Yours affectionately,
James Buchanan.
[MR. STANTON TO MR. BUCHANAN.]
Washington, May 19, 1861.
Dear Sir:—
You will see in the New York papers Judge Campbell’s report of the negotiations between himself and Mr. Seward, to which I referred in my letter of last week. They had been related to me by the Judge about the time they closed. Mr. Seward’s silence will not relieve him from the imputation of deceit and double-dealing in the minds of many, although I do not believe it can justly be imputed to him. I have no doubt he believed that Sumter would be evacuated as he stated it would be. But the war party overruled him with Lincoln, and he was forced to give up, but could not give up his office. That is a sacrifice no Republican will be apt to make. But this correspondence shows that Mr. Frederick Seward was not in the line of truth when he said that negotiations ceased on the fourth of March. The New York Evening Post is very severe on Judge Campbell, and very unjustly so, for the Judge has been as anxiously and patriotically earnest to preserve the Government as any man in the United States, and he has sacrificed more than any Southern man rather than yield to the secessionists. I regret the treatment he has received from Mr. Seward and the Post.
Nothing new has transpired here since my last letter. I am perfectly convinced that an attack will be made, and a battle fought for this city before long. With sincere regard, I remain,
Yours truly,
Edwin M. Stanton.
[MR. HOLT TO MR. BUCHANAN.]