Year: 1869

W15GRllanRpA5 @Rah1ng.


THE TWO CIVILIZATIONS.


Don Piatt, the witty and plain spoken W ashing-
ton correspondent Of the Cincinnati Commercial,
recently alluded 10 one of his letters, to the strong
love of home that prevails at the South, as form
ing the basis of much that be regards as admira-
bic in the Southern character. For this he was
bitterly attacked by the Cincinnati Gazette From
the spirited rejoinder of Don Piatt we make some
extracts:


THE TWO CIVILIZATIONS.


A kind friend sent me the compliment Of a COL
umn clipped from some issue of the Gazette in
which the leading editor of that solemn old organ
takes to pieces part of my Arlington letter. l
wish be had not done it. Like the famous coon,
would have come down had he given me chance.
was ready to admit that / was under "stress of
composition" and gave forth "the froth Of q dull
imagination" after cudgelng Ito bring forth a
sentiment" There is so much delicate poetic fan
cy in the columns Of this venerable organ-there is
such quantity of tender, touching sentiment in
the soul of this great 6nancier, that / hasten to
acknowledge my master, and beg forgiveness for
the sin of attempting sentiment on the heights Of
Arlington. say again, can I thought he had
been valiant, and so cunning in fence"-by Joye,
had known that be would. even condescend to
read my poor stuff, I would have cut the senti-
meut, and given him some solid figures, on which
to feast his statistical soul. ,.... ...,-.-


Nay, l would have gone further, and confessed
that the Yankee love of locality surpassed in
strength all other love known to humanity. l
would have ceased to indulge in that impious be-
lief, once my favorite, that, had Adam and Eve
been Yankees they would not have waited for the
Lord to expel them from the Garden Of Eden, but
would have emigrated long before, and gone to
speculating in wild lands.


/ would have sworn that the love Of home was
great love in New England, and found expression
in the quiet repose Of the household, that was
without parallel in the annals Of humanity. I
would have denied that it was common for child
rem to quarrel over the support Of the aged parent
or that the aged parent ever charged the dear
children weekly stipend for board. Iwould have
repudiated with Indignation the charge that the
calendar of horrible crimes, instigated by love of
money shown by New England, is heavier than
that of any other civilized people known;to the
world. would have shut my eyes to the matri.
monial infelicities and divorces, that make that
Yankee community, called Chicago, SO famous
would have sworn that the love Of the homestead
was so intense, that it passed down from genera
ton to generation of tender Yankees, who would
die in cold blood rather than part with foot OF
the loved locality, for slight advance. Iwould
have sworn to this, and more, if could have
thought of it, rather than be stretched in torture
along the loaded length ola column in this ancient
journal.


could have admitted much if not all Of this,
and yet maintained what i meant to assert / had
no idea of running comparison between the moral
condition of the North and that of the South. A
man may be as pure and upright as Charles Sum-
ner, and yet have no love Of home or attachment
for the locality home has made sacred. He may
be wicked man, and yet be attached to the sur
roundings made dear by feelings we hold in CON-
mon with the brute creation. The Arab in his
tent may be as good creature, in moral point
Of view, as the Swiss peasant in his cottage. What


endeavored to say in my letter was, that the love
of home existed at the South in way unknown to
New England. I never heard this disputed be-
fore. And in this love of home I find the founda-
ton for better civilization than one based on
force, pride or property. The very illustrations
offered by the editor prove the correctness of my
position. A man may adorn his dwelling with all
that art and taste can supply, and yet sell the
house to strangers without pang of regret
Paintings and statuary and architecture may make
it valuable without making it precious The fact
that in our little town we have made our fight with
the world, that there the wife loved, believed in
and trusted, and the dear children we're born, or
grew up and sickened and died, make it and all its
surrounding dear to us beyond the mere valuation
in money. I helped to burn houses in the She.
nandoah Valley that were on farms held by the
same families since the days of the colony. Our
New England friends would have snapped their
fingers at the loss for the value in money was
small but the people of the valley fought to the
death for those homes, because they we're homes.
Of course, my friend will sneer at this, and call
it another gush of sentiment, gotten up to order.
1t is common to do so, with people who, not feel
ing it, fail to understand and appreciate.


Nor is his reference to emigration any happier.
A New Engander sells out to strangers, and seeks
new lands, from wish to better his condition in q
pecuniary way. The Southerner leaves his home as


son goes out into the world, leaving the old home
stead in the keeping of the family, and cherishes
its memory with life. And in this way the South
has come to be one great family. And Virginia
seemed to reach out and embrace the vast terrific
ry such emigration had conquered. This is not
the civilization of New England. A man there
does not have q love for his home-but as the
learned editor tells US, with such charming nuirete
he has pride in it. He adorns it with beautiful
things, and then sells to the highest bidder.


The learned editor, who never gushes differs
from me only in the facts he is pleased to question
We both believe, presume, that the true defni
ton of patriotism is love of family widened tc
embrace community we call country. A civiliza'
ton based on this is the better civilization. We
carlnot base it on pride, nor sense Of possession
nor upon property, and have the true thing; and
the evils of the one and the good of the other runs
through all departments. A distinguished states
man, lately called to public life, after an absence Of
twelve years, said to me- not long since:


'Those Southern fellows were very unreasonable
and troublesome, but they would not steal"


The government now is run on stealings and
fraud rots its foundations.


The Southern soldiers marched without pay,
and fought with poor food, and slept without tents
and sometimes without blankets. -.


Every soldier of the government cost us mil
lion, through the frauds of contractors and the
stealngs of officials.