I beg you to present my compliments to Miss Lane. There are many stories afloat among the ladies in the city that would amuse her, but as they are no doubt told her by lady correspondents, it is needless for me to repeat them. I hope you may continue in the enjoyment of good health, and remain with sincere regard,
Yours truly,
Edwin M. Stanton.
[TO J. BUCHANAN HENRY.]
(Confidential.)
Wheatland, Lancaster,
Friday, May 17, 1861.
}
My Dear James:—
I have been quite unwell for the last fortnight, during the last week I have been in bed; still, thank God, I believe I am now convalescent, though, as yet I am exceedingly weak. I should be glad to see you here on private and public business, but not if your absence should operate seriously to your prejudice. We should also be happy to see Mr. Schell here. The termination of the late administration ought not to break up the bonds of mutual friendship which it produced. There is no part of my administration which was considered with greater care and pursued with more firmness than that between the 6th November, the day of Mr. Lincoln’s election, and the 4th of March last. Although nearly all upon record, the public seem to have forgotten it. It has become necessary now to revive the public memory, and I know of no journal in the country so proper to do this as the Journal of Commerce. Mr. Hallock, of that valuable paper (I believe I am correct in spelling the name), has always been a friend. I would thank you to call upon him, present him my kind and grateful regards, and say that with his permission I will send him some documents. There never was a moment of time when my administration were not ready and willing to reinforce, or attempt to reinforce, and supply Fort Sumter, if Major Anderson had called for such reinforcement or supply. On the 6th of November, when Lincoln was elected, the whole force at my command was just five companies, and neither of them full. They did not exceed in the whole three hundred men. The ——, however, from a spirit of malignity, and supposing that the world may have forgotten the circumstance, takes every occasion to blame me for my supineness; it will soon arrive at the point of denouncing me for not crushing out the rebellion at once, and thus try to make me the author of the war...... No extent of abuse, general or particular abuse, that —— could pour out upon me would induce me to prosecute him; but this is an attempt to bring not only my character, but my life into danger by malignant falsehood. It would be one of those great national prosecutions, such as have occurred in this and other countries, necessary to vindicate the character of the Government.
I want you to bring on with you Wheaton’s Elements of International Law—the seventh edition, and no other. I see it is published for sale in Boston at $6, and presume it can be had in New York. If the Journal of Commerce publishes a tri-weekly paper, please to have it sent on to me immediately. You might, confidentially and quietly, consult with —— whom it is best to employ to conduct this business in its preliminary stages.[[174]]