It is not generally known how earnestly Lincoln labored for compensated emancipation. He made earnest efforts to save the Border States to the Union by the assurance of compensation for slaves, and even after all the slave States south of the Potomac and the Ohio had joined the Confederacy, he adhered to the policy of compensated emancipation until the day of his death. In August, 1864, when the political situation presented a very gloomy aspect, I had a long conference with Lincoln at the White House, and he then introduced the subject of compensated emancipation. In that conversation he gave me the first intimation of his purpose to try and end the war by paying the South $400,000,000 as compensation for the freedom of the slaves. He had the proposition written out in his own handwriting, but he well knew that if such a purpose on his part were made public, it would make his re-election impossible. He discussed it freely and very earnestly, however, and said that he regarded compensated emancipation as the only way to restore fellowship between the States. He did not doubt the ability of the North to overthrow the military power of the Confederacy, but what he most feared was that the people of the South, driven to desperation by the severe sacrifices they had suffered, and the general desolation of their country, that gave them no hope of regaining prosperity, would make their armies disband into guerrilla squads and would be implacable in their resentments against the Government. In all of the many expressions I heard Lincoln make use of, toward the close of the war, he always exhibited an earnest desire to do something that would impressively teach the Southern people that they were not to be held as conquered subjects of a despotic power, but were to come back into the Union and enjoy the blessings of a reunited people.