Half-Hours In Southern History

A

CHAPTER I

THE SOUTH IN OLDEN DAYS

I

"Before the War"

LL our lives, we have heard about the times "before the war," and this is a familiar phrase among our people. "The war" is an era with us of the Southern states. Our fathers and grandfathers have told us, around the old fireside, of the good days they saw be ́fore the terrible clash between the sections. "Before the war," "during the war," "since the war"-all are household expressions south of the Potomac. Not even the war with Spain has robbed us of these phrases; the war of the '60's is still "the war" among our people.

"Before the war"-that was a joyous era with our beloved people. Not altogether blissful, to be sure,—for life is never that—but bright, happy, and hopeful. Of course our fathers had their troubles and disappointments; life, even then, had its sunshine and its shadows; but their sunshine was brighter than ours, and the day was longer.

They had a beautiful old civilization, and their homes were refined and comfortable, many of them elegant; while

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