Two Civil Wars

Amidst a flurry of angry missives attacking this magazine and author Walter Lord for alleged anti-southern prejudice in “Mississippi: The Past That Has Not Died,” in our June issue, there was one from the Honorable Tullius Brady, of the Mississippi House of Representatives. Says he: “The rest of this country will never bring one [white Mississippian] back into the Union. I want no part of it—socialism and egalitarianism are not for me.” We also received recently a charming note from Sir George Bull, Bart., of London, England. “When I was in Williamsburg, Virginia,” Sir George says, “I pulled the leg of the young lady in charge of the Historical Information Office by asking her on which side was Virginia in the Civil War. She rose beautifully, and in a delightful southern accent replied, ‘How can you ask, suh? Virginia was the heart and soul of the Confederacy!’ I apologized for the misunderstanding and explained that I meant our Civil War-that of 1642-48. This left her speechless—no one had ever asked her that.”

—The Editors