Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-04-18
From the Chicago Times,
Z Getting into Southern, s 6eiety."

fearing tho effect upon the public mind Of the
testimony of General Lee and other Souther;
:nsfs who are familiar, with the sentiment Of
tho South;;bavs FASTENED to- A9od the coun.
try,with the evidenceof General Terry This
officer. starts out by stating that ~ DO not
come in direct personal contact with the peo-
pie ,of Virginia, .*s.::*t.-.. ~ And /
have NO social intercourse with any except
those known. to the Union people, Afler
Terry has sworn that he does not come IN
contact with the people of Virginia, he pro-
ceeds to swear that they are, very disloyal ;
| and that they would gladly embrace an oppor:
'tnnity to secure theit independence. Gene
raj Lee, WHO is virgilnian, swears thdGt they
are loyal, and would not avail themselves Of
the embodiment of the United States with'a
foreign power to renew their war against the
Government. Who is the more reliable in
this case, Lee or TerryP We need not ask
the question.
If we examine Terry's testimony closely,
we shall find the explanation of his hostility
and that of many another Federal officer in
the South. lie says there is the same hatred
among Southerners, the same contempt for
Northern mcn that there always was The
Yirpinians do not seek him, he says, md it
would not become his position as q command
ing officer, nor consistent with hissef'respeet
10 seek them. In other words, Terry very.
Enthusiastically shows. that he is chagrined
oyer.a failure 10 get into. Southern; society:
What is true. Of Terry is true of great
many other Federal officers in The South and
this chagrin finds vent before the Reconstruc
ton Committee, in the shape Of deadly hos
tiity to, and Intentional misrepresentation Of
the South.
There are two points Of prominence con,
nected with this question of admittance to
Southern society. Southern women entered
upon the contest for the independence of the
South with an enthusiasm OF the opposite
sex. The failure, therefore, was more disas-
trous in its reactionary effects upon their
feelings than it was in the case of Southern
men. The Southern women are more disap-
pointed, more prostrated by the failure than
the men. When to this is added the fact
that almost all these women are mourning
for the loss of some relative, it can scarcely
be expected that they would be willing to
look iaYorab!y upon men whom they cannot
but regard as the instruments by which their
pride has been BUNDLED, their hopes blasted,
their property destroyed, and their fathers,
sons. lovers and brothers slain. These fucts
are so glazing that the Federal officer who
attempts to force himself into the society of
Southern women, Or who indulgcs in chagrin
because of failure in such an attempt, ia
brute in one case aud g fool in the other.
Suppose the case reversed. Suppose that
the South had conquered, and that, to-day,
The North was desert Ecld by Southern
troops. Would our wives and daughters wish
10 associate with staggering graybacks who
had been instrumental in reducing them to
poverty and in dcprivipg them Of their Eatu,
raj protectors We should regard our women
as coarse and unfeeling if they ventured to
take nny-such course.---.---as-ssr
The other prominent point in this matter
is that in Southern society, as in any other
society, gentleman is admissible, whether
he comes from Boston, Paris or Kamtschatka.
No gentleman will force himself into house
of mourning, and propose game of euchrc
or dance in connection with the obsequies
of the deceased and, in like manner, no
gentleman will seek admission into Southern
society until its people have buried their dead.
In time, the dead will be buried, the period
of mourning will be past, the bitterness Of
recollection will become lessened, and then
the doors of Southern mansions will swing
on oiled hinges for the entrance of the gen.
tleman, regardless of his nationality.
We cannot conscientiously promise, when
that time arrives, that these doors will be
wide open to New England and the entire
North. Blatant Abolitiontsts, who offensive
ly Insist that the Southern ncgresS is the in
telectual and social equal Of the Southern
white woman, will find it as hard to get into
Southern society then as they do now. This
fact alone will probably bar the doors of
Southern hopes against nine-tenths of the
Purtaus. Respectable society in the South
is like respectable society everywhere; it is
an aggregation of sympathetic social elements,
and it repudiates everything uncouth, brutal
and offensive.