persons in all positions and callings, from the highest in social life
to the humblest resident, were not backward in asserting their
allegiance and giving proof of it by entering the ranks. By marching
and maneuvering the men on the streets frequently they made the
impression that a greater force was present than really was.

Many efforts were made to induce General Scott to resign, but he never
once wavered in his devotion to the Union. On one occasion Judge
Robertson, a small, thin, but venerable-looking man, who had filled
the office of chancellor in Virginia and was a man of high character
and standing, came to Washington with two other Virginia gentlemen to
offer Scott the command of the Army of Virginia if he would abandon
the United States service and go with his State. The general listened
in silence as Robertson feelingly recalled the days when they were
schoolboys together, and then spoke of the warm attachment
Virginians always cherished for their State, and of their boasted
allegiance to it above all other political ties. But when he began to
unfold his offer of a commission, General Scott stopped him,
exclaiming: "Friend Robertson, go no further. It is best that we part
here before you compel me to resent a mortal insult!" It is needless
to say that this ended the interview, and Judge Robertson and his
companions departed, looking and doubtless feeling very much
discomfited. No man stood higher in the esteem of the people of
Virginia than Judge Robertson, and it is not probable that he and his
friends would have taken it upon themselves to make the offer they did
upon a contingency. If, however, they had any authority to act on the
part of the Commonwealth of Virginia, no act of the Convention to that
effect can be discovered.

Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, a Senator from Illinois and one of the
unsuccessful candidates for the presidency in 1860, made a speech in
Ohio early in 1861, in which, in alluding to a question that had been
asked, or rather suggested, as to General Scott's loyalty to the
Government, said: "Why, it is almost profanity to ask such a question.
I saw him only last Saturday. He was at his desk, pen in hand,
writing his orders for the defense and safety of the American
capital."

On April 30, 1861, Alexander Henry, Horace Binney, William M.
Meredith, a former Secretary of the Treasury, and others of
Philadelphia, addressed a letter to General Scott, in which they said:
"At a time like th