& power of
Southern planters & South^n politicians, elevated to their power
_through their wealth_--a thing _unavoidable_ in a Republican
government. Thus, through demagogues at the North an animosity was
aroused. It slumbered long in the germ, but being assiduously cherished
from year to year it at last budded and bloomed in a clime congenial to
its nature, & is now bringing forth its venomous fruit, even to a
"hundred fold." It was the consuming of this pernicious fruit that
brought death upon our "Body Politic" and produced all our woe. Would
to God that woe should fall upon none but those who "planted & watered"
it! I am perfectly conscious and cognizant of the manner in which this
spirit of enmity has been fostered. I am a _Northern_ by _birth_ and
_education_, & can testify to that which I know. I have also been in
the _South_ sufficiently long to _know_ the sentiments of the people
here, and how they coincide (or rather disagree) with the _Northern
conceptions_ of them. I have spent almost 8 years here--certainly long
enough to learn the _character_ of the "peculiar institution" as well
as its _practical workings & effect_ on society. And as I came with
somewhat of prejudice against it, you must be frank enough to
acknowledge me a fair judge in the matter. Among the first books put
into my youthful library, was a work called _Charles Ball_, or _The
Trials of a Run-Away Slave_. This was a horrid thing, and formed an
impression on my young mind that has only with the utmost _difficulty_
been eradicated. I am conscious that its contents are false. About the
same time, & repeatedly, I was taken to witness a panorama of _Uncle
Tom's Cabin_--another book whose leaves have furnished much fuel to
infernal flames. At the same time, & ever since, I have had my ears
grated with the harsh jargon of fanatical tirades against the
institutions & people of the South. Of course then my mind was
_poisoned & prejudiced_. And this has not been _my_ political training
alone but that of a majority of your youth at the North--_no further_
North too than _Penna_. How then is it possible that the North can
entertain amicable feelings toward the South? Add to this, what you
rightly remark, that the popular mind is continually influenced by the
issues of the _Press_--an instrument that has scattered the seeds of
discord broadcast over the land. And here you either ignorantly or
designedly intimate a slander against the South. You say "all p