American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-04-25
SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

| SOUTHERN LITERATURE.
There is one sure index of the state Of
public sentiment in the South which il
will not do for us to disregard. Earnest
ly as we desire to see the great work Of
pacifcalion go on; and to see speedy
restoration of the Union, we cannot but
observe with regret the tone of great
part Of the Southern press. Men who
have been engaged in reasonable war
fare against the Union for FIVE years, by
a strange perversion of ideas denounce as
traitors those who have stood by the old
flag ip all its trials. The leopard cannot
change his spots, Dor the Ethiop his skin,
and it seems to be as great an impossible
ity for bred in-the-bone Rebel to be-
come true patriot. Such men as write
for the Southern people appear to be in
their best element when engaged in the
denunciation and disparagemept of those
who have compelled them to submit to
the dominion, of the law.
1t is natural that there should be some
ascerbity of feeling on the part of whip
ped people after the close Of war in
which all their fine spun theories were
knocked into oblivion, and their boosted
chivalry proven to be vain bombast. The
political mountebank and the social pre-
| tender are alike mortified at the fall which
so soon followed their "pride, which go
eth before destruction" They claimed
to have patent right for all the chivalric
honor of the country. Their movement
was a lie and fraud from its inception.
They claimed to be kind and hospitable
peoplc-their treatment of Unionists and
unprotected prisoners of war in the hor-
rible prisons of Libby and AnderSonville
prove them to have lacked common hu-
manity. They boasted Of their military
prowess, and that one of their men was
equal to five patriots; but results have
disproven their clpim, and thrown upon
them the shamo'of being vain Gascona-
ders That this should humiliate them
and make them sore against us is not to
be wondered at; but we surely have
right to be surprised that their contempt
for us is, at least, as great as ever, and
that their belief in their superiority re-
mains unshaken by the events Of the past
Ave years.
The Presidents magnanimity has been
misinterpreted rebellious newspapers are
in full blast, and free speech by Union
lists cannot be safely INDUCED in. Gov.
Hamilton has found Texas falling so COM
pletely into the hands of the Rebels that
he is on his way to Washington, it is
said, for further instructions. Force ap-
pears to be the only thing not despicable
in the eyes of the Southern majority.
We think this may be partly attributed
to the bitterness of the Southern press,
Of which we have counterpart in the
press Of our own city. We know very
well that papers would not be printed if
they had not subscribers and patronage,
yet it is also true that paper may modi
fy the opinions of its patrons, and, by
inculcating sound views, do a great deal
toward the establishment of good feeling.
TIE press is a mighty lever for good or
i'll. 1t may increase or allay excitement
it may foment discord or contribute to
harmony. Let those who sneer at the
yaaity of authorship remember Swift's
political power arising from his practical
use of the pen. He proved the truth of
Richelieu's maxim, "The pen is mightier
thar. the sword" A man of no estate
asad obscure birth in ap aristocratic copn-
try, by mere force of diction and energy
of thought, rises to such influence over
the executive power Of his Government
as to control and direct it. Did he es-
pouse a cause in his study, it was assured
of triumph. Pamphlets were his ammu-
milton. A sarcasm or an epigram often
enabled him to attain his social objects !;
and he infaped the popular heart with
appeals distributed by the ballad mongers.
One of his pamphlets caused tie erection
of fifty new churches in London; aud his
'Predic:ions Of Isaac Bickerstof, besides
exciting the activity of the Inquisition
Of potugal, gave the primary impulse to
periodical literature, and originated the
British essayists. His pretended confes
sion Of Elliston actually checked street
robbery for years, and his Drapier's Let