Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-08-11
RESTORATION TIE WORK or
TIME.
(From the New York Tiasss, 2oth.


(From the New York Tiasss, 2oth)
Many men are disappointed in not finding
more rapid transformation of Southern
character They read of great deal of Bit
terness yet towards tho National Govern
ment, of d loyalty thaf Is simply submission
to the strongest of continued adherence to
the doctrine Of State rights, of adisposition
to oppress and perseeRte the freedmen: they
conclude that there = but poor prospect
that the South viii ever assimilate with the
rest eff the country, and look forward to an
indefinite proloneatiol of military rule, or
to neyer-ending disorder and wrong. From
this state of mind naturally comes an inclina-
tion to try rigorous measures and summary
expedients.
This view Of the subject is false and mis-
chieyous. We never had Alright to imagine
that the South l~0s - be metamorphosel
merely by being Yanqdished BY force HUI
man nature is capable of no such sudden
change-least Of all the tough stuff Of A.
merican nature We are too apt to apply
Northern standards to Southern conduct
making too little allowance for the immense
difference of education With our anti -sla-
very principles and our inbred reverence for
the national flag, we can hardly appreciate
what it costs a Southerner to acknowledge
that negro has natural rights as sacred as
his own, and that his sovereign State has
not the first claim to his allegiance. 1t isal-
most impossible for us to estimate the nov
city Of the situation in which the Southern
man now finds himself, and the extreme diff
ficulty of his adapting himself to it. All
the civil ideas all the social habits of his
lifetime, must be changed All his concep-
tions of citizenship. of loyalty, of State Dig
nifty, of the relations Of races, Of the title of
labor to respect Of political economy, of
natural justice, OF the divine ordinances, of
the precepts of Christianity, must be adjust
ed to a new order of things, contrary to all
he has ever seen pr felt. Were we, on ava
kening tomorrow, to find ourselves the sub
jeets of Queen Victoria, our old ideas aud
habits would hardly experience a ruder
shock than the old ideas and habits Of the
Southern people have sustained by the sud-
den breakup of their social system.
The truth is, that there IS cause for sur
prise in the readiness with which the great
body Of the Southera people recognize the
real aspects of their new situation, and the
necessities it entails. They have generally
yielded with far better grace than was anti
eipated before the war closed. Though most
of them have not as yet shown any particu-
Astl ACNOiUu W tllU ANOs u ulA~Alt AS % tlNAi
have exhibited a contumacious or sullen spir-
it, Their general disposition is to follow
the course indicated by the Government, in
the hope that it win finally bring them out
Of. their present calamities Nothing like
enthusiasm is shown in this; nor could it be
expected Their spirits, if not broken by
their defeats and their miseries, have been
too much depressed to admit Of a recovery
for many a day yet They move, for the
most part, passiyely but it is an excellent
thing that they move at all. Every step for
ward viii strengthen their faith in the Gov
ernment, and prompt to new exertion, Cain
ing new aaeHrance fhot tlaey have the eordi-
al good win Of the Northern people, and that
it is possible to live with them in brother
hood, and new proofs that all their material
interests depend upon a conformity to the
same principles and systems that have Sc
cured for The North its unparalleled pros
perity, they will gradually come to our own
ground, and thoroughly identify themselves
with Us, in act, thought, and feeling.