Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-04-27
NEW ENGLAND IDEAS.

The Baltimore GGSefte warns the public 10 be on
its guard against patronizing Northern books and
magazines, and says that certain busy-bodies have
set themselves deliberately TO work to inocuiate AL
the peope Of this country with what are called We"
ENGLAND Ideas. As an illustration the GdSeHe
says:
r,h;,S,s History of the United States" Its author
IL a Mr. John Bonner, who, we learn from the title
page, is known to somebody or other as the author
of q A Child's History of Greece" and similar
work on Rome. OF the History of the United States
the volume before is the third and it purports TO
contain the History of the Great Rebellion" 1t
is published by Messrs Harper Brothers, the pub
fishers and proprietOrs of mendacious and disgust
ing paper called journal of Civilization" Mr.
Bonner has attempted to initiate that very clever
and charming work by Mr. Dickens known as "a
Child's History of England" and the most ridicu-
Ious failure has attended that part of his literary
project But in another particular Mr.. Bonner
has been successful beyond, we should sup
pose even his own most sanguine expectations. He
has managed to do more downright lying within
the compass of this little volume than any other
historian could crowd into book OF i've times the
size But it is not merely on account of its worth
lessness as historical work that we warn all decent
people to keep this book out OF their Children
hands That II is tissue of fasehoods IS certainly
bad enough bnt we are compelled TO add that these
falsehoods are of so dirty and scurlous character
that they disgrace the man who wrote and would
corrupt the child who should read them. This Is the
way in which this veracious chronicer speaks OF
those men in the North who sympathiZed with the
South Numbers of private citizens OF the North,
who had been engaged in trade with the South, and
had fallen in love with slavery and slaveowners,
now came forward and begged that the United
States would allow themselves to be kicked and
cuffed, and insulted, and spat upon without re-
monstrance. These men of little hearts and white
hall in Nyl ~
were told what rascals they were, and the
Southern seceders were praised as gallant men. =
Then we are told how the "feeble Buchanan turned
green with fright, and how he looked on, coolly
wringing his yellow hands, Here IS historicai
view of the Peace Conference: 'There was droll
body which met at Washington, under the Presl-
dency of shutting Captain Tyler and called itself
Peace Conference. This droll body met TO see II
anything would satisfy the South but the wholesale
eating of dirt by the North; on enquiry the south
said no. nothing would do but the eating of dirt
wholesale; and so this drol body adjourned. y
But for the Southern people Mr. Bonner has reserved
his choicest epithets. Mr.. Breckenridge is "a
sneak" Mr.. Mason was a sit type OF slave EN-.
pire" and, among all the insolent, selfish arrogant
and truculent save-lords of the South, not one
was so offensive to men of Northern birth and civil
lized habits" OF Mr.. Slidell we learn that not
among all the rogues in and out OF JAIL North as
we'll as South, was there another rogue so cunning
and cold-bloOded." The people of Baltimore have
been brutlted Dy slavery, anu luOSe vi New VI
leans are no better New Orleans was the greatest
city of the SOuth-the largest, richest and most I'M
portant 1t contained a motley set OF people. Many
of them were foreigners; large number were gam
blers, slavetraders and vagabonds OF various sorts
all were devoted friends of slavery, and most OF
them had become brutalized by seeing men, women
and children sold at the block, whipped by pubic
whippers, branded by cruel masters, and treated
with less humanity than good men show to their
dogs" 1 u.,
and Mostly were brutal, bood-thirsty and
utterly God.forsaken scoundres," and those
who differed Magruder's army 'were brutihed by
the practice of slavery, debauchery, violence and
drunkenness" Slavery, we are told, had blotted
both decency and humanity" out of the hearts OF
South Caronians and in the lower part of the Mis-.
sissppi valley before this war; it was not thought
disgracefnl to shoot man in the street. to stab
man in his house, to drink from morning I'LL nlght
in vile bar-rooms, to own buy, sell, whip, outrage
and MAIN women young girls, and even children,
whoseskin was not white" We could multiply our
quotations almost indefinitely, and show that Demo
Gratis and "Copperheads" are also discussed in the
same ribald strain. But we have said enough to IN
dictate the character of this book, and enough, we
trust TO prevent any of our readers from placing
in the hands of his children If this book an isO-
lated specimen of blackguardism and nonsense, we
should refrain from any comment on It. But II Is one
of many thousands written with the same disregard
of truth and decency. The individuals who get up
these diatrbes never weary OF proclalmng their
own virtues and deprecatng the wickedness of the
people of the South They insist that the latter can
only be regarded as "reco constructed when they
shall have accepted the new Evange that Is preached
by the disciples of Beecher Stevens and John
Brown This, we venture to assume, they do not in
tend to do. They fought W til superb courage in
vndication of their constitutional rights and ber-
ties They lost that battle and they accept the re-
suit. But they do not intend to acquiesce IN any
sentence that condemns them to degradation. We
trust therefore, and believe that rather than hold
any fellowship with people of Mr.. Bonners stamp
they will determine to remain unreconciled and UNI
forever.