the way of his further progress. Those obstacles could be removed by
my accompanying him; and that, to those who know the man and his
"mission," which is to preach peace on earth and good-will among men,
would seem a very good reason why I went to Richmond.

Fourth,--and this to very many may appear as potent as any of the
preceding reasons,--I had in my boyhood a strange fancy for
church-belfries and liberty-poles. This fancy led me, in
school-vacations, to perch my small self for hours on the cross-beams in
the old belfry, and to climb to the very top of the tall pole which
still surmounts the little village-green. In my youth, this feeling was
simply a spirit of adventure; but as I grew older it deepened into a
reverence for what those old bells said, and a love for the principle of
which that old liberty-pole is now only a crumbling symbol.

Had not events shown that Jeff. Davis had never seen that old
liberty-pole, and never heard the chimes which still ring out from that
old belfry? Who knew, in these days when every wood-sawyer has a
"mission," but _I_ had a "mission," and it was to tell the Rebel
President that Northern liberty-poles still stand for Freedom, and that
Northern church-bells still peal out, "Liberty throughout the land, to
_all_ the inhabitants thereof"?

If that _was_ my mission, will anybody blame me for fanning Mr. Davis
with a "blast" of cool Northern "wind" in this hot weather?

But enough of mystification. The straightforward reader wants a
straightforward reason, and he shall have it.

We went to Richmond because we hoped to pave the way for negotiations
that would result in peace.

If we should succeed, the consciousness of having served the country
would, we thought, pay our