eral Taylor, in Alabama, surrendered, and soon after the last of the Confederates in arms gave up the struggle. The total number paroled in the several armies was one hundred and seventy-four thousand two hundred and twentythree. Capture of Davis.-Jefferson Davis, with his family and cabinet, fled from Richmond rapidly southward, with a guard of two thousand cavalry soldiers. These gradually dwindled away, and on May 11 he was captured at Irwinsville, Georgia. He was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe, but was finally set at liberty without a trial. Assassination of Lincoln.-The surrender of General Lee was quickly followed by a deplorable incident, which threw the whole nation, which had been gladdened by the return of peace, into a state of sorrow and mourning. On the evening of April 14, while the President was seated, with his family and friends, in a box at Ford's Theatre, he was shot by an actor named John Wilkes Booth, who sprang to the stage with a theatrical cry of "Sic semper tyrannis!" ("Thus always with tyrants!") He was one of a party of conspirators, of whom another tried to kill Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State.1 Booth was tracked to his hiding-place and shot. Four of his accomplices were hanged and others imprisoned for life. The President lingered a few hours, and died the next morning. The funeral took place on the 19th, which was observed as a day of mourning throughout the land. 1 Booth and his accomplices seem to have been influenced by a foolish idea of avenging the wrongs of the South, with which may have been mixed up a desire for notoriety. As it was they injured the South by removing one on whom it was coming to look as a friend, and whose kindliness and wisdom would have gone far to prevent the dissensions and bitter feeling that afterward arose. The body was borne to the President's home at Springfield, Illinois, through a land plunged into the deepest grief. 8. THE COUNTRY DURING THE WAR. Tariff and Internal Revenue.-Congress and the executive department of the government were actively engaged during the war, largely in the task of providing means for its continuance. The obtaining of revenue was one of the most important duties of the administration, and various financial measures were adopted. The Morrill Tariff Act, passed just before Lincoln took his seat in 1861, added largely to the duties on imports. During the war further increases in duties were made, till at the end of the conflict the tariff charges were nearly three times as great as in Buchanan's administration. To increase the revenue a system of internal taxes was adopted. Stamps had to be bought and placed on all bank checks, receipts, and many legal, commercial, and other documents. Pianos, billiard-tables, gold watches, and a host of other things were taxed. Heavy taxes were laid on tobacco and spirituous liquors, and people with large incomes had to pay a tax. Paper Money and Bonds.-But it was impossible by taxation to meet the enormous expenses of the war, which soon reached one million dollars a day, and in time became three times that amount. The vast sum required could be had only by borrowing. Bonds bearing interest at high rates were issued, and large sums of money were obtained in this way. National paper money or notes were also issued, which were called "greenbacks" from their color. Gold at a Premium.-Gold and silver soon became more valuable than greenbacks and ceased to be used as money. Gold steadily increased in price until at length a greenback dollar was worth only about thirty-five cents in gold. Many years passed before the government notes equalled gold in value. As there was no silver in circulation, change became very scarce, and small notes, for fifty cents, twentyfive cents, and smaller sums, were issued to supply the public demand. National Banks.-In 1863 an act of Congress was passed establishing National Banks. These took the place of the old State Banks. The notes issued by them were made good by United States bonds bought by the banks and deposited in the Treasury at Washington, so that these notes were everywhere taken, the government being security for their payment. Southern Finances.-The Confederacy adopted similar methods of finance, but had not the same power of making good its promises to pay. Bonds were issued, many of which were sold in Europe. These fell in value until they became worthless. The same was the case with the paper money issued. Its fate resembled that of the Continental currency of the Revolution. Late in the war flour was quoted at two hundred and seventy-five dollars a barrel, shoes at one hundred and twenty-five dollars a pair, potatoes at twenty-five dollars a bushel, butter at fifteen dollars a pound, etc.1 1 The people of the Confederacy were put to the severest straits to obtain the necessaries of life. While great sums in Confederate currency were paid for ordinary articles, there were others not to be had at any price. Many substitutes were used for tea. Pins became exceedingly scarce, and hair-pins were made of large thorns with heads of wax. Shoes were made with wooden soles, to which the uppers were tacked. Salt was used with the greatest economy, and old fishbarrels were soaked and the water evaporated to increase the supply. Conscription.-The armies, North and South, at first were raised by volunteering. At length, as enlistments grew slow, a conscription act was passed by Congress. It was not severe. Any person "drafted" could gain exemp tion by hiring a substitute, or paying three hundred dollars for that purpose. Large bounties were paid for volunteers, and many were secured in that way. Conscription was also adopted in the South, where in the end few exemptions were permitted. The Draft Riot.-The conscription was strongly opposed, particularly in the city of New York, and on July 13, 1863, a serious riot broke out there, the mob gaining control of the city, and holding it in terror for several days. Great excesses took place, about fifty buildings being burned, and more than two million dollars' worth of property destroyed. The rioters showed a particular hatred toward colored people, of whom several were hanged. Troops were brought to the city to put down the riot, and in the struggle that followed over twelve hundred of the rioters were killed. Foreign Affairs.—Earnest efforts were made by the Confederacy to obtain from foreign nations a recognition of its independence as a nation, but without success. It was feared by foreign nations that such an act would bring against them a declaration of war from the United States. A number of them, however, accorded belligerent rights to the Confederate States. And through the sympathy of the British government they were permitted to build and equip cruisers, a form of support for which Great Britain afterward paid dearly. Women wore garments the cloth of which they had spun and woven, while woollen clothing almost disappeared. Such were a few of the endless makeshifts to which the people were put. The Armies.-At the time of Lee's surrender there were more than a million of Union soldiers under arms. The total number enlisted had been much more than this, and probably six hundred thousand lost their lives on the two sides from wounds and disease, in addition to the large number disabled. How many served in the Confederate armies there are no statistics to show. The total cost of the war, including property destroyed and the value of the slaves, has been estimated at not less than eight billion dollars. At the end of the war the government was in debt nearly three billion dollars. Sanitary and Christian Commissions.-No previous war had ever shown such humane care of the people for the wounded and suffering soldiers. The Sanitary Commission, organized among the people, had its corps of nurses, physicians, and attendants, its hospitals, ambulances, hospital cars and boats, and other means for the care of the sick and wounded, and distributed vast quantities of clothing and other supplies for the comfort of the soldiers. Millions of dollars were raised for its support by subscription and by "Sanitary Fairs" held all over the North. The Christian Commission was organized to look after the moral and religious welfare of the soldiers, in which it proved very active and efficient. The South lacked the means to take care of her soldiers to any similar extent. The Grand Review.-On May 23 and 24 a grand review of Grant's and Sherman's armies was held in Washington, previous to their disbandment. The column of soldiers was over thirty miles long, and for two days it marched up the broad avenue from the Capitol to the White House, to the sound of martial music, and under the tattered flags which had waved over scores of battle-fields. No such |