It seemed not very
indistinctly prefigured in a Proclamation made upon the floor of
the Senate, without qualification, if not exultingly, that the
Union was already dissolved--a Proclamation which, however
intended, was certainly calculated to invite, on the part of men of
desperate fortunes or of Revolutionary States, a raid upon the
Capital. In view of the violence and turbulent disorders already
exhibited in the South, the public mind could not reject such a
scheme as at all improbable. That a belief in its existence was
entertained by multitudes, there can be no doubt, and this belief I
fully shared. My conviction rested not only on the facts already
alluded to, but upon information, some of which was of a most
conclusive character, that reached the Government from many parts
of the Country, not merely expressing the prevalence of the opinion
that such an organization had been formed, but also often
furnishing the plausible grounds on which the opinion was based.
Superadded to these proofs, were the oft-repeated declarations of
men in high political positions here, and who were known to have
intimate affiliations with the Revolution--if indeed they did not
hold its reins in their hands--to the effect that Mr. Lincoln would
not, or should not be inaugurated at Washington. Such
declarations, from such men, could not be treated as empty bluster.
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