Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-23

not stultify himself by denying the plaiI
D obvious and simple truths which it e.
pressed The paper was shown him befor
II went to the President, and after sligt
alteration suggested by himself. he nc
only approved but spplauded it enthusiast
cally.
L 1t disappointed the President He ha
hastily taken it for granted that Coneres
might make secession a cause of war. an,
IN the draft of his message already prepare,
he had submitted the question of war o
peace to their decision. But the advice O
the Law Department, supported by a Dew
ertul argument from Gen. Cass, convinceC
him of his error, and that part of the mes
sage was rewritten. The substance of tn,
message so modified received Mr.. Stanton
hearty endorsement in everything that re
garded secession, and the treatment il
ought to receive.
Soon after this Cen Cass retired. I was
requested to take the State Department
and Mr.. Stanton was appointed Attorney
General upon my declaring that was IN
willing to leave the care Of certain causes
pending In the Supreme Court to anv
hands but his. This appointment alone.
without any other proof, ought to satisfy
any reasoning mind that all have said Of
Mr.. Stantons sentiments must be true
No man IN his sober senses can believe
that would have urged, or that Mr.. Bucb-
anan would have made the appointment if
we had not both known with perfect GER
talnty that he agreed with us entirely on
those fundamental doctrines Of constitu-
tlonal law to which we were committed
The alntest suspicion of the eontrarv
would have put the Attorney Generals
office as far beyond his reach as the throne
OF France. We took him for what he pro-
tessed to be-a true friend of the Union a
deyout believer in the Constitution a
faithful man, who would not violate his
oath OF office by wilful disobedience to the
laws am still convinced that he did NOT
deceive us. If he abandoned those princi-
pies IN 1862 the change, however sudden
and unaccountable, is not satisfactory evil
dence that he was an impostor and a hypo-
| critic in 1860
He did notfnd MIR. Holt and Gen. Dix con-
tending alone Cor contending at all against
the President and the rest of the admins
lratlon). MIR. Holt on the Sd of March
1851, appended to his letter Of resignation
strong expression of his gratitude for the
firm and generous support" which Mr..
Buchanan had constantly extended to him,
and pays werm tribute to the tenlighten-
ed craftsmanship and unsullied patriotism"
OF the outgoing President Gen. Dix was
not there at all when Mr.. Stanton came in.
he was appointed a month afterwards,
When there was no disagreement In the cab
met He took up his residence at the
Presidents house as a member of his fam
uJ, and remained there during the whole |
time OF his service as head of the Treasury |
llannrtTnnrk 10 g III Il
fully, firmly, and in a way which met with |
universal appreciation. do not recoIlect |
that he had one word of serious contro- |
versy either with the Presidentor with apy-
body else If, therefore, Mr.. Stanton was |
at any time engaged in dragooninp the |
President and hectoring his colleagues. he |
could not have Mr.. Holt and Gen. Dix for |
his hackers
There were disputes and serious differ
ences of opinion in the Cabinet during the
period Of Mr.. Stanton's service; but his /
share in them has not been truly stated. !
am not writing the history Of those times.
and therefore say nothing of what others |
did or forbore to do, except SO far as NAV
be necessary TO show Mr.. Stanton's acts |
and omissions in their true light.
Before the election it was determined 1
that the forts in Charleston harbor should |
be strengthened so as 70 make them i'm /
pregnable. The order was given, but the |
execution of it was unaccountablv put of. |
When Gen. Cass ascertained that the de- |
lay was acquiesced in by the President, he |
resigned. Two weeks afterwards Mai. !
Anderson, commanding Fort Moultrie and |
experimenting an attack, threw his garri-
son into Fort Sumter. Simultaneously
came certain commissioners from South 4
Carolina demanding the surrender of the
latter fort to the State. The character of
the answer that should be given to the
commissioners and the question whether
Fort Sumter should be furnished with men
and provisions were discussed for three
days, each day running far into the night.
On the one side it was insisted that the
surrender Of the fortress was so utterly in
compatible with our plainest duty that the
demand itself was a gross insult. Toleave
1t In condition which would enable rebel
hous citizens to take it if they pleased was
still worse, for that would be merely anoth-
er mode of making the surrender, and
worse one, because it would be fraudulent |
and deceptive. Major Anderson should, !
therefore, be Immediately so reinforced
that Ibis castles strength would laugh a !
siege to scorn, and then no attack would
be made. This last, instead of being dan
gerous, was the only measure that gave US
a chance of safety; it would not bring on
hostilities, but avert them, and, if war must
come at all events, the possession of Fort :
Sumter, which commanded the other forts.
the harbor and the city, would be of meal
5ulable value to the Government of the
Union.
To this there was absolutely no answer.
except what consisted in saying that the
Ort could not b relieved without difficulty
md danger of successful opposition that
south Carolina would take it as an affront,
hat it was tantamount to a threat of
coercion. The replication was easily
made: There was no danger of even an :
Ittempt at resistance to ship-of-war, the
statements made of the hostile power were
mere brag; ifSouth Carolina took offence
It our preparation for the safety of our
'wn men and our own property she must
already be IN temper to make reeoncilia-
ion impossible; and, as to coercion, let
Ter take care not to coerce US, and she
would be safe enough
At length the President pronounced his
lecision in the form of an answer to the
commissioners. While it was far from !
satisfactory to the Southern members, it
lied us with CONSERVATION and grief.
Then came the desperate struggle of one :
lone to do what all had failed to effect. 1t
vas painful in the extreme, but unex-
)ectedly short and decisive. The Presi- 7
lent gave up his first ground, yielded the !
POINTS on which he had seemed most te-
lacious the answer to South Carolina was
changed, and it was agreed that
Fort Sumter should have men and pro-
isions. I
During these discussions Mr.. Stanton
Tas always true, but the part he took was
y no means leading one. He said many
ines that he was there only that might I
ave two votes instead of one On no oc-
aston was there the slightest conflict be-
geen him and me. He exhibited none of
be coarseness which some of his later
iends attributed to him. He never spoke
-ithout the greatest respect for his col | n
,agues and the profoundest Difference y
} the President. He said no word To
ne President about resigning. He told me
nat he would resign if l did but when
srtaln concessions were made to nv
fishes he expressed himself perfectly salts N
ed. He did not furnish one atom Of the u
lhuence which brought the President
1und on the answer to South Carolina
or did he ever propose to carry any mea-
Ire of his own, directly or indirectly, re-
ting to the secession troubles. He uni
'rmly professed to be as anxious for the
Of the public peace as any II
ian there. r.
1t would be a wrong to the memory of
II. Stanton not to add that, so far as 1
now, he never gave eountenance or en-