Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1879-09-24
A True Statement.


1t is very seldom that New Eng
lander passes through the Southern
States ana sees things as they really ex.
ist. 1t IS characteristic for the Ply
mouth Rocker to look at other people
through stained glasses, because their
self.esteem always elevates them above
the common herd ofihe race.
Mr.. E. B. Haskell, edtor-in.chicf OF
the Boston Herald, has lately been on
an extended tour through the South. -
His conclusion are Of peculiar value IN
that they represent the views of man
Of independent mind, of extended tray
Ell. of shrewd judgment, and one who
would not be misled by Appearances
he first remarks upon the semi-rural
nature of Southern cities and the fact
that the South still remains an agricul-
tural section. Beyond the Mississippi
good horsemanship Is universal, even
the negroes being greatly addicted 10
mule-ridlng. Athletic out door sports
have given the men an erect carriage
and an exemption from those optical
disabilities which place the eyeglaSs
astride the nose Of so many young New
Englanders. Though no bookworms'
the Southcrners have taste for reading;
their conservatism does not allow them
to take kindly to those dellneatlons OF
morbid mental phenomena, those too
often successful attempts at naturalistlc
nastiness which crowd the booksellers
counters and feed the Unsuitable patrons
Of our circulating libraries. A feature
Of Southern character is the reverence
in which the clergy are held. The re .
spect shown to ministers Of every de-
nomination reminds one Of traditions
Of early ecclesiastical New England,
when the minister was far more a power
in the community than he ia to-day
The proportion of young men IN the
Southern churches is greater than is the
case in the North. To have the repu
tation of an infdel or atheist in the South
carries with it the penalty Of social iso'
latIon. New England liberalism Is
looked upon with suspicion. and the
Concord School of Philosophy would
command no attendance in any Southern
States. The free lovers. who hold thelT
debates and lectures 40 publicly in Ne"
England. would find their uecks in I'M
mediate danger in any town from Vir-
glnia 10 Texas.
In every Southern community female
honor i. guarded by public sentiment
az inexorable to offenders as the laws
Of Draco. All through the South ladies
ride over the lonellest roads without
fear of insult. The tramp that ND
eous production of our civilization, il
almost unknown to the South. Ii
Southern cities ladies can walk streets
unmolested by wcll-drcssed scoundreis
Every white man in the community
considers himself the protector OF every
lady. The tone Of public sentiment il
this regard is so healthy that women IL
the South have freedom recalling the
chiyalric days Of old. A certain sort o.
men who haunt the streets Of Northern
cite. would have short shrlft in Sayan-
nah. Vlcksburg or New Orleans. The
Southern man or woman, not being Civ
en- over to newspapers, magazines anC
books. has retained what is in many o.
our communities lost art-that OF con-
versotion. One of the marks OF goot
breeding in the South is the ability tc
converse we'll. Compensation is culti'
vated as a fine art. Almost everybody
talks and talks we'll. The conyersa'
honal vocabulary of Southerners is vel
stored with good English words. There
ia q certain old.fashioned way OF pro-
nounclng many words, due to the iac'
that conversation, aud not books, gives
The law to pronunciation. The e1ect Is
sometimes laughabls to a NortherncI
who has been drilled into the recogni-
ton ofhypocritical and intractable die
tionary distinctions. 1t is common to
have 'Jeems' for James, clark Tor
clerk, 'syurl' for girl, regiment ioI
regiment: for example {: Fanatic with
the stress laid on the lastsyllable, tenn
peramcnt with the accent or the sec
ond. etc. A Southern young man does
not get to be twenty-one,' but 'one-
and-twcnty.' / reckon stands tor the
New England l guess At a South
ern Bar and in the legislative hall a
good deal Of attention is paid TO orato-
~. Rhetoric is studied. The Southern
orator is apt TO soar into the realms oil
hlghfalutin. In Kentucky every other
man is able to talk one to death.
Contrary to Northern opinion, The
South IS not given over to whisky. There
is les. drinking in many Southern cities
in proportion to the population than IL
Boston. The wearcrs of the blue rlN'
bon are many. Among the negroes
there is a noticeable absence Of that iol
lit, and gayety attributed to them OS
the novel. and tales Of antcbsllum days
Sambo has hung up de fiddle an d'
bow aud jined de church. The p;
GUS negroes are are firmly opposed to
worldly amusements, such as danclns
and fiddling, as ever we're the Purl'ans
The war, say observing Southerners'
took the fun out of the colored people
The South, though not elysium nor ever
a faint reproduction of PARADISE hal
many points of social excellence. Th'
sesse of honah,' although often over