It seems now to have been providential; for in this Continental plot against liberty the superior sagacity of Calhoun and his associates was demonstrated by subsequent events, while Mr. Stephens, with his great influence in the South, could almost certainly have secured its triumph if he had become its champion instead of its enemy. CHAPTER III. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1848--ITS INCIDENTS AND RESULTS. The approach of another presidential campaign--Party divisions threatened by the Wilmot proviso--Nomination of Gen. Cass--The "Nicholson Letter"--Democratic division in New York--The nomination of Gen. Taylor--Whig divisions--Birth of the Free Soil party--The Buffalo Convention--Nomination of Van Buren and Adams--Difficulty of uniting on Van Buren--Incidents--Rev. Joshua Leavitt--The work of the campaign--Mr. Webster and Free Soil--Greeley and Seward-- Abuse of Whig bolters--Remarkable results of the canvass. The approach of another presidential year was thus marked by a steadily growing interest in the question of slavery. The conflict with it seemed far more irrepressible than ever before. The Liberty party had nominated John P. Hale as its candidate in 1847. The Whigs in Massachusetts were threatened with an incurable division into "Conscience Whigs" and "Cotton Whigs," growing out of the question of annexation and the government of our new Territories. The same causes were dividing the Democrats of New York, and the feud was seriously aggravated by remembering the defeat of Mr. Van Buren in 1844, for the one sin of opposing the immediate annexation of Texas, while a large majority of the party favored his nomination. The Van Buren element in the Democratic party threatened revolt in other States, while both Whigs and Democrats in the North were committed to the policy of the Wilmot proviso. This was to be the great question of the ensuing national canvass, and the roused spirit of the people of the free States seemed clearly to foreshadow the triumph of freedom in the organization and government of our Mexican acquisitions.