All Appointments Hurt. Five Friends Are Made

If A Liberal Policy Towards The Late Rebels Is Adopted, The Ultra Republicans Are Opposed To It; If The Colored People Are Honored, The Extremists Of The Other Wing Cry Out Against It. I Suspect I Am Right In Both Cases.

I See No Reason Why Indians Who Can Give Satisfactory Proof Of Having By Their Own Labor Supported Their Families For A Number Of Years, And Who Are Willing To Detach Themselves From Their Tribal Relations, Should Not Be Admitted To The Benefit Of The Homestead Act And The Privileges Of Citizenship, And I Recommend The Passage Of A Law To That Effect. It Will Be An Act Of Justice As Well As A Measure Of Encouragement.

The Man Of Large And Conspicuous Public Service In Civil Life Must Be Content Without The Presidency. Still More, The Availability Of A Popular Man In A Doubtful State Will Secure Him The Prize In A Close Contest Against The First Statesman Of The Country Whose State Is Safe.

How Strange A Scene Is This In Which We Are Such Shifting Figures, Pictures, Shadows. The Mystery Of Our Existence--i Have No Faith In Any Attempted Explanation Of It. It Is All A Dark, Unfathomed Profound.

While I Am In Favor Of The Government Promptly Enforcing The Laws For The Present, Defending The Forts And Collecting The Revenue,i Am Not In Favor Of A War Policy With A View To The Conquest Of Any Of The Slave States; Except Such As Are Needed To Give Us A Good Boundary. If Maryland Attempts To Go Off, Suppress Her In Order To Save The Potomac And The District Of Columbia. Cut A Piece Off Of Western Virginia And Keep Missouri And All The Territories.