time and words over the "might have
been"? I can plead only the human interest in the great Daniel Webster
ardently desiring that nomination, Rufus Choate advocating it in sublime
oratory, the two antislavery delegates from Massachusetts refusing their
votes for Webster, thus preventing a unanimous Massachusetts, and the
delegates from Maine, among whom was Webster's godson William P.
Fessenden, coldly refusing their much-needed aid.

General Scott, having received the nomination, made a stumping tour in
the autumn through some of the Western States. No accurate account of it
is possible without the newspapers, yet it was esteemed a factor in his
overwhelming defeat, and the story of it is well worth preserving as
data for a discussion of the question, Is it wise for a presidential
candidate to make a stumping tour during his electoral campaign?

The story of the formation of the Republican party, and the rise of the
Know-nothings, may possibly be written without recourse to the
newspapers, but thorough steeping in such material cannot fail to add to
the animation and accuracy of the story. In detailed history and
biographical books, dates, through mistakes of the writer or printer,
are frequently wrong; and when the date was an affair of supreme
importance, I have sometimes found a doubt resolved by a reference to
the newspaper, which, from its strictly contemporary character, cannot
in such a matter lead one astray.

I found the newspapers of value in the correction of logical
assumptions, which frequently appear in American historical and
biographical books, especially in those written by men who bore a part
in public affairs. By a logical assumption, I mean the statement of a
seemingly necessary consequence which apparently ought to follow some
well-attested fact or condition. A striking instance of this occurred
during the political campaign of 1856, when "bleeding Kansas" was a
thrilling catchword used by the Republicans, whose candidate for
president was Fremont. In a year and a half seven free-state men had
been killed in Kansas by the border ruffians, and these outrages,
thoroughly ventilated, made excellent campaign ammunition. But the
Democrats had a _tu quoque_ argument which ought to have done much
towards eliminating this question from the canvass.

On the night of May 24, 1856, five pro-slavery men, living on the
Pottawatomie Creek, were deliberately and foully murdered by John Brown
and seven of his