The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-05-18
THE ADMINISTRATION AND THE CONFED.
Ep,TE CTATFS

ERAIE STATES.
The following letter is one of correspondent
between Hon. John A. Campbell, late Judge of th
United States Supreme Court, and Hon. Wm. II
Seward, all of which was LAID before the Provision
al Congress on Saturday by President Davis:
WASHINGTON Cry, April l3, 1861.
SIR: On the 18th March, ult, left with Judge
Crawford, one OF the Commissioners of the COnfed
rate States, note in writing to the effect fol
lowing:
81 feel entire confidence that Fort Sumte,
will be evacuated in the next five days And
this measure is felt as imposing great responsible
| ty on the Admin strRtion.
al feel entire confidence that no measure chang.
ing the existing status udiciously to the South
ern Confederate States is at present concentrated
al feel an entire confidence that an immediate
| demand for an answer the cnmmunica ton Of
| the Commissioners will be productive of evil and
| not of good. | do not believe that it oupht at
| this time to be pressed
The substance of this statement communicated
| to you the same evening BY letter. Five days
| elapsed. and | called with a telegram from Gen
Beauregard, to the effect that Sumter was not eva
| cuated, but that Major Anderson was at work ma
| king repairs.
The next day, after conversing with you, COM
| municated to Judge Crawford in writing that the
failure to evecuate Fort Sumter was not the result
OF bad tGith but was attributable to causes consist
| tent with the intention to fulfil the engagement.
and that as regarded Pckens, l should have notice
OF any design to alter the existing status there Mr.
Justice Nelson was present al these conversations
! three IN number, ana submitted to him each of
| my written communications to Judge Crawford
| and Informed Judge G. that they had his (,Judre
| Nelson's) sanction | gave you, on the 22d Of
March, substantial copy of the statement l had
made on the 18th
The 30th of March arrived and at that time n
| telegram came from Gov. Pickens iuquiring con-
corning Col. Lamcn, whose visit to Charleston he
| supposed had connection with the proposed evac.
uation of Fort Sumter.
left that with Won. and was tn have IN onrwer
| the following Monday-1st April On the lst of
April received from you the statement in writing
" am satistedl the Government viii not under
take to supply Fort Sumter without giving notice
to Governor p" The words 90 am satisfied - were
for me to use expressive of confidence in the re-
| mainder of the declaration.
mbe proposition, as originally prepared, was {:
The President may desire to supply Sumter hut
| will not do So" &c, and your verbal explanation
| was, that you did not believe anv such attempt
would be made, and that there was no design to re-
| infOrce Sumter.
| There was departure here from the pledces Of
the previous month"; but with the veT bal explanao
did not consider it matter then to mpain of -
simply stated to you that had that assurance
| previously.
On the 7th of April, addressed you letter on
the subject of the alarm that the preparations by
The Government had created, and asked you if the
assurances had given were well or i'll founded -
| In respect to Sumter, your reply Faith as to
| Sumter fully kspt-wat and see'' In the morn
! iug's paper | read: "An authorized MESSENGER
| from President Lincoln informed Gov Pickens and
| General Beauregard that provisions would be sep.
to Fort Sumter peaceably, oher,cise Jy force -
This was the Sth of April, at Charleston, the day
following your last assurance, aud is the evidence
o the tull faith l was nyited to wait for and see
In the same paper read that intercepted dispatches
disclosed the fact that Mr.. Fox, who had been al
| lowed to visit Major Anderson, on the pledge that
| his purpose was pacific, employed his Opportunity
! to devise plan for supplying the Fort bv force
and that this plan had been adopted by the W ash
| lngton Government, and was in process of execu-
tion. My recollection of the date of Mr. Fox's
visit carries it to a day in March. | learn he is
near connection of member of the Cabinet. Nv
connection with the Commissioners and Yourself
was supeTinduced by a conversation with Justice
Nelson. He Informed me of your strong dispositions
in favor of peace, and that you were oppressed
with a demand of the Commissioners of the Confed-
crate States for reply to their first letter. and
that you desired to avoid it, if possible at that
time. | told him might, PERHAPS be of some SER
vice in arranging The difficulty. | came to your
office entirely at his request aud without the know
ledge of either of the Commissioners Your de-
preston was obvious to both Judge Nelson and nv
self. was gratifed at the character of the coun-
sela you de>ir0us of pursuing, and much i'm
pressed with your observation that a civil war
might be prevented by the success of my media
tion. You read letter of Mr.. Wee to show how
irksOme and responsible the withdrawal cf troops
from Sumter was. portion Ofmy communica-
tion to Judge Crawford on the 18th OF March was
founded upon these remarks and the pledge to evac-
uate Fort Sumter is less forcibe than the words
you employed. Those words were: "Before this
letter reaches you Ia proposed letter by me to
President Davis), Sumter will have been evacua-
ted.''
Tine Commissioners who received those cnmmu-
nications conclude they have been abused and
overreached. The Montgomery Government hold
the same opinion. The Commissioners have sup
posed that my communications were with you aud
upon the hypothesis prepared to arraign you before
the country in connection with the President. |
placed peremPtory prohibition upon this as being
contrary to the terms Of my communication with
them. pledged myself to them to communicate
Information upon what | considered as the best au-
thority, and they to copiide in the ability of
myself, aided by Judge Nelson, to determine upon
the credibiiity Of my informant.
think candid man who will read over what
have written, and consider for a moment what is
going on at Sumter, but viii agree that the equiv
coating conduct Ofthe Administration, as measured
and interpreted In connection with these promises
Is the pFoxmate cause of the great calamity.
have profound conviction tha. the teerrams
of the Sth OF April, OF Gen. Beauregard and of the
10th of April, of Gen. Walker, the Secretary of
War, can be referred to nothing else than their be-
lief that there has been systematic duplicty prac-
tsed on them through 1t is under an oppres-
sve sense OF the weight of the responsibility that
submit to you these things for your explanation.
Very respectfully,
(Signed,) J0HN A. CAMPBELL,
Associate Justice of the Supreme G. u. D.
Hon. VIM. II. Seward Sec'y of State