THK BATTALION
15
My readers, histories, and in fact all my books, came
from the North. They were fail of good and wholesome
thought from classic G-reece and Rome; from modern con
tinental Europe; the isles of Great Britain; from the North
ern States; but there was seldom a poem, a story, or an
oration, from a Southern author.
Why was it that the South did not have its ratio of rep
resentation in the school books and other publications in
this country? Was it because the South was financially un
able? Fertile soil, bounteous harvests, and vast wealth of
slaves, answer, no. Nor was it for want of culture; for the
Southern gentleman was a classical scholar; the Southern
lady, a queen of grace and refinement. Was it for want of
intellectual vigor? The Gladstones and Bismarks of this
century have saluted the vigorous thinkers of the South.
Was it because the South was wanting in deeds of heroism?
The South was the first to defy England, and furnished more
soldiers, according to military population, than the North;
South Carolina alone furnished twice as many men as New
Hampshire, though she had a smaller military population.
The South was the first to cross the mountains and attack
the Indians. She was the aggressive element in the war of
1812, and in the war with Mexico, there were 43,000 volun
teers from the South, and only 23,000 from the North.
Why was it that the South, ricii in materials for an
abundant and valuable literature, was so barren in literary
production? The answer is an easy one. The South was
strictly agricultural; the farms were large. There were no