The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-12-06
AY co ANDERSON. G, THURSDAY. DEOEMBER 811

ANOEhDON,, ~. y
this country. Our humor is largely an
ecdotal. Itarelates to times long. ago
before the camp.meeting and the. barbe
cue had lost their: fullest Significance
The Jokes from such quarters must need
be rough. We make no boast of th'
quality. j We speak Of day that is gone
| iof q. race that has passed into history
whose fields for q century were given al
to song and dance and "sunburnt mirth.
+ Mi. Watterson here began his illustra
tions of. Southern humor,; describing
briefly the character. of the works emit
tied, "Sut Loyingood, ~ "Major Jones
Courtship," and .Captain' Simon Shggs,'
and residing one 6f more moderately long
extracts fromeach. ;'.a!ja,isasH :T.!1
|a .Majori Jones Courship,,y', was storl
of interior Southern life. and dealt With
clean homespun. The characters were
few and simple its adventures ) were
bounded bymthesbarn-yard- and! !,the
hearthstone, butt it. possessed q natural
ness and genuine humor which were
captivating. MI Watterson read from
this story the culminatiohaof the. court.
1shipfiwhen Maj Jones, having secured
from his, sweetheart a. promise that she
will always. keep the very large present
he is about. TO give her, hides himself in
the meal-bag which she hangs up foE the
reception of the mysterious gift!a eCapt
Simon Suggsn stood out from the; canvas
;on which q local Rubens had painted bis
portrait. To the South he was what
,Rickwick was toi England. THE Captain
finally died. and if heaven, waste each
the realization of his: fondest hopes, Capt!
Snggs was now, q red nosed angel, mount
ed Oh q rainbow, with glfttering stars all
about him, and 7 giving lessons l'ini his
'favorite game! Of poker to- Jupiter, Mars
land Saturn: ,qa "a ~ .yl!b:tf3t:.P
/, The Aumor in these compositions is
true to what was in the South. A change
has taken place. No more is the repre-
sentative Southern man taken to be "a
Dragging bully. In the: meridian of their
prosperity. Southerners were an easy
going, pleashre- loving people. Men lily.
Ing on great estates, With few cares or
excitemsnts, are likely. tor grow INDECENT!
The gentlemen Of the South, had plenty
:of time, and he thought he had plenty OF
money to use; and the lower orders imi-
tated his example. But tie crash came,
and the pretty fabric fell. The great and
the small, the .good,and the evil, were: all
in; one widespread, oyerwhel lm7
ing ruin. lin .. There is now nothing Of that
gilded' structure..i 1t is NO longer fash.
'ionabfe'or respectable to fritter time away
lin idle, costly pleasure. The. battle
SCARED and time and coreWorn South is
most unlike the South that was.
I have purposely refrained from touch
ing upon the humor ofthe coloredpeople
ofthe, South. THEN humor, is not Amerr
ican, tits peculiar to themselves, and be-
sides, It is so associated with misery that
/ have always felt my pity moved BY it,
not my mirth. The colored race is Gods
shadow upon the diafof American pro-
gress, whose cabalistic figures the wisest
are not able ,to,read. .Lonlg; knoF, and
therein am happy, that slavery is gone
with the bag and baggage Of an- obsolete
past.i9 :" 7'f7 ]i'',- "li,;'i'i "ts' y. S'.i
.MraWatterson .paid.aneloquent tribute
TO- the. Southern. woman. Of syhomI the
worst thing that ever, could be said was
that she p Va, was faithful to. BAD cause.
s'Buti if she had her tfitnphs' in tie Raf;;' !
he' continued, ,9yeshe'i hasi had iher7stiH
greater. ones, in: peace, which,. has spread
before her harder trials,. still. Brought
up toluxury andlesure, she has since had
bronght before her the unfamiliar broom
stick ;Iutheivacant clothes!chest aud the
empty cupboard 3.A .eju; i.te:igg
The, South of. the past is! gone: The
wide verandah, filled with pleasure:seek.
ing folk; the great estate, the system
which refused to recognize relations To
progress and civilization, have passed
away. The poor, weak person who lives
only to amuse himself is thought nothing
of in the South. If proselytism be the
supreme Joy of mankind, New England
must be- pre- eminently happy;; forI the
ambition, of the South is to out Yankee
the Yankee. A New England poet, !st
the beginning of the wsf, hearing the
artillery IN the battle of Manassas, rum.
bling among the 5Nirginia' hills, said To
me:a 81 hope. your people oWll win this
battle. We shall ultimately conquer, but
i do not want the restored Union a half
dishonored g MON. nj The poets yearning
mas for:s great Republic founded in'uni:
versal edncation,l with the, buttress and
bell-tower, the, sunlight and starlight o.
universal suffrage, -
= You cannot tame the eagle, .. - ~. ~.
j. land you dare not harm the dove 80
j. BE sure the gate that's closed TO hate
=, Will open wide to love. =.