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the question of Sumter.
Four of the seven members now voted in favor of an attempt to supply the fort with provisions, and the President signed a memorandum order to prepare certain ships for such an expedition, under the command of Captain G. V. Fox.
So far, Mr. Lincoln's new duties as President of the United States had not in any wise put him at a disadvantage with his constitutional advisers.
Upon the old question of slavery he was as well informed and had clearer convictions and purposes than either Seward or Chase.
And upon the newer question of secession, and the immediate decision about Fort Sumter which it involved, the members of his cabinet were, like himself, compelled to rely on the professional advice of experienced army and navy officers.
Since these differed radically in their opinions, the President's own powers of perception and logic were as capable of forming a correct decision as men who had been governors and senators.
He had reached at least a partial decision in the memorandum he gave Fox to prepare ships for the Sumter expedition.
It must therefore have been a great surprise to the President when, on April I, Secretary of State Seward handed him a memorandum setting forth a number of most extraordinary propositions.
For a full enumeration of the items the reader must carefully study the entire document, which is printed below in a foot-note 1;
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