The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1856-09-15
The DAILY DISPATCH.



THE DAILY DISPATCH.
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Monday sferniss. september 10, Isoo.
Nsrtssrr nnd seuthern Excitability.
sor,h.r, con,emporary says Il has been con.
x,n,.d ~ The erevsfiug excitement at the North,
.h., /, does not require Southern sun to make
men rash and impetnous.
u,. one Of the prevailing errors of the day. that
shs Northern temperament Is devoid OF ardour
And exctability. The history Of the country gives
NO ground for any such opinion. Fanaticism, In
all lie shapes has always taken far deeper root at
the North than in the South. The love Of novelty
aud change Is more general there than mere
Where was It that the belief In wncncrat. was
most rampant and universal In New England
which boasts of her superior intelligence godIness
and virtuet The scenes Of persecution engender-
ed nv this wre,ched superstition were only equa!led
in atroc,v bv the relentless bigotry of the dark
.pes- II wa, at later period of Massachusetts
civilization that sectarian hatred applied the mid
night torch to Conveu. of unprotected females -
rwas In the North that Mormonism took its rise,
and II Is by Northern disciples exclusively, with
the exception of some European dupes, that this
beastly imposture is upheld /. was in the North
that tho monstrous delusion of spirit-rappipg had
its origin, numbering its believers by the hundred
thousand, and gravely INDICATED in ponderous
volumes by Northern judges and Senators. 1t is
in the North that we find anti-Rentism. Agrarian-
ISM Socialism, and all the other isms ever engen-
dered by hot heads and corrupt hearts. Iii in
the North that we behold one hand Purism
80 rigid that i. would willingly revive the old
Blue Laws and whip man for kissing his wife on
Sunday; and on the other the most lcud-mouthed
and bigoted infdeIity; on the one hand, innocent
amusements denounced a. wicked, and on the
other model Artists' exhibited 10 a gaping
crowd; on one hand, divine gravely arguing that
falling in love" is a sin, and on the other, Free
Love associations; on the one hand, the stage
with horrid blasphemy representing that most sa
cred and touching scene on Calvary, and on the
other, ministers of religion buying up rihes ana
exhortng the protested disciples of the Prince OF
Peace to hate, despoil and murder their leiio"
men. If all this does not exhibit natures iona Oh
excitement and novelty, crazy for sometnlng 10
rouse it's passions aud stir its blood, we kno" no'
what evidence can demonstrate such propenslies
Look, on the contrary, at the South, which is so
constantly stigmatised as the land OF unreasonins
excitement Itmay be true that 1.-The hot In cline
are hot in blood" but it is no less true that there
Is more selfcontrol in the Southern character,
more harmonious development of Its qualities, and
more equal diffusion of its warmth of feeling
than in the Northern constitution. Compare the
deIiberative assemblies of the North and South
the press and the bars of the two sections and the
superior dignity and gravity of Southern discus
sions, the predominance of reason, the calmness
and courtesy of the South are evident at glance
Even in ordinary conversational intercourse the
tendency to exaggeration on one side, and the
more scrupulous accuracy of the other, must
strike every observer. Moreover, we find in
Southern communities none of the political and
religious utraisms which abound In New England.
Again, if we recall the great Southern statesmen
who have been called to the Presidency, or adorn'
ed the halls Of council and of justice, we shall be
impressed with the calmness and repose as well as
the strength and majesty of their character. Wash
ington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Taylor, were
all cool, deliberate self poised men. Look at Chief
Justice Marshall, whose soul seemed enthroned
above the clouds of human passion. Think of
John c. Calhoun the leader of Carona's chival.
~, yet, with nature as composed and impcrturba-
BILE a. q rock
We do not refer to excitablty Of temperament
a. discredtabls. But, when Northern presses
speak contemptuously, or compassionately, as the
case may be- of the frenzied ardour and head over
heels impu lsiyeness of Southern character, we de
sire them to take the beam out of their own eye,
before devoting their attention to the notes in
others.