THE CONVENTION CLINGS TO THE UNION. 191

Several prayers of this kind were offered by negro men, the above being only a very short portion of one of them. The demonstrations generally grew louder as they proceeded. A suitable sermon from the white pastor followed, after which some negroes carried round the bags for collections, to which all contributed; and before the bags (which were attached to long poles, the more easily to be handed among the seats) were returned to the minister, the collectors stood for a few minutes making a most ostentatious business of selecting from the divisions of their own porte-monnaies, a suitable coin, which was at last dropped audibly from a very unnecessary height into the general receptacle.

It is almost needless to state that a number of excellent cloth suits, and many expensive and handsome dresses were to be seen among these "gay nymphs of Africa," as well as the "pink and yellow shawls, wonderful bonnetry, and very quaint booting," so graphically described by Dr. W. H. Russell, from Maryland.

During the month of January, the public voice of Southern newspapers grew louder for the secession of Virginia, while the prudent and deliberate politicians, to whose hands this important movement was entrusted, continued to exclaim, "Let us wait." The Union, so dear to the American heart, was not to be severed without a vigorous struggle; and upon the shoulders of the Convention were to be shifted the responsibilities of action.

Young Secessia were sporting their blue badges, and beginning to drill, declaiming strongly against "submission."

A large number of young men had been discharged from stores and offices on account of the decrease of trade, and "hard times" grew harder. Among one of the trivial consequences of which lastnamed condition of things, was, that the salary offered me by the Quences was about one half of what one might have reasonably expected; but money-making not being the sole object of my life, I was found in this respect among the "submissionists.”

Though it is but of very little consequence what one solitary woman chose to do, I must here bear the testimony of my limited experience to the truth of the observation of Senator Hunter, respecting the "almost entire insensibility which prevailed in the North;" for among a very large circle of my Northern acquaintance, independently of relatives, were some persons of extensive business and influence, including members of Congress, members of State legislatures, and lawyers who were not "unaccustomed to public speaking," also editors. My life in America had already awakened the most lively interest in its institutions, and respect for the country as "the Union." I saw that since the visit of the Prince, all Europe, and particularly England, had comprehended and respected the United States as they had never done before. Never were the prospects of America so promising, and never did a pros

THE DELUDED NORTH.

193

perous country seem more likely to come to unwarrantable destruction. I never wrote one letter to those Northern friends without trying to convince them of the strong unyielding determination that was evident in the South; nay, I was silly enough to write many letters on purpose, to such influential persons as I thought might, in their own localities, control the rest; but in every reply were such expressions as these: "You are deceived;" "South Carolina will be glad to come back in a very few weeks;" "You are misled by a few;" "We shall soon bring them to reason and submission;" "They cannot live without us," &c., &c., declaring that not one star would be lost from the national banner, at the very time when State after State was passing the Ordinance of Secession.

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And not the least provoking of all erroneous notions were the comments of the English press, at that early stage of the revolution, before the tour of Dr. W. H. Russell through the Southern States, was creating the strangest jumble of slavery, geography, and "insurrections" out of the chaos of American politics.

One of the last events in Virginia before I left Richmond, was an address to the people from the State representatives at Washington, members of Congress, of whom were the Hon. J. M. Mason, the present Minister of the Southern Confederacy to England, and the Hon. R. M. T. Hunter, with about ten other senators. They warned their native State

VOL. I.

that it was "vain to hope for any measures of conciliation or adjustment, which they could accept." That the Republican party designed "by civil war alone to coerce the Southern States, under pretext of enforcing the laws; unless it should become speedily apparent that the seceding States were so numerous, determined, and united, as to make an attempt hopeless." They concluded by expressing their solemn conviction that "prompt and decided action by the people of Virginia in Convention will afford the surest means under the providence of God of averting an impending civil war, and preserving the hope of reconstructing a Union, already dissolved."

But when the Convention did assemble, there was no "prompt and decided action."

A perfect flood of patriotic poetry deluged the daily papers. The Muses were never so diligently courted. "Dixie's Land" became a national melody, and one song remained the rage only till replaced by another deemed still more appropriate.

CHAPTER XII.

A Cold Adieu to the Wharneford House.-Snow-drifts to be Overcome. The Gentleman from Florida.-Mr. Quence.Novel Mode of Travelling.-Misgivings.-My New Home.Laws for the Protection of Feeble or Aged Slaves.-President Lincoln's distrust of himself.-Non-committal Policy.

ONE of the disagreeables that attend living in a "great country" is, that in order to accomplish as many miles as possible in a day's journey, the trains are arranged to start, if not in the "wee small hours o' the night," certainly before daylight, even in the summer mornings. The journey before me was about fifty miles to the north of Richmond, on the Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad, and the hour of starting, half-past five, A.M. My first experience of Virginian country-life having been so very agreeable, I bade adieu to my friends the night before, full of expectations of renewed botanical rambles and most congenial society.

A hack-carriage had been ordered to take me to the railroad. Aunt Jenny had promised to call me "right smart early," and make a good fire, for Frances was always up late at night, waiting upon the Misses