The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-09-12
ondence Of the baltimore sua.1

LEBANON, CONN, september D, 1880.
LETTER No. IL.
A circumstance In which the reader IS no
wise interested has kept me here longer than
I intended, and here this series OF letters
come 10 an end. Nine DAYS In CORNWALL,
eight at Litchfeld. and nearly two weeks at
I,ebanon--it cannot be said that my peep
ings into New England life have been hasty.
True, they have been confined to single
state. and that the best OF them all. as we IN
the south view things. Meanwhile must
make the best summing mp that can. On
base line so narrow the triaDgulations, 10
be right-anglcd, must necessarily be limited,
and with this understanding l proceed TO
draw my conclusions.
n has been seen that courteous and at
times kind reception awaits the southern
man In Yankeeland. IL occasionally DC en-
counters GOODNESS or indifference. that Is no
more than be will meet in the village near
eSi his home, u he be unknown there. IL
has also been seen that there Is much less
curiosity II see and talk with "reDel
,han would naturally be supposed. In
,.Iaccs where = "rebelv bad never been
seen. and where children have grown al
most 10 mans estate since The war, one
would think that live rebel fresh from the
Sonth would excite as much~wonder aud
draw as big a crowd around him as wild
man az the woods. Not so. Occasionally
. few peOple have eyed me curiously. and
81 times there was pause In conversation
as I drew nigh group; but, on The other
hand, even when introduced, and impress
siyely, too, as southern man, there has
been little manifestation OF any kind, ana
certainly very little disposition TO cultivate
my acquaintance or TO ask more than Few
general questions.
When I INQUIRED into the cause Of this
indifference the southern gentleman who Is
settled here, (for bis health, as learn, and
whose house i have visited since my last
letter was written, ascribed IL TO the fact
thst the war had been forgotten. But how
can that be, when this very morning heard
a darky and white man In the store agree
in the assertion that, once in power, the
rebels would claim pay for their property
that is, their slaves? And yet the impress
OF the war Is very faint; il was far away
from here, and there was no Greco nstruc-
tion" 10 keep il alive in memory. During
my whole sojourn in Lebanon | have not
met man. old or young, who was in the
army. This surprises me, for Connecticut
was not backward in furnishing troops, as
were some OF her sister States. Any one
who will look at the figures published In
the American Almanac some ten or twelve
wears ago will be amazed at the small num-
Der Of natiye-born recruits furnished by
Massachusetts,, for example. her quota being
made up in great part by substitutes OF Tor
eign extraction.
Repyng 10 a question OF mine about Sec
tional luminosity. the gentleman just men,
toned said he had been a merchant in
Charleston, 5. c.; had made yearly visits to
the North, and had observed each year
gradual but uumstakable decrease in the
bitterness OF feeling. eyes," laughed his
VIE, "tbey have at last ceased TO pray for
IL, and that | consider a sure sign OF re"
turning amity and brotberliDeSs." She Is
OF northern parentage, but very staunch IN
her fidelity to the South. / conclude, there
fore, that we NAV safely trust the attrition
Of time 10 wear away the last trace OF Bit
terness. No people ever hated the English
more than the people OF New England, nor
with better cause. Their coast was rayaged,
aheir towns and villages burnt and sacked,
their old men and their women subjected
10 every indignity. Yet to-day the reve-
Tence-may we not say the affection !-for
England is greater by far in New England
than in any other portion OF the United
States. As the Gre OF bate has died down
in the case OF Great Britain, so will 1t die
down and out In ours.
IL is with sort OF melancholy satlsfac-
ton that chronicle the fact that while there
is here more public spirit than with Us, 1t Is
not near so vigorous or so universal as bad
confidently expected to find. We read
much OF II in the newspapers, but upon ex-
animation ii will be found that In very many
cases the Improvements, in the small towns
more particularly, are the benefacton OF
wealthy men in distant cities, who are
either natives Of the tewn or reside there
part OF the year.. Walking out one after
noon in Litcbfield | stopped TO admire
new and handsome house in tue pointed
style. cOmplimented the owner, who was
busily sowing grass-seed in plat outside OF
his palings, on the neutral tints he bad
chosen In painting his house. eyes," said
he curtly, not wishing to be interrupted,
81 am doing what | can for Litchheld."
In common with many other owners OF
handsome houses in Litcbtield he was only
a summer resident there. In many towns
Lebanon, for instance-if / may trust the
word Of the inhabitants, there is no public
spirit TO boast OF.
Neglect Of graveyards has been men,
TONED. Allusion has also been made to the
exposure Of certain out-buildings. This is
not at all uncommon. Riding out q few
evenings ago l saw literally the most fla
grant indecency OF this sort that ever saw
in my life in any country, and that. too. in
immediate juxtaposition to church. III
by the constant renewal OF white paint the
dwelling houses are made cleaner on the
outside, they are less clean on the inside
than ours, TO this extent-here the custom
Is to keep carpets down all the year round.
In the spring, and again In autumn, they
are taken up, beaten and shaken, and imme-
diately replaced Floors kept spotless by
soap and water and the scrubbing-brush are
unknown here. Nor are the kitchens quite
so spoiess as they are represented to be In
the books we read at the South. On the
other hand, they show TO great advantage
beside our dirt.floor kitchens OF the ante
beum slave period.
InatteDtion TO dress, absolute indlher-
enGe, indeed, on the part Of the men. and
sometimes OF the women, Is as marked IN
the country parts rs with Us. One might
say II is more marked. Rarely, II ever, Will
you see in the South man eating dinner
10 bis sbirt-sleeves when company Is pres
ent, but il is not an unusual thing mere,
even when clergyman IS dining with the
family. In the morning, on week days, the
women are more plainly dressed Than in the
South-necessarily so, for their work de-
mands it. But In the evening aud on sun
day they are as nicely attired as our own
ladies'. In my part OF the world we have
what we call "singe cat "a variety OF
old gentlemaa who habitnslly quotes
Horace, but can't spit over bis shirt bosom;
has the Constitution at his fngerends, but
don't keep his nails clean. Well, they have
the same thing here, only the old gentleman
cares little about politics and the classics,
but il thorOue hly DOsted on all the ,oloOies