The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-05-24
The Truth About Our Country.

10 thc Editor Of The Nems nmd COu-
'icr: Please allow me to thank yom for
the tirst-class advertisement you have
given my "SchOOl History of the Uni
ted States" by rcpublshing the article
of the Philadelphia Press, which quotes
the criticism of the G.. A. H. Encamp
iiisiit III iiuifaio OH my book.
plead guilty to the soft impcach-
mcnt. ! do teach in my history, rs
clearly and cmphatically as l am able,
that i'll the great War between the
States the Confcderatcs were right
and the Fcderals wrong i'll the begin
ning and i'll the conduct of the war.
teach clearly, and | think conclu-
slvciy. that the Southern States had
not only perfect right to secetle, but
sufficient cause for doing go. and TINT
the war made upon lis by the North
was unconstitutional and wicked, and
| that III defending our soil from inya-
sion, 0ur homes and affairs from des-
ecintion, our people were not ''rebcls"
or r'tlaitors.' but as true patriots as the
world ever saw
do teach that us the ships of old
England and of New England brought
the negroes to this country and sold
them to the cOlOniSts-that as the North
ern States abolished slavery, not on
moral, but purely on economic grounds,
after they toEn.! that it would not pav
III their climate, and among manu-
featuring people, as they did not free
| mi Il. Il A.
pocketcd the mOney-and inasmuch as
the Constitution so distinctly rccog-
nizcd slavery that Mr.. Lincoln himself
said i'll his inaugural address that he
had mo right to interfere with slavery
in the States, and no disposition to do
so if he had the right" the proclama-
ton abolishing slavery was "unconsti-
tuti0nal," and its final accomplishment
by the triumph of brute force over ius
ticc and right was "a bold piece of
wholesale robbery" and the plea of
military necessity" only "the plcn of
the freebooter through the centuries"
And do teach that in the conduct
of the war the Confederates acted on
the highest principles of modern civil
lizatiOn. while Sherman's "March to the
Sea- and through the Carolinas, Sheri-
dams desolatiOn of the Shenandoah
Valley and the conduct of other Federal
soldiers were an eternal disgrace to the
flag they bore.
| But excuse me, did not mean to
write SO much, but merely wished to
thank you for copying the article in
the Philadelphia Press-beautiful rep
resentntive Of "the City of Brotherly
Love" and the "new era of fraternity
between the sections which shall
ask my publishers to put into circular
ard scatter all through tho South.
do not depy that J0nce's School
History is Confederate to tho core, but
] claim that the number of leading
Northern papers which suy that it is
fair to both sections 10 not put it too
strongly. and all ask Of Southern
teachers and school authorities is n full
examination Of my book, that it may
stand OF fall OH its merits.
Allow me to add my thanks for your
editorial of to-day on Lees feeling ms
to the war, and to say that the proofs
that his heart and soul were in sour
great struggle for constitutional free
dnm"-as he always called it-are Gu
mnlative and overwhelming. l call
your attention to just one in addition
to those yOu give. When, in June, 1860,
that noble old Roman and unconauera-
bic patriot, Gen. Wade Hampton, made
the address ut Washington College,
and was the guest of Gen. Lee, in q
free talk with the great lieutenant about
the war-its causes, conduct and re-
sults-Lce said in reference to his own
course. i'll refusing the supreme COM
mand of the Federal army and espous-
ing the cause of the South: "We could
have taken no other course without
dishonor, aud if it were all to be done
over again should act in precisely the
same manner" Gen. Hampton related
this incident at the Reunion in Rich
mond, and it was received with the
most enthusiastic Confederate yells Of
the vast crowd present.
The 6. A. X. may growl as much as
they lplease, but we must teach our
children and our children's children
shat we thought we were right in '81 -'85,
and know now that we were right.
| j. WILLIAM JONES.
Charleston, May II, 1900.