The fury and the fear offended Lincoln in equal measure.After long years opposing the political temper of the extremists,he was not the man now to change front.To one who believed himself marked out for a tragic end,the cowardice at the heart of the pacifism of his time was revolting.It was fortunate for his own peace of mind that he could here count on the Secretary of State.No argument based on fear of pain would meet in Seward with anything but derision."They tell us,"he had once said,and the words expressed his constant attitude,"that we are to encounter opposition.Why,bless my soul,did anybody ever expect to reach a fortune,or fame,or happiness on earth or a crown in heaven,without encountering resistance and opposition?What are we made men for but to encounter and overcome opposition arrayed against us in the line of our duty?"[3]
But if the ferocity and the cowardice were offensive and disheartening,there was something else that was beneath contempt.Never was self-interest more shockingly displayed.
It was revealed in many ways,but impinged upon the new President in only one.A horde of office-seekers besieged him in the White House.The parallel to this amazing picture can hardly be found in history.It was taken for granted that the new party would make a clean sweep of the whole civil list,that every government employee down to the humblest messenger boy too young to have political ideas was to bear the label of the victorious party.Every Congressman who had made promises to his constituents,every politician of every grade who thought he had the party in his debt,every adventurer who on any pretext could make a showing of party service rendered,poured into Washington.It was a motley horde.
"Hark,hark,the dogs do bark,The beggars are coming to town."They converted the White House into a leaguer.They swarmed into the corridors and even the private passages.So dense was the swarm that it was difficult to make one's way either in or out.Lincoln described himself by the image of a man renting rooms at one end of his house while the other end was on fire.[4]
And all this while the existence of the Republic was at stake!
It did not occur to him that it was safe to defy the horde,to send it about its business.Here again,the figure of Seward stood out in brilliant light against the somber background.
One of Seward's faculties was his power to form devoted lieutenants.He had that sure and nimble judgment which enables some men to inspire their lieutenants rather than categorically to instruct them.All the sordid side of his political games he managed in this way.He did not appear himself as the bargainer.In the shameful eagerness of most of the politicians to find offices for their retainers,Seward was conspicuous by contrast.Even the Cabinet was not free from this vice of catering to the thirsty horde.[5]Alone,at this juncture,Seward detached himself from the petty affairs of the hour and gave his whole attention to statecraft.
He had a definite policy.Another point of contact with Lincoln was the attitude of both toward the Union,supplemented as it was by their views of the place of slavery in the problem they confronted.Both were nationalists ready to make any sacrifices for the national idea.Both regarded slavery as an issue of second importance.Both were prepared for great concessions if convinced that,ultimately,their concessions would strengthen the trend of American life toward a general exaltation of nationality.
On the other hand,their differences--
Seward approached the problem in the same temper,with the same assumptions,that were his in the previous December.He still believed that his main purpose was to enable a group of politicians to save their faces by effecting a strategic retreat.Imputing to the Southern leaders an attitude of pure self-interest,he believed that if allowed to play the game as they desired,they would mark time until circumstances revealed to them whether there was more profit for them in the Union or out;he also believed that if sufficient time could be given,and if no armed clash took place,it would be demonstrated first,that they did not have so strong a hold on the South as they had thought they had;and second,that on the whole,it was to their interests to patch up the quarrel and come back into the Union.But he also saw that they had a serious problem of leadership,which,if rudely handled,might make it impossible for them to stand still.They had inflamed the sentiment of state-patriotism.In South Carolina,particularly,the popular demand was for independence.With this went the demand that Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor,garrisoned by Federal troops,should be surrendered,or if not surrendered,taken forcibly from the United States.A few cannon shots at Sumter would mean war.An article in Seward's creed of statecraft asserted that the populace will always go wild over a war.To prevent a war fever in the North was the first condition of his policy at home.Therefore,in order to prevent it,the first step in saving his enemies'faces was to safeguard them against the same danger in their own calm.He must help them to prevent a war fever in the South.He saw but one way to do this.The conclusion which became the bed rock of his policy was inevitable.Sumter must be evacuated.
