Excerpt from The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research, Vol. 11 of 12: The Actual Words of the World's Best Historians, Biographers and Specialists; A Complete System of History for All Uses, Extending to All Countries and Subjects and Representing the Better and Newer Literature of History; U. S. A., 1865-World War, 1914 Secretary Seward first went. To meet'the'thr'ee Confederate commissioners, with the following letter of instructions from President Lincoln, dated January'31, 1865: Hon. William H.' Seward, Secretary of State: You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, 'virginia, there to meet and'informally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Camp bell, on the basis of my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq, of January 18, 1865, a copy of which you have. You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, to wit: 1. The restoration of the national authority throughout all the States. 2. No receding by the executive of the United States on the slavery question from' the position assumed thereon in the late-annual message to Congress, and in preceding documents. 3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the government. You will inform 'them that all propositions of theirs, not inconsistent with the above, will be considered and passed Upon in a Spirit of sincere liberality. You will hear all they choose to say, and report to me. You will not assume to definitely consummate anything. Yours, etc., Abraham Lincoln. Two days later, the Presi dent followed him, persuaded by a telegram from General Grant to meet the commissioners personally. In a subsequent message to the Senate, Lincoln reported the results of the con ference as follows: On the morning of the 3rd, three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, came aboard of our steamer, and had an interview with the Secretary of State and myself, of several hours' duration. No question of preliminaries to the meeting was then and there made or mentioned. No other person was pres ent; no papers were exchanged or produced; and it was, in advance, agreed that the conversation was to be informal and verbal merely. On our part the whole substance of the instructions to the Secretary of State, hereinbefore recited, was stated and insisted upon, and nothing was said inconsistent therewith; while, by the other party, it was not said that in any event or on any con dition, they ever would consent to reunion; and yet they equally omitted to declare that they never would so consent. They seemed to desire a postponement of that question, and the adoption of some other course first which, as some of them seemed to argue, might or might not lead to reunion; but which course, we thought, would amount to an indefinite postponement. The con ference ended without result. - Abraham Lincoln, Complete works, I). 2, pp. 644-649. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.