The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-10-30
~SECTIONALISM RUN MAD.


CONTINUATION. The sensation aroused
by the fall of Sumpter was tremendous.
Startled by the tidings that a conflict had
actually begun, notwithstanding all the talk
Of peace deceived by o~ft-repeated stories
of Anderson's Gibraltar-like invincibility
within his high walled, wave-washed, can
non-girt fortress, and not for one moment
doubling that he would hold out for weeks,
and possibly drive off his clumsy assailants,
the Northern public were utterly astounded
to learn that the fJrt had been burned out
in a little more than twenty-fo hours, the
fleet held at bay, and the Northern flag
hauled down amid the yells of the c~xultant
Southerners! For a few hours there was a
feeling of stupefactlon. Sus,i y mornings
papers brought full reports OF the lombard
ment, and people began to gather on the
sidewalks to discuss the news. The church
es were SHINY attended, and by nlght-fall
the ferment was every where %perceptible.
Early on Monday the telegraph offices be
came crowded with men sending dispatches
to Washington to offer aid, or counsel ac-
ton. Governors, Congressman, editors, all
classes of citizens demanded instant action.
With every hour the storm Wldened and
deepened, gathering in It's vortex every
shade of politics, profession. aud social IN
fuence. Disappointment and wounded van
ity famed the slnoulderlng fires OF sectional
bitterness into full blaze. Chagrin, hatred,
and envy united to crafty resentment, and
pursue revenge under the garb OF v%oclfer-
ated patriotism. The whole North seemed
to writhe and rage as if each individual had
received an unexpected kick ana FUSED by
the universal anger the multitude became
plastic as wax IN the hanGs OF the Unscru-
pulous few. Wendell Phillips understood
his people when he burst out rejoicing at
the inglorious defeat OF mcclellan at l'lch,
mond. exclaiming-"Now the North will
take the hell hounds OF slavery, by the
throat. and crush them torever!'
To comprehend this mad outburst OF pas
sion the reader must recall the half-century
of ~partizan squahbling in Congress, and the
incessant food of poison and mlsrepresenta
ton poured into Northern ears by the Abo-
lition writers and speakers, both religious
and political. Few Southerners appreciate
the power Of the Northern press. Yet there
are dozens of publications whose regular is,
sue exceeds the combined circulation OF all
the newspapers from the Potomac to the
Rio Grande. There are one hundreu NOT.
thern journals, each of which nave more
readers daily than all of the newspapers IN
North Carolina together. CONCEIVE tne
enormous influence thus possessed DAILY
and hourly, with machine-llke method from
the first day of the century unto this date at
which 1 write, the Abolition engines have
poured forth abuse, calumny,. and mlsr,epr,e-
sertation of the South, Selling every back
woods outrage, every case OF personal mis-
conduct, every isolated instance OF laWless,,
ness, to twist and combine them into fear1ul
chapters Of Observation-Disclosures, with a
fendish ingenuity that deceived and poison
ed the minds of millions. 1t is a fact that
many Southerners, after long residence IN
the North, and continual reading OF the
systematic tabrications of the Republican
presses, gradually find themselves warped IN
mind, and almost ashamed OF Their nativity.
[ we'll remember that the Confederate prs :
oners in Fort Delaware, after months OF
hearing the one-sided and distorted accounts count
of the single sheet allowed to come WITHIN
the prison, found themselves shudderlng at