The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-12-15
A vISITVTo THE SOUTH
Temper of the PeOple-HOn0ring the
KebeIliGn-A Home for Northern
Men-The Better Feeling n 81


some Impressions formed or confirm
ed, in a. recent trip Of the writer to
the States bordering the lower Mis-
sissiippii especially1in connection with
tie indus ria Interests x off, the South.
AS already remarked the two fruitful
topics off, conversation among all
classes an IN Seiitydand conatry, to the
texcIusiofn7 Of E. almost everything else
are 4. cotton and theI,s Radicals. n
The latter subject .is the one upon
which they discourse withthe greatest
freedom and gusto.ld 9g sig9 4 p 80 g. :
THE first six months of 1865, which
witnessed the closing operations of
the war under GRANT, SHERMAN, and
WILsoN, the final collapse of the Con-
| federate bubble, the return Of the
rebels to their homes, and the
establishment of peace, I spent in
the South. During that time I
closely observed the temper of the
people, and noted their publicly
expressed sentiments. Comparing the
Spirit of the South then and now,
with fifteen months between my visits,
the contrast is very marked. At the
time of the breaking up of the rebel
armies, the people were in state of
complete submission. They felt that
they had risked all their rights and
independence as States in their effort
to break up the Federal Government,
and had made complete and disas4
trous failureS and could expect moth
ing but the magnanimity of their con-
lquerors. All that was restored to
them Of their. former rights and priv
ileges as citizens of the United States
would be only SO much saved to them
from the wreck of rebellion, as a.
gratuity of reconciliation. However
much they might lament the result
they felt that they must accept such
terms as the Government would i'm
pose upon them, They had chosen
the arbitrament of the sword, and an
memorable fate had decided the con-
test overwhelmingly against them
Least of all did they expect anything
from ANDREW JOHNSON. They knew
ihislimplacable disposition, his plebean
origin, and his ill-cohqealed hatred of
,aristocracy. Had the Constitutional
Amendment, passed by the last Con-
gress and ratified by the, people of the 4
North, been presented then to them as
the condition Of their re admission as
States and as citizens, theywUuld have
accepted it. SIT 4
But@ngw the whofe spirit of the
South Il changed. N one who passes
through the country and listens to the
convsrEatigps Of the people of all
classes, on the steamboats, and rail "A
road cars, at the hotels and in bust |
ness circles, on the plantations and at,
their HOMES, can Il mistake the temper
ofithe omassesai Tt cannot be accepted |
as any thing approaching to a genuine
SPIRIT Of loyalty, unless that term can
be reconciledawith a bitter denuncia-
tien eofothei Government IA contempt !
fol-. Northernlm men, and an undisguised |
hatred Of, Union soldiers. They talk
boastfully of their rights, which they |
will maintain at all hazards. They |
SPEAK of the oppression and tyranny |
of the radical Congress, without
Constitutional authority and iusurping
the Executive prerogatives. They
allude ,sdto the !" Yankees" under
which title they embrace all Western
and Northern men, with sheer and
scorn. The Federal soldiers, judging I
from the current of their. converse
tons, they regard as a band of
thieves, hbertines, and assassins, i'm
PEELED only by a bitter hatred against
the people of the South and an insa-
table greed for plumber. They say
they, have made all the conces-
sions which they can, consistent
18th their honor, and they re-
ject the Constitutional Amendment
with contempt. They despise the
Test Oath as Insulting to their man
hood and as anainfringement upon
their rights as American citizens.
They point to their ruined homes as
evideheesgof our national hate, and
look upon the blackened walls and
lone lehimneys, to be seen everywhere
in the track of our armies, as monu-
ments of Yankee vandalism; forget
ting that they may also be the land
marks of a most wicked and causeless