sacrilege. They realized the importance of establishing the order in the
North. The leaders saw with delight the working of secret organizations,
where men were sworn to secrecy, and drawn onward step by step, till they
reached the very brink of the fearful precipice. Thus did the people
fasten upon themselves and each other the shackles of slavery, which they
have since so unwillingly worn. The doctrine of State sovereignty
proclaimed by John C. Calhoun, and which, together with its apostles,
Jackson well knew how to receive, had been instilled into the minds of the
people of the States, which since their admission into the Union had been
at war with destiny, and in the hope of securing perpetuity of their
peculiar institutions, they attempted the dissolution of the Union. Truly
gratifying it must have been to the extremists in those States to have
watched the gathering clouds, and to listen to the low murmuring thunder
which presaged the coming storm, and well they knew how fearful would be
its fury, but blinded to the inevitable result, they were confident of
ultimate success, when they should have so far disseminated the Calhoun
poison at the North, as to have made oath-bound slaves in such numbers as
would paralyze the efforts of Union men, and render it necessary to recall
our armies from the field to suppress insurrection at home, and to change
the theatre of the war to Northern soil. None knew the importance of
introducing the machinery of secret political organizations better than
Davis himself, for he had not forgotten the Charleston Convention, the
working of the secret orders then, and subsequent events had of course
confirmed him in the opinion that a divided North would not be a
formidable adversary, and that he was warranted in the firm belief that
his wish to be "let alone" would be realised. With these views, shrewd and
sagacious men established themselves early in Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana,
Illinois and other States, and put the machinery in motion. The order
sprung up in various sections of the country, and treason flourished well,
as poisonous plants often show the greatest vitality. This plan was a