slave States, and he had not hesitated to say so. Indeed, when he was nominated, or chosen, for the Republican candidate for President, that opinion was one of the planks of the "platform," as politicians say, upon which he stood. South Carolina received the news of the election on the 7th of November. Instead of mourning over the defeat of her own candidate, she broke forth into shouts of rejoicing; for it gave her an excuse to do what she had long desired. Like a naughty child, that "won't play " unless it can always have its own way, she took immediate steps to secede from the Union, and thus to become an independent State, flatly refusing to accept the decision of the polls. Charleston nstantly presented a scene of the wildest excitement. Bells were rung; speeches were made; and bonfires glowed: even women paraded the streets, wearing secession colors and badges. Urged on by the governor, himself a hearty secessionist, preparations were set on foot to withdraw without delay. A State Convention was called, to meet at Columbia, the capital, on the 17th of December, but, owing to a prevailing sickness there, it was changed to Charleston. Here was pissed, in secret session, a formal Order of Secession. When it was afterward made known to the people, it was welcomed with every sign of joy. One who was present at that convention said, "This is a matter which has been gathering head for thirty years." And, as if it were not bad enough for South Carolina to behave in this manner, she sent urgent invitations to all her Southern sisters to join her. Somebody has aptly put in rhyme the feeling of the North at this time in regard to its wayward sister: "O Carolina! sister, pray come back; Scorn not our flag, nor nightly talk of wars, Lest Uncle Sam, once fairly on your track, Should make you feel the stripes, and see the stars." The new year was only a month old when six other States had followed her bad example. Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas had also declared themselves free from the laws and government of the United States. Delegates were chosen from all these States to hold another convention in Montgomery, Ala., where, upon the 8th of February, 1861, a new government was formed, much after the pattern of the old one, but which protected the growth of slavery, and which was named "The Confederate States of America." The word confederate means banded together. The next day Jefferson Davis was made President of this new Republic, and Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President. We must, however, do Mr. Stephens the justice to say that he strongly opposed secession at first; but when Georgia, his own beloved State of Georgia, withdrew from the Union, he could no longer hold out. And when the time came, he readily took the oath of his new office. Mr. Davis, in the first speech which he made after his election, urged the South to get ready for war, whether it should be necessary or not. At this time a "Peace Conference" was held in Washington, in the hope of settling the difficulty in some way. Indeed, Congress had done very little all winter beside trying to patch up the quarrel between the North and the South, and yet had accomplished nothing. James Buchanan was President of the United States when these things occurred. Although he did not check the discontented sisters, he was not by any means a traitor. He was loyal to his country; but naturally a timid man, and afraid of offending both North and South, he trusted too much to the advice and opinions of those around him. We call the chief advisers of the President his Cabinet, and each of the men of whom it is made up has a special kind of |