Cabinet meets. Welles, Diary.

President Lincoln writes to Secretary of State William H. Seward and instructs him to "proceed to Fortress-Monroe, Virginia," to "informally confer" with a Confederate peace commission, which includes Alexander H. Stephens, John A. Campbell, and Robert M. T. Hunter. Lincoln directs Seward to inform the participants of the President's stance on "national authority...Slavery...[and a] cessation of hostilities." Lincoln pledges that he will ponder any of the commission's proposals as long as they are "not inconsistent with" the positions that he has outlined. Abraham Lincoln to William H. Seward, 31 January 1865, CW, 8:250-51.

O. H. Browning and J. W. Singleton arrive at White House as President leaves for theater. They arrange meeting for following day. Browning, Diary.

At 11 P.M. Lincoln locates document relative to Confederate commissioners at Fortress Monroe and sends it to Sec. Seward. Seward to Lincoln, 31 January 1865, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Deposits November salary warrant for $1,981.67 in Riggs Bank. Pratt, Personal Finances, 183.

Thanks Cong. Cox (Ohio) for speech: "I sought it for the humor said to be in it; but while it meets expectations in that respect, it has a far higher merit." Abraham Lincoln to Samuel S. Cox, 31 January 1865, CW, 8:249.