appreciated. The easy popular cries were all sounded: "We are
standing still!" "The country is being invaded!" "The President
is a do-nothing!" From the coast regions especially, where the
blockade was felt in all its severity, the outcry was loud.

Nevertheless, the South in the main was content with the
Administration during most of the first year. In November, when
the general elections were held, Davis was chosen without
opposition as the first regular Confederate President for six
years, and Stephens became the Vice-President. The election was
followed by an important change in the Southern Cabinet. Benjamin
became Secretary of War, in succession to the first War
Secretary, Leroy P. Walker. Toombs had already left the
Confederate Cabinet. Complaining that Davis degraded him to the
level of a mere clerk, he had withdrawn the previous July. His
successor in the State Department was R. M. T. Hunter of
Virginia, who remained in office until February, 1862, when his
removal to the Confederate Senate opened the way for a further
advancement of Benjamin.

Richmond, which had been designated as the capital soon after the
secession of Virginia, was the scene of the inauguration, on
February 22, 1862. Although the weather proved bleak and rainy,
an immense crowd gathered around the Washington monument, in
Capitol Square, to listen to the inaugural address. By this time
the confidence in the Government, which was felt generally at the
time of the election, had suffered a shock. Foreign affairs were
not progressing satisfactorily. Though England had accorded to
the Confederacy the status of a belligerent, this was poor
consolation for her refusal to make full recognition of the new