f Thirty-three for one instant changed or
affected the determination to destroy the Government and dissolve the
Union.

Friday, December 14, 1860, was a day of gloom and despondency in Mr.
Buchanan's office, bringing to his mind more forcibly than he had ever
before realized the utter wreck into which he had guided his
Administration. To the jubilant secessionists it was not only a day of
triumph achieved, but also of apparently assured successes yet to come.
The hitherto official organ of the Administration in its issue of the
following morning contained two publications which gave startling
notice to the country of the weakness of the right and the strength of
the wrong in the swiftly approaching struggle for national existence.

The first of these documents was a proclamation from the President of
the United States, saying that in response to numerous appeals he
designated the fourth day of January, proximo, as a day of humiliation,
fasting, and prayer. The "dangerous and distracted condition of our
country" was therein thus set forth:

[Sidenote] Washington "Constitution," Dec. 15, 1860.

The Union of the States is at the present moment threatened with
alarming and immediate danger--panic and distress of a fearful
character prevail throughout the land--our laboring population
are without employment, and consequently deprived of the means of
earning their bread--indeed, hope seems to have deserted the
minds of men. All classes are in a state of confusion and dismay,
and the wisest counsels of our best and purest men are wholly
disregarded.... Humbling ourselves before the Most High, ... let
us implore him to remove from our hearts that false pride of
opinion which would impel us to persevere in wrong for the sake
of consistency, rather than yield a just submission to the
unforeseen exigencies by which we are now surrounded.... An
omnipotent Providence may overrule existing evils for permanent
good.

The second manifesto was more practical and resolute. As the first
public and combined action of the conspirators, it forms the hinge upon
which they well-nigh turned the fate of the New World Republic. It was
a brief document, but contained and expressed all the essential
purposes of the conspiracy. It was signed by about one-half the
Senators and Representatives of the States of North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Flori