one side are counterbalanced by exceptional advantages on the other. We must make up our minds that man for man the soldier from the South will be a match for the soldier from the North and vice versa." (") They are the words of one calmly looking into the future. They are alone. No Through the day men have been coming and going. As the shadows of evening fall, Stephen A. Douglas enters the White House. He ascends the stairs and meets the President. Their hands clasp in cordial greeting. The door closes upon them. ears other than their own hear the words spoken during the two hours' interview. A quarter of a century has passed since they first met in the corridor of the State-house in Vandalia (see p. 82). During thisperiod they have been opposed politically, but on this night Douglas is ready to stand by Mr. Lincoln to secure the enforcement of the laws. Millions of people are reading the proc lamation of the President-in the Southern States with shouts of laughter, in the Northern with an outburst of gratitude. Monday, April 16, Never has the world beheld such a 1861. spectacle. Political parties disappear in a twinkling. For the moment there is no Republican, no Democratic Party; only one: that for the preservation of the Union, and the avenging of the insult to the flag. One State is ready to respond instantly to the call for troops-Massachusetts. In 1860 Nathaniel P. Banks, Governor, saw the coming of the crisis. In September he marshalled the troops of the State, 13,000 men, upon the field where the first battle of the Revolution began. His successor, Governor John A. Andrew, has in like manner looked into the future, and seen the necessity of being ready to respond to any call which the President might make upon the State. JOHN A. ANDREW. One of the delegates from Massachusetts to the Democratic Convention which assembled at Charleston was Benjamin F. Butler, who voted for Breckinridge during all the ballotings. In December, after the election of President Lincoln, Butler visited Washington and talked with the Secessionists. "Your men of the North will not fight," said a gentleman from Mississippi. "Yes, they will.” "Who in the North will fight if we secede from the Union?" "I will." "Oh, there will be plenty of men in the South to take care of you." "When we march to the defence of the Union we will hang on the trees every man who undertakes to destroy it," said Butler. He informed Governor Andrew in regard to the plans of the Secessionists. Measures were at once taken for the complete equipment of the militia. "If you have troops ready, send them." So read the telegram from Senator Wilson to the Governor of Massachusetts. Though not an order from the War Department, Governor Andrew, comprehending its significance, issued orders for the immediate departure of the Sixth and Eighth Regiments. (See " Drumbeat of the Nation.") 66 On the anniversary of the battle of Lexington the Sixth Regiment was in Baltimore, fighting its way through the streets of that April 19. city, manifesting its forbearance, discipline, steadiness, and power. This regiment reached Washington to aid in holding the Capitol. Never in the history of any nation has there been such a succession of great events as during these April days. Never has there been another such uprising of the people. The Union is dissolved, but there shall be one country, one destiny, for all the people. Cost what it may of blood, treasure, sacrifice, suffering, the Government of the people shall not perish. In every city and town the drum - beat breaks the still Bankers hear it, and hasten to tender their money to the Governors of the several States. Ministers of the gospel hear it, and from this hour through the coming four years they will preach the gospel of patriotism. Benjamin F. Butler, of Lowell, Mass., hears it. He is a general, commanding a brigade of Massachusetts militia. For four years the spiders will spin their webs undisturbed on his lawbooks. Ulysses S. Grant, educated at West Point, citizen of Galena, Ill. so obscure that few of his fellow-citizens are aware that such a person walks their streets-hears it, and consents to preside at a public meeting, little comprehending the work which Providence has planned for him. Stephen A. Douglas hears it, and makes his way from Washington westward to arouse his fellow-citizens. "It is not a question of union or disunion. It is one of order; of the stability of Government; of the peace of communities. The whole social system is threatened. with destruction and with disruption," the words of Mr. Douglas. April 17. Robert E. Lee, held in high esteem by General Scott, was in Washington. Two members of the Cabinet conferred with him, unofficially tendering him from President Lincoln command of the army. "I look," said he, "upon secession as anarchy. If I owned four million slaves I would sacrifice them all for the Union, but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native State?" His beautiful home at Arlington overlooked a lovely landscape: the gleaming Potomac, green fields, the City of Washington, the stately He was patrician by birth and education, and cast his lot with the slave power. Capitol. The Secessionists burned the bridges on the railroads leading north from Baltimore, that no more troops might reach Washington. They were doing their utmost to bring about the secession of Maryland. Clerks in the departments at Washington appointed from the Southern States were hastening from the city. Citizens, under the command of Major David Hunter, were guarding the White House and Treasury. In the executive mansion, through the weary hours, President Lincoln calmly performed his arduous duties. It was a joyful hour in Washington when the Massachusetts Eighth Regiment and the New York Seventh reached that city. Their presence guaranteed the safety of the Capitol. In Illinois, troops from April 25. Chicago took possession of Cairo. The occupation of that point greatly offended John M. Johnson, of Paducah, Ky. He had been elected to the Senate of that State, and deemed it his duty to send a solemn protest to the President. "If I had suspected," wrote Mr. Lincoln in reply, "that Cairo, in Illinois, was in Dr. Johnson's Kentucky Senatorial district, I would have thought twice before sending troops to Cairo.” (“) By the prompt arrival of troops in Washington, and the occupation of Cairo, the plans of the Secessionists were overthrown. NOTES TO CHAPTER XIII. (') L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of President Lincoln," p. 66. (2) Ibid., p. 72. (3) William Cabell Rives was born in Nelson County, Va., 1793. He was educated at Hampden, Siduey, and William and Mary Colleges. Studied law under Jefferson. He was member of Congress, 1823-29. Minister to France, 1829-32. United States Senator, 1832-45. Again he was Minister to France from 1849-53. After the secession of Virginia he became a member of the Confederate Congress.—Author. (*) James A. Seddon was born at Falmouth, Va., 1815. He studied law at the University of Virginia. He began practice in Richmond. He was member of Congress from 1845 to 1849; Mr. Lincoln was a member during his second term. The Governor of Virginia appointed him member of the Peace Conference. Upon the secession of the State he was appointed by Jefferson Davis Secretary of War for the Confederate States, succeeding Mr. Walker.-Author. (3) L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," p. 76. (6) Ibid. (7) Isaac N. Arnold, "Life of Lincoln," p. 199. (*) Henry Wilson was born at Farmington, N. H., February 16, 1812. His parents were poor. His first years were spent on a farm, and in making shoes. He earned enough money to attend an academy at Concord, N. H., in 1837. He was studious, and became interested in politics. He began public speaking in 1840, advocating the election of Harrison. He was elected to the House of Representatives and Senate of Massachusetts. He was an uncompromising opponent of slavery. He was elected to the Senate, 1855. Was Vice-president of the United States during the Presidency of General Grant. He wrote a 66 History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power." November 10, 1875.-Author. (9) Joseph C. Abbott. He was proprietor of the Manchester, N. H., "Mirror,” and had been an earnest opponent of slavery. He had held the office of Adjutant-general of New Hampshire. He was appointed Lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh New Hampshire Regiment; took conspicuous part in the assault upon Fort Wagner, Morris Island. He died |