vessel should
likewise be ordered there, to aid, if necessary, in the defense,
and also, should it be required, in the collection of the
revenue; and it is yet my opinion that these measures should be
adopted without the least delay. I have likewise urged the
expediency of immediately removing the custom-house at Charleston
to one of the forts in the port, and of making arrangements for
the collection of the duties there, by having a collector and
other officers ready to act when necessary, so that when the
office may become vacant the proper authority may be there to
collect the duties on the part of the United States. I continue
to think that these arrangements should be immediately made.
While the right and the responsibility of deciding belong to you,
it is very desirable that at this perilous juncture there should
be, as far as possible, unanimity in your councils, with a view
to safe and efficient action.

To this statement the President replied:

[Sidenote] Buchanan to Cass, Dec. 15, 1860. Curtis, "Life of Buchanan,"
Vol. II, p. 398.

The question on which we unfortunately differ is that of ordering
a detachment of the army and navy to Charleston, and is correctly
stated in your letter of resignation. I do not intend to argue
this question. Suffice it to say that your remarks upon the
subject were heard by myself and the Cabinet, with all the
respect due to your high position, your long experience, and your
unblemished character; but they failed to convince us of the
necessity and propriety, under existing circumstances, of
adopting such a measure. The Secretaries of War and of the Navy,
through, whom the orders must have issued to reenforce the forts,
did not concur in your views; and whilst the whole responsibility
for the refusal rested upon myself, they were the members of the
Cabinet more directly interested. You may have judged correctly
on this important question, and your opinion is entitled to grave
consideration; but under my convictions of duty, and believing as
I do that no present necessity exists for a resort to force for
the protection of the public property, it was impossible for me
to have risked a collision of arms in the harbor of Charleston,
and thereby defeated the reasonable hope which I cherish of the
final triumph, of the Constitution and of th