The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1856-02-23
For TIE MinneSotian


Mr.. EpIroR:-"A Lady" undertakes t.
put US through for what size supposes to b
an attack upon poor old Uncle Tom and dear
sweet tLittle Eva.' We are sorry, very
sorry! to be thought capable of any injus
tice to the dear, good old man. Why, didn't
we all with Massa George all the way to La
grec's to attend Uncle TOMS funeral And
if GA Lady" would believe US, we might
confess that we shed tears when we saw
"Massa George wrap the body in his cloak
and bury it; and Eva:-we are quite over
come by the question, whether she is Ga pic
ture fit only to be cast upon the smud-piler,'
We would 60 long way to see such little
Eva and such an Uncle Tom! There never
was but one Eva and one Uncle Tom; and
sad as it was for us to attend their funerals,
we cannot help feeling thankful to Mrs.
Stowe for seeing these two pure creations OF
her brain, safely out of this world of sin and
imperfectioil.
But seriously, my dear madam, West does
not wish to make war upon any of the good
traits in Uncle Tom; there may be a jewel
in 4 "pile of mud" as we'll as in s'swine's
snout," but still it is pile of mud. 1 am
not responsible for the literary name "Pile
of Mud" l only supposed that the Lectu-
rer meant by it light reading; and as we sup
posed all would allow Mrs. Stoves book to
be light reading, we named it because we
are wont to regard it as the best handful of
"mud" in the "pile:" What we intended to
say, in all seriousness, was-that the reading
of even such work of fiction is not profta-
BILE, but when INDUCED in, units the mind
for more solid and useful reading. Let the
whole "mud pile' be made up Of such good
books as GA Lady" thinks this to be, and
let any young person sit down and gulp the
whole "ple," and ask, shat will the read
er have learned2 He will not even have ar
rived at any correct views of the subject pre-
tended to be treated, but will have acquired
morbid taste for Negro Literature; and he
will read with ayidity the whole host of imi-
tators of Mrs. Stowe, and soon become una
ble to sit down and read any really valuable
work. If the character of Uncle Tom, or
that of Little Eva, we're written by ITSELF it
might be a good little book; (though it would
be better if little OF the imperfection of
our nature were left to be warred against, J
but such book would not have much Of a
run; it must be spiced with the wild child,
"Topsy," the Negro wit of Sam and Andy,
the slave driver, the devilish Lagree, and a
few beautiful delineations of prostitution,
and now and then there must be some beau
tiful little silken-haired quadroon-lool1ing
just like the children in the "house."
That there are such things in the South,
we admit; but at the same time, we abomi-
nate literature which is calculated to fasten
upon the minds of the rising generation of
the North, the belief that the whole South
is filed up with company of unmitigated
monsters and libertines. There are good
and bad people in the Southland so there
are in the North.
AS to "Negro Religion" West believes in
it; and has the honor of belonging to a So
ciety that is doing much to carry the conso-
lations Of the Gospel to the poor oppressed
SLAVE. West is called an Abolitionist by his
most intimate friends; bat the question of
Slavery is not under discussion. hope "a
Lady" will remember that the "mud pile' is
the subject. My dear madam, hope you
will not allow yourself to be disturbed, for
fear that some "Eliza and her boy" may be
carried off by West; nothing IS further from
my inte,stion! And as to enlisting the clergy,
of this city in any such enterprise, I think
it would be asking too much of them, since
with their regular duties, in the pulpit and
out of it, they must have their hands full
enough.
There is, if you will pardon me, little of
the masculine in this closing paragraph of "a
Lady," So much so that it reminded me
how "Old Hickory" fought from behind the
cotton-bales; and it may be that some fellow
in pants has hid behind a silk dress and fred
under the protecting arm of "a Lady" Or
it may be that he has loaded the gun and got
the Lady to fire. am led to this suspicion,
not because think the article is better than
"A Lady" could write, but from the spirit
of tie "concern." You know the Ladies are
the kindest creatures in the world, except
now and then one like Eva's mother.
WEST.
[NorE.-Our correspondent is mistaken.
The communication to which he replies apas
written by "a Lady," and one who is abun-
dainty able to WELD pen with most of the
St. Paul writers of the 'sterner sex.n-
EDs.l
Map of st. Paul.
We have before us the latest Map of St.
Paul and its additions yet published. 1t is
not only correct map of St. Paul, but a
s.. Paul map, in the full extent of surveying,
drafting and lithographing. Messrs. 5. r.
Folsom & Co., are the publishers of this new
map. 1t is from the official surveys of Mr..