James Buchanan actually said...

"My prayer to God is that He would preserve the Constitution and the Union throughout all generations."

"The day of evil may never come unless we shall rashly bring it upon ourselves."

"In the meantime, who can foretell what would be the sufferings and privations of the people during its existence?"

"The immediate peril arises not so much from these causes as from the fact that the incessant and violent agitation of the slavery question throughout the North for the last quarter of a century has at..."