that Sumter
would be evacuated, acting solely in the belief that his own "policy"
would be approved by the President. His argument in reply to Lincoln's
call for an opinion was positive against reinforcing Fort Sumter, and it
seemed to meet, for the moment, with the approval of the majority of his
Cabinet colleagues. Lincoln himself made no pertinent comment, yet did
not commit himself.

There the matter rested for a time, for the Confederate Commissioners,
regarding Seward's policy of delay as wholly beneficial to the maturing
of Southern plans, and Seward "as their cat's-paw[201]," did not care to
press for a decision. Moreover, Seward had given a personal pledge that
in case it were, after all, determined to reinforce Sumter, notification
of that determination would at once be given to South Carolina. The days
went by, and it was not until the last week of March that Lincoln,
disillusioned as to the feasibility of Seward's policy of conciliation,
reached the conclusion that in his conception of his duty as President
of the United States he must defend and retain Federal forts, or attempt
to retain them, for the preservation of the Union, and decided to
reinforce Fort Sumter. On March 29, the Cabinet assembled at noon and
learned Lincoln's determination.

This was a sharp blow to Seward's prestige in the Cabinet; it also
threatened his "peaceful" policy. Yet he did not as yet understand fully
that either supreme leadership, or control of policy, had been assumed
by Lincoln. On April 1 he drafted that astonishing document entitled,
"Some Thoughts for the President's Consideration," which at once reveals
his alarm and his supreme personal self-confidence. This document
begins, "We are at the end of a month's administration, and yet without
a policy either domestic or foreign." It then advocates as a domestic
policy, "_Change The Question Before The Public From One Upon Slavery,
Or About Slavery_, for a question upon _Union or Disunion_." Then in a
second section, headed "For Foreign Nations," there followed:

"I would demand explanations from Spain and France,
categorically, at once.

"I would seek explanations from Great Britain and Russia, and
send agents into Canada, Mexico and Central America to rouse
a vigorous continental spirit of independence on this
continent against European intervention.

"And, if satisfactory explanations are not received from
Spain and France.