Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1841-03-18

our constant and earnest cndeavur mutu- |
ally to cultivate spirit Of concord and
harmony among the various parts of our
Confederacy. Experience has abundant
Iy taught US that the agitation by citizens
of one part of the Union of. a subject not
confded to the General Government, but
exclusively under the guardianship of the
local authorities, is productive Of no other
consequences than bitterness, alienation.
discord and injury 10 the very cause which
is intended to be advanced. Oh all the
great interests which appertain 10 our
country, that of union, cordial, con6dins,
fraiernal union, is by far the most impor-
,ant, since it is the only true and sure guar
anty Of all others.
In consequence of the embarrassed state
of business and the currency, some of the
States may meet with difficulty in their
financial concerns. However deeply we
may regret any thing imprudent or exces-
sive in the engagements into which States
have entered for purposes of their own, it
does not become US to disparage The State
Governments, nor to discourage them from
making proper efforts for their own relief;
on the contrary, it is our duty 10 encourage
them, to the extent Of our constitutional
authority, to apply their best means, and
cheerfully to make all necessary sacrifices
and submit 10 all necessary burdens to full
fl their engagements and maintain their
credit for the character and credit OF The
several States form part of The character
and credit for the whole country. Tho
resources ef the country are abundant, the
enterprise and activity Of our people pro-
verbal; and we may well hope that wise
legislation and prudent administration, by
their respective Governments, each acting
in its own sphere, will restore former pros
perily.
Unpleasant and even dangerous as col
lisions may sometimes be, between the
constituted authorities or the citizens of
our country, in relation to the lines which
separate their respective Jurisdictions, the
results can he OF no vital injury 10 our in
sttuIions, if that ardent patriotism, that de-
voled attachment to liberty, thar spirit of
moderation and forbearance for which our
counlrymen were once distinguished, con-
tinue 10 be cherished. Irthis cintinue to
be the ruling passion Of our souls, the weak
er feelings of the mistaken enthusiast will
be corrected, the Ethiopian dreams o. the
schemins politician dissipated, and The
complicated intrigues of the demagogue
rendered harmless. The spirit of liberty
islhe sovereign balm for every injury which
our institutions may receive. On the con-
trary, no care that can be used in the con
struclion Of our Government; no division
ofpowers, no distribution Of checks in its
several departments, will prove effectual
to keep US free People, if this spirit is
suffered to decay and decay twill with
out constant nurture. To the neglect of
this duty, The best historians agree in attri-
buing The ruin ofall Republics with whose
existence and fall their writings have made
us acquainted. Tho same causes will ev-
or produce the same effects; and as long
as The love Of power is dominant pas
sion of the human bosom, and as long as
the understandings Of men can be warped
and their affections changed by operations
viii 1he liberty 81 people depend on On l6si7 ss
own constant attention TO its preservation.
The danger to all well-eslablishetl free
governments, arises from the unwillingness
ofthe People TO believe in its existence, or
from the. influence Of designing men, d.
verlins. their. attention from The quarter
whence it approaches, TO source from
WHICH il can never come. This is the old
trick, of those who would usurp. the gov
ernment Of their. country. In the name OF
Democracy they speak, warning the Peo-
! ple,againsl The influence Of wealth and the
danger Of aristocracy. History, ancient
and modern, is full Of such examples. Ca.
sar became the master Of the Roman peo-
pie and the Senate under the pretence of
supporting the democratic claims Of The
former against the aris,ocracy ofthe latter;
Cromwell in The character Of protector of
The Liberties Of the people, became the die
ta'or of England; and Bolivar possessed
himself Of unlimited power, with the title
Of his country's Liberator. There is, on
the contrary, no single instance on record
Of an extensive and well established repub-
lie being changed into an arislocracy.-
The tendencies Of all such Governments
in their decline is 10 monarchy: and the
antagonist principles to liberty there is the
spirit of factiou--a spirit which assumes
The character, and, in times of CRATE ex-
element, imposes ilselfupon the people as
the genuine spirit offreedom, and like the
false Chrisls whose coming was foreIold
by The Saviour, seeks TO, and were ii pos
sible would. impose upon the true and
most faithful disciples Of liberty. 1t is in
periods like this that it behooves the poo
pie 10 be most wa,ch(ul Of those to whom
they have intrusted power. And although
there is a, times much difficulty in dis,in.
gushing the false from The true spirit, a
calm and dispassonate investigation will
detect the counterfeit as well by the char
acter of its operations, as the results tha,
are produced. The true spirit Of liberty,
although devoted, pcrseverng. bold and
uncompromising in principle, that secured,
is mild and tolerant and scrupulous as to
the means it itemploys; whilst the spirit of
party, assuming 10 be that of liberty, is
harsh, vindiclive, and intolerant, and TO-
tally reckless as to the character the al
lies which it brings to The aid Of the cause.
When the genuine spirit of liberty ami
mates tho body of a people TO thorough