commercial and navigating States to send their productions to domestic and foreign markets, and to furnish the naval power to render their transportation secure against all hostile attacks. Should the Union perish in the midst of the present excitement, we have already had a sad foretaste of the universal suffering which would result from its destruction. The calamity would be severe in every portion of the Union, and would be quite as great, to say the least, in the southern as in the northern States. The greatest aggravation of the evil, and that which would place us in the most unfavorable light both before the world and posterity is, as I am firmly convinced, that the secession movement has been chiefly based upon a misapprehension at the south of the sentiments of the majority in several of the northern States. Let the question be transferred from political assemblies to the ballot-box, and the people themselves would speedily redress the serious grievances which the south have suffered. But, in Heaven's name, let the trial be made before we plunge into armed conflict upon the mere assumption that there is no other alternative. Time is a great conservative power. Let us pause at this momentous point and afford the people, both north and south, an opportunity for reflection. Would that South Carolina had been convinced of this truth before her precipitate action! I therefore appeal through you to the people of the country to declare in their might that the Union must and shall be preserved by all constitutional means. I most earnestly recommend that you devote yourselves, exclusively, to the question how this can a be accomplished in peace. All other questions, when compared with this, sink into insignificance. The present is no time for palliations; action, prompt action, is required. A delay in Congress to prescribe or to recommend a distinct and practical proposition for conciliation may drive us to a point from which it will be almost impossible to recede. A common ground on which conciliation and harmony can be produced is surely not unattainable. The proposition to compromise by letting the north have exclusive control of the territory above a certain line, and to give southern institutions protection below that line, ought to receive universal approbation. In itself, indeed, it may not be entirely satisfactory; but when the alternative is between a reasonable concession on both sides and a destruction of the Union, it is an imputation upon the patriotism of Congress to assert that its members will hesitate for a moment. Even now the danger is upon us. In several of the States which have not yet seceded the forts, arsenals and magazines of the United States have been seized. This is by far the most serious step which has been taken since the commencement of the troubles. This public property has long been left without garrisons and troops for its protection, because no person doubted its security under the flag of the country in any State of the Union. Besides, our small army has scarcely been sufficient to guard our remote frontiers against Indian incursions. The seizure of this property, from all appearances, has been purely aggressive, and not in resistance to any attempt to coerce a State or States to remain in the Union. At the beginning of these unhappy troubles I determined that no act of mine should increase the excitement in either section of the country. If the political conflict were to end in a civil war, it was my determined purpose not to commence it, nor even to furnish an excuse for it by any act of this government. My opinion remains unchanged, that justice as well as sound policy requires us still to seek a peaceful solution of the questions at issue between the north and the south. Entertaining this conviction, I refrained even from sending re-enforcements to Major Anderson, who commanded the forts in Charleston harbor, until an absolute necessity for doing so should make itself apparent, lest it might unjustly be regarded as a menace of military coercion, and thus furnish, if not a provocation, at least a pretext for an outbreak on the part of South Carolina. No necessity for these re enforcements seemed to exist. I was assured by distinguished and upright gentlemen of South Carolina that no attack upon Major Anderson was intended, but that, on the contrary, it was the desire of the State authorities, as much as it was my own, to avoid the fatal consequences which must eventually follow a military collision. And here I deem it proper to submit, for your information, copies of a communication dated December 28, 1860, addressed to me by R. W. Barnwell, J. H. Adams, and James L. Orr, "commissioners" from South Carolina, with the accompanying documents, and copies of my answer thereto, dated December 31. In further explanation of Major Anderson's removal from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, it is proper to state that, after my answer to the South Carolina "commissioners," the War Department received a letter from that gallant officer, dated December 27, 1860, the day after this movement, from which the following is an extract. "I will add, as my opinion, that many things convinced me that the authorities of the State designed to proceed to a hostile act." Evidently referring to the orders, dated December 11, of the late Secretary of War: "Under this impression, I could not hesitate that it was my solemn duty to move my command from a fort which we could not probably have held longer than forty-eight or sixty hours to this one, where my power of resistance is increased to a very great degree. It will be recollected that the concluding part of these orders was in the following terms: "The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts; but an attack on or attempt to take possession of either one of them will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. You are also authorized to take similar defensive steps whenever you have tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act." It is said that serious apprehensions are, to some extent, entertained, in which I do not share, that the peace of this District may be disturbed before the 4th of March next. In any event, it will be my duty to preserve it, and this duty shall be performed. In conclusion, it may be permitted to me to remark that I have often warned my countrymen of the dangers which now surround us. This may be the last time I shall refer to the subject officially. I feel that my duty has been faithfully, though it may be imperfectly performed; and whatever the result may be, I shall carry to my grave the consciousness that I at least meant well for my country. WASHINGTON CITY, January 8, 1861. JAMES BUCHANAN. WASHINGTON, December 28, 1860. SIR: We have the honor to transmit to you a copy of the full powers from the convention of the people of South Carolina under which we are "authorized and empowered to treat with the government of the United States for the delivery of the forts, magazines, light-houses, and other real estate, with their appurtenances, within the limits of South Carolina; and also for an apportionment of the public debt, and a division of all other property held by the government of the United States as agent of the confederated States of which South Carolina was recently a member; and generally to negotiate as to all other measures and arrangements proper to be made and adopted in the existing relations of the parties, and for the continuance of peace and amity between this Commonwealth and the government at Washington.' In the execution of this trust it is our duty to furnish you, as we now do, with an official copy of the ordinance of secession, by which the State of South Carolina has resumed the powers she delegated to the government of the United States, and has declared her perfect sovereignty and independence. It would also have been our duty to have informed you that we were ready to negotiate with you upon all such questions as are necessarily raised by the adoption of this ordinance; and that we were prepared to enter upon this negotiation with the earnest desire to avoid all unnecessary and hostile collision, and so to inaugurate our new relations as to secure mutual respect, general advantage, and a future of good will and harmony, beneficial to all parties concerned. But the events of the last twenty-four hours render such an assurance impossible. We came here the representatives of an authority which could at any time within the past sixty days have taken possession of the forts in Charleston harbor, but which, upon pledges given in a manner that we cannot doubt, determined to trust to your honor rather than to its own power. Since our arrival an officer of the United States, acting, as we are assured, not only without but against your orders, has dismantled one fort and occupied another, thus altering to a most important extent the condition of affairs under which we came. Until those circumstances are explained in a manner which relieves us of all doubt as to the spirit in which these negotiations shall be conducted, we are forced to suspend all discussion as to any arrangements by which our mutual interests might be amicably adjusted. And, in conclusion, we would urge upon you the immediate with drawal of the troops from the harbor of Charleston. Under present circumstances they are a standing menace, which renders negotiation impossible, and, as our recent experience shows, threatens speedily to bring to a bloody issue questions which ought to be settled with temperance and judgment. We have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servants, The PRESIDENT of the United States. R. W. BARNWELL, JAMES L. ORR, Commissioners. The State of South Carolina. At a convention of the people of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia, on the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, and there by divers adjournments to the 20th of December in the same year: An ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her, under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America."-We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by us in convention on the twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly of this State ratifying amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed; and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the "United States of America," is hereby dissolved. Done at Charleston the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty. D. F. JAMISON, Attest: Delegate from Barnwell and President of the Convention, and others. BENJAMIN F. ARTHUR, Clerk of the Convention. OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE, Charleston, S. C., December 22, 1860. I do hereby certify that the foregoing ordinance is a true and correct copy, taken from the original on file in this office. . Witness my hand and the seal of the State. [L. S.] ISAAC H. MEANS, Secretary of State. The State of South Carolina, by the convention of the people of the said State. Whereas the convention of the people of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia, on the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, did, by resolution, order: "That three commissioners, to be elected by ballot of the convention, be directed forthwith to proceed to Washington, authorized and empowered to treat with the government of the United States for the delivery of the forts, magazines, light-houses, and other real estate, with their appurtenances, within the limits of South Carolina; and also for an apportionment of the public debt, and for a division of all other property held by the government of the United States, as agent of the confederated States of which South Carolina was recently a member; and generally to negotiate as to all other measures and arrangements proper to be made and adopted in the existing relation of the parties, and for the continuance of peace and amity between this Commonwealth and the government at Washing ton:" And whereas the said convention did, by ballot, elect you to the said office of commissioners to the government at Washington: Now, be it known that the said convention, by these presents, doth commission you, Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams, and James L.. Orr, as commissioners to the government at Washington, to have, to hold, and to exercise the said office, with all the powers, rights, and privileges conferred upon the same by the terms of the resolution herein cited. Given under the seal of the State, at Charleston, the twenty-second [L. S.] hundred and sixty. day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight D. F. JAMISON, President. B. F. ARTHUR, Clerk of the Committee. WASHINGTON CITY, December 31, 1860. GENTLEMEN: I have had the honor to receive your communication of the 28th instant, together with a copy of your "full powers from the convention of the people of South Carolina," authorizing you to treat with the government of the United States on various important subjects therein mentioned, and also a copy of the ordinance, bearing date on the 20th instant, declaring that "the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of 'the United States of America,' is hereby dissolved." |