what he had to encounter, with so little sign of fear, is the best proof of an undaunted temper and a serene self-possession. The gossip of Pennsylvania Avenue, and the tattle of secession circles, supposed him to be panic-stricken; while he sate in the White House the most remarkable instance, in those tumultuous times, of the mens aequa in arduis.*

It seems to be quite evident from Mr. Tyler's note of Februcry 24th, to the President, that so far as any suggestion of a commission to be sent by Mr. Davis to Washington proceeded from that city, it proceeded from Mr. Tyler himself, and those gentlemen of his own State who, acting with him, were endeavoring to ward off any attack upon Fort Sumter. Mr. Davis became President of the Confederate States on the 18th of February. But before that date, Mr. Tyler was actively engaged in efforts to prevent an armed collision at Charleston; and as it was well known that Mr. Davis would be the President of the new confederacy whose delegates had assembled at Montgomery, Mr. Tyler and the other Virginians looked to him to prevent any outbreak in South Carolina. But I know of nothing that can connect Mr. Buchanan with the suggestion of a commission, beyond Mr. Davis's statement, which is wholly unsupported by proof. The fair inference from all that occurred is, that the commission was sent to Washington to take the chances of being received by the out-going or the incoming administration, as circumstances might admit. As the first commissioner did not leave Montgomery until the 27th of February, it could not have been expected that Mr. Buchanan would take the responsibility of binding his successor by negotiating with a diplomatic agent of the Confederate States during the last three days of his administration; nor is it

I have had occasion heretofore to speak of the multitudes of letters received by the President from all quarters of the country, after the promulgation of his annual message of December 3d. The inundation was scarcely less during the months of January and February; and as a general rule, when an answer was necessary or expedient, he made the original draft of it himself. In almost all cases, he noted on the back of letters or other papers which he received, the name of the writer, the date, and the date of the answer. But was he wasting his energies, it may be asked, in the duties of a mere clerk? Turn to his messages; consider the almost daily cabinet consultations, and the incessant attention which he had to give to the state of things in the South, the proceedings of Congress, the condition of public opinion in the North, and the deliberations of the Peace Convention, as well as to the ordinary business of the Government.

probable that Mr. Davis, whose last words in the Senate of the United States arraigned Mr. Buchanan severely for his course towards South Carolina, had, as President of the Confederate States, received from Mr. Buchanan an intimation that was equivalent to an invitation from one potentate to another to send a commission for the adjustment of all differences between their two governments.

"He is advised to send a commission," said Mr. Tyler to Mr. Buchanan. Advised by whom? "By me, Mr. Tyler, and those Virginians who are acting with me," is plainly to be read between the lines of Mr. Tyler's letter of February 24th to the President. No one can doubt that Mr. Buchanan's account of his administration, published in 1866, was written with perfect eandor. If he had ever sent to Mr. Davis the intimation which that gentleman says he received from him through a third person, inviting commissioners from the Confederate Government, he would have stated the fact, together with his reasons for it. He never shrank from assigning reasons for any thing that he ever did. Yet not only does he make no allusion to the Montgomery commissioners, but any one who reads his fair and considerate comments on the peace policy pursued by Mr. Lincoln down to the attack on Fort Sumter, ought to be convinced that there was no need for the presence of Confederate commissioners in Washington, coming there on the suggestion of Mr. Buchanan, to negotiate matters that would have to be referred to the Senate, although it is highly probable that Mr. Tyler may have desired that a commissioner be sent to arrange amicably for an agreement by the Confederates not to attack Fort Sumter.

CHAPTER XXV.

1861-February and March.

TROOPS AT THE CAPITAL-INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN-IMPORTANT AND ALARMING DESPATCHES FROM MAJOR ANDERSON-MR. HOLT'S COMMUNICATION TO PRESIDENT LINCOLN—ATTITUDE IN WHICH MR. BUCHANAN LEFT THE GOVERNMENT TO HIS SUCCESSOR-HIS

DEPARTURE FOR WHEATLAND.

As

S the administration was drawing to its end, great uneasiness was felt by many persons in Washington for the safety of the capital and the Government. Rumors of a conspiracy to seize the city and to prevent the inauguration of the President-elect filled the air. Among those who were affected by these rumors was the Secretary of State, Judge Black. With characteristic energy, on the 22d of January, being prevented by illness from attending the cabinet meeting of that day, he addressed to the President a long and earnest private letter, setting forth the grounds of his belief that the existence of such a conspiracy was highly probable, and that at all events, even if it were doubtful, the Government ought to be prepared for the worst. The President, although at first he did not share these apprehensions, was not the less vigilant in the discharge of his executive duties, or the less disposed to give due weight to Judge Black's impressive arguments. He would have had everything needful done in a manner not to excite public observation, if the matter had not been broached in Congress. His message of the 8th of January had been referred on the 10th, in the House of Representatives, to a select committee of five members, consisting of Messrs. Howard, of Michigan, Branch, of North Carolina, Dawes, of Massachusetts, John Cochrane, of New York, and Hickman, of Pennsylvania. On the 25th this committee were instructed, by a resolution offered by Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, " to inquire whether any secret

organization hostile to the Government of the United States exists in the District of Columbia; and if so, whether any official or employé of the city of Washington, or any employées or officers of the Federal Government, in the Executive or Judicial Departments, are members of it." Before this committee had reported, steps had been taken by the Executive to assemble quietly at Washington a small body of the regular troops. This at once aroused the jealousy of certain members from the border States. On the 11th of February, a resolution, offered by Mr. Burnett, of Kentucky, was adopted in the House, calling upon the President to furnish to the House, if not incompatible with the public service," the reasons that have induced him to assemble a large number of troops in this city, why they are kept here, and whether he has any information of a conspiracy on the part of any portion of the citizens of the country to seize the capital and prevent the inauguration of the President-elect."

On the 14th of February the select committee reported all the testimony they had taken, and expressed their unanimous opinion that the evidence produced before them did not prove the existence of a secret organization at Washington, or elsewhere, for purposes hostile to the Government.

Thereupon Mr. Branch, of North Carolina, introduced another resolution, condemning the quartering of troops at the capital.

In the meantime, the Secretary of War, Mr. Holt, on the 18th of February, made a full report to the President, in response to Mr. Burnett's resolution of the 11th, setting forth the reasons for the assembling of the troops, and officially declaring that their presence "is the result of the conclusion arrived at by yourself and cabinet, on the proposition submitted to you by. this department." On the 20th, Mr. Holt addressed to the President the following private note:

DEAR SIR:

[MR. HOLT TO THE PRESIDENT.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, Feb. 20, 1861.

I inclose a copy of the resolution referred to in the paper which I had the honor to address to you on yesterday, and trust I shall be pardoned for saying

that I shall be very unhappy, if this defence-truthful and tempered as it is— is not permitted to reach the country. The act of assembling troops at the capital, and providing for the inauguration of your successor under the shelter of their guns, is one of the gravest and most responsible of your administration. It constitutes, indeed, an epoch in the history of our institutions, and as the circumstances surrounding you fully justify the measure, they should be frankly and fearlessly set forth to the world. For this step your administration has been, and still continues to be, mercilessly denounced, and of this denunciation, as you are aware, a large part has fallen to my share. I have been defamed in my own State, and in the towns of my nearest relatives and friends, and I confess that I have not yet attained to the Christian philosophy of bearing such things as an ox led to the slaughter, without opening my mouth. Congress is now engaged in spreading broadcast over the country, through the efforts of your enemies and mine, a report intended to show that the safety of the capital has never been menaced, and of course that all your preparations here have been prompted by cowardice, or the spirit of despotism, Now is the time to meet this calumny. A few weeks hence the memory of the measure assailed will be swallowed up by the heady current of events, and nothing will remain but the wounds to the reputation and sensibilities of your friends who gave to that measure their honest and zealous support. I do not ask you to adopt my report as your own, but to submit it simply as the views entertained by the War Department, and for which its head should alone be held responsible.

The helplessness of my position for all purposes of self-defence, without your kind coöperation, must be my apology for the solicitude expressed. Very sincerely your friend,

J. HOLT.

The President did not at once concur in Mr. Holt's views of the necessity for making public the reasons which had governed the Executive in ordering the troops to Washington. In a memorandum which now lies before me in his handwriting, he says:

After the Committee of Five had reported all the testimony which could be collected in the case, with their opinion upon the result of it, the President did not deem it necessary to answer Mr. Burnett's resolution. Understanding, however, that he and other members considered it disrespectful to the Union, not to return an answer, he [on the 2d of March] sent a message to the House, in response to the resolution."

This was in ample season to inform everybody that the troops were in Washington to secure a peaceful inauguration of his