eeking to delay action
upon the part of Mississippi, with the hope that it might be
entirely averted.

"In some unimportant respects my memory may be at fault, and
possibly some of the inferences drawn may be incorrect; but
every material statement made, I am sure, is true, and if need,
can be, easily substantiated by other persons.

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,"

(Signed) "O. R. Singleton."
]

[Footnote 20: Mr. Crittenden had been a life-long Whig. His first
entrance into the Senate was in 1817, and he was a member of that body
at various periods during the ensuing forty-four years. He was
Attorney-General in the Whig Cabinets of both General Harrison and Mr.
Fillmore, and supported the Bell and Everett ticket in 1860.]

[Footnote 21: The vote was nineteen yeas to twenty nays; total,
thirty-nine. As the consent of two thirds of each House is necessary to
propose an amendment for action by the States, twenty-six of the votes
cast in the Senate would have been necessary to sustain the proposition.
It actually failed, therefore, by _seven_ votes, instead of _one_.]

CHAPTER IX.

Preparations for withdrawal from the Union.--Northern
Precedents.--New England Secessionists.--Cabot, Pickering,
Quincy, etc.--On the Acquisition of Louisiana.--The Hartford
Convention.--The Massachusetts Legislature on the Annexation of
Texas, etc., etc.

The Convention of South Carolina had already (on the 20th of December,
1860) unanimously adopted an ordinance revoking her delegated powers and
withdrawing from the Union. Her representatives, on the following day,
retired from their seats in Congress. The people of the other planting
States had been only waiting in the lingering hope that some action
might be taken by Congress to avert the necessity for action similar to
that of South Carolina. In view of the failure of all overtures for
conciliation during the first month of the session, they were now making
their final preparations for secession. This was generally admitted to
be an unquestionable right appertaining to their sovereignty as States,
and the only _peaceable_ remedy that remained for the evils already felt
and the dangers apprehended.

In the prior history of the country, repeated instances are found of the
assertion of this right, and of a purpose entertained at various times
to put it in execution. Notably is this true of Massachusetts and oth