to sustain the Government in its struggles for independence until
it should be demonstrated that our resources were inadequate for
that end; and when that should be seen and acknowledged, to seek, if
possible, a peaceful solution. How well he sustained it is matter
of history. He sustained it in every way in which his talents and
his means could be made available. He sustained it by his counsels
in the State and in the Confederate Government. He sustained it by
blood more precious in his eyes than his own--all his sons, five in
number, who had attained the age of eighteen, entered the army, and
were in the army to the end.
The inadequacy of our resources, particularly of the population from
which our soldiers were drawn, had now been demonstrated. It was
known to Congress; it was admitted by General Lee in his proposition
to conscribe slaves; it was proclaimed from the steps of the Capitol
by Mr. Benjamin: "Unless the slaves are armed," he said, "the cause
is lost." Every expedient had been tried; the extremest measures had
been put in operation; "by means of conscription, impressment laws,
and the suspension of the _habeas corpus_, the whole population, and
all the resources of the country, had long before been placed at the
command of the President for prosecution of the war." All had been
found unavailing.
One resource, in the opinion of some, remained--the conscription
of negroes. A bill for this purpose was introduced into
Congress. It was opposed by Mr. Graham upon the ground that it
was unconstitutional, as well as inexpedient and dangerous. His
sagacious mind saw that this was a measure, not of safety, but a
measure born of the wild promptings of despair. On the 21st of
February it was indefinitely postponed, though it was subsequently
taken up and passed.
If ever negotiation was to be resorted to, it was clear the time had
come. We know but little of what passed in the Confederate Congress
at that time. Its proceedings were had in secret session; nor is it
now known whether the journals of the body escaped destruction. All
that we know is derived from what was published by the members after
the fall of the Confederate Government. Among these publications
is a paper contributed by Mr. Oldham, then Senator from Texas, to
_DeBow's Review_, in October, 1869, which gives us some information
of the proceedings of the Senate at that time. A few days after the
conference at Hampton Roads, he informs us, a committee consisting
of Messrs. Orr, Graham and Johnson, was appointed to confer with the
President, and ascertain what he proposed to do under the existing
condition of affairs. In a few days they made a verbal report
through Mr. Graham. "Among other things," I quote Mr. Oldham's
words, "they stated that they had inquired of the President his
views and opinions in regard to proposing to the United States to
negotiate for peace upon the basis of the Confederacy returning
to the Union, and that he had answered that he had no power to
negotiate a treaty upon such a basis; that his authority to make
treaties was derived from the Constitution, which he had sworn to
support and that such a treaty would operate as an abrogation of the
Constitution, and a dissolution of the government; that the States
alone, each acting for itself, in its sovereign capacity, could make
such a treaty. Mr. Graham said, he gave notice that he would, in a
few days, introduce a resolution in favor of opening negotiations
with the United States upon the basis of a return to the Union by
the States of the Confederacy; that he did not give the notice at
the instance or under the instruction of the committee, but upon his
own responsibility. The notice was received in such a manner that he
never offered his resolution."
I never saw the paper from which the foregoing quotation is made,
and was a stranger to this passage of Mr. Graham's life until within
the last forty days. I read it with a feeling of profound relief.
I have ever regarded him from my earliest years, with the warmest
admiration and the most affectionate respect; but his failure, as
I thought, to take some action looking to peace after the Hampton
Roads conference--when the plainest dictates of humanity so clearly
demanded it--left upon my mind the painful impression that he had
been wanting to himself in that, the most important, crisis of his
life. There is a deep-seated conviction that the blood which was
shed after that conference might have been saved. That the waste of
the fruits of past centuries of toil--a waste which consigned so
many of the present and future generations to want and misery--might
have been avoided. It is with gratitude I reflect that not a tittle
of responsibility for this bloodshed and waste lay at his door.
And when the inevitable hour came to him, I doubt not the thought
that he had done what he could to arrest a war attended with such
terrible and useless sacrifice, was one of the sweetest reflections
of his whole life.
Congress adjourned about the 16th day of March. Impressed with
the imminence of the emergency, Mr. Graham stopped but one day at
home--that day being the Sabbath--and on Monday proceeded to Raleigh
to confer with the Governor. The conference was long and earnest.
Mr. Graham laid before the Governor the views of the President, the
state of the armies, and earnestly recommended that the Legislature
should be convened. He sustained his advice by the opinion of
General Lee, and that of many good and able men with whom he had
been associated. He ended by telling him that Richmond would fall
in less than thirty days, and that event would be followed probably
by a rout or dispersion of General Lee's army for want of food, if
for no other cause. The Governor was surprised by his statement
of facts, and incredulous in some degree as to his conclusions.
He agreed to consider the subject, and convened the Council on
that day week. Hearing nothing of their action, in a few days Mr.
Graham visited Raleigh again. The Governor informed him that on the
day appointed, a bare quorum of the Council attended, and being
equally divided, he had not summoned the Legislature. He said that
Mr. Gilmer, with whom Mr. Graham had advised him to consult, had
suggested to him to solicit an interview with General Sherman on
the subject of peace. Mr. Graham remarked that if such an interview
were held, Mr. Davis should be apprised of it. To this the Governor
at once assented. Mr. Graham suggested further that if that course
were taken, he (the Governor) should be in a condition to act
independently of the President, and convene the Legislature. To this
proposition the Governor manifested reluctance; but finally agreed
to call the Council of State again. But while negotiation halted,
the march of General Sherman's army decided events. In a few days
no resource was left but an unconditional surrender. With the part
borne by Mr. Graham at that trying time, a gifted authoress of North
Carolina has made the public already familiar in the captivating
pages of her work, _The Last Ninety Days of the War_.
There is no part of Mr. Graham's life in which the calm wisdom, for
which he was so distinguished, shone more conspicuously than in the
closing months of the civil war. When independence was demonstrated
to be hopeless, he sought peace; but even then, only in channels
admitted to be in accordance with the great principles of our
government.
In his opinion, that peace ought to be sought by the State after
the failure of the conference at Hampton Roads, he was sustained
by our entire delegation in Congress, and a large proportion of
the leading citizens of the State. Yet so anxious was he not only
to avoid any appearance of conflict among the Confederate States,
but to conform to all that the most punctilious deference for the
Confederate Government might require, that he did not move in the
matter until after a conference with the President, and then only
in the track pointed out by him. The President disclaimed all
power of making a treaty, which would abrogate the Government,
and declared that the "States alone, each acting in its sovereign
capacity, could make such a treaty." In the line of action here
indicated the State could not be put in a false position; nay, her
honor would be put beyond all cavil. It was known that we had no
power to arrest General Sherman's march. General Johnston confronted
him, and all felt convinced that whatever his great military genius
could accomplish would be done. But it was also known that his
gallant army was outnumbered six to one. A surrender in a few days
would be inevitable. Burning capitals, desolated homes, famine and
destruction of life, followed Sherman's march. Was it not worth
the effort to put a stop to such frightful calamities? What Mr.
Graham urged was that the people might be allowed to determine their
fate for themselves. Such a course was in strict conformity to the
fundamental principles of our Government. A convention of seven
Governors had precipitated the war when peace counsels seemed to be
in the ascendant. Was not Mr. Graham justified in the opinion that
executive powers which had been so destructively exerted in the
beginning, might be beneficently exerted in the end?
In an address delivered by Governor Vance before the Southern
Historical Society, at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, August
18th, 1875, occurs the following statement:
"Soon after the failure of the Fortress Monroe or Hampton Roads
conference, I was visited by Governor Graham (whose death we
so recently deplore) who was then a Senator of the Confederate
States. After giving all the particulars of that conference which
had not appeared in the papers, and the prevailing impressions
of congressional circles, about Richmond, etc., he informed me
that a number of leading gentlemen there, despairing of obtaining
peace through Mr. Davis, and believing the end inevitable and not
distant, had requested him to visit me and urge me, as Governor
of North Carolina, to take steps for making separate peace with
Mr. Lincoln, and thus inaugurate the conclusion; that he agreed
to lay their request before me without promising to add his
personal advice thereto. I asked who those gentlemen were, and,
with some reluctance, he gave me their names, chiefly Senators and
Representatives in the Confederate Congress. I asked why these
gentlemen did not begin negotiations in their own States with the
enemy, and if they would come out in the papers with this request
to me. He said they could not take the initiative, they were so
surrounded at home, and so trammeled by pledges, etc., as to render
it impossible! I declined the proposition of course."
It is with reluctance that I advert to this statement. Had it been
given to the press with a sponsor less entitled to consideration,
I should have been disposed to let it float with the tide. But it
presents itself under imposing circumstances; it proceeds from one
who, at the time referred to, was at, the head of the government
in North Carolina; it is contained in an address made before a
society whose object it is to preserve the memorials of that time.
The statement thus passes into history. It will not be waived. It
peremptorily challenges attention.
[Mr. McGehee here enters into a rather labored argument to show
that Vance was mistaken; it would have been sufficient simply to
have published Graham's letter to Swain, written shortly after the
conversation, and therefore a better exponent of what actually took
place. It appears that Graham as Confederate Senator had far better
means of knowing the real condition of the Confederacy than Vance
had, and he, doubtless, as was his duty, gave him the whole truth.
Even without the vindication of his letter, I should be very slow
to believe that he ever advised Vance on his own responsibility
to undertake separate negotiations with the enemy. For the
consideration of a matter so delicate, serious, and dangerous,
doubtless, he, as well as Vance, would wish the assembled wisdom of
the State. And what he really advised, as his letter shows, was to
call the Legislature together, so that, in secret session, upon full
information, it might consider if the State and the several States
of the Confederacy should as States make any propositions to the
enemy.--ED.]
After the Hampton Roads conference he had no longer any hope of
a peaceful solution through the action of President Davis; from
thenceforth he turned his thoughts to the accomplishment of the
same end through the action of the States. The subject is often
recurred to, but not an intimation can be found of any plan, except
that of the States acting in conjunction. Very soon united action
on the part of all became an impossibility; conquering armies had
dismembered the Confederacy--had left indeed but two States that
could act in concert. But his plan still embraced these two. March
26th, he writes as follows to Governor Swain: "I went to Raleigh to
have an interview with the Governor on the subject-matter referred
to in your letter. The result was a convocation of the Council of
State to assemble to-morrow. The Legislature of Virginia has taken
a recess until the 29th instant, and I think it very important that
that of North Carolina should be in session as early as possible.
The war is now nearly reduced to a contest between these two
States and the United States!" In his letter of the 8th of April,
which contains, as I think has been shown, the true account of the
interview between Mr. Graham and Governor Vance, Mr. Graham says:
"I told him I should attend the session of the General Assembly,
and, if desired, would address them in secret session; that I
had confidential conversations with a committee of the Virginia
Legislature, which had taken a recess for ten days, and that it was
important to act in concert with that body."
The surrender left the State under the control of the Federal
generals and under the military law. According to the theory of the
administration, all civil government had ceased; all the offices
were vacant. The government, for a time, was such as a conquering
army administers in a subjugated country. At length, to inaugurate
a civil government the precedent for the admission of territories
was partially adopted. A provisional Governor was appointed with
power to call a convention. In execution of his powers the Governor
made appointments to the vacant offices and issued a call for a
convention. Mr. Graham was nominated for the convention; but it
being announced by the executive, that persons unpardoned would not
be allowed to take their seats, he withdrew from the canvass.
A constitution--the old constitution with some alterations--was
adopted. Mr. Graham opposed its ratification. From his action
at this time many of his best friends dissented. They admitted
with him that a convention called, not by the people, but by a
power _ab extra_ and under limitations of suffrage unknown to the
constitution, was an anomaly in American institutions. But certain
changes were regarded as inevitable after the war, and, if the
administration, then wielding supreme power over us, should rest
satisfied with the changes thus made, it was conceived by them
to be the wiser course to raise no question as to the manner in
which the convention was called. But in Mr. Graham's view many of
the ablest men in the State concurred, and the constitution was
defeated. Certainly it seems more in accordance with the spirit of
a great patriot to make continual claim, even if ineffectual, in
behalf of the principles of government established by our fathers.
Any mitigation which an abandonment of those principles might have
obtained would have been but temporary; the principles themselves
were for all time.
The Reconstruction measures were now passed. The former government
was swept away. The whole power over the question of suffrage,
that question which lies at the foundation of all representative
government, and which, under the old constitution belonged to the
States, save that Congress might pass uniform naturalization laws,
was assumed and exercised by Congress. Suffrage was adjusted upon
a new basis; all the black race was enfranchised, and a large
portion of the white race was disfranchised. Under this adjustment,
a new convention was called, and a new constitution adopted, the
constitution under which we now live.
These measures, so extreme in their nature, were regarded while they
were yet in progress by a large part of our people with a feeling
little short of consternation. The government seemed wholly changed;
the constitution irrevocably wrenched, if not destroyed. A profound
apathy fell upon the minds of the people. A vast number ceased to
take any cognizance of public affairs. They seemed to regard them,
as removed forever beyond their control. In this state of things a
convention of the conservative party of North Carolina was called.
It met on the 5th of February, 1868, in Tucker Hall, in the city of
Raleigh, and was presided over by Mr. Graham, who made the principal
speech of the occasion.
The effect of this speech cannot be estimated. It aroused the people
from their despondency; it animated them to new efforts; it went
further, it infused into them the spirit with which the speech
itself was instinct. From that day the Conservative-Democratic
party dates its existence in this State as a regularly organized
party; within a short time thereafter it gained possession of the
Legislature and has held it to the present time.
The Convention of 1865 had directed that the Legislature should
be convened. An election was accordingly held and the Legislature
met in the winter of that year. Mr. Graham was unanimously elected
for the county of Orange, but, being unpardoned he did not offer
to take his seat. It was the universal desire of the people that
he should represent the State in the Senate of the United States,
when restored to its old relations. It was felt that North Carolina
had no one more competent to vindicate her action or represent her
interests. It was felt that she had no one who, by his balanced
judgment, his temperance of feeling, his urbane bearing, would do
more to mitigate the asperities which had been provoked by civil
strife. He was elected by a large majority. Upon his election he
repaired to Washington and presented his credentials. They were laid
upon the table. He presented to the Senate a manly and respectful
memorial; but he was never permitted to take his seat. The spectacle
presented by the exclusion from public affairs of a man of his
antecedents, while so many who had an active agency in bringing on
civil strife had been promoted to high station, arrested attention
everywhere. Many of the most eminent men in the Northern States used
their best efforts for the removal of his disabilities, without
effect. Political persecution, set on foot by parties in his own
State, pursued him until it was placed beyond all human probability
that he should ever enjoy the honors for which the State had
destined him. When that had become a certainty, to wit, in 1873, his
disabilities were removed. What reflections arise, as we recur to
this passage of his life! Mr. Graham had clung to the Constitution
until the rising tide of secession had flowed around and completely
insulated his State; to this ancient ark of our fathers he again
clung when after the war the waves of political enthusiasm inundated
the country and the constitution. Yet he was left stranded, while
many of those who had fanned the tempests of both found secure
anchorage. But we look beyond to-day. The things seen are temporal
in more senses than one. The impartial tribunal of posterity rises
up before us. Then, when the actors of to-day are weighed in even
scales; when the influence of passion and prejudice is unknown, then
will the consistent devotion to principle, by which his conduct was
always actuated, receive its due meed of admiration and applause.
In the year 1875--upon the 4th of February--he presided over a
meeting held in Charlotte to take steps for the proper celebration
of the centennial of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
Some writers of ability had seized upon that event, and in that
spirit of historical skepticism so rife in our days, had undertaken,
out of a few minor discrepancies, to deny the genuineness of the
Declaration, or that any meeting was held on the 20th of May. Mr.
Graham had been often solicited to place that event upon its proper
basis. He had heard it often talked of at his father's fire-side;
he knew all the traditions connected with it; he had known and
talked with many of the subscribers of that declaration; he was well
acquainted with public opinion regarding it, in that section where
the event occurred, down to the date of its publication in 1820.
For a long time motives of delicacy, growing out of his connection
with some of the principal actors, restrained him. But at that time,
all the actors had passed away; they could no longer be heard; and
a just regard for their fame urged his acquiescence. He embodied
his vindication in the form of an address which he delivered on
this occasion. No fair synopsis of that address is possible; it is
a solid, compact argument which would be greatly impaired by any
attempt at abridgment. Let it suffice to say that the evidence is
arrayed in the spirit of the philosophical historian, and with the
skill of a lawyer. It will not put to silence the mere caviller;
no amount of evidence will, on this or any other subject; but the
candid inquirer will rise from its perusal with the conviction
that few events in history rest upon a firmer foundation than the
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
Mr. Graham left behind many literary essays, but none which were
prompted by mere desire for literary distinction. His efforts of
this kind were all the result of passing events; all the fruit
of hours snatched from an absorbing profession. Yet if collected
together they would form a considerable volume; and if we consider
their contents they give a high idea of the intellect which could
find its relaxation in such labors. The dominant feeling of his life
was loyalty to the State and her institutions; hence the subjects
usually selected by him were drawn from her history.
Among these was a lecture delivered at Greensboro, in 1860. The
citizens of that section of country, of which Greensboro is the
centre, contemplated the erection of a monument to commemorate the
services of General Greene in the Revolutionary struggle. This
lecture was delivered in aid of the enterprise, and embraced a life
of Greene and a history of Revolutionary events in this State. A
copy was solicited for publication, but from some cause it was never
published. It remains in manuscript, full and entire, as if prepared
for the press. Here may be mentioned two Memorial Addresses--the one
upon the life and character of Hon. George E. Badger, and the other
of Hon. Thomas Ruffin.
This record would be most imperfect did it fail to bring into the
most prominent relief the services of Mr. Graham in his office of
trustee of the University. He regarded the University as the best
ornament of the State, and no one of all its sons nursed it with a
more devoted or wiser care. He attended all its commencements, and
was most active in watching over all its interests. No one labored
with more zeal for its restoration to the control of the true sons
of the State. For many years he was a member of the executive
committee, and at the time of his death he was the chairman of that
committee. It was to him, finally, that Governor Swain, in the last
years of his successful administration, looked for direction and
support in all its trials and embarrassments.