this Union shall not be held together by force whenever it shall have ceased to cohere by the mutual attraction of its parts; and whenever the slave States or the cotton States only shall unitedly and coolly say to the rest. "We want to get out of the Union," we shall urge that their request be acceded to.

New York Tribune, 30 Nov. 1860.- Are We Going to Fight? But if the cotton States generally unite with her in seceding, we insist that they cannot be prevented, and that the attempt must not be made.

New York Tribune, 24 Dec. 1860. Most certainly we believe that governments are made for the peoples, not peoples for the governments; that the latter derive their just power from the consent of the governed; and whenever a portion of this Union, large enough to form an independent self-sustaining nation, shall show that, and say authentically to the residue, "We want to get away from you," I shall say, and we trust self-respect, if not regard for the principles of self-government, will constrain the residue of the American "Go." people to say, New York Tribune, 28 Dec. 1860.Nor is it treason for the State to hate the Union and seek its disruption. A State, a whole section, may come to regard the Union as a blight upon its prosperity, an obstacle to its progress, and be fully justified in seeking its dissolution. And in spite of the adverse clamor, we insist that if ever a third or even a fourth of these States shall have deliberately concluded that the Union is injurious to them, and that their vital interests require their separation from it, they will have a perfect right to seek separation; and should they do so with reasonable patience and due regard for the rights and interests of those they leave behind, we shall feel bound to urge and insist that their wishes be gratified their demand conceded.

During the time the States were seceding Mr. Greeley published many similar statements. Nor was the Tribune alone, for much of the New York press and prominent journals and able editors in many of the Northern States coincided in these views. "Wayward sisters, go in peace," was the cry on every hand, echoed from the lips of the general of the army, with the refrain uttered by the eminent Republican leader Salmon P. Chase: "The South is not worth fighting for; let them alone." The New York Herald, a journal which claimed to be independent of all party influences, said on 25 Nov. 1860: "Coercion in any event is out of the question. A Union held together by the bayonet would be nothing better than a military despotism." And the same paper said: "Each State is organized as a complete government, holding the purse and wielding the sword, possessing the right to break the tie of the confederation, and to repel coercion as a nation might repel invasion. Coercion, if it

were possible, is out of the question." The New York Times of 3 and 4 Dec. 1860 appealed to the people of the North to repeal the State laws preventing the return of fugitive slaves and by moderation and forbearance to prevent the threatened and almost inevitable dissolution of the Union. In March 1861, after Lincoln's inauguration, the Commercial, the leading Republican paper of Ohio, said:

We are not in favor of blockading the southern coast. We are not in favor of retaking by force the property of the United States now in possession of the seceders. We would recognize the existence of a government formed of all the slaveholding States and attempt to cultivate amicable relations with it.

In January 1861, after six States had seceded, James S. Thayer said, at a great meeting in New York:

We can at least, in an authoritative manner, arrive at the basis of a peaceable separation. The public mind will bear the avowal, and let us make it, that if a revolution of force is to begin, it shall be inaugurated at home. And if the incoming administration shall attempt to carry out the line of policy that has been foreshadowed, we announce that, when the hand of black Republicanism turns to blood-red, and seeks from the fragments of the Constitution to construct a scaffolding for coercion another name for execution we will reverse the order of the French

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Revolution, and save the blood of the people by making those who would inaugurate a reign of terror the first victims of a national guillotine!

These expressions were received with enthusiastic applause. At the same meeting ex-Gov. Horatio Seymour asked whether "successful coercion by the North is less revolutionary than successful secession by the South? At the same meeting ex-Chancellor Walworth said: "It would be brutal, in my opinion, to send men to butcher our own brothers of the Southern States as it would be to massacre them in the Northern States." Other distinguished speakers and editors throughout the North and West the repeatedly expressed same sentiments. Even Mr. Lincoln, when delivering his inaugural address on 4 March 1861, although arguing the right to secede, did not openly enunciate the right of coercion, and while asserting his intention "to hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and collect the duties and imposts," said that "beyond what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force, against or among the people anywhere."

Course of Secession. The Southern States having no hope of retaining or obtaining their rights under the Constitution except by a separation from the Federal government called conventions to decide upon what course to pursue, and ended by withdrawing from the Union. South Carolina took the lead, her Ordinance of Secession being adopted 20 Dec. 1860. Six other States quickly followed her in the following order: Mississippi on 9 January, Florida on 10 January, Alabama on 11 January, Georgia on 18 January, Louisiana on 23 January and Texas on 1 Feb. 1861. As one by one the Southern States fell into line asserting their right and determination to renounce the Federal compact, the United States officials in these States, both military and civil, peacefully turned over their charge within the limits of each State to the authorities of the same, the only exceptions being the isolated fortifications of Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. The machinery of government went on without delay, the same officials performed their customary duties, and when the provisional government was established the only change was the substituting the authority and name of the Confederate States for those of the United States. On 21 Jan. 1861 Jefferson Davis, in his speech when relinquishing his seat in the United States Senate, said:

I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of announcing to the Senate that I have satisfactory evidence that the State of Mississippi by a solemn ordinance of her people, in convention assembled, has declared her separation from the United States. If it be the purpose of gentlemen

they may make war against a State which has withdrawn from the Union; but there are no laws of the United States to be executed within the limits of a seceded State. A State, finding herself in the condition in which Mississippi has judged she is in which her safety requires that she should provide for the maintenance of her rights out of the Union surrenders all the benefits (and they are known to be many), deprives herself of the advantages (and they are known to be great), severs all the ties of affection (and they are close and enduring), which have bound her to the Union; and thus divesting herself of every benefit - taking upon herself every burden --she claims to be exempt from any power to execute the laws of the United States within her limits We recur to the principles upon which our government was founded; and when you deny them and when you deny to us the right to withdraw from a government which, thus perverted, threatens to be destructive of our rights, we but tread in the path of our fathers, when we proclaim our independence and take the hazard.

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Here in the words of the man who was afterward the chosen chief of the reorganized federation, the reason for secession is given and the right of secession claimed. The senators from Florida and Alabama withdrew at the same time.

The Peace Congress.- On 19 Jan. 1861, the legislature of Virginia in extraordinary session passed a resolution requesting all the States to send delegates to Washington to meet in convention on 4 February to confer upon some feasible and possible plan upon which to settle the difficulties between the sections. The body which is known in history as the Peace Congress sat in Washington from 4 to 27 February, but accomplished nothing. Five Northern States were not represented, and while there still existed a very conciliatory spirit in many parts of the North, it was unfortunate that many prominent men were bitterly opposed to the slightest concessions to the South. The speech of Judge Chase of Ohio, afterward Chief Justice of the United States, distinctly gave it to be understood that the Northern States would make no concessions. He said:

The result of the national canvass which recently terminated in the election of Mr. Lincoln, has been spoken of by some as the effect of a sudden impulse or of some irregular excitement of the popular mind; and it has been somewhat confidently asserted that, upon reflection and consideration, the hastily formed opinions which brought about that election will be changed. I cannot take this view

We

of the result of the presidential election. I believe, and the belief amounts to absolute conviction, that the election must be regarded as a triumph of principles cherished_in the hearts of the people of the free States. have elected him [Mr. Lincoln). After many years of earnest advocacy and of severe trial we have achieved the triumph of that principle. By a fair and unquestioned majority we have secured that triumph. Do you think we, who represent this majority, will throw it away? think the people will sustain us if we undertake to throw it away? I must speak to you plainly, gentlemen of the South. It is not in my heart to deceive you. I therefore tell you explicitly that if we of the North and West would consent to throw away all that has been gained in the recent triumph of our principles, the people would not sustain us, and so, the consent would avail you nothing.

Do you

Dear Sir: When Virginia proposed a convention in Washington in reference to the disturbed condition of the country I regarded it as another effort to distract the public mind, and a step towards obtaining that concession which the imperious slave power so insolently demands.

We have been assured by friends upon whom we can rely that if those two States, Michigan and Wisconsin, should send delegations of true unflinching men, there would probably be a majority in favor of the Constitution as it is, who would frown down rebellion by enforcement of laws. It cannot be doubted that the recommendations of the convention will have a considerable influence upon the public mind, and upon the action of Congress.

I hope I shall be pardoned for suggesting that it may be justifiable and proper, by any honorable means, to avert the lasting disgrace which will attach to a free people who, by the peaceful exercise of the ballot, have just released themselves from the tyranny of slavery, if they should now succumb to treasonable threats, and again submit to degrading thraldom.

K. S. Bingham.

To His Excellency, Governor Blair. Senator Zach Chandler wrote: Washington, 11 Feb. 1861. My dear Governor:- Governor Bingham and myself telegraphed you on Saturday, at the request of Massachusetts and New York, to send delegates to the Peace or Compromise Congress. They admit that we were right, and that they were wrong; that no Republican State should

have sent delegates; but they are here and they cannot get away; Ohio, Indiana, and Rhode Island are caving in, and there is danger of Illinois; and now they beg us, for God's sake, to come to their rescue, and save the Republican party from rupture. I hope you will send stiff-backed men, or The whole thing was gotten up against my judgment and advice, and will end in thin smoke. Still, I hope, as a matter of courtesy to some of our erring brethren, that you will send the delegates. Truly your friend,

none.

His Excellency, Austin Blair.

Z. Chandler.

P. S.-Some of the manufacturing States think that a fight would be awful. Without a little blood-letting, this Union will not, in my estimation, be worth a rush.

These letters were promptly published in the Detroit Free Press and also in the Congressional Globe. Senator Powell commenting, in the Senate, upon the letters, said: "I think it evident from these letters that there is and has been a fixed purpose in certain quarters, that the peace conference should do nothing. It is very evident that these 'stiff-backed' gentlemen were to be sent in order to prevent any compromise being presented." Senator Chandler said: "It is a question in which the people of Michigan take a great interest. They are opposed to all compromises; they do not believe that any compromise is necessary, nor do I. They are prepared to stand by the Constitution of the United States as it is; ay, sir, to stand by it to blood, if necessary." A majority of the convention or congress was sufficiently moderate to recommend a measure to Congress which would, without doubt, have preserved peace and union, but when presented to the United States Congress it was met with cool indifference, objection was made to its consideration and upon a vote it was rejected.

The failure of the Peace Congress and the finally expressed determination of the government to make no concessions and to exercise the forces of the government in coercion forced Virginia and the other so-called border States from their conservative position. Arkansas adopted an Ordinance of Secession on 15 April, and Virginia on 17 April. In the latter State the Ordinance was to be made subject to the ratification of the people late in May, but the action of the Federal government in preparing for war and the proclamation of President Lincoln calling for troops hastened her union with her sister States of the South. Tennessee passed an Ordinance of Secession on 6 May, which was ratified by the people on 8 June, and North Carolina seceded on 20 May. Such a division of sentiment existed in Kentucky and Missouri that while they did not secede they were given representation in the Confederate Congress.

Formation of the Confederate Government. In the meantime the several conventions of the first seven seceded States appointed deputies to a congress, naming Montgomery, Ala., as the place and 4 February as the time of meeting. This assembly formed a new federation under the name of the Confederate States of America, elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, President and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, Vice-President, and drew up a Constitution establishing a provisional government, and on 11 March adopted the permanent Constitution of the Confederate States. Alexander Stephens, who knew his people, had distinctly declared that "the tendency of the large majority of Georgia is to conser

vatism," and this was true as well of all the other States. It was Mr. Lincoln's proclamation of 15 April that destroyed the last remaining vestige of the hope entertained by the conservatives that a return to the principles of the Constitution by the people of the North and the Federal government might bring about a reconstruction of the Union, a hope to which their hearts still clung tenaciously. Had not two States held aloof from the compact of 1787 to return in 1789 and 1790? Why might not history repeat itself? they thought and argued. The seat of government of the Confederacy was removed to Richmond, Va., and the Provisional Congress met there on 20 July 1861. At this session delegates from Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee were added to the body. The Second Congress met on 22 Feb. 1862, with full representation from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. In the Second Congress which convened on 22 Feb. 1862, the 13 States above named were represented and delegates were present from Arizona and from the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole Nations.

Secession of West Virginia.-As above noted the Virginia Convention passed an ordinance of secession on 17 April 1861, which was submitted to the people and adopted by them. There was a majority against it in the northwestern part of the State. In June 1861, a convention of the Unionist counties was held in Wheeling. This convention adopted an ordinance for a reorganization of the State government, and in August adopted an ordinance providing for the formation of a new State. Most of the citizens being in the field as soldiers on one side or the other, a very small vote was polled, but a majority was for the formation of a new State. In May of 1862 the "reorganized government" of this part of Virginia passed a bill authorizing the formation of a new State. On 31 Dec. 1862, the Congress of the United States passed an act admitting the State of West Virginia into the Union, the law having the following preamble:

Whereas, the people inhabiting that portion of Virginia known as West Virginia did, by a convention assembled in the city of Wheeling on the twenty-sixth of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, frame for themselves a Constitution with a view of becoming a separate and independent State; and whereas at a general election held in the counties composing the territory aforesaid on the third day of May last, the said Constitution was approved and adopted by the qualified voters of the proposed State; and whereas the legislature of Virginia, by an act passed on the thirteenth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixtytwo, did give its consent to the formation of a new State within the jurisdiction of the said State of Virginia, to be known by the name of West Virginia, and to embrace the following named counties. .; and whereas both the convention and the legislature aforesaid have requested that the new State should be admitted into the Union, and the Constitution aforesaid being Republican in form, Congress doth hereby consent that the said forty-eight counties may be formed into a separate and independent State.

The End of Secession.-Although the Supreme Court of the United States several times decided that the seceded States were never legally out of the Union, yet for four years the secession of 11 States was an accomplished fact, and for four years the Confederate States of America was a de facto government, exercising, through its executive, legislative and judicial departments, all the powers and functions of a Federal government within the territory of the

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States which comprised it, under a constitution modeled upon the Constitution of the United States and adopted and ratified by the people of its States. In the States themselves there was no change nor interruption in any of the affairs of government except in the places which were occupied by the Federal armies. But by force of arms the Confederate government was overthrown and each of the seceded States, after a period of reconstruction, came back and took its place in the Union under the old Constitution as amended by the victorious party in the great conflict. See also CIVIL WAR; UNITED STATES CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR; UNITED STATES - SECESSION.

BRIG.-GEN. JOSEPH WHEELER, Author of 'Military History of Alabama.' SECESSIONISTS, the members of an association in Germany similar to that formed in the Société des Beaux Arts at Paris. The Secessionists were artists who revolted against the strictly academic and traditional spirit in which selections and awards were made by the jury which decided the hanging of pictures in the Academy of Art and distributed the medals and other awards voted to their merits. In 1892 Piglhein (q.v.), F. von Uhde (q. v.), Dill, A. Keller, Stück and others founded a new school of naturalism, and this movement in German art was greeted with the same howl of derision as that with which the PreRaphaelites in England had been met. The movement gained ground, especially in Munich, however, the headquarters of a strong conservative and academic coterie. The new spirit here burst into actual revolt; and the members of the "Munich Secession" actually built a new exhibition building for themselves. Their work, moreover, won public recognition and the leaven of their example did its work in vivifying German art. The movement is now merged in the Deutscher Künstlerbund founded in 1904. Consult Bierbaum, Fritz von Uhde'; De la Mazelière, 'La peinture Allemande au XIXe siècle' (1900).

SECESSIONVILLE, sẽ-sěsh'on-vil, Battle of. In May 1862, Gen. D. Hunter, commanding the Department of the South, began preparations for throwing troops upon James Island to make a quick advance upon Charleston, S. C. On 2 June the advance of Gen. I. I. Stevens was landed in the southwest part of the island, and next day made a reconnaissance in force to within a short distance of a battery at Secessionville, about two miles from Stone River, with water on three sides. It was on a narrow causeway bordered by swamps, and approachable by land only from the west. The gunboats co-operated in the movement, which was but partially successful, the Confederates, under Lieut-Col. Ellison Capers, 24th South Carolina, defending the position and inflicting upon Stevens a loss of 17 killed and wounded and taking 22 prisoners. The effect was increased watchfulness on the part of the Confederates, the strengthening of the forces on James Island and the stoppage at Charleston of troops that had been ordered to Richmond to resist McClellan. On the 8th Stevens made another reconnaissance, came under artillery fire and withdrew with a loss of seven killed and wounded. On the same day General Wright's division arrived from Edisto

Island and the next day marched to near Grimball's Landing, two or three miles to the left of Stevens, who was covering the position opposite Legareville, on John's Island. It was determined to carry the battery by a rush, and thus open the way to Charleston, but 10 miles distant; and orders were given for an assault to be made at dawn of 11 June, but Col. T. G. Lamar, in command of the Confederate works at Secessionville, assumed the offensive and toward evening of the 10th attacked Wright's pickets and advance posts with infantry and artillery and was repulsed, suffering severe loss and inflicting upon Wright a loss of about 25 killed and wounded. This caused a postponement of the assault and the beginning of the construction of a battery to silence the Confederate guns. General Hunter, disappointed in his expectation of carrying Charleston with a rush, returned to Hilton Head on the 11th, leaving orders with General Benham, next in command, to make no attempt to advance on Charleston or on Fort Johnson until largely reinforced but to provide, however, for "a secure intrenched encampment." At the end of five days the battery had been constructed, but it failed to silence the Confederate guns, and Benham, as Hunter says, "disobeyed posi-. tive orders and clear instructions" and against the emphatic protest of his two division commanders proceeded to assault the work. He had for the purpose 3,100 men under General Wright and 3,500 under General Stevens. The work to be assaulted had an earthen parapet seven to eight feet high, outside of which was a ditch seven feet deep and in front of which was a strong abatis. A line of rifle-pits extended on both flanks and in the rear, sweeping the open interior of the work. Its armament was six heavy guns-8-inch columbiads and rifled 24- and 18-pounders. It was defended by about 1,000 men, and there were supports near that came at the close of the action. Stevens, with his 3,500 men, was to make the assault and Wright, moving from Grimball's Landing, was to co-operate by moving on his left and rear. Stevens had two brigades, Colonel Fenton's (8th Michigan, 7th Connecticut, 28th Massachusetts) and Colonel Leasure's (46th and 79th New York and 100th Pennsylvania), and four guns. At 3.30 A.M., the troops were assembled beyond the camps and at 4 A.M., when it was so dark one man could not follow another except at short intervals, the column moved forward, Fenton leading, with a storming party of two companies of the 8th Michigan, closely followed by the other eight companies of the regiment, the 7th Connecticut and the 28th Massachusetts. Leasure

followed Fenton. The advance moved quietly and when within 800 yards of the work surprised and captured a small picket-guard without firing a shot and orders were given to accomplish the allotted task with the bayonet only. Lamar had knowledge of the movement and had sent for reinforcements and was standing by his heavy guns, which had been charged with canister, as the leading regiment came within 300 yards and deployed into line; then his guns opened their canister-fire, and at the same time heavy volleys of musketry from dikes and hedges were poured upon the right flank of the assaulting column. The Union regiments closed up rapidly and made a rush

for the work, shooting down the gunners; all the regiments got close to the work and men of each went through the abatis; men of the 8th Michigan and 79th New York gained the ditch and scaled the parapet. "Some of them," says Beauregard, "in the impetus of the assault went even inside one of the salients of the works"; but it was of no avail; the mingled Union troops could not be handled and at 5 o'clock, after a severe contest of 25 minutes, they fell back 500 yards to a hedge, under cover of artillery, with a loss of over 500. Wright had participated in the movement by checking a reinforcement on its way to the work, but did not become seriously engaged, although losing some men. At 9 o'clock Benham ordered Stevens back to camp. The Union loss was 107 killed, 487 wounded and 89 missing, an aggregate of 683. The Confederates report a loss of 52 killed, 144 wounded and 8 missing. The result of the battle was fatal to the plan of an immediate advance on Charleston and late in June the Union troops were ordered to withdraw from James Island and for some time to come no further attempt was made to capture the city. Consult Official Records,' Vol. XIV. E. A. CARMAN.

SECHEM, Palestine. See NABULUS.

SECHIUM, a genus of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) with one species (S. edule). This is a perennial, rough-stemmed, climbing boring mainland, sometimes cultivated for covvine native to the West Indies and the neighering arbors, since it makes a rapid and sturdy growth, but chiefly for the valuable food afforded by its roots and fruits. It has large, thin, heart-shaped leaves five-angled like those of the cucumber; branched tendrils opposite the leaves, and yellowish, monoecious flowers, the pistillate solitary or paired in the axils, the staminate in a raceme. These flowers have rotate calices and five-parted corollas and a onecelled ovary with six-lobed stigma, which matures into a pear-shaped fruit, some six inches long. It has an irregularly ribbed or furrowed surface slightly spiny, but shining, and in color ranging from pale green to creamy tints; the interior is fleshy and white, and contains a large flat seed, which germinates within the pericarp, often before it falls from the vine, so that the whole fruit is planted. This fruit is edible, as is also the very large, corky and starchy root-tuber, sometimes weighing 20 pounds, and both are cooked as vegetables having somewhat the flavor of turnips. The sechium fruit is called vegetable pear in the British colonies, and has local names such as chayote or pepinella.

SECKENDORF, Friedrich Heinrich, frēd'riн hin'riн zěk'en-dorf, COUNT VON, Franconian soldier and diplomat: b. Königsberg, 5 July 1673; d. Meuselwitz, Germany, 23 Nov. 1763. He served in the war against the Turks on the Danube, and in that of the Spanish Succession, greatly distinguished himself at Blenheim in 1704 and was present as an Ambassador at the conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht. He also served in the war against Sweden, 1715, and against the Spaniards in Sicily, 1720. In 1726 he was Ambassador to Berlin and gained over Frederick William I to acknowledgment of the pragmatic sanction and an alliance with Austria.

Seckendorf next served in the war of the Polish Succession, gaining victory over the French at Klausen. During the Turkish War he was made field-marshal in 1737, and commander-in-chief. He was unsuccessful, however, and was recalled and imprisoned in the fortress of Grätz. Receiving no appointment when released, he entered the service of Charles VII of Germany against Maria Theresa. He cleared Bavaria of Austrian troops, but on the emperor's death in 1745 peace was established and Seckendorf was restored to his Austrian honors. He retired to his castle at Meuselwitz, but in 1788 was imprisoned by Frederick II of Prussia, on a charge of intriguing against that country, and was only released after six months upon the payment of 10,000 thalers.

SECKENDORF, Gustav Anton von, BARON ("PATRICK PEALE"), German dramatist and novelist: b. near Altenburg, Germany, 26 Nov. 1775; d. Alexandria, La., 1823. He was educated at Leipzig, Freiburg and Wittenberg, became well known as a writer and lecturer and died while on a lecturing tour in the United States, where he was known as "Patrick Peale." His works include Otto III, der gutgeartete Jüngling (1805); 'Kritik der Kunst (1812); 'Beiträge zur Philosophie des Herzens' (1814); 'Des Vaters Bild' (1822), etc.

SECKER, Thomas, English prelate: b. Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire, 1693; d. Canterbury, England, 3 Aug. 1768. He studied medicine at London and at Paris, and took his degree at Leyden in 1721, after which he decided to enter the ministry. He was graduated from Oxford in 1722, and in the following year was ordained a priest. His first living was at Houghton-le-Spring in 1724, and in 1727 became rector of Ryton and prebendary of Durham. He was appointed chaplain to the king in 1732, became rector of Saint James', London, in 1733, bishop of Bristol in 1735, of Oxford in 1737, dean of Saint Paul's in 1750 and archbishop of Canterbury in 1758. He was a wise, large-hearted and hard-working bishop, and an able though not a brilliant preacher.

SECOND, a division of time, the 60th part of a minute of time or of a minute of a degree. The hour and degree are each divided into 60 minutes (marked thus, 60'), and each minute is subdivided into 60 seconds (marked thus, 60′′).

In music, the interval of a second is the difference between any sound and the next nearest sound above or below it. There are three kinds

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have had more chance for happiness under them than in any other corresponding period of the world's history, and yet even they persecuted the Christians. Trajan's successors were Adrian, or Hadrian (117-138); Antoninus Pius (138-161) and Marcus Aurelius (161-180). Each of these adopted a successor whom he thought capable of bearing the great burden of ruling the Roman Empire worthily. Marcus Aurelius, however, was succeeded by his son, Commodus (180-193), profligate and cruel to an extent that has made his name a by-word in history, weak and incompetent as a ruler, so that the barbarians played sad havoc on the frontiers of the empire. After Commodus, Pertinax (193) was proclaimed by the Prætorian guards who assumed the function of disposing of the empire. He was murdered after a reign of three months. Then the empire, offered for sale by the Prætorians, was bought by Didius Julianus (193) for some $10,000,000. He was put to death not long after by an order of the Senate and was succeeded by Septimius Severus, elected by the soldiers of the army of the Danube. Severus defeated two rivals for the empire who had also been elected by their soldiers and proceeded to give Rome a strong government. His reign was stained at the beginning of the 3d century by a bitter persecution of the Christians (202).

The Spanish Cæsars have an individuality that has won for each of them a special place in history. Trajan was a native of Spain and a soldier, elected by the Senate after the death of Nerva, who had made him an associate in the government. Trajan pushed the limits of the Roman Empire farther than ever before. He conquered_Armenia and invaded the lands beyond the Euphrates to bring most of what had been Assyria under Roman rule. Out of the conquered territory he made three Roman provinces under their names of Armenia, Mesopotamia and Assyria. In the earlier part of his reign he had conquered the Dacians and thrown a bridge across the Danube, some of the piers of which are still standing. He brought a colony of Romans to settle in the conquered provinces, so that ever since it has been called Roumania. In honor of his conquests, Trajan erected at Rome the famous column called by his name, which tells the story of his Dacian wars. The spiral band of sculptures on it contains more than 25,000 figures. In spite of his beneficent rule, Trajan is responsible for the third persecution of the Christians, the first having come under Nero and the second under Domitian. A letter of Pliny the Younger to Trajan tells how rapidly this "contagious superstition" as he calls it was spreading throughout not only the cities but the towns and the country. Trajan feared that their refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods would lessen their fidelity to the empire, so he began a bitter persecution. The blood of martyrs only proved the seed of new Christians and attracted worldwide attention to this faith for which men were ready to die.

Trajan's successor Adrian, another Spaniard born, did much to consolidate the Roman Empire. In person he superintended the construction of a wall across the northern part of what is now England, from the Tyne to Solway Firth. The remains of the old Roman wall can still be plainly traced over most of its course.