own view of the
rights of General Lee and of the army under his command that had
surrendered at Appomattox.

When President Johnson entered upon the work of reconstructing the
government of North Carolina it was claimed that he was giving form
and effect to the plan which President Lincoln had accepted as a wise
policy.

There was some foundation for the claim as appears from the testimony
of General Grant, Mr. Seward, Mr. Stanton, and others, but there is no
ground for the claim that Mr. Lincoln had matured a plan or had
accepted any scheme of reconstruction at the hands of any one. In an
exigency, as in the case of the resignation of General Hooker, he
could act immediately, but time and thought, and discussion with
others were accepted as valuable aids, whenever there was not a
pressure for instant action.

General Grant was examined in July, 1867, and the opening was conducted
by Mr. Eldridge of Wisconsin. It related to the parole granted to
General Lee and his army. The nature of the questions led General
Grant to make this remark: "I will state here, that I am not quite
certain whether I am being tried, or who is being tried, by the
questions asked."

General Grant may have thought that Mr. Eldridge was endeavoring to
secure from him an admission that he had exceeded his authority in the
terms of the parole granted to General Lee. General Grant was able to
state the terms with exactness and within his powers as commander of
the conquering army. He claimed that General Lee surrendered his
army "in consideration of the fact that they were to be exempt from
trial so long as they conformed to the obligations which they had
taken." President Johnson claimed that the leaders should be tried.
This position he abandoned previous to July, 1867. Of an interview
with President Johnson, General Grant made this statement:

"He insisted on it that the leaders must be punished, and wanted to
know, when the time would come when those persons could be tried. I
told him when they violated their parole." In the opinion of General
Grant the terms of the parole did not include Jefferson Davis, as he
had been captured.

In the early part of the controversy President Johnson insisted that
General Lee should be tried for treason. That purpose on the part of
the President was resisted by General Grant. His position, in his own
language, was this:

"I insisted on it that General Lee would not have surrendered his army