Arkansas true Democrat., 1862-01-23
Yankee EInartness.

Yankee Enartness.
 The European presses, in commenting upon the messages of President Davis and President Lincoln, make distinction that may be ex- tended to the people'of the opposing sections. The calm, selfpossessed and dignifed air of our chief magistrate, shows favoraby when contrasted with the cunning, uneasy, sophisti- cal and low tone Of the message of the Baboon. The one is the utterance' Of cool headed and honest hearted man; the other, the special plea of 6 pettfogger. The only honest expressions an fair statements yet made by the northern leaders, if we except Valandingham and lew others, are those made by the noted abolition ist Hale, and these are shrewdl5 supposed to be prompted by that canning which leads hln to condemn, in advance, what he knows VIII be unpopular hereafter, and not by an innate love of right. Lincoln and Seward are types ot northern character. and representative men of their section.
 The first thing Yankee is taught to acquire Is money; the second, Is reputation for smart ue,s; and the measure of the Latter Is success ln the former To all northeraer q sbrewd cunning fellow, Is about the highest compliment you can pay him. Tell him that he Is smart cascal, and he is pleased at the idea. If you wish to insult him, call him an honest fool.- Principle has nothing 10 do with their actions, ,ud a man who acts from 1t, Is looked upon by chem with contempt. Successful vllainy is not
 isrracefai, and wealth, however unjustly acA quired, ennobles it's possessor. From the clock pelder to the importing merchant; from the pettifogger in the justices court to the judge on the supreme bench; from the ward politician to the President all strive to exhibit andachieve ! reputation for sinartness, for cunning and the aculty of outwitting others. The correspon- lence of Seward with Lorl Lyons, Is an exhl' otion of this cunning and smartuess in its high est degree. What, to high spirited man would have been an act of humiliation, to be dismiss ed in few words, Seward seizes ss a matter oi pride, and as an opportunity of showing hi6 nartness. There Is an evident air ot Seltsat- is saction, vein of cunning, and smlrk oi selfconceit visible from beginning to end. The d .gredaton, qualification and abasemeAt of the people are lost sight of in the opportunity at- f,rded Seward to show how cunning he is.-- And it is worthy of remark that the people ot the North evince no shamo or regret st their humiliation, or if they fRt any, its swallowed m in admiration of the smartness of the ore mier.
 The letter of Seward is too long for our col umns and unworthy place unless to exemplllv this great characteristic of the Yankee nation. He proceeds to discuss the question of the ar rest of Mason and Slidell, and demonstrates to his satisfaction that their capture was legal and proper. But he suddenly pauses, and declares that he has been using the British argument Of the right of search, and tbereupon proceeds to re.argue 1t, and demonstrates it to be illegal and improper. This he says is the American argu- nent, and upon it Mason and Slidell must be given up. Canning William! How ingenious ly he proves it was right and admits t was wrorg!
 Lincolu's messages are no less characteristic of this smartness. Their silence on important points; the sophisms ptteced with nu oraeuIar air, ard the questions 7u: forth in way that seem to defy an an8vcy, are Yankee all over
 Where a southern statesman would use bold argument, he puts q cunning question; where the one would state broad principle, the other suggests some low, grove Ing interest, and where Davis womb take calm, broad view oi the whole ground, Lincoln burrows in one cor ner. Alas for the Yankee nation, where boIl- ness. truth and fair dealing are suppanted by cowardce, unveracity and canning. These traits are evidences of the decline of 2 country, for history teaches us that when people sink in the scale, they become rreacheroua, cunning and false.
 There may bo bo'I end truthful men at fine North. but they are in the Bastiles, or go hem med in with influences that they dare not speak. Oar foes rely in politics as n war, upon trick erv and s.ratagerr, and make 1t contest Tor advantares and not trial of honest strength. In diplomacy, they seek conquests bY tricks or evade difficulty by ingenious soPhistries. In war, they expect to conquer with long range guns, or by the means of rockets, infernal ma, chimes and diabo!ical inventions. Tn the one, they sbun reason and fair argument; in the other. avoid fair stand up fight, even with the odds of two to one in their favor.