o his
own business. "To this," commented his enemy, "I cordially assented."

Nevertheless Seward's loss of faith in himself was only momentary. A
night's sleep was sufficient to restore it. His next communication to
the commissioners shows that he was himself again, sure that destiny
owed him the control of the situation. On the following day the
commissioners had got wind of the relief expedition and pressed him for
information, recalling his assurance that nothing would be done to their
disadvantage. In reply, still through a third person, Seward sent them
the famous message, over the precise meaning of which great debate has
raged: "Faith as to Sumter fully kept; wait and see." If this infatuated
dreamer still believed he could dominate Lincoln, still hoped at the
last moment to arrest the expedition to Charleston, he was doomed to
bitterest disappointment.

On the 9th of April, the expedition to Fort Sumter sailed, but without,
as we have seen, the assistance of the much needed warship, the
Powhatan. As all the world knows, the expedition had been too long
delayed and it accomplished nothing. Before it arrived, the surrender
of Sumter had been demanded and refused--and war had begun. During the
bombardment of Sumter, the relief expedition appeared beyond the bar,
but its commander had no vessels of such a character as to enable him
to carry aid to the fortress. Furthermore, he had not been informed that
the Powhatan had been detached from his squadron, and he expected to
meet her at the mouth of the harbor. There his ships lay idle until the
fort was surrendered, waiting for the Powhatan--for whose detachment
from the squadron Seward was responsible.

To return to the world of intrigue at Washington, however, it must not
be supposed, as is so often done, that Fort Sumter was the one concern
of the new government during its first six weeks. In fact, the subject
occupied but a fraction of Lincoln's time. Scarcely second in importance
was that matter so curiously bound up with the relief of the forts--the
getting in hand of the strangely vain glorious Secretary of State.
Mention has already been made of All-Fools' Day, 1861. Several marvelous
things took place on that day. Strangest of all was the presentation of
a paper by the Secretary of State to his chief, entitled "Thoughts for
the President's Consideration". Whether it be regarded as a state paper
or as a biographical detail in the career of Seward, it proves t