The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-10-16

the very moment the NTlttcH dIS"ei, lo
buffing and dismissing them lay IN his desk,
could be no longer concealed No wonder
the commissioners withdrew in high lndIg--
nation, declaring their government would
accept the gage Of battle thus thrown
down to it" No wonder Judge Camp
bell published a statement upbraIdlng Sew
ard for his d%uplicity and "falsity.
It was a great mistake in the Confederate
government not TO at once accept the insult
in. dismissal of its ENJOYS. and the CON
temptuous rejection of its second Profer Of
Peace.a as an official declaration Of war on the
part o. the Lincolnites. This would have
put the responsibility Of beginning the war
upon the right shoulders. Had President
Davis issued a proclamation recitlng the
facts. denouncine Stewards treachery, and
calling upon all true sons ofthe South to re
turn home. and abstain from intercourse
with 4 government which rejected every
protfer of peace. and distinctly avowed It's
purpose IL invade the Southern Conteder-
acv. the world would have better understood
the situation. Whereas now. many honest
persons believe the war was forced on the
government by the ''wanton attack on Fort
Sumpter.'
THE ~IIScoLNTTEs BEGIN THE WAR BY AN
ATTEMPT 7 SURPRISE H CHARLES
TONIANS.
As has been stated a secret expedition
sailed southwark from New DIRK on the
dav preceding that on which the confederate
commissioners were dismissed, April Sth.
Let US 90 back a few weeks. About the
time when the commissioners presented their
credentials, q letter was received by General
Scott from Mai. Anderson stating that he
was completely surrounded by B~eauregards
batteries, had only 100 men including 30
laborcrs. and could not be reinforced by
ANYTHING less than an army OF 10000 men.
He therefore urgently advised that the fort
be evacuated. Scott endorsed the letter.
and called upon Lincoln to second its recon-
mendations. At the cabinet meeting, all
members either advised the evacuation, or
remained silent, with a single exception.
Montgomery Blair, by birth a southerner,
and at one time a Shareholder; therefore
liable to over zeal in the abolition cause, took
the ground that to yield the fort, and forego
any attempt to provision a starving garrison
of United States soldiers, would demoraliZe
the North, destroy the Republican party, and
accomplish at once a permanent dissolution
of the Union. And after telling Lincoln that
his party would never forgive such trucking
to the arrogant rebels, Blair Electrically
wrote his resignation as post master general
which he proposed to hand in at once, and
appeal to the public, if the cabinet should
determine to abandon those poor starving
soldiers
After much discussionit was decided to
undertake the war, let the result be what it
might. This change of policy may nave been
due to several influences, but chiefly to strong
pressure from the extremists at the North,
and apparent symptoms OF yielding at the
South. As soon as Mr.. Lincoln's hesitation
$50. 80 a1,a no,n, @ u,
a steady stream of Radical leaders, including
the governor of nearly every abolition State,
poured into W Washington to demonstrate, as well
we'll as to offer aid In men and money. Many
southern men, on the other hand, assured
him that secession was a mere spasm, and
had not the endorsement of the majority
even in the Gulf States, while as for the
Border States, they would lose every one of
their negroes rather than give up the Union.
Arkansas, it will be remembered, voted
secession even as late a> the goth of
March; and Senator Andrew Johnson de
clared Tennessee never would sccede. These
indications deceived Lincoln. He fancied,
as his party organs declared, that secession
was the work of a few angry politicians, that
the masses had no hand in it, and were I'M
likely to fight for it; and at any RITE that
fully half Of the the southern people would
remain neutral. The war. therefore, would
be, after all, "a small job, "-procided the
North couM be aroused and solidifedn Jacor
Of It. How to accomplish this, without
seeming to begin the struggle, was the great
problem of the hour. 1t was decided to
Fort Sumpter. Not because the
was needed, or could be held after it
had been reinforced, but because the at
tempt would send the confederate commits
sioners trotting home, and compel Beaure-
gard to fire on the fort, perhaps burying the
garrison in the ruins; all of which would
fire the Northern heart" to fever heat,
and unite all classes, and parties, to support
the honor of the "Old Flag and the
Union. 1t was a diabolical thought; and
Just here let us recall the language of that
editorial, heretofore alluded to, written
for Lincoln's recognized organ, and meant
to breake the ice for the peace policy which
he then had in view. The editorial, after
commencing the President pacific attitude,
continued, Pollard states, as follows:
But were war, and not peace, Mr.. Lin
L