University of South Carolina Libraries
THE BANNER. I [WEEKLY.) Vol. III. Abbeville C. H? S. C. Oct. 28, 1846* No. 35. ' ' ' ' LI... Pablished every Wednesday Morning, by ALLEN & fvKKK. Sflcto 2Trrmfi. ONE DOLLAR' AND FIFTY CENTS per annum, if paid within three months from the time of subscribing, or TWO DOLLARS after that timi> Nfi subscription recctved for less than six tnonths; and no paper discontinued until ail arrearages are paid, except at the option of the editor. Subscriptions will be continued, unless notice be given other- < wi6e previous to the close of the volume. _ _ ? ?? (for the banner.) 1 Pritnd Allen:?You know I stand t pledged to show in this my 3d Thumb- t paper, the falacy of making " expedien- t cy" a permanent rule, or test of moral ( action, where conscience is concerned, j As in my former number on public opi s nion, so in this 1 rely principly on ex- i tracts selected from respectable authori- 1 ties to sustain my views. The first I I present is from the pen of Professor r Tiiornwell, (' himself a host.") e See Charleston Observer, June 3d, 1 1843,?Reolv to letters in the ITnitAfl T * y ~ States Catholic Miscellany, addressed to c Rev. James H. Tiiornwell, No. 7.? s 11 Any system of philosophy or religion, t which sanctions a fluctuating standard t of duty, is fatal to the highest interests of i man. Truth and virtue, the most im- s portant objects of sublunary pursuits, a are alike unchangeable and eternal, a Whatever system legitimates error, to f the same extent legitimates crime? t whatever blinds the understanding, cor- t ruptsthe heart. The moral nature is J always involved in the same ruin with ^ the intellectual constitution. The c Priesthood of Rome, in their mortal op- f position to the natural measures of f truth and certainty, have virtually t claimed to be the arbiters of truth, it a was not unreasonable to expect that b they should likewise claim to be the c Lords of the const*ipnce and the arbiters v of duty. That is right according to the b philosophy of Koine, which enlarges the d dominion of the Priests, or increases the t! revenues of the Pope. Power and money are the grand and decisive tests of J truth and.righteousness, and every prin- a ciple is estimated by Rome according to t its weight in the scales of ambition and ii avarice. 1 Expediency,' in its most en- a larged acceptation, is a dangerous test of t; 1 .LI! i v i murui uunganan, ^ranrK tnisj out wnen c restricted to the contemptible ends which 1 the papacy Contemplates ; when all the t duties of mankind are measured by the f interest of a wicked corporation, we fi may rest assured that the most detesta- <3 ble vices will past unrebuked, mon- v sters of iniquity be canonized as saints, " and the laws which hold the universe \ in order, be revoked in subserviency to tne paltry purposes 01 saceraotai lntoie- a rancc. Rome claims the power of c binding the conscience. She professes h to wield the authority of God, and her 1 injunctions, audacious as they are, she i has the moral affrontery to proclaim in s the name of the Most High." I regret r that I cannot claim spacc for the letter a entire. c The next I shall present is taken a from the Charleston Observer. of the 9th r December 1845; headed "Infidelity." r The editor introduces and indorses it as i being a " brief and spirited sketch of In- f fidel authors." " We take it," says he, "from the Christian Intelligencer. It c grew out of the controversy in regard to 1 (he appointment of infidel Professors in i a College at the South. i " The fundamental and almost universal doctrine of Infidels is, that the ? end sanstijus the means,?called some- ' times the doctrine of expediency ; some- < tiroes (principally since it was dressed * in the Jargon of Bentham) Utility. A 1 more demoralizing doctrine never has ' beep propagated. No man who holds this ' doctrine can be safely trusted, wherever 1 feeling or interest presents strong tempta- < lions ancfc detection appears difficult In 1 all sqch cases^ men who hold this doctrine will pervert the truth; and we be- i lieve that there are few, if any, Infidels, I who do not hold it, and practice it, bow- i ever unwilling they nay be that it ' should be known. An avowal of it : w6aM m 9 great measure destroy its Utility. If, Wwerer, all Infidels with ' vhose doctrines and practices we are icquainted, have held and practised this loctrine, the presumption is very strong hat it is common to all others. Our )pinion is, that this doctrine of utility jrevails extensively in this State at pre ;ent, and is exercising a most pernicious nfluence. If the most distinguished infidels have maitaincd and practised he doctrine of expediency, it need lot be thought strange that it should be i principle of action common to all who . _ 1 J -1_ - t * 1 iota me same loose system oi morality. Vor is it strange that men of an inferior >rder, governed by such a principle, i hould exhibit a moral character of exreme laxness. The attacks of Infidels ipon Christianity have invariably been i ndirect and insidious. When most buily engaged in overturning the altars ind pulling down *.he temples of christinity, they have professed to be its riends and advocates. While attnmn r j ing to destroy the clergy, the instrucors and defenders of religion, they have jrofessed 1o be promoting its purity, i kVhile they have been substituting their iwn pernicious doctrines and precepts, i br those of Christianity, they have pro- ; essed to admire the excellence of the lat er. When their opposition to christi- , nity has been the greatest, they have j seen most bitter in their denunciations i if those who ventured to charge them vith Infidelity. Such have uniformity , ?een the characteristics of modern lnfilelity, from the days of Lord Herbert to he present. The hypocracy and corrupt morality of \ rnfidclity.-~Lord Herbert, while writing . treatise for the purpose of setting chtisianity aside,declares that it is far from his mentions to do harm to the best christi nity, or the true faith, but rather to es- , ablish both. His morality would not , ensuro men for sins to which they are ed by their particular bodily constituion. He would no more blame them or such, than he would dropsical persons or their immoderate thirst. This same lespiser of revelation would have the vorld believe the publication of his book JJe Veritale, was sanctioned by a , 'oice from hearen. " Hobbes, another name for Infidelity ind immorality, while attempting to >bliterate religion, can tell us that " the ioly scriptures is the voice of God, ruing all things by the greatest right." Ylthough no writer laboured more to pread irreligion and infidelity, yet lone of his treaties are levelled directly igainst religion. Like the Infidels of , >ur own day, he acknowledges religion ind its obligations; and then resolves eligion into opinions of ghosts, ignoance of second causes, devotion to what nen fear, and taking of things casual 'or Drocnostics." Mr. Blount, the author of " the Orates of Reason/' put an end to his own ife; and a Mr. Gildson, who published t, wrote a preface in defence of selfnurder. Mr. Toland, although he calls himtelf a Christian, showed himself in his 4 Pantheisticon," a favorer of the atheism CviIftT/VO A tlfktAll rnolfAA A ? M a fAwr.M a ii uru^iuoAj wuiuu uianco mc uuivcisc a 3od. Mr. Toland was pretty much what in later times has been called a raionalist. He made a collection of forged books, (about eighty in number,) with a view to discredit the authentic jnes ; and yet he claimed to be a christian! Lord Shaftesbury, can speak of the christian religion as our " holy faith"? tells us that man is formed for u religion Rod piety too! and yet throws contempt mam aUa a fiiinva J U]/UU WIO UUVUIUV VI U OtaiC) a&JU ridicules the idea of saving sou Is.H This writer who can at one time profess ihe greatest regard for religion and calls himself.i christian ; and at another ironically assures us of "his steady orthodoxy, and entire submission to the truly christian and Catholic doctrines of our holy church, as by law established." With HoBBES,he can make religion to consist in the ipse dixiis of legislation ; and thus put Christianity upon the same footing with the polytheism of Rome. Like our modern infidels, with professions of great regard for religion, he can intimate that " the gospel was only a scheme of the clergy for aggrandizing their own power. That the holy records themselves were no other than the invention and artificial compliment of an interested party, in behalf of the richcst corporation and most profita ble monopoly which could be created in the world," is he thinks, but a natural suspicion of the sceptical. Expediency would also be the practical doctrine growing out of Lord Shaftesbury's system of morality. It is very true that virtue is the good, and vice the evil of every one. But when the good or ill is to be the criterion by which we are to determine what is virtue or vice, we at once adopt the doctrine of Utility RiipVi mikl Ko llip rpsnrl nf iivnrv J * m~-/ MWkt 111 UWIh V/ vy AAV A VWV I ? V? V W Vi J one who, like his Lordship,rejects revelation, and virtually discards the doctrine of future rewards and punishments from his moral code. Hobbes, carries out the code of Infidelity to its legitimate extent, and inculcates the doctrines practised in France during the reign of Terror. By his " Jessuit instihitinri " fir nntnral rinrlit Hp nlfifP^ mnn upon a level with the brute, claiming for every man a natural right to do whatever he has power to do, and his inclinationation prompts him to. By this natural right man is determined " to exist and act in a certain manner." As the " large fishes are determined by nalure to devour the smaller," they have a natural right to do so; and in like ? i - ii- -i i_: .1 A manner every muiviauai nas me nigufsi right to do all things which he has power to do. Here is the doctrine fully developed, that might, maks right, a doctrine not long since advocated in the Southern Review, and one to which men are necessarily driven when they discard the morality of the Bitye. The rtn/<lrinfi f.f orno/1iun(?ir 5c inspnnrnhlp ...w^1 from this system. So Mr. Hobbes tells us, that " no man can be sure of another man's fidelity, except he thinks it his interest to keep his promise ; since every man has a natural right to act by fraud or deceit, nor is obliged to stand to his engagements, but from the hope of grea? i .1 - r _ f - - _ Ml ter goocij or me iear 01 greater m. Woolston, who attacked the evengelists and the facts which they contain, :t in a strain of low buffoonry, and an insolence and scurrillity,"equalled only by Tom I-'aine, could declare that he was " the farthest of any man from being engaged in the cause of infidels or deists and that he wrote 11 not for the service of infidelity, which has no place in his heart, but for the honor of the holy Jesus, and in defence of Christianity 1" Did ever falsehood and hypocrisy sur pass this? The same writer exhibited the most barefaced dishonesty in his quotations, and the grossest falsifications of the farthers and ancient writers. The same unblushing hypocrisy and falsehood characterizes the writings of Chubs, Hume, and Voltair. Voltair, held the doctrine that men may tell lies when it was expedient, alleging, that though a few may detect the false* hood, yet the great body of the people would not, and that consequently a falsehood upon proper occasions may subserve all the purposes of truth. That infidelity with these demoralizing doc* trines, which have ever accompanied,it, II has extensively made its way amongst us, is eveident to every man who will only examine the matter. Are we, then, to trust men who deny that they are infidels, while their actions are opposed to religion ? Are christians silly enough to be duped by empty professions from a class of men whose moral code has always allowed of falsehood and hypocrisy as legitimate means of accomplishing what they deem proper. The respectable editor of the Observer, who is a strong advocate of Temperance, in liis eilitoral, November 25th 1843, says, " the way to arrive at truth on complex questions, is to give free scope to conflicting views, and to compare them with an acknowledged standard. If the holy scriptures be the test, " to the law and to the testimony," lias been our invariable motto. But in frankness, we must say, that expediency is the only tenable ground which we have as yet discovered upon which to advocate total abstinence from wines and strong- drinks. We have as yet found no precept or isample that may be considered as a univer sal, or even a general rule, prohibiting their use. The friends of the Temperance cause have, in our view failed to sustain their position upon nny other ground than that of expediency?that is sufficiently ample and broad. With all J... j.r - uuc uuicrencc, may we noi astc is not a little too broad. J. P. ^t^Frovi the Laurcjisville Herald. vttail road meeting. / At a very full meeting- of the citizens of Laurens District in the C. H on Tuesday of court, Capt. Robert Cunningham was called to the chair, and Messrs. Farley and Simpson were requested to act as secretaries. Henry C. Young Esq. explained the object of the meeting, and stated that he felt a deep interest in the success oi the Columbia and Greenville rail road, and would do all in his power to promote the same. Col. Irby also addressed the meeting, and in the course of his> remarks observed that he would cheerfully give the road five thousand to have it cnmnlptpd nml in doing so, would make a good bargain by the increased value of his lands in Laurens district^ which the road will cause. Mr. B. F. Perry of Green ville, was then called upon to address ihe meeting, which he did at considerable length. He stated that we mitrht see how it would increase the value of our lands in Laurens district, by looking to other portions of our country. The rail road between Charleston and Columbia, had increased the value of those pine barren lands from fifty cents an acre, to five dollars, and fifteen dollars per acre. In the western part of New York those rich Genessee lands, were so far from market, before the Erie canal and rail road were constructed, that they were of lit tie value. They belonged to the State of Massachusetts, and were sold to Phelps and Goshen for three cents an acre. Now they cannot be purchasnd for less than fifty and one hundred dollars-per ac*el Mr. Perry pointed out the great advantages resulting to the citizens of Laurens from having a market fnr th*?ir nrndnrp ftin mil ... ?... .. ffiiiuil ?i?w mu tuavj wouW give them. The stimulus which it would give to the industry and agriculture of the district?thedisbursement of so large a sum of money in the district. It would give the farmers more time to attend to their farms?save the wear and tear of horses and waggons in carrying off their products?it would keep the people from moving to the west. Towns and villages would spring up on the VAO OO vuu, up iui;jr uuu uuuu in nits nui nit.i 11 states. He said no one could go to the north and return without his heart feet* ing- sad at the contrast between this country and that. Gen. Thompson was then called upon to address the meeting, which he did in a speech of great power and ability, and which if the whole people of Laurens it: ? J 11 couia nave neara, would nave removed all hesitation as to the great advantages resulting to them from the road. - Capt. Cunnningham addressed the meeting from the chair, and expressed Advertisements WILL be conspicuously inserted at 75 cents per square for the first insertion, and 87$ cents for each continuancelonger ones charged in proportion. Those not having the desired number of insertions marked upon them, will be continued until ordered out, and charged accordingly For advertising Eetrnys Tolled, TWO DOLLARS, to be paid by the Magistrate. For announcing a Candidate* TWO DOLLARS, in advance. 0^7" All letters or communications must be directed to the Editor, postage paid. himself warmly in fa vor of the enterprise, and called on the citizens of Laurens district to come forward and take hold of the measnrp Ho ?!? ?* !? ??" ? - ? . C'VU V\.U Vllltl Jl V* UO the duly of every man who could to take stock, and to take as much as he could in the rail road. On motion of John Garlington Esq the meeting then adjourned till Wednesday 2 o'clock. His honor Judge Evans having come into the court house whilst the meeting was in session, very courteously declined interrupting it, till Mr. Garlington moved the adjournment. On Wednesda v the chairman resumed the chair, and called the meeting to order. I There being present quite a full house. Dr. Simpson then moved the resolu! tiuns which are herewith published. I Thf'V VVpro c^pnnrlft/l J - - ~ HVVUIIUteU OJ VJtll JL llUUip son in a speech, of great beauty and point. He stated that the stock in the South Carolina rail road was almost at par, notwithstanding the great extravagance in the purchase and construction of that road. The stock in all rail roads had bet?n. nr ivprn nm? ~ . _ _ j vau >iv ff ^riWIIIg piUIIltl* bio. That the stock in this road would be profitable he had no doubt. So certain was he of the fact, that it was his intention to invest one sixth of his whole estate in it. The resolutions were then read a second time, and passed unanimously. On motion of Mr. Perry it was ordered that the proceedings of this meeting be published in the I aurensville Herald. Thfi rhflirmnn ivn? roniiooi..J ? '* ...v... hum vv|u^oica (U LUU5U!l Col. Irby, Mr. H. C. Young and Mr. Farley in making out the committees under the second resolution. DH. SIMPSONS RESOLUTIONS. R solved, That the people of Laurens district feel a deep and abiding interest in the construction of the contemplated rail road from Columbia to Greenville, and that they will do all they can to aid nnH nrnmntr. on ? L- _ _ 1- ?*lt ...? |y.u>i>uiu uII CIHCI |IIISC W UlCIft Will tend so greatly to increase, in a social commercial and agricultural point of view, the interests of the district and state. Resolved, That a committee of three persons be appointed in each battalion of thi.s district, whose duty it shall be to solicit subscriptions for stock in the Columbia and Greenville rail road, on the condition that the amount subscribed be expended on building the road from Newberry C. H. to this place, and that any portion of the road which may be finished shall stand pledged for the comnletion of lh? whnlrv Resolved, That after the expenditure of thousands and millions by the legislature of South Carolina in other portions of the state, by catting canals, constructing turn pike roads, cleaning out rivers, creeks and swamps, and building rail roads from Charleston to Hamburg, Columbia and Camden* we think that now in justice to the people of Laurens and the upper coantry, the state is oound to aid us in constructing the Columbia and Greenville rail road. Resolvedi That our senator and members of the house of representatives be instructed to exert their influence in inducing the legislature to sell out a portion of the slate stock in the South Carolina rail road, paid for with the surplus revenue, and invest the proceeds in the Columbia and Greenville rail road, so that each division of the state may derive some advantage from this great national fund, loaned the state of South Carolina by the United Stales. The following gentlemen were appointed under the 2nd resolution. Robert C Saxon, Capt Spearman, and Alsey Fuller. Col J F Kern, Maj Geo Byrd, and John L Young. Gen Thos Wright, Maj Thomas M Vrtnncr n nd f?pw Thno P ? ' * "VO M. * UUCC. Capt G W Conner, Dr Wm Irby and Maj J A Eigleberger. R. Cunningham, Chra'n. W. R. Farley, } > Secretaries. J. W. Simpson, J ketort Court?**'?" Sarah." said a young man the other day to a lady of that name *why don't you wear earrings." "Because I hav'nt had my ears pierced." u I will borfe them for you, then." I thank you. air: you hara dojqn that enough.1' -