University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER VIII.

April 7th.—Raining all day, cold and wet. I am tired
and weary of this perpetual jabber about Fort Sumter.
Men here who know nothing at all of what is passing send
letters to the New York papers, which are eagerly read by
the people in Washington as soon as the journals reach the
city, and then all these vague surmises are taken as gospel,
and argued upon as if they were facts. The "Herald" keeps
up the courage and spirit of its Southern friends by giving
the most florid accounts of their prospects, and making continual
attacks on Mr. Lincoln and his government; but the
majority of the New York papers are inclined to resist Secession
and aid the Government. I dined with Lord Lyons in
the evening, and met Mr. Sumner, Mr. Blackwell, the manager
of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, his wife, and
the members of the Legation. After dinner I visited M. de
Stoeckl, the Russian Minister, and M. Tassara, the Minister
of Spain, who had small receptions. There were few Americans
present. As a rule, the diplomatic circle, which has, by-the-by,
no particular centre, radii, or circumference, keeps its
members pretty much within itself. The great people here
are mostly the representatives of the South American powers,
who are on more intimate relations with the native families
in Washington than are the transatlantic ministers.

April 8th.—How it does rain! Last night there were
torrents of water in the streets literally a foot deep. It still
runs in muddy whirling streams through the channels, and the
rain is falling incessantly from a dull leaden sky. The air is
warm and clammy. There are all kind of rumors abroad,
and the barbers' shops shook with "shaves" this morning.
Sumter, of course, was the main topic. Some reported that
the President had promised the Southern Commissioners,

through their friend Mr. Campbell, Judge of the Supreme
Court, not to use force in respect to Pickens or Sumter. I
wrote to Mr. Seward, to ask him if he could enable me to
make any definite statement on these important matters.
The Southerners are alarmed at the accounts they have received
of great activity and preparations in the Brooklyn and
Boston navy yards, and declare that "treachery" is meant.
I find myself quite incapable of comprehending their position.
How can the United States Government be guilty of "treachery"
toward subjects of States which are preparing to assert
their independence, unless that Government has been guilty
of falsehood or admitted the justice of the decision to which
the States had arrived?

As soon as I had finished my letters, I drove over to the
Smithsonian Institute, and was most kindly received by Professor
Henry, who took me through the library and museum,
and introduced me to Professor Baird, who is great in natural
history, and more particularly in ornithology. I promised
the professors some skins of Himalayan pheasants, as an addition
to the collection. In the library we were presented to
two very fine and lively rock snakes, or pythons, I believe,
some six feet long or more, which moved about with much
grace and agility, putting out their forked tongues and hissing
sharply when seized by the hand or menaced with a stick. I
was told that some persons doubted if serpents hissed; I can
answer for it that rock snakes do most audibly. They are
not venomous, but their teeth are sharp and needle like.
The eye is bright and glistening; the red forked tongue, when
protruded, has a rapid vibratory motion, as if it were moved
by the muscles which produce the quiveiring hissing noise. I
was much interested by Professor Henry's remarks on the
large map of the continent of North America in his study:
he pointed out the climatic conditions which determined the
use, profits, and necessity of slave labor, and argued that the
vast increase of population anticipated in the valley of the
Mississippi, and the prophecies of imperial greatness attached
to it, were fallacious. He seems to be of opinion that most
of the good land of America is already cultivated, and that
the crops which it produces tend to exhaust it, so as to compel
the cultivators eventually to let it go fallow or to use manure.
The fact is, that the influence of the great mountain-chain in
the west, which intercepts all the rain on the Pacific side,
causes an immense extent of country between the eastern

slope of the chain and the Mississippi, as well as the district
west of Minnesota, to be perfectly dry and uninhabitable;
and, as far as we know, it is as worthless as a moor, except
for the pasturage of wild cattle and the like.

On returning to my hotel, I found a note from Mr. Seward,
asking me to visit him at nine o'clock. On going to his house,
I was shown to the drawing-room, and found there only the
Secretary of State, his son, and Mrs. Seward. I made a
parti carré for a friendly rubber of whist, and Mr. Seward,
who was my partner, talked as he played, so that the score of
the game was not favorable. But his talk was very interesting."
All the preparations of which you hear mean this only.
The Government, finding the property of the State and Federal
forts neglected and left without protection, are determined
to take steps to relieve them from that neglect, and to
protect them. But we are determined in doing so to make no
aggression. The President's inaugural clearly shadows out
our policy. We will not go beyond it—we have no intention
of doing so—nor will we withdraw from it." After a
time Mr. Seward put down his cards, and told his son to go
for a portfolio which he would find in a drawer of his table.
Mrs. Seward lighted the drop light of the gas, and on her
husband's return with the paper left the room. The Secretary
then lit his cigar, gave one to me, and proceeded to read
slowly and with marked emphasis, a very long, strong, and
able despatch, which he told me was to be read by Mr. Adams,
the American Minister in London, to Lord John Russell. It
struck me that the tone of the paper was hostile, that there
was an undercurrent of menace through it, and that it contained
insinuations that Great Britain would interfere to split
up the Republic, if she could, and was pleased at the prospect
of the dangers which threatened it.

At all the stronger passages Mr. Seward raised his voice,
and made a pause at their conclusion as if to challenge remark
or approval. At length I could not help saying, that the despatch
would, no doubt, have an excellent effect when it came
to light in Congress, and that the Americans would think
highly of the writer; but I ventured to express an opinion
that it would not be quite so acceptable to the Government
and people of Great Britain. This Mr. Seward, as an American
statesman, had a right to make but a secondary consideration.
By affecting to regard Secession as a mere political
heresy which can be easily confuted, and by forbidding foreign

countries alluding to it, Mr. Seward thinks he can establish
the supremacy of his own Government, and at the same time
gratify the vanity of the people. Even war with us may not
be out of the list of those means which would be available for
re-fusing the broken union into a mass once more. However,
the Secretary is quite confident in what he calls "reaction."
"When the Southern States," he says, "see that we mean
them no wrong—that we intend no violence to persons, rights,
or things—that the Federal Government seeks only to fulfil
obligations imposed on it in respect to the national property,
they will see their mistake, and one after another they will
come back into the union." Mr. Seward anticipates this process
will at once begin, and that Secession will all be done
and over in three months—at least, so he says. It was after
midnight ere our conversation was over, much of which of
course I cannot mention in these pages.

April 9th.—A storm of rain, thunder, and lightning. The
streets are converted into watercourses. From the country
we hear of bridges washed away by inundations, and roads
rendered impassable. Accounts from the South are gloomy,
but the turba Remi in Willard's are as happy as ever, at least
as noisy and as greedy of place. By-the-by, I observe that
my prize-fighting friend of the battered nose has been rewarded
for his exertions at last. He has been standing drinks
all round till he is not able to stand himself, and he has expressed
his determination never to forget all the people in the
passage. I dined at the Legation in the evening, where there
was a small party, and returned to the hotel in torrents of
rain.