 It is difficult, however, to reconcile with this assurance the declaration on your part that "it is a consideration of her [South Carolina's] Page 000 own dignity as a sovereign, and the safety of her people, which prompts her to demand that this property should not longer be used as a military post by a Government she no longer acknowledges," and the thought you so constantly present, that this occupation must lead to a collision of arms, and the prevalence of civil war. 