The press of the South, save a few "bitter-enders," was unusu-
ally conservative, in spite of the commonly accepted opinion,
in the matter of secession. About three hundred journals were
received in exchange from below the Mason and Dixon Line by
The National Intelligencer, of Washington: of these, only fifty
were for the Nashville Convention. The New York Herald, in
commenting on this fact, remarked that some of these fifty were
"backing down." Both the Whig and the Democratic press of
the South were continually urging their readers to await the
results of compromising measures. The Whig journals of the
South, with The Richmond Whig as a leader, were strongly op-
posed to secession. The Texas Advertiser once recommended that
the introduction of the slavery question into Congress be pun-
ished with expulsion. The Louisiana Gazette frequently scouted
the idea of dissolution. The Raleigh Press begged that "if we
have to fight for liberty, let us fight with the Stars and Stripes."
The New Orleans Crescent opposed violence. The Memphis Eagle
even went so far as to characterize the peaceful secession of a
State as a most absurd vagary. The Memphis Inquirer urged
every one " to put his foot on disunion." Such newspapers as The
Mobile Advertiser, The New Orleans Bulletin, The Nashville
Banner, The Natchez Courier, etc., warned the South of its
dependence upon the North, and suggested that before any dras-
tic action be taken the South should be made independent of
"Yankee" factories for the manufacture of finished products.
On the other hand, a few papers of the South thought they saw the approaching conflict. The Savannah Republican again and again prophesied that civil war between the free and the slave States was inevitable. The Abbeville Banner asked the South to rebuke the North by refusing to read the papers of the latter even if they were cheaper. The Natchez Free Trader boldly re- commended secession as a constitutional and safe remedy for the wrongs of the South. The Charleston Mercury asserted that "the tea has been thrown overboard" and that "the Revolution of 1860 has been initiated." From The Hornet's Nest of Charlotte, North Carolina, came many "stings" for the North. That paper
