which accompanied the earlier Irish insurrections, extent, relinquish the position
of arbiter in the South, and keep Under these circumstances, the preservation of order in the himself much more strictly within the old limits of the Presiden- South depends mainly upon the action, or rather the attitude, tial power. The Southern Whites see this clearly, and are trying of the President towards the contending parties. If he swerves
TOPICS OF THE DA Y• towards the Negroes, the Whites, exasperated beyond all bearing,
may fall back upon their organisations, and endeavour to es- to tempt him with offers which, if he is really desirous of the third term, he may be induced to accept. If he does, there will be serious danger of De Tocqueville's prediction coming true,—of a social conflict within the South, which at worst 'would reverse the decision of the war, and at best impede for years the industrial reconstruction which, in spite of bad government, race-hatred, and sectional bitterness, is again making the South a wealthy division of the Union.
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