The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1865-09-28
From the Boston Courier.
Sympathy with the South.

TO DC calleu a. Sy upiIliiZci "ioii 'ii0 ''ooo'i
An American may sympathize with Mex
leo or Brazil, Russia, India or China,
without any. imputation upon his patriot
ism or morals, but to have a kindly feel
ing toward his own flesh and blood, his
countrymen of the South, is in those cir
cles still discreditable, still "disloyal." !"
To speak we'll of the Southern people in
any respect, commend their courage, adj
vert to the sudden and wonderful devel-
opment of mechanical skill and industry
among them during the war; to their
perseverance, and endurance; or to praise
the good faith and good spirit in which,
the war over, they have submitted to its
award and gone to- work. to reinstate
themselves as faithful citizens, all this ex-.
poses one to malevo!ent impntations.
With the people to which we alludc moth
ing upon the subject is acceptable that is
not depreciatory, condemnatory, defam-
ing, insulting. A fallen foe excites no
pity in their hearts; the gospel of hate
which has fed them for so many years
has eradicated the very germ of all gen.
tie sentiments toward the objects of their
hostile passion.
And yet to an unwarped nature moth
ing would seem more deserving Of pity:
and sympathy than these eight millions
of orr fellow citizens. 1t is true their
leaders led some aid forced more of them
into rebellion, but how have they suffer-
cd for their fault. War never more thor
oughly scourgcd, impoverished. ruined
any country in four short years than that.
All the accumulated capital, the result of
decades of prosperous agriculture, is
swept away. This may be replaced, it is
true, but it will never be replaced by those
who have lost 1t, and but in a small de-
gree even by their descendants, for they
are dead, Over two-thirds of all the men
enlisted in many of the States have dis
appeared. Another generation of anoth-
or people must replace thcm,. and inherit
the poor rcmaips of what WAS. theirs.
Thousands upon thousands of f,lniHes'
once comfortable and happy. in their
homes as any that the world has ever
seen, are now Destitute, suffering, de-
privcd of all stay and support, and de-
pendent upon charity and tIe scanty re-
turns of their own labor for. bare sub
sistcnce. 1t would seem that any degree
of cnnity might be satisfied with this
even that of u philanthropist.
But the temper to which We alludc,
though it exists, is not the dominant tenn
per of the people. They do sympathize
with their lately rcbellious countrymen,
and none more warmly than those whose
hands have chastiscd them for their trca-
son. A brave foe, bravely vanquished
and now submissive, cxcitcs in tie SOL
diers of our armies no feeling but % desire
to aid him in restoring the prosperity OF
the past, and rebuilding the Republic in
more than its pristine grandeur aid glo-
ry. And indeed this is in great degree
the actual work awaiting our disbanded
heroes. Aftcr brief visit to their old
homes, mutitudcs Of them will return to
the South, and find there better opportu-
mites for their energies than the North
can afford them. They will go to assist
in building up free South, carrying with
them Northern thrifts and Northern
methods of labor, and by their assistance
and example firing the Southern heart
with friendly emulation in the work of
renewing the old and opening new ways
of prosperous enterprise. Settling in the
South, they viii feel its interests to be
their own, and will heartily join the ma
tive people in resisting tyranny, claiming
and asserting the same liberties for their
new home that was theirs by right in the
old. There is nothing in the way Of COM
pleto determination between crnigrants
from the North and the Southern people,
who are even now calling for them to-
come and help. The same blood flows in
the veins of both, the same thought and
aspirations, the same courage to cncoun-
ter and subdue the distractions Of ma
ture, the same principles of liberty, and
the same glorious recollections of the old
past, the brotherhood of the revolution,
the war of 1872, and the Mexican cam
paigns-all bind them far more strongly
than the past struggle can. separate; and
the same future now assured to both
nnarantee q nnitv and community of