10. No man ever had so great an opportunity for fixing himself in the esteem and affection of the people as Governor Holden had during his administration as Provisional Governor, and no man ever so completely threw golden opportunities away. Had he risen to the full height of a patriot, his name would today be a loving household word in every section of the State. But he did not, and such opportunities rarely occur twice to any man.
11. His career had not been an uneventful one. Of humble origin, he had, by dint of his own work and his own brains, carried himself to the control of the Democratic party in the State. He was not satisfied with the position of the editor of the chief organ of the dominant party, and the pecuniary profits that then resulted from such a position, but desired to be made Governor of the State. He was defeated for the nomination by Judge Ellis before the Democratic State Convention at Charlotte, and from that period dates his downward career. He advocated the Douglas movement, and then supported Breckinridge and Lane. He voted for and signed the Ordinance of Secession, declaring he intended to preserve as an heirloom in his family the pen with which he attached his name to the ordinance; and then he became the head and front of the Union element in the State during the war. At the close of the war, as we have seen, he was made Provisional Governor by President Johnson.
12. No man knew better than Governor Holden that on our side the war was entirely at an end when the troops laid down their arms, and that when the people of North Carolina renewed their allegiance to the Federal government, they intended to stand to it honestly and faithfully. None better than he knew that they desired nothing so much as to set themselves to the task of rebuilding their fallen fortunes. He knew, too, that they were well aware that before this could be done, civil government, with all its varied machinery, must be re-established, and that in all that was right and proper for a people so situated, they were ready to aid him in doing this. The returned soldiers, too, especially felt that of them some recognition was due for the honorable terms and respectful treatment accorded to them at Appomattox and Greensboro.
13. In such mood it would have been an easy task for a ruler who was both patriot and statesman to re-establish Federal authority in North Carolina. It was simply impossible to punish all who had fought against the Federal government. It was quite as impossible to expect the many who had fought against it to take part in punishing the few. Amnesty and oblivion on one side, renewed allegiance and strict observer of the laws on the other, plainly constituted the true solution of the problem. Unfortunately, the partisan prevailed over the patriot. Instead of granting amnesty and oblivion, treason was to be made odious and traitors to be punished. Instead of making the path easy back to the Union, it was constantly blocked up in every possible way by both State and Federal authority. Of course an era of bitterness began, which the long imprisonment of Mr. Davis, the judicial murders of Mrs Surratt and Henry Wirz, the protracted exclusion of the Southern States from all participation in the general government, and the harsh policy of reconstruction, daily served to intensify.
QUESTIONS.
1. What movement did General Johnston attempt after the surrender of General Lee? What men met General Sherman's army in behalf of the city of Raleigh?
2. When did Sherman's army reach Raleigh? What event is mentioned?
3. What was done by Johnston after learning of Lee's surrender? What occurred at Washington City?
4. What is said of President Andrew Johnson? How did he act concerning Johnston's surrender?
5. When and where did General Johnston surrender?