South Carolina leads offin seceding. . . . Those who organized the Republican party are responsible for the present condition of affairs." January 18th, the statement was made that " Yancey, Toombs and Rhett are no more disunionists than Horace Greeley." In this morbid strain the opinion of the majority of the county appears to have run till February 1st, when a "State Convention of Democrats" was announced, to ^insist" that there shouUl be " no coercion, no civil

war," with the assertion : " The border States mV/ not pertiiit Lincoln to coerce the Gulf States." [The italics are copied.]

I regret extremely that, from this period to the 10th of May, there is a gap in the files of this paper ; so that it is not possible to say how the Westchester County Democrats officially took the news of the firing on Fort Sumter. It can only be judged from the coincidence of the tone of this and the other papers of the county with that of the New York papers of the same opinion. That it could not have changed materially is plain from the first heading that strikes the eye on May 10th, which is " Peace ! Peace! Down with the Black Republicans," though, among the news items, appears the drilling of a company in White Plains, raised by Captain (afterwards Colonel) Janies J. Chambers, in which complimentary notice is given the men.

The news of the attack on Fort Sumter, and especially that of its surrender, as is well known, produced a great change of public opinion in the city of New Y'ork, in favor of the administration of Mr. Lincoln, and of an ett'ort to put down the Rebellion.