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[244] should be instantly restored, and that not another drop of American blood should be shed. He then proposed to General Lee that the latter should forthwith meet Mr. Lincoln, and said that whatever terms of pacification Mr. Lincoln and General Lee might agree upon would be satisfactory to the reasonable people of the North and South, and should have his own earnest support. He told General Lee that his influence with the Southern people would secure their concurrence, and that Mr. Lincoln's counsel would be accepted by the whole North. General Lee expressed the great pleasure which General Grant's noble and patriotic sentiments gave him, but declined to comply with his request, because he was an officer of the Confederate army, and could do nothing inconsistent with his duty to the Confederate government. There remains the final act of his life, with which I will close what I have to say, and complete the explanation of the meaning of this monument.
Richmond, VA. 1889.
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