He wisely saw that if he failed to do this he would be receding from the temperate and conservative position taken in the Inaugural, and that it would give to the Confederates a degree of courage, and to the North a degree of despondency, which would vastly increase the difficulty of restoring the Union.

In Mr.
Lincoln's own language: "the abandonment of Sumter would be utterly ruinous, under the circumstances.".

.

.

"At home it would discourage the friends of the Union, embolden its adversaries, and go far to insure to the latter a recognition abroad.