local one; but it seems to me the
national one leads to the same conclusion. I can't see how the
indorsement of such a Constitution as this one, by the Republican
party, can be otherwise than damaging to them in the North. Would
it not be wise for Congress to say at once, We reject, once and
for all, proscriptive constitutions?

"I have written this letter merely to suggest points that occur to
me as worthy of very careful consideration. I suppose Congress
alone can determine what is to be done.

"As explained in my official letter to-day, I feel bound to await
the action of Congress before ordering an election. The nominating
conventions of the two parties meet in Richmond on the 6th and 7th
of May. Perhaps it may be best for Congress to await their action
before determining the question. . . . "

The newspaper clipping inclosed in the above letter to General
Grant was a report of the proceedings of the Convention which
appeared in the "Richmond Dispatch" of April 18, 1868. Several
other letters to General Grant, near the same time, explained the
situation in detail.

As was to be expected, and in spite of any influence which the
military commander could properly exert, that proposed Constitution,
like those framed in the other States, perpetuated the worst features
of the acts of Congress. It disqualified all the respectable whites
from any active part in the government, leaving the negroes and
"carpet-baggers" full sway. So sweeping was this disqualification
that in many parts of the State not a native Virginian, white or
black, could be found who could read or write, and who would be
eligible for election or appointment to any office. In my great
anxiety to save the State from so great an evil, I went to the hall
of the Convention and explained the impossibility of organizing a
government under such a Constitution, and besought the Convention
to strike out the disqualifying clause. I was listened to with
cold respect, my advice was disregarded, and promptly after my
departure the Constitution was finally adopted, and the Convention
adjourned _sine die_.

But the State was, nevertheless, saved from the impending disaster.
The act of Congress required that the Constitution be submitted to
the people for ratification or rejection; but Congress had failed
to appropriate money to pay the expenses of an election. If an
election was to be held, the money must be taken from the treasury
of the State, by t