s. Stealing was stopped; the abuses of the
pardoning power were ended; the tax laws were amended so as to secure
uniformity and equality of assessment; expenditure was reduced and
regulated. These were the statements of the Charleston _News and
Courier_, the leading paper of the State, in July, 1876, when another
election was coming on. Most of the Democratic papers had praised and
supported Governor Chamberlain. It was now very seriously contemplated,
and advocated by the _News and Courier_, to let him be re-elected
without opposition. But the old-time pride of race and party was too
strong, and the Democrats nominated Wade Hampton. They supported him
with little scruple as to means,--with free use of intimidation and
proscription, with frequent threats and often the reality of violence.
There was a shocking massacre at Hamburg. Governor Chamberlain called on
the President for aid, and a thousand troops were sent into the State.
When the election came, there was claimed a majority for Chamberlain and
for the Republican Presidential ticket. The claim was instantly and
fiercely challenged by Hampton's supporters. And here the story pauses,
until it joins the main current of national affairs.

Mississippi was under Republican control until 1875. If one attempts to
judge of the character of that control, he plunges into a sea of
contradictions almost enough to submerge the hope of truth. Whether we
turn to standard historians, to the 1000 pages of sworn testimony before
a Congressional committee, or to individual witnesses, the perplexity is
the same. Thus, we consult Woodrow Wilson's _History of the American
People_,--and this book invites a word of comment. Its author has woven
together the immense material of the national history for three
centuries, in the main with admirable judgment and skill. He has
produced a comprehensive, well-proportioned, graphic narrative, which
closely holds the reader's attention, and gives in general the spirit as
well as the substance of the people's story. But upon the main theme of
the crowning century, he misses some of the vital elements. Of the wrong
and mischief of slavery he has hardly a word, waving the subject aside
as if beyond his province. He gives with admirable sympathy and
intelligence the attitude of the well-meaning Southerner before and
after the war; and this feature has special value for those familiar
only with the Northern standpoint. But he has not the least appreciat