prescribed by the Constitution or laws of the State of South Carolina in force immediately before the date of the so called Ordinance of Secession. And the said convention which convenes, or the Legislature that may thereafter be assembled will prescribe the qualifications of electors and the eligibility of persons to hold office under the Constitution and laws of the State, as or may the people of the several States composing the Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the Government to the present time. And I do hereby direct, etc.” In the proclamation appeared the command that the military authorities should in no way obstruct, hinder or interfere with the above.[189] Just previously to Governor Perry’s proclamation calling such convention, a letter appeared contributing greatly to the success of the President’s plan in South Carolina. The writer of the letter was Wade Hampton, late Lieutenant General, C.S.A. The letter reveals the despairing condition of many, in its attempt to assuage such. It was widely reproduced and ran thus: “To the editor of the Columbia Phoenix, Sir: Numerous communications having been addressed to me, proposing to form a colony to emigrate, I take this method of answering them, not only on account of their number but because of the want of all mail facilities. The desire to leave a country which has been reduced to such a deplorable condition as ours and whose future has so little of hope is doubtless as widespread as it is natural. But I doubt the propriety of this expatriation of so many of our best men. The very fact that our State is passing through so terrible an ordeal as the present should cause her sons to cling the more closely to her. My advice to all of my fellow citizens is that they should devote their whole energies to the restoration of law and order, the reestablishment of agriculture and commerce, the promotion of education and the rebuilding of our cities and dwellings which have been laid in ashes. To accomplish these objects, the highest that patriotism can conceive, I recommend that all, who can do so should take the oath of allegiance to the United States Government, so that they may participate in the restoration of Civil Government to our State. War, after four years of heroic but unsuccessful struggle has failed to secure to us the rights for which we engaged in it. To save any of our rights—to rescue anything more from the general ruin—will require all the statesmanship and all the patriotism of our citizens. If the best men of our country—those who for years past have risked their lives in her defence—refuse to take the oath, they will be excluded from the councils of the State, and its destiny will be committed of necessity to those who forsook her in her hour of need or to those who would gladly pull her down to irretrievable ruin. To guard against such a calamity, let all true patriots devote