The banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1844-1847, October 28, 1846, Image 1
THE BANNER. I
[WEEKLY.)
Vol. III. Abbeville C. H? S. C. Oct. 28, 1846* No. 35.
' ' ' ' LI...
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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' -