Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1872-1875, 1873-12-04
Southern Women,

- SOuGnefn women hR aa1at9
| Not long since, Col. Alfred r. Cal
houn CAME from his native North and
took charge of the Columbus (Ga.) IElnn-
quirer, as its editor and proprietor.
Scarcely had he got fairly settled in his
new position when a Southern lady sent
him a basket of fruits and flowers, and
the following is what he said through
his paper in acknowledgement of the
favor; '
We received the flowers and fruit sent
byiour fair correspondent, and at once
seat them off to gladden. the heart of e
little girl, whose fate is very closely link
efilwith ours. It will make her happier
To- know her husbands efforts are appre-
cgated, and in herjoy will bend and kiss
that smaller girl on her knee, and fee!
she has friends to compensate her for the
Gear ones left in her far-otf Northern
Bome. It was q hard thing to leave the
spot where the ancestors of two hundred
years are buried above the Schuylkill,
|sbut'a woman's faith and good wife's
Hove led her to cast hcr fate willingly
with ours in this Southern land, which,
Iere this, has been to her "terra incog-
l1aita," or worse, land offabulous terrors
and fiery hate for those north of the
Potomac.
One of the popular delusions North is,
the hauteur and undisguised dislike which
Southern ladies are supposed to enter
tain for people from the Northern States.
@Ihe gentleman will receive you and your
wife kindly, for Southern men are prov
erbially courteous and gallant, but you
will be completely ignored by Southern
ladies, and your wife will be compelled
to social isolation" We did not believe
this, as we did notbelieye the many other
lies that have kept SO many away from
this fair land, and resolving to come, she
to whom we sent the fruit and flowers,
bravely came to share. whatever fate was
:inlstore forus, But the threatened Upas
out to b, 1affHr RHre1 81 ppEoach, has turned
the Southern sisters have taken her by
the hand and drawn her to their hearts.
and all that is good in our natures is
made better by this more than generous
reception. But the falsehood has gone
abroad about the bitterness of Southern
ladies. and it might be we'll to look at
the cause. When the war broke out there
could be no kindly feelings in the hearts
Of women on either side, for they saw
their brothers, husbands, sons and lovers
going out to soldiers graves for cause
each deemed right; and woman's heart of
faith was more sorely tested in these black
days than were the men who went down
before the blaze of artillery, or fell in the
jungle, or gave up life for God and
Fathcrland in the hospital or cruel prison.
Leaving out the questions involved in
the cause of battle, men never fought and
suffered with grander heroism than did
those poorly-ed, ill-clad, nevcr-paid
troops of the Con federacy; and ifthe
enduring offatigue without alarm, throw
ing life and property into the scale with
the sword be the test of patriotism, then,
indeed, do they deserve the name. The
suffering at the fearful front of fire that
stretched from the Atlantic to the West
ern plains,and extended down to the warm
Gulf was fearful, but it was only the
shadow Of suffering compared to that
which was endured in the once happy
homes of the land. Many brave boy
fell with the blood flowing carthward
from his heart, but the bullet that struck
him stopped not when the tide Of life had
run out. It went on and on, till it reach
ed ajhome and settledin mothers heart,
or struck down loved one whose young
life was crushed by the blow that sent
hesoldier to his grave. The charge, the
terrible struggle, the night, wounded on
the battlefield, the forced march, the
short rations, the prison, and the escape
were the things that tested the physique
and pluck of men. But the real suffer
ingiofsthe war was in the anxious hearts
~. ca1k tl,, HI