272 
ABRAHAM  LIXCOLN. 
Here  was  a  new  and  most  serious  addi- 
tional warning.  The  investigation  on  which 
it  was  based  was  altogether  independent  of 
that  made  by  Pinkerton,  and  entirely  unknown 
to  him.  Colonel  Stone,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  the  officer  to  whom  General  Scott  in- 
trusted the  organization  and  command  of  the 
District  Militia  for  the  defense  of  Washington 
and  the  general  supervision  and  control  of  the 
city.  The  detectives,  three  in  number,  were 
from  New  York,  and  at  the  request  of  Colonel 
Stone  had  been  selected  and  placed  on  duty 
by  Mr.  Kennedy,  superintendent  of  police  of 
New  York  city.*  In  both  cases  similar  observa- 
tions had  been  made,  and  similar  conclusions 
arrived  at. 
Warned  thus  of  danger  by  concurrent  evi- 
dence too  grave  to  be  disregarded,  and  advised 
to  avoid  it,  not  only  by  Judd  and  Feltonin  Phil- 
adelphia, but  now  also  by  Mr.  Seward,  the 
chief  of  his  new  Cabinet,  and  by  General  Scott, 
the  chief  of  the  army,  Mr.  Lincoln  could  no 
longer  hesitate  to  adopt  their  suggestion. 
Whether  the  evidence  would  prove  ultimately 
true,  or  whether  violence  upon  him  would  be 
attempted,  wras  not  the  question.  The  exist- 
ence of  the  danger  was  pointed  out  and  cer- 
tified by  an  authority  he  had  no  right  to 
disregard;  the  trust  he  bore  was  not  merely 
the  personal  safety  of  an  individual,  but  the 
fortune  and  perhaps  the  fate  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  nation.  It  was  his  imperative  duty 
to  shun  all  possible  and  unnecessary  peril.  A 
man  of  less  courage  would  have  shrunk  from 
wThat  must  inevitably  appear  to  the  public  like 
a  sign  of  timidity ;  but  Lincoln  on  this  and 
other  occasions  concerned  himself  only  with 
the  larger  issues  at  stake,  leaving  minor  and 
especially  personal  consequences  to  take  care 
of  themselves.  Mr.  Frederick  W.  Seward  was 
therefore  informed  by  Judd  "  that  he  could 
say  to  his  father  that  all  had  been  arranged, 
and  that,  so  far  as  human  foresight  could  pre- 
dict, Mr.  Lincoln  would  be  in  Washington  at 
6  o'clock  the  next  morning."  t  With  this 
message  Mr.  Seward  returned  to  Washington, 
while  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  suite  proceeded  to 
Harrisburg,  where  on  that  same  Friday,  the  2 2d 
of  February,  he  was  officially  received  by  the 
governor  and  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania. 
No  other  member  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  suite  had 
as  yet  been  notified  of  anything  connected  with 
the  matter ;  but  Mr.  Judd  had  suggested  to 
him  that  he  felt  exceedingly  the  responsibility 
of  the  advice  he  had  given  and  the  steps  he 
*  See  Lossing,  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  II.,  pp.  147-149, 
a  letter  from  Kennedy,  and  the  narrative  of  Colonel 
Stone. 
t  Judd  to  Pinkerton,  November  3d,  1867. 
X  Many  caricatures  and  comments  of  that  day  were 
based  upon  the  following  sentence  in  a  dispatch  to  the 
"  New  York  Times  "  :  "  He  wore  a  Scotch  plaid  cap  and 
had  taken,  and  that  he  thought  it  due  to  the 
age  and  standing  of  the  leading  gentlemen  of 
the  President-elect's  party  that  at  least  they 
should  be  informed  and  consulted.  "  To  the 
above  suggestions,"  writes  Judd,  "  Mr.  Lin- 
coln assented,  adding  :  '  I  reckon  they  will 
laugh  at  us,  Judd,  but  you  had  better  get  them 
together/  It  was  arranged  that  after  the  re- 
ception at  the  State-house,  and  before  dinner, 
the  matter  should  be  fully  laid  before  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen  of  the  party  :  Judge  David 
Davis,  Colonel  E.  V.  Sumner,  Major  David 
Hunter,  Captain  John  Pope,  and  Ward  H. 
Lamon." 
Mr.  Judd's  narrative  then  further  recites  what 
occurred : 
"  The  meeting  thus  arranged  took  place  in  the  par- 
lor of  the  hotel,  Mr.  Lincoln  being  present.  The  facts 
were  laid  before  them  by  me,  together  with  the  details 
of  the  proposed  plan  of  action.  There  was  a  diversity 
of  opinion,  and  some  warm  discussion,  and  I  was  sub- 
jected to  a  very  rigid  cross-examination.  Judge  Davis, 
who  had  expressed  no  opinion,  but  contented  himself 
with  asking  rather  pointed  questions,  turned  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,  who  had  been  listening  to  the  whole  discus- 
sion, and  said  :  *  Well,  Mr.  Lincoln,  what  is  your  own 
judgment  upon  this  matter  ?  '  Mr.  Lincoln  replied : 
'  I  have  thought  over  this  matter  considerably,  since  I 
went  over  the  ground  with  Pinkerton  last  night.  The 
appearance  of  Mr.  Frederick  Seward,  with  warning 
from  another  source,  confirms  Mr.  Pinkerton's  belief. 
Unless  there  are  some  other  reasons  besides  fear  of 
ridicule,  I  am  disposed  to  carry  out  Judd's  plan.'  Judge 
Davis  then  said  :  '  That  settles  the  matter,  gentlemen.' 
Colonel  Sumner  said :  '  So  be  it,  gentlemen ;  it  is  against 
my  judgment,  but  I  have  undertaken  to  go  to  Wash- 
ington with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  I  shall  do  it.'  I  tried  to 
convince  him  that  any  additional  person  added  to  the 
risk  ;  but  the  spirit  of  the  gallant  old  soldier  was  up, 
and  debate  was  useless. 
"  The  party  separated  about  4  P.  M.,  the  others  to  go 
to  the- dinner  table,  and  myself  to  go  to  the  railroad 
station  and  the  telegraph  office.  At  a  quarter  to  6  I 
was  back  at  the  hotel,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  still  at  the 
table.  In  a  few  moments  the  carriage  drove  up  to  the 
side  door  of  the  hotel.  Either  Mr.  Nicolay  or  Mr. 
Lamon  called  Mr.  Lincoln  from  the  table.  He  went  to 
his  room,  changed  his  dinner  dress  for  a  traveling  suit, 
and  came  down  with  a  soft  hat  sticking  in  his  pocket, 
and  his  shawl  on  his  arm4  As  the  party  passed  through 
the  hall  I  said,  in  a  low  tone,  '  Lamon,  go  ahead.  As 
soon  as  Mr.  Lincoln  is  in  the  carriage,  drive  off;  the 
crowd  must  not  be  allowed  to  identify  him.'  Mr.  La- 
mon went  first  to  the  carriage ;  Colonel  Sumner  was 
following  close  after  Mr.  Lincoln ;  I  put  my  hand  gently 
on  his  shoulder ;  he  turned  to  see  what  was  wanted, 
and  before  I  could  explain,  the  carriage  was  off.  The 
situation  was  a  little  awkward,  to  use  no  stronger  terms, 
for  a  few  moments,  until  I  said  to  the  Colonel :  '  When 
we  get  to  Washington,  Mr.  Lincoln  shall  determine 
what  apology  is  due  to  you.'  " 
It  is  needless  to  describe  the  various  stages 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  journey.    The  plan  arranged 
a  very  long  military  cloak,  so  that  he  was  entirely  un- 
recognizable." This  description  was  the  pure  in- 
vention of  a  newspaper  correspondent  understood 
to  be  Joseph  Howard,  Jr.,  who  later  in  the  war 
was  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafayette  for  publishing  a 
forged  proclamation,  about  the  draft,  in  the  New  York 
newspapers.
LINCOLN'S   INA  UG  URA  770 N. 
by  the  railroad  and  telegraph  ofiieials  was 
carried  out  to  the  smallest  detail,  without  de- 
lay or  special  incident,  and  without  coming  to 
the  knowledge  of  any  person  on  the  train  or 
elsewhere,  except  those  to  whom  the  secret 
was  confided.  The  President-elect  and  his 
single  companion  were  safely  and  comfortably 
carried  from  Harrisburg  to  Philadelphia,  and 
at  midnight  took  their  berths  in  the  sleeping- 
WARD     H.    LAMOK.       (FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH     BY    BRADY.) 
car  of  the  regular  train  from  New  York,  pass- 
ing through  Baltimore  unrecognized  and  un- 
disturbed, and  arriving  in  Washington  at  6 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  February  23d.  Here 
they  were  met  by  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Wash- 
burne,  member  of  Congress  from  Illinois,  and 
conducted  to  Willard's  Hotel.  The  family  and 
the  suite  made  the  journey  direct  from  Har- 
risburg to  .Baltimore,  according  to  the  previ- 
ously published  programme,  arriving  in  Wash- 
ington late  that  evening.  They  encountered 
in  Baltimore  no  incivility,  nor  any  unusual 
disorder,  though,  as  elsewhere,  dense  crowds, 
very  inadequately  controlled  by  the  police, 
surrounded  the  railroad  depots  and  filled  the 
streets  through  which  their  carriages  passed. 
All  temptation,  however,  to  commit  an  assault 
was  now  past,  since  it  was  everywhere  known 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  with  the  party,  but 
had  already  arrived  at  his  destination. 
Lincoln's  inauguration. 
Arrived  in  Washington,  and  installed  in 
the  spacious  parlors  on  the  second  floor  of 
Vol.  XXXV.— 39. 
Willard's  Hotel,  fronting  on  Pennsylvania  Av- 
enue, Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  little  more  than  a 
week  to  prepare  for  the  inauguration.  Cjf  this 
a  part  was  taken  up  with  the  customary  in- 
troductory visits, —  to  the  outgoing  President 
and  Cabinet,  where  Mr.  Buchanan  and  his 
counselors  received  him  with  cordial  polite- 
ness; to  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  where 
he  was  enthusiastically  welcomed  by  friends 
and  somewhat  sullenly  greeted  by 
foes ;  and  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  whose  ven- 
erable chief  and  associate  justices 
extended  to  him  an  affable  recogni- 
tion as  the  lawful  successor  in  con- 
stitutional rulership.  In  his  own 
parlors,  also,  the  President-elect  re- 
ceived numerous  demonstrations  of 
respect.  President  Buchanan  and 
his  Cabinet  officially  returned  his 
visit.  The  Peace  Conference,  em- 
bracing distinguished  delegates  from 
all  the  free  States  and  the  border 
slave-States,  and"  headed  by  their 
chairman,  ex-President  Tyler,  wait- 
ed upon  him  in  a  body,  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  formal  and  unanimous 
resolution.*  His  presidential  rivals. 
Douglas  and  Breckinridge,  each 
made  him  a  call  of  courtesy.  The 
mayor  and  the  municipal  council 
came  in  an  official  visit  of  welcome. 
Several  delegations  and  many  high 
functionaries  repeated  these  cere- 
monial calls,  which  again  were  sup- 
plemented by  numerous  cordial  in- 
vitations to  private  hospitality.  While  all  these 
tokens  of  respect  were  sincere  and  loyal,  there 
was  no  concealment  of  a  deep  anxiety  in  pub- 
lic feeling,  and  a  curiosity  to  learn  how  the 
new  President  wrould  deal  with  an  organized 
rebellion,  which  had  been  allowed  by  his  pre- 
decessor to  establish  itself  without  the  least 
hindrance,  and  which,  while  committing  re- 
peated acts  of  war,  had  as  yet  perpetrated 
no  violence  or  bloodshed, —  only,  however, 
because  it  had  met  neither  official  nor  military 
resistance. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  chief  labor  during  this  inter- 
im wras  his  consultation  with  the  more  influ- 
ential leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  who, 
either  as  members  of  Congress,  delegates  in 
the  Peace  Conference,  or  as  casual  or  special 
visitors  to  the  capital  at  this  moment,  had  a 
final  word  to  say  to  him  about  the  composi- 
tion of  his  Cabinet  or  the  policy  of  his  Admin- 
istration. Thus  from  the  23d  of  February  to 
the  4th  of  March,  every  moment  of  the  day 
and  many  hours  of  the  night  were  occupied. 
As  his  doors  were  at  all  times  freely  opened. 
*"  Proceedings  of  Peace  Conference,"  pp.  336-537.
274 
ABRAHAM  LIXCOLiX 
and  as  his  life-long  habit  was  to  listen  patiently 
to  counsel  from  all  quarters,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  no  President  ever  approached  his  task 
better  informed  oi  the  temper  of  his  followers, 
and  none  decided  more  deliberately  upon  his 
FREDERICK    W.    SEWARD.       (FROM     A    PHOTOGRAPH     BY     BRADY.) 
general  course  of  conduct.  Yet,  here  as  after- 
wards, he  followed  the  practice  of  holding  his 
convictions  open  to  the  latest  moment,  and  of 
not  irrevocably  committing  himself  to  specific 
acts  till  the  instant  of  their  execution. 
Neither  in  the  formation  of  his  Cabinet  nor 
in  his  proposed  administrative  policy,  however, 
did  this  final  consultation  with  his  party  friends 
work  any  essential  alteration  of  his  own  well- 
formed  opinions.  His  executive  counselors 
were  chosen  upon  plans  long  since  matured 
in  his  own  mind;  and  his  inaugural  address, 
composed  and  privately  printed  at  Springfield, 
received  on  the  last  days  several  slight  changes 
in  the  text,  and  a  number  of  verbal  changes, 
mainly  suggested  by  the  very  few  individuals 
to  whom  he  submitted  it.  Judge  David  Davis 
read  it  while  in  Springfield.  Hon.  O.  H.  Brown- 
ing read  it  in  Indianapolis  after  the  presidential 
journey  was  begun,  and  suggested  perhaps  the 
most  important  modification  which  he  made. 
Hon.  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr.,read  it  in  Washing- 
ton, and  highly  commended  it,  suggesting  no 
changes.  As  would  be  natural  in  any  great  po- 
litical leader  scanning  his  successful  rival's  first 
act  of  practical  statesmanship,  the  most  care- 
ful scrutiny  of  the  document  was  made  by  Mr. 
Seward.  The  President-elect  handed  him  a 
copy  some  time  during  the  day  of  his  arrival ; 
and  the  next  day  being  Sunday,  Mr.  Seward 
seems  to  have  spent  the  greater  part  of  it  in 
examining  the  inaugural  and  in  writing  out 
the  list  of  alterations  and  amendments  which 
he  thought  advisable.  On  Sunday  evening 
he  wrote  the  following  letter,  which  with  his 
list  of  suggestions  he  sent  to  Mr.  Lincoln : 
"  Sunday  Evening,  February  24th,  1861. 
"  My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  suggested  many  changes 
of  little  importance  severally,  but  in  their  general  ef- 
fect tending  to  soothe  the  public  mind.  Of  course  the 
concessions  are,  as  they  ought  to  be,  if  they  are  to  be 
of  avail,  at  the  cost  of  the  winning,  the  triumphant 
party.  I  do  not  fear  their  displeasure.  They  will  be 
loyal,  whatever  is  said.  Not  so  the  defeated,  irritated, 
angered,  frenzied  party.  I,  my  dear  sir,  have  devoted 
myself  singly  to  the  study  of  the  case  here  —  with  ad- 
vantages of  access  and  free  communication  with  all 
parties  of  all  sections.  I  have  a  common  responsibility 
and  interest  with  you,  and  I  shall  adhere  to  you  faith- 
fully in  every  case.  You  must,  therefore,  allow  me  to 
speak  frankly  and  candidly.  In  this  spirit,  I  declare 
to  you  my  conviction,  that  the  second  and  third  para- 
graphs, even  if  modified  as  I  propose  in  my  amend- 
ments, will  give  such  advantages  to  the  Disunionists 
that  Virginia  and  Maryland  will  secede,  and  we  shall 
within  ninety,  perhaps  within  sixty,  days  be  obliged  to 
fight  the  South  for  this  capital,  with  a  divided  North 
for  our  reliance,  and  we  shall  not  have  one  loyal  mag- 
istrate or  ministerial  officer  south  of  the  Potomac. 
"  In  that  case  the  dismemberment  of  the  Republic 
would  date  from  the  inauguration  of  a  Republican  ad- 
ministration. I  therefore  most  respectfully  counsel  the 
omission  of  those  paragraphs.  I  know  the  tenacity  of 
party  friends,  and  I  honor  and  respect  it.  But  I  know 
also  that  they  know  nothing  of  the  real  peril  of  the 
crisis.  It  has  not  been  their  duty  to  study  it,  as  it  has 
been  mine.  Only  the  soothing  words  which  I  have 
spoken  have  saved  us  and  carried  us  along  thus  far. 
Every  loyal  man,  and  indeed  every  disloyal  man,  in  the 
South  will  tell  you  this. 
"  Your  case  is  quite  like  that  of  Jefferson.  Hebrought 
the  first  Republican  party  into  power  against  and  over 
a  party  ready  to  resist  and  dismember  the  Government. 
Partisan  as  he  was,  he  sank  the  partisan  in  the  patriot 
in  his  inaugural  address,  and  propitiated  his  adversa- 
ries by  declaring  :  '  We  are  all  Federalists,  all  Re- 
publicans.' I  could  wish  that  you  would  think  it  wise 
to  follow  this  example  in  this  crisis.  Be  sure  that  while 
all  your  administrative  conduct  will  be  in  harmony 
with  Republican  principles  and  policy,  you  cannot  lose 
the  Republican  party  by  practicing  in  your  advent  to 
office  the  magnanimity  of  a  victor. 
"  Very  faithfully  your  friend, 
"  [Wm.  H.  Reward.] 
"  The  Honorable  Abraham  Lincoln. 
"  General  Remarks : 
"  The  argument  is  strong  and  conclusive,  and  ought 
not  to  be  in  anyway  abridged  or  modified. 
"  But  something  besides  or  in  addition  to  argument 
is  needful  —  to  meet  and  remove  prejudice  and  pas- 
sion in  the  South,  and  despondency  and  fear  in  the 
East. 
"  Some  words  of  affection  —  some  of  calm  and  cheer- 
ful confidence."  * 
Mr.  Seward  only  suggested  two  important 
changes:  (1)  To  omit  the  reference  to  the 
Chicago  platform  mentioned  in  his  letter,  with 
the  announcement  that  the  President  would 
*  Unpublished  MS.  For  the  copy  of  this  letter  and 
other  valuable  manuscripts,  we  are  indebted  to  Hon. 
Frederick  W.   Seward.
LINCOLN'S  IN  A  UG  URA  HON 
follow    the    principles    therein   declared.    (2)  tentious  diction.     The  literary  styles  of  Mr. 
Instead  of  a  declaration  of  intention  to  re-  Seward  and  Mr.  Lincoln  differed  essentially, 
claim,  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  places  Mr.  Seward  was  strongly  addicted  to  and  un- 
and  property  belonging  to  the  Government,  usually  felicitous  in  long,  sonorous  sentences, 
to  speak  ambiguously  about  the  exercise  of  amplifying  his  thought  to  general  application 
WILLIAM     H.     SEWARD. 
power,  and  to  hint  rather  at  forbearance.  The 
other  modifications  in  his  list  were  simple 
changes  of  phraseology  —  affecting  only  the 
style,  but  changing  no  argument  or  proposi- 
tion of  policy.  Whether  these  were  on  the 
whole  an  improvement  depends  perhaps  upon 
the  taste  of  the  reader  and  critic,  whether  he 
prefers  a  full  and  formal  or  a  direct  and  sen- 
and  to  philosophic  breadth.  Mr.  Lincoln  liked 
to  condense  his  idea  into  a  short  sentence, 
with  legal  conciseness  and  specific  point.  In 
the  present  crisis  Air.  Seward's  policy,  as  an- 
nounced in  his  1 2th  of  January  speech,  was 
"to  meet  prejudice  with  conciliation,  exac- 
tion with  concession  which  surrenders  no 
principle,  and  violence  with  the  right  hand  of
2"j6 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
peace."*  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy  was,  without 
prejudice  or  passion  to  state  frankly  and  main- 
tain firmly  the  position  and  doctrines  assumed 
by  the  American  people  in  the  late  presiden- 
tial election.  Mr.  Seward  believed  himself  to 
be  the  past  and  the  coming  peacemaker;  and 
thus  his  whole  effort  was  to  soften,  to  post- 
pone, to  use  diplomacy.  His  corrections  of 
the  inaugural  were  in  this  view:  a  more  care- 
fk  a  IP  -  ■  - 
seized  by  the  rebels,  but  for  the  present  to 
declare  only  that  he  would  hold  those  yet  in 
possession  of  the  Government.  One  other 
somewhat  important  change  Mr.  Lincoln 
himself  made.  In  the  original  draft  any  idea 
of  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  was 
rather  repelled  than  invited.  In  the  revision 
Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  should  "  favor  rather  than 
oppose  a  fair  opportunity  being  afforded  the 
people  to  act  upon  it,"  and  further  expressed 
his  willingness  to  accept  the  amendment 
recently  proposed  by  Congress.  All  these 
various  alterations,  proposed  or  adopted,  are 
added  as  notes  to  the  text  of  the  inaugural  in 
this  chapter,  where  the  critical  student  will 
compare  them  with  special  interest. 
It  was  in  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  inau- 
gural that  Mr.  Lincoln's  mastery  in  literary  art 
clearly  revealed  itself.  Mr.  Seward,  as  we  have 
seen  in  the  postscript  of  his  letter,  thought  that 
"  some  words  of  affection  —  some  of  calm  and 
cheerful  confidem 
to  meet   and  remove 
prejudice  and  passion  in  the  South,  and  de- 
spondency and  fear  in  the  East,"  ought  to  be 
added.  In  the  original  draft  the  concluding 
sentence,  addressing  itself  to  "  my  dissatis- 
fied fellow-countrymen,"  was:  "With  you  and 
THE     INAUGURATION     OF    LINCOLN.       (FROM     A     SKETCH     BY    THEODORE    R.     DAVIS,     MADE    AT    THE    TIME.) 
ful  qualification  of  statement,  a  greater  ambi- 
guity of  phrase,  a  gain  in  smoothness,  but  a 
loss  in  brevity  and  force.  Mr.  Lincoln  adopted 
either  in  whole  or  in  part  nearly  all  the  amend- 
ments proposed  by  Mr.  Seward.  But  those 
which  he  himself  modified,  and  such  further 
alterations  as  he  added  of  his  own  accord, 
show  that  whatever  the  inaugural  gained  in 
form  and  style  in  these  final  touches  came  as 
much  through  his  own  power  of  literary  crit- 
icism as  from  the  more  practiced  pen  of  Mr. 
Seward.  The  most  vital  change  in  the  docu- 
ment was  in  adopting  a  suggestion  of  his  friend 
Browning,  not  to  announce  a  purpose  to  re- 
capture   Sumter  and   other  forts  and   places 
*  Seward,  Senate  Speech,  January  12th,  1861.  Globe, 
343- 
not  with  me  is  the  solemn  question,  Shall  it  be 
peace  or  a  sword  ?  "  This  ending  Mr.  Seward 
proposed  to  strike  out,  and  submitted  two  drafts 
of  a  closing  paragraph  to  take  its  place.  One 
of  them  was  long  and  commonplace  ;  under 
the  other  lurked  a  fine  poetic  thought  awk- 
wardly expressed.  This  Mr.  Lincoln  took,  but 
his  more  artistic  sense  transformed  it  into  an 
illustration  of  perfect  and  tender  beauty. 
The  acts  of  the  last  ten  days  of  Mr.  Buchan- 
an's administration  were  entirely  colorless  and 
negative.  The  deliberations  and  recommenda- 
tions of  the  much-vaunted  Peace  Conference 
proved  as  barren  and  worthless  as  Dead  Sea 
fruit.  The  concluding  labors  of  Congress  were 
of  considerable  importance,  but  of  no  immedi- 
ate effect.  There  was,  therefore,  as  little  in  pub-
LINCOLN'S  INAUGURATION. 
lie  affairs  as  in  public  advice  to  cause  the 
President-elect  to  reconsider  or  remodel  his 
thoughts  and  purposes. 
Inauguration  Day  fell  on  Monday,  and  the 
ceremonies  took  place  with  somewhat  unusual 
attention  to  display  and  very  uncommon  pre- 
cautions to  insure  public  order  and  the  safety 
of  all  the  participants.  General  Stone,  who  had 
charge  of  the  military  arrangements,  has  re- 
lated them  with  some  minuteness. 
"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  3d  of  March,  General  Scott 
held  a  conference  at  his  headquarters,  there  being  pres- 
ent his  staff,  General  Sumner,  and  myself;  and  then 
was  arranged  the  programme  of  the  procession.  Presi- 
dent Buchanan  was  to .  drive  to  Willard's  Hotel  and 
call  upon  the  President-elect.  The  two  were  to  ride  in 
the  same  carriage,  between  double  files  of  a  squadron 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  cavalry.  The  company  of 
sappers  and  miners  were  to  march  in  front  of  the  presi- 
dential carriage,  and  the  infantry  and  riflemen  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  were  to  follow  it.  Riflemen  in 
squads  were  to  be  placed  on  the  roofs  of  certain  com- 
manding houses  which  I  had  selected  along  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue,  with  orders  to  watch  the  windows  on 
the  opposite  side,  and  to  fire  upon  them  in  case  any 
attempt  should  be  made  to  fire  from  those  windows 
on  the  presidential  carriage.  The  small  force  of  regu- 
lar cavalry  which  had  arrived  was  to  guard  the  side- 
street  crossings  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  and  to  move 
from  one  to  another  during  the  passage  of  the  proces- 
sion. A  battalion  of  District  of  Columbia  troops  were 
to  be  placed  near  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  and  riflemen 
in  the  windows  of  the  wings  of  the  Capitol.  On  the  ar- 
rival of  the  presidential  party  at  the  Capitol  the  troops 
were  to  be  stationed  so  as  to  return  in  the  same  order 
after  the  ceremony."* 
General  Stone  does  not  mention  another 
item  of  preparation, — that  on  the  brow  of  the 
hill,  not  far  from  the  north  entrance  to  the 
Capitol,  commanding  both  the  approach  and 
the  broad  plateau  of  the  east  front,  was  sta- 
tioned a  battery  of  flying  artillery,  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  which  General  Scott  remained 
a  careful  observer  of  the  scene  during  trie  entire 
ceremonies,  ready  to  take  personal  command 
and  direction  should  any  untoward  occurrence 
render  it  necessary. 
The  closing  duties  of  the  session,  which  ex- 
pired at  noon,  kept  President  Buchanan  at  the 
Capitol  till  the  last  moment.  Accompanied  by 
the  committee  of  the  Senate,  he  finally  reached 
Willard's  and  conducted  the  President-elect 
to  his  carriage,  in  which,  side  by  side,  they 
rode  in  the  procession,  undisturbed  by  the 
slightest  disorder.  When  they  reached  the 
Senate  Chamber,  already  densely  packed  with 
officials  and  civilians,  the  ceremony  of  swear- 
ing-in the  Vice-President  was  soon  performed. 
*  General  C.  P.  Stone,  "Washington  on  the  Eve  of 
the  War."     The  Century,  July,  1883. 
t  The  dramatic  element  of  the  scene  in  another  view 
has  been  noticed  by  Dr.  Holland,  in  his  "  Life  of  Lin- 
coln," p.  278,  where  he  says:  "  Mr.  Lincoln  himself 
must  have  wondered  at  the  strange  conjunction  of  per- 
sonages and  events.  The  '  Stephen  '  of  his  first  speech 
in  the  old  senatorial  campaign  was  a  defeated  candidate 
Vol.  XXXV.— 40. 
Then  in  a  new  procession  of  dignitaries  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  escorted  through  the  corridor  of 
the  great  edifice  to  the  east  portico,  where  be- 
low the  platform  stood  an  immense  throng  in 
waiting.  The  principal  actors  —  the  Senate 
Committee  of  Arrangements,  the  out-going 
President,  the  President-elect  and  his  family, 
the  Chief-Justice  in  his  rob^e,  the  Clerk  of  the 
Court  with  the  Bible  —  took  their  places  in  a 
central  group  on  the  front  of  the  platform,  in 
full  view  of  the  waiting  multitude.  Around  this 
central  group  other  judges  in  their  robes,  sen- 
ators, representatives,  officials,  and  prominent 
guests  crowded  to  their  seats. 
To  the  imaginative  spectator  there  might 
have  been  something  emblematic  in  the  archi- 
tectural concomitants  of  the  scene..  The  con- 
struction of  the  great  dome  of  the  Capitol  was 
in  mid-progress,  and  huge  derricks  held  by  a 
network  of  steel  ropes  towered  over  the  incom- 
plete structure.  In  the  grounds  in  front  stood 
the  bronze  statue  of  Liberty,  not  then  lifted  to 
the  pedestal  from  which  she  now  greets  the 
rising  sun.  At  that  moment,  indeed,  it  required 
little  poetic  illusion  to  fancy  her  looking  with  a 
mute  appeal  for  help  to  the  man  who  was  the 
center  of  all  eyes  and  hearts ;  and  could  she 
have  done  so,  her  gaze  would  already  have 
been  rewarded  with  a  vision  of  fateful  proph- 
ecy. For  in  the  central  group  of  this  inaugura- 
tion ceremony  there  confronted  each  other  four 
historic  personages  in  the  final  act  of  a  polit- 
ical drama  which  in  its  scope,  completeness, 
and  consequence  will  bear  comparison  with 
those  most  famous  in  human  record, —  Sena- 
tor Douglas,  the  author  of  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  representing  the  legis- 
lative power  of  the  American  Government ; 
Chief-Justice  Taney,  author  of  the  Dred  Scott 
decision,  representing  the  influence  of  the  ju- 
diciary ;  and  President  Buchanan,  who  by  his 
Lecompton  measures  and  messages  had  used 
the  whole  executive  power  and  patronage  to 
intensify  and  perpetuate  the  mischiefs  born  of 
the  repeal  and  the  dictum.  Fourth  in  the 
group  stood  Abraham  Lincoln,  President-elect, 
illustrating  the  vital  political  truth  announced 
in  that  sentence  of  his  Cincinnati  speech  in 
which  he  declared : 
"  The  people  of  these  United  States  are  the  rightful 
masters  of  both  Congresses  and  Courts,  not  to  over- 
throw the  Constitution,  but  to  overthrow  the  men  who 
pervert  the  Constitution."  t 
When  the  cheers  which  greeted  his  appear- 
for  the  presidency,  who  then  stood  patriotically  at  his 
side,  holding  the  hat  of  the  republican  President,  which 
he  had  politely  taken  at  the  beginning  of  the  inaugural 
address  ;  'James  '  had  just  walked  out  of  office  to  make 
room  for  him ;  '  Franklin '  had  passed  into  comparative 
obscurity  or  something  worse;  and  '  Roger  '  had  just 
administered  to  him  the  oath  of  office."
27S 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
ance  had  somewhat  abated,  Senator  Baker  of 
Oregon  rose  and  introduced  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the 
audience;  and  stepping  forward,  the  President- 
elect, in  a  firm,  clear  voice,  thoroughly  practiced 
in  addressing  the  huge  open-air  assemblages  of 
the  West,  read  his  inaugural,  to  which  every 
ear  listened  with  the  most  intense  eagerness. 
THE    INATJGURAL     ADDRESS. 
Fellow-citizens  of  the  United  States:  In 
compliance  with  a  custom  as  old  as  the  Government  it- 
self, I  appear  before  you  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to 
take  in  your  presence  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  to  be  taken  by  the  President 
"before  he  enters  on  the  execution  of  his  office."1 
I  do  not  consider  it  necessary  at  present  for  me  to 
discuss  those  matters  of  administration  about  which 
there  is  no  special  anxiety  or  excitement. 
Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican 
Administration  their  property  and  their  peace  and  per- 
sonal security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never 
been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension. 
Indeed,  the  most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has 
all  the  while  existed  and  been  open  to  their  inspection. 
It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  published  speeches  of  him 
who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of 
those  speeches  when  I  declare  that "  I  have  no  pur- 
pose, directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  I  believe 
I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclina- 
tion to  do  so."  Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me 
did  so  with  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and 
many  similar  declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them. 
And,  more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform  for  my 
acceptance,  and  as  a  law  to  themselves  and  to  me, 
the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which  I  now  read : 
"  Resolved,  that  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the 
rights  of  the  States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each 
State  to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions 
according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential 
to  that  balance  of  power  on  which  the  perfection  and 
endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depend,  and  we  de- 
nounce the  lawless  invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil 
of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pre- 
text, as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes." 
I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments  ;  and,  in  doing  so, 
I  only  press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  con- 
clusive evidence  of  which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that 
the  property,  peace,  and  security  of  no  section  are  to 
be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  Ad- 
ministration. I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection  which, 
consistently  with  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  can 
be  given,  will  be  cheerfully  given2  to  all  the  States 
when  lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever  cause  —  as 
cheerfully  to  one  section,  as  to  another. 
There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up 
of  fugitives  from  service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now 
read  is  as  plainly  written  in  the  Constitution  as  any 
other  of  its  provisions  : 
"  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State, 
under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall  in 
consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  dis- 
charged from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  de- 
livered up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service 
or  labor  may  be  due." 
It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  in- 
tended  by  those  who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what 
we  call  fugitive  slaves ;  and  the  intention  of  the  law- 
giver is  the  law.  All  members  of  Congress  swear  their 
support  to  the  whole  Constitution  —  to  this  provision 
as  much  as  to  any  other.  To  the  proposition  then, 
that  slaves,  whose  cases  come  within  the  terms  of  this 
clause,  "  shall  be  delivered  up  "  their  oaths  are  unan- 
imous. Now,  if  they  would  make  the  effort  in  good  tem- 
per, could  they  not,  with  nearly  equal  unanimity,  frame 
and  pass  a  law  by  means  of  which  to  keep  good  that 
unanimous  oath  ? 
There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  whether  this 
clause  should  be  enforced  by  national  or  by  State 
authority ;  but  surely  that  difference  is  not  a  very  ma- 
teria] one.  If  the  slave  is  to  be  surrendered,  it  can  be 
of  but  little  consequence  to  him,  or  to  others,  by  which 
authority  it  is  done.  And  should  any  one,  in  any  case, 
be  content  that  his  oath  shall  go  unkept,  on  a  merely 
unsubstantial  controversy  as  to  how  it  shall  be  kept? 
Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject,  ought  not  all 
the  safeguards  of  liberty  known  in  civilized  and  hu- 
mane jurisprudence  to  be  introduced  so  that'afree  man 
'Mr.  Lincoln's  original  draft  contained  at  this  point 
the  following  paragraphs  : 
"  The  more  modern  custom  of  electing  a  Chief  Mag- 
istrate upon  a  previously  declared  platform  of  princi- 
ples supersedes  in  a  great  measure  the  necessity  of 
re-stating  those  principles  in  an  address  of  this  sort. 
Upon  the  plainest  grounds  of  good  faith,  one  so  elected 
is  not  at  liberty  to  shift  his  position.  It  is  necessarily 
implied,  if  not  expressed,  that  in  his  judgment  the 
platform  which  he  thus  accepts  binds  him  to  nothing 
either  unconstitutional  or  inexpedient. 
"  Having  been  so  elected  upon  the  Chicago  platform, 
and  while  I  would  repeat  nothing  in  it,  of  aspersion  or 
,  or  question  of  motive,  against  any  man  or 
party,  I  hold  myself  bound  by  duty,  as  well  as  impelled 
by  inclination,  to  follow,  within  the  Executive  sphere, 
the  principles  therein  declared.  By  no  other  course 
I  meet  the  reasonable  expectations  of  the  coun- 
trv.;: 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  either  to  omit  the  whole,  or  to 
amend  them  as  follows  : 
'•'The  more  modern  custom  of  nominating  a  Chief 
Magistrate  upon  a  previously  declared  summary  of 
principles  supersedes  in  a  great  measure  the  necessity 
of  re-stating  those  principles  in  an  address  of  this  sort. 
It  is  necessarily  implied,  if  not  expressed,  that  the  sum- 
mary binds  the  officer  elected  to  nothing  either  uncon- 
stitutional or  inexpedient.  With  this  explanation  I 
deem  it  my  duty,  as  I  am  disposed  in  feeling,  to  follow, 
so  far  as  they  apply  to  the  Executive  sphere,  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  I  was  brought  before  the  American 
People." 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  Mr.  Seward's  preference  of 
the  alternative  suggestions  made,  and  omitted  the 
whole. 
2  In  the  original  draft  this  sentence  stood  :  "  The 
protection  which,  consistently  with  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  can  be  given  will  be  cheerfully  given  to 
all  the  States,"  etc. 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  amend  it  thus :  "will  be 
cheerfully  given  in  every  case  and  under  all  circum- 
stances to  all  the  States,"  etc. 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  adopt  the  suggestion,  but  him- 
self modified  it  so  as  to  read:  "will  be  cheerfully 
given  to  all  the  States  when  lawfully  demanded,  for 
whatever  cause — "
LINCOLN'S  INAUGURATION 
be  not,  in  any  case,  surrendered  as  a  slave  ? 3  And  might 
it  not  be  well  at  the  same  time  to  provide  by  law  for  the 
enforcement  of  that  clause  in  the  Constitution  which 
guarantees  that "  the  citizen  of  each  State  shall  be  en- 
titled to  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the 
several  States  ?" 
I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  res- 
ervations and  with  no  purpose  to  construe  the  Consti- 
tution or  laws  by  any  hypercritical  rules.  And  while 
I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify  particular  acts  of  Con- 
gress as  proper  to  be  enforced,  I  do  suggest  that  it 
will  be  much  safer  for  all,  both  in  official  and  private 
stations,  to  conform  to  and  abide  by  all  those  acts 
which  stand  unrepealed,  than  to  violate  any  of  them 
trusting  to  find  impunity  in  having  them  held  to  be 
unconstitutional. 
It  is  seventy-two  years  since  the  first  inauguration  of 
a  President  under  our  National  Constitution.  During 
that  period  fifteen  different  and  greatly  distinguished 
citizens  have,  in  succession,  administered  the  Execu- 
tive branch  of  the  Government.  They  have  conducted 
it  through  many  perils,  and  generally  with  great  suc- 
cess.4 Yet,  with  all  this  scope  of  precedent,  I  now  en- 
ter upon  the  same  task  for  the  brief  constitutional  term 
of  four  years,  under  great  and  peculiar  difficulty.  A 
disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only  men- 
aced, is  now  formidably  attempted.5 
I  hold  that,  in  contemplation  of  universal  law,  and 
of  the  Constitution,  the  union  of  these  States  is  per- 
petual. Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in  the 
fundamental  law  of  all  National  Governments.  It  is 
safe  to  assert  that  no  Government  proper  ever  had  a 
provision  in  its  organic  law  for  its  own  termination. 
Continue  to  execute  all  the  express  provisions  of  our 
National  Constitution,  and  the  Union  will  endure  for- 
ever— it  being  impossible  to  destroy  it  except  by  some 
action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself. 
Again,  if  the  United  States  be  not  a  Government 
proper,  but  an  association  of  States  in  the  nature  of 
contract  merely,  can  it,  as  a  contract,  be  peaceably  un- 
made by  less  than  all  the  parties  who  made  it  ?  One 
party  toa  contract  may  violate  it  — break  it,  so  to  speak, 
but  does  it  not  require  all  to  lawfully  rescind  it  ? 
Descending  from  these  general  principles,  we  find 
the  proposition  that,  in  legal  contemplation,  the  Union 
is  perpetual,  confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  Union  it- 
self. The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution. 
It  was  formed,  in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in 
1774.  It  was  matured  and  continued  by  the  Declaration 
ot  Independence  in  1 776.  It  was  further  matured,"  and 
the  faith  of  all  the  then  thirteen  States  expressly  plight- 
ed and  engaged  that  it  should  be  perpetual,  by  the  Ar- 
ticles of  Confederation  in  1778.  And,  finally,  in  1 787, 
one  of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining  and  establish- 
ing the  Constitution  was,  "to  form  a  more  perfect  Union." 
But  if  destruction  of  the  Union  by  one,  or  by  a  part 
only,  of  the  States  be  lawfully  possible,  the  Union  is 
less  perfect  than  before  the  Constitution,  having  lost 
the  vital  element  of  perpetuity. 7 
It  follows  from  these  views,  that  no  State,  upon  its 
own  mere  motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union; 
that  resolves  andordinancesto  that  effect  are  legally  void ; 
and  that  acts  of  violence,  within  any  State  or  States, 
against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  are  insurrec- 
tionary or  revolutionary,  according  to  circumstances.* 
I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitu- 
tion and  the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken ;  and  to  the 
extent  of  my  ability,  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitu- 
tion itself  expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of 
the  Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States.9 
Doing  this  I  deem  to  be  only  a  simple  duty  on  my 
part ;  and  I  shall  perform  it,  so  far  as  practicable,  un- 
less my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people,  shall 
withhold  the  requisite  means,  or  in  some  authoritative 
manner  direct  the  contrary.10  I  trust  this  will  not  be 
regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the  declared  purpose 
of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitutionally  defend  and 
maintain  itself.11 
In  doing  this  there  needs  to  be  no  bloodshed  or  vio- 
lence; and  there  shall  be  none,  unless  it  be  forced  upon 
3  The  remainder  of  this  paragraph  was  not  in  the 
original  draft.   Mr.  Lincoln  added  it  of  his  own  accord. 
4  This  sentence  stood  in  the  original :  "  They  have 
conducted  it  through  many  perils ;  and  on  the  whole, 
with  great  success." 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  Mr.  Seward's  suggestion  to 
make  it  read  :  "  and  generally  with  great  success." 
5 In  the  original  this  sentence  read  :  "A  disruption 
of  the  Federal  Union  is  menaced,  and,  so  far  as  can  be 
on  paper,  is  already  effected.  The  particulars  of  what 
has  been  done  are  so  familiar  and  so  fresh,  that  I  need 
not  waste  any  time  in  recounting  them." 
_  Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  change  it  as  follows  :  "  A 
disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only  men- 
aced, is  now  formidably  attempted." 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  suggestion. 
6  This  sentence  originally  stood :  "  It  was  further 
matured  and  expressly  declared  and  pledged  to  be  per- 
petual," etc. 
Mr.  Lincoln  of  his  own  accord  amended  it  as  follows : 
"  It  was  further  matured,  and  the  faith  of  all  the  then 
thirteen  States  expressly  plighted  and  engaged  that  it 
should  be  perpetual,"  etc. 
7  In  the  original,  this  paragraph  concluded  as  fol- 
lows :  "  The  Union  is  less  perfect  than  before,  which 
contradicts  the  Constitution,  and  therefore  is  absurd." 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  strike  out  the  words  "  and 
therefore  is  absurd."  Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  this  sugges- 
tion,and  in  addition  remodeled  the  whole  sentence,  so  as 
to  read :  "  The  Union  is  less  perfect  than  before  the  Con- 
stitution, having  lost  the  vital  element  of  perpetuity." 
8  The  first  half  of  this  sentence  originally  closed :  "  or- 
dinances to  that  effect  are  legally  nothing,"  and  the  sec- 
ond half,  "  are  insurrectionary  or  treasonable,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances."  Mr.  Seward's  suggestions  to 
strike  out  the  word  "  nothing  "  and  substitute  the  word 
"  void,"  and  to  strike  out  the  word  "  treasonable  "  and 
substitute  the  word  "  revolutionary,"  were  adopted. 
9 In  the  original  this  sentence  stood:  "I  therefore 
consider  that  the  Union  is  unbroken ;  and,  to  the  ex- 
tent of  my  ability,  I  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  of  the 
Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States." 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  amend  it  as  follows  :  "  I 
therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken ;  and  to  the  extent  of 
my  ability,  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself 
expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union 
be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States." 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  change. 
10  This  phrase  originally  stood  :  "  or  in  some  tangible 
way  direct  the  contrary." 
Mr.  Seward's  suggestion,  to  strike  out  the  words 
"  tangible  way "  and  substitute  therefor  the  words 
"  authoritative  manner,"  was  adopted. 
11  This  sentence  originally  closed  :  "  will  have  its  own 
and  defend  itself."  Mr.  Seward's  suggestion,  to  strike 
out  these  words  and  insert  "  will  constitutionally  de- 
fend and  maintain  itself,"  was  adopted.
-So 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
the  national  authority.13  The  power  confided  to  me 
will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property 
and  places  belonging  to  the  Government, and  to  collect 
the  duties  and  imposts  ;  but  beyond  what  may  be  nec- 
essary for  these  objects,  there  will  be  no  invasion,  no 
using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  anywhere. 
Where  hostility  to  the  United  States,  in  any  interior 
locality,  shall  be  so  great  and  universal  as  to  prevent 
competent  resident  citizens  from  holding  the  Federal 
offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  force  obnoxious 
strangers  among  the  people  for  that  object.  "While  the 
strict  legal  right  may  exist  in  the  Government  to  en- 
force the  exercise  of  these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so 
would  be  so  irritating,  and  so  nearly  impracticable 
withal,  that  I  deem  it  better  to  forego  for  the  time  the 
uses  of  such  offices. 
The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  fur- 
nished in  all  parts  of  the  Union.13  So  far  as  possible, 
the  people  everywhere  shall  have  that  sense  of  perfect 
security  which  is  most  favorable  to  calm  thought  and 
reflection.  The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed 
unless  current  events  and  experience  shall  show  a 
modification  or  change  to  be  proper,  and  in  every  case 
and  exigency  my  best  discretion  will  be  exercised  ac- 
cording to  circumstances  actually  existing,  and  with  a 
view  and  a  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  national 
troubles,  and  the  restoration  of  fraternal  sympathies 
and  affections." 
That  there  are  persons  in  one  section  or  another 
who  seek  to  destroy  the  Union  at  all  events,  and  are 
glad  of  any  pretext  to  do  it,  I  will  neither  affirm  nor 
deny ;  but  if  there  be  such,  I  need  address  no  word  to 
them.18  To  those,  however,  who  really  love  the  Union, 
may  I  not  speak  ? 
Before  entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  de- 
struction of  our  national  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its 
memories,  and  its  hopes,  would  it  not  be  wise  to  ascer- 
tain precisely  why  we  do  it  ? 16  Will  you  hazard  so  des- 
perate a  step  while  there  is  any  possibility  that  any 
portion  of  the  ills  you  fly  from  have  no  real  existence  ? 
Will  you,  while  the  certain  ills  you  fly  to  are  greater 
than  all  the  real  ones  you  fly  from  —  will  you  risk  the 
commission  of  so  fearful  a  mistake  ? 
All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union,  if  all  consti- 
tutional rights  can  be  maintained.  Is  it  true,  then,  that 
any  right,  plainly  written  in  the  Constitution,  has  been 
denied  ?  17  I  think  not.  Happily  the  human  mind  is  so 
constituted,18  that  no  party  can  reach  to  the  audacity 
of  doing  this.  Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance 
in  which  a  plainly  written  provision  of  the  Constitution 
12  In  the  original  draft  this  paragraph,  after  the  first 
sentence,  stood  as  follows  : 
"  All  the  power  at  my  disposal  will  be  used  to  re- 
claim the  public  property  and  places  which  have  fallen  : 
to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  these,  and  all  other  prop- 
erty and  places  belonging  to  the  Government  and  to 
collect  the  duties  and  imposts  ;  but  beyond  what  may 
be  necessary  for  these  objects,  there  will  be  no  in- 
vasion of  any  State.  Where  hostility  to  the  United 
States,  in  any  interior  locality,  shall  be  so  great  and  so 
universal  as  to  prevent  competent  resident  citizens 
from  holding  the  Federal  offices,  there  will  be  no  at- 
tempt to  force  obnoxious  strangers  among  the  people 
for  that  object.  While  the  strict  legal  right  may  exist 
in  the  Government  to  enforce  the  exercise  of  these  of- 
fices, the  attempt  to  do  so  would  be  so  irritating,  and 
so  nearly  impracticable  withal,  that  I  deem  it  better 
to  forego  for  the  time  the  uses  of  such  offices." 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  strike  out  all  the  above,  and 
to  insert  the  following: 
"The  power  confided  to  me  shall  be  used  indeed 
with  efficacy,  but  also  with  discretion  in  every  case  and 
exigency,  according  to  the  circumstances  actually  exist- 
ing, and  with  a  view  and  a  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution 
of  the  national  troubles,  and  the  restoration  of  frater- 
nal sympathies  and  affections.  There  are  in  this  gov- 
ernment as  in  every  other,  emergencies  when  the  exer- 
er  lawful  in  itself  is  less  certain  to  secure 
the  just  ends  of  administration,  than  a  temporary  for- 
bearance from  it,  with  reliance  on  the  voluntary  though 
delayed  acquiescence  of  the  people  in  the  laws  which 
have  been  made  by  themselves  and  for  their  own  bene- 
fit.   I  shall  not  lose  sight  of  this  obvious  maxim." 
.  Lincoln,  however,  did  not  adopt  this  proposal, 
but  made  a  slight  change  which  had  been  suggested  by 
another  friend.  At  Indianapolis  he  gave  a  copy  of  his 
original  draft  to  Hon.  O.  H.  Browning,  who  after  care- 
fuljy  reading  it  on  his  return,  wrote  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
;ary  17th,  1861)  referring  to  this  paragraph  : 
"Would  it  not  be  judicious  so  to  modify  this  as  to  make 
it  read,  'All  the  power  at  my  disposal  will  be  used 
U,  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property  and  places 
belonging  to  the  Government,  and  to  collect  the  duties 
and  imposts,  etc,'  omitting  the  declaration  of  the  pur- 
pose of  reclamation,  which  will  be  construed  into  a 
threat  or  menace,  and  will  be  irritating  even  in  the 
border  States  ?  On  principle  the  passage  is  right  as  it 
now  stands.  The  fallen  places  ought  to  be  reclaimed. 
But  cannot  that  be  accomplished  as  well  or  even  better 
without  announcing  the  purpose  in  your  inaugural?  " 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  Mr.  Browning's  advice,  and 
modified  his  own  phraseology  as  proposed. 
He  also  made  in  this  paragraph  another  slight  change 
of  phraseology.  For,  "  there  will  be  no  invasion  of  any 
State,"  he  substituted,  "there  will  be  no  invasion,  no 
using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  anywhere." 
"This  phrase  originally  was, "  The  mails,  unless  re- 
fused, will  continue  to  be  furnished,"  etc.  Mr.  Lincoln 
himself  changed  this  to  read  :  "  The  mails,  unless  re 
pelled." 
14  This  paragraph  originally  closed  with  the  following 
sentence  :  "  This  course  will  be  pursued  until  current 
experience  shall  show  a  modification  or  change  to  be 
proper."  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  changed  this  soas  to  read: 
"The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed,  unless 
current  events  and  experience  shall  show  a  modifica- 
tion or  change  to  be  proper."  He  also  added  a  part  of 
the  language  proposed  by  Mr.  Seward  for  the  previous 
paragraph,  as  will  be  seen  by  comparison. 
15  This  sentence  originally  stood  :"  That  there  are 
persons  who  seek  to  destroy  the  Union,"  etc.  Mr. 
Seward  proposed  to  amend  so  as  to  make  it  read : 
"  That  there  are  persons  in  one  section  as  well  as  in 
the  other,  who  seek  to  destroy  the  Union,"  etc.  Mr. 
Lincoln  changed  the  amendment  to,  "  That  there  are 
persons  in  one  section  or  another  who  seek,"  etc. 
Mr.  Seward  also  proposed  to  add  to  the  last  clause 
of  the  sentence,  after  the  word  "  them,"  the  following  : 
"  because  I  am  sure  they  must  be  few  in  number  and 
of  little  influence  when  their  pernicious  principles  are 
fully  understood." 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  adopt  the  suggestion. 
10  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  struck  out  the  word  "Union  " 
as  it  originally  appeared  in  this  sentence,  and  inserted 
in  lieu  the  words  "  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its  mem- 
ories, and  its  hopes." 
17  Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  insert  the  word  "  distinct " 
after  the  words,  "  Is  it  true,  then,  that  any,"  in  the 
second  sentence  of  this  paragraph. 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  adopt  the  suggestion. 
18  In  this  sentence  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  changed  the 
word  "constructed"  to  "constituted."
LINCOLN'S  INAUGURATION 
281 
has  ever  been  denied.  If,  by  the  mere  force  of  num- 
bers, a  majority  should  deprive  a  minority  of  any 
clearly  written  constitutional  right,  it  might,  in  a  moral 
point  of  view,  justify  revolution — certainly  would,  if 
such  right  were  a  vital  one.  But  such  is  not  our  case. 
All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals  are 
so  plainly  assured  to  them  by  affirmations  and  negations, 
guarantees  and  prohibitions,19  in  the  Constitution,  that 
controversies  never  arise  concerning  them.  But  no 
organic  law  can  ever  be  framed  with  a  provision  spe- 
cifically applicable  to  every  question  which  may  occur 
in  practical  administration.20  No  foresight  can  antici- 
pate, nor  any  document  of  reasonable  length  contain, 
express  provisions  for  all  possible  questions.  Shall 
fugitives  from  labor  be  surrendered  by  national  or  by 
State  authority  ?  The  Constitution  does  not  expressly 
say.  May  Congress  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories  ? 
The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  say.  Must  Con- 
gress protect  slavery  in  the  Territories  ?  The  Consti- 
tution does  not  expressly  say. 
From  questions  of  this  class  spring  all  our  constitu- 
tional controversies,  and  we  divide  upon  them  into 
majorities  and  minorities.  If  the  minority  will  not 
acquiesce,  the  majority  must,  or  the  Government  must 
cease.  There  is  no  other  alternative ;  for  continuing 
the  Government  is  acquiescence  on  one  side  or  the 
other.21  If  a  minority  in  such  case  will  secede  rather 
than  acquiesce,  they  make  a  precedent  which  in  turn 
will  divide  and  ruin  them ;  for  a  minority  of  their  own 
will  secede  from  them  whenever  a  majority  refuses  to 
be  controlled  by  such  minority.22  For  instance,  why 
may  not  any  portion  of  a  new  confederacy,  a  year  or 
two  hence,  arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  por- 
tions of  the  present  Union  now  claim  to  secede  from 
it  ?  ffl  All  who  cherish  disunion  sentiments  are  now 
being  educated  to  the  exact  temper  of  doing  this. 
Is  there  such  perfect  identity  of  interests  among  t h 0 
States  to  compose  a  new  Union  as  to  produce  harmony 
only,  and  prevent  renewed  secession  ?  M 
Plainly,  the  central  idea  of  secession  is  the  essence 
of  anarchy.  A  majority  held  in  restraint  by  constitu- 
tional checks  and  limitations,  and  always  changing 
easily  with  deliberate  changes  of  popular  opinions  and 
sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sovereign  of  a  free  peo- 
ple.25  Whoever  rejects  it  does,  of  necessity,  fly  to  an- 
archy or  to  despotism.  Unanimity  is  impossible  ;  the 
rule  of  a  minority,  as  a  permanent  arrangement,  is 
wholly  inadmissible;  so  that,  rejecting  the  majority 
principle,  anarchy  or  despotism  in  some  form  is  all 
that  is  left. 
I  do  not  forget  the  position,  assumed  by  some,  that 
constitutional  questions  are  to  be  decided  by  the  Su- 
preme Court ;  nor  do  I  deny  that  such  decisions  must 
be  binding,  in  any  case,  upon  the  parties  to  a  suit,  as 
to  the  object  of  that  suit,  while  they  are  also  entitled 
to  very  high  respect  and  consideration  in  all  parallel 
cases  by  all  other  departments  of  the  Government.26 
And  while  it  is  obviously  possible  that  such  decision 
may  be  erroneous  in  any  given  case,  still  the  evil  effect 
following  it,  being  limited  to  that  particular  case,  with 
the  chance  that  it  may  be  overruled,  and  never  be- 
come a  precedent  for  other  cases,  can  better  be  borne 
than  could  the  evils  of  a  different  practice.27  At  the 
same  time,  the  candid  citizen  must  confess  that  if  the 
policy  of  the  Government,  upon  vital  questions,  affect- 
ing the  whole  people,  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  de- 
cisions of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  instant  they  are 
made  in  ordinary  litigation  between  parties  in  per- 
sonal actions,  the  people  will  have  ceased  to  be  their 
own  rulers,  having  to  that  extent  practically  resigned 
their  government  into  the  hands  of  that  eminent  tribu- 
nal.28  Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault  upon  the 
19 The  phrase,  "by  affirmations  and  negations,"  Mr. 
Seward  proposed  to  make,  "  by  affirmations  and  nega- 
tions, guarantees  and  prohibitions." 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  suggestion. 
20 The  phrase,  "applicable  to  every  question,"  Mr. 
Seward  proposed  to  change  to,  "  applicable  to  every 
possible  question." 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  adopt  the  change. 
21  In  this  paragraph  Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  substi- 
tute the  words  "  acquiesce  "  and  "  acquiescence  "  for 
"  submit  "  and  "  submission." 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  suggestion. 
22  The  original  phrase,  "  a  minority  of  their  own 
number  will  secede  from  them,"  Mr.  Lincoln  him- 
self changed  to,  "  a  minority  of  their  own  will  secede 
from  them." 
23 In  the  original  these  sentences  ran  as  follows: 
"  For  instance,  why  may  not  South  Carolina,  a  year 
or  two  hence,  arbitrarily  secede  from  a  new  Southern 
Confederacy,  just  as  she  now  claims  to  secede  from 
the  present  Union  ?  Her  people,  and,  indeed,  all  se- 
cession people,  are  now  being  educated  to  the  precise 
temper  of  doing  this." 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  substitute  the  names  "  Ala- 
bama or  Florida  "  for  "  South  Carolina  "  ;  and  the 
word  "  communities  "  for  "  people." 
Instead  of  adopting  this,  Mr.  Lincoln  re-wrote  the 
whole,  as  follows  :  "  For  instance,  why  may  not  any 
portion  of  a  new  confederacy,  a  year  or  two  hence, 
arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of  the 
present  Union  now  claim  to  secede  from  it  ?  All  who 
cherish  disunion  sentiments  are  now  being  educated 
to  the  exact  temper  of  doing  this." 
24  For  the  original  phrase, "  a  Southern  Union,"  Mr. 
Lincoln  himself  substituted,  "a  new  Union." 
25  The  original  sentence,  "  A  constitutional  majority 
is  the  only  true  sovereign  of  a  free  people,"  Mr.  Sew- 
ard proposed  to  change  to,  "  A  majority  held  in  re- 
straint by  constitutional  checks  and  limitations,  and 
always  changing  easily  with  deliberate  changes  of 
popular  opinions  and  sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sove- 
reign," etc. 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  change. 
26  In  this  sentence  the  final  clause,  "  while  they  are 
also  entitled  to  very  high  respect  and  consideration  in 
all  parallel  cases  by  all  other  departments  of  the  Gov- 
ernment," was  suggested  by  Mr.  Seward  and  adopted 
by  Mr.  Lincoln. 
27  In  the  original  this  phrase  ran :  "  the  greater  evils 
of  a  different  rule."  Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  substitute 
"  practice  "  for  "  rule."  and  Mr.  Lincoln  struck  out 
the  word  "greater,"  making  it  read,  "the  evils  of  a 
different  practice. " 
23  In  the  original  this  sentence  stood :  "  But  if  the 
policy  of  the  Government,  upon  vital  questions  affect- 
ing the  whole  people,  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  de- 
cisions of  the  Supreme  Court,  it  is  plain  that  the  peo- 
ple will  have  ceased  to  be  their  own  rulers,  having 
turned  their  government  over  to  the  despotism  of  the 
few  life  officers  composing  the  court." 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  amend  it  as  follows  :  "  At 
the  same  time  the  candid  citizen  must  confess  that  if 
the  policy  of  the  Government,  upon  vital  questions  af- 
fecting the  whole  people,  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  bv 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  made  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  litigation  between  parties  in  personal  actions,
282 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
court  or  the  judges.  It  is  a  duty  from  which  they 
may  not  shrink  to  decide  cases  properly  brought  be- 
fore them,  and  it  is  no  fault  of  theirs  if  others  seek  to 
turn  their  decisions  to  political  purposes.-' 
One  section  of  our  country  believes  slavery  is  right, 
and  ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it 
is  wrongy  and  ought  not  to  be  extended.30  This  is  the 
only  substantial  dispute.  The  fugitive-slave  clause  of 
the  Constitution,  and  the  law  for  the  suppression  of  the 
foreign  slave-trade,  are  each  as  well  enforced,31  perhaps, 
as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community  where  the  moral 
sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the  law  it- 
self.- The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry 
legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in 
each.  This,  I  think,  cannot  be  perfectly  cured  ;  and  it 
would  be  worse  in  both  cases  after  the  separation  of 
the  sections,  than  before.  The  foreign  slave-trade,  now 
imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be  ultimately  revived 
without  restriction  in  one  section  ; ,J3  while  fugitive 
slaves,  now  only  partially  surrendered,  would  not  be 
surrendered  at  all  by  the  other. 
Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate.  We  can- 
not remove  our  respective  sections  from  each  other, 
nor  build  an  impassable  wall  between  them.  A  hus- 
band and  wife  maybe  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  pres- 
ence and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other  ;  but  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  our  country  cannot  do  this.  They  cannot  but 
remain  face  to  face,  and  intercourse,  either  amicable  or 
hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it  possible,  then, 
to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  sat- 
isfactory after  separation  than  before  ?  Can  aliens  make 
treaties  easier  than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties 
be  more  faithfully  enforced  between  aliens,  than  laws 
can  among  friends  ?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  can- 
not fight  always ;  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both 
sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you  cease  fighting,  the 
identical  old  questions  as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are 
again  upon  you. 
This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the 
people  who  inhabit  it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary 
of  the  existing  Government  they  can  exercise  their  con- 
stitutional right  of  amending  it,  or  their  revolutionary 
right  to  dismember  or  overthrow  it.84  I  cannot  be  ig- 
norant of  the  fact  that  many  worthy  and  patriotic  citi- 
zens are  desirous  of  having  the  National  Constitution 
amended.  While  I  make  no  recommendation  of  amend- 
ments, I  fully  recognize  the  rightful  authority  of  the 
people  over  the  whole  subject,  to  be  exercised  in  either 
of  the  modes  prescribed  in  the  instrument  itself;  and 
I  should,  under  existing  circumstances,  favor  rather  than 
oppose  a  fair  opportunity  being  afforded  the  people  to 
act  upon  it.  I  will  venture  to  add  that,  to  me  the 
convention  mode  seems  preferable,  in  that  it  allows 
amendments  to  originate  with  the  people  themselves, 
instead  of  only  permitting  them  to  take  or  reject  prop- 
ositions originated  by  others,  not  especially  chosen 
for  the  purpose,  and  which  might  not  be  precisely  such 
as  they  would  wish  to  either  accept  or  refuse.  I  under- 
stand a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  — « 
which  amendment,  however,  I  have  not  seen  —  has 
passed  Congress,  to  the  effect  that  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic  in- 
stitutions of  the  States,  including  that  of  persons  held 
to  service.  To  avoid  misconstruction  of  what  I  have 
said,  I  depart  from  my  purpose,  not  to  speak  of  partic- 
ular amendments,  so  far  as  to  say  that,  holding  such 
a  provision  to  now  be  implied  constitutional  law,  I 
have  no  objection  to  its  being  made  express  and  irrevo- 
cable. 
The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from 
the  people,  and  they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to 
fix  terms  for  the  separation  of  the  States.  The  people 
themselves  can  do  this  also  if  they  choose ;  ^  but  the 
Executive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  His  duty 
is  to  administer  the  present  Government,  as  it  came 
to  his  hands,  and  to  transmit  it,  unimpaired  by  him,  to 
his  successor. 
Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence  in  the 
ultimate  justice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  better  or 
equal  hope  in  the  world  ?     In  our  present  differences 
the  people  will  have  ceased  to  be  their  own  rulers, 
having  practically  resigned  their  government  into  the 
hands  of  that  eminent  tribunal." 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  amendment,  first  changing 
the  phrase,  "  made  in  the  ordinary  course  of  litiga- 
tion," to,  "  the  instant  they  are  made  in  ordinary  litiga- 
tion," and  also  the  phrase,  "having  practically  re- 
signed," to,"  having  to  that  extent  practically  resigned." 
29  The  original  draft  here  contained  the  following 
paragraph  : 
"  The  Republican  party,  as  I  understand,  have  avowed 
the  purpose  to  prevent,  if  they  can,  the  extension  of 
slavery  under  the  national  auspices;  and  upon  this 
arises  the  only  dispute  between  the  sections." 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  strike  out  the  whole  para- 
graph, and  Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  suggestion. 
"In  the  original  this  phrase  stood:  "One  section 
believes  slavery  is  right,"  etc.  Mr.  Seward  proposed 
to  make  it  read  :  "  One  section  of  our  country  believes 
slavery  is  right,"  etc. 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  amendment. 
31  The  phrase,  "as  well  enforced  as  any  law,"  Mr. 
Seward  suggested  should  read  :  "  as  well  enforced, 
perhaps,  as  any  law,"  etc. 
The  suggestion  was  adopted. 
:"The  phrase,  "  where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people 
is  against  the  law  itself,"  Mr.  Seward  suggested  should 
read  :  "  where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imper- 
fectly supports  the  law  itself." 
The  suggestion  was  adopted. 
^The  phrase,  "would  be  revived,"  Mr.  Seward  sug- 
gested should  read  :    "  would  be  ultimately  revived." 
The  suggestion  was  adopted. 
34  Following  the  words,  "  dismember  and  overthrow 
it,"  the  original  continued  : 
"  As  I  am  not  much  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
the  present  Constitution  can  be  improved,  I  make  no 
recommendations  of  amendments.  I  am  rather  for  the 
old  ship,  and  the  chart  of  the  old  pilots.  If,  however, 
the  people  desire  a  new  or  an  altered  vessel,  the  matter 
is  exclusively  their  own,  and  they  can  move  in  the  prem- 
ises, as  well  without  as  with  an  executive  recommenda- 
tion. I  shall  place  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  what  may 
appear  to  be  their  wishes." 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  to  change  the  first  sentence 
of  the  above  to  the  following  :  "  While  so  great  a  di- 
versity of  opinion  exists  on  the  question  what  amend- 
ments, if  indeed  any,  would  be  effective  in  restoring 
peace  and  safety,  it  would  only  tend  to  aggravate  the 
dispute  if  I  were  to  attempt  to  give  direction  to  the 
public  mind  in  that  respect." 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  adopt  Mr.  Seward's  suggestion ; 
but  struck  out  all  the  above,  and  remodeled  the  whole 
paragraph  to  the  form  in  which  it  now  stands  in  the 
text. 
35  The  original  phrase  "  can  do  this  if  they  choose," 
Mr.  Lincoln  himself  changed  to  read,  "  can  do  this  also 
if  they  choose."
LINCOLN'S  INA  UG  URA  T/ON. 
is  either  party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right?30  If 
the  Almighty  Ruler  of  Nations,  with  his  eternal  truth 
and  justice,  be  on  your  side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours 
of  the  South,37  that  truth  and  that  justice  will  surely 
prevail  by  the  judgment  of  this  great  tribunal  of  the 
American  people. 
By  the  frame  of  the  Government  under  which  we 
live,  this  same  people  have  wisely  given  their  public 
servants  but  little  power  for  mischief;  and  have,  with 
equal  wisdom,  provided  for  the  return  of  that  little  to 
their  own  hands  at  very  short  intervals.  While  the 
people  retain  their  virtue  and  vigilance,  no  adminis- 
tration, by  any  extreme  of  wickedness  or  folly,  can 
very  seriously  injure  the  Government  in  the  short 
space  of  four  years.38 
My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well 
upon  this  whole  subject.39  Nothing  valuable  can  be 
lost  by  taking  time.40  If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry 
any  of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to  a  step  which  you  would 
never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will  be  frustrated 
by  taking  time;  but  no  good  object  can  be  frustrated 
by  it.  Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied,  still  have 
the  old  Constitution  unimpaired,  and,  on  the  sensitive 
point,  the  laws  of  your  own  framing  under  it;  while 
the  new  Administration  will  have  no  immediate  p 
if  it  would,  to  change  either.  If  it  were  admitted  that 
you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the  right  side  in  the  dis- 
pute, there  still  is  no  single  good  reason  for  precipi- 
tate action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity,  and 
a  firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken 
this  favored  land  arc  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the 
best  way,  all  our  present  difficulty. 
In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen, 
and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war. 
The  Government  will  not  assail 
you. 
You 
have 
no  conflict,  without  being  yourselves  the  aggrc 
You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy  the 
government,  while  /shall  have  the  most  solemn  one 
to  "preserve,  protect  and  defend  it."  ** 
I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends. 
We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have 
strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection. 
The  mystic  chords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every 
battle-field,  and  patriot  grave,  to  every  living  heart 
and  hearth-stone,  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet 
swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched, 
as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  na- 
ture. 
^The  original  phrase," is  either  party  without  faith 
in  the  right?  "  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  changed  to,  "is 
either  party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right  ?  " 
37  The  original  phrase,  "  be  on  our  side  or  on  yours," 
Mr.  Seward  suggested  should  read :  "  be  on  the  side 
of  the  North,  or  of  the  South,  of  the  East,  or  of  the 
West." 
Mr.  Lincoln  changed  it  to  read :  "  be  on  your  side 
of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the  South." 
^The  original  phrase,  "While  the  people  remain 
patient  and  true  to  themselves,  no  man,  even  in  the 
presidential  chair,  can,"  etc.,  Mr.  Seward  proposed  to 
change,  to  "  While  the  people  retain  their  virtue  and 
vigilance,  no  legislature  and  no  administration  can,"  etc. 
Mr.  Lincoln  changed  it  to  read  as  follows :  "  While  the 
people  retain  their  virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administra- 
tion, by  any  extreme  of  wickedness  or  folly,  can,"  etc. 
39 The  original  phrase,  "take  time  and  think  well," 
Mr.  Seward  suggested  should  read :  "  think  calmly 
and  think  well." 
Mr.  Lincoln  changed  it  to,  "  think  calmly  and  welly 
40  The  original  sentences  :  "  Nothing  valuable  can  be 
lost  by  taking  time.  Nothing  worth  preserving  is 
either  breaking  or  burning,"  Mr.  Seward  proposed 
to  strike  out. 
Mr  Lincoln  retained  the  first,  and  struck  out  the 
second. 
41  In  the  original  sentence,  "  The  Government  will 
not  assail  you,  unless  you  first  assail  it,"  Mr.  Seward 
suggested  striking  out  the  last  clause. 
Mr.  Lincoln  adopted  the  suggestion. 
42 The  original  draft,  after  the  words, "preserve,  pro- 
tect, and  defend  it,"  concluded  as  follows,  addressing 
itself  to  "my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen"  :  "You 
can  forbear  the  assault  upon  it,  I  cannot  shrink  from 
the  defense  of  it.  With  you,  and  not  with  me,  is  the 
solemn  question  of  '  Shall  it  be  peace  or  a  sword?'  " 
Mr.  Seward  did  not  like  this  termination;  his  letter, 
previously  quoted,  suggested  that  "  something  besides 
or  in  addition  to  argument  is  needful  —  to  meet  and 
remove  prejudice  and  passion  in  the  South,  and  de- 
spondency and  fear  in  the  East.  Some  words  of 
affection  —  some  of  calm  and  cheerful  confidence." 
Accordingly  he  submitted  two  separate  drafts  for  a 
closing  paragraph,  from  which  Mr.  Lincoln  might 
choose  one  to  substitute  for  the  two  sentences  which 
he  proposed  to  strike  out. 
Suggestions  for  a  closing  paragraph  : 
NO.  1. 
"  However  unusual  it  may  be  at  such  a  time  to  speak 
of  sections  or  to  sections,  yet  in  view  of  the  miscon- 
ceptions and  agitations  which  have  strained  the  ties 
of  brotherhood  so  far,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  deemed  a 
departure  from  propriety,  whatever  it  may  be  from 
custom,  to  say  that  if  in  the  criminations  and  miscon- 
structions which  too  often  imbue  our  political  contests, 
any  man  south  of  this  capital  has  been  led  to  believe 
that  I  regard  with  a  less  friendly  eye  his  rights,  his 
interests,  or  his  domestic  safety  and  happiness,  or 
those  of  his  State,  than  I  do  those  of  any  other  por- 
tion of  my  country,  or  that  I  would  invade  or  disturb 
any  legal  right  or  domestic  institution  in  the  South,  he 
mistakes  both  my  principles  and  feelings,  and  does  not 
know  me.  I  aspire  to  come  in  the  spirit,  however  far 
below  the  ability  and  wisdom,  of  Washington,  of  Mad- 
ison, of  Jackson,  and  of  Clay.  In  that  spirit  I  here  de- 
clare that  in  my  administration  I  shall  know  no  rule 
but  the  Constitution,  no  guide  but  the  laws,  and  no 
sentiment  but  that  of  equal  devotion  to  my  whole  coun- 
try, east,  west,  north,  and  south." 
NO.  II. 
"  I  close.  We  are  not,  we  must  not  be,  aliens  or  ene- 
mies, but  fellow-countrymen  and  brethren.  Although 
passion  has  strained  our  bonds  of  affection  too  hardly, 
they  must  not,  I  am  sure  they  will  not,  be  broken. 
The  mystic  chords  which,  proceeding  from  so  many 
battle-fields  and  so  many  patriot  graves,  pass  through 
all  the  hearts  and  all  hearths  in  this  broad  conti- 
nent of  ours,  will  yet  again  harmonize  in  their  ancient 
music  when  breathed  upon  by  the  guardian  angel  of 
the  nation." 
The  first  of  these  drafts,  containing  139  words  in  its 
opening  sentence,  and  made  up  of  phrases  which  had 
become  extremely  commonplace  bv  iteration  in  the 
six  years'  slavery  discussion,  was  clearly  inadmissible. 
The  second  draft,  containing  the  germ  of  a  truly  poet- 
ic thought  amid  its  somewhat  chaotic  rhetoric,  Mr. 
Lincoln  took,  and,  in  a  new  development  and  perfect 
form,  gave  it  the  life  and  spirit  and  beauty  which  have 
made  it  celebrated  in  the  text.
feu.    f&z^u*     d  a^^c&tn-  ~W*'  J?#^dgy   /^v    &^t^<^j?^ 
r/^^.       >fey      *^-C       fiCJ?~      **"      fetrfZjL^    y         ££-<^ 
^^     0V       0U£U~*j         £&ZUsC      /uJt^  &~<       ^rt/ur-C     "^O 
f{i\\\\  4-  ^-^ —     4i>t*-^~t.    **p.  &£^ 
seward's   suggestion   for    close   of   inaugural   address,     (from   the   original  ms.) 
•Sou  can  have  no  conflict,  without  being yourselves  the  aggressors.      Kou  have  no  oalh 
•egistered  in  Heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  /shall  have  the  most  solemn  one 
to  ''preserve,  protect  and  defend"  It.     -fr,1  I  Jwfawq  ilm  inimnh  ■)   iili,i"l  hi  — 
1   "  1    fl .    irtw  rfgH  i    rf  it.     "r-"-n-    i  i     '       ■  i"        |  li  Hi    i  tl  ,,  ,,in.,.rf 
^^;    as^,  /^^^  ^^,  is  a<U^   &^t^    Juuz^ZT  ayi^>a   jClc^Z* 
0&**>t     O^*"    tns*~j    £fU<j    sCQttx^aj  £ay^^ui    £^sx%&    /v^7   ^t^-e^e  fc&u  *>&o- 
q**^t    afZ^jfc^   UA\^^^t    aaTl^w   s-*£lc~*   Ife-i-^^L^xj,    &,  /u*^  4?JL.  ^^^ 
CLOSING    PARAGRAPH.       (FROM    ORIGINAL   FROM    WHICH    THE    ADDRESS    WAS    DELIVERED.) 
A  cheer  greeted  the  conclusion.   Chief- Jus-  Then,  while  the  battery  on  the  brow  of  the 
tice  Taney  arose,  the  clerk  opened  his  Bible,  hill  thundered  its  salute,  citizen  Buchanan  and 
and  Mr.  Lincoln,  laying  his  hand  upon  it,  with  President  Lincoln  returned  to  their  carriage, 
deliberation  pronounced  the  oath  :  and  the  military  procession  escorted  them  from 
"  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  do  solemnly  swear  the  Capitol  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  on  the 
that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office  of  Pres-  threshold    of  which    Mr.   Buchanan    warmly 
ident  of  the  United  States,  and  will,  to  the  shook  the  hand  of  his  successor,  with  heartfelt 
best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  de-  good  wishes  for  his  personal  happiness  and  the 
fend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States."  national  peace  and  prosperity.
ABRAHAM    LINCOLN:    A    HISTORY.* 
THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CABINET. 
BY   JOHN    G.    NICOLAY    AND    JOHN    HAY,    PRIVATE    SECRETARIES    TO    THE    PRESIDENT. 
LINCOLN'S    CABINET. 
HERE  is  distinguished  author- 
ity t  for  the  statement  that  the 
work  of  framing  the  new  Cabi- 
net was  mainly  performed  on 
the  evening  of  the  presidential 
election.  After  the  polls  were 
closed  on  the  6th  of  November  (so  Mr.  Lin- 
coln related  a  year  or  two  later),  the  super- 
intendent of  the  telegraph  at  Springfield  in- 
vited him  to  come  and  remain  in  his  office  and 
read  the  dispatches  as  they  should  come  in. 
He  accepted  the  offer  ;  and,  reporting  himself 
in  due  time  at  the  telegraph  office,  from  which 
all  other  visitors  were  excluded  at  9  o'clock, 
awaited  the  result  of  the  eventful  day.  Soon  the 
telegrams  came  thick  and  fast  —  first  from  the 
neighboring  precincts  and  counties ;  then  from 
the  great  Western  cities,  Chicago,  St.  Louis, 
Cincinnati;  and  finally  from  the  capitals  of  the 
doubtful  States,  Indiana,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  Empire  State  of  New  York.  Here  in 
this  little  room,  in  the  company  of  two  or  three 
silent  operators  moving  about  their  myste- 
riously clicking  instruments,  and  recording 
with  imperturbable  gravity  the  swift-throb- 
bing messages  from  near  and  far,  Mr.  Lincoln 
read  the  reports  as  they  came  in,  first  in  vague 
and  fragmentary  dribblets,  and  later  in  the 
rising  and  swelling  stream  of  cheering  news. 
There  was  never  a  nicer  or  closer  calculator 
of  political  probabilities  than  himself.  He  was 
emphatically  at  home  among  election  figures. 
All  his  political  life  he  had  scanned  tables  of 
returns  with  as  much  care  and  accuracy  as  he 
analyzed  and  scrutinized  maxims  of  govern- 
ment or  platforms  of  parties.  Now,  as  formerly, 
he  was  familiar  with  all  the  turning-points  in 
contested  counties  and  "  close  "  districts,  and 
knew  by  heart  the  value  of  each  and  every 
local  loss  or  gain  and  its  relation  to  the  grand 
result.  In  past  years,  at  the  close  of  many  a 
hot  campaign  he  had  searched  out  the  com- 
forts of  victory  from  a  discouraging  and  ad- 
verse-looking column  of  figures,  or  correctly 
read  the  fatal  omen  of  defeat  in  some  frag- 
mentary  announcement  from   a  precinct  or 
t  Hon.  Gideon  Welles,  conversation.  J.  G.  N.,  per- 
sonal memoranda.    MS. 
*  Copyright  by  J.  G.  Nicolay  and  Joh 
county.  Silently,  as  they  were  transcribed,  the 
operators  handed  him  the  messages,  which  he 
laid  on  his  knee  while  he  adjusted  his  specta- 
cles, and  then  read  and  re-read  several  times 
with  deliberation.  He  had  not  long  to  wait 
for  indications.  From  a  scattering  beginning, 
made  up  of  encouraging  local  fragments,  the 
hopeful  news  rose  to  almost  uninterrupted 
tidings  of  victory.  Soon  a  shower  of  congrat- 
ulatory telegrams  fell  from  the  wires,  and  while 
his  partisans  and  friends  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  were  thus  shaking  hands  with  him 
"  by  lightning  "  over  the  result,  he  could  hear 
the  shouts  and  speeches  of  his  Springfield  fol- 
lowers, gathered  in  the  great  hall  of  the  State- 
house  across  the  street,  and  fairly  making  that 
building  shake  with  their  rejoicings. 
Of  course  his  first  emotions  were  those  of 
a  kindling  pleasure  and  pride  at  the  sweeping 
completeness  of  his  success.  But  this  was  only 
a  momentary  glow.  He  was  indeed  President- 
elect; but  with  that  consciousness  there  fell 
upon  him  the  appalling  shadow  of  his  mighty 
task  and  responsibility.  It  seemed  as  if  he 
suddenly  bore  the  whole  world  upon  his  shoul- 
ders, and  could  not  shake  it  off;  and  sitting 
there  in  the  yet  early  watches  of  the  night,  he 
read  the  still-coming  telegrams  in  a  sort  of 
absent-minded  mechanical  routine,  while  his 
"  inner  man  "  took  up  the  crushing  burden  of 
his  country's  troubles,  and  traced  out  the  labo- 
rious path  of  coming  duties.  "  When  I  finally 
bade  my  friends  good-night  and  left  that  room," 
said  Lincoln,  "  I  had  substantially  completed 
the  framework  of  my  Cabinet  as  it  now 
exists." 
If  the  grouping  and  combining  of  the  new 
President's  intended  councilors  occurred  at 
this  time,  it  is  no  less  true  that  some  of  them 
were  selected  at  a  much  earlier  date.  In  the 
mean  time  no  one  was  informed  of  his  inten- 
tions in  this  regard.  For  a  full  month  after 
the  election  he  gave  no  intimation  whatever 
of  his  purpose.  Cabinet-making  is  at  all  times 
difficult,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  and  acknowledged, 
even  though  he  had  already  progressed  thus 
far  in  his  task.  Up  to  the  early  days  of  De- 
cember he  followed  the  current  of  newspaper 
criticism,  daily  read  his  budget  of  private  let- 
ters, gave  numerous  interviews  to  visiting  pol- 
n  Hay,  18S6-7.    All  rights  reserved.
420 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
iticians  of  prominence  and  influence  from  other 
States,  and,  on  the  occasion  of  a  short  visit  to 
Chicago,  met  and  conferred  with  Mr.  Hamlin, 
the  Vice-President-elect, —  all  constituting, 
most  probably,  little  else  than  a  continued 
study  of  the  Cabinet  question.  Never  arbitrary 
nor  dictatorial  in  the-  decision  of  any  matter, 
he  took  unusual  care  on  this  point  to  receive 
patiently  and  consider  seriously  all  the  advice, 
recommendations,  and  objections  which  his 
friends  from  different  States  had  to  offer. 
His  personal  experience  during  his  service 
as  a  member  of  Congress  had  given  him  an 
insight  into  the  sharp  and  bitter  contentions 
which  grow  out  of  office-seeking  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  patronage.  It  was  therefore  doubt- 
less with  the  view  to  fortify  himself  in  his  selec- 
tions, that  he  now  determined  to  make  definite 
offers  of  some  at  least  of  the  Cabinet  appoint- 
ments. The  question  of  taking  part  of  his  con- 
stitutional advisers  from  among  his  political 
opponents,  and  from  the  hostile  or  complain- 
ing Southern  States,  had  been  thoroughly  de- 
bated in  his  own  mind.  The  conclusion  arrived 
at  is  plainly  evinced  by  the  following,  written 
with  his  own  hand,  and  inserted  as  a  short  lead- 
ing editorial  in  the  Springfield  "Journal "  on  the 
morning  of  December  12th  (or  13th),  i860  : 
"  We  hear  such  frequent  allusions  to  a  supposed  pur- 
pose on  the  part  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  call  into  his  Cabi- 
net two  or  three  Southern  gentlemen  from  the  parties 
opposed  to  him  politically,  that  we  are  prompted  to 
ask  a  few  questions. 
"First.  Is  it  known  that  any  such  gentleman  of 
character  would  accept  a  place  in  the  Cabinet  ? 
"  Second,  If  yea,  on  what  terms  does  he  surrender 
to  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  Mr.  Lincoln  to  him,  on  the  politi- 
cal differences  between  them,  or  do  they  enter  upon 
the  administration  in  open  opposition  to  each  other  ?  " 
The  high  authorship  of  these  paragraphs 
was  not  announced,  but  the  reductio  ad  absur- 
dum  was  so  complete  that  the  newspapers  were 
not  amiss  in  guessing  whence  they  emanated. 
The  selection  of  enemies  being  out  of  the 
question,  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  execution  of  long- 
matured  plans,  proceeded  to  choose  his  friends, 
and  those  of  the  best  and  ablest.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  December  8th,  i860,  he  penned  the  fol- 
lowing letters : 
Springfield,  III.,  December  8th,  i860. 
My  Dear  Sir  :    With  your  permission  I  shall  at 
the  proper  time  nominate  you  to  the  Senate  for  con- 
firmation as  Secretary  of  State  for  the  United  States. 
■  let  me  hear  from  you  at  your  own  earliest  con- 
venience. 
Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 
A.  Lincoln. 
Hon.  William  II.  Seward, 
Washington,  D.  C* 
(Private  and  confidential.) 
Springfield,  III.,  December  8th,  i860. 
My  Dear   Sir  :    In  addition  to  the  accompanying 
and  more  formal  note,  inviting  you  to  take  charge  of 
the  State  Department,  I  deem  it  proper  to  address  you 
this.    Rumors  have  got  into  the  newspapers  to  the  ef- 
fect that  the  Department  named  above  would  be  ten- 
dered you  as  a  compliment,  and  with  the  expectation 
that  you  would  decline  it.  I  beg  you  to  be  assured  that 
I  have  said  nothing  to  justify  these  rumors.  On  the 
contrary,  it  has  been  my  purpose,  from  the  day  of  the 
nomination  at  Chicago,  to- assign  you,  by  your  leave, 
this  place  in  the  Administration.  I  have  delayed  so  long 
to  communicate  that  purpose,  in  deference  to  what  ap- 
peared to  me  a  proper  caution  in  the  case.  Nothing  has 
been  developed  to  change  my  view  in  the  premises ; 
and  I  now  offer  you  the  place  in  the  hope  that  you  will 
accept  it,  and  with  the  belief  that  your  position  in  the 
public  eye,  your  integrity,  ability,  learning,  and  great 
experience  all  combine  to  render  it  an  appointment 
preeminently  fit  to  be  made. 
One  word  more.     In  regard  to  the  patronage  sought 
with  so  much  eagerness  and  jealousy,  I  have  prescribed 
for  myself  the  maxim,  "  Justice  to  all  " ;  and  I  earnestly 
beseech  your  cooperation  in  keeping  the  maxim  good. 
Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 
A.  Lincoln. 
Hon.  William  H.  Seward, 
Washington,  D.  C* 
This  letter,  so  full  of  frankness  and  delicate 
courtesy,  together  with  the  brief  note  preced- 
ing it,  was  sent  to  two  intimate  friends  of  the 
President-elect  at  Washington,  with  the  re- 
quest, if  their  judgment  concurred  in  the  step, 
to  hand  them  to  Mr.  Seward.  They  wrere  at 
once  delivered,  and  the  recipient  wrote  the 
following  equally  courteous  and  character- 
istic answer: 
Washington,  December  13th,  i860. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  had  the  honor  of  receiv- 
ing as  well  your  note  which  tenders  to  me  a  nomination 
to  the  Senate  for  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  as  also 
your  private  and  confidential  letter  on  the  same  subject. 
It  would  be  a  violation  of  my  own  feelings,  as  well 
as  a  great  injustice  to  you,  if  I  were  to  leave  occasion 
for  any  doubt  on  your  part  that  I  appreciate  as  highly 
as  I  ought  the  distinction  which,  as  the  Chief  Magistrate 
of  the  Republic,  you  propose  to  confer  upon  me,  and 
that  I  am  fully,  perfectly,  and  entirely  satisfied  with  the 
sincerity  and  kindness  of  your  sentiments  and  wishes 
in  regard  to  my  acceptance  of  it. 
You  will  readily  believe  that,  coming  to  the  con- 
sideration of  so  grave  a  subject  all  at  once,  I  need  a 
little  time  to  consider  whether  I  possess  the  qualifica- 
tions and  temper  of  a  minister,  and  whether  it  is  in 
such  a  capacity  that  my  friends  would  wish  that  I  should 
act  if  I  am  to  continue  at  all  in  the  public  service. 
These  questions  are,  moreover,  to  be  considered  in  view 
of  a  very  anomalous  condition  of  public  affairs.  I  wish, 
indeed,  that  a  conference  with  you  upon  them  were  pos- 
sible. But  I  do  not  see  how  it  could  prudently  be  held 
under  existing  circumstances.  Without  publishing  the 
fact  of  your  invitation,  I  will,  with  your  leave,  reflect 
upon  it  a  few  days,  and  then  give  you  my  definite 
answer,  which,  if  I  know  myself,  will  be  made  under 
the  influence  exclusively  of  the  most  earnest  desire 
for  the  success  of  your  administration,  and  through 
it  for  the  safety,  honor,  and  welfare  of  the  Union. 
Whatever  may  be  my  conclusion,  you  may  rest  as- 
sured of  my  hearty  concurrence  in  your  views  in  regard 
to  the  distribution  of  the  public  offices  as  you  have 
communicated  them. 
Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  most  respectfully  and  most 
faithfully  your  friend  and  humble  servant, 
William  H.  Seward. 
The  Hon.  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President-elect  of  the  United  States.* 
*  Unpublished  MS.
THE  FORMATION  OF  THE    CABINET 
421 
Before  the  end  of  the  month,  Mr.  Lincoln 
received  a  short  and  simple  note  from  Mr. 
Seward  signifying  his  acceptance.  Meanwhile 
he  had  sent  (December  13th)  a  verbal  mes- 
sage to  Hon.  Edward  Bates,  at  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  that  he  would  come  down  there  the  next 
day  to  see  and  consult  him  about  some  points 
connected  with  the  formation  of  his  Cabinet. 
"  I  thought  I  saw  an  unfitness  in  his  coming 
to  me,  and  that  I  ought  to  go  to  him,"*  writes 
Mr.  Bates  with  his  old-school  politeness.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  following  Saturday  (December 
15th)  found  him  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  office  in 
Springfield. 
They  had  had  a  personal  acquaintance  of 
some  eight  years ;  and  after  cordial  greetings 
the  President-elect  proceeded  without  further 
prelude  to  tell  him  that  since  the  day  of  the 
Chicago  nomination  it  had  been  his  purpose 
to  tender  him  one  of  the  places  in  his  Cabinet. 
Some  of  his  friends  had  asked  the  State  De- 
partment for  him.  He  could  not  now  offer 
him  this,  which  was  usually  considered  the 
first  place  in  the  Cabinet,  for  the  reason  that 
he  should  offer  that  place  to  Mr.  Seward,  in 
view  of  his  ability,  his  integrity,  his  command- 
ing influence,  and  his  fitness  for  the  place.  He 
did  this  as  a  matter  of  duty  to  the  party  and 
to  Mr.  Seward's  many  and  strong  friends, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  accorded  perfectly 
with  his  own  personal  inclinations,  notwith- 
standing some  opposition  on  the  part  of  sin- 
cere and  warm  friends.  He  would,  therefore, 
offer  Mr.  Bates  what  he  supposed  would  be 
more  congenial,  and  for  which  he  was  cer- 
tainly in  every  way  qualified, —  the  Attorney- 
Generalship.f 
Within  a  few  days  it  was  announced  by 
authority  that  Mr.  Bates  had  been  tendered 
and  had  accepted  a  place  in  the  new  Cabinet. 
His  adhesion  was  looked  upon  as  a  sure  indi- 
cation of  a  moderate  and  constitutional  policy 
by  the  incoming  Administration. 
The  choice  of  Mr.  Seward  as  the  head  of 
the  Cabinet,  as  well  as  his  probable  accept- 
ance, was  also  soon  whispered  about  among 
leading  Republicans  in  Congress,  rumored  in 
the  public  press,  and  in  due  time  confirmed 
by  a  semi-official  statement  in  the  Albany 
"  Evening  Journal,"  the  organ  of  Mr.  Seward's 
friend  Thurlow  Weed.  This  action  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln also  gave  the  party  at  large  general  grat- 
ification, since  up  to  the  Chicago  convention 
Mr.  Seward  had  been  its  chief  favorite. 
Whatever  of  antagonism  existed  between  pro- 
nounced and  conservative  Republicans  was 
thus  happily  neutralized,  and  the  respective 
partisans  of  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Bates  each 
felt  themselves  bound  to  the  new  Adminis- 
*  Bates,  diary.    Unpublished  MS. 
t  J.  G.  N.,  personal  memoranda.   MS. 
tration  through  the  presence  of  an  acknowl- 
edged and  trusted  leader  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
councils. 
To  these  two  selections  a  third  had  in  the 
mean  time  been  virtually  added.  As  the  indi- 
vidual held  a  less  prominent  position  in  the 
nation,  and  as  the  choice  was  merely  pro 
ional,  it  provoked  no  immediate  attention  or 
contest.  On  December  nth,  three  days  after 
writing  his  letter  to  Mr.  Seward,  two  gentle- 
men called  upon  the  President-elect  to  pre- 
sent the  claims  of  Hon.  Caleb  B.  Smith  of 
Indiana,  one  of  the  "  pivotal  States  "  in  the 
November  election,  to  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet. 
After  a  very  short  talk,  showing  that  the  ques- 
tion had  already  gone  through  the  crucible  of 
his  judgment,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied,  that,  being 
determined  to  act  with  caution  and  not  em- 
barrass himself  with  promises,  he  could  only 
say  that  he  saw  no  insuperable  objections  to 
Indiana's  having  a  place,  or  to  Smith  being 
the  man.f  To  this  decision  Mr.  Lincoln  held 
firm,  though,  later  on,  very  considerable  pres- 
sure came  upon  him  in  behalf  of  another  cit- 
izen of  Indiana,  already  then  distinguished 
and  destined  to  attain  still  greater  eminence. 
A  letter  which  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  him,  ex- 
plaining why  he  adhered  to  his  original  choice, 
will  be  of  interest  in  this  connection  as  illus- 
trating one  of  his  rules  of  conduct  which  con- 
tributed so  much  to  his  popular  strength; 
namely,  neither  to  forget  a  friendship  nor  re- 
member a  grudge. 
Executive  Mansion,  March  8th,  1861. 
Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax. 
My  Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  6th  has  just  been 
handed  me  by  Mr.  Baker  of  Minnesota.  When  I  said 
to  you  the  other  day  that  I  wished  to  write  you  a  let- 
ter, I  had  reference,  of  course,  to  my  not  having  offered 
you  a  Cabinet  appointment.  I  meant  to  say.  and  now 
do  say,  you  were  most  honorably  and  amply  recom- 
mended; and  a  tender  of  the  appointment  was  not 
withheld,  in  any  part,  because  of  anything  happening 
in  1858.  Indeed,  I  should  have  decided  as  I  did  easier 
than  I  did,  had  that  matter  never  existed.  I  had  partly 
made  up  my  mind  in  favor  of  Mr.  Smith  —  not  conclu- 
sively, of  course  —  before  your  name  was  mentioned  in 
that  connection.  When  you  were  brought  forward  I 
said,  "  Colfax  is  a  young  man,  is  already  in  position,  is 
running  a  brilliant  career,  and  is  sure  of  a  bright  future 
in  any  event  —  with  Smith  it  is  now  or  never."  I  con- 
sidered either  abundantly  competent,  and  decided  on 
the  ground  I  have  stated.  I  now  have  to  beg  that 
you  will  not  do  me  the  injustice  to  suppose  for  a  mo- 
ment that  I  remember  anything  against  you  in  malice. 
Yours  very  truly, 
A.  Lincoln.  £ 
The  next  step  in  Cabinet-making  was  much 
more  complex  as  a  political  and  personal  ad- 
justment, and  proved  for  the  present  too  diffi- 
cult of  execution.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  frequently 
and  without  reserve  expressed  his  decided 
preference  for  Governor  Salmon  P.  Chase  of 
t  Unpublished  MS.  Also  partly  printed  in  Hollister, 
"Life  of  Colfax."
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
Ohio  as  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, —  not 
only  on  account  of  his  acknowledged  execu- 
tive talent,  but  above  all  because  his  spotless 
integrity  of  character  would  at  once  impart 
tone  to  and  confidence  in  the  national  credit, 
greatly  impaired  by  recent  maladministration 
and  now  liable  to  be  lost  in  the  convulsions  of 
civil  war.  There  seemed,  too,  an  eminent  fitness 
in  this  selection.  He  was  looked  upon  as  the 
most  prominent  and  able  representative  of  the 
second  great  constituent  element  of  the  Re- 
publican party, —  the  former  Democrats  of 
the  Northern  States  whose  anti-slavery  con- 
victions had  joined  them  to  the  new  party  of 
freedom. 
Cut  against  this  personal  preference  of  the 
President-elect,  to  this  particular  office  there 
rose  up  the  local  claim  of  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  of  Senator  Simon  Cameron  as  her 
most  prominent  citizen.  The  manufacturing 
industry  of  the  State  created  a  local  sentiment 
in  behalf  of  a  protective  tariff  stronger  than  all 
other  party  issues.  Protection  had  not,  indeed, 
been  a  prominent  question  in  the  late  election, 
yet  the  Republican  platform  proclaimed  that 
the  "industrial  interests"  should  be  encour- 
aged; the  bulk  of  the  new  party  were  former 
tariff  men ;  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  had  been  an 
avowed  protectionist  in  other  political  cam- 
paigns, and  was  known  not  to  have  changed 
his  convictions  on  this  point.  Stronger  than 
all  was  the  implied  understanding  in  favor  of 
protection, —  unwritten,  indeed,  but  none  the 
less  relied  upon  by  politicians  and  parties. 
Now  that  the  election  was  won,  Pennsylvania 
claimed  control  of  the  Treasury  Department  as 
that  branch  of  the  Government  which  could 
wield  the  greatest  influence,  both  upon  legisla- 
tion and  administration,  for  the  promotion  of 
her  industrial  prosperity.  Governor  Chase  had 
a  wider  national  reputation  than  Senator  Cam- 
eron, but  each  was  an  unrivaled  leader  in  his 
own  State,  each  had  received  the  almost  unan- 
imous complimentary  vote  of  his  own  State  in 
the  Chicago  convention. 
In  view  of  these  conflicting  motives  and  in- 
terests, the  President  invited  Mr.  Cameron  to 
visit  him  at  Springfield,  and  interviews  took 
place  between  them  on  the  30th  and  31st  of 
December.  Their  conversations  were  undoubt- 
edly intended  to  be  frank  and  explicit,  and  yet 
it  would  appear  that  a  temporary  misunder- 
standing grew  out  of  them,  the  precise  nature 
of  which  has  never  become  public  history. 
When  Mr.  Cameron  returned  to  his  home,  he 
bore  with  him  the  following  note : 
rGFIELD,  III.,  December  31st,  i860. 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron. 
My  DEAR  Sir  :  I  think  fit  to  notify  you  now,  that 
by  your  permission  I  shall  at  the  proper  time  nominate 
you  to  the  U.  S.  Senate  for  confirmation  as  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  or  as  Secretary  of  War  —  which  of  the 
two  I  have  not  yet  definitely  decided.  Please  answer 
at  your  earliest  convenience. 
Your  obedient  servant, 
A.  Lincoln.* 
The  purpose  of  the  President-elect,  evi- 
dently formed  with  deliberation,  was  suddenly 
changed,  but,  as  the  sequel  proved,  for  a  time 
only.  If  he  ever  explained  his  full  reason  for 
so  doing,  it  was  to  witnesses  who  are  long 
since  dead.  One  of  the  secondary  causes  he 
has  himself  left  on  record.  It  happened  that 
just  at  this  juncture  he  received,  both  by  letter 
and  through  personal  visits  from  Pennsylva- 
nia politicians,  the  indications  of  a  bitter  hos- 
tility to  Cameron  from  an  influential  and  very 
active  minority  in  that  State,  headed  by  the 
newly  elected  governor  and  the  chairman  of 
the  State  central  committee,  who  protested  in 
harsh  and  severe  terms  against  Cameron's  ap- 
pointment.  The  situation  required  prompt 
action,  and  keeping  his  own  counsel,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln wrote: 
( Private. ) 
Springfield,  111.,  Jan.  3d,  1861. 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  Since  seeing  you,  things  have  de- 
veloped which  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  take  you 
into  the  Cabinet.  You  will  say  this  comes  of  an  inter- 
view with  McClure ;  and  this  is  partly,  but  not  wholly, 
true.  The  more  potent  matter  is  wholly  outside  of 
Pennsylvania;  and  yet  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  specify 
it.  Enough  that  it  appears  to  me  to  be  sufficient.  And 
now  I  suggest  that  you  write  me  declining  the  appoint- 
ment, in  which  case  I  do  not  object  to  its  being  known 
that  it  was  tendered  you.  Better  do  this  at  once,  be-  1
fore  things  so  change  that  you  cannot  honorably  de- 
cline, and  I  be  compelled  to  openly  recall  the  tender. 
No  person  living  knows  or  has  an  intimation  that  I 
write  this  letter. 
Yours  truly, 
A.  Lincoln. 
P.  S.  Telegraph  me  instantly  on  receipt  of  this, 
saying,  "All  right."— A.  L.* 
It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
did  not  offer  any  explanation  of  his  course; 
also  that  he  had  so  well  kept  his  secret,  both 
of  the  tender  and  the  recall,  that,  since  his 
judgment  so  dictated,  he  could  reverse  his  own 
action  and  the  world  be  none  the  wiser.  Still 
further  does  it  appear  from  this  letter  that  he 
had  either  enjoined  or  expected  an  equal  dis- 
cretion on  the  part  of  Mr.  Cameron.  But  the 
latter,  in  haste  to  control  the  party  politics  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  dictate  who  from  that  State 
should  succeed  him  in  the  Senate,  had  shown 
Mr.  Lincoln's  first  note.  Mr.  Cameron  was, 
therefore,  not  only  unable  to  telegraph  "  All 
right,"  but  was  in  a  measure  compelled  also 
to  show  the  recall  to  a  few  special  friends; 
and  thus  the  incident,  though  the  correspond- 
ence and  the  actual  details  were  carefully  kept 
out  of  the  newspapers,  was  more  or  less  un- 
derstood in  the  confidential  circles  of  politics. 
*  Unpublished  MS.
THE  FORMATION  OF  THE    CAB f NET 
423 
As  might  have  been  expected,  Mr.  Came- 
ron's nearest  personal  friend  came  at  once  to 
Springfield ;  and  the  conferences  on  the  sub- 
ject may  be  sufficiently  inferred  from  a  letter 
and  its  inclosure  which  he  carried  back  to  Mr. 
Cameron : 
(Private  and  confidential.) 
Springfield,  III.,  Jan.  13th,  1861. 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Sander- 
son and  with  hearty  good-will  besides,  I  herewith  send 
you  a  letter  dated  Jan.  3d  —  the  same  in  date  as  the 
last  you  received  from  me.  I  thought  best  to  give  it 
that  date,  as  it  is  in  some  sort  to  take  the  place  of  that 
letter.  I  learn,  both  by  a  letter  of  Mr.  Swett  and  from 
Mr.  Sanderson,  that  your  feelings  were  wounded  by 
the  terms  of  my  letter  really  of  the  3d.  I  wrote  that 
letter  under  great  anxiety,  and  perhaps  I  was  not  so 
guarded  in  its  terms  as  I  should  have  been ;  but  I  beg 
you  to  be  assured  I  intended  no  offense.  My  great 
object  was  to  have  you  act  quickly,  if  possible  before 
the  matter  should  be  complicated  with  the  Penn.  sen- 
atorial election.  Destroy  the  offensive  letter  or  return 
it  to  me. 
I  say  to  you  now  I  have  not  doubted  that  you  would 
perform  the  duties  of  a  Department  ably  and  faithfully. 
Nor  have  I  for  a  moment  intended  to  ostracize  your 
friends.  If  I  should  make  a  Cabinet  appointment  for 
Penn.  before  I  reach  Washington,  I  will  not  do  so 
without  consulting  you,  and  giving  all  the  weight 
to  your  views  and  wishes  which  I  consistently  can. 
This  I  have  always  intended. 
Yours  truly, 
A.  Lincoln. 
[Inclosure.  ] 
Springfield,  111.,  Jan.  3d,  1861. 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  When  you  were  here,  about  the 
last  of  December,  I  handed  you  a  letter  saying  I  should 
at  the  proper  time  nominate  you  to  the  Senate  for  a 
place  in  the  Cabinet.  It  is  due  to  you  and  to  truth  for 
me  to  say  you  were  here  by  my  invitation,  and  not  up- 
on any  suggestion  of  your  own.  You  have  not  as  yet 
signified  to  me  whether  you  would  accept  the  appoint- 
ment, and  with  much  pain  I  now  say  to  you  that  you 
will  relieve  me  from  great  embarrassment  by  allowing 
me  to  recall  the  offer.  This  springs  from  an  unexpected 
complication,  and  not  from  any  change  of  my  view  as 
to  the  ability  or  faithfulness  with  which  you  would  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  the  place. 
I  now  think  I  will  not  definitely  fix  upon  any  ap- 
pointment for  Pennsylvania  until  I  reach  Washington. 
Your  obedient  servant, 
A.  Lincoln.* 
Before  further  describing  this  Cameron  di- 
lemma, we  must  look  at  another  complication 
which  was  added  to  it.  On  the  day  on  wThich 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  given  Mr.  Cameron  his  writ- 
ten tender  of  a  place  (December  31st),  he  had 
also  telegraphed  to  Governor  Chase,  "  In 
these  troublous  times  I  would  like  a  confer- 
ence with  you.  Please  visit  me  here  at  once."  f 
By  a  curious  coincidence,  Mr.  Chase  arrived  in 
Springfield  on  the  very  day  (January  3d)  on 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  the  recall  of  the  ten- 
der to  Mr.  Cameron.     As  in  other  instances, 
*  Unpublished  MS. 
t  Warden,  "  Life  of  Salmon  P.  Chase." 
tSchuckers,  "  Life  of  S.  P.  Chase." 
the  President-elect  waived  all  ceremony  and 
promptly  called  on  Mr.  Chase  at  his  hotel.  "  I 
have  done  with  you,"  said  he,  "  what  I  would 
not  perhaps  have  ventured  to  do  with  any 
other  man  in  the  country, —  sent  for  you  to 
ask  you  whether  you  will  accept  the  appoint- 
ment of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  without, 
however,  being  exactly  prepared  to  offer  it  to 
you. "|  He  was  also  informed  of  the  selection 
of  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Bates,  which  he  heart- 
ily approved.  Nothing  was,  of  course,  said  of 
the  tender  to  Cameron  or  its  recall ;  but  the 
opposition  of  the  anti-Cameron  minority  in 
Pennsylvania  and  their  urging  the  selection 
of  Mr.  Dayton  of  New  Jersey  instead,  the 
apparent  acquiescence  of  all  in  the  choice  of 
Mr.  Chase,  and  the  threatening  affairs  of  the 
nation  as  well  as  the  strife  among  Repub- 
lican factions,  were  fully  talked  over  during 
his  visit,  which  lasted  two  days.  Mr.  Chase 
stated  that  he  "  was  not  prepared  to  say  that 
he  would  accept  that  place  if  offered."  t 
Neither  did  he  positively  decline.  He  valued 
the  trust  and  its  opportunities,  but  he  was 
reluctant  to  leave  the  Senate.  It  was  resolved 
to  ask  the  advice  of  friends,  and  abide  the 
course  of  events.  "  A  good  deal  of  conver- 
sation," writes  Mr.  Chase,  "  followed  in  ref- 
erence to  other  possible  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  but  everything  was  left  open  when 
we  parted." 
All  these  important  visits  to  Springfield  were 
heralded  in  the  newspapers,  and  the  rumors 
connected  therewith  proportionately  magni- 
fied. Particularly  did  the  statement  of  Mr. 
Cameron's  selection,  and  its  quick  contradic- 
tion, put  both  his  friends  and  opponents  on 
the  alert.  Pennsylvania  politics  were  for  the 
moment  at  a  white  heat,  and  letters  showered 
into  Springfield.  Politicians  are  but  human, 
and  Mr.  Cameron  was  sorely  wounded  in 
pride  and  weakened  in  prestige.  He  felt  hurt 
at  the  form  as  -w^ell  as  the  substance  of  the 
recall,  which,  being  intended  to  remain  secret, 
was  more  explicit  than  conventional.  While 
he  did  not  conceal  his  chagrin,  on  the  whole 
he  kept  his  temper,  taking  the  ground  that  he 
neither  originally  solicited  the  place,  nor  would 
he  now  decline  it.  His  enemies,  seeing  him 
at  bay,  redoubled  their  efforts  to  defeat  him. 
They  charged  him  with  unfitness,  with  habit- 
ual intrigue,  with  the  odium  of  corrupt  prac- 
tices. Mr.  Lincoln,  however,  soon  noticed 
that  these  allegations  were  vaguely  based  upon 
newspaper  report  and  public  rumor,  and  that, 
when  requested  to  do  so,  no  one  was  willing 
to  make  specific  charges  and  furnish  tangible 
proof. 
While  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Cameron  has- 
tened to  transmit  to  Springfield  protests  against 
his  appointment,  his  friends  were  yet  more
4-4 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
active  in  forwarding  recommendations  in  his 
behalf.  All  through  the  month  of  January 
this  epistolary  contest  seemed  the  principal 
occupation  of  the  Pennsylvania  Republicans, 
and  to  some  extent  it  communicated  itself  to 
other  localities.  Sharp  as  were  the  assaults, 
the  defense  was  yet  more  earnest,  and  testi- 
monials came  from  all  ranks  and  classes, — 
citizens,  clergymen,  editors,  politicians,  and 
officials  of  all  grades,  and  in  numbers  fully  as 
three  to  one, —  indorsing  his  private  and  per- 
sonal worth,  his  public  services,  his  official 
uprightness.  Astute  Washington  politicians 
were  nonplused,  and  frankly  confessed  that 
his  vindication  from  aspersion  was  complete 
and  overwhelming  and  that  they  could  not 
account  for  it, —  attributing  it,  as  usual,  to  his 
personal  intrigue.  Reasons  aside,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  Pennsylvania  demanded  Cameron, 
and  in  the  same  connection  protested  against 
Chase,  in  the  Treasury  Department,  insisting 
that  the  latter,  through  his  Democratic  teach- 
ings and  party  affiliations,  was  necessarily 
wedded  to  the  doctrines  of  free  trade,  and 
hence  inimical  to  the  manufacturing  prosper- 
ity of  that  State,  which  was  anxiously  looking 
forward  to  protective  legislation.  Mr.  Came- 
ron was  highly  gratified  at  this  manifestation 
from  his  own  State,  as  he  had  a  right  to  be, 
and  was  thereby  able  to  declare  himself  en- 
tirely satisfied  with  the  situation  as  thus  left, 
and  to  express  his  continued  good- will  towards 
the  President-elect.* 
Pending  this  incident,  still  another  phase  of 
the  Cabinet  question  had  more  fully  developed 
itself  at  Washington.  The  proposition  to  ap- 
point at  least  one  distinctly  Southern  man 
continued  from  time  to  time  to  be  urged  upon 
Mr.  Lincoln,  notably  by  some  of  the  most 
prominent  and,  it  may  be  added,  most  radical 
Republican  senators  and  representatives  in 
Congress.  To  the  policy  of  such  a  step  the 
President-elect  cordially  assented;  but  the  real 
question  was,  as  he  had  already  so  sharply  de- 
fined it,  Would  any  Southern  man  of  character 
and  influence  accept  such  a  place  ?  Since  Mr. 
Seward's  selection,  he  too  joined  in  the  cur- 
rent suggestion.  "  I  feel  it  my  duty,"  he  wrote, 
December  25th,  "  to  submit  for  your  consider- 
ation the  names  of  Colonel  Fremont  for  Sec- 
retary of  War,  Randall  Hunt  of  Louisiana, 
and  John  A.  Gilmer  or  Kenneth  Raynor  of 
Xorth  Carolina,  for  other  places.  Should  you 
think  that  any  of  these  gentlemen  would  be 
likely  to  be  desirable  in  the  Administration,  I 
should  find  no  difficulty,  I  think,  in  ascertain- 
ing whether  they  would  accept,  without  mak- 
Morehead  to  Lincoln,  Jan.  27th,  1861.  Unpublished 
ing  the  matter  public."  f  In  another  note,  of 
December  28th,  he  added  the  name  of  Hon. 
Robert  E.  Scott  of  Virginia  to  his  list  of  South- 
ern candidates.  Thereupon  Mr.  Lincoln  sent 
him  authority  to  make  the  inquiry,  while  he 
himself  wrote  directly  to  John  A.  Gilmer  ask- 
ing him  to  come  to  Springfield.  Mr.  Seward's 
letters  had  also  urged,  in  this  connection,  that 
in  view  of  the  threatened  revolution  Mr.  Lin- 
coln should  come  to  Washington  somewhat 
earlier  than  usual,  and  should  at  once  select 
his  Secretaries  of  War  and  Navy,  that  they 
might  begin  to  devise  measures  of  safety.  To 
all  these  suggestions  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  the  fol- 
lowing reply : 
(Private.) 
Springfield,  III.,  Jan.  3d,  1861. 
Hon.  W.  H.  Seward. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  Yours  without  signature  was  re- 
ceived last  night.  I  have  been  considering  your  sug- 
gestions as  to  my  reaching  Washington  somewhat 
earlier  than  usual.  It  seems  to  me  the  inauguration  is 
not  the  most  dangerous  point  for  us.  Our  adversa- 
ries have  us  now  clearly  at  disadvantage.  On  the  sec- 
ond Wednesday  of  February,  when  the  votes  should 
be  officially  counted,  if  the  two  houses  refuse  to  meet 
at  all,  or  meet  without  a  quorum  of  each,  where  shall 
we  be  ?  I  do  not  think  that  this  counting  is  constitu- 
tionally essential  to  the  election ;  but  how  are  we  to 
proceed  in  absence  of  it  ? 
In  view  of  this,  I  think  it  best  for  me  not  to  at- 
tempt appearing  in  Washington  till  the  result  of  that 
ceremony  is  known.  It  certainly  would  be  of  some  ad- 
vantage if  you  could  know  who  are  to  be  at  the  heads 
of  the  War  and  Navy  Departments  ;  but,  until  I  can 
ascertain  definitely  whether  I  can  get  any  suitable  men 
from  the  South,  and  who,  and  how  many,  I  cannot 
well  decide.  As  yet,  I  have  no  word  from  Mr.  Gilmer, 
in  answer  to  my  request  for  an  interview  with  him.  I 
look  for  something  on  the  subject,  through  you,  before 
long. 
Yours  very  truly, 
A.  Lincoln.  % 
The  result  of  Mr.  Seward's  inquiries  soon 
came,  and  revealed  precisely  the  hesitation 
and  difficulty  which  the  President-elect  had 
foretold.  "  Mr.  G.  of  N.  C.  says  he  will 
consider  of  the  proposition,  and  that  he  trusts 
that  before  giving  an  answer  he  will  be  able 
to  name  a  person  better  calculated  than 
himself  for  the  purpose  indicated.  I  do  not 
think  he  will  find  such  a  person.  He  will  not 
reply  further,  until  required  to  do  so  by  you, 
directly  or  indirectly.  I  will  communicate  with 
him  if  you  wish.  I  think  he  would  not  decline. 
I  have  tried  to  get  an  interview  on  my  own 
responsibility  with  Mr.  Scott,  but  he  has  not 
yet  come,  though  he  has  promised  to  do  so.  .  . 
I  still  think  Randall  Hunt  of  Louisiana  would 
be  well  chosen."  §  And  again  :  "  Mr.  Gilmer 
has  written  home  confidentially,  and  will  give 
me  an  answer  in  a  few  days.    He  is  inquiring 
MS. 
t  Seward  to  Lincoln,  Dec.  25th,  i860.     Unpublished     MS. 
MS. 
%  Unpublished  MS. 
\  Seward  to  Lincoln,  Jan.  4th,  186 1.     Unpublished
77/ E   FORMAT/ON   OF    T//F    CAF/NFT. 
425 
SALMON    P.    CHASE,      SECRETARY     OF 
PHOTOGRAPH     BY     BENDANN.) 
about  Randall  Hunt.  What  do  you  know  of 
Meredith  P.  Gentry  of  Tennessee  ?  "  *  To 
this  Mr.  Lincoln  answered : 
(Private.) 
Springfield,  III.,  Jan.  12th,  1861. 
Hon.  W.  H.  Seward. 
My  Dear  Sir:  Yours  of  the  8th  received.  I  still 
hope  Mr.  Gilmer  will,  on  a  fair  understanding  with  us, 
consent  to  take  a  place  in  the  Cabinet.  The  preference 
for  him  over  Mr.  Hunt  or  Mr.  Gentry  is  that,  up  to 
date,  he  has  a  living  position  in  the  South,  while  they 
have  not.  He  is  only  better  than  Winter  Davis  in  that 
he  is  farther  South.  I  fear  if  we  could  get,  we  could 
not  safely  Lake,  more  than  one  such  man  —  that  is,  not 
more  than  one  who  opposed  us  in  the  election,  the 
danger  being  to  lose  the  confidence  of  our  own  friends. 
Your  selection  for  the  State  Department  having 
become  public,  I  am  happy  to  find  scarcely  any  objec- 
tion to  it.  I  shall  have  trouble  with  every  other  North- 
ern Cabinet  appointment,  so  much  so  that  I  shall  have 
to  defer  them  as  long  as  possible,  to  avoid  being  teased 
to  insanity  to  make  changes. 
Your  obedient  servant,  A.  Lincoln.! 
*  Seward  to  Lincoln,  Jan.  8th,  1861. 
MS. 
Vol.  XXXV.  —  59. 
Unpublished 
This  quest  after  a  loyal  member  from  the 
South  soon  terminated.  Under  date  of  Janu- 
ary 15th  Mr.  Seward  sent  an  additional  report 
on  the  subject.  "  I  think,"  wrote  he,  "  Mr. 
Scott  has  been  terrified  into  dropping  the  sub- 
ject about  which  I  wrote  to  you.  He  has  not 
come  to  see  me ;  so  we  will  let  him  pass,  if  you 
please.  I  still  think  well  and  have  hopes  of 
Gilmer."|  But  Mr.  Lincoln  was  by  that  time 
thoroughly  satisfied  that  this  last  hope  would 
also  prove  idle  ;  for  he  himself  had  a  second 
letter  from  Mr.  Gilmer  (dated  January  29th) 
in  which  that  gentleman  declined  his  invita- 
tion to  come  to  Springfield,  and  in  which,  hav- 
ing missed  receiving  Mr.Lincoln's  former  reply, 
he  still  pathetically  insisted  that  the  President- 
elect should  save  the  country  by  writing  a  let- 
ter to  satisfy  the  South. 
In  this  attitude  matters  remained  until 
towards  the  end  of  February,  when  Mr.  Lin- 
t  Unpublished  MS. 
%  Seward  to  Lincoln,  Jan.  15. 1861.  Unpublished  MS.
426 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
coin  arrived  in  Washington;  namely,  Mr.  Sew- 
ard of  New  York  and  Mr.  Bates  of  Missouri 
had  positively  accepted  definite  places  in  the 
Cabinet.  Mr.  Chase  o\  Ohio  and  Mr.  Smith 
of  Indiana  had  been  virtually  chosen,  but 
were  yet  held  under  advisement ;  a  tender  had 
been  made  to  Mr.  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  recalled  but  not  declined  ;  and  distinctive- 
lv  Southern  men,  like  Gilmer  of  North  Carolina 
and  Scott  of  Virginia,  had  not  the  courage  to 
accept.   In  addition  to  these,  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
SIMON  CAMERON,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 
(FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH  BY  BRADY.) 
by  this  time  practically  settled  in  his  own  judg- 
ment upon  Hon.  Gideon  Welles  of  Connecti- 
cut as  the  New  England  member,  though 
no  interview  had  been  held  nor  tender  made. 
But  as  early  as  the  meeting  (November  22d) 
between  the  President  and  Vice-President  elect 
at  Chicago,  this  name  had  been  the  subject 
of  special  consultation  ;  and  a  friend  had  ob- 
tained from  Mr.  Welles  the  latter's  written 
views  upon  current  political  questions,  espe- 
cially the  fugitive-slave  clause  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. A  great  number  of  letters  and  formal 
recommendations  since  received  had  but  con- 
firmed Mr.  Lincoln's  first  impressions  as  to  his 
fitness,  availability,  and  representative  char- 
acter. 
Washington  was  thronged  with  politicians, 
called  there  by  the  proceedings  of  Congress; 
by  the  Peace  Convention,  just  closing;  by  the 
secession  excitement;  and  especially  by  the 
advent  of  a  new  and  yet  untried  party  in  ad- 
ministration. Willard's,  then  the  principal  ho- 
tel, was  never  in  its  history  more  busy  nor  more 
brilliant.  Here  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  suite  had 
spacious  and  accessible  rooms,  and  here  dur- 
ing the  six  or  eight  working-days  which  inter- 
vened between  his  arrival  and  the  inaugura- 
tion was  the  great  political  exchange,  where 
politicians,  editors,  committee-men,  delega- 
tions, Congressmen,  governors,  and  senators 
congregated,  and  besieged  the  doors  of  the 
coming  power  from  morning  till  midnight. 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  sincere  respect  for  great 
names  in  politics  and  statesmanship,  the  more 
so  because  his  own  life  had  in  the  main  been 
provincial.  Nevertheless,  he  quickly  noted  that 
here  at  the  center,  as  well  as  in  lesser  and  more 
distant  circles,  there  was  present  harmony  in  the 
chief  party  tenets,  but  that  great  diversity  and 
cross-purpose,  even  serious  antagonism,  as  to 
men  and  measures  in  detail  were  likely  to  arise 
in  the  future;  that  the  powerful  cross-lights 
of  the  capital  only  intensified  the  factional 
contests,  local  jealousies,  or  the  national  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  he  had  already  viewed 
more  remotely  but  quite  as  accurately  from 
Springfield ;  that  the  wisdom  of  trained  actors 
in  the  political  drama  was  as  much  beclouded 
by  interest  or  prejudice  as  was  his  own  by  in- 
experience and  diffidence. 
After  a  week's  patient  listening  he  found  his 
well-formed  judgment  about  the  composition 
of  his  Cabinet  unshaken.  He  had  by  this  time 
finally  determined  to  place  Cameron  in  the  War 
Department,  and  Chase  was  understood  to 
have  accepted  the  Treasury.  Hence  the  East 
and  the  West,  the  great  "  pivotal  States,"  the 
Whig  and  Democratic  elements  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  each  by  three  members  were  all 
believed  to  be  fairly  and  acceptably  repre- 
sented. The  slave  States  too,  through  Mr. 
Bates  of  Missouri,  had  a  voice  in  the  new 
council ;  but  the  charge  of  sectionalism  had 
been  so  persistently  iterated  by  the  South, 
that  it  was  thought  best  to  give  the  single  re- 
maining place  to  Maryland,  even  then  balanc- 
ing between  loyalty  and  open  secession  ;  and 
the  filial  controversy  was  whether  that  choice 
should  fall  upon  Montgomery  Blair,  a  Demo- 
crat, and  member  of  a  historic  and  influential 
family,  or  upon  Henry  Winter  Davis,  a  young 
Whig  of  rising  fame. 
Something  of  the  obstinacy  and  bitterness 
of  the  entire  contest  was  infused  into  this  last 
struggle  over  a  really  minor  place.  This  was 
partly  because  so  little  remained  to  quarrel 
about,  but  mainly  because  it  was  supposed  to 
be  the  casting  vote  of  the  new  Cabinet,  which 
should  decide  the  dominancy  of  the  Whig 
Republicans  or  Democratic  Republicans  in 
Mr.  Lincoln's  administration.  In  the  momen- 
tary heat  and  excitement  this  phase  of  the. 
matter  expanded  beyond  any  original  design, 
until  Mr.  Lincoln  began  to  realize  that  it  was
THE  FORMATION   OT   THE    CAJUNKT. 
427 
no  longer  a  mere  local  strife  between  Blair  and 
Davis  in  Maryland,  but  the  closing  trial  of 
strength  and  supremacy  between  Whigs  and 
Democrats  of  the  new  party  throughout  the 
Union,  headed  respectively,  though  perhaps 
unconsciously,  by  Sewardand  Chase.  This  con- 
tingency, too,  had  been  foreseen  by 
the  President-elect,  and  he  had  long 
ago  determined  not  to  allow  himself 
to  be  made  the  football  between  rival 
factions.  Carrying  out,  therefore,  his 
motto  of  "  Justice  to  all,"  as  formu- 
lated in  his  tender  to  Seward,  he 
now  determined  to  appoint  Mr.  Blair. 
When  reminded  that  by  this  selection 
he  placed  four  Democrats  and  only 
three  Whigs  in  his  Cabinet,  he  prompt- 
ly replied  that  "  he  was  himself  an  old- 
line  Whig,  and  he  should  be  there 
to  make  the  parties  even."  This 
declaration  he  repeated,  sometimes 
jocularly,  sometimes  earnestly,  many 
times  afterward.  Heated  partisans 
from  both  factions  doubtless  found  it 
difficult  to  persuade  themselves  that 
this  inexperienced  man  would  persist 
in  attempting  to  hold  an  even  and 
just  balance  between  the  two.  But 
he  had  already  made  up  his  mind 
that  if  the  quarrel  became  irrepressible 
it  should  be  carried  on  by  both  factions 
outside  of  his  Administration.  During 
the  two  or  three  days  which  elapsed 
after  his  selections  were  finally  deter- 
mined upon  and  their  actual  trans- 
mission to  the  Senate  for  confirmation 
there  were  interminable  rumors  of 
changes,  and,  of  course,  a  correspond- 
ing rush  to  influence  new  combina- 
tions. Late  one  night  a  friend  gained 
access  to  him,  and  in  great  excitement 
asked,  "  Is  it  true,  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  I 
have  just  heard,  that  we  are  to  have 
a  new  deal  after  all,  and  that  you  in- 
tend to  nominate  Winter  Davis  instead 
of  Blair  ?  "  "  Judd,"  replied  he,  "  when  that 
slate  breaks  again,  it  will  break  at  the  top."* 
These  plottings  at  last  bore  mischievous 
fruit.  Superserviceable  friends  doubtless  per- 
suaded Seward  that  the  alleged  ascendency 
of  the  Chase  faction  in  the  Cabinet  was  real 
and  ominous.  Hence,  possibly,  the  subjoined 
note  : 
Washington,  March  2d,  1861. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  Circumstances  which  have  oc- 
curred since  I  expressed  to  you  in  December  last  my 
willingness  to  accept  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State, 
seem  to  me  to  render  it  my  duty  to  ask  leave  to  with- 
draw that  consent. 
Tendering  to  you  my  best  wishes  for  the  success  of 
*  Hon.  N.  B.  Judd,  conversation.  J.  G.  N.,  personal 
memoranda.    MS. 
your  administration,  with  my  sincere  and  ^nj.l';ful  ac- 
knowledgments of  all  your  acts  of  kindness  and  confi- 
dence towards   me,  1    remain  very  respectfully  and 
sincerely, 
Your  obedient  servant, 
William  if.  SEWARD. 
The  Hon.  Abraham  Lincoln,  President-elect,  t 
GIDEON      WELLES,      SECRETARY     OF     THE      NAVY. 
(FROM    A     PHOTOGRAPH    BY   BRADY.) 
This,  from  the  man  who  now  for  several 
months  had  held  intimate  counsel  with  him, 
had  taken  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the 
Cabinet,  and  had  read  and  partly  revised  the 
inaugural,  was  unexpected.  Did  it  mean  that 
he  would  now  withdraw  and  complain  that  he 
was  forced  out  because  a  preponderating  influ- 
ence was  given  to  his  rival  ?  The  note  was  re- 
ceived on  Saturday,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  pondered 
the  situation  till  Monday  morning.  While  the 
inauguration  procession  was  forming  in  the 
streets,  he  wrote  the  following  and  handed  it  to 
his  private  secretary  to  copy,  with  the  remark. 
"  I  can't  afford  to  let  Seward  take  therirst  trick." 
*  Unpublished  MS,
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
CALEB     B.      SMITH,      SECRETARY     OF     THE     INTERIOR. 
(FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY   BRADY.) 
It  is  dated,  for  form's  sake,  at  the  Executive 
Mansion,  though  it  was  written  and  copied  at 
Willard's : 
Executive  Mansion,  March  4th,  1861. 
My  Dear  Sir:  Your  note  of  the  2d  instant,  asking 
to  withdraw  your  acceptance  of  my  invitation  to  take 
charge  of  the  State  Department,  was  duly  received. 
It  is  the  subject  of  the  most  painful  solicitude  with  me ; 
and  I  feel  constrained  to  beg  that  you  will  countermand 
the  withdrawal.  The  public  interest,  I  think,  demands 
that  you  should ;  and  my  personal  feelings  are  deeply 
enlisted  in  the  same  direction.  Please  consider  and 
answer  by  9  o'clock  A.  M.  to-morrow. 
Your  obedient  servant, 
A.  Lincoln. 
Hon.  William  H.  Seward.* 
When  the  inauguration  pageant  was  ended, 
and  the  usual  public  reception  and  hand-shak- 
ing were  concluded,  Mr.  Seward  called  upon 
the  President  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  and 
the  two  men  once  more  had  a  long,  frank, 
and  confidential  talk,  in  which  Seward's  an- 
swer, sent  the  following  morning,  had,  per- 
haps, already  been  foreshadowed  : 
March  5th,  1861. 
My  Dear  Sir:  Deferring  to  your  opinions  and 
wishes  as  expressed  in  your  letter  of  yesterday,  and  in 
our  conversation  of  last  evening,  I  withdraw  my  letter 
to  you  of  the  2d  instant,  and  remain,  with  great  respect 
and  esteem, 
Your  most  obedient  servant, 
William  II.  Seward. 
The  President  of  the  United  States.  * 
Whereupon,  at  12  o'clock,  the  Senate  being 
convened  in  extra  session,  the  President  sent 
*  Unpublished  MS. 
to  that  body  the  names  of  his  proposed 
Cabinet,  as  follows: 
For  Secretary  of  State,  William  H. 
Seward  of  New  York. 
For  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Sal- 
mon P.  Chase  of  Ohio. 
For  Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cam- 
eron of  Pennsylvania. 
For  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Gideon 
Welles  of  Connecticut. 
For  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Caleb 
B.  Smith  of  Indiana. 
For     Attorney-General,      Edward 
Bates  of  Missouri. 
For  Postmaster-General,  Montgom- 
ery Blair  of  Maryland. 
The  Senate  confirmed  all  these  nom- 
inations without  delay;  and  on  the  day 
after,  March  6th,  most  of  the  ap- 
pointees were  formally  inducted  into 
office.  That  evening  occurred  the  first 
Cabinet  meeting,  being,  however, 
merely  for  mutual  introduction  and 
acquaintance ;  and  the  newr  President 
greeted  his  Cabinet  at  the  Execu- 
tive Mansion  in  composition  and 
membership  substantially  as  he  had 
planned  and  arranged  it,  on  the  night 
of  the  November  election,  in  the  little  tele- 
graph office  at  Springfield. 
Carping  critics  might  indeed  at  the  moment 
have  specified  defects,  incongruities,  jealousies, 
and  seeds  of  possible  discord  and  disaster  in 
the  new  Cabinet,  but  we  can  now  understand 
that  they  neither  comprehended  the  man  who 
was  to  dominate  and  govern  it,  nor  the  storms 
of  State  which,  as  captain  and  crew,  he  and 
they  were  to  encounter  and  outride.  He  needed 
advisers,  helpers,  executive  eyes  and  hands, 
not  alone  in  department  routine,  but  in  the 
higher  qualities  of  leadership  and  influence; 
above  all,  his  principal  motive  seems  to  have 
been  representative  character,  varied  talent, — 
in  a  word,  combination.  Statesmanship  im- 
plies success;  success  demands  cooperation, 
popular  sympathy  and  support.  He  wished 
to  combine  the  experience  of  Seward,  the  in- 
tegrity of  Chase,  the  popularity  of  Cameron  ; 
to  hold  the  West  with  Bates,  attract  New 
England  with  Welles;  please  the  Whigs  through 
Smith,  and  convince  the  Democrats  through 
Blair.  Mr.  Lincoln  possessed  a  quick  intuition 
of  human  nature  and  of  the  strength  or  weak- 
ness of  individual  character.  His  whole  life 
had  been  a  practical  study  of  the  details  and 
rivalries  of  local  partisanship.  He  was,  more- 
over, endowed  in  yet  unsuspected  measure 
with  -a  comprehensive  grasp  of  great  causes 
and  results  in  national  politics.  He  had  noted 
and  heralded  the  alarming  portent  of  the  slav- 
ery struggle.    With  more  precision  than  any
THE   FORMATION    OF    77/ E    CA/i/N/C7\ 
429 
contemporary,  he  had  defined  the  depth  and 
breadth  of  the  moral  issues  and  rights  it  in- 
volved ;  he  had  led  the  preliminary  victory  at 
the  November  polls.  Now  that  the  hydra  of 
secession  was  raising  a  threat- 
ening head  in  every  cotton-State, 
his  simple  logic  rose  above 
minor  considerations  to  the  peril 
and  the  protection  of  the  nation, 
to  the  assault  on  and  the  defense 
of  the  Constitution.  He  saw 
but  the  ominous  cloud  of  civil 
war  in  front,  and  the  patriotic 
faith  and  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  behind  him.  The  slogan 
of  a  Seward  committee,  a  Chase 
delegation,  or  a  Cameron  clan 
was  but  the  symbol  and  prom- 
ise of  a  Wide- Awake  club  to  vote 
for  freedom,  or  of  an  armed  regi- 
ment on  the  battle-field  to  main- 
tain it.  Neither  did  any  one  yet 
suspect  his  delicate  tact  in  man- 
agement, strength  of  will,  or 
firmness  of  purpose.  In  weaker 
hands  such  a  Cabinet  would 
have  been  a  hot-bed  of  strife; 
under  him  it  became  a  tower  of 
strength.  He  made  these  selec- 
tions because  he  wanted  a  council 
of  distinctive  and  diverse,  yet 
able,  influential,  and  represent- 
ative men,  who  should  be  a  har- 
monious group  of  constitutional 
advisers  and  executive  lieuten- 
ants,—  not  a  confederated  board 
of  regents  holding  the  great  seal  in  com- 
mission and  intriguing  for  the  succession. 
THE    QUESTION    OF    SUMTER. 
In  his  letter  of  January  4th,  General  Scott 
had  promised  Mr.  Lincoln  that  from  time  to 
time  he  would  keep  him  informed  of  the 
situation  of  military-  affairs.  This  promise  the 
General  failed  to  keep ;  probably  not  through 
any  intentional  neglect,  but  more  likely  be- 
cause in  the  first  place  Buchanan's  policy 
of  delay,  indecision,  and  informal  negotia- 
tion with  the  conspirators  left  everything  in 
uncertainty;  and,  secondly,  because  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Administration  (and  measurably 
of  the  whole  country)  was  turned  to  the  vague 
hope  of  compromise,  especially  through  the 
labors  of  the  Peace  Convention.  The  rebels, 
on  their  part,  were  absorbed  in  the  formation 
of  the  provisional  government  at  Montgomery ; 
Lincoln  was  making  his  memorable  journey 
from  Springfield  to  Washington  by  way  of  the 
chief  cities  of  the  North ;  the  Fort  Pickens 
truce  was  practically  kept  a  secret ;  and  thus 
the  military  status  was  for  the  time  being  lost 
sight  of  beyond  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  Charleston.  Since  the  reorganization  of 
Buchanan's  cabinet  on    December  31st,  and 
EDWARD    BATES,    ATTORNEV-GENERAL.         (FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BRADY.) 
the  expulsion  or  defection  of  traitors  from  the 
departments  and  from  Congress,  the  whole 
North  had  breathed  somewhat  easier.  The  fir- 
ing on  the  Star  of  the  West  had  indeed  created 
a  storm  of  indignation;  but  this,  too,  quickly 
subsided,  and  by  a  sort  of  common  consent 
all  parties  and  sections  looked  to  the  incoming 
Administration  as  the  only  power  which  could 
solve  the  national  crisis. 
The  key-note  of  such  a  solution  was  given 
in  the  inaugural  of  the  new  President.  This 
announced  a  decided,  though  not  a  violent, 
change  of  policy.  Buchanan's  course  had 
been  one  professedly  of  conciliation,  but  prac- 
tically of  ruinous  concession.  By  argument  he 
had  almost  justified  the  insurrection;  he  had 
acknowledged  the  doctrine  of  non-coercion; 
he  had  abdicated  the  rightful  authority  and 
power  of  the  Executive;  he  had  parleyed  and 
stipulated  with  treason ;  he  had  withheld  rein- 
forcements. Lincoln,  receiving  from  his  hands 
the  precious  trust  of  the  Government, —  not  in 
its  original  integrity,  but  humbled,  impaired, 
diminished,  and  threatened, —  announced  his 
purpose  of  conciliation  and  not  concession,
43° 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
but  conservation  and  restoration.    "The  pol- 
icy chosen."  said  he,  "looked  to  the  exhaust- 
ion  of  all  peaceful  measures  before  a  resort 
to  any  stronger  ones.    It  sought  only  to  hold 
the  public  places  and  property  not   already 
wrested  from  the  Government,  and  to  collect 
the  revenue,  relying  for  the  rest  on  time,  dis- 
cussion, and  the  ballot-box.    It  promised  a  con- 
tinuance oi  the  mails  at  Government  ex- 
pense to  the  very  people  who  were  resist- 
ing the  Government, and  it  gave  repeated 
pledges  against  any  disturbance  to  any 
of  the  people  or  any  of  their  rights.    Of 
all  that  which  a   President  might  con- 
stitutionally and  justifiably  do  in  such  a 
case,  everything  was    forborne   without 
which   it   was  believed  possible  to  keep 
the  Government  on  foot."* 
This  pacific  purpose  was  now,  however, 
destined  to  receive  a  rude  shock.   When 
on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  March  Lin- 
coln went  to  his  office  and  council  cham- 
ber in  the  Executive  Mansion,  he  found 
a    letter  from  Mr.   Holt,  still  acting   as 
Secretary  of  War,  giving  him  news   of 
vital  importance  received  on  the  morning 
of  the  inauguration, —  namely,  that  Fort 
Sumter  must,  in  the  lapse  of  a  few  weeks 
at  most,  be  strongly  reenforced  or  sum- 
marily abandoned.   Major  Anderson  had 
in  the  previous  week  made   an  exami- 
nation of  his  provisions.  There  was  bread 
for  twenty-eight  days;  pork  for  a  some- 
what longer  time ;  beans,  rice,  coffee,  and 
sugar  for  different  periods  from  eight  to 
forty  days.    He   had  at   the  same  time 
consulted  his  officers  on  the  prospects  and 
possibilities  of  relief  and  reenforcement.    They 
unanimously  reported  that  before  Sumter  could 
be  permanently  or  effectively  succored  a  com- 
bined land  and  naval  force  must  attack  and 
carry  the  besieging  forts  and   batteries,  and 
hold  the  secession  militia  at  bay,  and  that  such 
an  undertaking  would  at  once  concentrate  at 
Charleston  all  the  volunteers,  not  alone  of  South 
Carolina,  but  of  the  adjacent  States  as  well. 
"  I  confess,"  wrote  Anderson,  transmitting  the 
reports   and    estimates    of  his    nine    officers, 
"  that  I  would  not  be  willing  to  risk  my  repu- 
tation on  an  attempt  to  throw  reinforcements 
into  this  harbor  within  the  time  for  our  relief 
rendered  necessary  by  the  limited  supply  of 
our  provisions,  and  with  a  view  of  holding 
possession   of  the  same  with  a  force  of  less 
than   twentv   thousand   good  and   well-disci- 
plined men."  f  Mr.  Holt,  quoting  from  previous 
instructions  to   and  reports   from  the   major, 
added  that  this  declaration  "takes  the  De- 
*  Lincoln,  Message  to  Congress,  July  4th,  1861. 
t  Anderson  to  Cooper,  Feb.  28th,  1861.     MS.  Partly 
printed  in  War  Records. 
partment  by  surprise,  as  his  previous  corre- 
spondence contained  no  such  intimation." 
Retrospective  criticism  as  to  why  or  how 
such  a  state  of  things  had  been  permitted  to 
grow  up  was,  of  course,  useless.  Here  was  a 
most  portentous  complication,  not  of  Lincoln's 
own  creating,  but  which  he  must  nevertheless 
meet  and  overcome.    He  had  counted  on  the 
MONTGOMERY    BLAIR,    POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 
(FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BRADY.) 
soothing  aid  of  time :  time,  on  the  contrary, 
was  in  this  emergency  working  in  the  interest 
of  rebellion.  General  Scott  was  at  once  called 
into  council,  but  his  sagacity  and  experience 
could  afford  neither  suggestion  nor  encourage- 
ment. That  same  night  he  returned  the  papers 
to  the  President  with  a  somewhat  lengthy  in- 
dorsement reciting  the  several  events  which 
led  to,  and  his  own  personal  efforts  to  avert, 
this  contingency,  but  ending  with  the  gloomy 
conclusion,  "  Evacuation  seems  almost  inevi- 
table, and  in  this  view  our  distinguished  Chief 
Engineer  (Brigadier  Totten)  concurs  —  if  in- 
deed the  worn-out  garrison  be  not  assaulted 
and  carried  in  the  present  week." 
This  was  a  disheartening,  almost  a  disas- 
trous, beginning  for  the  Administration.  The 
Cabinet  had  only  that  same  day  been  appointed 
and  confirmed.  The  presidential  advisers  had 
not  yet  taken  their  posts  —  all  had  not  even 
signified  their  acceptance.  There  was  an  im- 
patient multitude  clamoring  for  audience,  and 
behind  these  swarmed  a  hungry  army  of  office- 
seekers.    Everything  was  urgency  and  confu-
THE  FORMATION  OF  THE   CABINET. 
431 
sion,  everywhere  was  ignorance  of  method  and 
routine.  Rancor  and  hatred  filled  the  breasts 
of  political  opponents  departing  from  power ; 
suspicion  and  rivalry  possessed  partisan  ad- 
herents seeking  advantage  and  promotion.  As 
yet,  Lincoln  virtually  stood  alone,  face  to  face 
with  the  appalling  problems  of  the  present  and 
the  threatening  responsibilities  of  the  future. 
Doubtless  in  this  juncture  he  remembered  and 
acted  upon  a  biblical  precedent  which  in  after 
days  of  trouble  and  despondency  he  was  wont 
to  quote  for  justification  or  consolation.  When 
the  children  of  Israel  murmured  on  the  shore 
of  the  Red  Sea,  Moses  told  them  to  "  stand 
still  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord."  Here 
then,  at  the  very  threshold  of  his  presidential 
career,  Lincoln  had  need  to  practice  the  vir- 
tue of  patience, — one  of  the  cardinal  elements 
of  his  character,  acquired  in  many  a  per- 
sonal and  political  tribulation  of  his  previous 
life. 
He  referred  the  papers  back  to  General 
Scott  to  make  a  more  thorough  investigation 
of  all  the  questions  involved.  At  the  same  time 
he  gave  him  a  verbal  order,  touching  his  future 
general  public  policy,  which  a  few  days  later 
was  reduced  to  writing,  and  on  the  installation 
of  the  new  Secretary  of  War  transmitted  by  that 
functionary  to  the  General-in-chief  through 
the  regular  official  channels,  as  follows : 
"  I  am  directed  by  the  President  to  say  lie  desires 
you  to  exercise  all  possible  vigilance  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  all  the  places  within  the  military  department 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  promptly  call  upon  all  the 
departments  of  the  Government  for  the  means  neces- 
sary to  that  end."  * 
On  the  9th  of  March,  in  written  questions 
Lincoln  in  substance  asked  General  Scott  to 
inform  him:  1st.  To  what  point  of  time  can 
Anderson  maintain  his  position  in  Sumter? 
2d.  Can  you,  with  present  means,  relieve  him 
within  that  time  ?  3d.  What  additional  means 
would  enable  you  to  do  so  ?  t  This  was  on  Sat- 
urday following  the  inauguration.  The  chiefs 
of  the  several  departments,  with  the  exception 
of  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War,  had  been  dur- 
ing the  week  inducted  into  office.  That  night 
the  President  held  his  first  Cabinet  council 
on  the  state  of  the  country ;  and  the  crisis  at 
Sumter,  with  the  question  of  relieving  the 
fort,  was  for  the  first  time  communicated  to 
his  assembled  advisers.  The  general  effect 
was  one  of  dismay  if  not  consternation.  For 
such  a  discussion  all  were  unprepared.  Nat- 
urally all  decision  must  be  postponed,  and  the 
assistance  of  professional  advice  be  sought. 
What  followed  has  been  written  down  by  an 
eye-witness  and  participant. 
*  Cameron  to  Scott  (written  by  Lincoln).  Unpub- 
lished MS. 
"March  9th,  1861,  Saturday  night. —  A  Cabinet 
council  upon  the  state  of  the  country.  I  was  : 
ished  to  be  informed  that  Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston 
Harbor,  must  be  evacuated,  and  that  Ccneral  Scott, 
General  Totten,  and  Major  Anderson  concur  in  opin- 
ion, that  as  the  place  has  but  twenty-eight  days'  pro- 
vision, it  must  be  relieved,  if  at  all,  in  that  time;  and 
that  it  will  take  a  force  of  20,000  men  at  least,  and  a 
bloody  battle,  to  relieve  it! 
"  For  several  days  after  this,  consultations  were  held 
as  to  the  feasibility  of  relieving  Fort  Sumter,  at  which 
were  present,  explaining  and  aiding,  Ccneral  Scott, 
General  Totten,  Commodore  Stringham,  and  Mr.  I  1 
who  seems  to  be  ait  fait  in  both  nautical  and  military 
matters.  The  army  officers  and  navy  officers  differ 
widely  about  the  degree  of  danger  to  rapid-moving 
vessels  passing  under  the  fire  of  land  batteries.  The 
army  officers  think  destruction  almost  inevitable,  where 
the  navy  officers  think  the  danger  but  slight.  The  one 
believe  that  Sumter  cannot  be  relieved  —  not  even 
provisioned  —  without  an  army  of  twenty  thousand 
men  and  a  bloody  battle.  The  other  (the  naval)  be- 
lieve that  with  light,  rapid  vessels  they  can  cross  the 
bar  at  high  tide  of  a  dark  night,  run  the  enemy's  forts 
(Moultrie  and  Cumming's  Point),  and  reach  Sumter 
with  little  risk.  They  say  that  the  greatest  danger  will 
be  in  landing  at  Sumter,  upon  which  point  there  may 
be  a  concentrated  fire.  They  do  not  doubt  that  the 
place  can  be  aiid  ought  to  be  relieved. 
"  Mr.  Fox  is  anxious  to  risk  his  life  in  leading  the 
relief,  and  Commodore  Stringham  seems  equally  con- 
fident of  success. 
"  The  naval  men  have  convinced  me  fully  that  the 
thing  can  be  done,  and  yet  as  the  doing  of  it  would  be 
almost  certain  to  begin  the  war,  and  as  Charleston  is 
of  little  importance  as  compared  with  the  chief  points 
in  the  Gulf,  I  am  willing  to  yield  to  the  military  coun- 
sel and  evacuate  Fort  Sumter,  at  the  same  time  strength- 
ening the  forts  in  the  Gulf  so  as  to  look  down  oppo- 
sition, and  guarding  the  coast  with  all  our  naval  power, 
if  need  be,  so  as  to  close  any  port  at  pleasure. 
"  And  to  this  effect  I  gave  the  President  my  written 
opinion  on  the  16th  of  March. "t 
This  extract  from  the  diary  of  Edward  Bates, 
the  Attorney-General  in  the  new  Administra- 
tion, shows  us  the  drift  and  scope  of  the  offi- 
cial discussions  on  the  Sumter  question.  To 
understand  its  full  bearings,  however,  we  must 
examine  it  a  little  more  specifically.  The  idea 
of  the  evacuation  and  abandonment  of  the 
fort  was  so  repugnant  that  Mr.  Lincoln  could 
scarcely  bring  himself  to  entertain  it :  we  have 
his  own  forcible  statement  of  how  the  appar- 
ently crushing  necessity  presented  itself  to  his 
mind.  General  Scott,  on  March  1  ith  and  12th, 
made  written  replies  to  the  questions  the  Presi- 
dent had  propounded,  and  submitted  the  draft 
of  an  order  for  evacuation. 
He  believed  Anderson  could,  in  respect  to 
provisions,  hold  out  some  forty  days  without 
much  suffering,  but  that  the  assailants,  hav- 
ing overpowering  numbers,  could  easily  wear 
out  the  garrison  by  a  succession  of  pretended 
night  attacks,  and,  when  ready,  take  it  easily 
by  a  single  real  assault.  To  supply  orreenforce 
the  fort  successfully,  he  should  need  a  fleet  of 
war  vessels  and  transports  which  it  would  take 
t  Unpublished  MS. 
t  Bates,  diary.     Unpublished  MS.
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
four  months  to  collect ;  and,  besides,  5000 
regulars  and  20,000  volunteers,  which  it  would 
require  new  acts  oi  Congress  to  authorize  and 
from  six  to  eight  months  to  raise,  organize,  and 
discipline.  "It  is  therefore  my  opinion  and 
advice,"  writes  Scott,  "  that  Major  Anderson 
be  instructed  to  evacuate  the  fort  so  long 
gallantly  held  by  him  and  his  companions, 
immediately  on  procuring  suitable  water  trans- 
portation, and  that  he  embark  with  his  com- 
mand for  New  York."*  "  In  a  purely  military 
destruction  consummated.    This  could  not  be 
allowed."  f 
The  dire  alternative  presented  caused  a  thor- 
ough reexamination  and  discussion  of  the  vari- 
ous plans  of  relief  which  had  been  suggested; 
and  since  the  army  and  the  navy  showed 
some  considerable  disagreement  in  opinions, 
these  discussions  were  held  in  the  presence  of 
President  and  Cabinet  in  the  executive  coun- 
cil chamber  itself.  General  Scott's  first  im- 
pulse had  been  to  revive  and  reorganize  the 
BUST    OF   JAMES    LOUIS    PETIGRU,    PRESENTED    TO    THE   CITY   OF    CHARLESTON    BY   MAYOR   WILLIAM   A.    COURTENAY. 
point  of  view,"  says  Lincoln,  "this  reduced 
the  duty  of  the  Administration  in  the  case  to 
the  mere  matter  of  getting  the  garrison  safely 
out  of  the  fort.  It  was  believed,  however,  that 
so  to  abandon  that  position,  under  the  circum- 
stances, would  be  utterly  ruinous;  that  the 
necessity  under  which  it  was  to  be  done  would 
not  be  fully  understood ;  that  by  many  it 
would  be  construed  as  a  part  of  a  voluntary 
policy;  that  at  home  it  would  discourage  the 
friends  of  the  Union,  embolden  its  adversaries, 
and  go  far  to  insure  to  the  latter  a  recognition 
abroad;  that  in  fact  it  would  be  our  national 
*  Unpublished  MS. 
Ward  expedition,  prepared  about  the  middle 
of  February,  which  was  to  have  consisted  of 
several  small  Coast  Survey  steamers.  To  this 
end  he  called  Captain  Ward  to  Washington 
and  again  discussed  the  plan.  This,  how- 
ever, considering  the  increase  of  batteries  and 
channel  obstructions,  was  now  by.  both  of 
them  pronounced  impracticable.  But  one 
other  offer  seemed  worthy  of  consideration. 
This  was  the  plan  proposed  by  Gustavus  V. 
Fox,  a  gentleman  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  who 
had  been  nineteen  years  in  the  United  States 
Navy,  had  been  engaged  in  the  survey  of  the 
t  Lincoln,  Message  to  Congress,  July  4th,  1861.
THE   FORMATION   OF  THE    CABIN KT. 
433 
Southern  coast  of  the  United  States,  had  com- 
manded United  States  mail  steamers,  and  had 
resigned  from  the  navy  in  1856  to  engage  in 
civil  pursuits.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  the 
new  Postmaster-General,  Blair,  who  seconded 
his  project  with  persistence.  He  had  made  his 
proposal  to  General  Scott  early  in  February, 
and,  backed  by  prominent  New  York  mer- 
chants and  shippers,  urged  it  as  he  best  might 
through  the  whole  of  that  month. 
In  his  various  communications  Captain  Fox 
thus  described  his  plan : 
"  I  propose  to  put  the  troops  on  board  of  a  large, 
comfortable  sea-steamer,  and  hire  two  [or  three]  pow- 
erful light-draught  New  York  tug-boats,  having  the 
necessary  stores  onboard;  these  to  be  convoyed  by 
the  United  States  steamer  Pawnee,  now  at  Philadelphia, 
and  the  revenue  cutter  Harriet  Lane.  .  .  .  Arriving 
off  the  bar  [at  Charleston],  I  propose  to  examine  by 
day  the  naval  preparations  and  obstructions.  If  their 
vessels  determine  to  oppose  our  entrance  (and  a  feint 
or  flag  of  truce  would  ascertain  this),  the  armed  ships 
must  approach  the  bar  and  destroy  or  drive  them  on 
shore.  Major  Anderson  would  do  the  same  upon  any 
vessels  within  the  range  of  his  guns,  and  would  also  pre- 
vent any  naval  succor  being  sent  down  from  the  city. 
Having  dispersed  this  force,  the  only  obstacles  are  the 
forts  on  Cumming's  Point  and  Fort  Moultrie,  and  what- 
ever adjacent  batteries  they  may  have  erected,  distant 
on  either  hand  from  mid-channel  about  three-quarters 
of  a  mile.  At  night,  two  hours  before  high  water,  with 
half  the  force  on  board  of  each  tug,  within  relieving 
distance  of  each  other,  I  should  run  in  to  Fort 
Sumter.* 
"  These  tugs  are  sea-boats,  six  feet  draught,  speed 
fourteen  knots.  The  boilers  are  below,  with  three  and 
a  half  feet  space  on  each  side,  to  be  filled  with  coal. 
The  machinery  comes  up  between  the  wheel-houses, 
with  a  gangway  on  either  hand  of  five  to  six  feet,  en- 
abling us  to  pack  the  machinery  with  two  or  three 
thicknesses  of  bales  of  cotton  or  hay.  This  renders  the 
vulnerable  parts  of  the  steamer  proof  against  grape  and 
fragments  of  shells,  but  the  momentum  of  a  solid  shot 
would  probably  move  the  whole  mass  and  disable  the 
engine.  The  men  are  below,  entirely  protected  from 
grape  —  provisions  on  deck.  The  first  tug  to  lead  in 
empty,  to  open  their  [the  enemy's]  fire.  The  other  two 
to  follow,  with  the  force  divided,  and  towing  the  large 
iron  boats  of  the  Baltic,  which  would  hold  the  whole 
force  should  every  tug  be  disabled,  and  empty  they 
would  not  impede  the  tugs."t 
The  feasibility  of  Captain  Fox's  plan  thus 
rested  upon  his  ability  to  "  run  the  batteries," 
and  on  this  point  the  main  discussion  now 
turned.  As  recorded  in  the  diary  we  have  quo- 
ted, the  army  officers  believed  destruction  al- 
most inevitable,  while  the  naval  officers  thought 
a  successful  passage  might  be  effected.  Cap- 
tain Fox,  who  had  come  to  Washington,  finally 
argued  the  question  in  person  before  the  Presi- 
dent, Cabinet,  and  assembled  military  officers, 
adducing  the  recorded  evidence  of  examples 
and  incidents  which  had  occurred  in  the 
Crimean  war,  and  the  results  of  Dahlgren's 
experiments  in  firing  at  stationary  targets; 
maintaining  that  there  was  no  certainty  what- 
ever, and  even  only  a  minimum  of  chance,  that 
Vol.  XXXV.— 60. 
land  batteries  could  hit  a  small  object  moving 
rapidly  at  right  angles  to  their  line  of  fire  at  a 
distance  of  thirteen  hundred  yards,  especially 
at  night. 
So  far  as  mere  theory  could  do  it,  he  suc- 
cessfully demonstrated  his  plan,  convincing  the 
President  and  at  least  a  majority  of  his  Cabi- 
net against  all  the  objections  of  General  Scott 
and  his  subordinate  officers. 
The  scheme  of  Captain  Fox  presented  such 
favorable  chances  that  the'  military  problem 
seemed  in  fair  way  of  solution ;  nevertheless, 
as  the  more  important  of  the  two,  the  political 
question  yet  remained  to  be  considered.  Re- 
solved on  prudent  deliberation,  President  Lin- 
coln now,  on  March  15th,  asked  the  written 
answer  of  his  constitutional  advisers  to  the  fol- 
lowing inquiry : 
"  Assuming  it  to  be  possible  to  now  provis- 
ion Fort  Sumter,  under  all  the  circumstances 
is  it  wise  to  attempt  it  ?  " 
As  requested,  the  members  of  the  Cabinet 
returned  on  the  next  day  a  somewhat  elabo- 
rate reply,  setting  forth  their  reasons  and 
conclusions.  Two  of  them,  Chase  and  Blair, 
agreeing  with  the  President's  own  inclinations, 
responded  in  the  affirmative;  the  five  others, 
Seward,  Cameron,  Welles,  Smith,  and  Bates, 
advised  against  the  measure. 
"  I  have  not  reached  my  own  conclusion,"  wrote 
Chase,  "  without  much  difficulty.  If  the  proposed  en- 
terprise will  so  influence  civil  war  as  to  involve  an  im- 
mediate necessity  for  the  enlistment  of  armies  and  the 
expenditure  of  millions,  I  cannot,  in  the  existing  circum- 
stances of  the  country  and  in  the  present  condition  of 
the  national  finances,  advise  it."t 
He  argued,  however,  that  an  immediate 
proclamation  ofreasons,andthe  manifestation 
of  a  kind  and  liberal  spirit  towards  the  South, 
would  avert  such  a  result,  and  he  would  there- 
fore return  an  affirmative  answer. 
Blair  had  been  from  the  first  in  favor  of 
prompt  and  vigorous  measures  against  the  in- 
surrection. A  Democrat  of  the  Jackson  school, 
he  would  repeat  Jackson's  policy  against  nul- 
lification. He  had  brought  forward  and  urged 
the  scheme  of  Captain  Fox.  By  the  conniv- 
ance of  Buchanan's  administration,  he  argued, 
the  rebellion  had  been  permitted  unchecked 
to  grow  into  an  organized  government  in  seven 
States.  It  had  been  practically  treated  as  a 
lawful  proceeding;  and, if  allowed  to  continue, 
all  Southern  people  must  become  reconciled  to 
it.  The  rebels  believe  Northern  men  are  defi- 
cient in  courage  to  maintain  the  Government. 
The  evacuation  of  Sumter  will  convince  them 
that  the  Administration  lacks  firmness.  Sum- 
ter reenforced  becomes  invulnerable,  and  will 
*  Fox,  memorandum,  Feb.  6th,  1S61.   War  Records, 
t  Fox  to  Blair,  Feb.  23d,  1S61.    War  Records. 
i  Chase  to  Lincoln,  March  16th,  1S61.
434 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
completely  demoralize  the  rebellion.  No  ex- 
pense or  care  should  be  spared  to  achieve  this 
result.  The  appreciation  of  our  stocks  would 
reimburse  the  most  lavish  outlay  for  this  pur- 
pose. 
••  You  should  give  no  thought  for  the  commander  and 
his  comrades  in  this  enterprise.  They  willingly  take  the 
hazard  for  the  sake  of  the  country,  and  the  honor,  which, 
successful  or  not,  they  will  receive  from  you  and  the 
lovers  of  free  government  in  all  lands."* 
Seward,  in  the  negative,  argued  the  polit- 
ical issue  at  great  length.  To  attempt  to  pro- 
vision Sumter  would  provoke  Combat  and 
open  civil  war.  A  desperate  and  defeated  ma- 
jority in  the  South  have  organized  revolution- 
ary government  in  seven  States.  The  other 
slave  States  are  balancing  between  sympathy 
for  the  seceders  and  loyalty  to  the  Union,  but 
indicate  a  disposition  to  adhere  to  the  latter. 
The  Union  must  be  maintained,  peaceably  if 
it  can,  forcibly  if  it  must,  to  every  extremity. 
But  civil  war  is  the  most  uncertain  and  fear- 
ful of  all  remedies  for  political  disorders.  He 
would  save  the  Union  by  peaceful  policy  with- 
out civil  war.  Disunion  is  without  justification. 
Devotion  to  the  Union  is  a  profound  and  per- 
manent national  sentiment.  Silenced  by  terror 
it  would,  if  encouraged,  rally,  and  reverse  the 
popular  action  of  the  seceding  States.  The 
policy  of  the  time  is  conciliation.  Sumter  is 
practically  useless. 
"  I  would  not  provoke  war  in  any  way  now.  I  would 
resort  to  force  to  protect  the  collection  of  the  revenue, 
because  this  is  a  necessary  as  well  as  a  legitimate 
Union  object.  Even  then  it  should  be  only  a  naval 
force  that  I  would  employ  for  that  necessary  purpose, 
while  I  would  defer  military  action  on  land  until  a 
case  should  arise  when  we  would  hold  the  defense. 
In  that  case,  we  should  have  the  spirit  of  the  country 
and  the  approval  of  mankind  on  our  side."  t 
Cameron  followed  the  reasoning  of  the  army 
officers.  Captain  Fox,  he  said,  did  not  propose 
to  supply  provisions  for  more  than  one  or  two 
months.  The  abandonment  of  Sumter  seemed 
an  inevitable  necessity,  and  therefore  the  sooner 
the  better.|  Welles  thought  the  public  mind  was 
becoming  reconciled  to  the  idea  of  evacuation 
as  a  necessity.  The  strength,  dignity,  and  char- 
acter of  the  Government  would  not  be  promoted 
by  a  successful  attempt,  while  a  failure  would 
be  disastrous. §  Smith  argued  that  Sumter  is 
not  essential  to  any  of  the  duties  imposed  on 
the  Government.    There  are  other  and  more 
*  Blair  to  Lincoln, March  15,1861.  Unpublished  MS. 
t  Seward  to  Lincoln,  March  15th,  1861. 
X  Cameron  to  Lincoln,  March  15th,  1861. 
%  Welles  to  Lincoln,  March  15th,  1861.  Unpub- 
lished MS. 
I!  Smith  to  Lincoln,  March  15th,  1 86 1.  Unpub- 
lished MS. 
H  Bates  to  Lincoln,  March  15th,  1861.  Unpub- 
lished MS. 
effective  means  to  vindicate  its  honor,  and 
compel  South  Carolina  to  obey  the  laws.|| 
Bates  believed  the  hazard  greater  than  the 
gain.  "  True,"  wrote  he,  "  war  already  exists 
by  the  act  of  South  Carolina  —  but  this  Gov- 
ernment has  thus  far  magnanimously  forborne 
to  retort  the  outrage.  And  I  am  willing  to 
forbear  yet  longer  in  the  hope  of  a  peaceful 
solution  of  our  present  difficulties."  Pickens, 
Key  West,  etc.,  should,  on  the  contrary,  be 
strongly  defended,  and  the  whole  coast  from 
South  Carolina  to  Texas  be  guarded  by  the 
entire  power  of  the  navy.fl 
Against  the  advice  of  so  decided  a  majority, 
Lincoln  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  order  the 
proposed  expedition.  Neither  did  his  own 
sense  of  duty  permit  him  entirely  to  abandon 
it.  Postponing,  therefore,  a  present  final  de- 
cision of  the  point,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
the  investigation  of  the  question  immediately 
and  vitally  connected  with  it, —  the  collection 
of  the  revenue.  On  the  18th  of  March  he  once 
more  directed  written  inquiries  to  three  of  his 
Cabinet  officers.  To  the  Attorney-General, 
whether  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  the 
Executive  has  power  to  collect  duties  on  ship- 
board off  shore?**  To  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  whether,  and  where,  and  for  what 
cause  any  importations  are  taking  place  with- 
out payment  of  duties  ?  "Whether  vessels  off 
shore  could  prevent  such  importations  or  en- 
force payment  ?  and  what  number  and  descrip- 
tion of  vessels  besides  those  already  in  the 
revenue  service  ?  ft  To  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  what  amount  of  naval  force  he  could 
place  at  the  control  of  the  revenue  service, 
and  how  much  additional  in  the  future  !%% 
Pending  the  receipt  of  replies  to  these  in- 
quiries, Lincoln  determined  to  obtain  informa- 
tion on  two  other  points, —  the  first,  as  to  the 
present  actual  condition  and  feeling  of  Major 
Anderson;  the  second,  as  to  the  real  temper 
and  intentions  of  the  people  of  Charleston. 
Captain  Fox  had  suggested  the  possibility  of 
obtaining  leave  to  visit  Sumter  through  the 
influence  of  Captain  Hartstene,  then  in  the  rebel 
service  at  Charleston,  but  who  had  in  former 
years  been  his  intimate  friend,  and  comrade  in 
command  of  a  companion  steamer  of  the  Cali- 
fornia line.  By  order  of  the  President,  General 
Scott  therefore  sent  him  to  obtain  "  accurate 
information  in  regard  to  the  command  of 
Major  Anderson  in  Fort  Sumter."  §§  As  he  an- 
March   1 8th, 
1 86 1.     Unpub- 
186 1.     Unpub- 
**  Lincoln    to    Bates, 
lishcd  MS. 
tt  Lincoln   to   Chase,    March   18th, 
lished  MS. 
XX  Lincoln  to  Welles,  March   18th,   1861.     Unpub- 
lished MS. 
§§  Cameron    to    Scott,    March    19th,    1861.      War 
Records.
THE   FORMATION  OF   THE    CABINET 
435 
ticipated,  Hartstene  introduced  him  to  Gover- 
nor Pickens,  to  whom  he  showed  his  order, 
and  was,  after  some  delay,  permitted  to  go 
to  the  fort  under  Hartstene's  escort,  having 
meanwhile  had  an  interview  with  General 
Beauregard. 
"  We  reached  Fort  Sumter  after  dark  "  (March  21st), 
writes  Captain  Fox,  "  and  remained  about  two  hours. 
Major  Anderson  seemed  to  think  it  was  too  late  to  re- 
lieve the  fort  by  any  other  means  than  by  landing  an 
army  on  Morris  Island.  He  agreed  with  General  Scott 
that  an  entrance  from  the  sea  was  impossible ;  but  as 
we  looked  out  upon  the  water  from  the  parapet,  it 
seemed  very  feasible,  more  especially  as  we  heard  the 
oars  of  a  boat  near  the  fort,  which  the  sentry  hailed, 
but  we  could  not  see  her  through  the  darkness  until 
she  almost  touched  the  landing.  I  found  the  garrison 
getting  short  of  supplies,  and  it  was  agreed  that  I  might 
report  that  the  15th  of  April,  at  noon,  would  be  the 
period  beyond  which  the  fort  could  not  be  held  unless 
supplies  were  furnished.  I  made  no  arrangements  with 
Major  Anderson  for  reenforcing  or  supplying  the  fort, 
nor  did  I  inform  him  of  my  plan."* 
Unlike  Fox,  Anderson  was  in  no  wise  en- 
couraged by  the  conversation. 
"I  have  examined  the  point,"  wrote  he,  "alluded  to 
by  Captain  Fox  last  night.  A  vessel  lying  there  will  be 
under  the  fire  of  thirteen  guns  from  Fort  Moultrie,  and 
Captain  Foster  says  that  at  the  pan-coupe  or  immedi- 
ately on  its  right, —  the  best  place  for  her  to  land, —  she 
would  require,  even  at  high  tide,  if  drawing  ten  feet,  a 
staging  of  forty  feet.  The  department  can  decide  what 
the  chances  will  be  of  a  safe  debarkation  and  unloading 
at  that  point  under  these  circumstances."  t 
The  other  point  on  which  the  President 
sought  information  revealed  equally  decisive 
features.  It  so  happened  that  S.  A.  Hurlbut 
of  Illinois  (afterwards  General),  an  intimate 
friend  of  Lincoln,  was  at  the  moment  in  Wash- 
ington. This  gentleman  was  of  Charleston 
birth,  four  years  a  law  student  of  the  foremost 
citizen  and  jurist  of  South  Carolina,  James  L. 
Petigru,  and  then  in  frequent  correspondence 
with  him.  On  March  2 1st  the  President  called 
Mr.  Hurlbut  to  him,  and  explaining  that  Mr. 
Seward  insisted  that  there  was  a  strong  Union 
party  in  the  South, —  even  in  South  Carolina, — 
asked  him  to  go  personally  and  ascertain  the 
facts.  Mr.  Hurlbut  telegraphed  his  sister  in 
Charleston  that  he  was  coming  on  a  visit, 
which,  in  the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs,  he 
might  not  soon  be  able  to  repeat.  He  trav- 
eled as  a  private  citizen,  though  purposely 
with  some  show  of  publicity.  Public  curios- 
ity, however,  centered  itself  upon  his  travel- 
ing companion,  Colonel  Ward  H.  Lamon, 
who,  coming  with  an  ostensible  Government 
mission  to  examine  some  post-office  matters, 
was  looked  upon  as  the  real  presidential  mes- 
senger, was  treated  to  a  formal  audience  with 
the  governor,  and  permitted  to  make  a  visit  to 
Fort  Sumter.  While  Lamon  was  hobnobbing 
with  the  young  secessionists  at  the  Charleston 
Hotel,  Hurlbut,  quartered  at  the  house  of  his 
sister,  and  thus  free  from  the  inquisitive  scru- 
tiny of  newspaper  reporters,  was  quietly  visit- 
ing and  being  visited  by  his  former  neighbors 
and  friends, —  politicians,  lawyers,  merchants, 
and  representative  citizens  in  various  walks  of 
life.  Of  greater  value  than  all  was  his  confi- 
dential interview  with  his  former  legal  pre- 
ceptor. Mr.  Petigru  was  at  that  time  the  best 
lawyer  in  the  South,  and  the  strongest  man  in 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  so  far  as  charac- 
ter, ability,  and  purity  went,  and  never  surren- 
dered nor  disguised  his  Union  convictions.  Mr. 
Hurlbut  was  himself  an  able  lawyer,  a  man  of 
experience  and  force  in  politics,  and  a  shrewd 
and  sagacious  judge  of  human  nature.  His 
mission  remained  entirely  unsuspected;  and 
after  two  days'  sojourn,  he  returned  to  Wash- 
ington and  made  a  long  written  report  to  the 
President. 
"  By  appointment,"  he  writes,  "  I  met  Mr.  Petigru 
at  one  P.  M.  and  had  a  private  conversation  with  him 
for  more  than  two  hours.  I  was  at  liberty  to  state  to 
him  that  my  object  was  to  ascertain  and  report  the  act- 
ual state  of  feeling  in  the  city  and  State.  Our  conver- 
sation was  entirely  free  and  confidential.  He  is  now  the 
only  man  in  the  city  of  Charleston  who  avowedly  adheres 
to  the  Union.  .  .  .  From  these  sources  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  reporting  as  unquestionable  —  that  sep- 
arate nationality  is  a  fixed  fact,  that  there  is  an  una- 
nimity of  sentiment  which  is  to  my  mind  astonishing, 
that  there  is  no  attachment  to  the  Union.  .  .  .  There 
is  positively  nothing  to  appeal  to.  The  sentiment  of 
national  patriotism,  always  feeble  in  Carolina,  has  been 
extinguished  and  overridden  by  the  acknowledged  doc- 
trine of  the  paramount  allegiance  to  the  State.  False 
political  economy  diligently  taught  for  years  has  now 
become  an  axiom,  and  merchants  and  business  men 
believe,  and  act  upon  the  belief,  that  great  growth  of 
trade  and  expansion  of  material  prosperity  will  and  must 
follow  the  establishment  of  a  Southern  republic.  They 
expect  a  golden  era,  when  Charleston  shall  be  a  great 
commercial  emporium  and  control  for  the  South,  as 
New  York  does  for  the  North."  % 
These  visits  to  Charleston  added  two  very 
important  factors  or  known  quantities  to  the 
problem  from  which  the  Cabinet,  and  chiefly 
the  President,  were  to  deduce  the  unknown. 
Very  unexpectedly  to  the  latter,  and  no  doubt 
to  all  the  former  as  well,  a  new  light,  of  yet 
deeper  influence,  was  now  suddenly  thrown 
upon  the  complicated  question.  The  fate  of 
Sumter  had  been  under  general  discussion 
nearly  three  weeks.  The  Cabinet  and  the 
high  military  and  naval  officers  had  divided 
in  opinion  and  separated  into  opposing  camps. 
As  always  happens  in  such  cases,  suspicion  and 
criticism  of  personal  motives  began  to  develop 
themselves,  though,  at  this  very  beginning,  as 
throughout  his  whole  after-administration,  they 
*  Fox,  Official  Report,  Feb.  24th,  1S65.  "  Chicago 
Tribune,"  Sept.  14th,  1865. 
t  Anderson  to  Adj.  Gen.,  March  220",  1861.  War 
Records. 
%  Hurlbut  to  Lincoln,  Report,  March  27th,  1S61. 
Unpublished  MS.
436 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
were  held  in  check  by  the  generous  faith  and 
unvarying  impartiality  of  the  President.  Hith- 
erto tlie  sole  issue  was  the  relief  or  abandon- 
ment of  Sumter;  but  now,  by  an  apparent 
change  oi  advice  and  attitude  on  the  part  of 
General  Scott,  the  fate  of  Fort  Pickens  was 
also  drawn  into  discussion. 
So  far  as  is  known,  the  loyalty  and  devotion 
of  General  Scott  never  wavered  for  an  instant ; 
but  his  proneness  to  mingle  political  with  mili- 
tary considerations  had  already  been  twice 
manifested.  The  first  was  when  in  his  memo- 
rial entitled  "  Views,"  etc.,  addressed  to  Pres- 
ident Buchanan,  October  29th,  i860,  he  sug- 
gested the  formation  of  four  new  American 
Unions  if  the  old  should  be  dismembered. 
The  second  was  more  recent.  On  the  day  pre- 
ceding Lincoln's  inauguration,  the  General 
had  written  a  letter  to  Seward.  In  this  he  ad- 
vanced  the  opinion  that  the  new  President 
would  have  to  choose  one  of  four  plans  or 
policies  :  1st.  To  adopt  the  Crittenden  com- 
promise, and  change  the  Republican  to  a 
Union  party ;  2d.  By  closing  or  blockading 
rebel  ports  or  collecting  the  duties  on  ship- 
board outside;  3d.  Conquer  the  States  by  in- 
vading armies,  which  he  deprecated ;  and  4th, 
Say  to  the  seceded  States  :  "  Wayward  sisters, 
depart  in  peace  I  "  *  It  must  be  noted  that  be- 
tween three  of  these  alternatives  he  gives  no 
intimation  of  preference.  The  letter  was  sim- 
ply a  sign  of  the  prevailing  political  unrest, 
and  therefore  remained  unnoticed  by  the  Pres- 
ident, to  whom  it  was  referred. 
When  Lincoln  assumed  the  duties  of  gov- 
ernment, Scott  had  among  other  things  briefly 
pointed  out  the  existing  danger  at  Fort  Pick- 
ens, and  the  President  by  his  verbal  order  of 
March  5th,  directing  "  all  possible  vigilance 
for  the  maintenance  of  all  the  places,"  had  in- 
tended that  that  stronghold  should  be  promptly 
reenforced.  He  made  inquiries  on  this  head 
four  days  later,  and  to  his  surprise  found  noth- 
ing yet  done.f  Hence  he  put  his  order  in 
writing,  and  had  it  duly  sent  to  the  War  De- 
partment for  record  March  nth,  and  once 
more  gave  special  directions  in  regard  to  Pick- 
ens, assuming  the  omission  had  occurred 
through  preoccupation  about  Sumter.  Upon 
this  reminder,  Scott  bestirred  himself,  and  at 
his  instance  the  war  steamer  Mohawk  was  dis- 
patched March  12th,  carrying  a  messenger 
with  orders  to  Captain  Vogdes  to  land  his  com- 
pany at  Fort  Pickens  and  increase  the  garrison. 
Both  President  and  Cabinet  had  since  then  con- 
sidered that  port  disposed  of  for  the  moment. 
On  the  evening  of  March  28th,  the  first 
State  dinner  was  given  by  the  new  occupants 
of  the  Executive  Mansion.  Just  before  the 
hour  of  leave-taking,  Lincoln  invited  the  mem- 
bers of  his  Cabinet  into  an  adjoining  room  for 
an  instant's  consultation ;  and  when  they  were 
alone,  he  informed  them,  with  evident  deep 
emotion,  that  General  Scott  had  that  day  ad- 
vised the  evacuation  of  Fort  Pickens  as  well 
as  Fort  Sumter.  The  General's  recommenda- 
tion is  formulated  as  follows,  in  his  written 
memorandum  to  the  Secretary  of  War  : 
"  It  is  doubtful,  however,  according  to  recent  infor- 
mation from  the  South,  whether  the  voluntary  evacua- 
tion of  Fort  Sumter  alone  would  have  a  decisive  effect 
upon  the  States  now  wavering  between  adherence  to 
the  Union  and  secession.  It  is  known,  indeed,  that  it 
would  be  charged  to  necessity,  and  the  holding  of  Fort 
Pickens  would  be  adduced  in  support  of  that  view.  Our 
Southern  friends,  however,  are  clear  that  the  evacua- 
tion of  both  the  forts  would  instantly  soothe  and  give 
confidence  to  the  eight  remaining  slave-holding  States, 
and  render  their  cordial  adherence  to  this  Union  per- 
petual. The  holding  of  Forts  Jefferson  and  Taylor  on 
the  ocean  keys  depends  on  entirely  different  principles, 
and  should  never  be  abandoned  ;  and  indeed  the  giving 
up  of  Forts  Sumter  and  Pickens  may  be  best  justified 
by  the  hope  that  we  should  thereby  recover  the  State 
to  which  they  geographically  belong  by  the  liberality 
of  the  act,  besides  retaining  the  eight  doubtful  States. "  \ 
A  long  pause  of  blank  amazement  followed 
the  President's  recital,  §  broken  at  length  by 
Blair  in  strong  denunciation,  not  only  of  this 
advice,  but  of  Scott's  general  course  regard- 
ing Sumter.  He  charged  that  Scott  was  tran- 
scending his  professional  duties  and  "playing 
politician."  Blair's  gestures  and  remarks,  more- 
over, were  understood  by  those  present  as 
being  aimed  specially  at  Seward,  whose  peace 
policy  he  had,  with  his  usual  impulsive  aggres- 
siveness, freely  criticised.  Without  any  formal 
vote,  there  was  a  unanimous  expression  of 
dissent  from  Scott's  suggestion,  and  under  the 
President's  request  to  meet  in  formal  council 
next  day,  the  Cabinet  retired.  That  night  Lin- 
coln's eyes  did  not  close  in  sleep.  ||  It  was  ap- 
parent that  the  time  had  come  when  he  must 
meet  the  nation's  crisis.  His  judgment  alone 
must  guide,  his  sole  will  determine,  his  own 
lips  utter  the  word  that  should  save  or  lose 
the  most  precious  inheritance  of  humanity,  the 
last  hope  of  free  government  on  the  earth. 
Only  the  imagination  may  picture  that  intense 
and  weary  vigil. 
*  Scott  to  Seward,  March  3d,  1861.     Scott,  "Auto- 
biography," Vol.  II.,  pp.  625-628. 
t  .Meigs,  diary,  March  31st,  1861.    Unpublished  MS. 
t  Scott,  memorandum,  War  Records. 
§  Blair  to  Welles,  May  17th,  1873.     Welles,  "Lin- 
coin  and  Seward,"  p.  65. 
||  Meigs,  diary.      Unpublished  MS. 
C&? 
/
ABRAHAM    LINCOLN:    A    HISTORY.* 
PREMIER    OR    PRESIDENT? 
BY   JOHN    G.    NICOLAY    AND    JOHN    HAY,    PRIVATE    SECRETARIES    TO    THE    PRESIDENT. 
THE    REBEL    GAME. 
HE  rebel  conspirators  were  not 
unmindful  of  the  great  advan- 
tages they  had  hitherto  derived 
from  their  complaints,  their  in- 
trigues, their  assumptions,  their 
arrogant  demands.  No  sooner 
was  the  provisional  government  organized  at 
Montgomery  than  they  appointed  a  new  em- 
bassy of  three  commissioners  to  proceed  to 
Washington  and  make  the  fourth  effort  to  as- 
sist, protect,  and  if  possible  to  establish  the 
rebellion  through  a  negotiation.  They  not 
only  desired  to  avert  a  war,  but,  reasoning 
from  the  past,  had  a  well-grounded  faith  that 
they  would  secure  a  peaceful  acquiescence  in 
their  schemes.  The  commissioners  were  in- 
structed to  solicit  a  reception  in  their  official 
character,  and  if  that  were  refused,  to  accept 
an  unofficial  interview ;  to  insist  on  the  de  facto 
and  de  jure  independence  of  the  Confeder- 
ate States;  but  nevertheless  to  accede  to  a 
proposition  to  refer  the  subject  of  their  mis- 
sion to  the  United  States  Senate,  or  to  with- 
hold an  answer  until  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  should  assemble  and  pronounce 
a  decision  in  the  premises,  provided  the  exist- 
ing peaceful  status  were  rigidly  maintained.f 
This  modest  programme  was  made  neces- 
sary by  the  half- fledged  condition  of  the  rebell- 
ion :  its  personal  jealousies  were  not  yet  hushed; 
its  notions  of  State  rights  were  not  yet  swal- 
lowed up  in  an  imperious  military  dictatorship ; 
above  all,  its  military  preparation  consisted 
mainly  of  a  self-sacrificing  enthusiasm.  Not- 
withstanding the  two  months'  drill  and  battery- 
building  at  Charleston,  Davis  did  not  agree 
with  Governor  Pickens  that  the  moment  had 
come  to  storm  Sumter.  "  Fort  Sumter  should 
be  in  our  possession  at  the  earliest  moment 
possible,"  wrote  the  rebel  war  secretary,  but 
"  thorough  preparation  must  be  made  before 
an  attack  is  attempted.  ...  A  failure  would 
demoralize  our  people  and  injuriously  affect  us 
in  the  opinion  of  the  world  as  reckless  and  pre- 
Un- 
cipitate."!  Therefore  they  made  Beauregard 
a  brigadier-general  and  sent  him  to  command 
in  the  harbor  of  Charleston.  Beauregard's  pro- 
fessional inspection  justified  this  prudence. 
If  Sumter  was  properly  garrisoned  and  armed 
[wrote  he  (March  6th)],  it  would  be  a  perfect  Gibral- 
tar to  anything  but  constant  shelling  night  and  day 
from  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  As  it  is,  the  weak- 
ness of  the  garrison  constitutes  our  greatest  advantage, 
and  we  must  for  the  present  turn  our  attention  to  pre- 
venting it  from  being  reenforced.  This  idea  I  am  gradu- 
ally and  cautiously  infusing  into  the  minds  of  all  here; 
but  should  we  have  to  open  our  batteries  upon  it,  I 
hope  to  be  able  to  do  so  with  all  the  advantages  the 
condition  of  things  here  will  permit.  All  that  I  ask 
is  time  for  completing  my  batteries  and  preparing  and 
organizing  properly  my  command. % 
The  first  of  the  three  commissioners,  Martin 
J.  Crawford,  arrived  in  Washington  the  day 
before  Lincoln's  inauguration.  He  would 
have  nothing  more  to  do  with  Buchanan,  he 
wrote. 
His  fears  for  his  personal  safety,  the  apprehensions 
for  the  security  of  his  property,  together  with  the  cares 
of  state  and  his  advanced  age,  render  him  wholly  dis- 
qualified for  his  present  position.  He  is  as  incapable 
now  of  purpose  as  a  child.  || 
With  the  arrival  of  the  second  commissioner, 
John  Forsyth,  they  prepared  to  begin  opera- 
tions upon  the  new7  Administration.  It  was  com- 
paratively easy  to  call  into  caucus  the  active 
or  disguised  secessionists  who  yet  remained  in 
the  city.  Wigfall,  Mason,  Hunter,  and  Breck- 
inridge were  still  in  the  Senate;  Virginia  and 
the  other  border  States  had  a  number  of  sym- 
pathizing Congressmen  in  the  House;  Bell, 
Crittenden,  and  Douglas,  though  loyal,  had  no 
love  for  Lincoln,  and  could  be  approached 
with  professions  of  peace ;  Seward,  in  order  to 
gain  information,  had  kept  himself  during  the 
whole  winter  in  relation  with  all  parties,  and 
had  openly  proclaimed  that  his  policy  was  one 
of  peace  and  conciliation,  fl 
The  prospect  of  beginning  negotiations 
seemed  flattering ;  nevertheless,  their  first  cau- 
cus over  the  inaugural  agreed  that  "it  was 
Lincoln's  purpose  at  once  to  attempt  the  col- 
t  Toombs  to  commissioners,  Feb.   27,   1861 
published  MS. 
X  Walker  to  Pickens.     War  Records. 
§  Beauregard  to  Walker.     War  Records. 
*  Copyright  by  J.  G.  Nicolay  and  John  Hay,  18S6-7.     All  rights  reserved. 
||  Crawford    to    Toombs,    March  3,  1S61. 
lished  MS. 
H  Senate  speech,  Jan.  12,  1S61.    "  Globe."' Unpub-
6oo 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
lection  of  the  revenue,  to  reenforce  and  hold 
Forts  Sumter  and  Pickens,  and  to  retake  the 
other  places."*  A  day  or  two  later,  on  com- 
paring the  fragmentary  gossip  they  had  raked 
together,  in  which  the  difficulties  of  reenforc- 
ing  Sumter  were  dimly  reflected,  with  a  general 
conversation  alleged  to  have  been  held  by  one 
of  their  informants  with  Seward,  they  framed 
and  reported  to  Montgomery  a  theory  of  prob- 
able success. 
Seward,  they  thought,  was  to  be  the  ruling 
power  of  the  new  Administration.  Seward  and 
Cameron  were  publicly  committed  to  a  peace 
policy.  They  would  establish  an  understand- 
ing with  the  Secretary  of  State. 
This  gentleman  [they  wrote]  is  urgent  for  delay. 
The  tenor  of  his  language  is  to  this  effect :  I  have  built 
up  the  Republican  party  ;  I  have  brought  it  to  triumph ; 
but  its  advent  to  power  is  accompanied  by  great  diffi- 
culties and  perils.  I  must  save  the  party  and  save  the 
Government  in  its  hands.  To  do  this,  war  must  be 
averted;  the  negro  question  must  be  dropped;  the 
"  irrepressible  "  conflict  ignored  ;  and  a  Union  party  to 
embrace  the  border  slave-States  inaugurated.  I  have  al- 
ready whipped  Mason  and  Hunter  in  their  own  State. 
I  must  crush  out  Davis,  Toombs,  and  their  colleagues 
in  sedition  in  their  respective  States.  Saving  the  bor- 
der States  to  the  Union  by  moderation  and  justice,  the 
people  of  the  cotton-States,  unwillingly  led  into  seces- 
sion, will  rebel  against  their  leaders  and  reconstruc- 
tion will  follow. 
The  commissioners  therefore  deemed  it  their 
duty  to  support  Mr.  Seward's  policy.  "  Until 
we  reach  the  point  of  pacific  negotiations,  it 
is  unimportant  what  may  be  his  subsequent 
hopes  and  plans.  It  is  well  that  he  should  in- 
dulge in  dreams  which  we  know  are  not  to  be 
realized."  They  of  course  make  no  mention  of 
the  arguments,  agencies,  and  influences  which 
we  may  infer  they  employed  in  their  deceitful 
intent  to  foster  these  dreams;  unless,  indeed, 
they  were  instrumental  in  provoking  the 
Senate  debate  of  March  6th  and  7th,  in  which 
Clingman  attacked  the  inaugural  as  an  an- 
nouncement of  war,  while  Douglas  defended 
it  as  a  manifesto  of  peace,  "  for  the  purpose," 
as  Mr.  Forsyth  wrote  that  Douglas  told  him, 
"  of  fixing  that  construction  on  it  and  of 
tomahawking  it  afterwards  if  it  [the  Adminis- 
tration] departed  from  it."  f 
Acting  upon  this  assumed  anxiety  of  Seward 
for  delay  and  for  peace,  the  commissioners  now 
agreed  upon  what  they  elaborately  described 
in  a  long  dispatch  to  Montgomery  as  a  most 
ingenious  plan.  They  would  force  the  Ad- 
ministration to  accept  or  reject  their  mission, 
and  thereby  confront  the  immediate  issue  of 
peace  or  war,  unless  Seward  would  consent  to 
*  L.  Q.  Washington  to  Walker.    War  Records. 
t  Forsyth  to  Toombs,  March  8,  1861.  Unpub- 
lished MS. 
t  Commissioners  to  Toombs,  March  9,  1861.  Un- 
published MS. 
maintain  the  present  military  status.  Having 
reached  this  conclusion,  they  laboriously  drew 
up  a  memorandum  which  they  purposed  to  ask 
Seward  to  sign,  and  sent  it  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment by  an  "  agent,"  but  Mr.  Seward  was  at 
home  ill,  and  could  not  be  seen. 
Their  long  dispatches  home,  and  their  mys- 
terious allusions  to  conversations,  to  agents, 
and  intermediaries,  convey  the  impression  that 
they  were  "  in  relation  "  with  the  Secretary  of 
State ;  but  whether  they  were  duped  by  others, 
or  whether  they  were  themselves  duping  the 
Montgomery  cabinet,  indisputable  indications 
in  these  documents  contradict  their  assertions. 
At  last,  however,  their  vigilance  was  rewarded 
with  what  they  considered  an  item  of  important 
news,  and  they  hurried  off  several  telegrams 
to  Montgomery :  "  Things  look  better  here 
than  was  believed. "J  "The  impression  pre- 
vails in  Administration  circles  that  Fort  Sum- 
ter will  be  evacuated  within  ten  days."  $  This 
was  on  Saturday  night,  March  9th,  and  so  far 
from  being  exclusive  or  advance  information, 
it  was  substantially  printed  in  next  morning's 
newspapers.  §  After  four  days'  consideration 
by  the  Lincoln  government,  and  extended  dis- 
cussion in  a  Cabinet  meeting,  the  loss  of  Sum- 
ter seemed  unavoidable ;  and  the  rumor  was 
purposely  given  out  to  prepare  the  public  mind, 
if  the  need  should  finally  come  for  the  great 
sacrifice. 
The  Jefferson  Davis  cabinet  at  Montgom- 
ery clutched  at  the  report  with  avidity.  Under 
this  hope  they  were  no  longer  satisfied  with 
the  "  existing  peaceful  status  "  specified  in  their 
instructions  of  February  27th,  and  repeated  in 
the  prepared  memorandum  of  the  commis- 
sioners. "  Can't  bind  our  hands  a  day  with- 
out evacuation  of  Sumter  and  Pickens,"  replied 
Toombs  imperatively  by  telegraph  on  Mon- 
day, March  nth.  ||  Until  Sumter  should  be 
evacuated  it  was  idle  to  talk  of  peaceful  ne- 
gotiation, he  added  in  his  written  dispatch  to 
the  commissioners,  while  they  were  further 
instructed  to  "  pertinaciously  demand "  the 
withdrawal  of  the  troops  and  vessels  from 
Pickens  and  Pensacola.  fl 
Thus  spurred  into  activity,  the  commission- 
ers now  deemed  it  incumbent  on  them  to  make 
an  effort.  The  whole  tenor  of  their  previous 
dispatches  was  calculated  to  convey  the  im- 
pression that  they  were  twisting  the  Secretary 
of  State  at  pleasure  between  their  diplomatic 
thumb  and  finger.  On  Monday,  March  nth, 
they  sent  him  their  first  message  —  not  the 
demand  of  Toombs  that  day  received  by  tel- 
$  "New  York  Herald,"  March  10,  1861. 
||  Toombs  to  commissioners,  March  II,  1861.  Un- 
published MS. 
5[  Toombs  to  commissioners,  March  14,  1861.  Un- 
published MS.
PREMIER    OR   PRESIDENT? 
60 1 
egraph,  not  even  the  mild  suggestion  of  their 
original  instructions  to  maintain  the  status 
and  appeal  to  Congress,  but  a  meek  inquiry 
whether  they  would  be  allowed  to  make  a 
sort  of  back-door  visit  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment. To  describe  it  in  their  own  words: 
"  We  availed  ourselves  of  the  kind  consent  of 
Senator  Hunter  of  Virginia  to  see  Mr.  Seward, 
and  learn  if  he  would  consent  to  an  informal 
interview  with  us."#  Mr.  Seward  of  course 
received  Senator  Hunter  politely,  for  he  still 
professed  to  be  a  loyal  senator  representing  a 
loyal  State,  and  gave  him  the  stereotyped 
diplomatic  reply,  that  "  he  would  be  obliged 
to  consult  the  President."  The  next  morn- 
ing Seward  sent  Hunter  a  note  of  irreproach- 
able courtesy  but  of  freezing  conclusiveness. 
"It  will  not  be  in  my  power,"  he  wrote,  "  to 
receive  the  gentlemen  of  whom  we  conversed 
yesterday.  You  will  please  explain  to  them 
that  this  decision  proceeds  solely  on  public 
grounds  and  not  from  any  want  of  personal 
respect."  f 
This  was  a  cold  bath  to  the  commissioners, 
and  the  theories  of  their  own  finesse,  and  of 
the  torturing  perplexities  into  which  Seward 
had  been  thrown,  became  untenable. 
To-day  at  n  o'clock  [so  runs  their  own  report]  Mr. 
Hunter  brought  us  the  promised  reply,  a  copy  of 
which  is  appended  to  this  dispatch.  It  is  polite ;  but 
it  was  considered  by  us  at  once  as  decisive  of  our  course. 
We  deemed  it  not  compatible  with  the  dignity  of  our 
Government  to  make  a  second  effort,  and  took  for 
granted  that  having  failed  in  obtaining  an  unofficial  in- 
terview with  the  Secretary  of  State,  we  should  equally 
fail  with  the  President.  Our  only  remaining  course 
was  plain,  and  we  followed  it  at  once  in  the  preparation 
of  a  formal  note  to  the  State  Department  informing  the 
United  States  Government  of  our  official  presence  here, 
the  objects  of  our  mission,  and  asking  an  early  day  to 
be  appointed  for  an  official  interview. 
They  then  repeat  the  gossip  of  the  day  — 
what  Mr.  Lincoln  was  said  to  have  told  a  gen- 
tleman from  Louisiana,  that  "  there  would  be 
no  war  and  that  he  was  determined  to  keep 
the  peace  " ;  also  what  Crittenden  told  Craw- 
ford, "  that  General  Scott  was  also  for  peace 
and  would  sustain  Mr.  Seward's  policy."  Fi- 
nally, showing  in  what  complete  ignorance 
they  were  of  events  happening  about  them, 
they  ask  with  bewildered  curiosity,  "Can  it 
be  that  while  they  refuse  to  negotiate  with  us 
to  keep  the  Republican  party  in  heart,  they 
mean  to  abandon  both  forts  on  military 
grounds  and  thus  avoid  the  occasion  of  a 
collision,  or  do  they  mean  to  refer  the  ques- 
tions raised  by  our  note  to  the  Senate  ?  Time 
only  can  determine,  and  we  await  the  result. 
We  are  still  of  the  opinion  that  Fort  Sumter 
will  be  evacuated.  The  opinion  gains  ground 
here  that  Lieutenant  Slemmer  and  garrison 
will  also  be  withdrawn  from  Fort  Pickens."* 
Toombs  was  ready  to  sue  or  bluster  as  oc- 
casion demanded. 
You  have  shown  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  [he  wrote  back  to  the  commissioners]  with  com- 
mendable promptness  and  becoming  dignity  that  you 
were  not  supplicants  for  its  grace  and  favor,  ami  will- 
ing to  loiter  in  the  antechambers  of  officials  to  pa- 
tiently await  their  answer  to  your  petition ;  but  that 
you  are  the  envoys  of  a  powerful  confederacy  of  sover- 
eignties, instructed  to  present  and  demand  their  rights. 
Nevertheless,  instead  of  recalling  these  neg- 
lected envoys,  he  instructs  them  to  "  commu- 
nicate freely  and  often,"  and  to  employ  a 
secretary  to  assist  them,  "  at  such  monthly 
compensation  as  you  may  deem  reason- 
able." % 
The  hint  to  remain  was  hardly  necessary. 
The  commissioners  apparently  had  no  idea  of 
abandoning  their  intrigues,  unpromising  as 
they  were. 
Their  secretary,  John  T.  Pickett,  now  be- 
sieged the  State  Department  for  an  answer  to 
the  commissioners'  formal  note.  Seward  re- 
plied (March  15th)  in  a  lengthy  and  courteous 
but  dignified  memorandum  that  he  did  not 
perceive  in  the  "Confederate  States"  a  right- 
ful and  accomplished  revolution  or  an  inde- 
pendent nation ;  that  he  could  not  act  on  the 
assumption  or  in  any  way  admit  that  they  con- 
stituted a  foreign  power  with  which  diplomatic 
relations  ought  to  be  established ;  that  he  had 
no  authority,  nor  was  he  at  liberty,  to  recog- 
nize the  commissioners  as  diplomatic  agents, 
or  hold  correspondence  or  other  communica- 
tion with  them.§ 
This  paper,  if  delivered,  would  have  termi- 
nated the  labors  and  functions  of  the  commis- 
sioners. But  they  were  in  no  hurry  to  return 
empty-handed  to  Montgomery,  and  still  fondly 
nursed  the  theory  so  elaborately  described  in 
their  long  dispatches.  One  of  them  repeated  it 
with  emphasis  in  a  private  letter  to  a  member 
of  the  Montgomery  cabinet : 
We  are  feeling  our  way  here  cautiously.  We  are 
playing  a  game  in  which  time  is  our  best  advocate,  and 
if  our  Government  could  afford  the  time  I  feel  confident 
of  winning.  There  is  a  terrific  fight  in  the  Cabinet. 
Our  policy  is  to  encourage  the  peace  element  in  the 
fight,  and  at  least  blow  up  the  Cabinet  on  the  ques- 
tion. || 
This  dispatch  is  a  frank  confession  that  the 
rebel  embassy  was  so  far  a  complete  failure, 
*  Commissioners  to  Toombs,  March  12,  1861.    Un-         X  Toombs  to  commissioners,  March  20,  1S61.     Un- 
published MS.  published  MS. 
t  Seward  to  Hunter,  March  12,1861.    Unpublished         §  Seward,  memorandum.    "  Rebellion  Record.'' 
MS.  ||  Forsyth  to  Walker,  March  14,  1S61.   Unpublished 
MS.