Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1862-01-29
The Contest.

present troubles.
The habits tastes, modes of life. and
form of Society, of a peopl e or nation, are
not the result Of any sudden impulse, but
are of slow growth, gradual development,
conservative in their nature, and are trans
mitted from generation to generation for
centuries. Caesar, in his Commentaries
upon Gaul, (now Franco says the people
then i~nhabiting that country, were of an
uneasy nature, soon adapted themselves to
whatever condition they might be placed
in, perceived and adopted the improve
ments Of others quickly, whether Of war
Or otherwise, and were ready at any time
for a change Of government or ~rulers,
whether for the better or worse" and al
though written by the historian nearly two
thousand years ago, it is as correct a de-
scriptiOn of the present French character,
now, as can be given. Tacitus in his account
of the manners and customs of the Ger
mans, written about the same time, says,
"they settle wherever there is a fine spring
or fountain, a shady grove or beautiful
fcld," which characteristic, is shown still
prevalent in all localities settled by immi-
grants from that nation, in our W coun-
try. The form of government and society
in a newly organized state or nation, de-
ponds entirely upon the character of the
original settlers Of the same, for whatever
their ideas may be they will stamp them
upon the government and society, and trans
NIT them to their posterity.
The original settlers of New England,
New York and Pennsylvania, were from
: the middle class of European society, men
who were accustomed to labor and hard
ships, were selfdependent and consequent
ly independent. They had known and
felt the dOmineeriDg spirit Of a monarchy
and aristocracy, and had endured with suf-
fering even, the weight of their support,
and were SO dull Intellectually, as not to
be able to understand why, BY the grace of
God, one man, though a fool, should be a
prince, and another, although a giant men,
tally, should be his mental, and contribute
to his support and happiness without re-
ward or compensation. The only part of
those States where the aristocratic element
acquired sufficient strength to make itself
felt in after years, was in the vicinity of
the Hudson in the State Of New York,
where a landed aristOeracy was originated
during the possession Of that State by Hol-
land, from which arose the anti-rent diff
%culties a few years since. Virginia, on the
other hand, and the Southern States gen.
orally, were settled by broken down men,
bers Of the aristocracy from England; men
who had never been accustomed to labor,
and we're therefore, dependant upon other
resources for the labor so necessary to the
development of the hen ~unsubdued wild
erness. After various means had teen
tried to furnish the required labor, at length
a Dutch vessel arrived with a cargo of ne
groes, who were sold to the planters. and
were found to answer a better purpose than
anything before attempted; and thus began
the present system Of American Slavery,
which, although it afterwards extended to
the more Northern States, yet as the In
habitants of those States were of them
selves a laboring population, never gained
much footing there, and finally became ex-
tinct. The settlers of the Southern States
we're not only dependant for labor. but
moreover, as is the case generally with the
class from which they had sprung, looked
upon it as mental and debasing, and of too
degrading a character to be engaged in by
gentlemen If their condition.
They also had the most exalted o. Unions
of family and blood. With them, it was
not .'rorfh" that made the man, but rath-
er his tauaily and descent; if he was from
the FIRST ~tam;hss.he could pass. These
cally characteristics, these aristOcratic
qualities. have descended and now exist in
the inhabitants of those States, if any
thing. with increased force; there is the
same pride of family, tie same detestatiOn
OF labor, the same low estimate Of those
engaged init, the same arrogance of dis
position, and there now exists in the South
ern Slave States, the blacklist aristocracy
now extant upon Gods footstOOl; for Shle
in other localities special privileges may be
held both as to property and political rights,
they exist here, and in addition the very
ownership of the labolers themselves by
the aristocracy. While an aristOcracy Of
such a character exists in the Slave States,
the society in the Northern or Free States
is highly democratic; there, no one trusts
to ancestry for position, but each stands
upon personal merit alone and depends up
on bis own cxcrtions for fortune, labor is
h9nored, and the lab0rer esteemed. Thus
the present contest, now urged with so much
bitterness by the two sections Of tie nation,
is but an old quarrel renewed. 1t is a war
of casto-one which has deluged Europe
with blood for centuries, made widows and
orphans by thousands, and remains yet to
be fought both there and here; a contest of
democracy against aristoeracy. which tho
vanquishcd for the time, soon springs to
the combat with renewed energy and de-