The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-03-15
Per the MOuntAln DsnocraL
MntHaI AntfPathY.

existing betwlXt the two great sections Of
our country Has not this feeling tx
hibited itself on almost every occasion
when the sectional interests clashed with
each Othery Though at times barely per-
ceptible, has itRot been smOnldering and
waiting only for some stirring Of the EN-.
bers, some adding Of fresh fuel, to flash
forth into lurid flames?
Those who have carefully read the his
tory Of our country, and have marked the
course Of events as they have sped along,
well know that, though united in name,
in blood, and by a common interest and
love of country, yet morbid antipathy
has existed and weakened the bond Of
union.
Washington feared and forcboded this
dread evil. Standing, as it were, on an
eminence, lifted above the common herd,
his sagacious mind seemed to run into fu.
turity, and to have anticipated the evils
that would arise when the country should
be divided into geographical sections,
with diversified interests, and dGSuaited
by latent distrust.
In the Connecticut COurant, in 1906,
an article appeared which showed that
even at that early period an i'll feeling ex-
listed to some extent. 1--WE have reach.
ed, says the writer, d" a critical period in
our political existence. The great ques.
ton must soon be decided, whether we
will continue a nation, at the expense
even of our Union, or sink encountered
with the present mass Of difficulty into
confusion and slavery. On subject so
interesting as this, it is hazardous to speak
But it is still more hazardous to remain
Silert.
when it becomes serious question,
whether We shall give up our government,
or part with the States south of the Poto-
mac, no man north Of that river, whose
mc@r1 rs 'taoro6gbly democratic, can hest
tate what decision to make. That this
question is nearly ripe for decision, there
can be but little doubt 1t is therefore
time that the public mind should be EN-
ployed in examining it attcntively, in or
der that when the period arrives, the de-
ci>ion may be made coolly and with
firmnesS"
This state of feeling however was not
confined to the Northe, n States, as will
appear from the following extract from an
after dinner speech, made by Col. Crock
EFT. of Tennessee, at Boston in 1882: -
" We have always been taught" said he,
" to look upon the people Of New England
a a selfish, cunning set Of fellows, that
we're fed on fox ears and thistle tops !;
that cut their wisdom teeth as soon AS
they were born that made money by
their wits, and held on to it by nature !;
that called chcatery mothvr-wit; that
hung on to political power because they
had numbers; that raised up manufac
turrS to keep down the South and the
West and in fact had so much Of the
devil in all their machinery, that they
would neither lead nor drive, unless the
load was going into their own cribs. But
| assure you, gentlemen, | begin to think
differently of you, and | think see a
good many reasons for so doing. don't
mean that because | eat your bread and
drink your liquor, feel so. No, that
don't make Inc see clearer than did Its
your habits, and manners, and customs;
your industry; your proud and indepen-
dent spirits; your hanging on to the
eternal principles Of right and wrong +,
your liberality in prosperity, and your
patience when crushed down by legisla-
ton, which, instead Of crushing you,
whets your invention to strike out path
without blaze on tree to guide you !;
and above all, your never dying, deathless
grip TO our glorious constitution. These
are the things that make me think that
you are mighty good people"
In Jackson's time, during the Nullifi-
cation troubles, the sectional writers vent
ed their spleen on each other much in the
same way that partizan editors are accus-
toned to do at the present day. The car
features of that day were full of this mu-
tual antipathy.
The following, from the Memoirs of a
Nulifer," will show that Crockett was
not altogether wrong. The author con-
ducts his readers into the judgment hall
of Rhadamanthus, and reports the exam
ination of the spirit Of departed Yankee:
"Soon we heard one Of the constables
cry out, Virgil Hoskins! Virgil Hoskins"
Here, answered our companion, the Yam
kee peddler, quaking up to the bar
Rhadamanthus was sitting with number
of huge account-boOks before him.
"'Nirgil Hoskins is your name, is it ?
said he. Here it is among the H's, page
1883. All, Virgil! there is terribly
long account against you. Let's see few
of the charges (ReadS)
"'Virgil IIoskinS, DR..
"'June ~, IS, To selling, in the
course of one peddling expedition, 497,-
3GS wooden nutmcgs, 2sl, 5s5 Spanish
cigars made of oak leaves, and CAT wood
en- clocks.
"'What do you say to that charge,
IIOSkins 2!
"Hoskins-'Why, that was counted in
our place about the greatest peddiing trip
that was ever made over the Potomac
"Rhad. (reads :)-'June 80, 49,, To