January 31, 1861. |
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usurpation on the part of the Executive to give any assurance that Congress would not exercise that power.
When this correspondence reached Charleston, Governor Pickens ordered Hayne to present the demand for the surrender of Sumter forthwith.
He did so,
in a letter of considerable length, to which Secretary Holt gave a final answer on the 6th of February, in which, as in his reply to Senators Fitzpatrick, Mallory, and Slidell, he claimed for the Government the right to send forward re-enforcements when, in the judgment of the President, the safety of the garrison required them — a right resting on the same foundation as the right to occupy the fort.
He denied the right of South Carolina to the possession of the fort, and said:--“If the announcement, so repeatedly made, of the President's pacific purpose in continuing the occupation of Fort Sumter until the question shall be settled by competent authority, has failed to impress the government of South Carolina, the forbearing conduct of the Administration for the last few months should be received as conclusive evidence of his sincerity.
And if this forbearance, in view of the circumstances which have so severely tried it, be not accepted as a satisfactory pledge of the peaceful policy of this Administration towards South Carolina, then it may be safely affirmed that neither language nor conduct can possibly furnish one.
If, with all the multiplied proofs which exist of the President's anxiety for peace, and of the earnestness with which he has pursued it, the authorities of that State shall assault Fort Sumter, and peril the lives of the handful of brave and loyal men shut up within its walls, and thus plunge our common country into the horrors of civil war, then upon them and those they represent must rest the responsibility.”
Here ended the attempt of the conspirators of South Carolina to have the sovereignty of that State acknowledged by diplomatic intercourse.
It had utterLy failed.
The President refused to receive Governor Pickens's agent, excepting as “a distinguished citizen of South Carolina,” and also refused any compliance with the demands of the authorities of that State.
He had been strongly inclined to yield to these demands; but recent manifestations of public opinion convinced him that he could not do so without exciting the hot indignation of the loyal portion of the people.
Coincident with these manifestations were the strong convictions of Holt, Dix, and Attorney-General Stanton of his Cabinet.1
1 The secret history of these public demonstrations of a desire to hold Fort Sumter has been given by General Daniel E. Sickles, in a brief eulogy of Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War during a greater portion of Mr. Lincoln's Administration. “Toward evening, on one of the gloomy days in the winter of 1861,” says Sickles, “the Attorney-General [Stanton] sent for one of the representatives in Congress from New York, and informed him that unless the public opinion of the North was instantly manifested, the President would yield to the demand of South Carolina, and order Major Anderson back from Sumter to Moultrie. It was decided at once that an envoy should go to the principal Northern cities and announce that the President had decided to maintain Anderson in Sumter at all hazards. 4 Fire some powder, ‘ said Stanton; ’ all we can do yet is to fire blank cartridges; a thousand bullets or a bale of hemp would save us from a bloody rebellion. The President will not strike a blow, but he will resist if he sees the temper of the people demands resistance. Go and fire some cannon, and let the echoes come to the White House. The next day salutes were fired in New York, Philadelphia, Albany, and other cities, in honor of President Buchanan's determination to sustain the gallant Anderson. Congratulating telegrams were sent from prominent men in all these cities to the President; the corporate authorities of New York passed earnest resolutions of support; several journals, in leading articles of remarkable power, indorsed and commended the decision of the President. The next day the decision was made. The demand of South Carolina for the evacuation of Fort Sumter was refused; it remained only for the South to secede, or make war.” --Address at the Opening of the American Institute Fair, in rew York, on the 12th of September, 1865.
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