A JUST ESTIMATE OF THE NORTHERN PEOPLE.

We like to see a man who can discard the narrow ideas of his provincial training and lay aside his native prejudices so far as to do justice, when he travels abroad in the world, to those he may meet with. This is a world in which good and bad are pretty well distributed everywhere, and in every nation or country we find them. It is natural for each to think his own people the best, and perhaps it is patriotic that he should; and so long as he remains, like Rasselas, shut up in the Happy Valley of his blissful ignorance, and only knows the world through the terrible accounts he receives of it from occasional travelers, he is not to be blamed if he believes all beyond the boundaries of his visual line outside barbarians; but once he ventures forth and sees for himself how kind and beneficent Providence has been to all, and how equally He has distributed his blessings, if his intellect be not wholly under the control of his prejudices, he must rise to a higher and more generous estimate of the diffused worth of humanity. Among the Editorial visitors to Pennsylvania and New York, who recently accompanied Colonel Hotchkiss, none seems to have profited more by the trip than Mr. James D. Morrison, the able Editor of the Rockbridge Citizen, and he has brought much of his knowledge home with him. In referring to the character of the people they visited, Mr. Morrison says:

"We had been taught to look upon these people as cold, selfish, and miserly—as forgetting the comforts and the amenities of life in their race after wealth. It is not so. We have never seen or imagined a country with such an air of competence and comfort everywhere, and in all of its appointments.

"It is a false notion that the fast people of the North do not enjoy life. They live more in one day than we do in a year. If they do hoard wealth they put it into a shape in which they and their families may derive from it the largest amount of happiness and the greatest degree of rational pleasure. Their houses and grounds are constructed and kept with neatness and taste, and supplied with every convenience and appliance both for use and to please the eye. We heard of their superior civilization, and in a material point of view, at least, it is superior. Their religion is, that the bounties of Providence bestowed upon them, and which they have taken hold of and by their industry and energy have developed and put into shape, are for their use and enjoyment, and they do use them to the fullest extent, and we are a half convert to their creed. We believe it is as sinful for us to leave buried and undeveloped all the treasures which are scattered around us on every side as it was to wrap the talent in a napkin and bury it in the earth. The difference is, we have received the five talents, they received the two and the one, and they have made them yield a thousand fold, whilst we have not had energy enough to dig a place to hide ours, and they lie around in the broad glare of open day, a living witness of our want of industry to make them breed with a profusion which would surprise the world and make our own beautiful section 'teem with wealth and the comforts which a proper use of it brings. The field is before us, the way is open. Everything and more

than these Northern people had is to our hands, and it will be to our shame and disgrace if we do not arouse ourselves and put them to the uses which the God of Providence designed them for."

The following is taken from the Richmond Whig:

THE NORTH AND SOUTH.

We copy in this issue from the Philadelphia Ledger a pertinent and well considered article relative to the recent excursion of Southern Editors to New York and adjacent States. There can be no doubt of the fact, inculcated by the Ledger, that the mingling of the people of the North and South in the manner indicated, would do more to dispel prejudices and strengthen the bond of brotherhood than any other method that could be devised, and chiefly from that conviction we have always favored and encouraged excursions from the South to the North or vice versa. Major Hotchkiss deserves much credit for originating and carrying out the Editorial Excursions of 1871 and 1872, and in granting to him full authority to make all the necessary arrangements, the authorites of the two railroad companies represented by Major Hotchkiss have exemplified their liberality in the most commendable manner. In a New York (State) paper received yesterday we find the following, among other resolutions, adopted by the New York Editorial Association:

RESOLVED, That it has given us a brotherly pleasure to meet our Editorial friends from the Southern States and exchange friendly greetings and social intercourse with them. As an association we have been glad to know them, to take them by the hand as citizens of a common country and members of the same fraternity, to listen to their patriotic speeches and to welcome them to the hospitality of the Empire State. For this high privilege we are indebted to the Union-loving and honest Major N. H. Hotchkiss, and the liberality of the Chesapeake and Ohio and Richmond and York River Railroads.

From the Philadelphia Ledger:

THE SOUTHERN EDITORS.

A few days ago a large party of “Southern Editors" passed through this city, after an extensive tour through Pennsylvania and adjoining States. During their brief visit to this city, the frequency of their allusions to what they had seen in our State or elsewhere in the North, indicating the great resources and power of this portion of their country, and of their allusions to the generous hospitality of their reception in all the places they visited, gave a new evidence of the great advantages resulting from travel and personal observation by intelligent men. We have no doubt that these gentlemen, educated and cultivated as they are, have gone home with opinions and sentiments of a character widely different from and far more just and accurate than those with which they left home a month ago. They have a higher conception of what is meant by the "United States," so far as the northern portion of their country is concerned; they have a better knowledge of the nature of that industry, enterprise, education, training and thrift which have developed the communities in these northern latitudes into rich and powerful Commonwealths; they have better understanding of the future possibilities of their own States, with their vast undeveloped resources, when they shall have applied to them the same processes and energies they saw in active operation in Pennsylvania and New York, and, in addition, they have found that the sharp experiences of the recent war have left no feeling of sectional hostility among the large numbers of people with whom they were brought into close social contact. We infer this not only from what they said, but from the manner which characterized the saying of it, and the natural ways in which their remarks cropped out in the course of

general conversation. We have no doubt that they go back to their duties as journalists with views and opinions so far tempered and modified-if not broadened-by what has come under their observation, that their respective papers will have far higher capacities for usefulness to their own people. They can speak of many important matters with force -the convincing cogency-that comes from absolute knowledge. They can give wide currency to facts which it is of the utmost interest to their people and to the whole country shall be broadly known They can correct many erroneous impressions from their own knowledge and experience. And their experience, and the telling of it, will prompt others to travel in the North, as we trust their example will stimulate our own people to travel in the South during the season when the South offers to travelers a genial climate.

his own.

These are good and valuable influences, and are the very highest advantages that result from travel. There is nothing like seeing with one's own eyes the things he has read or heard of. He then finds how faulty and incomplete the best written or oral description can be; he finds, also, in close observation of these things, how many other things there are concerning which he has neither read nor heard anything whatever, notwithstanding the vast amount of printing, and talking, and writing we have going on in our day. He finds useful things and methods, unknown to him at home, well understood and practised in communities and among peoples whom he has perhaps ranked as inferior to And similarly, there is nothing like personal contact of different peoples with each other for correcting hasty, unwarranted, or unjust impressions, produced by what has been heard or read, or conjured up in some way, at a distance from the person or people concerned. Personal intercourse dispels the glamour where the distant picture has been too favorable; removes the false impression where it has been incorrect or unjust; and almost invariably shows the intelligent observing traveler something-and quite frequently many things-to admire among people for whom he previously entertained no feeling but that of indifference or repulsion. Our Northern people are great travelers. Many, however, of the most active amongst them have not made the tour of the principal geographical divisions of their own country. Yet without this they can have no competent understanding of the boundless capacities of the United States. The man who stands upon the railway tracks at Market street bridge, and considers that the iron rails beneath his feet stretch away in an unbroken line nearly thirty-three hundred miles to the waters of the Pacific, and nearly as many more to the frontiers of Texas, has in his mind the germ of a great idea, but he does not, and cannot understand what that part of his country between him and the Pacific, or the Gulf of Mexico, really is, unless he goes and looks at it and examines it with observing eyes. Then he will understand that his country is not only a great empire, possessing all the elements of unparalleled greatness and power within itself, but have that understanding deepened into the conviction that it is a world within itself.

From the Memphis (Tenn.) Appeal :

In conclusion, it is proper that we should give some expression to the debt we owe Major N. H. Hotchkiss, General Traveling Agent of the Richmond and York River and Chesapeake and Ohio Railroads, the originator and organizer of the excursion, and to whose genius and love of country, to whose eager desire to restore harmony between the North and the South, we owe this re-unfon between brethren, attended, as it was, through all its varied phases of feasting, toasting and speaking, by the kindliest spirit. He mapped it out, he labored and worked, and he perfected it in all its details, leaving nothing to be desired. An old man, native to New York, but a Southerner by adoption, the Major, after fighting his old friends and schoolmates as a Confederate soldier, conceived the plan of bringing the North and South together through the Press of either section, and so sowing the seeds of peace and good will. He is well repaid in the results so far, but will be better

by-and-by, when, as we say in election time, the full returns come in. May he live to see his country all he would have it, and to organize and conduct an Editorial Excursion all round it, and may we be one of the party. To our brethren of the South who were of the party, we make acknowledgments for many kindnesses and courtesies, and are glad to be able to put on record their love of the South, and to speak of the dignity with which they sustained themselves in presence of our Northern countrymen.

From the Geneva Gazette:

Honor to whom honor is due. While to the genial and public spirited Major N. H. Hotchkiss, our people, North and South, are indebted for the inception of the noble undertaking of bringing, through the interchange of Editorial visits between both sections of our country, the North and the South into closer communion, and for devising the excellent arrangements for carrying it into effect, it is due to the companies, of which he is the Traveling Agent, to say that to their munificent liberality and intelligent appreciation of the object, the public and the Press are indebted for the material facilities required for its accomplishment. These Companies are the Richmond and York River and Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Lines, whose office is at No. 90 Light street, Baltimore. The Fountain Hotel is the headquarters of the gallant Major, whom we shall ever be proud to rank among our most valued friends.

From the Lynchburg (Va.) Republican;

And now, in closing, permit me to say a word in praise of Major N. H. Hotchkiss, the leader of our party, who devised and carried out the grand scheme of the Northern Excursion, under the auspices of the Chesapeake and Ohio and Richmond and York River Railroad Companies, and for which lines of Railroad the Major is the General Traveling Agent. The completeness of the arrangements made, and the manner in which they were carried out, gave evidence that no uncommon labor had been bestowed in the perfection of the grand scheme; and this, together with the prime motive of the Major-that of bringing the people of the two sections of the Union together, in order to a restoration of the era of good feeling-entitle the old veteran not only to the sincere thanks of the individual members of his excursion party, but to the entire people of the two great sections of the Union. Long may he survive to lead annually such excursions as he has inaugurated. From the Elmira Gazette :

It is nearly a year since we saw him,-quite a dozen months have swung round the circle of life's hopes and happiness, since his gladsome greeting was heard and hearty hand-grip felt. Though absent he was not forgotten. We had traced him by the kindly newspaper bulletins which announced his goings hither and thither, now chaperoning the Maryland Editors over the land, now escorting an agricultural Editorial party through the Old Dominion. Whenever we heard of him he was following out the impulses of his noble nature and doing some good to somebody or set of bodies. Though he should live a “thousand years, my own Columbia," (and why should not such men) he could be doing. the very same thing, making some one glad and happy. Of course we refer to Major N. H. Hotchkiss (for who else fills such a bill)—the man of whom more pleasant and complimentary paragraphs have been written than any other person living or dead. We have styled him the Great Pacificator, for his great excursion of Northern Editors South, and the reciprocal visit North, did more than anything else, since the war, to establish a friendly feeling between the people of the two sections-made them acquainted with one another, and knowledge begot respect and consideration, while it removed false impressions. Major Hotchkiss' visit to New York (meeting hosts of friends here and in other cities) is a filial one, he coming to visit his aged mother. At the same time he has an eye to business and omits no opportunity to show up the beauties of the great trunk railroad he represents

the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and connections, passing through an historic region to the Ohio river, unsurpassed in scenery in the world. He is also still the Traveling Agent of the Richmond, York River and Chesapeake Railroad and Steamer Line.

From the Richmond Enquirer:

Major N. H. Hotchkiss, the energetic and amiable Agent of the Chesapeake and Ohio and York River Railroad Companies, to whom the entire Press of the country, if not the country itself, has been so deeply indebted, has been the recipient of a very handsome present from the Balcony Rocking-chair Manufacturing Company of Cooper's Plains, New York, who have sent him an elegant rocker-one of the best in their establishmentaccompanied by a letter, from which we make the following extract:

"Major Hotchkiss-Your course of 'reconstruction' cannot be too highly praised, and will tend more towards healing the breach between the North and the South than any other. This has brought you more directly to my notice, and I have the highest respect for you, and as a very small proof of this allow me to present you with one of my best easy-rockers. A. E. COOPER."

We trust the Major may long live to enjoy his rocker and the good opinion of his many friends everywhere in the land.

From the Richmond Dispatch:

The Deposit Courier, of Deposit, New York, gives the following notice of the arrival of a gentleman "pretty well known in these parts," and on the York River Line. It is so original that, apart from any personal considerations, we give it a place. Mr. H.'s friends may not altogether recognize the picture, but he can stand a good deal of painting.

"On Monday we were surprised as well as gratified to receive a brief visit from N. H. Hotchkiss, Esq. His presence, though fleeting, left sunshine and gladness, for his sympathy, always open and frank, assumed a substantial shape not easily forgotten, and more particularly acceptable as the circumstances rendered it most providential. But riches, and gems, and wordly honors are worthless if we throw aside the kindly, heartfelt friendships that make this world a paradise below: and of all men who believe in the honest grasp of the hand and the speaking, truthful light that beams from the eye, N. H. Hotchkiss is the chief."

This notice has very much increased the "pressure" of Mr. Hotchkiss' hand. We can hardly write for one he gave us, and he has broken the hands of two or three friends by the irresistible severity of his "grip."

From the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser and Mail:

On Friday, the 10th day of May, 1872, we met for the first time Major N. H. Hotchkiss, the Traveling Agent of the Chesapeake and Ohio and Richmond and York River Railroads, who was then engaged in forwarding the interests of the roads he so ably represented, as also in arranging the details of a grand excursion by the Editors of the South to the States of New York and Pennsylvania. He said that his purpose was to bring together the representatives of public sentiment North and South, that they might be enabled to know and like each other better; and although we gave him credit for the very best of motives, we thought his endeavors would be fruitless. In the light of experience we are prepared to say, at this time, that his efforts were not fruitless. On the contrary they did great good; and a series of such re-unions as those which took place with the craft in the North at every halting place on the route of our grand excursion last year would restore perfect cordiality of feeling between dissevered sections sooner than any thing that mere politicians could either execute or devise.