Year: 1868

ON THE CONDITION AND SENTIMENT OF THE
SOUTH.


! We give below ar address of Dr. Sears
before the monthly meeting Of the Baptist
Social Union, held in Boston, the Goth ult.


DR.. Sears has just returned from an exten-
sive tour through the Southern States. in the
discharge of his duties as one of the trustees
of the Peabody Educational Fund, and while


he would see the best side perhaps of South
ern feeling in that connection, still his re-
marks are worthy of perusal and thoughtful
consideration


Mr.. President and GentIemen,-I ac-
cept the kind invitation you have given
me tonight rather from a sense OF duty
than anything else. The gravity of the IN
terest | am concerned in, the subject that
rests upon my mind is such that | cannot
but feel that very much depends upon the
course of action that shall be pursued in
bringing the two portions of the country
together as one common nation and civiliz-
alton. | don't stand here as the accuser
or apologist of the South, but rather |
would be ambitious to be in some measure
the candid and faithful Interpreter between
the North and the South, with fidelity to
both. | am aware of the difficulty | al
ways find in attempting to explain the
spirit Of the North to the South or of the
South TOWARD. the North. OF one thing |
am well assured, that both sections of the
country do very materially misunderstood
and misinterpret each other. There is
great difficulty in certaining the precise
condition Of thInor- ~ " hacar1sa Of' tho
completely of circumstances attending the
present condition of both sections Of the
country and partly from the exceeding diff
Guilty of getting fair and candid represent
ations. If from the two sections there
could be large and repeated delegations
from the middling classes, sober minded
men, it would do more 10 bring about a
good order of things than all that can
be accomplished in a formal way. [ know
that the daily press controls the public
mind to a very great extent, and the senti
meDts which We cherish in regard to the
whole civilized world we borrow very much
from the representations that are made
through the press. And perhaps this is
legitimate we probably cannot outgrow
this state Of things But there is one in
felicity, and that is that the press is some
times venial, sometimes vile, sometimes
uncandid, sometimes an instrument to ex
cite the bad passions OF men for bad
purposes. [ am sorry to say that there
are representatives of that kind of press
at the South, and | may add, in confrma-
ton of what l have said, that very many
of the best men with whom | have associ-
ated, Of different views in many respects,
agree in this one thing, that the worst set
of men are those who figure sometimes III
politics and chiefly as writer's in these pa
pers. 1t is an unfortunate circumstance
belonging to human nature that calm and
sober truth Is less Interesting than eXag-
geration that sound and candid state
ment of facts makes less impression upon
the public mind than that which is scurril-
Gus, severe and bitter. And there are per-
sons who take advantage of this weakness
of our human nature and find momentary
popularity simply in appealing to the pre-
judices and bad passions of men with no
design of benefting society. Now l think
this is true of many of the papers at the
South. l am sure many of the papers
that villify the North, do it for other con-


siderations than any conviction of truth or
duty. [ don't attempt to estimate what
their motives are, but l know that many
of those papers are as far from a just rep
resentation of the sentiments of the people
as they can be- don't think that this
state Of things is peculiar to the South, L
think it is human nature, but L warn my
friends from taking the representations
that are made in these party papers as tbs
expression OF the majority of the sober part
of the Southern community, and L think
we may say the same of some other other
sections of the country. The people gen.
orally take these things more seriously I;
they have higher sense of duty than the
class of writer's to which | have referred.
A great change has begun will not say
it is completed A very great and radical
change has begun in the minds of the peo,,
pie of the South, and is to be carried
through to the end. Slavery is abolished