A  convention  of  southern  leaders  met  at
Nashville,  and  by  a  two-thirds  vote  decided
that  any  State  had  the  right  to  secede  from
the  Union.  Not  one  little  State,  as  in  1832,
but  almost  the  entire  South  seemed  on  the
verge  of  taking  the  fatal  step.  Had  secession
been  accomplished  at  this  time  on  so  large  a
scale  as  that  of  ten  years  later,  what  might
have  been  the  result  ?  Jackson  was  in  his
grave,  and  Lincoln  was  unknown,  nor  was
there  any  great  political  party  pledged  to  the
maintenance  of  our  National  integrity.
Had  the  secession  of  the  sixties  occurred
ten  years  earlier,  there  is  little  doubt  that  our
glorious  Union  must  have  perished.  But
milder  counsels  prevailed.  The  South  at
length  decided  to  accept  the  Omnibus  Bill  as
a  finality  —  California  should  come  in  as  a
free  State  without  further  protest  —  on  condi
tion  that  the  North  accept  in  good  faith  the
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Thus  for  a  season  was


.40        SIDE   LIGHTS  ON  AMERICAN   HISTORY

the   inevitable    rupture    between   the    two    sec
tions  postponed.
For  several  years,  following  this  mid-century
compromise,  less  was  heard  of  disunion  than
during  the  preceding  years;  but  in  1856  the
leaders  of  the  slave  States  openly  avowed
that  the  election  of  Fremont  would  result  in
secession.  But  the  time  had  not  yet  come.
The  Providential  Hand  is  plainly  seen  in  avert
ing  the  calamity.  Fremont  lacked  the  stay
ing  qualities  necessary  to  put  down  the  rising
monster,  nor  was  the  new-born  party  he  rep
resented  yet  in  condition  to  cope  with  so  great
an  enemy.  Fremont  was  defeated,  and  the
dragon  slumbered  for  four  years  more.
