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believed a peaceful separation the surer and swifter way in which to shake the foundations of slavery.
Few guessed the depth and fervor of the Union sentiment which the cannon-shot in Charleston harbor was to rouse.
Disappointed by Mr. Seward's ‘penny-whistle,’ Mr. Garrison anxiously watched the bearing of the Presidentelect, on whose patriotism, courage, and firmness the destinies of the republic rested, and waited for his utterance.
‘It is much to the credit of Mr. Lincoln,’ he wrote in1 February, ‘that he has maintained his dignity and selfrespect intact, and gives no countenance to any of the compromises that have yet been proposed.’2 That his inauguration would be permitted in peace seemed hardly possible, and when the telegraph announced to the country on the afternoon of the 4th of March that the Buchanan Administration had ended, and the first Republican President had actually assumed office and delivered his inaugural address without interruption or disturbance, a day of feverish anxiety was succeeded, as Mr. Garrison wrote, “by a night of profoundest satisfaction and repose, . . . as though not a cloud rested upon the future.”
Lib. 31.38.3
2 This was evidently penned just after Mr. Garrison had seen a private letter from W. H. Herndon of Springfield, Ill., Mr. Lincoln's law partner, to S. E. Sewall, which concluded: ‘Mr. Lincoln yet remains firm as a rock. He is true game, and is strong in the faith of Justice, Right, Liberty, Man, and God. He has told me, not only once, but often and often, that rather than back down—rather than concede to traitors, his soul might go back to God from the wings of the Capitol. I believe it. He and I have been partners in law for thirteen years, and I know him’ (Ms. copy, Feb. 1).
3 It was not without a little surprise, after the election of Mr. Lincoln and Gov. Andrew, that Mr. Garrison found himself frequently appealed to by aspirants for office under the new Administration to endorse their applications. Standing wholly aloof, as he did, from the Republican party organization, and being a frequent and severe critic of the acts of its leaders, he had not imagined that he had any influence to lend in that direction, but he consented with some reluctance to recommend two or three persons whom he believed worthy and competent to Governor Andrew, at the same time apologizing for doing so. The Governor promptly sent this cordial and characteristic reply (Ms.):
The Century Company. , 1885-1889.
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