He said, with a great deal of emphasis, and with an expression of countenance I shall never forget: "When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives satisfactory evidence of the same, he can safely be pardoned, and there is no exception to the rule!
In his last public address, Lincoln recounts a friend's emphatic statement on the conditions for granting pardon.
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Fourth. That the naval forces at Charleston and their commander on that station be invited to participate in the ceremonies of the occasion.
If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.
Unlike a case of war between independent nations, there is no organized organ for us to treat with,--no one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man.
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