University of South Carolina Libraries
Sv.VOLl'ME XVI. ' ' LANCASTER C. H., S. C., DEC., 19, 1867. NUMBER 45. in <1 . ' - '. ^4?. 3--^. -t ?: t.?? ? u. .1 .1 ? KKLKOT POKTUY. _ From tho UufTiln Express. V' ?" WEEPING WILLOW. i * "K tlV tlCRVsnT H MlU.t. myt ' - - - */? willow, why forever weep. As ope w hi> mottrtM) nn endless wrong? Whst hlddrtl wot* ran Ho no deep ? Whet otter grief euti hint no long ? *#11 i *Vlie Spring makes haste wi h step elnto Yotir life nod bonutv to renew; ' She even bids tho roses wait, And gives her first sweet care to yon. The welcome red brenat fold* his wing To pour for>ou his awt-eUal strain: j To you the earliest blue birds sing Till all your light stents thrill ngain. The sparrow trills his wedding song, And trusts his tender broods to you ; Fair flow'ring vines, ttie Summer long, # With clop and hiss your beauty woo. 1V sun-dune drapes your limbs with light, The rain braids diamonds in your hair, Th ts breeze makes love to you at night, ? Vet still you droop and still despair. Beneath your boughs nt fall of dew, Uv lover's lips is softly told, 'The tale that all ihe nges through j. lias kept the world from growing old." dt J But still, though April's buds unfold, ?4'r Mummer sets the earth aleaf, Or Autumn trims voiir robes with gold, You-aWnv and si.rh In v ? ? ?*; '*" Mr nrn on forever, nnronrer.ned, ? And'keep ynnt aocrct, faithful tree, No heart in all the world can hold A sweeter prnei* limn convene*. i The President's Jflfsaago, Kir want of $0**0, wecinnot gi*e the '"f the ITeoi lent in full. Wo jrfopo e to hi ing I > tho alien t <m of our r?*d*r? a few of it* moat Unking poinla. "i. Ami in the first place ahoee them alf.^s the dUtiuct acknowledgement, that 1 d? i - , ? . , . y^ Southern Suite* Uiddown their arms, oD dm. faith of th? declaration of Con grcaa,.?that the <>!? ol joct o| tlia late war on the part of the United State* Government and the Northern State* *i? a ron'oration of the \ oii.m- Tim I'-.?:. I ** dent a : Wi3*? constitution*! duty i* not tboorly one which requires tho8?*t<s to he rei hired. There is another cons'deration \ which, though of minor importance, is vet <?f g/e.it w*-itflit. On tint 22 I day of July, 1601. Cou^rvos declared, by an almost Unanimous Vote of both hoosea, that the svar'shou'd he conducted sole'v for the w >?e of preserving the Union, ami tpainuining the supremacy of iho federal constitution ami laws, without impairing the dignity, equality and rights of the Htrtte* or of individuate, ami that when tTifa t?sa done tho war ahouM cease. I do gaHot any tiiat tikis dwlarstioo is pets mally binding on those who j >ined in making it, any more than individual member* of Uoltgreaa are personally hoond to pay a public debt created under a law for which thny oted. Hut it wax a solemn, public, official pledge of the national honour, and 1 cannot imagine upon what grounds the iv|<u<iiaiMhi 01 it it iu ue jusniitd. If il be ttW that we are not hound to kevp faith rwbels, lot il be rememhered that this pjoiuNe wm not inacjs to rebels only.? ThousanJ* of true men in the South were drawn to our *t*iitl*%r<] by it, and hundreds of thousands in the North pave their lives in the belief ihst it would be carried out. It wes mad? on the day after the lirsl greet battle of the war had heen fought ! d lost. All patriotic and intelligent man then saw the necessity of giving such an assurance, and believed that without if the war would end in disaster to our : cause. Having given that assurance in ttm+rbrmity of our peril, the violation of it now, in the day of our power, would be 4 rude rending of that good faith which holds the moral world together; oar eeohtry tfoul'/ rente to hire any claim Ujx>n the consilience of men ; it would , waJLe the war not only a failure but a 1. The next Important point made in the message i^ tliat secoasion was void, and that the Southnrn Slates are now as they have ever bi en within the Union atld under the Constitution of the liuite<) j SlAtcs with ail ila guarantees. It aays : . vf'lt ie dear to my apprehension that Um Htatee lately in rebellion are etill #t*m!><rr* of the National Union. When dty tbey coaae to he so? The 'ordinance* of eaeeeatnn,' adopted by a portion (in at of them a very small portion) of their citizens, were mere nullittee. If we admit now that they were valid and effeci lual for the |>mpn?a intended by tbeir author*, tee *iu<p from under our fett the wluAi around ujtmitkuk w ju*t\fud the tew*. Were those Si*tea afterwarda ell -V * * f..:. .Jl pelled from the Union by the war! The I direct contrary was a* erred by this govt S eminent to be its purpose, and was so un> j derstood by all those who gave their blood and treasure to aid in its prosecu lion. It cannot be that a successful war, , waged for the pretervatton of the Union, : had the legal effect of dissolving it. The ! victory of the nation's arms was not the disgrace of her policy ; the defeat of secession on the battle field waa not the tri t umph of its lawless principles. Nor could I Congress, with or without the consent of j the Executive, do Anything which would | have the effect, directly or indirectly, of separating the States from each other.? To dissolve the Union is to repeal the j constitution which holds it together, and that is a power which dots not belong to any department of this government, or to all of them united. "This is so plain that it has been ac' . knowledged ty all branches of the Federi ; al Government. Tbo Executive (my predeceuor ns well an myself) and the heads I of all the departments have uniformly ! acted upon the principle that the Union ! is not only undissolved hut indissoluble." 3. The description in the message of the nature of the military acts now ruling the Southern States is most forc?ahl? "To demonstrate the unconstitutional i character of those acts, I need do no more | than ref,.r to their general provisions. It I must be seen at once that they are not ! authorised. To dictate what alterations ; shall be made in the constitutions of the several States; to control the elections of State legislators and State officers, meni 1 hers of Congress and electors of President and Vice?President, by arbitrarily declar i ing who shall vole and who shall he ex 1 eluded from that privilege; to dissolve State legislatures or prevent them from assembling; to dismiss Judges and oiher 1 civil functionaries of the State, am] np ?.i - ? puiin uviiviq wmtuui regaru to ."Mate law ; to organize and operate all (he political 1 machinery of the Slate* ; to regulate the : whole administration of their domestic j and local alTtirs according to the mere will of strange and irresponsible agents, i sent among thorn for that purpose?these are powers not granted to the Federal ' (fovernrnenl or to any one of its branches' Not being granted, we violate our trust by ' assuming them as palpably as we would by acting m the face of a positive interi diet; for the constitution forbids us to do whatever it does not affirmatively author is* either l?y express words or l?y clear Implication. If the authority we desiro , to use does not como to us through the constitution, we can exercise it only by usurpation; and usurpation ii the most dangerous of political crimes, lly that crime the enemies of free government in all age* have worked out their designs again?t public liberty and private right. It leads directly and immediately to the establishment of absolute rule ; for un< 1 j - i ? j ueiegaieu power is ui ways unlimited and unrestrained. "The act* of Congress in question are not only objectionable for their assumption of ungranted power, but many of their provisions are in conflict with the direct prohibition* of the constitution.? The constitution commands that a repub ; lican fonn of government shall be guar| anteed to all the States; that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, arrested without a judicial warrant, or punished, without a fair trial before an impartial jury ; that tbe p'ivilego of habeas corpus shall not he denied in time of peace ; and that no bill of attainder shall be passed, even against a single iodividbal. Yet, tbe system of measures established by i these sets of Congress doos totally subvert and dsslroy the form as well as the substance of republican government in the ten States to which tbey apply. It binds ihem, hand wed foot, in absolute slavery, and subjects them to a strange and hostile power, more unlimited and more likely to be abused than any other now known among civilised men. It tramples down sll those rights in which the essence of liberty cousists, and which a free gov ernment is always most carefnl to protect. It deuies the habeas corpus and the trial by jury. Personal freedom, property,and life if assailed by tbe paasion, the prejudice, or tbe rapacity of the ruler, have no security whatever. It has the effect of a bill of attainder, or bill of mim ?rwl - r?? r*u allie*, not upon * few individual*, but upon whole in* **, including tbe million* ! who inhabit the subject State*, And even their unborn children. The** wrongs, being *ipre*#lv forbidden, o*noot be con AtitulinnaUy indicted upon any portion of our people, no matter how they have como within our juriadiction, and no matter whether they live io Stale*, Territories, or l>ietriei*." 4. The object o! the military despotism ? ' >- L ' put over the Southern States is negro su premacy. "-It is manifestly and avowedly the object of these la?? to confer upon negroes the privilege of voting, ami to disfranchise i such a number of white citizens as will give the former a clear majority at all elections in the Southern States. This, j to the minds of some persons, is so im? ! portant, that a violation of the conslitu ( lion is just'fied as a means of bringing it : ? ti.. ! I nuum, i no morality is always laise which excuses a wrong because it propos? ?8 to accomplish a desirable end. We I are not permitted to do evil that good may come. Hut in this caso the end it . self is evil, as well as the mean*. The subjugation of tho Slates to negro domination would be worse than the military i despotism under which they are now sufi fering. It was believed before hand that the people would eudure any amount of military oppression, tor any length of time, rather than degrade themselves by subjection to the negro race. Therefore they have been left without a choice.? Negro suffrage was established by act of Congress, and the military officers were commanded to superintend the process of clothing the negro race with the political privileges torn from white men. "The blacks in the South are entitled to he well and humanely governed, and to have the protection of just laws for all their rights of person and property. If it were practicable at litis time to give them a government exclusively their own, under wh'ch they might manage their own affairs in their own way, it wou'd become a grave question whether we ought to do so, or whether common humanity would not require us to save them from themselves. Hut, under the circumstances, this is only a speculative point. It is not proposed merely that they shall govern themselves, hut that they shall rule the white race, make and administer Stale laws, elect presidents and members of Congress, and shape to a greater or less extent the future destiny of the whole country. "We must not delude ourselves. It will require a strong standing army, and probably more tban two hundred millions of dollars per annum, to maintain the supremacy of negro governments after they are established. The sutn thus thrown away would, if properly used, form a sinking bind large enough to pay the whole national debt in less than fifteen years. It is vain to hope that negroes will maintain their ascendancy them selves. Without military now?> ih?v j wholly incapable of holding in subjection lh? white people of the South. 5. The President recommends the repeel of the Reconstruction acts. "Reing sincerely convinced that these views are correct, I would be unfaithful to my duty if I did not recommend the re peal of the acts of Congress which place ter. of the Southern States under the domi nation of military masters. 11 calm re flection shall satisfy a majority of your honorable bodies that the acta referred to are now only a violation of the national faith, but io direct conflict with the con stitution, 1 dare not permit myself to doubt that you will immediately strike them from the statute book. 6. Tbe last important part of the mes sage,"to which we will call the attention of our readers, is where the President (lis. tinctly intimates his determination, to resist his being removed from oflice by the ' impeachera. I uti i-- .i > ? now i?r me ouiy 01 tlie l'resident, 'to preserve, protect and defend the constitution,' requires him to go in opposing sn unconstitutional set of Congress, is a very serious snd important question, on which I hsve deliberated much, snd felt I extremely anxious to reach a proper con elusion. Where " *ct has been passed according to the formj of the constitution by the supreme legislative authority, and | is regularly enrolled among the public statutes of the country, Executive resis lance to it, especially in times of high party excitement, would be likely to proi duce violent collision between the respec> live adherents of the two branches of the government. If Congress should pass an act which is not ocly in palpable conflict with the constitution, but will certainly, if ! carried out, produce immediate and irre ' parable injury to the organic structure of the government, end if tbere be neither judicial remedy for the wrongs it inflicts, nor power in the people to protect themselves without the official aid of their elected defender ; if, for instance, the Leg illative Department should pass an set even through all the forms of law to aboli iah a co ordinal* department of the povt rrnmrnt?in such a case the President must take the high responsibilities of his office, and i*ve the life of the nation at all hasards. The ao called Reconstruction acts, though as plainly unconstitutional as any that can be imagined, were not believed to be within the class last mentioned." The President's message is an admirable message, and must tell forcibly against J the Rad icals ; and throughout Europe will show what hideous tyrannies, maybe perpetrated in the name of liberty. Riotous Excesses in Alabama?Union Leagues in open Resistance. Alarming excesses have been recently committed by the blacks in Bullock Conn- | j ty, in th* neighborhood of Perote. The colored Loyal Leaguers organized and resisted all processes by civil authority, uni der instructions from colored emissaries. They formed a code of laws to govern the negro population, opened a court well ofi fleered and organized, arresting by night all blacks who opposed their unlawful proceedings, and carried their punishment so far that their victims have applied to the civil authorities for protection. The hlsck sheriff and his deputy were Anally arrested; but other insurrectionary leaders organized the negroes, and made armed resistance. Aid from other Lea gues were summoned, and the blacks flocked to Union Springs, threatening a general rising and extermination of the whites, and tHking forcible possession of the country. The black leaders went to plantations, and forced laborers to join . them lor vengeance, showing pretended orders from (Jen. Swayne, and stating that thej had a right to kill all resisting their authority. During the excitement the negro Church at Peroto was burned by unknown parties ; it is alleged by the black leaders to inflame the negroes. The whites universally regret'tt. The white citizens have organized for protection, and General Swayne was applied to, and sent a detachment of troops to (he scene of trouble to testore order. Fifteen black insurrectionists have been arrested and lodged in jail to be tried by the civil authorities. At last aibounts order was re stored aud all was quiet. The Louisiana Convention. New Ohi.eans, Dec. 7.? In Conven tion to day while discussing the preamble and resolutions denying the statements contained in the memorial to Congress expressing a fear of a war of races, a negro member, named Cromwell, declared "that we will rule until the last one of us lies down forever, that the negroes were goiog to bave their rights if they had to seek them by revolution and bloodshed and in spile of Andrew Johnson or any other man." lie also declared that he was ready for revolution." Pinchbeck, another colored member, deprecated the the remarks of Cromwell, and said that the colored people in this country could get no rights the whites did uot see fit to give them, and that the talk of the war I of races was all humbug. fie alluded to { the disparity in the numbers of the two races, and declares that the slaveholders of the South had been in the past and still were the friends of the negro, and that it was the province of the Radical Congress, nol of this Convention, to discuss questions of this kind. Pouomos's Tkmpi.* stii.i. 150 Fkict | 11 ion.? Lieut. Warren, an officer of the Royal Engineers, has, for along time past been engaged at the expense of ao Eng lieh society, in making extensive explorations on the site of the Temple of Solo' mon, in Jerusalem, and haa already made some startling discoveries, lie has, it is stated, established by actual demonstration that the South wall of the sacred en closure which contained the temple, ia buried for more than half its depth be! neath an accumulation of rubbiah?probably the ruins of the successive buildings which once crowned it?and that if bared to its foundation, the wall would present an nnbroken fsce of solid masonry of nearly 1,000 feet long, and for a largo portion of that distance more than 150 feet in height. The Oriflk (Texss) Slur says : "We learn that on the euhject of growing cot. ton, several prominent farmers in this country ha?e determined to plant no more of this article the ensuing year than will be necessary to enable them to pur chase a few of the luxuries of life. This is e step in the right direction, end we hope that every planter will follow their example." , A wrested.?We learn that Col. Keith , who during the war, executed 18 persons In the Laurel Valley, in Western North Carolina, has been arrested by Order of Gen. Canby and conteyed to Charleston for trial. The persons executed were rat* ders who claimed to he Union men. CharlotU Democrat, 1 ' ' i Jim Wolf and the Tom Oats. Here is one of Mark Twain's good sto ries. He knows how to make the reader laugh, and if the following does not proi voke a smile it is because there is no mirth in mankind during the hot weather : 'We were all boys, then, and didn't care for nothing, and didn't hare no trou-, b!es, and didn't worry about nothing only how to shirk school and keep up a revivin state of devilment all the time. This yer Jim Wolf I was a talking about, waa the prentice, and he was the best hearted feller, he was, and the most forgivin' and I onselfisb, I ever aoe?well, there couldn't | be a more butlier loy than he was, take I him h^w you would ; and sorry enough I was when I see him for the last time, j "Me and Henry was always pestering him and plastering hogs bills on his back > and putting bumble beet in bis bed, and I so on, and sometimes we'd crowd in and bunk with him, not'thstanding his growl I ing, and then we'd let on to get mad and fight acrost him, so as to keep him stirred up like. lie wns nineteen, he was, and long, and lank, and bashful, and we was fifteen and sixteeu, and tolerable lazy and worthless. "Ro, that night, you know, that my sis ter Mary give the candy pullio', they star ted us off to bed early, so as the company cou'd have full swing, and we rung in on Jim to have some fun. "Our window looked out onto tho roof of the ell, and about ten o'clock a couple of torn cats got to rarin' ard chargin' around on it and carryin on like sin.? There was four inches of snow on the roof, and it was frozen so that there was a right smart crust of ice on it. and tho moon was shining, bright, and we could see them cat9 like daylight. First they'd off and e-yow-yow-yow-yow, just the same a9 if they was a cussin one another, you know, and bow up their backs and push up their tails, and swell around and spit, and then all of a sudden the gray cat he'd snatch a handful of fur out of the yeller cat's ham, and spin her around like a button on a barn door. But the yaller cat was game, and he'd come and clinch, and the way they'd gouge, and bite and howl ; and the way they'd make the fur fly was powerful. 'Well, Jim. he got disgusted with the row, and 'low'd he'd climb out there and shake him nfT'e iti? mr,( IT.. ?v.. ? ?uw i wui. *..* j unuu v reely no notion of doin' it, likely, but we everlastingly dogged him, and bullyrag' ged him, and 'lowed bow he'd always bragged how lie wouldn't take a dare, and so on, till bimeby be higated up the winder, and lo and behold you be wsnt ?went exactly as he was?notbin on but a abirt and it was abort. Hut you ought to have seen him ! You ought to see him creepin* over that ice, and diggin' his toe naila and finger nails in for to keep from slippin'; and 'hove all you ought to have seen that shirt flappin' in the wind, and them long ridiculous shanks of his'o a glistenin' in the moonlight. "Them comp'ny folks was down there under the eaves, the whole squad of 'em under that onery shed of old dead Wash, in'ton Bower vines?all settin' round a> | bout two dozen sassers of hot candy, whioh they sot in the snow to cool. And they was laughin' and talkin' lively ; but they didn't know notbin 'bout the pauoi rams that was goio' on over their beads. Well, Jim be went a sneakin'and a aneai kin* up unbeknown* to them torn cats? they was a swishin' their taila, yow-yow in' and threatenin to clinch, you know, and not payin any attention?he was a sneakio' right up to the comb of tbe roof, till be was in a foot and a balf of 'em, and then all of a sudden he made a grab for the yallsr cat ! Hut by gosh he missed 6re and alipped his bolt, and bit heels fla_ nK ..j l. a J ? ... ? , u|i >iiu u? uoppaci oo nis back unci I shot oflPn that roof Hke a dart I want a I amashiu' and a cusain' down through them old maty vines and right in the I dead centre of them company people !-~ ' aot down like an earthquake in them two dozen aaaiera of red hot candy, and let off a howl that wan hark from the tomb 1 Them girla?well they felt you koow.? The aeen he warn't dreeaed for company and ao they left. All done in a second, it waa just one little war whoop, and a 1 whiahl of their dresses and blame the wench of 'em, was in aight anywharsl "Jim he was a aight. Ue was gormed with that bilin' hot molaases candy clean , down to his heels, and had more bunted 1 saaaara bangio' to hiui than if he waa a Ingun princess?and he came a prsncin' upstairs just a whoopin1 and a cusain', and every jump he gave he shed some china, and every squirm be fetched he | dripped some candy I "Ah blistered I Why Ideas my soul, i that poor creature couldn't reely ait down ( comfortable for ae much at four weeks." ( The Treaiury DepartmentThe report of the Secretary of the Treasury is very comprehensive and very satisfactory in its exhibit of the financial situation of the country. He says that the finAnciefc of the United States, ooti withstanding the continual depreciation ... iu< buimucy, are in n much more satisfactory condition than they were at the date of ike laat annual report Since the let November, 1806, $493,990,203.34 of interest bearing notes have been paid or converted into bonds ; and tbe publio debt, deducting therefrom the cash in the Treasury, which is to be applied to it* payment, has been reduced $59,805,555. Tbe Secretary says that the policy of contracting tbe currency, although not en< forced to the extont authorized by law, has prevented ab expansion of credits, to which a redundant, and especially a de, predated currency is always an incentive, and has had no little influence in stimula. ting labor and increasing production. The most interesting portion of the report is that in relation to the condition of the Treasury at the present time. On the 31st day of March last, the total debt of tbe United States was $2,306,955,077.34. Since the 1st day of September, 1805, the temporary loans, certificates of indebtedness aod five per cent notes, have all been paid, with the excep* j tion of small amounts. The compound interest have been reduced from $217,? 084,100 to $71,878,040?$11,500,000 having been taken up with three per cenl certificates ; seven and three-tenth notes from $830,000,000 to $337,078,800 United States notes, including fractional currency, from $450,504,311 to $337,? 871,477 ; while the cash in the Treaau' ry has been increased from $88,218,055 to $133 908,308 ; and the funded debt has been increased $080,504,800. While this has been accomplished, there baa been no commercial criais, and outaideof the Southern States, which are atill tuf? fering from the effects of the war, there has been no considerable financial embarrassment. Starvation in Beaufort. The Savannah papers publish a (ouch* ing appeal, signed by the Iiev. S. Lanl drum aud Isaac llrunner, Esq , in behalf 1 .?? -1 ? ui suiue ui mo oia residents of Beaufort, S, C., now io utter destitution. Those gentlem*" any : "The undersigned, baring visited Beaufort, S. C., recently, have been urged to make a public statement of tbe condition of a portion of ita people. Some of tht old families of tbe town, after five years | of refngeeism, have returned but not to find their former homes, or even a shelter for tbeir beads. Their bouses, their plantations, their cattle, tbeir boats, tbeir furni'ure, everything in tbo bands of others, removed or destroyed. Only those who stand upon the ground and mingle , with tbe people, can realize what univer| sal and complete confiscation means.?^ ! Thev must buv back thAir nun i.~ I ' """""" rent others. Tbey are excluded from all employment. Tbey are unprovided with clothing suitable for tbe winter, but what distresses them more, tbey are wiihoit | food. These Southern families are com* posed chiefly of old persons, young ladiee , and little children. Their young men, I the few who have survived the war, can go abroad, but where can these go !? They have not means to come to Savaqi nah te seek employment. Could they And it if tbey did come ! Those to whom we have reference were once families of wealth. Their home* were almost boundless in hospitality.?They are educated, refined, Christian people. How keen their sensibilities?how ' cute their anguish I They must have aid or die of want?I Absolutely they have not means to girt a | decent burial to their dead. 1'ressei end tried, it ere most of oar people, our condition it far better than tbeira. Our homes lands, stock and for* nitnre hare not been confiscated. W. state explicitly, that we have never teen worthier objects of sympathy and aid than a part of the old citizens of liaat^. i fort. Ormauknts for thk Parlor.? An ex* okannn o ? ' I v??Ko may a . ounpaOU HI) tCOfD t>J I cottori thread so as to nearly touch the water in a glass vessel, a hyacinth glass : it perhaps fh? beat, aet upon the window or mantel, and 1st it remain for eight weeks, more or leas, without being touched, eicept to supply the evaporation of the water, and the acorn will Worst, acd as it throws a root down into the water a sprout or stem will shoot upward, throwing out beautiful leaves, thus giviug you an oak tree in full life and health within your parlor.