Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 2.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[656] Mr. Lincoln had convened an extra session of the Thirty-seventh Congress, to meet on the 4th of July. When it assembled, the representatives and senators of the majority of the insurgent States failed to answer to their names when the roll was called by the clerks of the two houses. Most of the newly-elected representatives, as well as those senators who had previously been appointed by these States, already played a conspicuous part in the South; some abstained from taking part in the labors of Congress, others, after having made their appearance on the floor, soon retired. The States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida and Texas were not represented in either house of Congress, either because elections had not taken place, in consequence of the act of secession, or because the representatives considered themselves released from their obligations by that act. Virginia did not send senators to Washington, but the districts which remained faithful to the Union elected eight representatives, the total contingent of that State being thirteen. On the contrary, none of the ten Kentucky members appeared at the Capitol, but her two senators took their seats on the 4th of July, although one of them was Mr. Breckenridge, who a few months later was to enter the military service of the Southern Confederacy. Tennessee was represented by only one of the two senators, and three representatives out of ten, who had been elected by districts where the Unionists were in the majority. It thus happened that the Senate, which, being composed of two members from each of the thirty-four States, should have numbered sixty-eight, was reduced to forty-seven, and the House of Representatives, instead of two hundred and thirty-nine, mustered only one hundred and seventy-six. Out of forty-seven senators thirty-one belonged to the Republican party, eleven to the Democratic opposition, and five, although Democrats, supported the government. The forces were about similarly divided in the other house, where Mr. Lincoln had one hundred and six adherents, forty-two opponents, besides twenty-eight Democrats who voted in favor of the war measures of his government. It will thus be seen that, even with the support of the latter, if the representatives of the Southern States had not abandoned the paths of loyalty, and left their seats to plunge into civil war, the