He warned the North that they were dealing with "a nation, and not with a faction." Mr.Clement C.Clay, Jr., of Alabama, boasted that in the convention which adopted the Ordinance of Secession in his State there was not one friend of the Union; and he resented with indignation what he termed the offensive calumny of the Republicans in denouncing slavery and polygamy as twin relics of barbarism.

The action of Alabama, he said, was not from "sudden, spasmodic, and violent passion." It was the conclusion her people had reached "after years of enmity, injustice, and injury at the hands of their Northern brethren." Instead of causing surprise, "it is rather matter of reproach that they have endured so much and so long, and have deferred this act of self-defense until to-day." Mr.Clay's speech was insulting and exasperating to the last degree.

His colleague, Mr.Fitzpatrick, a man of better tempter, showed reserve and an indisposition to discuss the situation.

He contented himself with the expression of a general concurrence in the views of Mr.Clay, adding no word of bitterness himself.

He said that he "acknowledged loyalty to no other power than to the sovereign State of Alabama." But for the pressure brought upon him, Mr.Fitzpatrick would have been glad to retain his seat in the Senate and wait the course of events.