government; she very naturally wished to perpetuate her control. The
extension of slavery and the creation of additional slave States was a
necessary step in the scheme, and became the well-defined single issue
in the presidential election, though not necessarily the primal cause of
the impending civil war. For the first time in the history of the
republic the ambition of the South met overwhelming defeat. In legal
form and by constitutional majorities Abraham Lincoln was chosen to the
presidency, and this choice meant, finally, that slavery should not be
extended.

An election was held in South Carolina in the month of October, 1860,
under the manipulation of the conspirators. To a Legislature chosen from
the proper material, Governor Gist, on November 5th, sent a message
declaring "our institutions" in danger from the "fixed majorities" of
the North, and recommending the calling of a State Convention, and the
purchase of arms and the material of war. This was the first official
notice and proclamation of insurrection.

The morning of November 7th decided the result of the national election.
From this time onward everything was adroitly managed to swell the
revolutionary furor. The people of South Carolina, and especially of
Charleston, indulged in a continuous holiday, amid unflagging
excitement, and, while singing the Marseillaise, prepared for war!
Everybody appeared to be satisfied,--the conspirators, because their
schemes were progressing, and the people, because, innocently duped,
they hoped for success.

The first half of the month of December had worn away. A new governor,
Francis W. Pickens, ruled the destinies of South Carolina. A Convention,
authorized by the Legislature, met at Columbia, the capital of the