=450. From the Election to the Inauguration.=—While the South, during the months between the election and the inauguration of Lincoln, was setting up its new government and preparing for war, the North could do nothing. President Buchanan, as we have already seen, scarcely lifted a finger to prevent the secession of the Southern states. There is even reason for thinking that he encouraged it,[200] although in the main he was loyal. Howell Cobb of Georgia, Buchanan’s Secretary of the Treasury, John B. Floyd of Virginia, Secretary of War, as well as Secretary Thompson, actively and openly sympathized with the Southern leaders and gave them constant advice and assistance. Floyd even received Thomas F. Drayton, the agent of South Carolina, and negotiated with him for the sale of arms; and W. H. Trescott, the Assistant Secretary of State, was in constant correspondence with Governor Gist, of South Carolina, in regard to all plans for secession.[201] This activity at the South gave great alarm to the North. Lincoln remained at Springfield until it was time to start for Washington for the inauguration, but he was beset with demands for an explanation of the policy which he would pursue. Though he wrote numerous private letters, he positively refused to give out a word for publication. His letters, since published, show that he never wavered from his purpose to defend the property of the United States government in the South. In the course of his journey to Washington, he made several speeches that showed remarkable firmness, united with a deep sense of responsibility. Hearing in Philadelphia, from two independent sources, of a plot to assassinate him in Baltimore, he reluctantly yielded to the urgent advice of his friends, and secretly boarded a special train in order to elude possible assassins by passing through Baltimore in the night.