Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “Character of the Secession Leaders,” December 27, 1860

Character of the Secession Leaders. The August Chronicle and Sentinel remarks: -

“A said thing to observe is, that those who are determined on immediate secession have not the coolness, the capacity, or the nerve to propose something after that. We must secede, it is said, but what them we are to do nobody knows, or at least nobody says. This is extremely foolish, and more wicked than foolish. All sorts of business are going to wreck and ruin because of the uncertainty of the future. No Statesmanship has ever been exhibited yet, so far as we know, by those who will dissolve the Union. South Carolina considers it her policy to court a collision with the Federal authorities for the purpose of arousing the South from her slumbers. Never was a greater mistake.”