Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1883-06-14
WattersOn's Words.

. erary societies of Vanderbilt Universit
at Nashville, Tenn, Henry Wattersor
editor of the Louisville Courier-Journs
delivered an address upon the "Hom
cidal Side of Southern Life" and a
though impatient of criticism he give
good advice to the young men of tn
South. After speaking at some lengt
of the sectionel feeling that still prevails
of the condition of the South, and O
crime as the offspring of condition, h
said:
"Crime, as crime, is the offspring o
condition. On the frontier the life of ;
horse is of greater value than the life
of q man, and, hence, the hOrse-stealel
is summarily punished with death
The crowded city produces crimes
which the law does not reach, more
brutal, far-reaching and heart-rendine
than any known TO the most ignorant
savagery. 1t was England, merry Eng
land, which gave us Dotheboys Hall;
and it is the old Bay State which gives
us a Tewksbury Almshouse. AS the
one raised up Dickens, SO the other
has raised up Butler, and thus the
course of justice and reform goes on, as
il should go on, from within. 1t seems
to be the ill-starred South which is
alone shut out from this good rule and
made to carry not merely its own load
of imperfectlon, but an added load of
external reproach born of the spirit of
Interference, and equally hurtful wheth-
er the intrusion of misguided friendship
or the emanation of prejudice and ig-
norance. In the matter of crime each
community has that which is peculiar
to itself, and will have its hands full if il
devotes itself vigorously to its own
criminals. There are dreadful crimes
common TO New England which are I'M
known to the South. and vice-versa,
and we should all admit this, if the two
sections would only look at one another
out of clear eyes. There is manslay-
ing class in each section, and these
classes are undoubtedly different in
many respects. But the results are
much the same. In each section the
slayer and the slain are, as a rule, of
the worse, not the better, sort of people;
in each, however, good and innocent
folk occasionally fall victim to the muir
derous devices of the robber class or
the rash passions of the fighting class.
With us the stranger is exceptionally
safe. He 1t is, of all men, who neither
attracts the attention nor invites the
hostility OF those who carry concealed
weapons and whose brawls usually at
tend or closely follow their debauches.
Mr.. Watterson believes that much of
the ili-repute which is visited upon the
south is traditional. He spoke of that
relic of barbarism, which former
ly was known in the south as the ..code
of honor" and in a happy way paid a
u most glowing tribute To the sentiment
that had banished the duel, which for |
generations was the southerner's dis |
grace. He does not believe that the |
has yet dawned upon the |
south. but does believe that the fig hters |
and disreputable element have had their |
lay, and that noble Christian element |
IS at work in the inner life of the entire |
south. To the young men before him
ne gave manly eXhortation, and one
which in its general tenor can be read |
with profit by the young men of all sec
ions. lie says:
You, too, my dear young friends, arc
going presently out into the world. |
Each of you is to bear his part in the
On the threshold you will |
DC met by the charge that you inhabit n
'egion where murder is loved for MUIR
leI's sake. pray you heed the charge
o this extent, that you throw your
earning and your valOr upon the side
If peace aud order and law. Put be-
lind you the false pretence that honor
'equires that british woIos shall be
by brutal blows. Seek to
a society where he is outlaw
ID who first forgets that he is gentle
nan. Seek to establish and maintain
,ode of manhood which shall honor
him who saves, not who takes, life.
seek in moments of provocation and
lot blood self-forgetfulness, which is
he highest and purest self-composure,
he very heart and soul of real courage,
or hath it not been written, and truly
70, that
The bravest are the tendercst,
The loving are the daring,
md what shall it profit him who has
rained the world, if, in one rash mo-
nent, he was wrecked homep Enough
# you will fall in labor's battle. Enough
# you will fall in learning's cause. But
10 mans life is lost who has made n sim
,le human being happier for his coming,
md of whom, however obscure and poor
lis lot, it may be said she is d gentle
man," Be sure of this; be sure that
ife's real successes are triumhs won by
he freside. Travel the wide world over
n quest of fame and fortune and you
hal not learn so much as wise and
rood man may pick up in his migrations
between the blue bed and the brown.
All public virtue, all public honor and
progress must be based upon domestic
peace and love, home culture and heart
culture, the father and mother of brain
culture.
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
I have spoken to little purpose f
nave net shown where the evil lies and
what lies at the base of it. have spoken
10 little purpose If l have not pointed
put the remedy. The evil is false. but |
waning, standard of manly courage and |
honor. Its origin is traditlon its ex-
stence casualty. The remedy is in the |
hands of church-men, the school men |
and the newspapers; and, until these |
prove deficient and unworthy, an entire |
should not be stigmatized |
because of conditions born of n civiliza-
ton less than century old. AS justly |