The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-05-25
THE OLD SOUTH
IN THE new { AGE
Glance Backward at Some Of the.
Notable Men and Events
Of By-Gone Days.
SOUTH CAROLINA in HISTORY
Elements That Contributed to
Civilization in Early Life
Of Dixie.

y ~
CHARLESTON, S. c., May 24-To Visit
Charleston is TO study American history
and polltcs; its streets bear the names
Of men whose fame was once coextensi'e
With the limits Of American power ana
nhuence-tMoultrie. Pinckney, Caihoun,
and Rhett are but a few of them. ana
over this network Of historic highways,
~, aotted with monuments and statues
to the heroes of the past presdes the
magnificent bronze figure of Calhoun,
The great Southern puritan. whose genius
vet lives in every part OF this Common
wealth, and whose spirit would seem TO
brood over the fortunes OF his beloved
people, whose destinies have been SO
fearfully changed because of the doc
) trines he instilled into them.
The South, the old South does not
study history in the sense that the rest
of the world does; 1t lives 1t; the social
and often in these days, the political
i status of ts citizens depends upon
historic name or upon the nbrcetling OF
the events Of a great past; and whoever
violates this historic sense or tram
pies upon tradition. whether he be right
or wrong, is apt to pay the penalty OF
social ostracisn. sometimes Of persecu-
tion.
The Old South.
There are, however, two Souths-the
4 old and what Henry w. Grady styled the
new. 1T is of the old and more particu-
larry Of the lower South that the writer
purposes to speak, rather cursorily, IN
some rambling letters to The Times
Dispatch during the coming weeks.
This old South has been the subject of
f much fine and some unfne writing and
speaking during the last few years. In
deed. from the very inception of the
American nation this part Of the country
1. ,i,s tNt, ma
and multitudinous criticism, both fair
and unfair. The people were sensitive,
then mad. and. finally, struck the blow
which was expected to bring independent
political existence. Failing in this, after
gigantic effort they wrapped them-
selves in the nantel of what all agree.
was not an unrighteous cause. and let
the world 90 on its way without very
much Of concern from them-thcy are,
like the English Dissenters of orr day,
the most nveterate OF passive" and,
simetimes, active resisterg. Their loyalty
to their past, to their fellows; their con-
tempt of many modern notions, and their
stubborn conviction that they know how
to settle their own difficulties consti-
t,lte the problem-I was about to say the
= Irish probem-of American social and
political life
South Carolina, and particularly the
city of Charleston. was the Gamalial Of
this lower American country. From her
went out influences. teachers mission
u aries. whose zeal was flaming torch
Z and whose pcrsuasiveness all but won the
cool, practical Puritan of. the Northeast.
4. What was at the bottom of this peculiar
civilization? To answer this is to eX
plain the present "sol!d" and invlnc.ble
h South. of which, the world has the idea
that 1t Is mysterious.
South Cardinals Part.
South Carolina It must be horne IN
mind. is the offspring of tho same indl-
yidualistic movement In Europe from
which New England PurItansm sprnng.
4 John Calvin is the religio-political father
Il Of both, and of us all. with some notable
exceptions. The great Genevan preacher
convinced men that they stood naked.
B defenseless, before an angry God, whose
right 1t was to strike them down for
their many heinous sins and crimes. for
which even the individuals themselves
were not responsible, but for which some
sort of amend might possibly be made
by practicing austere piety, social purity
and high civic virtue. Englishmen who
accepted this view of the world. despair
ing OF their own country and Its govern
ment, according to Gods plan. sought
opportunity In nI. new country to work
out their ideals. ia. settle their relations
with the offended Deity The New Eng
land theocrac!es were the result But
Frenchmcn, who were likewise followers
of Calvin, fed the prosecutions Of their
government. landed on English shores,
combined with English low churchmen,
sternly Puritan almost to n man, .and all
weighed anchor for the unknown West.
They disembnrked at Charleston, on the
banks of the James, in Virginia. or
along the shores of the Savannah. They
brought the Frenchman's thrift and the
English genius for self-government. AS
to the Virginia portion Of these refugees,
nothing more will be said here than that