Savannah. "Its foundations are laid," he said; "its corner-stone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This our new government is the first in the history of the world based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. . May we not look with confidence to the ultimate universal acknowledgment of the truths upon which our system rests?"

Lincoln

way to

Washing

While the president of the Confederate States on the journeyed to Montgomery, the president elect of the United States was on his way to Washington. ton. He took leave of his neighbors at Springfield, Illinois, in one of the most touching speeches ever made, saying that he was assuming a burden greater than had been laid upon any before him except Washington, and that he must depend upon Divine assistance. As he travelled on, he spoke sometimes gayly, but oftener gravely, of the situation, insisting that "nobody is suffering any thing," and that" the people on both sides must keep their self-possession." As he raised the American flag over Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, on Washington's birthday, he said, "I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this confederacy so long together;' he was alluding to the revolution. "It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but I hope to the world for all future time. If this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say that I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it." He was aware at that moment of a plot to assassinate him as he passed through Baltimore, and to avoid the danger he made the rest of the journey to Washington by night.

InauguHis inauguration was protected by an unusually ration. large body of troops against the violence which was believed to be intended, (March 4.) The most striking passage in the president's address was the following: "We find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen states expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1777; and finally in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was to form a more perfect union. But if the destruction of the Union, by one or by a part only of the states, be lawfully possible, the Union is less than before. I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the states." He concluded, “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. We are not enemies, but friends.

We must not be enemies."

Contrast.

History has few such contrasts as this between the chief magistrate of the United States and the leaders of the seceded states. In all their positions, in their views of their own principles and of the principles which they must combat, in their purposes and their expectations, there is something of the same difference as that dividing the day and the night. That such a man as Abraham Lincoln represented the Union, and stood ready

to live or die for it, was one of the greatest blessings which God has bestowed upon this nation.

Attempt

A week after the new administration began, two at nego- men, claiming to be commissioners from the govtiation. ernment of the Confederate States, informed the secretary of state, Mr. Seward, that they were instructed to make overtures for the opening of negotiations. To their letter the secretary replied in a memorandum, the main point being that he "cannot act upon the assumption, or in any way admit, that the so-called Confederate States constitute a foreign power with whom diplomatic relations ought to be established," (March 15.)

Relief of

A more anxious question had come up the Fort very day after the inauguration. Major Anderson Sumter. was still in Fort Sumter. He had sent away the women and children towards the end of January. All around the fort, on both sides of the harbor, extended the batteries of the South Carolinians and their comrades from other states. Thousands in arms kept watch upon the eighty men within the fort, to whom no succor had been sent since the Star of the West had been driven back. At the end of February, Anderson wrote to the war department that twenty thousand men would be needed in order to reënforce him before his provisions were exhausted, and this letter was laid before the cabinet. General Scott concurred in the opinion, and stated that the government had no such force at its control, and could have none in season to relieve the garrison. The president seems to have acquiesced, but only for a time; giving up Fort Sumter, as he afterwards declared, was our national destruction commenced." He sent an officer directly to Major Anderson, who said that he could hold out till the 15th of April; and on receiving this assurance, the president determined to relieve him. A few days later, (April 4,)

66

a written order was given, and a message was sent to inform the governor of South Carolina that, if provisions were suffered to reach the fort, no troops would be introduced. Several vessels, with both troops and provisions, sailed from New York and Norfolk within the next few days. They arrived, (April 11, 12,) uncertain whether they were bringing peace or war, and found war before them.

Fall of
Fort

CHAPTER XII.

CIVIL WAR.

FIRST PERIOD.-APRIL, 1861, TO JANUARY, 1863.

ALL the other forts and possessions of the United States that had been seized by the seceders, were Sumter. like dust in their mouths while Fort Pickens, near Pensacola, under Lieutenant Slemmer, and Fort Sumter held out against them. The news that an attempt would be made to provision Fort Sumter determined the confederate authorities to order its reduction by General Beauregard, in command of the forces at Charleston. " Unless you

sprinkle blood in the face of the people of Alabama," said an Alabamian to Jefferson Davis, “they'll be back into the old Union in less than ten days." Beauregard at once called upon Anderson to surrender, and on being met by a refusal, renewed the demand, with notice that unless it were complied with, fire would be opened. At half past four on the following morning, (April 12,) the first shot was fired, and for thirty-three hours, one hundred and twenty cannon kept up the bombardment. Anderson made no reply till seven in the morning, and closed his portholes at dark, renewing fire early the next day; but though husbanding his strength, it was worn down, not only at the guns, but amidst the flames which repeatedly broke out within the walls. On the second day, the men breathed only by covering their faces with wet cloths; and to save