Produced by Curtis Weyant, Linda Cantoni, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from scans of public domain works at the University of Michigan's Making of America collection.) [Transcriber's Note: A table of contents has been provided for the reader's convenience.] A REPORT OF THE DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS IN THE SECRET SESSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE CONVENTION, FOR PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, HELD AT WASHINGTON, D.C., IN FEBRUARY, A.D. 1861. BY L.E. CHITTENDEN, ONE OF THE DELEGATES. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. 1864. ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by D. APPLETON & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE. SECOND DAY. THIRD DAY. FOURTH DAY. FIFTH DAY. SIXTH DAY. SEVENTH DAY. EIGHTH DAY. NINTH DAY. TENTH DAY. ELEVENTH DAY. TWELFTH DAY. THIRTEENTH DAY. FOURTEENTH DAY. FIFTEENTH DAY. SIXTEENTH DAY. SEVENTEENTH DAY. EIGHTEENTH DAY. NINETEENTH DAY. APPENDIX. INDEX. INDEX TO THE APPENDIX. INTRODUCTION. If I had been guided by my judgment alone it is not probable that these notes of the debates in the Conference, held upon the invitation of Virginia, at Washington, in the month of February, 1861, would have been made public. From the commencement of its sessions, a portion of the members were in favor of the daily publication of the proceedings. I was disposed to go farther and have the sessions open to the public; but this proposition was opposed by a large majority. Strong reasons were urged for excluding the multitude which in the excitement of the time would have thronged the hall wherein the Conference held its sessions. But these reasons did not apply to the publication of the debates, and a considerable minority were strongly of opinion that the people should be informed daily, of the votes and remarks of their representatives in that body.