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MR. BOTTS'S NOMINATION FOR THE STATE CONVENTION.-His Letter of

Acceptance. He prophesies the Consequences of Secession. He

makes an Effort to prevent Civil War, 248–257.

THE BATES LETTERS.-Mr. Botts writes to Attorney General Bates.-He

proposes to let the Cotton States have constitutional Leave to with-

draw. He thinks a short Time would satisfy them of the Folly of the

Experiment.-His Object only to avoid Civil War, not to legalize Se-

cession.-Editorial Comments of the Richmond Dispatch on his first

Letter.-Mr. Bates's Reply.-The suppressed Letters of this Corre-

spondence. The last Letters of Mr. Botts.-He fully explains his Po-

sition.-Extracts from his Letter to the Troy Whig, 257-279.

THE PARTICULARS OF MR. BOTTS'S ARREST.-He is lodged in a filthy

negro Jail for eight Weeks.-Mr. Botts the first Victim to Loyalty in

Virginia. The prison Treatment.-The Inauguration of the Reign of

Terror. The odious Southern Conscription.-Benjamin in the Rôle

of a "sneaking Thief," 279-281.

MR. BOTTS'S LETTER TO G. W. RANDOLPH IN 1862.-He protests against

the Tyranny of his Enemies.-He demands Trial.-Plain Talk to the

Confederate Secretary of War.-The Order for Mr. Botts's Removal to

the Interior. The tyrant Winder writes to him, 281–290.

MR. BOTTS'S OFFICIAL PROTEST.-His Reasons for protesting against his

Imprisonment.-His Release from Prison.-He expects "Little Mac."

-A Chapter on General M'Clellan.-The Ease with which he could

have taken Richmond in 1862.-The great Defeat of the Rebels at

Malvern Hill.-M'Clellan retreats from a flying Foc, 291–294.

MR. BOTTS MOVES TO CULPEPPER.-He purchases a Farm of 2200 Acres.

-Jeb Stuart begins his Persecutions.-The Robberies of the Confed-

erate Army. How General Meade failed in capturing Lee's Army.—

A Bull-Run Panic among the Rebels after the Battle of Kelly's Ford.

-Outrageous Conduct of Stuart's Army, 294–297.

MR. BOTTS'S LETTER TO THE RICHMOND Examiner IN 1863.-A graphic

Picture of the thrilling Times of '63.-His bold, defiant Language while

in the Rebel Lines, 297-307.

A CLEAR RECord desired.-Mr. Botts declines the United States Sen-

atorship of Virginia. He hopes to be the Means of reconciling the

North and South, 307-309.

MR. BOTTS'S LINCOLN LETTER.-His Opinion of Mr. Lincoln and his Ad-

B

ministration. An impressive Incident.-A Delegation of Ministers

visit Mr. Botts and have the Letter read to them.-His Views on the

Emancipation Proclamation.-What he thought of the Confiscation

Act.-Mr. Botts says, "Let the Nation live, and let Slavery perish."—

The Democracy of the South the Destroyers of Slavery: "Out of Evil

cometh Good."-He considers the Amnesty Act a Mistake.-He con-

tends that the States never left the Union, but that their Citizens did,

Page 310-320.

THE GILMER LETTER.-John A. Gilmer, of North Carolina, wants Mr.

Botts to go to Washington to "stop the War."-His Answer to this Re-

quest.-A conquered Peace the only one to be had. He refers to what

Mr. Stephens said in 1860, 320-328.

THE CONGRESSIONAL TEST-OATH.-Mr. Botts's Opinion solicited.-His

Response to the Request.-No Doubt of the Right of Congress to im-

pose the Oath.-None but a "religious Test-oath" prohibited by the

Constitution.-Each House of Congress to be its own Judge of the

Qualifications of its Members.-He tells them in September, 1865, that

the Oath will not be repealed by Congress.-Though he fed the Hun-

gry, and administered to the Sick and Wounded of the Rebel Army, as

he did to those of the National Forces, he can, nevertheless, take the

Oath conscientiously.-Acting the Part of the good Samaritan is not

giving Aid to or having Sympathy with the Rebellion.-The second

Letter on the Subject.-He clearly proves the constitutionality of the

Oath, 328-339.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S POLICY OF RECONSTRUCTION.-Mr. Botts's Views

on the Subject. He thought Mr. Johnson intended to make "Treason

odious," and not a Virtue.-His Labors to restore Harmony to the dis-

tracted South.-He seeks Pardons for his former Persecutors, and, like

the Snakes they were, they stung the Hand that saved them.-He secs

Pardons bought and sold in the White House.-He exposes the Cor-

ruption to the President.-Loyal Unionists kept in the Background,

while the worst Class of Rebels are allowed to take Office.-The grad-

ual change of Rebels from humble Supplicants to tyrannical Task-

masters. They assume Superiority over Unionists, and their Assump-

tion is tacitly acknowledged by the President, 339–341.

MR. BOTTS'S AXIOMS.-Secession forbidden by the Constitution.-All
Ordinances of the kind null and void.-The Absurdity of state Alle-
giance being paramount.-No such thing as thirty-six different Alle-
giances in the United States, and yet none to the Central Government.

-No State has been out of the Union. -Men can go out, however,

though they can not take a State out.-The Rebel Government a de

facto Government, and all its Citizens who voluntarily swore Alle-

giance to it Aliens.-The Functions of the Rebel States suspended.-

These Functions only to be restored by the law-making Power of the

United States, viz., by President, House, and Senate acting together.

-Properly elected and truly loyal Representatives entitled to Seats in

Congress. To withhold the Right of such to Seats would be to place

loyal and disloyal on a par.-No Presidential Pardons legal until the

Pardoned have been tried.-The Policy of Reconstruction to be recom-

menced under different Auspices; the present Policy declared a Fail-

ure. The unconstitutional Action of the Virginia Legislature.-Loyal

Men the only Parties legally entitled to legislate in a reconstructed

State, Page 341-344.

THE GARNETT LETTERS-THE FIRST LETTER.-Mr. Botts is requested

to "define his Position."-He does it, greatly to the Disgust of ye

Traitors. He shows the Illegality of the Action of the State Legis-

lature of Virginia.-He quotes Mr. Johnson's Record to show what his

Policy is, or should be, rather.-He analyzes the Sequel to the great

Southern Strike for higher Wages.-He quotes legal Authority as to

the pardoning Power of the President.-What Attorney General Wirt,

of Virginia, said in 1820.-What Roger B. Taney said in 1831.-He

clenches the Nail with Chief Justice Marshall's Opinion on the Subject.

-Tired of being persecuted by pardoned Rebels, he declares his Inten-

tion to enter the Lists against the reconstructed Traitors alone, 344-

359.

THE SECOND LETTER.-Mr. Botts gives one of his "gentle Rebukes" to

Mr. Garnett.-The "Rebuke" a scorching Epistle.-The Axioms il-

lustrated. Mr. Botts's "Roland" for Mr. Garnett's "Oliver," 359-367.

THE THIRD LETTER.-Mr. Botts gives Evidence of the Disloyalty of the

"Reconstructed."-The Conspiracy to involve the Nation in a foreign

War. The Prescience of Mr. Botts in 1841, '44, '54, and '61.

More Evidence of the Proscription of loyal People in the South.—Mr.

Botts's Opinion on the Veto of the Bureau Bill, 367-375.

THE FOURTH LETTER.-A Response to Mr. Garnett's Letter.-Mr. Botts
corrects Garnett's Errors. - Explains the Test-oath to him. — The
Senatorial Question.-The Axioms explained.-The President's Policy
referred to. Some pointed Questions.-Treason to be made odious,
376-384.,

MR. BOTTS'S PLAN OF RECONSTRUCTION.-His Letter to Congress.-Ob-

jections to the Report of the Congressional Reconstruction Committee.

-No Relief for the white Unionists of the South.-The Power to vote

dependent upon the grade of Office held instead of the grade of Offense

committed.—The President can not approve the Bill.-No Southern
State will adopt it.—A new Oath suggested.—No one over twenty-five
who voluntarily took up Arms against the United States Government
to hold Office for ten Years.-A remission of forfeiture of Life, Liberty,
and Property the Contingent.-Boys and young Men, together with
those dragged in to Rebellion, not to be held to a Responsibility, Page
384-388.

MR. LINCOLN AND HIS POLICY.-A Tribute to the Martyred President.

-The gross Injustice done Mr. Lincoln.-The Lies of the Democratic

Almanac.-The Republican Platform of 1860.-Its best Plank shown.

-The false Statements of partisan Publications refuted.-Democratic

Efforts to "fire the Southern Heart."-Mr. Lincoln's Speech in March,

1861.-His Reply to a Committee of so-called Southern Unionists.—

Their false Report thereon.—Mr. Lincoln's Message in March, 1862.—

Important Memorandum of an Interview between Mr. Lincoln and

several Representatives of the Border States in 1862.-Another Inter-

view with Members of Congress in July, 1862.-He explains his Views

on the Slavery Question.-Compensation for Slaves made free, and

gradual Emancipation offered to the South.-The Fremont Proclama-

tion revoked by Mr. Lincoln.-Hunter's ditto.-Mr. Lincoln's Letter

to the Tribune.-The Union to be saved at all Hazards-with Slavery

or without it.-Mr. Botts's Comments on Mr. Lincoln's Policy.-The

Vote on the Crittenden Proposition.-An apt Quotation from Presi

dent Johnson when that eminent Tennesseean regarded Treason as

odious, and was ready to punish Traitors, 388-402.

THE GREAT REBELLION

ORIGIN OF THE BOOK.

To Charles Palmer, Esq.:

Home, near Richmond, October, 1861. MY DEAR SIR,-By your letter of yesterday, I am informed that the French consul has applied to you for such information as you can furnish or obtain for him respecting the origin and progress of the doctrine of Secession, together with whatever else may be deemed important or interesting, as connected with the purposes and designs of the authors of this great Southern Rebellion; and, as one more familiar with the subject than yourself, you appeal to me for the information required, to which I answer.

It has generally been supposed that this doctrine of Secession had its origin with the famous "Hartford" Convention that was held in Hartford, Connecticut, in the year 1814, during the last war with Great Britain; but, with all the research I have been able to make, I have not succeeded in tracing this wild and pernicious assumption to that body. That it embraced a large degree of disaffected and disloyal spirit to the government of the United States, is undoubtedly true; that the authors of its creation were suspected and charged with entertaining such a design, is also beyond question; but it does not appear, by its published proceedings, to have claimed such right, or to have resorted

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