ive failed to
comprehend; and he closed by stating that the conscription must go on.

Governor Brown found no supporters for his extreme views, even in the
anti-administration party. The people felt the imminence of the danger;
and here, as in all matters of deep import, they placed the
conservation of the cause high above partisan prejudices, or jealousies
of cliques. Utterly silenced by the calm dignity and incisive logic of
Mr. Davis, and abandoned by the few supporters his defiance of the
administration had at first collected around him, Governor Brown was
forced to yield; achieving only the conviction that he had the general
condemnation of the popular voice.

Once set in motion, the machinery of conscription worked rapidly and
somewhat smoothly. The Camps of Instruction in all states not possessed
by the enemy filled rapidly, and the class of conscripts on the whole
was fairly good. By early summer they began to arrive in Richmond and
"Camp Lee"--the station where they were collected--became a point
equally of curiosity to the exempt and of dread to the liable.

It was curious to note the prevalence of the various state-traits,
showing in the squads of conscripts from time to time passing through
the city. The sturdy farmers from the interior, especially those from
Virginia, Georgia and Alabama, though lacking the ease and careless
carriage of the veteran soldier, had a determined port that spoke for
their future usefulness. They were not merry naturally. Called from
accustomed avocations and leaving behind them families defenseless and
without means of support, they could scarcely have marched gaily, even
when willingly, into the Carnival of Death. But they were resolute men,
earnest in their love for the South and honest in their wish to serve
her--with the musket, if that were better than the plough.

Tall and lank, but long-limbed and muscular, the Georgians had a
swinging stride of their own; and, even when the peculiar dialect did
not ring out over their ranks, something in their general style gave
the idea that these were the men who would one day be fellow-soldiers
of the famous "fighting Third."

Ever and anon came a dejected, weary squad with slouching gait and
clayey complexions. Speaking little and then with a flat, unintoned
drawl that told of the vicinage of "salt marsh;" bearing the seeds of
rice-field fevers still in them, and weakly wondering at the novel
sights so far from home, the South Ca