When  the  Southern  rebels  fired  upon  Fort  Sumter,  it  found  this  vast  North
unarmed,  untrained  in  the  art  of  war,  and  in  a  state  of  such  profound  peace
as  to  warrant  the  belief  that  hostilities  could  not  be  begun  by  those  who  had,
since  the  foundation  of  this  Union,  boasted  loudly  of  their  loyalty  to  the  Con-
stitution of  the  United  States.  The  rumors  of  disaffection  that  had  alarmed
the  more  watchful  had  aroused  but  trifling  fears  in  the  breasts  of  the  great  mass
of  Northern  citizens.  War  between  the  States  had,  prior  to  that  time,  been
deemed  an  impossibility.  The  sentiments  of  fraternal  unity _  were  so  deep-
abiding  in  the  hearts  of  the  North,  that  treason  was  regarded  as  an  improbable
crime,  and  overt  acts  of  antagonism  to  the  Government  too  base  in  their
intent  to  be  worthy  of  serious  consideration.
But  the  hand  of  the  aged  Rufiin,  as  he  laid  the  blazing  torch  upon  the  gun
within  Stevens'  battery,  lighted  a  flame  which  spread  throughout  the. land  with
electric  rapidity,  and  illumined  the  nation  with  a  glare  that  revealed  the  truth
of  rebel  threats  The  boom  of  the  first  gun  awakened  the  passive  people  to
the  dread  reality  of  their  position.  From  Maine  to  Oregon,  from  Superior  to
the  Ohio,  the  country  arose,  as  with  a  single  impulse,  to  respond  to  the  demands
of  the  hour.  There  was  no  need  of  prompting  them,  no  need  of  canvassing
for  strength,  no  hesitating  as  to  measures,  no  thought  of  compromise.  But  one
course  could  be  pursued,  and  that  the  people  comprehended  as  though  inspired
by  some  higher  mentor.  The  Union  must  be  preserved.  Each  individual
member  of  society  felt  the  urgent  necessity  of  prompt  and  concerted  action.
