Edgefield advertiser. (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, July 08, 1857, Image 2
that it may be aaainst them. The time was
when such'a probalility would have touehed the
Advertiser's pen with liquid fire. What I-would
have been the exclamation-the Representatives
of South Carolina sit in an Assembly controlled
by Abolitionists I For the ancient renown and
honor of our State, let it not be. If the "diffi
culties which encompass" the South, and "her
enemies thickening on every hand," shall pro
duce such a result, let Southern men leave a
hall contaminated by the resulting sway of Abo
litionists. But no such voice of high and spirit
ed defiance is heard from the Advertiser. South
ern men-Representatives from South Carolina
-have sat under the foul authority of Aboli
tionists in the House of Representatives. This
is bad enough. But a Southern Journal contem
plates, with infinite satisfaction, the " probabili
ty" only of our being rid of their predominance
in the House of Representatives, as a proof of
our happy and most powerful position! With
profound deference we submit, that this does not
prove the allegations of the Advertiser.
Will it be asking too much of our cotempora
ries who have copied the Advertiser's article, to
publish our reply to it?
From the Charleston Mercury.
TEE EDGEFIELD ADVERTISEE
"It is also argued that our institution of do
mestic servitude is beginning to totter to its fall,
and some of the border States are pointed to as
presenting the most melancholy proof of the
reasonableness of these prophetic fears. And
yet it is patent that the institution was never be
fore so blessed of Heaven with success and pros
perity as it is this very day; it is shown by the
newspaper exponents of Virginia and Missouri
(which should certainly be received as good au
thority in their own' cases) that anti-slavery
tendencies were never weaker within the borders
of these two States."
Our contemporary, in the above extract, deals
a little in the poetical. We have never said that
"the institution of domestic servitude is begin
ning to totter to its fall," on account of the con
dition of our Southern frontier States, or from
any other cause. We fully believe his assertion
"that a firmer conviction never before possessed
the entire Southern mind of the morality as well
as the expediency of the institution of slavery,"
although we cannot see "that the intelligence of
Christendom is becoming more liberal towards
this institution." No external influences will
ever support the slavery of the South. Internal
convictions and internal power can alone perpet
uate it. These have deepened and strengthened,
we think, from the assaults which have been
made upon them. But it does not follow, that
whilst this is true of the whole South as. a sec
tion, it may not also be true that, in certain lo
calities, the institution of domestic servitude
may not be growing weaker. We have asserted
that, in our opinion, this institution in the fron
tier Southern States is weaker than it has been;
and from inevitable causes, if left free to work,
is destined to grow still weaker. Our contem
porary denies this, and appeals to "the newspa
per exponents of Virginia and Missouri (which
should certainly be received as good authority in
their own cases) to prove that anti-slavery ten
dencies were never weaker within the borders of
those States."
Now, in the first place, is it to be expected
would it be politic in the newspapers of thefron
tier Southern States, if they do feel that the in
stitution of slavery is growing weaker, to express
their opinions? Would the expression of such
opinions do good? Would it not rather help to
hasten on the catastrophe of emancipation?
Would it create confidence or firmness amongst
the slaveholders ? Would they not feel more
than ever disposed to sell their slaves to the fur
ther South, and thus leave fewer interested in
maintaining the institution ; and would not the
efforts along their frontier to steal away their
slaves, and to hasten the ingress of a free white
population for supplying the labor of the country
and driving out slavery, be strengthened and in
creased? "We do not remember to have seen
any speculations in the newspapers of the fron
tier States upon the question, whether the insti
tution of slavery was becoming feebler or stron
ger within their limits; or whether the border
counties, where the annaul pecuniary loss and
personal annoyance is great, increase in the
number of slaves held or the desire to hold them.
According to our reading, they have simply said
aothing upon .the~subject, whilst they have heiar
tily supported the institution itself. This is right.
For under sucha discussion there are great causes
at work, which they could not ignore, and which
must, if things go on as they are niow advancing,
make Virginia and Missouri free States. The Ad
vertiser, in speaking of the frontier touthern
States,mentions only irginia and Missouri. WVhy
has he omitted Maryland? If Maryland is a slave
State Virwinia is not a frontier State fromn the
mouth of he Potomac to the mountains. He
obliterates Mason and Dixon's line, and comes
to the Potoniac for the Northern limit of the
frontier slave States. He is right. Maryland
can no longer be considered as a slave State.
But has it not occurred to him, that the same
causes which have gradually made Maryland a
free State, are also operating in Virginia and
Missouri, and must, in the course of time, produce
the same result. Let us briefly advert to a few
of these causes.
The high price of slaves. Is there any pur
suit of agriculture or manufacture in Virginia
or Missouri which can make slave labor profita
ble at $600 round per slave, when open to the
competition of free labor ? Must not such pri
ces, in all probability, carry the slaves of Virgi
nia and Missouri down to the South for the cul
tivation of~ her tropical productions, wvhilst their
places will be supplied by cheaper free labor ?
But suppose that the slaves of Virginia are re
tained at the same ratio as they have heretofore
been-being an increase of two per cent.-the
whole population increases at the rate of tenm
and fifteen per cent., independent of the foreign
immigration which will flow more rapidly in,
just in proportion, as by this predominance of
the free population, Virginia becomes a free
State. It is this view of things which has en
couraged the Thayers of the North to look upon
Virginia as already ripe for their Abolition de
signs ; and we see from a Wheeling paper and
one in Norfolk, that they have, by no means,
been received in parts of Virginia with reluctant
assent. Add to this genera? cause, the increa
sing uncertainty of slave property in Virginia
along her frontier-from the increasing facility
of escape across her borders, afforded by Aboli
tionists to fugitive slaves-and can there be a
doubt that "anti-slavery tendencies," instead of
being "weaker," must go on strengthening every
day. Missouri stands like Virginia, with causes
of weakness as regards the institution, peculiar
to herself. Several counties in the northeastern
part of the State, settled by emigrants from
neighboring Abolition States, are almost entirely
Abolition; and in the southern portion of the
State there are counties, settled by foreign emi
grants, just as anti-slavery in their views as those
at the North. She has fewer slaves in propor
tion to the white population than Virginia.
The great city of St. Louis is filled with a
large native and foreign white population. At
the late city election the Abolitionist organized
their force on this issue, and elected all the city
authorities. They have set up several presses to
support their policy. At the last sitting of the
State Legislature their Representives boldly
urged the abolition of slavery in Missouri. The
Philistines are then upon them, and the agitation
exists. But the great fact which must settle the
doom of Missouri as a slave State, is the triumph
of the Abolitionists in Kansas. In the Address
put forth last summer, by the pro-slaverypat
in Kansas, calling for aid from the South, te
distinctly urge that their cause is the cause of
the whole South, for if Kansas becomes a free
State, Missouri, surrounded as she will be on
three sides by free States, must be abolitionised.
Nor is this all. The Indian Territory must fol
low, making four more free States. We a'ree,
with the pro-slavery men of Kansas, that t~ese'
results are inevitable. What does the Advertiser
think of them? Does it favor Governor Walker's
proceedings in Kansas? We ask the question,
because if the Advertiser has said anything con
demnatory of them, it has escaped our reading.
If he condemns them, then we respectfully sub
mit, that he must take back his assertion " that
anti-slavery tendencies were never weaker on the
border" of Missouri, or he will stand self-convic
ted of error. The Democratic party of Georgia
speak out. Presses throughout the South are
raising the stern voice of condtimnation. Will
the Advertiser remain longer silent? Whether
Messrs. Walker and Stanton, with the National
Demorac, sucee in...esn1rKnsa..ro- thd
?uE.IUHED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORMS.
A, SIBINS, D. R, DURISOE &ELIAI EESE,
PROPRIETORS.
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From the Charleston Mercury.
THE EDGEFIELD ADVERTIS
"It is urged that the South is beset with such
difficulties as have never before encompassed
her, that her enemies are thickening on every
hand, and that, as things go, her doom of de
situction is fixed. And yet it is notorious that
her position in the Confederacy is at this very
moment more powerful than it has been for
many years; it is well known that the Federal
Executive, the Federal Supreme Court and the
United State Senate are on the side of her con
stitutional rights; and it is- altogether probable
that such will be the controlling tone of the
next Federal House of Representative."
The above extract contains the first position
of the Advertiser we shall notice.
And first, we beg leave to clear away a little
coloring as to one of our positions, which, with
out intention doubtless, the Advertiser has
thrown into its picture. We have never said,
because we have never thought of the South,
that, under any of the circumstances we have
deprecated, "her doom of destruction was fixed."
Despite the apathy-the blindness-the trea'che
ry, which have distracted her counsels and pal
sted her energies, we have ever been confident
that, in due time, she would rise above them
and come forth a great, free and independent
people, made so by resistance. When speaking
of the destruction of the South, as the conse
quence of any policy carried out, it has always
been under the hypothesis that she submitted
and continued to submit. We have urged as
essential to her existence, with her institutions
and form of civilization, that she must control
her own destinies ; and, to show the necessity of
her doing so, we have, from time to time, laid
before our readers the facts on which we believe
that she is " beset with such difficulties as have
never before encompassed her ;" and that her
enemies are thickening-not "on every hand,"
as the Advertiser charges, but in the di'ections
we have indicated.
The Advertiser denies that the South is " be
set with any such difficulties, or that her ene
mies are thickening," for "it is notorious that
her position in the Confederacy is at this very
moment more powerful than it has been for ma
ny years." Our contemporary then gves its
-facts'to sepport its allegations: "It is-wel known
that the F eral Executive, the Federal Supreme
Court, and the United States Senate, are on the
side of her constitutional rights, and it is alto
gether probable that such will be the controlling
tone of the next Federal House of Representa
tives." Here, now, we have the assertions of
the Advertiser of its faith in things as they are,
and the facts by which it supports them. If its
facts do not support its allegation, its position
fails.
Our memory may not be as good as that of
the Advertiser ; but, if it serves us correctly, we
remember no period of our history in the past,
in which "the Federal Executive, the Federal
Supreme Court and the United States Senate"
have not been on the side of the constitutional
rights of the South, as regards the general sub
ject of slavery. During Mr. Fillmiore's Admin
istration, he was quite as conservative and anti
slavery in his Administration as Mr. Buchanan
will be. He acted with a Democratic Senate;
and the Supreme Court was as faithful then to
the constitutional rights of the South as it is
now. Yet it was during Mr. Fillmore's Admin
istration-with the Senate and the Supreme
Court all just as they are now--that the Adver
tiser, believing the South " beset with diffiq~ul
ties" and that " that her enemies were thicken
ing," advocated secession from the Union by
South Carolina. It is plain, therefore, that
these facts are not by any means conclusive of
the position assumed by the Advertiser. It is
quite possible-our contemporary itself being
the judge-that we may be right in affirming
that the South is beset with difficulties, and our
enemies are increasing, notwithstanding a full
admission of every fact brought forward. They
simply prove nothing.
But we wish to deal with our cotemporary in
a spirit of liberality. We desire to give it the
benefit of all constructions which may favor its
allegations and positions. The Advertiser may
mean to contrast our present with our former
position. It may mean to say, that in ]852 the
Federal Executive and the Senate of the United
States were against the constitutional rights of
the South, in the matter of squatter sovereignty,
by which we were swindled out of California;
but that now, these are changed. We admit
the facts, but we deny the change. According
to our conception of things, the Federal Execn
tive and the Senate of the United States, as
regards Southern riaohts in the Territories, are
exactly now where tey were then. The Kansas
act passed by Congress and Mr. Buchanan's In
augural Address, prove our position beyond
question in principles; whilst in practice we arc
now being swindled out of Kansas by squatter
sovereignty under the management of two South
ern National Democrats, exactly as we were
swindled out of California. We do not, there
fore, from these facts perceive, "it is notorious
that the psition of the South in the Confedera
cy is at thi moment more powerful than it has
been for many years." We submit, if these
facts prove any thing, they prove us to be far
weaker than we have been for many years. if
Kansas is wrested from the South, it will be
done, not by the Northern men--not by Aboli
tionists-but by Sourthern men, National Demo
crats, under the auspices and government of an
Ardmmnistration placed in power by the South
itself. Taking in any light the facts brought
forwasti by our cotemporary to prove the South
not beset by difficulties and her enemies not
thick~ening, they appear to us either to prove
nothing, or directly to prove the contrary of his
algtons and positions.
We might here leave this first point made
against us by the Advertiser; but, to make the
matter clear with our cotemporary, we ought,
we suppose,toadvert to the "probability" brought
forwar to sustain its very great moderation
its anti-ultmism. "It is altogether probable,"
it says, " that.the controlling tone of the next
Federal House of Representatives will be on
the side of our constitutional rights." " Alto
gether probable l'' What a migtyground for
confidence and consolation I Wat an inde
structible foundation, on which to erect a vast
dormitary for the accommodation of political
sleeperal " Altogether probable I" If it is only
probable that the Federal House of Representa
tives will be on the side of the constitutional
..:h+. of tha' South, it may also be probable
South, the efforts they are making to accomplish
this end, under the assumed prestige of the
whole power and patronage of the Administra
tion, must bring doubt upon the destiny of that
Territory as a Slave State, and upon the institu
tion of slavery in Missouri. We ourselves re
luctantly believe it will be impossible for the
pro-slavery party in Kansas to stand up against
the influences of the Administration agents and
the National party, pecuniary allurements and
official temptations which are brought to bear
against them. Will our contemporary sympa
thise with the triumph of the National Demo
cracy in Kansas, and the downfall of slavery it
willthen produce, or will he rather tura away
from the National Democracy to the cheated,
baffled and betrayed South, and lead her on to
the securing of safety and redress? Will our
contemporary pardon us for asking te question?
ARTHUR SIMKINS1 EDITOR,
EDGEFIELD, S. C.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1857.
p2--WE have received along account of the Fourth
of July dinner, &c., at Hamburg, and regret that it
has reached us entirely too late for our present num
ber.
CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH.
Tun citizens of this place and vicinity celebrated
our natioial anniversary on Saturday last with unu
sual spirit. At 11 o'clock, A. M., a procession was
foried on the Village square, under the guidance of
Capt. CicEno ADAMs, and, headed by the Edgefield
Brass Band, it proceeded to the Baptist Church
where a large number of ladies were already assem
bled. The pulpit was occupied by Gen. MoRAGNE,
President of the Day, Mr. T. P. MAGRATR, Orator,
and Mr. EMEr SEIBLEs, Reader. 'ho address of
Mr. MAonAva was in his usual neat, tasteful and fin
ished style of composition. The audience generally
were delighted with his performance, and the ladies
especially lent him the sweet perfume of their warm
est admiration. We should not omit to mention
that Mr. SRaIMs read the Declaration with much
propriety of manner and emphasis.
After the oration, Col. ALPHEUS BAKER, of Kansas
fame, was introduced by the President of the Day;
and for an hour and a half he enchained his hearers
with one of the most striking speeches we have heard
in many days.
At the conclusion of his address the largo assembly
adjourned to the beautiful grounds of our Male Acad
emy, where a blended Barbecue and Pic Nic was
spread out under the superintendance of an efficient
Committee. Of course every one enjoyed the feast,
for it was both abundant and exceedingly good In
every respect. After dinner, Col. BAKER made anoth
er tchort speech when several hundred dollars were
immediaitely collected for the Kansas cause. There
wis music from the Band in all the intervals and
much social satisfaction on every hand. The day ter
minated as it had begun, pleasantly to all concerned;
and we may truly add, that the celebration was wor
thy of the day.
There was another dinner in a different part of our
environs at which we understood there was a good
attendance and much enjoyment.
We understand also that the affair in Hamburg
passed off admirably, Mr. Joseph Abney having en
hanced its interest by one of his best efforts.
The conclusion is, that Edgefteld has honored the
birth day of the Republie in a style worthy of her
ancient usages.
BRIGADIER GENERAL.
It, will be seen by the following result of the late
poll for Brigadier General of the 2nd Brigade, 1st
Division, S. C. Militia, that our fellow-townsman, W.
C. MoaAGNE, has been elected as we before surmised.
RESULT OF THE POLL.
Hloneus. MORAGNE.
8th Regiment...........17 11
6th Regiment..........40 6
7th Regiment............7 43
9th Regiment........... 3 37'
1oth Rieghnent...........7y 28
80 125
80
Majority for MonAGNE...............45
PIRE.
A fire occured the other night on the premises of
Mr. JAMEs RAINsFOnD near this place, by which five
mules were burned up, besides four or five hundred
bushls of Corn, a considerable quantity of Fodder
&, &c. Mr. R's loss is estimated at near two thou
sand dollars. When it is added that the same gen
teman has recently lost six or seven negros by
measles, his misfortunes may indeed be said to have
come in bataillions. Mr. ItAIysroaD is at present on
a visit to his relatives in England.
DR. MACKEY'S LECTURE.
This lecture, delivered before the Edgefield Lyceum
on Wednesday evening last, was one of the most in
teresting productions of the kind we have ever heard.
Those of our people who failed to turn out deprived
thmselves of a genuine intellectual treat. Dr.
MACKr.Y hns many qualifications for sucess as a lec
turer, and we wonder that he does not devote mnre
time to that department of study. Hlis classical style,
his perspicacity, his variety of illustration, his stri
king phraseology all cembined to make his lecture of
last week a really delightful one. We trust he will
be complimonted with invitations from the Lyeeums
throughout the State. We would also suggest to our
neighbors of Augusta, who know what a good thing
is, the fitness there would be in giving him a benefit
durig the next season.
THE SAVANNAH RIVER ROAD.
It would seem that this enterprize is not yet dead.
The Abberille Independent Press gives a glowing ac
count of a festive gathering at Lowndesville on the
14th ult., upon which occasion the President of the
Valley Road, Mr. JOBN T. SLOAN, made a strong
speech in advocacy of the undertaking, and was fol
lowed by Messrs. J. F. MARsHALL and HI. A. JoxNs
in addresses of peculiar felicity. Much feeling pre
vailed and near $20,000 were subscribed on the spot,
with a prospect of increasing It to $40,000. Another
meeting was to be held at Calhoun's Mills for purpo
ses of further rousication, and it was hoped that
$100,000 would soon be subscribed in Abbeville.
With $150,000 the work of grading the road can be
commenced. The subscriptions will then amount to
000,000 ; and the State, it is thought, will guarantee
the bonds of the Company for any farther amount
that may be necessary to the completion of the work.
This is cheering to our friends on the Savannah side.
We hope it will not result again in keeping the word
of promise to the ear and breaking it to the hope.
The Press remarks, in view of the great interests
manifested on the occasion alluded to: " When such
enthusiasm exists, there is no danger of failure to
the enterprize."
THE CHARLESTON COURRR.
This veteran paper apeara latterly in au the dis
tinctness and comeliness which a full supply of new
type can Impart. Its appearance, to our view, was
already as finished as need be ; but it ise now several
grades better. It was only the ether day that a
friend asked us to tell him candidly, which was the
best paper he could take; And our reply was prompt
ly this: "For fulness of general intelligence, for ac
curacy of commercial news, for a most pleasing va
riety in every respect, and for beauty of typographi
cal execution, the Charleston Courier certainly occu
pies the first rank in Southern Journalism." We can
not say positively that the Courier will receive any
accessions to its subscription list as a consequence of
this candid expression of opinion ; but it can at least
gather therefrom that its backwoods associate harbors
no shade of malice in remembering certain passages
of late between us.
pm The crop of sugar In Porte Rico is a million
pounds more this year than It was in 1856, molasses
220,000 gallons more, coffee 300,000 pounds more.
That is good news.
A schooner and a brig were seized in New York
harbor, lastFriday,on suspicion of being engaged
THE MERCURY46 ARTICLES.
Our able and patriotic cotamporary is giving a so
ries of articles having for their subject an editorial
which appoared in a late number of the Advertiser.
We observe and appreciate the dignified courtesy of
our cotemporary's comments, and shall reply to them
with feelings of the most friendly regard.
Tuz Mzncunay~ PREACE.
In its issue of June 30th, the Mercury expresses its
intention to "lay before its Naders the allegations of
the Advertiser, and to assign'the reasons which, in its
opinion, render them both fallacious and unjust." This
intention is coupled with an earnest deprecation of
any such newspaper war-fare as may tend to foment
divisions among the people of the State. We agree
with our cotemporary, that "there is no need of such
a condition of things at this time when there is no
practical issue before the people ;" and it shall not
be our fault if any undue warmth of feeling result
from the present or other similar discussions. The
article of the Adrertimer upeNu the course of the Mer
cury and the Delta was not indited to elicit strife, but
rather to offer, in a spirit of tspectful remonstrance,
some suggestions~ of polgwhich occurred to our
view as not only correct bit demanded by the true
interests of our State and siction.
Having only a limited space in a weekly sheet at
our command, we will be nedesitated to condense as
much as possible what we shall write in support of
the views we have indicated, in order that our rejoin
der may not be too far behind the several articles
which take us to task. ' Two of those articles we pub
lish conspicuously upon this page; and without fur
ther remark proceed to consider them.
Tnc MERCURY'S isT AnTiCLE.
The first paragraph of the Mercury annouucei that
paper's abiding faith, that "under none of the circum
stances it has deprecated " will the South be doomed
to destruction. It is directly inferable also that the
Mercury does not now believe that the South will
" continue to submit." We mark the hopefulness of
these expressions with much satisfaction. They are
precisely what the Advertier has of late thought and
said, basing its opinion upon the declared platform of
the South Carolina co-operationists of '52, upon the
Georgia platform of the same period, upon the pres
ent bold attitude of that Empire State of the South,
upon the high tone of other Southern States, upon the
triumph of the principles of State Rights and State
Equality in those States, upon the necessity of the
products of Southern agriculture to the wants of
mankind, upon the inherent soundness of our domes
tic system, and, last but not least, upon the harmony
of interests and the rapidly increasing affiliation of
sentiment which latterly mark the Southern people
in their common Southern cause. Is it not upon the
same considerations, we veoer to ask, that the Mer
cury's faith is founded? If so, there is thus far no
difference between us.
But the Mercury proceeds to contest certain facts
alluded to by us in connection with the proposition
that " the position of the in the Confederacy is
at this very moment more piwerful than it has been
for many years;" and the ground is taken that in so
far as the influence of the Fedoral Executive, the
Federal Supreme Court and the Federal United States
Senate are to be considered, they have ever been up
on the side of our constitutional rights as fully as
they are now. Mr. Fillmore's Administration and its
concomitants are made the case in point. We admit
that Mr. Fillmore was a conservative patriot-states
man of sterling integrity who might well compare in
that regard with our present venerable Chief Magis
trate. But in instituting a parallel between the
strength which the South received at his hands, and
that which she is likely to receive from the present
Federal Executive, several circumstances are to be
weighed. Mr. Buchanan Is at the head of a party
which alone of all others is conservative of the rights
of the South. So was not Mr. Fillmore. Mr. Buch
anan has gone into power by the united voie of the
Southern States. So did not Mr. Fillmore. Mr.
Buchanan is acting with the South, and among the
leading features of his administration's declared poli
y the maintenance of her equal rights stands promi
nent. It was not so in the case of Mr. Fillmore's ad
ministration. There were hindorances to the earnest
and effective co-operation af the South with Mr. Fill
more's AdministrationalSdersnees arising from the
Sey political antagonG dafed him in con
nexion with others into power. There is nothing of
the kind in the case of Mr. Buchanan. Without fur
thr elucidation, every intelligent reader will perceive
the essential difference which these circumstances make
between the two Administrations in question, for all
purposes of practical benefit to the cause of the South.
Again, it is said that "dihe Federal Supreme Court
was as faithful then to the constitutional rights of the
South as it is now." To the honor of this high judi
ial tribunal, we believe it may be said with truth
that it was then (as now) true to the Constitution so
far as developments had tested its patriotic wisdom;
but upon the v!ul question of slavery it was not thou
so by any such palpable, direct, specific doeiion as
the one recently promulged in the celebrated Dred
Scott case. That brilliant record stands forth now,
an emblazonment of our rights before the country
and the world. There is no longer a hook to hang a
doubt upon. There is now no semblance of ambigui
ty left for Abolitionism to distort to its purposes, nor
a shadow of excuse for further double-dealing in our
own ranks. What was undefined, lias been defined.
What was held to ho an open question, has been final
ly adjudicated. The argument has been heard to its
greatest heigth, the decree pronounced, and the cause
mrkedl "Ended" by the most solemn authority of
the land. It has raised for us a new castle of defence
against the assaults of our fanatic foes at the North,
and from its outer wall we will hang out the banner
of the Constitution with the confident hope of ulti
mate victory. It has cleared away the rubbish that
yet remained to impede the advancement of a perfect
agreement among the politicians of our section, and
left the field of duty so plain that no man South of
Mason & Dixon's line can ever hereafter have the ef
frontery to occupy lower ground than that which it
illustrates and establishes.
The Mercury will surely agree that thi, is a most
important step in the direction of " Southern strength
in the Confederacy ;" and the Federal Supreme
Court's siding with our constitutional rights, on this
wise and in this degree, is certainly such cause of
congratulation to the whole South as we have not had
for many years.-But hire we must object to the Her
ury'e reading of our paragraph upon this point. It
misapprehends us in intiniating that we mentioned
the support of the Federal Executive, the Supreme
Court, and the United States Senate, as the only facts
to sustain the allegation that our strength in the Con
federacy was greater than for years past. We de
signed this proposition to stand for itself upon other
and higher grounds-some of which we indicate in
the foregoing part of this artile,-and superadded
the facts in question as opposed to the idea that our
"enemies wore thickening on every aide." That this
is the correct rendering of our language, every reader
will readily perceive by reference to the clause quoted
at the head of the Mercury's first article. In reply
then to that Journal's conclusion that these facts
"simply prove nothing," we say that they are 'sim
ply' true to the letter, and afford cheering evidence
that the friends of the South in high places are now
on the side of her constitutional rights, practically,
effectively and progressively.-One word as to the
course of the Advertiser in the matter of Secession.
There was then an issue; now there Is none. Oar
rights in a territory acquired in a great measure by
the outpouring of Southern blood were then trampled
upon ; to-day the Missouri Compromise is a dead let
ter, and the whole territory of the United States has
been thrown open to us and our property. Thea our
State stood committed to action, as we conceived;
now she stands as unequivocally committed to the pol
icy of watching and waiting with her Southern co..
states. Then it seemed indeed that we were to be
crushed by the tyranny of a reckless majority. Now,
our star is in the ascendant. With cause again, we
trust the Mercury does not doubt our readiness to join
with it once more in any plan of resistance that can
be made operative. We proceed to the fourth para
graph of the article under consideration.
The Mercury seems here to take the ground that
the Kansas and Nebraska bills leave the South, as to
her constitutional rights in the territories, just where
she was in 1852. And yet those bills opened up to
her an immense region, from which she then stood
ecuar labor was tobe thought of. The Kansas Act,
Kr. Buchanan's Inaugural, and the present condition
f affairs in Kansas Territory, are cited as facts go
ng to prove that we are far weaker in the Confedeia
y than we have been for many years. In the space
o which we are compelled at this time to confine our.
elf we cannot reiterate the well known arguments in
upport of the Kansas-Nebraska legislation of Con.
ress. The reader is pointed to the elaborate speeches
f staunch men from almost every Southern State,
and from our own in particular, in which that mens.
r.is set forth in its full importance. We are at v
loss to conjecture by what process of reasoning oui
otemporary arrives at its conclusion, that the Kansas.
Nebraska Acts are an evidence of the much-increased
weakness of the South. They gave to the Southerr
people the right to go with their slave property int<
those territories; and as to the only one of them sup
posed to be suited to slave-labor, Kansas, we hav
seen that the opportunity has been embraced by many
and by the people of Missouri especially with gro
eagerness and activity. Atchison and his gallant fol
lowers doubtless regarded those Acts in the light of a
boon, and hope yet to realize in them the establish
ment of a slave State upon-their western border. Bu
yesterday, we had the satisfaction of hearing an elo
quent advocate for Kansas, directly commissioned t4
represent the Southern interests of that Territory be
fore the Southern public. He spoke with unaffecte<
onfidence of the success of the Pro-slavery part,
there. He declared his belief that the strength, anc
the wealth, and the intelligence of Kansas were large
ly pro-slavery, and that it would assuredly become i
slave State. He said Missouri knew the interests in
volved in the pending struggle, and that he could no
realize that she would cease the fight until such wa
the consummation. He quoted an editorial from i
very late number of the leading Free Soil journal o
that territory, in which it was admitted that the con
test had gone against them. He felt certain that thi
Convention to frame a bustitution would never sub
mit that Constitution, for ratification, except to thi
electors of that Convention. Such too is the tone o
the pro-slavery papers of the Territory. True, Gov
Walker has endeavored to rule the current otherwise
but he has not been sustained in his officious interfor
nee by the Administration, nor is it at all probabli
that he will influence the pro-slavery party in Kansa
to adopt his advice. Even supposing that Kansa
does become a Free State, we submit that a full an<
fairly advertised opportunity has been offered th
South to make her otherwise. But suppose, on th<
other hand, that she knocks for admission into thi
Union with a pro-slavery Constitution, and who wil
then say that the Kansas Act left the Southern peo
ple, as to their rights in the territories, precisely wher
they were in 1852? We submit then, with "profoun
deference" to the opinion of our cotemporary, that I
Kansas be wrested from the South, it may not be un
til she shall have been refused admission into thi
Union with a pro-slavery constitution, and until th
Administration, the Democracy and the South shal
have been vanquished in the halls of Congress upoi
the issue to be made up when her application shal
have been hoard. Then may come the great fight be
tween the sections ; and we believe that in that figh
the South will triumph. Who will then say that th
Kansas Act left us precisely where we stood in 1852
The last paragraph of the article before us ring
the changes upon certain words of ours in relation t
the probable complexion of the next Federal Hous
of Representatives. Our cotemporary may enjoy un
interruptedly the rhetoric in which be is here please,
to indulge. We must perforce pass on to other point
of more importance.
TB: Mmacunt's 2sn ARTICLE.
Again we give our cotemporary the full creditc
his first paragraph, and are glad to observe that h
does not anticipate, from any cause, the downfallc
the peculiar institution. A contrary impression ha
been made upon us by the general tenor and tone
the Mercury's teachings and warnings; but we por
ceive oif mistake and frankly admit it. Yet the .Be,
eury still maintains that slavery Is weaker in Virgini
and Mtissouri than ever before, and that it must com
tinue to grow weaker still; and, furthermore, that i
Maryland it has sunk so low that she may now we.
be called a Free State.
Fies, as to Maryland. We deny that there is an;
likelihood of her becoming a Free State. Whateve
may be the scarcity of slaves in certain portionsc
her domain, there are no more determined slavehold
era in the South than those she can number in hc
more Southern counties, and they constitute two third
of the political strength of the State. There ar
planters there who own from 100 to 300 slaves, an
who would peril their all upon the issue of emanoips
tion. There are a host of lesser slaveholdors in othe
parts of Maryland who are true to the institution. I
her Northern counties have found it expedient to paa
with their slaves from considerations of pecuniary ad
vantage, they have not on that account become anti
slavery in principle. Nor can it be doubted, if thor
rc resources yet left undeveloped in those countic
and which may prove suitable to the employmentc
slave labor, that it will again flow back to them an
reoccupy the ground from which calculations of les
and gain have alone driven it. If our memory is nc
utterly at fault, there are laws upon the statute boo
of Maryland forbiding the ingress of free negroc
from Pennsylvania, and the very last legislaturec
that State passed an Act making it unlawful to omatr
cipate slaves, it having been legal previously for
testator to exercise thisliberty in his will. In the ver
last Presidential canvass too, it was in Baltimore tha
an attempt to open a Fremont box was crushed in it
incipiency by the outraged populace. We therefor
difrer with the Mercury's conclusion that Mary
land is already a free State, and believe on the con1
trary that the attempt to make her such, by any part
within her borders, would arouse a torrent of indig
nation on the part of her pro-slavery populatio
which would sweep away all opposition and establis
her more firmly than ever In the Southern League.
Next, of Missouri. A few facts will suffice moe
completely to answer the Xlcery'a speculations as t
slavery in this great State of the West. They ar
thes: 1, MissourI, according to the Census, has beel
steadily increasing her slave population from its begin
ning down to 1850 ; and all accounts justify the belic
belief that, by the census of 1860, that increase wil
prove to be 50 per cent greater than ever before. 2, Th
present prices of negro property in Missouristand atth
highest prevailing figure, and negro men readily com
mand $250 per annum. 3, At the same time that us
groes are thus valuable in Missouri, it is known tha
their labor, in the cultivation of Hemp, is lighter thai
that of the slaves in most of the other Southori
States ; and as a consequence, it is said to be observa
ble that they are the most able-bedied negroes of th.
South. 4, It is a fact that the slave-holders of Mis
souri are as tenacious of the Institution as the peopli
of South Carolina; and to show this it is only necos
aary to point to that bold exponent of their cause an<
sentiments, known as the "Border Ruftian."
With these facts before his eyes, we cannot see wha
our cotemporary should speak so despairingly o
Missouri. Even if slavery do not prevail in Kansaa
there is no just ground to conclude that it must there
fore fal in the great frontier state of Missouri. It
regard to the condition of matters in St. Louis o
which the Mercury speaks, we invite its attention t<
the following extract from a leading St. Louis paper
" The N. 0. Delta declares that the wolf is inside
the fold, and that the South must take care of herself
The Dela exaggerates as mueh as the Black Repub.
ilcan press, the importance and sincerity of thu
Emancipation movement. The fact is that the Abohi
tion movement, such as it is, has been going on here
for eight years; it has controlled this city nearly all
that time, because there was no one party stronj
enough to resist it; and it has never shown itself ac
weak as in the late eleetion. And yet it ought to have
swept everything before it, for it had succeeded is
completely demoralising and breaking up what wae
opposed to it. But its days are numbered. It had
walwys conquered under the name of Democracy, thai
is, by a fraud. Now it has been compelled to unmask
and display itself in its true colors as ans Abolition
party, led on by notorious demagogues; it has lost
every prestige of Democracy ; and it will, go down as
surely as the world continues to turn on its axis, &c.'
Lastly, of Virginia. We have only very briefly to
ay, that the venerable "mother of States" never was
ounder upon the slavery question; that the whole
one of her public men and of her press and the uni
ad voice of her people so declare it; that her rail
oads are now actually opening up her mountain
oontry to the more full ingress of the Institution, a
part of her territory which has hitherto held but few
......a .. whic.bm.. has basn .munsred unrs
liable on the vital question; that, whereas twenty
years ago it was seriously considered in Virginia that
slavery was an evil and that some scheme of gradual
emancipation should be set on foot, now, the man who
should suggest such a proposition would in all human
probability be lynched; and, finally, that Virginia
this day owns more slaves than any other Southern
State.
Brief as we have been upon the second of the Mer
cury's articles, we think every reader will agree with
us that our esteemed antagonist has made no points
which require a further or fuller reply.
In reply to his enquiry respecting Gov. Walker, we
answer that we regarded his course with as much re
gret and dissatisfaction as any one could; but we be
lieved be was assuming a responsibility which the
Administration would discountenace, and did not
therefore apprehend as serious results from A as some
of our cotemporaries have expressed.
We have answered the Mercury upon every im
taut point; yet we regret that time and space for
bid our noticingalso some of its lesser suggestions.
P. S. The Mercury's batteries have poured into us
two additional rounds, the roar of which has scarcely
ceased to resound in our cars; but as much as we
long to return its fire instanter, we are reduced to the
necessity of awaiting our next issue.
THE NEWSPAPER PRES4.
A week or two since the Charleston Courier called
upon the "rural districts" of the State for informs
tion as to the age and history of the newspapers of
the interior. In response, we submit the following:
In reply to the Courier's inquiry about the paper at
old Cambridge, our information is that there was such
a paper published there byoneDAVIPOat, but forhow
long a time our deponent sayeth not. He removed
his press from Cambridge to this place somewhere
about the year 1820. DAMVENoaT soon sold out to
Baxj. McNArY who established at this place the
" South Carolina Republican." McNAnY sold out in
1824 to Joxa Losvow and ABNna LANDRUM, the
latter of whom was editor. In 1827 this paper pass
ed into the hands of LANDRUX and BaAzrER who
changed its name to the " Edgefeld Hive," andlocated
their.office at Pottersville about a mile distant from
this place. In 1829, they sold to P. H. WAnnLAw
and WARREN MAYs, who changed the paper's name
to the " Carolinian" and removed the office to this
Village. At the death of MAre, which occurred
shortly afterwards, the proprietorship passed to the
firm of WARDLAW and BAcos.
About 1831, Arthur Wigfall became the proprietor
and editor. He wasfollowed by John Wimbish, after
which J. P. Carroll took the ownership and guidance
of the Carolinian's fickle fate. In 1836 James Jones
and Maximillian Laborde came into possession and
changed the paper's name to the "Edgefield Adver
ertiser." Wm. F. Durisoe bought them out in 1838,
and continued its publication for twenty years, the
latter part of the time in copartnership with his son,
D. Roper Durisoe. In November of last year, the
proprietorship fell into the hands of Simkins, Durisoe,
(the younger member of the previous firm) and
Keese. The present editor has been in charge for
nearly seven years. The condition of the paper, we
are happy to state, is decidedly more prosperous now
than it has ever been before; and the proprietors are
determined to spare no reasonable expense and labor
to improve their sheet and make it more acceptable
to old and new subscribers.
Among the proprietors of this paper in its several
metamorphoses, it will be seen that we number gen
tlemen of high grade. One of them is a Chancellor
of the State; angther a popular andestimable Divine;
a third the eldest and leading lawyer at the Edgefield
Bar, and among the most prominent men in his pro
fession in the whole np-country ; a fourth, the pres
ent Superintendant of the New State House, and
Iwho, besides other services to the State, has identified
his name most signally with the success of our Mill
tary Academies; and a fifth, has for a number
of years been one of the most popular Professors in
-the South Carolina College. .e
COO1I1UNICATIONS,
ost affectionately inscribed to the m~emory of my
well-beloved, first friend in Edgefield,
.NB8. XARY L. EUET.
NOT DEAD, BUT IMXonTAIdsnD.
" There is no Death to those who know of Life ;
No Time to those waho see Et ernity."
Blessed spirit ! hover near mo,
While I hymn thy worth and praise!i
SLet mc hcar the low soft rustling
Of thy snow-white wings, and gaze
In the shining depths above me.
Gemmed with angel's starry eyes
Dreaming thy soft glance is mingling
-In these moonlit, radiant skies !
That same holy light that's falling
'Round us like a glory now
On thy grave is softly sleeping,
fSilvering with its heavenly glow
IThy last resting place, my darling,
In this vale of grief and tears ;
And the calmuess which it emblems
Is thine for aye ! Stilled are earth's fears
SWithin thy heart, so true and loving,
Pure in its most guileless trust
-Where the cold sod now is pressing,
Earth to earth, and dust to dust!
VWhen first I came a stranger sadly
In a strange land, far away
From home-love and home's dear treasures
-Now for e'er in life to stray ;
-Can I e'er forget how kindly
Thou didst greet the wanderer then,
-And in after years didst prove
A gentle, trusting, loving friend.
Now thou'rt gone and left us lonely,
Missing thee by day and night
Yearning for thy cheering kindness,
And thy glance so warm~ and bright,
That hath cheered with truest gladness,
Hearts that else had ne'er been gay,
Now they've hid its dove-like softness
In the dark, cold grave away !
Yet the blessed dawn of glory,
Enmblemed by the rising sun,
That shed its earliest, purest radiance,
On thy dying face, blest one!i
Tells us of a resurrection
Glorious as the day-spring bright,
When God's angels on that sunbeam,
Took thy soul to realms of light!
Holy spirit ! bend thou near us !
Wave thy blessed palm-branch now!I
Tell us of the blissful Eden,
And its beauties fadeless glow.
Teach him in his anguished sorrow
Hew to bear the chastening rod,
Soothe his heart so wildly riven,
Raise it up tothee nd God
Now thy voice with angels blending,
Join in supplicating prayer
That when Life's pilgrimage is ended
We may, meet thee, loved one, there !
DAISY.
For the Advertiser.
TO 50BEPH IYNPATHIZEE.
Sin :-If I were convinced of the honesty of
your motive in so loudly expressing your sympa
thy for me in the Edgefield Advertiser, I should
yet deem that judgment a most villainous one,
which would kill his friend with kindness. You
wll pardon me though, for not only doubting the
purity of your intentions, but for seriously Im
pugning and denying your faith and probity in
every relation of life. The man, who, like you,
cals another "Friend," only to wound and lace
rate him, and to publicly asperse his character, is
to the extremity of his daring, and in his soul, an
assassin-a traitor to the noblest sentiment of the
huan heart, and atraitor to the God who made it.
Sir-The true heart that mourns and bleeds over
the infirmities and the ruined condition of one of
his race, pours out his grief in silence as regards
th cold world, and his holy commniseration is
s carcely made patent to the poor erring mora
hu..-lw ex...t lu th most dalientu. lSeret and
wbole-souled efforts, to soothe, relieve, and elevate
him, and by almost invisible moans to restore hin;
to usefulness and honor, and to home and friends
and country again.
With all your more than Howard-like philoso
phy, (active no doubt in succoring every shade of
distress, in penetrating the deepest vales of human
woe, and in descending even into the nethermost,
hell, to raise up fallen spirits from hideous ruin
wide,) did you ever see any but an enemy, but a
foul and cowardly miscreant deformed and big
with devilish malice, who habitually proclaimed
the faults and failings of his friends, thathe'miglht
weep and lament over them to most attentive list
eners, with seeming tears of regret. Why the
youngest ank smallest novice in treachery and sin,
knows how to hurt his rival, (with whom he can
no more compare in all that gives assurance of a
man, than a spirit damned can assume the most
beauteous form of Godliness) by bewailing aloud
his "unfortunate habits, that paralize his mental
vigor," his love of the " enticing bowl,'' his " love
of the gaming table," and all the improprieties of
his life, which the trumpeter declares are to pros
trate his transcendant talents, -desufhis prestige
and great acumen, and to reduce his lofty manhood
to the level of our niost fallen nature. None
know so well as you, Sir, what delight beams in
the face of this reptile, while in one breath he por
trays the genius and accomplishments of his friend,
and in an other, discloses some monstrous vice, till
then unknown to his hearers, which must inevita
bly blast his prospects, and doom him to poverty,
shame and ignonliny. God deliver every good
man from your sympathy, your tender consolings,
and your poignant regrets! They are crocodile
tears. I wotfid not thank the prophet Jeremiah
for his public lamentations over my sins and dis,
grace, and his prognostications of my fall. I
should consider them the inspirations of the Father
of lies.
Besides Sir: You are "oilfully misinformed. I
am quite as temperate as any-the most abstem
ious of' the community around me; and the con
fidence of the people has not yet admonished me,
that my poor intellect has either slipped ftom its
moorings, or been wrecked upon the sands and
breakers that lift their threatening aspects around
me. And in proof that my body is not yet wholly
weakened and debased, the stength of myerves
at this juncture, warrants me in informing you
that I am willing to risk with you, in the most ap.
proved manner, body for body and soul for soul,
in vindication of the truth of any word I have ut
tered to your disparagement, and in attestation of
the fact, that you are alike destitute of truth,
manliness and honor.
Your ob't serv't, JACK BOGUS.
EDGEFIELD LYCEUM.
A- a meeting of the Edgefleld Lyceum, held on
Thursday morning the 2nd July, the following
Resolutions were passed.
Resolved, That the thanks of. the Edgefleld
Lyceum be tendered to Dr. MACKEY for the very
chaste, instructive and able lecture delivered by
him before that body on the evening of the 1st of
July inst.
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Lyceum be
instructed to furnish Dr. MAcEY with a copy of
the foregoing Resolution.
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting
be published in the Edgefleld Adverfs'er.
H. RUFUS DEAN, Sec'ry.
From the Columbia Times.
KANSAS.
The following letter from the Hon2D. R.
Atchison to His Hon. Mayor Tradewell, will be
read with painful interest. The condition of
affairs it describes as existing in Kansas, as it
relates to our prospects there, although-not un
expected, will be unwelcome intelligence.
Gen. Atchison is well known as te great lea
der of the South in that-'territory, and though
unsuccessful, deserves the gratitude of our peo
ple for the unwavering fieiyand zelhe has
shown in the cause of Southern rights.
PLr-rsBuno, June 12th, 1857.
Hon. J. D. Tradewell-Sir:-Your letter of
May 20th, together with the enclosed draft for
$291, has been received and will be forwarded
to Mr. W. H. Russell our treasurer at Leaven
worth City, K. T., and will be appropriated to
our cause. I cannot tell what will be the result
in Kansas ; our friends in the Southern States
are very apathetic, and some of our friends who
have heretofore strained every nerve, spent their
money and their time, are beginning to despair,
and others are turning their attention to specu
lation and money making. I therefore would
suggest that no more money be raised in South
Carolina, the people of that State have been
liberal above all other of the Southern States.
Yet I fear that the North has, and wvill raise and
expend in Kansas, to effect their unholy purpo
ses, ten dollars where we can raise one.
Yet I do not despair.
Your Obt. Sern.
D.R. ATCHISON.
From the Yorkville Enquirer.
TEPEANCE CELEBRATION.
YoamviLts, July 1, 1857.
The several Divisions of the Sons of Temper
anee in York Distriot, having determined to as
semble at Yorkville on Thursday, the 23d of
this month, to unite, together with their Lady
Visitors, in a public procession-to have several
public addresses, and to provide a public Pie
Ni, it has become the pleasing duty of the un
dersigned to respectfully solicit the attendance,
on the occasion, of the Grand Division of the
Sons of Temperance of South Carolina-of all
neighboring Subordinate Divisions, both of
.orth and South tcarolina-of all Sons of 'i em
perance-of all other organizations of Temper
ance, and individual members of such orgumza
tions-of all Ministers of the Gospel, Elders,
Deacons, Stewards and other Church officers
of the Principals and Pupils of the King's
Mountain Military School-of the Ladies of te
District in partieular-and of the Public in
g eneral.
"'Come one-come all"-our hearts shall fly
On eagle's wings and welcome cry.
W. C. BEATTY, M m
JAMES JEFFERtYSJ omil
A. H. LESTER, of
.-P. B. DARWIN. Invitation.'
AworHon MOB IN MEMPrs.-Able Taken out
of Prison.-The Memphis, Tenn., Bulletin of
Saturday, announces the assemblage of another
mob there the night before, for the purpose of
hanging Abel, the gambler who shot Everson,
and says :
The crowd was immense, amounting to sever
al thousand who seemed animated bya stern
and fixed determination to execute te judge
ment pronouced by the minority of the populr
jury raised on Wednesday night. A rush was
made to the prison, the doors forced and Abel
taken out. Everything seems to have been pre
pared, and the pu se was to have hung him at
the farther end of RoeWalk at the Navy Yard.
The interposition and agonizing entreaties of
his mother, alone saved him. Stern as was the
determination of those immediately concerned
in the movement to hang him, and supported as
they were by the voice of the thousands who
surrounded them, their manhood shrunk from
infiting the doom in the presenceof his mother.
He was taken back by the same crowd that had
taken him out, and was again consigned to the
Calaboose.
Ay man named Spencer Gregg, of Ma
rion D trta few days ago shot andkiled a ne
gro by mitae He was in the woods gunning,
and seeing the fur cap worn by the negro, mns
took it for a bird and fired.
The Mobile paper of the l'7th ultimo, brags of
receiving ripe peaches from Baldwin- county.
They sythey were "ripe, rich, delicious," and
that th hdplenty of them.
A hurricane visitedPortsmouth, Va., Monday
afternoon, blowing down a frame tenement on
Crabb street, and injuring Miss Rebecca Barrett
so severely that she died the next morning'.
Miss B. was avery interesting youngladyonly 178