Sentence:  Tarring and feathering in the Northern States of America, or tarring and <WSD>cottoning</WSD> in the South (the last a freak frequently played with Abolitionists prior to the Great Civil War), could have been as nothing, looked upon as a frolic, compared with the racy humours of the Golden House. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To cover with cotton bolls over a layer of tar (analogous to (tar and feather) )