and of the South thought and felt. Now let us see what they did.

CHAPTER XXIV

ON NIAGARA'S BRINK--AND OVER

The election of Lincoln in November, 1860, found South Carolina
expectant and ready for action. The Legislature was in session, and
immediately ordered an election to be held December 6 for a convention
to meet December 17, and pass on the question of Secession. The action
of the convention was in no doubt.

Governor Pettus of Mississippi summoned a group of leading men to
consider the question of immediate Secession. In the conclave the
principal opponent of instant action was Jefferson Davis. His grounds
were prudential; he knew that the arsenals, foundries, and military
supplies were chiefly at the North; he foresaw a long and bloody war; he
advised that further efforts be made at compromise, or at least that
united action of the South be insured. This counsel prevailed, and the
convention was deferred until mid-January.

In the Georgia Legislature it was proposed that the question of
Secession be at once submitted to a popular vote. Toombs and Stephens
threw each his whole weight respectively for and against Secession.
Stephens has preserved his own speech in full. He emphasized the gravity
of the South's grievances, and the need of redress from the North if the
Union was to permanently endure. But he denied that the danger was so
pressing as to justify immediate Secession. He pointed out that Lincoln
would be confronted by a hostile majority in the Senate, the House and
the Supreme Court, and could not even appoint his Cabinet officers
except with the approval of a Senate in which his opponents outnumbered
his friends. He urged that it was wise to wait for some overt aggression
on the President's part before seceding. He dwelt on the immense
advantages the Union had brought to all sections. He showed (as in our
last chapter) that Toombs could allege no injuries except such as
affected slavery. Georgia's wealth had doubled between 1850 and 1860. "I
look upon this country," he said, "with our institutions, as the Eden of
the world, the paradise of the universe. It may be that out of it we may
become greater and more prosperous, but I am candid and sincere in
telling you that I fear if we yield to passion, and without sufficient
cause shall take that step, that instead of becoming greater or more
peaceful, prosperous and happy,--instead of becoming gods we will become
demons, and at no distant day