His chief thought seemed to be to
avert bloodshed during his administration. Next, he thought he had
been wronged by both sections. Said he:
"When I rebuked the North for their personal-liberty bills, the South
applauded; but when I condemned the secession movement, then they
turned against me."
He referred to the _Charleston Mercury_ as having been very unjust, and
then putting his feet together, and with his head on one shoulder, he
said:
"I am like a man on a narrow isthmus, without a friend on either side."
Within a few days of this interview, we called upon General Cass, who
was then living in a house that is now annexed to the Arlington Hotel.
He had retired from the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan, and he had regained
something of his standing in the North, but he had been so long the
advocate of compromises and the servant of the slave power, that he was
unable to place himself in line with the movement that was destined to
destroy slavery. The slave power had more vitality than slavery
itself; and after a third of a century its poison still disturbs the
politics of the country. The call was made in the forenoon. General
Cass sat at a small, plain table, engaged in writing. He was in a
large room, from which the furniture, including the carpets, had been
removed. He said that he had been kept in Washington by the illness of
his daughter, and that upon her improvement he should leave for
Michigan.
Pages:
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381