was justly promoted to the head of the Post-office Department.
Mr. Holt was the only Southern man left in the Cabinet. He was a
native of Kentucky, long a resident of Mississippi, always identified
with the Democratic party, and affiliated with its extreme Southern
wing. Without a moment's hesitation he now broke all the associations
of a lifetime, and stood by the Union without qualification or
condition. His learning, his firmness, and his ability, were
invaluable to Mr. Buchanan in the closing days of his administration.

General John A. Dix of New York was called to the head of the
Treasury. He was a man of excellent ability, of wide experience
in affairs, of spotless character, and a most zealous friend of
the Union. He found the Treasury bankrupt, the discipline of its
officers in the South gone, its orders disregarded in the States
which were preparing for secession. He at once imparted spirit
and energy into the service,--giving to the administration of this
department a policy of pronounced loyalty to the government. No
act of his useful and honorable life has been so widely known or
will be so long remembered as his dispatch to the Treasury agent
at New Orleans to take possession of a revenue cutter whose commander
was suspected of disloyalty and of a design to transfer his vessel
to the Confederate service. Lord Nelson's memorable order at
Trafalgar was not more inspiring to the British navy than was the
order of General Dix to the American people, when, in the gloom of
that depressing winter, he telegraphed South his peremptory words,
"If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on
the spot."

Thus reconstructed, the Cabinet as a whole was one of recognized
power,--marked by high personal character, by intellectual training,
by experience in affairs, and by aptitude for the public service.
There have been Cabinets perhaps more widely known for the possession
of great qualities; but, if the history of successive administrations
from the origin of the government be closely studied, it will be
found that the re-organized Cabinet of President Buchanan must take
rank as one of exceptional ability.

For the remaining two months of Mr. Buchanan's administration the
destinies of the country were in the keeping of these constitutional
advisers. If in any respect they failed to come to the standard
of a loyalty that was quickened by subsequent developments, they
no doubt fairly represent