CHAPTER XIX.

THE GREAT WORK OF LINCOLN'S LIFE-DOUGLAS FOR THE UNION.

After the ceremony of the inauguration had been concluded, the address delivered and the oath of office administered, the President and ex-President were escorted to the White House. Mr. Buchanan now retired, the doors of the executive mansion were opened and thousands of the loyal citizens of the Union called to tender their congratulations.

In this hour of joy and exultation was the great burden of Lincoln's life assumed. Responsibilities grave and momentous now rested on the Presi- . dent, for the very life and duration of the nation was in peril; the ordinary civil duties of the President dwindled into insignificance in contrast with the important labors and duties of saving the nation's life; the dismembered and disjointed members of our grand and renowned republic must be reunited; it may be after years of toil, anguish and suffering such as no ruler had ever endured, and the labors and work must commence on the morrow; the exigences would admit of no delay. The first duty of the President was the selection of the members for his Cabinet. Wm. H. Seward was tendered and accepted the place of Secretary of State; S. P. Chase of Ohio was called as Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania was honored as Secretary of War, and Edward Bates of Missouri as Attorney-General. These men, able and national in their influence and standing, were all prominent candidates for the Presidency at Chicago, and thus the nation and the Republican party was honored by the President in a remarkable degree. The Cabinet was completed by the appointment of Wells of Connecticut as Secretary of the Navy; Smith of Indiana as Secretary of the Interior, and Blair of Maryland, Postmaster-General.

The President having selected his Cabinet, was now ready to enter upon an important and laborious work-no less than clearing all the departments of the Government of the men in sympathy with the rebellion. Secession and disunion were rampant in every branch-all offices had been filled with men in entire sympathy with treason and were so infused with its malignant

spirit that no measure could be discussed or adopted by the new administra tion that was not reported to the rebels by some of the clerks or subordinates. The places thus held and disgraced were to be filled with loyal men who would secure respect for the Government, and who would be faithful to the oaths and obligations they had taken. To fill these places was not an easy task, but it was done promptly, wisely and effectually. This important duty having been performed, the President now took time to look into and fully comprehend the situation. His inaugural address gave satisfaction to the loyal people in the free States. Some of the more radical thought there was not sufficient positive policy in it, while in the border States its reception was considered conciliating and pacific by the Union citizens; but in those States, as elsewhere in the South, the secession leaders and the disloyal press gave it the most virulent and hostile denunciation and misrepresentation. But its Union sentiments, the conciliatory pacific spirit which it foreshadowed, its appeal to the patriotism of the people, its entire absence of aggressive policy fell like a withering incubus upon the policy and leaders of the rebellion. It was so much at variance with what they had been telling and teaching their people, that some new policy must be adopted. How this new policy was inaugurated and its principles promulgated and the returning Union sentiment smothered and destroyed, will be understood by giving the statements made by Jeremiah Clemens, formerly United States Senator from Alabama, at a Union meeting held at Huntville, Alabama, March 13, 1861. He said: "I was in Montgomery and called upon President Davis. Mumminger, Leroy Pope, Walker, Gilchrist and others were present. As I entered, the conversation ceased. The conversation was evidently about taking Fort Sumpter. Two or three of the parties withdrew to a corner of the room. I heard Gilchrist say to the Secretary of War: 'It must be done; delay two months and Alabama stays in the Union. You must sprinkle blood in the face of the people.'" The sprinkle was made at Fort Sumpter, then came showers, then torrents of blood, deluging our peaceful land.

During the lull in the national affairs after the inauguration the President was not idle; he was engaged in the most exhaustive labors; he found the treasury bankrupt; money must be provided for the support of the Government, and the credit of the nation must be restored. The arsenals of the loyal States were rifled; arms and munitions of war must be manufactured and provided for defense, our vessels of war must be called home, our Government must be represented abroad by men of loyal sentiment and feeling, and influences must be brought to bear which would secure respect for the Government and a true and correct understanding of the controversy between the loyal and disloyal States.

The rebel confederacy now found that it must make progress or fail, and on the 12th of March two commissioners-Forsyth of Alabama and Crawford of Georgia-were sent and presented themselves at the State department at Washington, stating that they were duly authorized to conclude a treaty with the United States. They knew, of course, that they would not be received as such, and they knew also that they ought to be arrested for treason; but they had ascertained that the President was a merciful man, and there was great forbearance in his nature. The President sent them a copy of his inaugural for them to study, and they lingered about Washington unmolested, learning what they could and in daily communication with the secessionists, until the 8th of April, when they returned to the rebel confederacy and reported that they had exhausted all peaceful measures for the adjustment of the difficulties.

On the 8th of April an authorized messenger from President Lincoln informed General Beauregard and Governor Pickens of South Carolina that provisions would be sent to Fort Sumpter peaceably or otherwise. General Beauregard immediately telegraphed to L. T. Walker, rebel Secretary of War at Montgomery. The reply was: "Demand the immediate surrender of Fort Sumpter," which demand was made by General Beauregard, who was at once informed by Major Anderson that his sense of honor and his obligation to his Government forbid his compliance. On the night of the same day General Beauregard wrote to Major Anderson that if he would state the time at which he would evacuate Fort Sumpter, "We will abstain from opening fire upon you." At half-past 2 o'clock in the morning Major Anderson replied that, "He would evacuate the fort at noon on the 15th, unless he should receive supplies or controlling instructions from his government." In reply to this note he was notified at half-past 3 o'clock that fire would be opened by the rebel batteries in one hour from that time. Beauregard, true to his notice, at half-past 4 o'clock, A. M., opened with his batteries on the fort. After sustaining a long and terrific bombardment of thirty-three hours and a gallant but feeble defense by a small and famished garrison, Major Anderson was compelled to lower his country's flag and surrender the fort into rebel hands.

Thus, April 12, 1861, was the commencement of the civil war, and this act was consumated April 14 by an insult to the national flag, such as the country had never witnessed. The star spangled banner, the glorious emblem of our country's unity and greatness, honored at home and respected abroad, was lowered to traitors and disgraced by rebel hands. It was a national humiliation, but it was the birth of loyalty, the resurrection of patriotism; it lighted the fires of liberty, unity and love of country at every hearthstone and in every hamlet; it was a sudden, a universal uprising of

the people; patriotic impulses and feelings united all in thought, purpose and determination that the national insult must be avenged.

Fort Sumpter was surrendered and evacuated by Major Anderson on the 14th of April, 1861. The time for action the President felt and realized had arrived. On the 15th of April he issued a proclamation calling upon the loyal States for seventy-five thousand men to protect the national capital and suppress such combinations as had been made to resist the enforcement of the laws of the United States; also for both Houses of Congress to assemble at Washington on the 4th of July. The men of the nation were taking sides for or against the Union. Bell and Breckenridge went with the Southern confederacy, while Douglas gave his influence and voice for the Union. On Sunday, the 14th of April, the people were wild with excitement under the effect of the news of the fall of Fort Sumpter. The secessionists were jubilant, loyal men sad and indignant, churches were forsaken, and the opening of the war was the only topic of thought and conversation.

The President's proclamation calling for volunteers was written on Saturday, the 13th of April. On Sunday a number of the prominent Union men called at the Executive Mansion to confer with the President relative to the important crisis. The President was uneasy and solicitous. Would he have an earnest and patriotic response to his call? Would the citizens of the free States rise up en masse to maintain the integrity and perpetuity of our republic, and would the President have the support and co-operation of the Democratic party in the North in his policy for the unity and perpetuity of the national Government? These were important questions and were freely canvassed. The President was anxious to secure the support and co-operation of Senator Douglas in his measures for the suppression of the rebellion. This he desired; and this only he expected. The President felt that could the Senator be induced to give some public declaration to accompany his proclamation, in which the Senator would sustain the President in his efforts to preserve the Union, it would be a tower of strength for the cause of the Union. It was understood that Hon. George Ashmun of Massachusetts, late President of the Chicago Convention, and a personal friend of Senator Douglas, would call on him that evening and obtain from the Senator a public declaration that he would support the Government in its efforts to preserve the Union. Mr. Ashmun found the Senator engaged with a number of friends discussing the situation of the national affairs. They soon retired, and then for a time Mr. Ashmun discussed with the Senator the emergency of the nation's affairs, and urged that a public declaration of the Senator's views and sentiments as to the stand and position the administration should take, would give much strength and encouragement to the friends of the Union. The replies of the Senator were not favorable to the arguments of Mr. Ashmun, who urged him to go to the President

and assure him that he would support and sustain him in all necessary measures which the immediate wants of the country and the pressing necessities of the situation demanded. The Senator said: "Mr. Lincoln has dealt hardly with me in removing some of my friends from office, and I don't know that he wants my advice or assistance." Mr. Ashmun replied that the present question and the situation of the country was above all party consideration, and that the Senator had now the power and opportunity to render such a service to his country as would not only give him a claim and title to its lasting gratitude, but would show that in the hour of his country's extremity and need he could trample all party considerations and resentments under foot; and, said he, “I may say that thousands of your friends are now awaiting your public action in accord with the administration on this question, to take sides for the Union." Mrs. Douglas, who was present during this interview, arose at this juncture and walked across the room, and laying her hand tenderly on the shoulder of the Senator, in her kind and affectionate way, said: "I am sure, Stephen, in this matter you can and will lay aside all party and personal feelings, and that you will go with Mr. Ashmun to the President and tell him frankly that in his efforts to save our Union he shall have your earnest support." These words of an earnest and tender wife were not spoken in vain; he could not withstand that better nature to which they had appealed. He arose and said to Mr. Ashmun that he would accompany him to see the President. They found Mr. Lincoln alone, and he gave them a most cordial welcome. Now for the first time in life were the two great champions of the two great parties united in purpose and heart. After some conversation relative to the present condition of the country, the President took up his proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand men, which he would issue the next day, and read it. When he had finished, Mr. Douglas arose from his seat and said, " Mr. President, I cordially concur in every word of that document, except that instead of seventy-five thousand, I would make it two hundred thousand; you do not know the dishonest purposes of these men as well as I do." He then pointed out to the President, on a map hanging in the room, the principal points that should at once be occupied. Among the most prominent were Fortress Monroe, Washington, Harper's Ferry and Cairo. He then insisted that a firm, energetic course should be pursued until the stability of the Union should be secured and the national honor vindicated. "Let there be," he said, "no concession to treason-no compromise with traitors." The President, with a burden lifted from his shoulders, listened with interest and pleasure to the Senator's counsel and suggestions, and the interview closed with a perfect unity in a patriotic purpose. Mr. Douglas said, before leaving the President, that he would write an account of the interview to accompany the President's proclamation. It was as follows: