it was not taken till after
Senators and Congressmen had made clear to him that Northern opinion
would support him. It was the right decision, for it conspicuously
avoided the appearance of provocation, while it upheld the right of the
Union; but it was taken perilously late, and the delay exposed the
Government to the risk of a great humiliation.

An Alabama gentleman had urged Jefferson Davis that the impending
struggle must not be delayed. "Unless," he said, "you sprinkle blood in
the face of the people of Alabama, they will be back in the old Union in
ten days." There is every reason to suppose that the gentleman's
statement as to the probable collapse of the South was mere rhetoric, but
it seems that his advice led to orders being sent to Beauregard to reduce
Fort Sumter. Beauregard sent a summons to Anderson; Anderson, now all
but starved out, replied that unless he received supplies or instructions
he would surrender on April 15. Whether by Beauregard's orders or
through some misunderstanding, the Confederate batteries opened fire on
Fort Sumter on April 12. Fort Sumter became untenable on the next day,
when the relief ships, which Anderson had been led to expect sooner, but
which could in no case really have helped him, were just appearing in the
offing. Anderson very properly capitulated. On Sunday, April 14, 1861,
he marched out with the honours of war. The Union flag had been fired
upon in earnest by the Confederates, and, leaving Virginia and the States
that went with it to join the Confederacy if they chose, the North sprang
to arms.

In the events which had led up to the outbreak of war Abraham Lincoln had
played a part more admirable and more decisive in its effect than his
countrymen could have noted at the time or perhaps have appreciated
since. He was confronted now with duties requiring mental gifts of a
different kind from those which he had hitherto displayed, and with
temptations to which he had not yet been exposed. In a general sense the
greatness of mind and heart which he unfolded under fierce trial does not
need to be demonstrated to-day. Yet in detail hardly an action of his
Presidency is exempt from controversy; nor is his many-sided character
one of those which men readily flatter themselves that they understand.
There are always, moreover, those to whom it is a marvel how any great
man came by his name. The particular tribute, which in the pages that
follow it is desired to p