gress of the United States, to the said convention to be held at Montgomery; and that, on the adoption of the constitution of the Southern Confederacy, the vote shall be by States.

"Third.-That whenever the terms of the constitution shall be agreed upon by the said convention, the same shall be submitted at as early a day as practicable to the convention and legislature of each State, respectively, so as to enable them to ratify or reject the said constitution.

Fourth.-That in the opinion of South Carolina, the Constitution of the United States will form a suitable basis for the Confederacy of the Southern States withdrawing.

"Fifth-That the South Carolina Convention appoint by ballot eight delegates to represent South Carolina in the convention for the formation of a Southern Confederacy.

"Lastly. That one commissioner in each State be elected to call the attention of the people to this ordinance."

In the midst of her exhilaration South Carolina remembered that for the time being she was alone in the world, and that it behooved her to find shelter and friends. Mr. Calhoun, in the convention, remarked: "We have pulled a temple down that has been built three-quarters of a century; we must clear the rubbish away to reconstruct another. We are now houseless and homeless, and we must secure ourselves against storms." These expressions betray, perhaps, the desolation of feeling the seceders must have experienced on looking back upon the security and glories of that temple which they had so ruthlessly demolished. The traditions of the past, the fame of ancestors, the respect of nations, the glory of the present, almost the hope of the future, lay buried in that mass of rubbish, and in place of the stately structure which for eighty years had been growing in proportions, and whose rising dome was always gilded by the sun of liberty, they were preparing to erect a building whose corner-stone was slavery. They, however, deliberately turned their backs upon the past, and recklessly pushed into the unknown, dim, and dangerous future. Commissioners were sent to the other State conventions, which were called to follow the lead of South Carolina. On the 9th of January, the Alabama and Mississippi delegations at Washington telegraphed to the conventions of their respective States, advising immediate secession, as they considered that there was no prospect of a satisfactory adjustment, and about the same time a caucus of Southern senators at Washington advocated separate and immediate secession.

The Mississippi Convention organized January 7th, 1861, A. J. Barry, of Lowndes, in the chair. It was resolved that a committee of fifteen be appointed by the president, with instructions to prepare and report, as speedily as possible, an ordinance of secession, providing for the immediate withdrawal of Mississippi from the Federal Union, with a view of establishing a new Confederacy, to be composed of the seceding States.

Delegations from South Carolina and Alabama were invited to Beats in the convention, amidst much applause. All efforts to postpone action were voted down, and the ordinance was adopted, January 9th, by eighty four yeas to fifteen nays. The opponents of the ordinance, however, signed on the following day, and the vote was

then unanimous.

Fireworks were displayed at the capitol in Jackson in the evening. The excitement was intense.

The ordinance is as follows:

"The people of Mississippi, in convention assembled, do ordain and declare, and it is hereby ordained and declared, as follows, to wit:

"That all the laws and ordinances by which the said State of Mississippi became a member of the Federal Union of the United States of America be, and the same are hereby repealed; and that all obligations on the part of said State, or the people thereof, to observe the same, be withdrawn; and that the said State shall hereby resume the rights, functions, and powers, which by any of said laws and ordinances were conveyed to the Government of the said United States, and is dissolved from all the obligations, restraints, and duties incurred to the said Federal Union, and shall henceforth be a free, sovereign, and independent State."

The passage of this ordinance was followed by the withdrawal of the Honorable Jefferson Davis from the United States Senate on the 21st of January, in company with the senators from Alabama and Florida. The Mississippi delegation in the House of Representatives withdrew a few days previous.

The Alabama Convention met January 8th, and on the 11th passed, by a vote of sixty-one ayes to thirty-nine nays, the following ordinance of secession:

"An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Alabama, and other States, united under the Compact and Style of the United States of America.

"Whereas, The election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States of America, by a sectional party, avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions, and the peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama, following upon the heels of many and dangerous infractions of the Constitution of the United States, by many of the States and people of the Northern section, is a political wrong of so insulting and menacing a character, as to justify the people of the State of Alabama in the adoption of prompt and decided measures for their future peace and security.

"Therefore, be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention assembled, that the State of Alabama now withdraws from the Union, known as the United States of America, and henceforth ceases to be one of the said United States, and is, and of right ought to be, a sovereign independent State.

"SEC. 2. And be it further declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention assembled, that all powers over the territories of said State and over the people thercof, heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America, be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from the said Government, and are hereby resumed and vested in the people of the State of Alabama.

"And as it is the desire and purpose of the people of Alabama to meet the Slaveholding States of the South who approve of such a purpose, in order to frame a provisional or a permanent government, upon the principles of the Government of the United States, be it also resolved by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, that the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennes see, Kentucky, and Missouri, be, and they are hereby invited to meet the people of the State of Alabama, by their delegates in convention, on the 4th day of February next, in Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consultation with each other, as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted, harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for the common peace and security.

"And be it further resolved, That the President of this convention be, and he is hereby, instructed to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble, ordinance, and resolutions to the governors of the several States named in the said resolutions.

"Done by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, at Montgomery, this 11th day of January, 1861."

Some of the nays indicated opposition to separation from the North, others to action independent of other States. A proposition to submit the ordinance to the people was lost by yeas forty-seven, nays fifty-three.

The popular vote of Alabama at the Presidential election had numbered ninety thousand three hundred and fifty-seven. In choosing dele gates for the convention, the question was mainly that of unconditional secession, or of co-operation with other States. The result of the vote was twenty-six thousand two hundred and eighty-six for co-operation, and thirty-five thousand seven hundred and seventy-six for immediate secession. Total, sixty-two thousand and sixty-two, or twenty-eight thousand two hundred and ninety-five less than were cast at the Presidential election. When the ordinance was passed, seven co-operation members voted for it, and the rest expressed themselves in favor of it, although under instructions to vote against it. A committee of fifteen, one to each Slaveholding State, was appointed to promote co-operation. The passage of this ordinance was celebrated in Mobile by a military parade, illuminations, processions, and public meetings, amid the most intense popular excitement.

The Florida Convention was even more emphatic than that of Alabama, in its vote for immediate secession, the ordinance having passed, January 10th, by a vote of sixty-two to seven, as follows:

FLORIDA ORDINANCE OF SECESSION.

"Whereas, All hope of preserving the Union upon terms consistent with the safety and honor of the Slaveholding States, has been finally dissipated by the recent indications of the strength of the anti-slavery sentiment of the Free States; therefore,

"Be it resolved by the people of Florida, in convention assembled, That it is undoubtedly the right of the several States of the Union, at such time, and for such cause as in the opinion of the people of such State, acting in their sovereign capacity, may be just and proper; and, in the opinion of this convention, the existing causes are such as to compel Florida to proceed to exercise that right.

"We, the people of the State of Florida, in convention assembled, do solemnly ordain, publish, and declare, that the State of Florida hereby withdraws herself from the Confederacy of States existing under the name of the United States of America, and from the existing Government of the said States; and that all political connection between her and the Government of said States ought to be, and the same is hereby totally annulled, and said Union of States dissolved; and the State of Florida is hereby declared a sovereign and independent nation; and that all ordinances heretofore adopted, in so far as they create or recognize said Union, are rescinded; and all laws, or parts of laws, in force in this State, in so far as they recognize or assent to said Union, be, and they are hereby repealed."

Immediately on the passage of this ordinance, the Navy Yard, forts and other property of the United States, at Pensacola, were seized by the State authorities, with the exception of Fort Pickens, which was held by Lieutenant Slemmer, with a small garrison of regulars.

An act passed by the Florida legislature declared, in the event of any actual collision between the troops of the late Federal Union and those in the employ of the State of Florida, it shall be the duty of the Governor of the State to make public proclamation of the fact; and thereafter the act of holding office under the Federal Government shall be declared treason, and the person convicted shall suffer death.

On the 3d of January, Governor Brown, of Georgia, seized Forts Pulaski and Jackson, near Savannah. The State of New York had, January 4th, passed a resolution tendering to the President the mili tary services of the State, to be used as he might think proper, for the support of the Constitution. These resolutions caused much excitement in the South generally, and the Georgia Convention passed the following resolution unanimously:

“As a respouse to the resolutions of the legislature of the State of New York, that this convention highly approves of the energetic and patriotic conduct of the Governor of Georgia in taking possession of Fort Pulaski by the Georgia troops; that this convention request him to hold possession of said fort until the relations of Georgia with the Federal Government shall be determined, and that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of New York."

On the 19th of January, the secession ordinance was passed, two hundred and eight to eighty-nine; the Ion. A. H. Stephens voting against it :

"An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States united with her under the Compact of Government entitled the Constitution of the United States.

"We, the people of the State of Georgia, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinances adopted by the people of the State of Georgia in convention in 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States was assented to, ratified, and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated.

"And we do further declare and ordain, that the union now subsisting between the State of Georgia and other States, under the name of the United States, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Georgia is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State."

The United States Arsenal at Augusta, Georgia, was soon after taken possession of by the State authorities.

The Louisiana State Convention took up the question of secession with great enthusiasm, and an ordinance to that effect was passed January 26th, by one hundred and thirteen to seventeen votes. The convention refused by a vote of eighty-four to forty-five to submit their act to a popular vote. The following is the ordinance :

"An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Louisiana and the other States united with her under the Compact entitled the Constitution of the United States of America.

"We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance passed by the State of 22d November, 1807, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments of said Constitution were adopted, and all the laws and ordinances by which Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union be, and the same are hereby repealed and abrogated, and the union now subsisting between Louisiana and the other States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved.

"We further declare and ordain, that the State of Louisiana hereby resumes the rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America, and its citizens are absolved from allegiance to the said Government, and she is in full possession of all the rights and sovereignty that appertain to a free and independent State.

"We further declare and ordain, that all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under laws of this State, not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force, and have the same effect as though this ordinance had not passed."

A resolution was reported to the convention that the following be added to the ordinance:

"We, the people of Louisiana, recognize the right of free navigation of the Mississippi River and tributaries by all friendly States bordering thereon; we also recognize the right of the ingress and egress of the mouths of the Mississippi by all friendly States and Powers, and hereby declare our willingness to enter into stipulations to guarantee the exercise of those rights."

The popular vote in Louisiana was twenty thousand four hundred and forty-eight for secession, seventeen thousand two hundred and ninety-six against it.

The Convention of the State of Texas, by one hundred and sixty-six yeas against seven nays, passed an ordinance of secession February 1st, to be voted on February 23d, by the people, and if adopted by them, to take effect March 1st. The vote of ratification was thirty-four thousand seven hundred and ninety-four yeas to eleven thousand two hundred and thirty-five nays. The ordinance was as follows:

"An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Texas and the other States under the Compact styled the Constitution of the United States of America.

"SEC. 1 Whereas, The Federal Government has failed to accomplish the purposes of the compact of union between these States, in giving protection either to the persons of our people upon an exposed frontier, or to the property of our citizens; and whereas, the action of the Northern States is violative of the compact between the States and the guarantees of the Constitution; and whereas, the recent developments in Federal affai make it evident that the power of the Federal Government is sought to be made a weapon with which to strike down the interests and property of the people of Texas, and her sister Slavelo'ding States, instead of permitting it to be, as was intended-our shield against outrage and aggression-therefore, We, the people of the State of Texas, by delegates in convention assembled, do declare and ordain that the ordinance adopted by our convention of delegates on the fourth (4th) day of July, A. D. 1845, and afterwards ratified by us, under which the Republic of Texas was admitted into the Union with other States, and became a party to the compact styled 'The Constitution of the United States of America,' be, and is hereby repealed and annulled.

"That all the powers which, by the said compact, were delegated by Texas to the Federal Government are resumed. That Texas is of right absolved from all restraints and obligations incurred by said compact, and is a separate sovereign State, and that her citizens and people are absolved from all allegiance to the United States, or the government thereof.

"SEC. 2. The ordinance shall be submitted to the people of Texas for their ratification or rejection, by the qualified voters, on the 23d day of February, 1861; and unless rejected by a majority of the votes cast, shall take effect and be in force on and after the 2d day of March, A. D. 1861. Provided that in the representative District of El Paso said election may be held on the 18th day of February, 1861.

"Done by the people of the State of Texas, in Convention assembled, at Austin, the 1st day of February, A. D. 1861."

After the passage of the ordinance, the convention passed another forming the foundation of a Southern Confederacy, and appointed delegates to the Montgomery Congress. It also passed an ordinance requiring all State officers to take the oath of allegiance to support the new government, and appointing a day for the governor and other principal officers to appear for that purpose before the convention. The venerable Governor Houston, who had so long led the destinies of Texas, feebly attempted to stem the current. He issued an address protesting against the entire action of the convention, and refused to take the oath. His life-long popularity seemed now to desert him.