S OUTH CAROLINA had just seceded and the whole coun-try was in the wildest excitement when the GeneralAssembly of Missouri met at Jefferson City on the lastday of the year 1860. Responding to the recommenda-tions of Governor Jackson and to the manifest will ofthe people of the State, it forthwith initiated measuresfor ranging Missouri with the South in the impendingconflict. A State Convention was called; bills to organize,arm, and equip the militia were introduced; and the Fed-eral Government was solemnly warned that if it sent anarmy into South Carolina , or into any other slavehold-ing State, in order to coerce it to remain in the Union,or to force its people to obey the laws of the UnitedStates, “ the people of Missouri would instantly rally onthe side of such State to resist the invaders at all hazardsand to the last extremity.”
The most conspicuous leader of this movement wasClaiborne F. Jackson , who had just been inauguratedGovernor. He had for many years been one of the fore-most leaders of the Democrats of Missouri , and had beenelected Governor in August. In the late canvass he hadsupported Douglas for President, not because he either liked him or approvedhis policy on the slavery question, but because Douglas was the choice ofthe Missouri Democrats , and to have opposed him would have defeated hisown election; for in August, 1860, the people of Missouri were sincerelydesirous that the questions at issue between the North and the Southshould be compromised and settled upon some fair basis, and were opposedto the election to the Presidency of any man—whether Lincoln or Breck-inridge—whose success might intensify sectional antipathies and imperil theintegrity of the Union.
But while loyally supporting the candidacy of Douglas, Jackson abatednone of his devotion to the political principles which had been the constantguide of his life. He was a true son of the South, warmly attached to theland that had given him birth, and to her people, who were his own kindred.He was now nearly fifty-five years of age, tall, erect, and good-looking; kind-hearted, brave, and courteous; a thoughtful, earnest, upright man; a politicalleader, but not a soldier.
The Governor urged the people of Missouri to elect to the Convention menwho would place Missouri unequivocally on the side of the South. He was
•fo Colonel Snead was at different times aide-de-camp to Governor Jackson , acting Adjutant-Generalof the Missouri State Guard, Ckief-of-Staff of the Army of the West, and member of the ConfederateCongress. He was made by General Price the custodian of his private and official papers.— Editors.
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A VERY RAW RECRUIT.
Mmf.