outhern heart,
instruct the Southern mind, give courage to each other, and, by one
concerted action, we can precipitate the cotton States into a
revolution." This was called the "Scarlet Letter," and was widely
scattered and read.

The seceding delegates organized a second assemblage over which the Hon.
James A. Bayard presided. The Douglas men were left in control of the
first convention, but could not secure the two-thirds vote necessary for
his nomination. More than fifty ballots were taken, the full strength of
the Illinois candidate being 152. On the 3d of May the convention
adjourned to meet in Baltimore on the 18th of June, when it was hoped a
spirit of compromise might be inspired by the seriousness of the
situation.

On the night of the break in that body Mr. Yancey made a speech in
Charleston, when in prophetic words he declared, "Perhaps even now the
pen of the historian is nibbed to inscribe the history of a new
revolution."

The seceding delegates called for a convention to be held in Richmond,
Va., on the second Monday in June.

When the seven States had withdrawn from the convention, the Georgia
delegation was split up. A majority left the convention, a small
minority remained. This action created great excitement in Georgia. The
Democratic executive committee called a State convention to meet in
Milledgeville on June 4. A committee of prominent citizens, headed by
Hon. J. J. Gresham of Macon, addressed letters to public men asking
their views in this alarming situation. Howell Cobb indorsed the
seceders; he was opposed to Douglas. Alexander H. Stephens thought
Georgia should appoint delegates to the Baltimore convention, withdraw
the demand for a new plank in the Cincinnati platform, abide by the
doctrine of non-intervention, and nominate a good man for President. "If
we must quarrel with the North," said he, "let us base it on the
aggressive acts of our enemies and not on the supposed shortcomings of
our friends."

Hon. Robert Toombs did not come South during the Charleston convention.
He watched from his post in the Senate the great struggle between the
Democratic factions. On May 10, he wrote, in reply to the letter of the
Macon committee:

Perhaps the time may not have come for the attainment of
the full measure of our constitutional rights; it may not
have been prudent on the part of the representatives of the
seventeen States to have sanctioned and presented as much