Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 13.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

[76] him, and this time he determined with great reluctance that Hampton was Governor of South Carolina, and all Chamberlain's appointments void. This long period of a divided government was the direct effect of the influences which had been brought to bear upon the negro, Wright. Had he not tried to retract his consent to the order which the court had agreed upon, that order would have been the final judgment of the Supreme Court. His tergiversation gave the weak and the malignant an excuse for indecision, on the ground that the court had not decided. When Judge Read pronounced in favor of Hampton, all the colored judges had concurred, and Hampton was everywhere acknowledged as the lawful Governor of the State.

But there was one spot in South Carolina which he could not touch. One house into which he could not enter. He found the State House closed against him by the black myrmidons whom Chamberlain had posted there to defend it against him, and whose power, contemptible in itself, was supported by the army of the United States, which had been sent to South Carolina to obey the orders of Chamberlain. It is this exclusion from the Capitol and the Executive Chamber which makes it impossible for me to stop, now that I have shown how everywhere else the machinery of government was moving in obedience to his will. I must make brief notice of the connection between the election of Governor and of President of the United States.