CHAP. XI. to the minds of some persons. The Star of the West did pass the battery and did overcome the difficulties of the navigation, meeting with no serious trouble from either cause. They have tried it; we can say probatum est; and there is an end of the controversy. I am convinced that a pirate, or a slaver, or a smuggler who could be assured of making five hundred dollars by going into the harbor in the face of all the dangers which now threaten a vessel bearing the American flag, would laugh them to scorn. . . Would the South Carolinians dare to fire upon any vessel which Major Anderson would tell them beforehand must be permitted to pass on pain of his guns being opened upon her assailants? But suppose it impossible for an unarmed vessel to pass the battery, what is the difficulty of sending the Brooklyn or the Macedonian in? . . . I admit that the state of things may be somewhat worse now than they were a week ago, and are probably getting worse every day; but is not that the strongest reason that can be given for taking time by the forelock?

Black to

Gen. Scott,

Jan. 16, 1861.

W. R. Vol.

I., pp. 140

142.

Clearly Secretary Black was in an altogether different frame of mind from that in which, as Attorney-General, he penned his famous opinion on coercion. If the current of events had educated him into a logic so faultless and an enthusiasm so eager, it is fair to assume that the patriotic Holt, the belligerent Dix, and the impulsive Stanton entertained substantially identical views. Unfortunately the contemporary records are very meager. There is a dispatch from Holt to Anderson of the same date with the letter quoted above. He is told that he rightly designates the firing into the Star of the West as an "act of war," without provocation. That his "forbearance to return the fire is fully approved by the President. . . Your late dispatches, as well as the very intelligent statement of Lieutenant Talbot, have relieved the Govern

ment of the apprehensions previously entertained CHAP. XI. for your safety. In consequence it is not its purpose at present to reënforce you. The attempt to do so would no doubt be attended by a collision of arms and the effusion of blood-a national calamity which the President is most anxious if possible to avoid... Whenever, in your judgment, additional supplies or reënforcements are necessary for your safety, or for a successful defense of the fort, you will at once communicate the fact to this de- Anderson, partment, and a prompt and vigorous effort will be made to forward them."

This was perhaps as little as could in magnanimity be said to a brave and conscientious commander; on the other hand it was doubtless all that could be obtained from a President once more taking counsel of his fears instead of his duty.

Holt to

Jan. 16, 1861.
W. R. Vol.
I., p. 140.

Printed in
Curtis,
"Life of

Buchanan," Vol.

454.

We learn from Mr. Buchanan's own memorandum that, on the afternoon of this same 16th of Jan- II., pp. 452uary, Senator Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, called upon him on behalf of the seceding Senators, and, after some general talk about Fort Sumter, turned the conversation upon Major Anderson's truce. Premising that there was a truce agreed upon so long as Colonel Hayne was there (to which the President assented), Clay went on to say that the Senators wanted Hayne "to remain a few days and submit a proposition to the Government of South Carolina to agree that Major Anderson should be placed in his former position," and that the truce "might be extended until the meeting at Milledgeville, or even till the 4th of March." Mr. Buchanan replied in substance that he could consider no proposition unless it were in writing, that he would not with

CHAP. XI. draw Anderson from Sumter, and that the truce would only continue "until Colonel Hayne left here, which I supposed would be in a few days." The President writes further that "in the course of conversation I told him that I felt as much anxiety to prevent a collision and spare the effusion of blood as any man living; but this must be done in consistency with the discharge of all my duties as laid down in my annual message and my late special message." The anxiety of the seceding Senators for delay "even till the 4th of March" is here plainly admitted. The inference is also irresistible that the loyal Cabinet members were discouraged at finding Mr. Buchanan again in communication with the emissary of a Governor who had wantonly fired on the flag and a cabal of conspirators who were about to send him notice of their intent to set up a government in rebellion, and with sublime effrontery asked him to promise them a safeguard for the act.

1861.

The correspondence between the Senators and Colonel Hayne was sent to the President. Two more days were lost in considering and discussing it, and on January 22 he instructed Mr. Holt to reply: "The President has no authority to enter into such an agreement or understanding; as an executive officer he is simply bound to protect the public property, so far as this may be practicable, and it would be a manifest violation of his duty to place himself under engagements that he would not perform this duty either for an indefinite or a limited period. At the present moment it is not deemed necessary to reënforce Major Anderson, because he makes no such request, and feels