, 1866-09-14

clip the following. The Era is strictly a liters,
ry paper, thongh when politics has been dis
eussed in its columns it has been so unqualified
ly Union as to cause its readers to class II with
the New England style of literary jOnrnab.
Hence ito Conservatism iu the following should
have the more weight. 1t says;
Much has been said at 7stiou, tim.s in IN.
past year concerning the temper Of the South.
An idea seems TO prevail that an irritabillty eI.
lists IN tnat section which prevents a complies
restoration Of the Union. portion Of the press
| Whleh mas PECULIAR way Of showing its attach
ment for the goion is Industrious in the Aeeu-
mutation Ct eridenee of southern ill-huupor and
dehanoe OF TIC horth. poSbtloss such a feelfng
exisIs to some extent but it is a question IL the
temper Of the North is not the greater obstacle
to harmonious reunion SO greatly to be desired.
| The most marked feature of the Northern tenn
per is distrust 1t gives the South no credit
whatever for sincerity. In the face of the pro.
testatlons of toNdsy it persists in finginR the
deeds OF yesterday. 1t says through its press
| and its legislation, You are rebels at heart.
and would be in deed if you dared. You are
rebels by nStue Gnd education, aud will act in
accordance with your instincts as soon as you
snail think yourselves strong enough to act With
effect. You have no honor, no truth, no patri-
otism, no rega'd even for your own interests" {"
acting upon tiis principle, the North proceeds
70 re-mould tie southern mind with the rigid
hand of legislation. Northern ideas are trans.
planted full gown into southern soil and with.
out waiting Il see if they flourish or decay, the
South is calei upon to accept them as its own,
II II protests The protestation is regarded as an
evidence OF rebellous spirit. 1t is declared
unht to take part in the councils of the nation
until II shall 'wa itself converted to all the dog
mas OF the dominant party in the North Now
II Is quite possible that the ideas which are
suited to theNorth are not suited to the South.
Truth itself not of SO inelastic q nature as to
yield nothing to the conditions of society
There is DOUBTLESS a religion which Is nearer to
the divine idea than all other religious there is
6 form OF government which is a nearer an
proach to perfection than all other fotms of gov
ernment; but it does not follow that the best re-
HgiOn is better suited to certain people than
one of a lower grade, or the best possible form
of gOvernmen better calculated than another
to promote the prosperity and happiness of all
nations, regardless of their peculiar character
istics. Nature, education, and the habits of life
fit certain mm for certain ideas and it is by no
means essential, or even desirable, tnat the same
ideas shall !re9sil through all degrees of lati>
tude or longitude. Nature causes a different an
imal to grow in one Zone from that which in
habits another. 1t y not necessary to arge which
civilization is the higher it is enough TO know
that in many respects they are radically differ, |
ent.
Another feaSre Of the TEMPER of the North is |
disposition % assume that principles which |
are good forltself are good far others. 1t makes |
no HvvOunt Of tho difurvnoo -hi~L a~t~-- L~s
made in races and in people of the same race
living in different latitudes. The right of nature
to make Distinction is not recognized. If nature
has done 10 it has erred and must be set right at
whateVercost. The correct standard has been
discovered, pattern preserved, and hereafter
all men must be modelled upon that. If the shell
which tbs model has grown to fill does not f.
creaturesof another growth, so much the worse
for the later. 1t is not possible for the former
to be in any wise imperfect. -4..',..
This deposition Of people to arrogate to it.
self the right to fix the limits of Truth does not
argue the highest type of being nor the most
advanced order of civilization. Since the death
of the irlt man for opinion cake, bigotry has
been allied to ignorance. Educated man are Of
ten bgot for education is only an accessory of
greatness in people or individual. Education
has a tendency to expand the mind, unless the
orbit of mind is fixed by nature too close to its
centre. Then education only adds to its pom
posty, to its unwieldiness and to its bigotry.
Instead O. expanding it builds upon itself. Ed
ucated men are often extremely ignorant Of the
broad principles which should serve as the basis
of all education. The North is educated to be-
lieve 10 itsel in its superiority to others, its in
10 error. This sentiment makes it ter
rible 10 its enemies, but alas equally terrible
to its friends. 1t recognizes no good outside of
itself, no virtue which does not spring from it.
self What there is of truth discovered in the
world itpossesses and when it offers the treas
ures to another who hesitates to accept the in
estimabl, gift, the acme of generosity and in
gratitude is reached.