The deep-rooted, heartfelt, undying hatred of the British which these people nursed, kept alive and handed down, may be illustrated by the recital of a few facts which came within my own knowledge and observation. During the recent war between the states, there was much said and written, at one period, about England recognizing the independence of the Southern Confederacy, and entering into diplomatic or friendly relations with the Confederate government. While this subject was under discussion, I heard old men, who were intense in their loyalty to the Southern cause, and who had sent their sons all into the Confederate army, declare openly and vehemently that, if the Southern Confederacy “made friends with the British,” they would renounce their allegiance to it and bring their boys home; that they had rather be subjugated by the Yankees than to conquer with the aid of “the British”! So late as 1882-3, Sir Thomas Watson, an Englishman, spent several months in Jonesboro, examining and negotiating for a valuable piece of iron property in Washington county. He would come to my office occasionally, and would sit and talk with me. On one of these occasions, an old friend of mine, some seventy years of age, came in, and I introduced him to Sir Thomas, telling him that the latter was from England. My old friend sat down, but did not address a word to the gentleman to whom I had introduced him during the half or three-quarters of an hour which ensued; but I noticed him more than once looking at the Englishman very much as if he was “drawing a bead” on him along the barrel of a rifle. When Watson left the office, the old gentleman’s eyes followed him. As the door closed after him, my old friend drew a breath of relief, and asked, “What’s _he_ doing here?” When I told him, he appeared incredulous. “I don’t believe he’s after any good,” he said; “better have nothing to do with a Britisher. This one may be a spy. If Andy Jackson was alive, and was to hear of that man being here, I’ll bet he would drive him out of this country!”