I can not admit the justice of any
such inference.
At this point of writing I have received information, by telegram, from
Captain Humphreys, in command of the arsenal at Charleston, that "it has
to-day (Sunday, the 30th) been taken by force of arms." It is estimated
that the munitions of war belonging to the United States in this arsenal
are worth half a million of dollars.
Comment is needless. After this information, I have only to add that,
while it is my duty to defend Fort Sumter, as a portion of the public
property of the United States, against hostile attacks from whatever
quarter they may come, by such means as I may possess for this purpose,
I do not perceive how such a defense can be construed into a menace
against the city of Charleston.
With great personal regard, I remain
Yours, very respectfully,
JAMES BUCHANAN.
To Honorable Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams, James L. Orr.
_Reply of the Commissioners to the President_.
Washington, D.C., _January_ 1, 1861.
Sir: We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
30th December, in reply to a note addressed by us to you on the 28th of
the same month, as commissioners from South Carolina.
In reference to the declaration with which your reply commences, that
"your position as President of the United States was clearly defined in
the message to Congress of the 3d instant," that you possess "no power
to change the relations heretofore existing between South Carolina and
the United States, much less to acknowledge the independence of that
State"; and that, consequently, you could meet us only as private
gentlemen of the highest character, with an entire willingness to
communicate to Congress any proposition we might have to make, we deem
it only necessary to say that, the State of South Carolina having, in
the exercise of that great right of self-government which underlies all
our political organizations, declared herself sovereign and independent,
we, as her representatives, felt no special solicitude as to the
character in which you might recognize us.
Pages:
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953