DEYOTED‘T^pUTHEM RIGHTS, MORALITY, AGRICULTURE, LITERATURE, AND MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.
HUES H. NORWOOD, EDITOR.]
VOL. 1.
To thine ownsclf be true; And it must follow as the night the day; Thou const nut then be false to any man.—H amlkt.
DARLINGTON C. H., S. C.. WEDNESDAY MORNING APRIL 30, 1851.
[JOHN F. DE LORRE, PROPRIETOR.
NO. 9.
THE DARLINGTON FLAG,
IS PUBLISHED
EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING,
AT DAKLIHGTON, C. H., S. C.,
BY JOHN F. DE LORME.
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At the expiration of six months • 3 50
At the end of the year - - . - - 3 00'
ADVERTISING :
Advertisements, inserted at 16 cents a
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All business connected u ith the
Flag, will be transacted with the Proprie
tor at his Office, one door above the Dar
lington Hotel, or with the Editor at his
law Office
POLITICAL.
COERCION OF A STATE.
Mr. Webster, in a letter lately writ
ten by him, declared, k> reference to
the movements in South Carolina, that
“ secession could not be accomplished
but by war.” From the position oc
cupied by Mr. Webster, it is prafnmed
that he speaks the sentiments and poli
cy of Mr. Fillmore’s government, and
his letter may be regarded as a decla
ration of war, in advance, against
South Carolina, in case she should
choose to exercise the right which she
possesses, of peaceably retiring from
the Union. Tne question is thus pre
sented: lias the United States govern
ment the right to make war upon a se
ceding State? We shall not commit
the presumption of arguing a constitu
tional question with the great “ex
pounder;” we intend only to produce
authority. Mr. Webster is great au
thority, but as great as it is, it is hardly
equal to that of the framers of the Con
stitution. They, it is presumed, knew
the Constitution better than Mr. Web
ster. The following extracts from the
Madison papers, an authentic record of
the proceedings of the Convention
which fonned the Constitution, show
that the authors of the Constitution
never contemplated the use of force
against a State, and that they expressly
refused to confer the power upon the
government. The following was a
clause in one of the resolutions sub
mitted to the Convention by Mr. Ran
dolph, of Virginia;
“ Resolved, That the National
Legislature ought to be empowered to
call forth the force of the Union, against
any member of the Union failing to do
its duties under the articles thereof.”
When this clause came up for con
sideration,
“ Mr. Madison said, the more he re
flected on the use of force, the more
he doubted the practicability, the jus
tice, and the efticiency of it when ap
plied to the people collectively, and not
individually. A Union of the States,
containing such an ingredient, seemed
to provide for its own destruction.—
The Ule of force against a State would
look more like a declaration of war
than an infliction of punishment, and
would probably be considered by the
party attacked, as a ' '
Thus did the framers of the Consti
tution expressly and rejicatedly repu
diate the idea of employing force
against a State. How then can this
power now be claimed ? Can it be
given in the Constitution in spite of
the expressed determination of its fra
mers not to give it? The Union was
plainly intended by its authors to be a
Union of voluntary consent. They left
it to the States to decide each for it
self whether they would enter the Un
ion in the first instance, and by refusing
to grant them the power to compel
them to remain in it, they in effect said
to the States, remain in the Union as
long as you please, but if you get tired
of it depart in peace.” Hut it is now
discovered that ours is a Union offeree,
and not of consent; a Union to be held
together not by a sense of common in
terest, glory and happiness, hut by the
terrors of the sword. Let such views
prevail; let the doctrine that a State
may be rightfully coerced by the fede
ral sword be once carried into effect,
and you erect the government of the
Union into an absolute tyranny; you
degrade the States to a state of abject
vassalage; you establish a precedent
that will invite aggression upon the
rights of the States, and in the end
sweep away every vestige of their
sovereignty. The South, especially,
cannot permit such a precedent, unless
she is blind, fatally blind to her own
interest and safety.
The hostility of the Northern people
to the institution of slavery, connected
with the fact that they now have the
control of the general Government in
all its departments, loudly proclaims
the danger to the South of arming that
government with the power to coerce
a State. The course of time, and in
deed no great time, 1 will give an im
mense preponderance to the Northern
section, already in the majority, while
in the meantime, the sentiment of hos
tility to slavery in the Mronger section
w'ill become more violent and ungov
ernable. Under such circumstances
tiie only possible security to the insti
tution of slavery would bo the right
and power of the Southern States to
separate from the Union. Hut take
away that right and power to hold them
in the Union, as with a chain of iron,
and to coerce obedience to whatever
laws the majority may dictate, and you
at once seal the doom of the South ;
you sign the death warrant of slavery.
We cannot believe the South will stand
idly by and permit the Government to
assume a power that will sooner or
later be turned to her destruction.—
We cannot believe that the South will,
herself, put into the hands of her ene
mies, the sword that is to stab her to
the heart.—Rome (Ga.) Southerner.
revious contracts by which it might
bound. He hoped such a system
woiild be framed as might render this
resource unnecessary, and moved that
clause be pdRponed. This motion was
agreed to, no one dissenting.”
So the clause was postponed and
never afterwards taken up, or at least
it was not inserted in the Constitution,
so that the conclusion is irresistible,
that Mr. Madison’s suggestion was
adopted by the Convention, and such
a system was framed as withheld from
thepoxt
.•This
A PICTURE OF DRUNKENNESS.
We take the following touching ex
tract from “A Plea for Druukards and
against Drunkenness,” by the Rev. Dr.
Guthrie:
“Give that mother hack her son, as
he was on the day when ho returned
from bis father’s grave, and in all the
affection ofhis uncomipted boyhood,
walked to the house of God with a weep-
dissolution of all iug mother leaning on his ami. Give
the Government A# power to use force
against a State.
conclusion is
that grieved man track his brother, as
innocent and happy as in those days
when the boys, twined in each other’s
arms, returned from school, bent over
the same Bible, slept in the same bed
and never tliought that the day would
come when brother should blush
for brother. Give this weeping
wife, who sits before us wringing her
hands in agony, the tears dripping
through her jeweled fingers, and the
lines of sorrow prematurely drawn on
her beautiful brow—give her back the
man she loved, such as he was when
her young heart was won, when they
strengthened, if possible, by the action stood side by side on the nuptial day,
of th« Convention upon Mr. Patterson’s
jdan of a Constitution, subsequently
submitted. That contained the follow
ing provision:
“Resolved, That if any State should
oppose the carrying into execution the
acta ef the United States, the Federal
Executive shall be authorized to call
forth the authority of the confederated
i or so much thereof as ahall be
to ibree obedience to such
acts.!’ '
Mr. Patterson’s plan was rejected;
and it was objected to in debate, chiefly
because it comprised the above provision
Col. Mason? aid “ was struck with
horror at the prospect of recurring to
this expedient," [the use* ©f_ farce
against a State,] Col
reference to such a provision
“How can force be exerted
States collectively. It is
It amounts to a war between the par
ties.”
ise of force
Hamilton,-*?
ami who now, while his mother by the
body rocks on her chair in speechless
agony, lies laid out in a chamber where
we care not to speak of comfort, but
are left to weep with those that weep,
dumb, opening not the mouth. Relieve
us of the fears that lie heavy on our
heart for the character and the souls of
some who hold parley with the devil
by his forbidden tree, and are floating on
the edge of that great Gulf Stream
which sweeps its victims onward to meet
the most woful ruin.”
ACrRICULTURl.
How blest die farmer’s simple life.
How pure the joy it yields!
Far from the world’s tempestuous strife,
Free ’mid the scented fields.—Everett.
perties which are now deficient in die
soil: ami again, if many of the impor-
tanlMelements for the plant shall be
found, yet some one shall be in great
deficiency, the plant must bo defective.
It often happens, in illustration of this
truth, that a soil will make the stalk of
wheat large and perfect, yet the grain
will be defective; the corn stalk large,
the grain not so good, die weed of the
cotton tine hut the bearing and filling
of the tfrop poor, and vu-e versa, a com
paratively small stalk will make a good have called upon one hundred and four
yield. The explanation of this whole °f them, and have the honor of paying
[From the State-Rights Republican.]
NEWSPAPER AGENT TO AN EDITOR.
My Dear Sir: I have just returned
from a tonr through this State', and pro
ceed to furnish you with an account of
my labors and their success. 1 have
been gone for three mondis, and assure
you, in all sincerity, that I am fully
satisfied. You furnished me with a
list of one hundred and seventeen ow
ing subscribers, as you recollect I
and receiving her from a fond father’s
hands, he promised his love to one
whose heart he has broken, and whose
once graceful form bends with sorrow
to the §£>und. Give me back, as a
man the friend of my youthful days,
whoae wracks now lie thick on the
wreck-strewn shore. Give mo back
as a minister, the brethren I have seen
dragged from the pulpits which they
adorned, am^ driven from the sweet
Mansions, where we have closed in the
happy evening with praiae and prayer,
to stand pale, haggard at a public bar.
Give me back, aa a pastor, the lambs
which I hare loat—give me her who, in
the days of her unsullied innocence,
waited on our ministry to he told ofthe
way to heaven, and warned from that
to hell, and whose unblushing forehead
we new shrink to see as she prowls
through the streets tosher prey. Give
back the Mfe of this youth who died the
drunkard’s dosti?—and dread M* doom
(From the Soil of the South.)
ROTATION OF PROPS.
In a country like ours, where the |
number of acres to be cultivated is so
large, and where, from the nature of
our crops, so nearly all of our time is
cousuined, either in the cultivation or
saving of the crop, we have hut little
chance to reclaim or improve the whole
farm; we are well assured our readers
will strike back in despair, if not in dis
gust, from any plan, which proposes to
accoa^lish this object, first by making
the manure, and then by carting it to
the field. Much may be done, and still
more must be done in this tray, but this
remedy stops short of our wants. A
very large number of the reflecting
planters of our country are taming their
thoughts to a rotation of crops and to
rest their lands. This will lie good,
much better than many of us have been
doing.
Here, however, a great, but not an
insurmountable, difficulty presents it
self, in the large quantity of cleared
land necessary to its accomplishment.
For with our present lights and experi
ence on this subject, no one hopes to
accomplish much with more than three-
fourtlis of the tilled land in cultivation
at the same time. The general idea,
and perhaps the best is, to plant the
cotton upon land which has lain fallow,
having rested a year, to succeed the
cotton with corn, and the com with
small grain, and then rest the succeed
ing year. This, as has already been
suggested by one of our correspondents,
may keep the land from growing worse,
and if we would spare the time from
our cotton pickiug to turn in some one
or more green crops, would probably
make them better. Our present impres
sion is, that when thia process is pro-
perly analized, that the benefit of turn
ing under green crops of peas, grass,
weeds, or almost anything which we
may lie able to command, will be far
above our present conceptions, and may
oonstitute a new era iu reclaiming our
lands. We are detered at the sacrifices
and iuoonvenienccs necessary to this
work, in the busy time of cotton picking.
These sacrifices have got to be made,
and we had as well make up our minds
to it. Theo nly question to be settled
is, will this meet our wants and can we
by such a process reclaim and improve
our lands? Experience will decidv.
But may we not proceed more under-
standingly? There are some general
laws upon which the proper settlement
of these questions are made to depend.
Take one crop, com for instance, and
cultivate it for a series of years upon
tiie same laud, without the aid of ma
nure, and, what is the result? The
yield is less and less, and the quality of
the grain poorer and poorer. Do more:
so arraage your land, that nothing shall
be lost by washing away. Still the
same will be the result, but not quite
so rapidly. So, to a very large extent,
with all the other crops, perhaps less
with cotton than most of the others, but
even with that, it is manifest that a de
terioration is going on. Why should
this be so, when proper precautions are
taken to prevent the washing away of
the soil? We say our lands are tired
or worn, yet, we may change the eMp,
and get a good yield. This demonstra
tes, then, an important fact, that the
land is not worn out, but the same crop
for a series of years, has exhausted
most or all the food in that soil, pecu
liarly suited to feed tliat plant, while
there may still remain much that is sui
ted to the nourishment of another plant,
makingdifferent requisitions upon the
soil. These, then, are important dis-
cloaures, and the knowledge of these
facta is to be used in setting the ques
tion of the proper rotation of crop# and
in the application of manures. For
if by a continued cultivation of corn, or
wheat or any other grain, the phospha
tes should be exhausted and manure in
Urge quantities should be applied, little
or no benefit would be perceived, un
UMMare should have these pro-
mystery would be solved by an analy
sis of the soil, showing, either the pre
sence in excess of some deleterious
matter, of the absence of some essential
element. Know, therefore, before you
proceed with your rotation of crops what
you are proposing to accomplish. What
constituents in your soilhave been ex
tracted, and what crops in succession
will demand least of these properties al
ready deficient And learn moreover in
the kindnesses which you propose to ex
tend to your fields, whether these are
just such as their necessities may require
We have suggested therfore, that we
thought important benefits would result
fmmtuming under green crops. This
thought is based upon the fact, that most
of these crops returned to the soil in that
over to your order three dollars and
twelve and one half cents, being the
amount to which you are entitled. I
return you the list, numbered 1 to 117,
and now give you the rejily of each.
No. 1—Is a minister. He says in
the first place, he never got one half of
the numbers, (a lie, according to the
account of the Postmaster,) and in the
next place, your joker’s column was
too scurrilous. He can't think of aid
ing to sustain a paper that advertises
horse races and gander pullings. Be
sides, he knows from the tone of your
editoriols that you drink, and paying
you, would only be the means of your
ending your days in the kennel. He
wonders at your impudence in sending
him your hill after publishing the ac-
stage, would restore many of the essen- i count ot the great prize fight between
necessary to most of Left Handed Smoke and Battering Hill.
He wants nothing to do with you—
never wants to hear from you again.
No. ‘2—Is in jail for debt He has
not seen a half dollar for a year. Says
he would pay you with the utmost
cheerfulness, if he only had the money,
hut had to borrow a shirt to put on last
Sunday. Admires your pa|>er wonder
fully, and hopes you will continue send
ing it to him. Ho wishes you to take
a bold stand in favor of the abolition
imprisonment for debt, as he thinks it
would be a very popular move with
gentlemen in his situation. If you send
him any more papers he hopes yon will
see that the postage is paid, as other
wise he will la> unable to enjoy your
lucubrations. Sends his best respects.
No. 3.—Is a young Doctor. Says
your paper is beneath the notice of «
gentleman. Wouldn’t give a for
a cart loard. Says you inserted an ar
ticle reflecting on the profession. On
ly wishes he could catch you here—
would make you smell
tial ingrediants
our crops. But wo cannot do more
than invite attention to these questions
so intimately connected with Southern
Agriculture, hoping that others will take
them up, and that they will not he laid
down again, until we shall he made
wiser, and our lauds richer.
Dignity of Agriculture.—Agri
culture is an honorable, a delightful and
a glorious pursuit: the first man who
lived on earth was an agriculturalist—
and agriculture must exist till the last
man leaves it. All labor is honorable:
the Great First Cause works—nature
works—and every man who enjoys her
fruits, ought to hold it honorable to
work.—Rogers.
Garden Shrubs.—Valias, or Ethio
pian Lily.—This elegant plant needs
moist ground, but should not lie water
ed much while in hud or blossom. It
should have plenty of air and light, hut j
too much heat causes it to turn yellow,
and its rich leaves to die and fall. This
Is going
, , to persuade everybody that takes vour
plant is best propagated by suckers, paper, to stop it. Cuss’d your bill, and
which spring up around the parent sa ys you may collect it in the best way
vou can.
stalk.
Geraniums.—These are propagated
easily by slips, placed in pots, and kept
from the sun with the ground kept
moist. They should not lie wet when
in full bloom, but it may be done be
fore the buds are expanded.
Monthly Roses.—These need sun
and air, when they are rooted and
should be watered in propotion as they
receive it. The young wood furnishes
buds and blossoms.
The Passion Flower.—This is a
beautiful vine and requires to lie well
trained and supported. They will grow
to cover a large surface if properly at
tended. They must have the climate
of a warm room or Green House.
The Honey Suckle.—This in its
varieties is a desirable vine for the frame
work at the door, the piazza, d:c. It
may be increased by turning the ends
downw ard into the ground. It should
be carefully trained.
Fruit Treks.—We bear complaints
of the decay and death of fruit trees,
but it is through neglect, or a
knowledge of their diseases.
Red Ants can be kept out of closets
and other places by impregnating the
air with camphor, as this odor is offen
sive to all the insect family.
A SENSIBLE SOMNAMBULIST.
A curious case of somnambulism
occurred recently near Bordeaux, the
particulars of which is related in the
Courier de la Gironde: “A small far
mer after passing the evening with his
family, retired to rest but at midnight
he got up dressed himself went to his
stable, yoked his oxen and hitched them
to a plow, and proceeding to a field.
S owed it completely before morning,
e had been in a complete state of
somnambulism all the while, nor would
he believe, on returning to his house
after a aeriea of violent shakes that he
had been at work for several hours.
No. 4—Is an old Maid. Says you
are always taking a fling at single la
dies of an uncertain age. Wouldn’t
pay you if she was rolling in wealth,
and you had'nt cash enough to buy a
crust of bread. Sent all the papers
she had hack a month ago, and says
now that she has sent them hack, slie
don’t owe you anything. Say’s she is
even w ith you, and intends to keep so
till the day of judgment Asked me
not to forget to tell you tliat you are
no gentleman, or you wouldn’t under
take to slander a large and respectable
class of the female jnipulation of the
country.
No. 5—is a gambler—a sporting
gentleman. Says he got completely
cleaned out last week at the races.—
Couldn’t accommodate his grandmo
ther with a half-dime if she was starv
ing. Likes your paper tolerably—
would like it better if you would pub
lish more races, and would occasional
ly give an account of a cock-fight—
Liked the description of the prize fight
amaizingly—it redeemed a multitude of
, your faults. Hopes you won’t think
want of' k‘ ,n * or not P a ying you now—
but has got a prospect of soon having
| some loose change, as he is after a
rich young green-horn, who arrived
here last week. Will pay your bill out
of the pluckings.
No. G—is an old drunkard. Hasn’t
got anything, and never expects to have.
Gathered up all the papers he had and
sold them tor a hnif pint of rum, to
the doggery-keeper, to wrap groceries
in. Wishes you would send him a
a pile, as they cost hhn no |>ostage, his
brother-in-law being post-master, and
permitting him to take out his papers
for nothing. Winked at me when I
presented your bill, and inquired if I
wasn’t a distant relation of the man
though you profess to publish a neutral
paper, it is not so. Thinks be has seen
a considerable squinting towards the
side to which he is opposed. Meant
to have told you a year ago to stop his
paper, hut forgot it. Tells you to do
so now, and things yon are getting ofl
very cheaply in not losing any more by
him. Believes you to be a rascal, and
is too honorable to have anything to
do w ith you, ns it might compromise
him and injure his prospects.
No. 1)—Paid up like a gentleman.
The only one. Likes your paper fli>t
rate, and means to take it am 1 for
it as long as yon publish it or he lives.
Asked me to dinner, and treated me
like a king. An oasis in the desert!
A man fit for heaven !
No. 10—Is a merchant. Expects to
break shortly, so must save all his
small change. Offered me a pair of
breeches and a cotton handkerchief
for the debt. Refused him w ith scorn.
Told me to go to the devil. Long jaw.
Threatened to break my head. Dared
him to it. Threw a hatchet at me.—
I dodged it, and put out.
No. 11 to 117—Mean as rot. Hail
no money—wouldn’t pay—didn’t owe.
1 swore I’d sue. Said 1 might sue and
he hanged. Cursed all the little ones
and hurried from the big. Never got
the first red cent from one of them.
The foregoing is a true extract from
ni}’ note book; 1 have not succeeded
a whit better w ith the patrons of the
other publications for which 1 amagen*,
as it is impossible to collect from those
who are determined not to pay. I
liave said 1 have been away three
months. I have expended-in that pe
riod two hundred and ten dollars, trav
elling, and my entire commissions
amount to eighty-two dollars and forty-
five cents. I am very willing to do my
share towards the propagation of news,
hut more than that no reasonable man
could ask. This business don’t exact
ly suit me—I cant stand it
Please accept my resignation and
strike my name from your list of agents.
I admire your paper very much myself,
but it would be a queer looking sort of
a concern tliat would come fully up to
the requirements of everybody. One
wants independence in an editor—ano
ther dont want any. One wants all
slang—another would’t touch a jour
nal that contained an irreverent line
w ith a ten foot pole. One sentimental
lackadaisical Miss in pantalettes want
ed nothing hut love poetry—another
never read anything hut the marriages.
Ail kinds of abuse I have to bear,
too. 1 wouldn’t mind it so much if
they only cursed you and your paper,
but they curse me too! Swindler, ras
cal, villain, blood-sucker. These are
some of the names they think proper
to bestow upon me. I tried fighting
fora while, and thrashed several of your
patrons like blazes, but occasionally 1
got licked like tliunker myself. Once
l was put in jail for assault and batte
ry, and only escaped by breaking out.
Semi me a receipt for the three dol-
dars twelve and a half cents, and be
lieve me, yours in despair,
Aaron Sweatwell.
that bMted the bull off the bridge.
Sort—Is a magistrate. Swore he
never owed you a cent, and told me I
was a low rascal for trying to swindle
him iu such a bare faced manner. Ad
vised me to make tracks in a little less
Ordinarily aomnambulists confine their than no time, or he would get out
operations to wandering about the fields w’arnmt against me as a common cheat.
coming along over ridge-poles and house
roofs, or groping about cellars, but this
Frenchman had more sense—he set to
work in real earnest and earned some
thing for his family.”
and have me sent to prison. Took his
advioei Is, by all odds, the meanest
man 1 liave seen yeti Never go near
hint again, I swear!
No, ft—Is • politician- ►-Says al-
Cure for Redhugs.—A bit of in
formation interesting to landladies,
boarders, and all fiersous annoyed.
Many persons complain of being jies-
tered by bedbugs. It is easy to avoid
the inconvenience. On going to bed,
strip off your shirt and cover yourself
from bead to foot with boiled molasses,
Let every part of the body be thickly
covered with it. On coming to bite
you the bugs will stick fast in the
molasses and you can kill them in the
morning.
The family that never took a news
paper, has moved to Illinois. 'Hie old
gentleman was surprised the other day
to leani that gold had Wen discovered
in California; and the eldest daughter
was rejoiced to learn from a neighbor
that Webster had been hung and now
’ she’d never again W troubled with them
j pesky spellin’ books!
We find the following warning in the
; New York Day Book:
Ladles Beware or Gen Cotton.
| —The buyers of cotton petticoats are
cautioned against purchasing these
articles. One worn by a lady crossing
Broome street on Wednesday last, blew
up!
A stuttering Vermonter was asked
the way to Waterbary. With great
politeness he stove to mj it was right
ahead, but iu vain. The more he tried,
he couldn’t At last red in the face
sad furious with unavailing oxtelfon he
~ ‘ ‘ with-—“Gug gjg go long
urn jw! you!,
can tell you