Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-03-15
FOOl's Errands.

oUTHERN VIEW OF SOME OF THEM
TWO SIDES OF THE QUESTION. (
Tspfingfield (Mass) Republican letter.
Sectionalism is an absurdity, as it is q
rhine. 1t is not at all remarkable that
lmong the rustics of Iowa and Mime
sofa, remote from the South, with no
,pecial tie to it, the bloody shirt should
Loaf in grand triumph, but it is some-
what puzzling to us that those who spin
our cotton, make our shoes and hats,
and prepare the paper upon which we
write, who travel with 30 much ease
our orange groves in winter and
among whom we travel in the summer,
should be so anxious to draw and keep |
distinct the lines of separation. When |
1t is remembered that the scepter Is de-
parting from your Judah, and that the
West. the great ally of New England
now, must become her great antagonist
in time to come, it seems sad folly Tor
her to turn her face against that section
where her natural allies are found. Inc
West will make wagons and window
sash for the present, but the South is
learning to make everything. Is it we'll
to build up and at the same time EN-
bitter so threatening rival? The pa
per on which T write, once bought at
Fall River, is now made in North Caro-
lima. The shoes [ wear were made IN
Baltimore The cashmere of my pants
is made in Mississippi, and my under
clothing woven in Georgia mills. AS 1t
Is impossible to break down the South,
is IL we'll to antagOnize her? The solid
South is no fgment. There never was
concocted more ingenious and skilful
play to make her SO than that which
aimed to keep power in the South. In
scarcely decade of years from recon
struction the South only needs the help
of few voters in New York to say who
shall preside over this government.
You can never divide the South by as
sailing her. The more the bloody shirt
flies the closer she will cling together
and yet she can be divided. When New
England ceases to be solid, when the
South is no longer threatened by the
Republican party, when the policy OF
the Springfield Republican. instead OF
the policy of the New York Times, is
adopted, then we may look for division
in the South. But this policy will never
be adopted as long as the South is 80
generally misunderstood. The errors
about the South are the more dangerous
L
truths put in false light. I have only
seen q review of Judge Tourgee's work,
IA FOOLS Errand," and cannot speak
of that, but ] can tell him of sundry
fools who have come on brands to the
South to 60 back sadly angered by an
utter failure to do what they wished.
| Here was the brave farmer. He never
| planted bale of cotton in his life, new
er managed negro, never knew any
thing of mule, but having few thou
sand dollars, he concluded to come to
Georgia, to show these ignorant south
ern people how to farm. He was going
| to get rich. He went to Baker or Lee
county. He found Col. Thompson a
plain, apparently ultraviolet old plant
er, very ready to rent. The Colonel be-
gan to suggest, but he soon found Heze-
kiah knew more than he did. So ,Heze-
kiah ordered out his big ploughs, got
his bell and belfry, and made his labor
rules, called the negroes my 'gentle
friends" told them he wanted their
labor and they wanted his protection,
bought some clover seed and timothy,
sowed in the sand and began his work.
Old Col T., with merry twinkle in
his eye, put Hezekiah's rent money In
his pocket, and stood off to see. Well
Hezekiah found New England laborer
and Sambo rather different and to MAD
age mule required more art than to
manage New England township. The
grass got some Of his cotton. The cater
pillars got the rest. The Colonel got
his rent. The darkeys got the money
he brought, and he went back to New
England disguised, and wrote the
FOODS Errand."
Then there was the philanthropic fool.
He was as sincere fellow as ever read
Emerson or came from Andover-a cross
between Harvard and Williams, too
narrow for one and too broad for the
other. He wanted to regenerate the
negro race. True, some of US and some
of our grandfathers had been trying to
do that work, but Philanthropos, with
Joseph Cook In one pocket and DR..
Leonard Bacon in the other, was going
to show how the work was to be done
in a way. He and his sister and his
cousin bought new spectacles, put ten
pounds of good tea in the trunk, filled
it up with atlantic monthlies, and pre-
pared themselves for martydom. Fully
persuaded the fearful curse of slavery
had ruined beyond hope the white race
and that Democrat and an infidel or 9
Catholic were the same thing they came
| South. He did not seek out or consult
with any southern preacher nor repre-
sentative layman. He sought out the
leading colored man of the place, lived
at his house, and soon wrote home about
the ostracism of missionaries to the
negroes. Stated markedly, the fact il
sadly derogatory to southern civiliza-
ton, and far more SO to southern relig
ion. The fact would probably be pre-
| %oa H. h 20 nhr1
sets audience thus: "Feeling my heart
| race, I went South after the war to see
if could do something to civilize and
christianize it. I opened school in
Atlanta. I found the poor freedman
eager for knowledge and earnestly de-
sirous to rise in the scale of life; went
to do him good; I went to his cabin;
slept in his bed, I ate of his scanty store,
and assured him that believed him to
be man and a brother. l did not try
to curry favor with his oppressors
tried to instil into his breast hatred OF
tyranny by often calling his attention
to the wrongs of his past. tried to
eradicate from his breast any sense OF
inferiority and taught bin to hold his
i own everywhere. In one word, tried
to make him feel that he was a man.
Could do less than denounce the awful
wickedness of the rebellion, or less than
to try and inspire in him gratitude for
that party which had saved the Union
and given him freedom? For these
things. and only this, was ostracised.
l could see the sneer on the lips of the
brainless southern blood, as 1 walked
proudly by, with one of my colored
female pupils on my arm, and with my
teachers and scholors following in pro-
cession as we went to the Congregation
al church to hear young mulatto (the
son. by the way, of Democratic con-
gressman) deliver lecture on the eman-
cipation proclamation only fully carried
out by the use of the army to secure a
free ballot" That's his side.
The other side, or the southern mans
story, may be told as follows: The war
was over. We we're suffering from ev.
cry quarter. Our dead children, over
whom we wept, were more blessed than
we. We needed sympathy and help.
The negroes, who had been our slaves,
were now our masters. They were ser