Suggestions submitted to Jefferson Davis, President &c. &c.
[The elder Blair had met with Lincoln on December 28, 1864 and obtained a pass that allowed him to travel through the military lines and into the Confederacy. The ostensible purpose of Blair's mission was to visit Richmond in an attempt to recover papers that had been taken from his home at Silver Spring, Maryland by Jubal Early's soldiers the previous July. The real purpose of Blair's trip was to discuss terms of peace with Jefferson Davis. Blair met with Davis on January 12, 1865 and presented a plan to reunite the two sections by having the armies of North and South join together to drive the French puppet regime from Mexico. Davis gave serious consideration to Blair's proposal and agreed to send peace commissioners to meet with representatives of the United States. Lincoln personally met with the commissioners at Hampton Roads on February 3. Terms of peace could not be agreed upon because the Confederates refused to accept Lincoln's notion that the rebels states had never left the Union and that the Confederates were still part of "our one common country."]
Paper read to Jefferson Davis by F P Blair of Silver Spring referred to in report of conversation
"The design of Louis Napoleon in reference to conquest on this continent is not left to conjecture. With extraordinary frankness he made a public declaration that his object was to make the latin race supreme in the Southern section of the north American continent.-- This is a Napoleanic idea. The great Napoleon, in a letter or one of his dictations at St. Halena, states that it had been his purpose to embody an army of Negroe's in St. Domingo, to be landed in the Slave States with French support to instigate the blacks there to insurrection, and through revolution effect conquest. Louis Napoleon saw revolution involving the struggle of races and sections on the question of slavery made to his hand, when he instantly recurred to his Uncles ideas of establishing Colonies to create Commerce and a Navy for France and to breed the material for Armies, to maintain his European Empire. The moment he perceived our phrenzied people engaged in perpetrating a national suicide he invaded Mexico to take up a position on the Southern flank of this Republic to avail himself of its distractions as well as those of Mexico to give effect to the darling scheme of the Bonapartist dynasty, to make for the Latin race in all our regions on the Gulf, a seat of power under the auspices of France. His phraze " Supremacy of the latin race" was to conciliate to his object, the whole Spanish as well as the French and the mixed populations, which originally founded and built up the Colonies that introduced civilization around the Gulf of Mexico and on the streams of its wilderness interior.
Jefferson Davis, is the fortunate man who now holds the commanding position to encounter this formidable scheme of conquest, and whose fiat can at the same time deliver his country from the bloody agony now covering it in mourning. He can drive Maximilian from his American throne -- baffle the designs of Napoleon to subject our Southern people to the "latin race" -- with a breath he can blow away all pretence for proscription, conscription, or confiscation in the Southern States -- restore their fields to luxuriant cultivation -- their ports to the commerce of the world -- their constitutions and their rights under them as essentially a part of the constitution of the United States to that strong guaranty under which they flourished for nearly a century not only as equals but down to the hour of conflict the prevalent power on the Continent-- All this may be acheived by means which, so far from subjecting the weaker section of our Republic to humiliation on those assertings its cause by secession to dishonor, will add to the glory of both.
To accomplish this great good for our common country, President Lincoln has opened the way in his amnesty proclamation and the message which looks to armistice-- Suppose the first enlarged to embrace all engaged in the War-- Suppose secret preliminaries to armistice enable President Davis to transfer such portions of his Army, as he may deem proper for his purpose, to Texas, held out to it as the land of promise,-- Suppose this force on the banks of the Rio Grande, armed, equipped and provided, and Juarez propitiated and rallying the Liberals of Mexico to give it Welcome and support, could it not enter Mexico in full confidence of expelling the invadors, who taking advantage of the distractions of our own Republic, have overthrown that of Mexico and established a foreign despotism to rule that land and spread its power over ours? I know Romero,4 the able, patriotic Minister who represents the Republic of Mexico near our government, -- he is intimate with my son Montgomery, who is persuaded that he could induce Juarez to devote all the power he can command on President Davis -- a dictatorship if necessary -- to restore the rights of Mexico & her people and provide for the stability of its government. "