Henry Wilson records in his _Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in
America_:
"There was no state concerning whose course there was greater doubt or
more anxious solicitude than Virginia. Her size, position, traditional
influence and past leadership, with the knowledge that in whichever
side of the scale her great weight should be thrown, the fortunes of
the threatened conflict would be seriously affected thereby,
intensified the anxiety felt."[377]
Commissioners from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana appeared before
the Convention on different occasions, and with impassioned eloquence,
appealed to Virginia to stand with her sisters of the South.
Mr. Lincoln's efforts were directed through prominent Union members of
the Convention. His great object was to secure an adjournment _sine die_
of that body, without the adoption of an ordinance of secession, and
without the assurance on his part that no attempt would be made to
coerce the Cotton States. John B. Baldwin, a leading Union man in the
Convention, was one of its members brought into conference with Mr.
Lincoln. On the 6th of April, 1861, Mr. Baldwin went to the White House,
where, in response to the President's inquiries, he presented the
attitude of the dominant element of the Virginia Convention, and heard
the President's appeals and reasonings why that body should immediately
adjourn. Mr. Baldwin urged upon Mr. Lincoln the wisdom and necessity of
proclaiming to the world that the Federal Government had no intention of
coercing the Cotton States: "Only give this assurance," said Mr.
Baldwin, "to the country in a proclamation of five lines, and we pledge
ourselves that Virginia will stand by you as though you were our own
Washington."[378]
How pivotal was the position of the Federal Government with reference to
coercion as determining Virginia's action may be gathered not only from
the speeches of the members of her Convention, but from other utterances
made at the time by her leading men.
Matthew F. Maury, under date of March 4th, 1861, wrote: "Virginia is not
at all ready to go out of this Union; and she is not going out for
anything that is likely to occur, short of coercion—such is my
opinion."[379]
George W. Summers, under date of March 19th, 1861, wrote from Richmond:
"The removal from Fort Sumter (alluding to the report that it would be
evacuated) acted like a charm—it gave us great strength. A reaction
is going on in this state. The outside pressure here has greatly
subsided. We are masters of our position here, and can maintain it, if
left alone."
The same day he wrote: "What delays the removal of Major Anderson (the
officer in charge of Fort Sumter)? Is there any truth in the suggestion
that the thing is not to be done after all? This would ruin us."[380]