The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1866-04-12
The influence of Climate and In
stitutions on Character.

lIoiu IlO uiSIlu > uioiiCA oeeo's''; 49,
was addressed to the editor of the Mobile
Register DC Advertiser
Mr.. EDITOR: Permit me TO thank you
for your c11tique on my article in the last
number of De Bo,0'S Commercial Revieac
on "Climates of the South in their rela-
tions to white labor" as it gives me an
opportunity of making an important cor
rcction in the publication alluded to.
Mr.. De Bow, in passing through Mo
bile, requested me to write an article on
the above subject for the forthcoming
number OF his Revie,0, and, to oblige him,
very hastily wrote it one night and sent
it to him by mail the next morning. l
mention this as an apology for not elabo-
rating the several points more fully, but
there is no opinion therein expressed that
has not been deliberately formed and long
maintained.
But my object at present is to draw
your attention to an extract you criti-
cised, and which has been so changed in
printing as to pervert entirely my mean
ING. There are several other misprints
of less import which will pass over
Again, Dr. Mott says:
st must be confessed, however, that
tho climate of the Gulf States, particu-
larly, is unfavorable to mental cultiva-
tion and high intellectual development.
The people are full Of genius, courage.
chivalry, and all the high qualities that
adorn humanity. Such characters as Gen.
Washington, Patrick Henry, Stonewall
jackson, Gen. Lee, the Lowndeses, the
Rutleges, the Pinckneys, and many 9TH
ers of the South, can no more be grown
in ertreme Northern zatitudes, than cotton.
sugar, pineappIes and oranges, and yet
the heat of the climate for four months OF
the year puts stop to steady, plodding,
intellectual labor, and the South, in my
opinion, will never equal the North in
profound learning and general literary
attanments Too much time is lost out
of each year to keep up in the race"
The words have italicized, "extreme
northern latitudes," are not mine, and do
not express my idea. Itshould have been
the New England States.
1 do not contend, nor do l believe that
such characters as Washington, Patrick
Henry, General Lee, Lowndes, Stonewall
Jackson. ct i'd omae genus, cannot be pro-
duccd in extreme northern ATTITUDES, but
that they cannot be in New England.
Such moral products do not depend on
latitude, but on the institutions or social
organization of country In plain Eng
lish, the chivalry and high tone Of the
upper classes at the South is result OF
African slavery, and, greatly fear, will
20 down with African slavery. 1t has
been the result of casteS-ot the relation
of master and slave. These men Of the
South have been species of aristocracy
as President Johnson calls them, ap
preaching nobility. They have been ac
customcd to look down upon an infero,
class, and to command; they have had
wealth, and no one can deny that they
have been proverbially brave, generous
and hosptable, to an extent wholly un
known in the farming and manufacturing
districts Of New England.
l do not believe that the highest devel-
opment of character can take place tc
any extent in other countries than those
in which castes or grades in society ex'
ist. Where lies the tone of chivalry ei
Great Britain, ever ready to maintain III
dividual or national honor at any cost
Is itnot among the nobility and landed
aristocracy of that country? The House
of Lords is composed of the finest body
Of gentlemen in the world, which serve
rs models for others, and influence to
urcat extent the whole tone of Engist
society, and which, 1 may add, contrasts
painfully with the Senate Of the Unitee
States
Where does the English traveller in oul
country find men after his own heart
Has it not always been in the old States
of the South, as Virginia and South Car
olina? And there were nnrtured th'
Washingtons, the Madisons, the Patrlcl
Henlys, the Jacksons, the Lowndes, the
Pinckneys, the Rutleges, the Cheves, tn
Calhouns and host of others.
Now | am free to admit that slavery
has it's evils, but like every other evil i
has some good tied to it. I have but ON