The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-12-06
.thla ctuntty. Our hnmor ia largely an.

eodotai. II relttes to times long ago
before tho c2mp.meesing and the baYbe,
che had lost their, fullest uignifcauce
The jokes from such quaftsFs must need
be rough. We make no boast Of thS
quality. } We epeak of day that u gone,
of o; race thai has passed into history,
! whose fields for century acre given Up
10 cong. and dance and "sunbufnE mirth. u
! &r. Wetters0n here began hia illussfa.
uons of Southern humoG,, describing
briefly tho character. OF tho wogks ensi.
tied ''Spt Lovingood, e. "Maior Jones
Co!i}tship," aiid "Captain SImoh Snggs, q
and residing ono or moro moderately lotia
extracts from each, s..siia-,5!.IsY ~. -
t. Major Jones Courtship,p was story
OF interior Southern life. and dealt With
clean homcNpun, The characters were
few and simple its adventures sssfe
bounded by tho barn-yard- ant.A the
heartbstone, but, it possessed u natural
nees and genuine humor which yere
captivating. Mr. Watterson read from
THE story the euiminatlofi1of che court.
ship, when Maj. Jones, having uecutad
from hia aHeetb-aEt nromiee that ere
will always keep the very large present
he is about TO give her, hides himself jn
the nneal.bag which she hanga up fof the
reception Of the mysteriots giA!l Capt
Simon Suggs" stood out from the csnyss
on which o local Rubens had painted his
portrait. To the South he was what
Pickwick was toi oiEngland. g1The Captain
finally died, and If heaven was to each
the realization of his fondest hupes, Cspt,
Snggs was now, red nosed angel, mount
ed on rainbow, with glittering stars oil
about him, and giving lessons lin his
favoIite game G: poker TO Jupiter, Mars
and Saturn. ii ,H '.I.,lI-
The humoF 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 70 DO o
Dragging bully. In the meridian oftheir
prosperity Southerners were an easy
going, pleashre-loving people. Mefi liv-
ing on great eststes,5 with few cafes Of
e1citements, are likely 60, grow indoteit.
The gentlemen Of -he South had plenty
OF time, and he thought no had plenty of
money to use; and the lower orders iimi-
tated his example. But the crash came.
and the pretty fabric fell. The great aai
the amail. the good and the evil, veye all
@ngnlfed in one widespread, oyervhelm-
ing ruin. There is now nothing OF thai
,gilded structures It is no longer fash.
ionabie or respectable to frister time away
in idle, costly pleasure. The, battle
scared and time and coreworn South is
most unlike the South that was.
have pnrposely refrained from touch
ing upon the humor of the coloredi people
Of the South. Their humar 10 not Amer
icsn, j. is peculiar to themselves, aud be-
sides, it is go associated with misery that
have always felt my pity moved by it,
not my mirth. The colored'race is Gods
shadow upon the diaf'of American pro-
gress, whose cabalistic figures the wisest
ere not able to, read. Lonly knoE, and
therein SIN happy, that slayery is gone
WITH the bag and baggage Of sn ebaolete
Mr.: Watterson paid On eloquent tribute
to the Southern woman, oflvhom! the
worst thing that ever, could be said Ias
| that she was faithful to q Bad cause,
'But If she had her tfidmrhb in the yssf,''
he continued, f?1she has had her still
greater ones in peace, which. has spread
| before her harder trials, still. Brough,
up 70 luxury and leisure, she has since he'd
brought before her the unfamiliar broom.
atick, tho vacant clothes.chest, 6ud the
empty cuph1ard." 81. aa,: i.ar.i,r,
The South of the past is gone. The
wide yerandah, filled with pleasure-seek.
Ing folk ths gFeRt estate, Il the s. y systeu u
which refused 90 recognize relations tc
progress and civilization, have passed
| away. The poor, weak person who lives
only TO amuse himself is thought nothing
pin the South. IF p.oselytian .se tkG
supreme joy of mankind, New England
must be pre-eminsntly happy for, thf
| ambition of the South ia to out Yankee
the Yankee. A New England poet, al
the Beginning OF the 'waf, hearing The
ARTILLERY In the battle Of Manassas, rum.
bling among the .Nirginia' hills, aaid ltc
! me: .6@L hope your people will win this
| battle. We shall ultimately conquer, bu
I do not want the restored Union 4 half
dishonored Union."' The poets yearninf
was for Q great Republic E:anded in uni
versal education, with the buttsess ant
| bell-t tower, the sunlight and starlight o.
universal suffrage. '''' y ~"s e
| You cannot tsme the eagle, y ~ tl'
1 3 And you dare not harm the dove ~,
II y BE sure the gate that's closed to hate
4 Will open wide to love.