The people of Charleston, looking out from the balconies of their houses along the grand promenade, behold with astonishment a column of smoke rising above Moultrie, where the gun-carriages are slowly burning, having been set on fire by the departing garrison, while above Sumter floats the detested flag. All their plans have suddenly been overturned. Sumter cannot now be seized; the garrison must be starved out or the fort captured. They do not want to starve the garrison, but to win glory by capturing the fort. The telegraph flashes the startling news to Washington. Secretary Floyd hastens to the White House to see President Buchanan, demanding that Major Anderson be ordered back to Moultrie. The President refused to comply with the request, which greatly enraged the secessionists. In Charleston there was a beating of drums, a mustering of the militia, who took possession of the arsenal, Castle Pinckney, and Fort Moultrie. There was great excitement throughout the State. The governor ordered out the Darlington Guards and the Columbia Artillery, which took possession of Morris Island, to begin the erection of batteries and the mounting of cannon for the bombardment of Sumter. The soldiers in their bright uniforms did not do the shovelling; that was done by slaves sent by the planters in their fiery zeal. Rev. Mr. Prentis, preacher of the Gospel, owner of many slaves, sent sixteen of them. It was the beginning of the struggle between the two systems of labor, two forms of society, two diverse civilizations. Had Major Anderson seen fit to open fire upon that gang of slaves and the militia drilling on the sandy beach, he would quickly have put an end to the shovelling. He had not gone to Sumter, however, for any hostile purpose; it was not his duty to begin hostilities. He had acted solely in self-defence, according to instructions from Washington. Day by day he saw the fortification rising upon Morris Island, and heavy cannon placed in position to open fire, but it was his duty to wait. The secessionists, and not the Government, must bear the responsibility of beginning a war. The 1st of January came, and the coupons of the Indian Trust Fund were due. The money in the Treasury had been squandered. The people throughout the country were astounded at the news that the bonds of the Trust Fund had been stolen by trusted officials. Secretary Floyd had done what he could to destroy the government of the United States and build a Confederacy upon its ruins; he could stay no longer in office. He sent his resignation to the President, and fled to Virginia like a thief escaping justice. The court indicted him, and warrants were issued to the sheriff for his arrest. We shall see him once more for a moment as major general in the Confederate army, then he will disappear, to be remembered only as a traitor and thief. Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, had already resigned. Their places were filled with loyal men. President Buchanan made a great mistake in not dismissing Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior. At a meeting of the cabinet it was decided to send four companies of troops to reinforce Major Anderson. Thompson acted the part of a traitor by telegraphing to the Governor of South Carolina what had been done. The Government could not send a despatch to Major Anderson, as the secessionists would know all about it. The steamer Star of the West, with the troops on board, reached Charleston harbor, but was turned back by the batteries on Morris Island, which opened fire. Very boastful was the Charleston Mercury the next morning. "We would not," it said, "exchange or recall that blow for millions. It has wiped out half a century of scorn and outrage. The haughty echo of her cannon has, ere this, reverberated from Maine to Texas. The decree has gone forth. Upon each acre of the peaceful soil of the South armed men will spring up as the sound breaks upon their ears. By the God of our fathers, the soil of South Carolina shall be free!" In one of the committee-rooms of the Capitol at Washington, on the night of January 5th, there was a secret meeting of the Senators from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The watchman who strolled through the corridors of the Capitol knew nothing of what was going on in the room; the public knew nothing of what was said by the men who had thus met to overthrow the Government; but during the night messages were flying along the wires urging the secession of the States which they represented, and the seizure of all the forts along the Southern coast, with all the arsenals. Governor Brown, of Georgia, ordered the military companies of Savannah to take possession of Fort Pulaski. A military company from New Orleans went up the Mississippi to Baton Rouge, and occupied the arsenal there. In all the ports the secessionists were seizing the revenue-cutters belonging to the Government. John Adams Dix, of New York, was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. He sent Mr. Jones to New Orleans with an order to Captain Breshwood, commanding the revenue-cutter at that port, to sail to New York. The captain was a secessionist and proposed to turn the vessel over to the Confederates, whereupon Secretary Dix sent this despatch: "If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot!" What a glorious and heart-thrilling despatch it was! apathy throughout the country over the state of affairs. There had been People had stood appalled over the treachery at Washington and through the South. A sentiment so loyal, and uttered so fearlessly, awakened a lofty enthusiasm for the old flag which had never been lowered in dishonor. Every fort in the South was seized, except Fort Pickens, on Santa Rosa Island, in the harbor of Pensacola, which was held by Lieutenant Slemmer and the troops under him. General Twiggs was in command of twenty-five hundred troops at San Antonio, Texas. He entered into conspiracy with Ben McCulloch, who called himself a Texan Ranger, who gathered one thousand men and rode into San Antonio at two o'clock on the morning of February 10th, yelling, firing their guns, and taking possession of the town. General Twiggs professed to be surprised, and surrendered the troops, all the stores, cannon, and supplies, worth one million two hundred thousand dollars. Twiggs was from Georgia. When the news of his treachery reached Washington, President Buchanan ordered his name to be stricken from the rolls of the Heansing & hand Tele Lien't baldwell to anest Capt. Bethwood, assume commard of the Cutter and obey the ordu I gave through You. If Capt. Brickwood after anest undututes to mtupure, inth the command of the Autry tell Licht. Calducull to counder Mic ara Mutinen treat him acend Igly. If any one attonitts to haul down the ammcan flag Moot bime on the spot. John A. DNC FAC-SIMILE OF GENERAL JOHN A. DIX'S DESPATCH. army as a traitor. The people of New Orleans gave him an ovation, but his name has gone down to history covered with infamy. From the time of Judas men have despised a traitor. PENSACOLA PENSACOLA SHIP CHANNE BAY Florida seceded January 12th. It had been purchased from Spain by the money of all the States, and the forts at the entrance of Pensacola Bay had been built by the United States. The State of Florida had no claim to them. Men sent by the governor demanded the surrender of the forts. There were three - Fort McRea and Fort Barrancas on the mainland at the entrance to the harbor, and Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, guarding the eastern side. Young Lieutenant Slemmer, in command, knew that he would be powerless against the troops which would soon appear, but he was loyal to the flag which he had sworn to support. He was quick to act. He drove spikes into the vent-holes of the cannon in the forts on the main-land, jumped into a boat with his men, rowed across the bay, threw himself into Fort Pickens, and determined to keep the Stars WOOLSEY WARRENTON Redoubt Fort McRae WS.NAVY YARD Fort Pickens ROSA 1SLAND GULF OF MEXICO MAP OF PENSACOLA. and Stripes flying above that fortress of stone. He held it until the middle of April, when reinforcements arrived. It was the one place on the Atlantic shore south of the Chesapeake where the flag of the Union, through all the years of the war, waved in grandeur and glory. February 15th was a great day in Montgomery, Alabama. A crowd surged through the streets. Delegates from the seceding States were there, sitting in convention, organizing a Confederacy, and electing Jefferson Davis president and Alexander H. Stephens vice president. Mr. Davis was at his home in Mississippi. There was great enthusiasm at all the railroad stations on his route to Montgomery. He made twenty-five speeches, one from the balcony of the Exchange Hotel in Montgomery. It was ten o'clock in the evening; cannon were thundering, bonfires blazing, the crowd hurrahing. On each side of the newly elected president of the new Confederacy stood a negro, holding a tallow candle, that the people might see the great man of the hour. "England will not allow," said Mr. Davis, "our great staple-cotton |