Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1861-02-16

its retention be referred to conclusion deri-
we'd from the " obligations which "high
Christian and moral duty" would make i'm
perative; it they were appealed to, as they
should be, in this case as the sole and proper
guides for those whose conduct involves the
gravest responsibilities.
The acquiescance of the President of the
United States in tho arrangement or under.
standing" by which he would be prevented
from sending roinforcemcnts to Fort Sumter,
was intended, and so declared by the Sena-
tors of the seceding States, to be binding up
on him, in case of the acquiescence of this
State in certain measures which they propo.
sed this State should adopt With the con
cession from the State of South Carolina, they
evidently expected concession from the
President of the United States And they
proposed that in the interval which was ncccs-
sary to enable you to receive reply from the
Governor the President should not send rein
forcoments to Fort Sumter; and that certain
facilities now enjoyed by Major Anderson
and his garrison at Fort Sumter, should be
continued. The replyo the President, there
fore, contains his refusal, not only of the
general proposition, to abstain from doing un-
tilthe 10Th day of February, the day named
by the Senators in their letter, that which,
whenever he attempts, he knows will be re-
gardcd by the State of South Carolina as an
net of war; but he refuses also to abstain
from attempting this act even during the pc
riod necessary to enable you to communicate
to the Governor the proposition of these Sen
ators.
All that the State of South Carolina was
desired in the letter Of these Senator's, to do
in relation to Major Anderson and his garri-
hnl ~, IL, 4. 4 "a
of any right on the part of the United States,
but in the discharge of the suggestions of
courtesy, and with desire not to visit upon
Major Anderson and his garrison the consc-
quences of the irritation which the conduct
of his Government was so well calculated to
produce. Nor would the acquicsccnce Of the
Government of the United States, in the for
bearancc required from it, have done more
than to have secured the status, in which all
matters within the harbor Of Charleston were
at this time, by putting upon the State an OBJ
legation not to attack Fort Sumter, and upon
the Government of the United States an OBJ
legation not to reinforce it with fresh troops.
With the supplies which Major Anderson
and his garrison were receiving with the fac
ilitics which he and his garrison enjoyed in
regard to the mails, ne prct2Xt for intcrfcr-
cnce with the harbor of Charleston could be
found, except in connection with the right
claimed to reinforce the troops at Fort Sum
ter: right which, claimed by the President,
as involved in duty, would farther involve a
necessity that he should determine, when his
duty was to be discharged, by his exercise of
this right.
1t is true that the President, in his letter,
intimatcs that no rcinforccments will be sent,
because Major Anderson has made no such
request, and feels quite secure in his position
1t is not, however, to be forgotten, that, upon
a recent occasion, when it is understood that
Major Anderson did not call for reinforce
mcnts, and may be presumed to have felt
then as secure in his position as he docs now,
reIntorcements We're sent to him nor was it
the fault of tile Government of the United
States that they did not reach him.
The proposition thus made to the President
of the United States, was the act Of South
crn Senators, unsolicited and unexpected
1t was the evidence of a generous impulse
which, having animated them in the continu-
ancc of their connection with the United
States, as long as that connection could be
maintained with regard to the rights of the
States they represented, was exhibited, even
IN the moment of their final separation, in an
anxious desire to avoid collision and strife
with those whom they could not recognize
longer as their brethren in that political I'm
ion which had been terminated. The mod
Grafton of the terms in which they asked the
acqulesccncc of the President of the United
States, will be long remembered Their re-
quest was simply that Inc would abstain from
those acts, which were unnecessary for the
purposes he professcd; and were surely cal
culated to dcvelopa the ills he declared him
self anxious to avert
At this period, and under such circumstan-
ces, it is not only important, but indispensa
rectly understand the position which the Gov
crnmcnt of the United States intends to oc
cupy towards this State And the correspon-
dcnce, which has produced the letter of the
President, serves to dispcl much of whatcv-
or doubt may have hitherto existed If the
President of the United States desired only
to protect Fort Sumter as property, what
higher assurance of its safety could he have
found than in the pledge of the State of
South Carolina, that it should not be attack
ed If it was not to be defended as prop
ert, but as military post of the United
States. then, indeed, it would be " a manifest
violation of his duty" to agree not to rein
force it. The assertion, therefore, that it is
only held as property, is inconsistent with
those requirements of duty, which the Pres
ident alleges to be obligatory upon him but
which are obligatory upon him only in rela-
tion to a military post. The Governor is,
therefore, forced to conclude, that, stripped of
all disguise, the real purpose of the President
OF the United States is To keen and defend