The Democratic National Convention was called for the first time to meet far South, in the city of Charleston, the home of Calhoun, the cradle of nullification, and the one place in the Union where secession ran rampant. It was obviously intended to environ the convention with an army of the ablest Southern leadership. The convention met on the 23d of April, 1860, and every State was fully represented, with double delegations from Illinois and New York. The few administration followers in Illinois had made a rump Democratic organization and sent an anti-Douglas delegation to Charleston, and in New York they had another contest between the “Hards” and the “Softs,” the “Hards” being opposed to Douglas and the “Softs” for him. Caleb Cushing was made permanent president, and it was decided that no ballot should be had for President until a platform was adopted. On the following day the convention did not get beyond the settlement of contested seats, admitting the “Softs” of New York and the Douglas men from Illinois, and the debates on even the most trivial disputes were unusually bitter. On the third day threats of bolting became common among the Southern delegates, as the admission of the Douglas delegates from New York and Illinois clearly indicated that the Douglas people controlled the convention. On the fourth day majority and minority reports were made on the platform, the majority by Mr. Avery, of North Carolina, and the minority by Mr. Payne, of Ohio. General Benjamin F. Butler, who was a prominent delegate in the convention, as he would be anywhere, and who voted for Jefferson Davis for the Presidency right along, presented a minority report of his own, and Senator Bayard, of Delaware, followed with a platform of his invention. On the fifth day Senator Bigler, of Pennsylvania, moved to recommit the platforms to the committee with instructions to report in an hour, and the motion to recommit was carried, 152 to 151, while the motion to instruct was lost by a very large vote. On the same day Mr. Avery, from the majority of the committee on platform, reported a new declaration of principles, and an elaborate discussion followed, and Mr. Samuels, of Iowa, presented a new minority report.