“The reading of this communication was received with cheers from quite a number of those present, principally Southern men. Carey said that the Secretary of War had sent for Durham, and that he was then at Richmond. He was a fine looking, intelligent man, terribly in earnest. This was thought, although there was hesitancy about it in the Cabinet, to be a much more feasible undertaking than the attempt to explode the Capitol at Washington. The necessity for some radical measure to be adopted and put into execution at once was the reason for these documents having been taken from the archives and placed in the present hands in their original form. “Lieut. W. Alston, of Sulphur Springs, Va., who was present, as stated by Carey, also proposed to the authorities at Richmond to undertake to rid the country of the Confederacy's most deadly enemies, and authorized the committee to say that he, here and now, renewed his proposition; all of which Carey submitted to the assembly for their consideration. “The propositions having been submitted in due form, the Chairman stated that they were before the assembly and open for consideration. Jacob Thomlinson opened the discussion, and said that these propositions were of the most vital importance; that the success of the Confederacy hung upon the action of this assembly. The authorities were waiting with bated breath until they could hear what their Northern friends would consider proper and feasible to be at once entered upon. He wanted no more promises without performance. He would save the Confederacy by any means if he could, and would consider himself justified. If some of these measures had been resorted to much earlier it would have been better. He said that war was mere barbarism and cruelty; that plunder, burning, pillage and assassination were merely the concomitants, and a part of the system, of all wars; that when men make war it means crime, rapine and murder, and those engaging in it should so understand. Each party is expected to capture all of the enemy that can be so taken, and to kill all that resist. It was proper to pick out and deliberately shoot down the Generals. He asked if it would be any worse to secretly capture Lincoln and Silent, the two leaders and commanders of all the United States forces, or to assassinate either or both of them, than to shoot them near our lines. He contended that if either or both of them should be seen near the Confederate lines they would be shot down, and the persons doing it would be rewarded with medals of honor, and would go down into history as great patriots for performing the act. If this were true, as all must concede, why should it be considered a dark and damnable deed in time of war, when a great and dire necessity required, for two such tyrants to be put out of the way in the cause of liberty? He insisted that no difference could exist, save in the minds of individuals morbid on the subject of human life. He said that he had