mighty West, ere they were drowned in the shouts of indignant freemen, demanding to be led against the traitors, who, having plotted to divide and destroy the country, had commenced, without provocation, the fratracidal war: the vast North and the populous East reverberated the shout, and the great, united heart pulsated with one intense fire of indignation, demanding retribution.

Party lines were obliterated-party ties hushed-men forgetting that they were Democrats or Republicans, in the newly aroused anxiousness that they were Americans. Seeing their country-their Government—their Capitol threatened and endangered by traitors, all baser passions were subdued, and amor patria ruled supreme.

There could be no use in looking away from the fact. Civil war was upon the country and must be met. The American people must demonstrate that they still had a Government, and that there was a difference between freedom and anarchy.

President Lincoln issued his Proclamation on the fifteenth day of April, setting forth the fact, “that the laws of the United States had been for some time, and then were opposed; and the execution obstructed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed, by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power vested in the Marshals by law;" and "calling forth the militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed."

The Free States responded enthusiastically to the President's call for men; but the Governors of the bor

der Slave States, generally, treated the requisition with contumacious refusal of compliance.

Promptly respondent to the call,
Instanter move the Free States all.

The border States the call defy,
With rude and insolent reply.

Yet still there is no lack of men,
From hill and valley, glade and glen.

Seventy-five thousand men were called,
And thrice that number are enrolled.
Still the shrill fife and spirit-stirring drum
Proclaim the tramping legions come.
The capitol must never be
Despoiled by the base rebelry.

Forbid it Justice! strike the blow!
And lay the Rebel rascals low!

From Maine to the Lakes, from Pittsburg to St. Louis, from Cleveland to Cincinnati, every where, the starry flag in its proud undulations greeted the glad eyes of patriotic beholders; and the all-absorbing, predominant business was preparation to march beneath its folds.

From prairie, O plowman, speed boldly away!

There's seed to be sown in God's furrows to-day!

Row landward, lone fisher! stout woodman come home!
Let smith leave his anvil, and weaver his loom,
And hamlet and city ring loud with the cry,
"For God and our country we'll fight till we die !"
Invincible banner! the flag of the free!

O, where treads the foot that would falter for thee?
Or the hands to be folded till triumph is won,
And the eagle looks proud, as of old, to the sun?
EDNA DEAN PROCTOR.

SKETCH OF GENERAL LYON.

GENERAL NATHANIEL LYON, of Connecticut, was eleventh in the West Point class of 1841, which numbered fifty-two. He was brevetted for gallantry at the battles of Contreras and Cherubusco. He was wounded in the attack on Belen Gate, city of Mexico.

The following brief sketch of General Lyon is from a description written by a Lieutenant of an Iowa regiment on duty in Missouri in 1861:

"General Lyon is a man of thirty-five or forty years, some five feet eight inches high, and weighs, perhaps, one hundred and forty to fifty pounds. He is wiry in build and tough-looking in appearance. His hair is long and thick, his whiskers bushy and heavy—both are indescribably sandy in hue. His eyes are his most remarkable feature--either blue or grey, perhaps at times both; a sort of stormy expression dwells constantly in them, which is heightened by the wave-like wrinkles around them. * * * His forehead is high, and of even width, giving him, when uncovered, the appearance of great intellectual force, which is aided by the firm outlines of his mouth. He smiles little or none; is a strict disciplinarian; has the full confidence of his men, among whom or at least among the regulars, he is known as 'Daddy.' He is the sort of man that one will stop to take a good look at as he passes. I don't think he has any thing like physical fear. He is all through a soldier, and will make his mark high in the military world."

STORY V.

CAPTURE OF CAMP JACKSON, (ST. LOUIS,) BY LYON.

A COUP DE GUERRE.

As a preparatory measure for carrying Missouri out of the Union, Governor Jackson called out the State Militia, ostensibly for instruction. A considerable body of them, composed chiefly of rabid Secessionists, occupied a regular encampment near St. Louis. They did not hesitate to avow their hostility to the Government, treated the President's order to disperse with defiant contempt, and their purpose of seizing the St. Louis Arsenal was too evident to admit of a doubt.

Governor Jackson had arranged with the Southern Confederates for a supply of war munitions, and a steamboat, bearing the secession flag, arrived with a large amount of cannon, bombs, balls, rifles, muskets, powder, &c., which were taken to Camp Jackson, as the Rebel camp was called.

The main avenues of this camp were marked with the names of Davis and Beauregard; and the occupants openly wore the dress and badge distinguishing the army of the Southern Confederacy. The seizure of the Arsenal was part of the Secession programme, per se; the successful accomplishment of which would probably have resulted in the forcible Secession of the State. The first move in the seceding States had invariably been to seize the Government arms and other property.

To prevent this, and for general security against Secession outrages, and in answer to the President's

requisition, four regiments of volunteers were organized at St. Louis.

General Harney, who had been in command at St. Louis, having been ordered to Washington, Captain Lyon, of the 2d United States Infantry, succeeded to the command.

From the formidable preparations and threatening attitude of Camp Jackson, Captain Lyon did not esteem it prudent to wait, as had been the practice of others, for the overt act. He preferred the initiative.

On the 10th of May, 1861, with the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Regiments of Volunteers, under Colonels Blair, Boernstein, Sigel, and Shuttner, and the 3d and 4th Regiments United States Reserve Corps, under Colonels McNeil and Brown, he marched, in double quick time, up Market street, and on arriving at Camp Jackson, rapidly surrounded it, planting batteries on all the heights overlooking the camp, and posting picket guards, with orders to let no one pass the lines.

Captain Lyon then sent a note to General Frost, commandant of camp Jackson, informing him that his command was regarded as evidently hostile to the United States, and demanding the surrender of the same; intimating, at the same time his ability to enforce the demand, and allowing the general half an hour's time for compliance. Within the time specified, General Frost sent a note to Captain Lyon, announcing his compliance with the demand.

Thereupon, the surrender having been made, the rebel brigade was formed in column, preparatory to marching as prisoners under escort of the Arsenal troops. In the meantime an immense crowd of people had assembled in the vicinity; some from motives of