t of
Washington, while his wit has become proverbial. His integrity, which
his bitterest opponent never questioned, won for him the name of
"Honest Abe." He was one of the most kind-hearted of men, and his rule
of life was "malice toward none and charity for all". He grew with the
demands of the tremendous responsibilities placed upon him, and the
reputation he won as patriot, statesman, and leader has been surpassed
by no previous President and becomes greater with the passing years.

MAJOR ANDERSON AND FORT SUMTER.

All eyes were turned toward Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. It was the
strongest of the defenses. Major Robert Anderson, learning that the
Confederates intended to take possession of it, secretly removed his
garrison from Fort Moultrie on the night of December 26, 1860. Anderson
was in a trying position, for the secretary of war, Floyd, and the
adjutant-general of the army, Cooper, to whom he was obliged to report,
were secessionists, and not only refused to give him help, but threw
every obstacle in his way. President Buchanan was surrounded by
secessionists, and most of the time was bewildered as to his course of
duty. He resented, however, the demand of Secretary Floyd for the
removal of Anderson because of the change he had made from Moultrie to
Sumter. Floyd resigned and was succeeded by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, an
uncompromising Unionist, who did all he could to hold up the President
in his tottering position of a friend of the Union. The latter grew
stronger as he noted the awakening sentiment of loyalty throughout the
North. An admirable act was the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as
attorney-general, for he was a man of great ability and a relentless
enemy of secession.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

[Illustration: JEFFERSON DAVIS.]

Jefferson Davis, who had been chosen President of the Southern
Confederacy that was formed at Montgomery, Alabama, early in February,
was born in Kentucky, June 3, 1808. Thus he and President Lincoln were
natives of the same State, with less than a year's difference in their
ages. Davis was graduated at West Point in 1828, and served on the
northwest frontier, in the Black Hawk War. He was also a lieutenant of
cavalry in the operations against the Comanches and Apaches. He resigned
from the army and became a cotton-planter in Mississippi, which State he
represented in Congress in 1845-46, but resigned to assume the colonelcy
of the First Mississippi regiment.

Colo