Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1850-12-05

and spread desoiatlOH oEer tiieir soii'tiio
home.
While 1 rejoice in the conviction that a
LARGE number of individuals at the North 90
entertain conservative opinions on the matter
of slave property and whose voice IS occa-
sionally Heard in the uproar of the waters OF
strife, vet ovcrawed BY the impetuosity OF the
torrent which is perhaps destined to over
whelm the land, they involuntarily shrink from
the task of attempting to stay It's progress
The instances are rare in which, where the
effort has been made, deprivation OF ottce, or
other mark of displcasure and rebuke, did not
quickly follow. This of itself, if proof were
needed, proclaims the Representatives, and
all-peryading character of the disease which
affects the body polite OF that extensive anu
populous region. 49,.
For about one-tird of her political exist
ence, South Carolina has presented an al,
most uninterrupted scene OF disquietude and
excitement, under the provocation of con,
tumelies and threats, poured from thousand
tongues, and in forms the most offensive
During that period. it may with truth be al
frmed, that the public mind has not for year
been free from the most painful solcltude.
Peace indeed has long fled from our borders,
and discomfort and alarm are everywhere
present. Better, far better, it would have
been, for the South to engage in deadly coll
fict with the North, than to have endured the
torturing anxiety of an anomalous struggle,
the consequences of which are beyond the
ken of human presciencc. An open war Is
limited by the causes which produce 1t, but
the further continuance of such war--po-
litical, religious and social AS has been
waged by one party against the other, and IN
which strictly defensive attitude has unwa-
veringly been preserved by the weaker, would
falsify and dishonor the history of the Anglo
Saxon race. Whatever may be said by the
demapoguc and the fanatic, it is our pride and
high privilege 10 declare, that the unexampled
forbearance Of the South is referable solely
to its unaffected devotion to the compact of
1889, and the principles of constitutional
liberty. :.
Our present distressed and agitated condi-
ton has not arisen solely from the recent ag-
qressiye measures of the Federal Govern
mcnt These effected by illicit and willy CON-
binations, having destroyed forever the bal
ance of power between the two sections, the
EQUALITY of the States, and the equality OF
right in the people Of the States, constitute
the Growing evidence of the fixed determine
ton of dominant majority to consummate
its perlidious purpose OF seizing by law OF
It's own enactment, the entire inheritance OF q
common ancestry The startling truth at
length stands openly revealed, that the last
hope of arresting the career of infatuated
rulers is gone forever. The final act of the
drama is over, and when the curtain which
screens the future from the eye of the patriot
shall be lifted, it may be, that the Palmetto
banner will be seen, among other standards
waving over triumphant people, united ir
institutions, and in determination to maintain
with fidelity their new relations with
co-soycrigrs, and the nations of the
But should it please the All-wise Dispose
events in His inscrutablc Providence to
sign us the condition of the British Island
the West, and to rivet the chains with vi
we are nlanacled, the people Of South Car
na will, at least, be comforted with the as
owed t6 tiiutStat4a rii5 riigRpS5W' uesteeir dcsiil
their country.
Does hope still lingcr in your bosoms Il
the dark cloud which envelopes the poiti
horizon will yet be dispeled! That
enemy will forcgo his premeditatcd design
reducing your honored Commonwealth to
lonial rassaiage? To these questions sa
factory answer will be found in the melanc
ly experieDeo Of the past-the overslladov
ipD1ence Of the General Government, ins
! by the permanent aseendency Of the scci.v..
party which aims at the anniilation of oul
property. the history Of fanaticisln the renew.
ed and augmented agitation of the slavery
question, and the recent practical veriication
Of our fears that, at the North, the provisions
Of the Constitution in behalf of Southern
rights cannot be enforced without the she'd
ding Of blood If, TO that section, which now
has the control Of every department of the
government, the preservation Of the Confed-
eracy is Indispensable to the completion of
its work of desecration and ruin, to us its
dissolution, rs compact between tlirty-onc
States, is necessary to our social and political
quiet, and the safety of our institutions. Or
daincd "to establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty TO ourselves and our pos
terity y"-in relation to each and all of these
essential objects, the Bond of Union having
been deliberately mutilatcd by majority of
the contracting parties, the minority have no
longer any security for life, liberty and
property.
The time, then, has arrived to resume the
exercise Of the powers of sclfprotcction,
which, in the hour of unsuspecting confidence,
we surrendered to foreign hands. We must
re-organise ourpolitical system on some surer
and safer basis. There is no power, moral or
physical, that can prevent it. The event is i'll
dissolubly linked with its cause, and fixed as
destiny. In the admonitory language Of our
lamented statesman, {" the worst calamity that
could bcfall US would be 10 lose our indepen-
dencc, and 10 sink down into state of ae-
knowledged inferiority, depending for securi-
ty on forbearance, and not on our capacity
and disposition to defend ourselves"
| have not attempted to discuss the qucs-
tion of secession. The right by State to
withdraw from the Union, results from the
nature and principles of the Constitutional
Compact, to which the States are sovereign
parties. While adhering faithfully to the
remedy Of joint State action for redress Of
common grievances, | besceeh you to rcmcm-
Der, that no conjuncturc of events ought to
induce us to abandon the right Of deciding ul-
timatcly on our own destiny
In recommending, as now do, that South
Carolina should interpose her soyereitrntv IN