Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1857-09-05
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Letter from John Mitchell.


the distinguished patriot, John Mitchell, to
john Martin, Esq, we copy from the Irish
Ne~s. We make no apology for intrutEihg
them upon our readqEs. 1t must be ex-
tremely gratifying to every true American
to see that, by come foreigners at least. his
country's Institutions ere not Iilful1y mis-
understood, and especially pleasing is it to
reflect that the most influential man of our
Irish who arc the most numerous Of our for
eign Inhabitants is prepared to yindicatc
the rights Of the South
We pass over, for want of room, many
interesting parts Of this letter, and copy on
ly those parts which most especially refer to
the South. We would remark that the re-
marks Of Mr.. Mitchell concerning Southern
education, affords evidence of much more
knowledge of subject than all the long ar
ticles which appear in the Northern papers.
A fair sample Of which is to be seen in the
article in to-day's paper, copied from the
New York Herald
Not only does Aulosiea content me--the
South especially delights me, You and J.,
OBrien and / arc not in accord upon this ::
the result Of your and his acquaintance Tex
cuse me) with the matter in hand. You re-
member that before saw q Southern State,
or thought | should eyer see it, did, by
way of retort upon philanthropic" ap-
peal of Mr.. Haughton's, wish for planta-
ton OF Negroes in the State of Alabama. -
Now that | have seen much of the South
and have lived in it eight and twenty months,
l wish for two plantations in that regpes,tta-
bic State
The South and her institutions are estab-
lished, strong, impregnable. Amongst civ
. liked communities, none are at this moment
SO secure as the Southern States of Amer
ica. Instead OF anxiously apologizing for
themselves, they can now sit serene, and
benignantly pity you all. No nobleman or
country gentleman, or whatsoever landed
and privileged man there bc-no baron or
squire, or knight of the shire, in England
or anywhere else, feels the ground under
his feet 81 firm as the Southern Planter-at-
-tempts to discharge so high duties, or has any
notion at all of such duties to be discharged
as he 'pauses amidst his game preservers
with awful eye" and stares hopelessly at the
riddle of his existence, environment and
destiny. Poor soul let him fire away
while the game is good. The credit funds
are still quoted. The Prince Albert opens
Crystal Palaces STILL aad no man has yet
cut.the felon throat of Second Decemler.
Now return to the South, and her for
tunes-you can easily perceive that I at
tach much Consequence to ;tnose beginnings
of downright Southern sentiment aud opin-
ion which are noted above. They are Sc
much resistance to the flood of "enlighten-
ed modern cant and slang, which otherwise
was threatening to spoil all our perceptions
of right and wrong, of beautiful and hide
ois, OF true and .false;-.so many sufficient
piles planted down to form breakwater a.
gainst the catacysm of Exeter Hall phil
az throphy, which is indeed 'oue Of
the worst passions Of cur nature" Nay
they indicate that America is about to orig
mate new national literature of her own.
Hitherto, as you are aware this continent
has no native literature worth naming-an
what must have been the effect upon her
general health Of so much foreign garbage,
either fresh as imported from England. or
re-compiled, echoed, edited aud mimicked
in New England one may with disgust con
ceive. An unwholcsome mistake has been
too prevalaHt-that it is enough to be 20
litiaally independent of ENGLAND enough
that she make no laws for us hat tha. her
literature, criticism, ethics, heinz manufac-
tured, by dint of cheap labor, Tower than
we can afford to get NJ the articles here.
may. serve cur tarn, as the Manchester dry
goods dc, well enough. nay, that we even
do ourselves credit, and show our Anglo
Saxon breeding BY '..apprccating' all that
balderdash. But for this erieyous mistake
America never would have heard Of Adolf
ttionism, nor of Know nothingism. 1t is a
mistake which has cost her dear; and which
will not perhaps, be fully set right until
after the third, and last war with the emo
Their country"
Northern and Eastern literature, oduea-
ftion, and opinion, are servile copy of the
British. And SO indolent, so iasouciant, is
the Southerner, that he has heretofore been
content to order all his books from England
or New York or Philadelphia, and to send
his sons to Yale or Harvard for University
education The daring cant Of Abolition
ism blatant in all those books and. Universe
ties has reused him at last: has awaken
ed him to sense of his rights and his po-
sition-I would say of his danger; but in
in truth he is in little or no danger Pain
full it may be. and. humiliating, Ito the sen
timental mind 10 reject that the grossest
material interest do come, in the long r,,n
10 be the criterion of your ethics, your re-
ligions, your social philosophers that to the
scale and measure Of decimal money table
must be brought "the finer sensibilities OF
the heart see whether they will pay
Yet in all public and national affairs, so it is
Fer example, do we not see now, over the
earth. touching anxiety about cotton p
a fearful looking for cotton Without cot
ton, what is man Has not the human race
resolved itself into Cotton-Sppply- Organ
ization? If philanthropy end in starving
,the power-looms, then away with such phi
lanthrophy. For we must absolutely have
E cotton and more cotton and the most cot
ton possible, Or we perish
The cxigency and urgency has become
apparent to the Southern planters. They
, know, too, that they have the spell whereby
this grand basis and material of ''civiliza-
4;oaD mn, ,1ono IL a,o,tol ILL.,. i'll IL