The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1896-10-07

I F. 3W en, ana 10 JUG oi "hat &c = ooA''o
Mi less Important Is il 10 have some GEAR
| d4s Q: ite ci cie,!:1,'ica of that Fer'co
Cd was n p-cu;isr society. Almost
teudai in 's sF;endor, 1t was almost
oatriarchal IN It's simplicity. Leisure and
wealth gave it exquisite culture Its wives
snd aolhers, eyeWu, from drudgery, ana al
n o., from care, gave 70 their sons, through
nauent and constant ,raiDirg, something 0!
their own g,ace and geut'eness snd 10 iheir
homes beauty ard light. lis peaple, homo
y firth, and were religious 10 Il marked de-
yree a,otg The cid lines of Christian belief
The sane hnrDogenei,y bred hospitality
,hst WAS as Ainsmeu TO k,nsmen, and that
yrs,.d 8, ,ne threshold Of every home Whist
the more ffuga! people Of the Nor;b co.,
s.ryeo AND invested in public charities.
code duello furnished The highest appeal
in 6ispure An sfront 20 lad was aps-
wered At the pisIos mouth. The sense "f
Quick responsibility temp red the tongues of
even the most viol-ut .nd the newspapers OF
S eth Csro:lna for e'gh, years, 1t Is said, d'd
not cootain one abusive wcr1 The owner
ship of slaves even more ,hau Of realty, he'd
families sts.df,st on their estates. and every
where pr+vsird toe sociahility of established
neighborhoods Money counted least 10
making the social status, and constantly am-
oi,ious and brillisnt youngsters fr"m no es-
tstn married into the families OF the planter
prince. MEANWHILE the ore chsrac.e, utterly
condemned and ostrac:sed was the man VINO
was mean 10 his slaves. Even the coward
was pi,ied ard nigh, have heen liked For
the cruel noss er there WAS DO toeration
The aute-bellum society bad immense fe rec.
scn hr,p n
the suspicion or hostility of the world, and
which practically heleagned it within walls,
it ye, ~ccompiised good thiCgs For The first
six,y.fonr years of the repupiic IL furcished
the pr-s sent for hf:v-two years lts sia'es-
men dernsrded tb. War Of 1872, opened 1t
With hut Svp Northern seuaiors supporting It,
and its eeueral, Jackson, won the decisive
battle of New Orleans II was Southern
statesman who added the Louisiana territory
of more than 1000, 90 square niles 10 our
domain. Under Southern statesmen flo1l
da was acquired from Spain. Against The
opposition 0f the free States, the Southern
influence for csd the war with Mexico, and
annexed the superb empire OF Texas, brought
| in New Go, and opened 'be gates OF the
republic to the Pacific. Scott and Taylor,
the heroes OF he Mexican var, were South
ern meo. In material, AS in pnli,ica affairs,
the old South was masterful. The FIRST i'm
portaut railroad operated in America trav-
ersed Curollna. The FIRST steamtr that
! crossed the osean cleared from Savannah.
The first college established for girls was
opened in Georgia, No naturalist has sur
passed Audubon no geographer eqnalled
Naury: and Sims and Mcdonald led the
world of surgery 10 their respective lines. 1t
vas Crawford Long, of Georgia, who gave to
the world the priceless blessing OF nj asthesla.
| The wealth accumulated by the people was
marvellous And, though ii is held that slav-
cry enriched the few al the general expense,
| Georgia and Carolina were the richest States,
per capita, in the Union 10 1900, saving
Rhode Island Some ides OF the desola1ion
of the war may be had from the fact that,
ia spite of their late remarkable recuperation,
they are now, excepting Idaho, the poorest
Sia,es, per capita, in the Union So rich
WAS the South in 1860. that Mr. Lincoln
sooke but common sentiment wheu he SAID
"If .e !r: the Souh 60, where sh Il We gr'
our :evecGc:?
In it's engaging grace-iu toe chvalry thai
tempered even Cuixotism with cignitl-in
the piety that saved master and slave alike
ID TIE CUHTlit 'Udl UOaSteu uot-Iu 'OO ooHO'
held above estate-in the hospitality tina
neither ccndesceoded nor c:inged-in frank
ness and hesr,i.ess and wholesome comraGe
ship-in the reverence paid TO womanhooc
aud the luvio!aola respect in which woman'
pams was held the civilization Of the Gle
slave regime in the South has not neea sur
passed, and perhaps will not be eqaalled
among men.
And as the fidelity of the slave during th
war bespoke the kindness OF The master be
fore the war, 80 the urquestioning reverence
With which the young men Of The Sou;a sc
c.pted, in 1865, their heritage of poverty ant
defeat. proved the strength and excellence o
the civilization from which that heritag
had come. Iu cb.erfulness they bestirret
Themselves amid the ashes and the wrecks
and holding the inspiratisn Of their past II
be better than their rich acres aud garnerel
} wealth, went out 10 rebuild their fallen fort
upes, with pever a word of complaint, no
the thought Of criticism ;;