The Judge, notwithstanding all this, is perfectly true to our administration. He talks very openly and without disguise against the present administration, and, before our last gubernatorial election, made a speech of greater severity and power against Lincoln (and published it) than any delivered throughout the campaign. Judge Black and his family visit me occasionally, and he is just as agreeable as ever. His practice in the Supreme Court has been very lucrative, and he is now becoming a rich man.
Miss Lane unites with me in cordial regards to Mrs. Toucey, and expresses an ardent hope that you may both pay us a visit.
From your friend, always,
James Buchanan.
[MR. TOUCEY TO MR. BUCHANAN.]
Hartford, May 25, 1864.
My Dear Sir:
I was very happy to receive your letter of the 13th inst. It gave me information which I had long been wishing to obtain. Let me rejoice with you that you have regained your accustomed power of locomotion without the discomfort of bodily pain. I think the time has come when the history of the last four months of your eventful administration may be given to the public, with good results. Mrs. Toucey’s health is so delicate and precarious, that I fear we shall not be able to accept your kind invitation, for which we are very grateful to you and to Miss Lane. Still, I trust that we shall meet again and enjoy the opportunity of conferring together upon the events of the last seven years, so interesting to us all. It will be my greatest pleasure to contribute anything in my power to the history you have in hand, although I think you need no aid from any quarter; and as to giving “the last finishing touches,” that is what you have always been accustomed to do yourself; and while I appreciate your kindness, it would be absurd for me to think of aiding Praxiteles to give the finishing polish to his work. I send you herewith a printed copy of my testimony before the Senate Committee, which embraces all the facts with regard to Norfolk, Pensacola, and, incidentally, the Home squadron. The testimony was divided into two parts by the committee for their convenience. The note appended to it is strictly correct, and in three lines answers the grossly false accusation that the navy was sent abroad in the interest of secession. The truth is, the squadrons at the different foreign stations were all of them very small, had not been augmented in proportion to the increase of our commerce, and none of them could be diminished without sacrificing its safety and the interests and safety of those engaged in it. It is not, I suppose, now treason to say “Blessed are the peacemakers.” It was the cardinal point of your policy to preserve the peace of the country, and thereby most surely preserve the union of these States on the existing basis of the Constitution; and it would have been a most startling departure from that policy to have recalled our foreign squadrons, and thus, with lunatic rashness, defeat it at the outset, and precipitate at once the wretched consequences which have since followed its abandonment, to the utter ruin of the country. I thank God that we can wash our hands of any such criminality. There is one fact which has never transpired—which at the time was shrouded in the greatest secrecy—which was not communicated to any of my colleagues in the cabinet—which rested with the late gallant Commander Ward, a friend of mine from his youth, who fell on the Potomac in the early stage of the war. He was stationed at New York in command of the receiving ship. It was arranged with him that, on receiving a telegraphic despatch from me, he should, in the course of the following night, set sail from New York with a force of small vessels, and relieve the garrison of Fort Sumter, entering the harbor in the night and anchoring, if possible, under the guns of the fort. He sought the desperate enterprise with the greatest enthusiasm, and was willing to sacrifice his life, saying that the sacrifice would be the best inheritance he could leave to his wife and children. He left Washington, after repeated interviews with me, with instructions to select his officers, select and prepare his men on board of the receiving ship, and make every preparation which he could make without exciting suspicion, so that he could set sail in a few hours, whenever the emergency should arise. In regard to the wish of General Cass to withdraw his resignation, I knew nothing personally, but remember well that the subject was brought up in cabinet meeting; that Judge Black and Mr. Thompson seemed to know all about it, as if they were privy to it; and that after some discussion you deemed it inadmissible. The times are sadly out of joint. I had not supposed it possible that any administration could, in the short space of three years, do the work of destruction so effectually. Still I trust that, in the boundless stores of Infinite mercy, there may yet be some deliverance for the country.
Mrs. Toucey unites with me in the kindest regards to yourself and Miss Lane. I am, my dear Sir, with the highest consideration and regard, always
Your friend,