Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-04-09
THE TWO CIvILIz ATIoNs.
Don Ia1t Contl asts New England and the
ssouth--PIaIn Talk from an Inde pc ndent
Western Man &C.

|
Washington correspondent of the Clncln-
natl Commercial, recently alluded, IN one
| OF his letters, to the strong love OF home
| that prevails at the South, rs forming the
basis of much that he regards as admirable
| in the Southern character. For this he
was bitterly attacked by the Cincinnati
| Gazette. From the spirited rejoinder of
Don Piatt We make some extracts
THE TWO CIVILIZATIONS.
| A kind friend sent me the compliment
of column clipped from some issue of the
Gazette. in which the leading editor of
that solemn old organ takes to pieces
part of my Arlington letter. Iwish he had
not done it. Like the famous coon, /
would have come down had he given me a
chance I was ready to admit that was
under d" stress of composition" and gave
forth IS the fEoth of Gull Imagination, :"
after cudgeling "to bring forth senti
ment." There is SO much delicate poetic
fancy in the columns of this venerable or
gan there is such a quantity of tender,
touching sentiment in the soul of this
great fnancier, that [ hasten to acknow-
ledge my master, and beg forgiveness for
the sin OF attempting sentiment on the
| heights OF Arlington. L say again, An
thought he had been valiant, and so cum
ming in fence by Jove, had ! known
that he would even condescend to read
nay poor stuff, would have cut the senti-
ment, and given him some solid figures, on
! which to feast his statistical soul.
Nay, L would have gone further, and
confessed that the Yankee love of locality
surpassed III strength all other love known
to humanity. [ would have ceased to in
dulge in that impious belief, once my
favorite, that, had Adam and Eve been
Yankees, they would not have waited for
the Lord to expel them from the Garden
of Eden, but woull have emigrated long
before, and gone to Specializing ia wild
lands.
l would have sworn that the love Of
home was Il great love in New England,
and found expression in the quiet repose
Of the household, that was without parable,
IN tie annals OF humanity. would have
denied that it was common for children to
quarrel over the support Of the aged pa
rent, or that the aged parent eI er charged
the dear children weekly stipend for
board. [ would have repudiated with in
dignation the charge that the Gale dar of
horrible crimes instigated by love Of
money shown by New England, is heavier
than that of any other civilized people
known to the world. I would have shut
my eyes to the matrimonial infidelities and
divorces, that make that Yankee commu-
nifty, called Chicago, SO infamous. would
have sworn that the love of homestead was
SO intense, that it passed down from gem
Grafton to generation of tender Yankees,
who would die in cold blood rather than
part with foot Of the loved locality, for q
slight advance I would have sworn to
this, and more, if I could have thought of
it, rather than be stretched in torture along
the loaded length of column i'll this an
cient journal. .... ...
I could have admitted much if not all of
this, and yet maintained what I meant to
assert. l had no idea of running a COM
parisOu between the moral condition of
the north and that of the south. A man
may be as pure and upright as Charles
Sumner, and yet have no love of home or
attachment for the locality home has made
sacred. He may be wicked man, and yet
be attached to the little surroundings made
dear by feelings we hold in common with
the brute creation. The Arab in his tent
may be as good creature, in moral point
of view, as the Swiss peasant in his cot
tage. What [ endeavored to say in my
letter was that the love of home existed at
the south in way unknown to New Eng
land. J. never heard this disputed before.
And il this love Of homo I find the foun-
dation for better civilization than one
of force pride or property. The very illus
trstions offered by the editor prove the
correctness of my position. A man may
adorn his dwelling with all that art and
taste can supply, and yet sell the house to
strangers without pang ofregret. Paint
lugS and statuary and architecture may
make it valuable without making it
precious. The fact that in our little town
we have mnde our fight with the world,
that there the wife loved, believed in and
trusted, and the dear children were born,
Or grew up and sickened and died, make
it end all its surrounding dear to us be-
yond the mere valuation in money. I
helped to burn houses in the Shenandoah
Valley that were on farms held by the same
families since the days of the colony. Our
New England friends would have snapped
their fingers at the loss, for the value in
money was small but the people of the
valley fought to the death for those homes
because they were homes.
Of course my friend will sheer at this,
and call it another gush of sentiment, got
ten up to order. 1t is common to do so
with people who, not feeling it, fail to un.
derstand and appreciate.
Nor is his reference to emigration any
happier. ! New Highlander sells out to
strangers and seeks new lands from wish
to better his condition in pecuniary way
The sOutherner leaves his home, as a son
goes out into the world, leaving the old
homestead in the keeping of the family,
and cherishes its memory with life And
in this way the south has come to be one
great family. And Virginia seemed to
reach out and embrace the vast territory
such emigration had conquered. This is
not the civilization of New England. A
man there does not have a love for his
home-but as the learned editor tells US
with such charming naioete, he has a pride
in it. He adorns it with beautiful things,
and then sells to the highest bidder.
The learned editor, who never gushes,
differs from me only in the facts he is
pleased to question. We both believe I
presume, that the true definition of patriot
ism is a love of family widened to embrace
a community we call country. A civiliza-
ton based on this is the better civilization.
We cannot base it on pride, nor sense of
possession, nor upon property, and have
the true thing and the evils of the one and
the good of the other runs through all de-
partments. A distinguished statesman, late
ly called to public life, after an absence of
twelve years, said to me, not long since
"Those Southern fellows were very I'M
reasonable and troublesome, but they