and
they were deepened in the public mind by the assassination of Mr.
Lincoln and the elevation of Mr. Johnson to the Presidency.

The public confidence received a further serious shock by his
proclamation of May 29, 1865, for the organization of a State
government in North Carolina. That proclamation contained provisions
in harmony with what has been set forth in this paper concerning the
political principles of Mr. Johnson. First of all, he limited the
franchise to persons "qualified as prescribed by the constitution and
laws of the State of North Carolina in force immediately before the
20th day of May, 1861, the date of the so-called Ordinance of
Secession." This provision was a limitation of the suffrage, and it
excluded necessarily the negro population of the State. It was also a
recognition of the right of the State to reappear as a State in the
Union. It was, indeed, an early assertion of the phrase which
afterwards became controlling with many persons--"Once a State, always
a State." He further recognized the right of the State to reappear as
a State in the organization and powers of the convention which was to
be called under the proclamation. As to that he said: "The convention
when convened, or the legislature which may be thereafter assembled,
will prescribe the qualification of electors and the eligibility of
persons to hold office under the constitution and laws of the State,
a power the people of the several States composing the Union have
rightfully exercised from the origin of the Government to the present
time." There were further instructions given in the proclamation as to
the duties of various officers of the United States to aid Governor
Holden, who, by the same proclamation, was appointed "Provisional
Governor of the State of North Carolina."

Upon the publication of this proclamation I was so much disturbed that
I proceeded at once to Washington, but without any definite idea as to
what could be done to arrest the step which seemed to me a dangerous
step towards the re-organization of the Government upon an unsound
basis. At that time I had had no conversation with Mr. Johnson, either
before or after he came to the Presidency, upon any subject whatever.
The interview which I secured upon that visit was the sole personal
interview that ever occurred between us. I called upon Senator Morrill
of Vermont, and together we made a visit to the President. I spoke of
the features of the pro