This unarmed vessel is a mere decoy to draw the first fire from the people of the South — the pretext for letting loose the horrors of war. It dare not itself fire the first shot, and now seeks by a mean artifice to transfer the odium of doing so to the Southern Confederacy.
Original passage & context
"This unarmed vessel, it is well understood, is a mere decoy to draw the first fire from the people of the South, which act by the pre-determination of the government is to be the pretext for letting loose the horrors of war. It dare not itself fire the first shot or draw the first blood, and is now seeking by a mean artifice to transfer the odium of doing so to the Southern Confederacy."
Printed the morning the bombardment began, though written before the news arrived. It reads Lincoln's provisions-only expedition exactly as se-046 does — as a maneuver to fix the blame for the first shot — and draws the opposite conclusion. One contiguous passage, no splice.
Read it in the original — Jersey City American Standard, Apr 12, 1861 ↗