CHAPTER IX.

SLAVERY'S SETTING AND FREEDOM'S DAWN.

THE LAST NIGHT OF THE 36TH CONGRESS—MR. CRITTENDEN'S PATRIOTIC APPEAL—"THE SADDEST SPECTACLE EVER SEEN"—IMPOTENCY OF THE BETRAYED AND FALLING STATE—DOUGLAS'S POWERFUL PLEA—PATRIOTISM OF HIMSELF AND SUPPORTERS—LOGAN SUMMARIZES THE COMPROMISES, AND APPEALS TO PATRIOTISM ABOVE PARTY—STATESMANLIKE BREADTH OF DOUGLAS, BAKER AND SEWARD—HENRY WINTER DAVIS ELOQUENTLY CONDENSES "THE SITUATION" IN A NUTSHELL—"THE FIRST FRUITS OF RECONCILIATION" OFFERED BY THE NORTH, SCORNED BY THE CONSPIRATORS—WIGFALL AGAIN SPEAKS AS THE MOUTHPIECE OF THE SOUTH—HE RAVES VIOLENTLY AT THE NORTH—THE SOUTH REJECTS PEACE "EITHER IN THE UNION, OR OUT OF IT"—THE DAWN OF FREEDOM APPEARS (MARCH 4TH, 1861)—INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN—LINCOLN'S FIRST INAUGURAL—GRANDEUR AND PATHOS OF HIS PATRIOTIC UTTERANCES—HIS FIRST SLEEPLESS AND PRAYERFUL NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE—THE MORROW, AND ITS BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT—THE MESSAGE OF "PEACE AND GOOD WILL" REGARDED AS A "CHALLENGE TO WAR"—PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S CABINET