saw it approaching when it appeared as but a little cloud, that a fearless patriot of Jackson's stamp might have dispelled before it assumed such great proportions. Such a man could have prevented the fratricidal war by exposing the deceptive and villainous schemes of demagogues and monsters, who would build up and agrandize themselves on the ruins of liberty, and visiting them with the traitor's punishment ere they had succeeded in beguiling the people so far in their treason.

"During the presidential campaign there was little or no disunionism publicly avowed. All joined in disavowing the criminal intent. Speakers were interrogated, and great and small either avowed that the election of Lincoln would not constitute sufficient cause for dissolving the Union, or they evaded the question. The mass of the people were as loyal to the old flag as they were anywhere in the North, until the few powerful conspirators sprung their coup d'etat upon them. Amazement and consternation ensued, and the terrific struggle began. Disunion and Union meetings were nightly held in the city of New Orleans. The Breckenridge politicians and their followers attended the disunion meetings. The union meetings were more attended by the moral and intellectual class of the community, including many who had been but little known, or not known at all, as politicians. The former were addressed by men of no standing or character, the latter by such men as Randall Hunt, Christian Roselius, Thomas J. Durant, and Pierre Soule. Unionism assumed a bold front, and little fear was entertained for the State of Louisiana until the Rev. Dr. Palmer sacriligiously preached disunionism from his pulpit, Then the parricides assumed a courage and con

fidence fearful in its influence for evil. At their meeting held in Odd Fellows' Hall, they substituted the bust of the great traitor, John C. Calhoun for that of Washington, the pelican flag for the 'ensign of the Republic,' and instead of the 'Star Spangled Banner' an imitation of the French Marseillaise' was sung by a young girl dressed and decorated as the Goddess of Liberty. The revolutionists themselves wore blue cockades.

"Their speeches were made up of wild invectives and denunciations against the North and everything northern. The union was cursed as a leprous sore. The gatherings of the Unionists continued until the 'Convention election,' when, having done their utmost to wrest the State from the conspirators, they ceased their meetings and active opposition. Unlike their adversaries they were unarmed and powerless. The official result of the election in the State was never published. That portion of the press which supported the cause of the Union contended that the result was opposed to secession and in favor of co-operation,' and demanded the publication of the official vote. But the demand was refused, and to this day the public does not know what the people's verdict was. The convention met at Baton Rouge, and with closed doors passed the infamous act. The event was announced by telegraph and the firing of cannon, and was variously received by the people. Some rejoiced, but thousands cried 'shame!' and foreshadowed in their faces the gloom that was to envelope them and that beautiful country.

6

"Down to this lamentable 26th of January, I scarcely knew a man possessing social or commercial standing, who did not mourn the posture the State had assumed,

and feel the most unhappy forebodings. Soon a reign of terror was inaugurated; liberty of speech was proscribed. He was considered a bold and rash man who still advocated the cause of his country. There were still many who were thus bold. Men were daily arrested and imprisoned for expressing the Union sentiments of our fathers. My assistant, Dr. Metcalf, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, was incarcerated in a loathsome prison, as early as last April, for asserting that he believed 'Lincoln would shell Charleston and cut the levees of New Orleans, if necessary to the enforcement of the laws, and the maintenance of the integrity of the Union.' As soon as he was released he fled to the land of liberty. Thousands were driven away by the terrorism. Sojourners and citizens that had the means, left rather than compromise their manhood. Thousands there were who were anxious to leave, but had not the means to do so. Language cannot describe the mental and physical distress that existed in that community where a few months before they had been so happy, prosperous and contented. General bankruptcy of the business men, and destitution of the mechanical and laboring classes followed. Clerks, artisans and laborers were forced to join the rebel army for the support of themselves and their families, and thousands were kept from starvation by scanty supplies from the 'Free Market,' that was established as early as June last.

"The accounts published in our newspapers of the trials and persecutions of men and women who still have a lingering love for the Union are not overwrought pictures. These miseries are more than the pen can describe. I left last September; and if such was the condi

tion of things then, you may imagine for yourself how much more aggravated their sufferings must be now. The great majority of the people in the South, in my opinion, love the Union, and the dear associations that cluster around it. They were deceived and cheated by designing knaves, to whom, for years, they had given their confidence.

"How fortunate was the escape of little Maryland from their clutches. The people of that. State, protected by Federal arms, have, in their State clection, spoken in tones of thunder for the old flag. Look at Missouri! How near the villains came to its possession! Yet the undaunted heroism of a Lyon, a Fremont, a Halleck, with the determined valor of its true sons, saved it; and now, letters to me from there, assure me there is a general joy felt and expressed for their deliverance. Look everywhere that our arms have reached for indubitable evidence of the loyalty of the down-trodden people.

At Nashville, Tennessee, on my way from New Orleans, I was imprisoned for expressions of loyalty. After my liberation many of the people grasped my hand in sympathy, and many of them openly told me that I was not alone in the entertainment of such sentiments, that thousands in Jackson's old State still loved and would yet offer their lives for the old Union. These were and are still the sentiments of many thousands in the South, deprived of the liberty of speech and of freemen's rights. These observations are the result of an intimate acquaintance and knowledge of the people of that section. General Houston, of Texas, is said to have gone after thestrange gods.' I do not believe in the truth of the statement. He is an old man, the protege of Jack

Those

son, and in a speech uttered the undying sentiment,-'I wish no epitaph to be written to tell that I survived the ruin of this glorious Union.' I believe that he could not prove recreant, and must be, as ever, for the Union. His position illustrates that of thousands. They may be crushed to-day, but will rise in turn and crush the real invaders of their homes and despoilers of their happiness. They were constantly under the threats of imprisonment or of the bowie-knife and revolver, to intimidate and awe them into silence and submission. who would not submit to the despotism were shot down, imprisoned, or compelled to flee the country precipitately, leaving property, and in many instances, dear relations behind them. At the time of my departure, I was said to be the last publicly known Unionist in the city,' the thousands of others were crushed and made to seemingly yield to the powers that be. Disgraceful and discreditable as it is, many from the North were among the most noisy and bitter enemies Unionists had to contend against. Men, who a year or more before were 'Republicans' in the North, were now spies and informers against citizens of the South, both native and adopted. My persecutors were men who had been but a little while there. The dearest and nearest friends I had were natives or long residents of the South. They urged me to leave because of the personal dangers that environed me. But to the credit of Northern virtue and patriotic love for the Union, I was proud to witness that the great body of them left the country, and many are now heroically fighting the battles of Liberty. The feeling towards the Northern classes had been most cordially fraternal, until the election of Lincoln, when it