Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-08-09
r,nco,n and Fort sumter.


cc,ved the endorsement of Lincoln and his
Cabinet, preliminary to its publication in
leading and confidential organ Of the Northern
Administration. This production has been
+ light by Governor Pickens, OF
South Carolina, who introduces it with some
from which VIC take the following:
STATE OF Souri, CAROLINA
Headquarters, Aug. .. 1861.
! have every reason, from Information re-
ceivcd BY me in the most confidential manner,
(not forbidding publication, however, anu
through one very near tho most Ultimate coun'
sells OF the President Of the United States, to
induce me to believe that the following article
was submitted, as q proofshcet, to Mr.. Lincoln
and his Cabinet that q proclamation, IN con-
formity with its general views, was to be lssu'
ed and that 4 change in the decision OF inc
Cabinet was made in one night, when exactly
the contrary course was adopted. 1t IS asser'
ted in this article, (Which in all PROBABILITY IS
a proof sheet from n confidential New York
paper,) that if the President desired TO excite
and madden the whole North to 4 war OF cX-
termination against slavery, and in favor OF the
absolute plumber and conquest OF the Soutn,
he had only to resolve that Major Anderson
and his garrison at Fort Sumter should PERISH,
as it appears was well known would have 10 DC
the case.
know the fact from Mr.. Lincoln's most in
innate friend and accredited agent, Mr.. Lamon,
that the President Of the United States pro.
lessed . desire to evacuate Fort Sumter, and
he (A1r. L1mon) actually wrote Inc. alter ms
return to Washington, that he would be back
in q few days to aid in that purpose. MAJOR
Anderson vas induced to expect the same
thing, as his notes to me prove. | know the
fact that Mr.. Fox, Of tho United States navy,
after obtaining permission from inc, upon the
express guarantee Of a former gallant associate
in the navy, to visit Major Anderson "for pacl-
fc PURPOSES" planned the pretended attempt
to relieve and reinfnrcr tho garrison ny u
feet, and that Major Anderson protested
against it. I now believe that it was all u
scheme, and that Fox's disgraceiul expedition
was gotten up, in concert with Mr.. Lincoln,
merely to deludc the Northern public into the
belief that they intended to sustain and protect
Major Anderson, when, in fact, according to
the article now published for the first time,
they decided to do no such thing, and acted
with the deliberate intention to let the garrl
son perish, that they might thereby excite the
North, and rouse them 10 unite in this unholy
and unnatural war, by which the desperate
and proHigate leaders ofan Infatuated and law.
less party might crafty their vengeance and
lust Of power over the ruins OF their country,
aud amid the blind passions CT a maddened
people.
"a war thus inaugurated-from such mo-
tiyes and under such circumstanccs-surely
can never meet with the favor Of Heaven. \
people educated and trained up to constitution.
al liberty can never, ior any length Of time,
sustain such q war;"
Tue following is the article referred to. Nj.
Buchanan and his Northern friends will feel
much pleased to know the opinion entertained
Of him by the party lie is contributing his
means to support:
ABANDONMENT or FORT SUMTER.
NECESSITY Knows 80 LAw.-Therc are
periods in the history Of nations and indi"id'
ualS, when the force Of even this provcrb is
illustrated. The Law, or rather the demands
of justice, self.respect, national honor, and the
vindication Of our nationality in the eyes OF
Europe, all demand that we should retain pos.
session Of Fort Sumter at any and every sacri-
TX aAo LO llsAI AL Wig hN'o ~ -
impressed With the paramount Importance Of
so doing than is Abraham Lincoln, the Presi.
dent Of the United States. He feels and re.
cognizes his duty in the premises; but the law
Of necessity steps in, puts at defiance his wishes
and his duty, and stcrnly forbidS his attempt.
ing to hold or relieve the noble Fortress so
promptly snatched from the hands Of the rebels
and traitors Of Charleston by the timely ac-
ton of Major Anderson. Buchanan and his
traitor cabinet, had deliberately planned the
robbing of our ~arsenals under the supcrinten-
dence OF, and with the conniyancc Of the mis-.
cradle fellow Floyd, whose portrait now hangs
so conspicuously in the rtgue's gallery of cur
city police; and ne all know, that when Major
Anderson took possession Of Fort Sumter,
Floyd demanded its restoration to the rebels,
and Buchanan actually yielded to the demand,
until threatened with danger to bis person if
he ventured upon any such act Of treachecy.
He yielded TO a stern necessity; but, in yield.
ing, he determined to accomplish, by manage.
ncnt and finesse. what be had not the courage
to do openly. He accordingly refused to per-
nit the Fort to be reinforced, as it could have
been in those days, with the necessary men
and stores to enable it 10 hold out for a year
at least, against any force which could tc
brought against it; and it was not until after
Norris Island had been fortified, that he sane.
toned the abortive attempt at succor made by
the Star Of the West, and even cou~ntermanded
that order before it vas carried into effect.
From Christmas until the fourth of March,
the Traitors and Rebels Of Charleston and The
Cotton States, received every countenance and
support from Mr.. Buchanan which could be
afforded them and when he retired from
office on the 4th inst, he gloated over the con-
victiou, that he had fostercd Rebellion and
Treason until they had become so rampant,
that they were beyond the control Of his
successor. And the one great source Of his
glori6cation was that Fort Sumter was without
provisions; and that, Of necessity, the garrison
must surrender from starvation before it would
be in the power Of the Republican Admins.
tration to relieve and reinforce it.
Of course, Abraham Lincoln could know
nothing Of this treason and when, in his in
augural, ne spoke Of occupying the public
dreamed that his predecessor had reasonably
arranged to make the abandonment of Fort
Sumter a political necessity. He was soon ap.
prised, however, that the Treason Of his Prede-
cessor, had cunningly devised for him the most
serious modification that could be inflicted
and that he had presented to him the ~aiterna.
tive of permitting Anderson and bis command
10 ~starve, or promptly to withdraw them, and
ignominiously permit the fort to fall into the
hands Of the Rebels. 10 reinforce the garri-
son or to supply them with provisions, are
equally impossible, because James Buchanan
and his associate Traitors designedly refused to
do so while it was in their power to do it; and
compelled the comrnandant Of the fort quietly to
permit the construction Of works in his imme-
date vicinity and under the range Of his guns,
which would effectually prevent his being re-
lieyed when an honest man assumed the gov
eminent on the 4th Of March. Buchanan's final
act of treason has been consummated. He pre-
vented the late Congress passing a law giving
power to tho Executive to call for volunteers 10
occupy and recapturc the public Forts and Ar
%senals; and he ~dcsigncdly left Fort Sumter in
a position which renders relief physically i'm