The Fall of the Confederacy. 545 
ruined. Could this drivelling policy save the Union? Cer- 
tainly not, but it was the best policy for the moment. 
The situation was unprecedented. A_ revolutionary 
movement was formally accomplished. The agents of the 
revolutionary government were in the Federal Capital. 
They were not only tolerated, but received with honour. 
Mr. Lincoln dared not threaten to punish secession, but on 
the contrary, he treated it with the utmost gentleness. He 
would only perform on the South the offices expressly 
enjoined in the constitution, and would allow some of 
these to be in abeyance, rather than provoke a conflict. 
The Abolitionists were advocating secession rather than 
the retention of the South with the constitution of negro 
slavery intact. The mercantile community was averse to- 
war. The anti-war party in the North was an over- 
whelming majority. The Confederate Administration had 
nothing to do but wait. Every day the pro-secession 
party in the North grew stronger. A little more delay and 
suspense and the fate of the Union would have been sealed. 
But those who desired its dismemberment rescued it from 
the imminent peril. At the critical moment the South drew 
the sword, and the Union was saved—saved at least from 
the danger of dissolution without a struggle. The booming 
of the Confederate cannon against Fort Sumter, was the 
knell of the Confederacy. We do not mean to assert that 
the contest was hopeless. The revolution was untimely ; 
yet as we have just seen, it had a chance of success, and 
would have succeeded if the war had not been precipitate. 
So, too, although the war was precipitate, there might have 
been a prospect of ultimate triumph. But however this 
may be, it is certain that by rashly beginning or accepting 
war, the Confederate Administration gave up an impreg- 
nable and winning position, and staked everything upon 
the necessarily doubtful issue of an appeal to force. 
The south fired the first gun in anger, and all was 
changed. Norcan we be surprised at the effect of this 
proceeding on the North. When Fort Sumter fell, Mr. 
Lincoln ceased to be the representative of a party, and 
became the chief of a nation. The voice of Faction was 
hushed, and the spirit of Party was quelled: The Abo- 
litionists, who had been disposed to lose the South, rather 
than retain the South with negro slavery, saw an oppor- 
tunity of preserving the Union they loved, whilst destroying 
the institution they hated. Those who had been apathetic 
in respect to secession, because they regarded it as a 
