The Port Gibson Correspondent of September 25, 1819, contained the following "from the Texas Republican, Aug. 21":

On the 19th inst. the detachment under the command of Gen. Long met a Spanish woman 40 miles west of Nacogdoches, by the name of Maria El Garma Freminia. She was found in a state of starvation, and comparatively naked. She states that she left Labadie a few weeks ago in company with two men, both soldiers in the service of the king of Spain, and not knowing the road, they wandered about in the woods for many days in search of provision, but without finding any. One of the men turned off by himself to look for water, but he never returned to them, and they supposed that he must have died. The other man and this woman journeyed on but a short distance when he died for want of provision, and she began to expect the same fate; however, she finally fell into the main road leading from Labadie to this place, and subsisted on a pole cat in the woods until she met with general Long's detachment, from whence she has been sent to this place. She also adds, that when she left Labadie, that place was in a very unpleasant situation-that garrison being in a state of total defection, having in it not more than twenty soldiers at the time of her leaving the place, the most of whom watched only for an opportunity to run away; that they are not well supplied with provisions; that the Comanche Indians, their eternal enemies, harrass them and keep them continually annoyed on every side, so that they cannot go more than one mile in safety from the place. The commandant of St. Antonio cannot assist them.

In the issue of September 18th, the Port Gibson Correspondent published the extract from the Texas Republican, printed in THE QUARTERLY, VII, 242-3, and credited it, and the notice "To Settlers" below, to the Teras Republican of August 28th:

To Settlers.

The army being now on a march to the Brassos, and a fort contemplated to be erected at that place, it will give the utmost security to families wishing to settle in this country. From the great facility of getting lands, the quality of which cannot be excelled, as well as the mildness of the climate, it holds forth the greatest inducements at this time to persons to settle; and as the army will always be one hundred miles at least in advance of the settlements, it will give them the fullest protection.

Now is the time, as the first settlers will certainly have the most choice lands, in greater abundance, and on much better terms, than those who wait to see our troubles over without shewing a disposition to effect the settlement of the country or contributing in any manner to advance the cause.

E. W. WINKLER.

BOOK REVIEWS

Statesmen of the Old South, or From Radicalism to Conservative Revolt. By William E. Dodd, Ph. D., Professor of American History in the University of Chicago. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1911. Pp., 235.)

The substance of these studies of Jefferson, Calhoun, and Davis was originally presented, the author tells us, in the form of popular lectures. The sub-title indicates the general trend of the book. Jefferson, the idealist, the organizer of a political party which refused to adopt his political philosophy, except in part, was succeeded by Calhoun, the nationalist, who was forced by circumstances into a particularist attitude; and Calhoun, in turn, was succeeded by Jefferson Davis, who was identified by earliest environment with the cotton planting and slavery interests of the lower South. These interests were now on the defensive, and therefore gathered about them all the forces of social and constitutional conservatism, just as the great corporate interests of our own day have done.

The author constantly keeps in view the influence of the West, of the frontier, of which in a sense all three men were products, and his comments on this influence are always illuminating. We cannot always agree with his conclusions, as, for instance, those on the nature of the development of pro-slavery sentiment during the twenty years following Jefferson's retirement from the presidency. It would seem, in this case, that Professor Dodd does not sufficiently appreciate the powerful economic forces that impelled the South to the extension of cotton planting and its accompaniment, negro slavery. The author points out that the breakdown of the early alliance between the South and West, due partly to Clay's "American system," partly to Jackson's dickering for eastern support after his break with Calhoun, was what first forced the South into a particularist attitude. Calhoun's rupture with Jackson he regards as a fatal thing both for the great South Carolinian and for the South; for it drove Calhoun, who in the nullification episode had been striving to hold his state in check, back upon the necessity of consolidating the South upon the pro

slavery basis. Professor Dodd believes that "the injustice and bad faith of a personal and despotic party leader" (Jackson) was responsible for Calhoun's particularistic attitude, and that had the latter's ambition to become president been gratified, secession. and civil war might not have come. A similar fatality overtook Jefferson Davis, who, though a secessionist in 1850, had changed his views and remained a nationalist until Mississippi seceded; for his imperialistic scheme of a southern railroad to the Pacific and the acquisition of Cuba, Panama, and a route to the Orient was blocked by Douglas in the interest of the northwestern railways; the Kansas bill followed, reopening the slavery question, divorcing the two wings of the Democratic party and hastening the revolt of the South in 1860-61.

Though not entirely immune from criticism, these brief and sympathetic studies sum up in a clear and attractive fashion the principal forces which carried the South and the Democratic party along its course from radical leadership in 1800 to conservative reaction in 1860. CHAS. W. RAMSDELL.

Winning the Southwest: A Story of Conquest. By Glenn D. Bradley. (McClurg. Chicago, 1912. 12mo; Pp. 225; ill.)

Under the above title the author groups sketches of Kit Carson, Robert F. Stockton, "Uncle Dick" Wootton, Sam Houston, Stephen W. Kearny, George A. Custer and John C. Fremont with a view of weaving "about their lives in a somewhat coherent manner some of the conspicuous facts of the struggle in which the Southwest was won for the Union" (preface). The fragmentary character of the treatment of the subject is further emphasized by the absence of any grouping of the sketches. The treatment is popular in style, and the principal service the book can render will be to introduce the heroes to readers who have not yet made their acquaintance from larger works.

In the sketch of Sam Houston the author has committed a number of regrettable errors. Passing by misspellings and minor inaccuracies in the statement of historical facts, one cannot overlook the wholesale condemnation of Mexican government in Texas (113, 116); nor the statement that the convention which assembled

at San Felipe on April 1, 1833, was "the first deliberative body of Anglo-Saxons that ever assembled within the limits of the ancient Spanish-American empire" (114); nor that Stephen F. Austin suffered "several months of loathsome imprisonment" only (116); nor that Houston had anything to do with restraining the anger of the colonists because of Austin's imprisonment (116); nor that "Houston alone appears to have been able to foresee [December, 1835] that the fight for independence had only begun" (120); nor that Houston's statesmanship saved the honor of his government (141). Travis's famous letter is emasculated by omitting, without any indication of the fact, the sentence which Travis underscored, namely, "I shall never surrender or retreat" (123). And the following inscription from the Alamo monument, "Thermopyla had her messenger of defeat, but the Alamo had none," is marred by the omission of the words "of defeat" (124). The account of the battle of San Jacinto is embellished with a number of ominous sayings attributed to General Houston (133, 134, 135); and the apochryphal story of the destruction of Vince's bridge is made the key to the strategy of the fight (135, 136). Finally, the author's imagination supplied the Texan soldiers with revolvers (137). E. W. WINKLER.

Guide to the Study and Reading of American History. By Edward Channing, Albert Bushnell Hart, and Frederick J. Turner, professors in Harvard University. (Boston and London: Ginn & Co., 1912. Pp., xvi, 650. The present volume is a great improvement over the first edition, which was published in 1896. It has been brought down to date; it gives references to more available books; and it enlarges the sections on social, economic, and industrial history, making them especially valuable. Professor Turner, who was not connected with the earlier edition, has contributed many valuable references to writings on Western history. The whole work, however, has been done over, and will be found very helpful to students and teachers in every field of American history.

CHAS. W. RAMSDELL.

NEWS ITEMS

For several years historical scholars and patriotic societies have been trying to induce Congress to erect a fireproof building for housing the national archives. At present the archives are scattered in the different government buildings in Washington and elsewhere. They are frequently difficult of access, and are in some cases far from safely housed. It seems probable that the present session of Congress can be persuaded to act. Readers of THE QUARTERLY can aid in this measure by writing to their local representatives and endorsing the plan. Hon. Morris Sheppard is chairman of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds. Dr. Waldo G. Leland published in the October (1912) number of the American Historical Review an article discussing the importance of the proper care of our national archives. There is an article on the same subject by Rosa Pendleton Chiles in the February (1912) American Review of Reviews.

"The History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names," by Judge Z. T. Fulmore, is running in the Saturday issue of the Dallas-Galreston News and in the Tuesday issue of the Semi-Weekly Farm News. The first chapter appeared on December 7. Since many counties of the state are named for individuals, this work will be particularly valuable for its additions to Texas biography.

The University of Texas has issued, as Bulletin No. 246, "A Reconnaissance Report on the Geology of the Oil and Gas Fields of Wichita and Clay Counties," by J. A. Udden, assisted by Drury MeN. Phillips, xiv and 308 pages, with numerous plates and charts. Copies can be had of Dr. William B. Phillips, Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and Technology of the University of Texas.

"Our Governors' Wives," by Mrs. J. A. Jackson, began in the San Antonio Express of November 3 and is appearing serially in the Sunday edition of that paper.

The following articles recently appeared in The Texas Magazine (Houston): "The King's Highway," by Mrs. Lipscomb Norvell