WAR PREPARATIONS IN THE NORTH.

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affairs. The passage of “ordinances of secession” by one after another of theSouthern States, and even the assembling of a provisional Confederate govern-ment at Montgomery , had not wholly destroyed the hope that some peacefulway out of our troubles would be found; yet the gathering of an army on thesands opposite Fort Sumter was really war, and if a hostile gun were fired, weknew it would mean the end of all effort at arrangement. Hoping almostagainst hope that blood would not be shed, and that the pageant of militaryarray and of a secession government would pass by, we tried to give ourthoughts to business; but there was no heart in it, and the “morninghour ” lagged, for we could not work in earnest, and we were unwilling toadjourn.

Suddenly a senator came in from the lobby in an excited way, and, catch-ing the chairman’s eye, exclaimed, “Mr. President, the telegraph announces thatthe secessionists are bombarding Fort Sumter! ” There was a solemn andpainful hush, but it was broken in a moment by a woman’s shrill voice fromthe spectators’ seats, crying, “ Glory to God ! ” It startled every one, almostas if the enemy were in the midst. But it was the voice of a radical friend ofthe slave, Abby Kelly Foster , who, after a lifetime of public agitation, believedthat only through blood could his freedom be won, and who had shouted thefierce cry of joy that the question had been submitted to the decision of thesword. With most of us, the gloomy thought that civil war had begun inour own land overshadowed everything else; this seemed too great a priceto pay for any good,— a scourge to be borne only in preference to yieldingwhat was to us the very groundwork of our republicanism, the right toenforce a fair interpretation of the Constitution through the election ofPresident and Congress .

The next day we learned that Major Anderson had surrendered, and thetelegraphic news from all the Northern States showed plain evidence of apopular outburst of loyalty to the Union, following a brief moment of dis-may. That was the period when the flag —The Flag —flew out to thewind from every housetop in our great cities, and when, in New York ,wildly excited crowds marched the streets demanding that the suspectedor the lukewarm should show the symbol of nationality as a committal tothe country’s cause. He that is not for us is against us, was the deep,instinctive feeling.

Judge Thomas M. Key of Cincinnati, ^ chairman of the Judiciary Com-mittee, was the recognized leader of the Democratic party in the Senate , andat an early hour moved an adjournment to the following Tuesday, in order,as he said, that the senators might have the opportunity to go home andconsult their constituents in the perilous crisis of public affairs. No objec-tion was made to the adjournment, and the representatives took a similarrecess. All were in a state of most anxious suspense,—the Eepublicans toknow what initiative the Administration at Washington would take, andthe Democrats to determine what course they should follow if the Presidentshould call for troops to put down the insurrection.

3, Afterward aide-de-camp and acting judge-advocate on General McClellan ’s staff.