The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1850-12-11
Let the South Prepare.

We congratulate the Soul, on the DO
s'tion assumed by the Nashville con
venilon. The recent acts Of spoliation
by congress ure repudiutcd, the rirh, Of
secession is asserted, a congress Of the
Southern States is proposed, and the
sights Of the South proclaimcd-in the
Union it possible; it not, they must be
preserved.
The convention has acted wisely,
ialihiully and firmly. !, has refused 10
submit 10 the late s,upendous a,,cmp, of
Congress TO sacrifice one section Of the
country to the power Of the other. The
convention has treated with the contemp,
they merit the prctences and excuses
assigned for the deed, and have called
on the Stales OF The South to take council
together in a Congress of delegates rep.
rescnling their sovereign character.
The South will now profoundly in.
vcs'igatc all the elements Of her condi.
ton and destiny. She will examine
the principles Of her domestic safety,
her social prosperity and her political
greatness. She will choose between
the alternatives Of waiting 10 defend her
fircsIdes, or acting now for the advance
OF mighty system to empire. She
looks from her farms and plantations on
the Atlantic and Mississippi 10 The gold
en- land of California, the dominion of
the Pacific md the commerce OF the
East, and will determine whether she
will assert her right to wealth and
power, or whether she will bow down
to The aggressor for brief and uncer-
tain respite from the the fate of ] Jamaica
and Saint Domingo before her. These
questions will awaken the thoughts and
quicken The pulses OF the peopleiiiii eve rv
the Delaware stos III, 10
Grundc, from the shores or the Gun Of
Mexico ever blooming with summer, 10
where The Missouri pours his icy flood
from the tracklcss plains and mountains
Of the West.
The South will tread the westward
path Of empire hand in hand with the y.
to the Pacific, or she will tread il alone.
The elements Of n great continental epic
are in action, which none but Million
could sing, and greater than ever IN.
sPlrcd the muse of history. The fate Of
sections, of institutions, OF races, Of con.
tincnts, of seas and islands, Of civiliza.
ton and oflibcr,y, is involved. Let us
hope that the struggle will be moral
one, worthy of the age, worthy Of the
principles, worthy Of the consequences.
Let US employ in the conflict the reason
and the virtues ofour race, and the tcle.
graph, the post, the press and the ballot.
boX-not the arguments Of cannon and
OF charging squadronS on fields Of smoke
and slaughter. But the argument, mus,
be made, and every state and son Of the
South are called on 10 do their duty.
il IS great era--grentcr if possible
than tha. of the Revolu,ion-greatcr in
It's causes and in its consequences.
The South summons her rising sons to
greatness and to fame: summons them
bv the voices of her sages, Tazewell
and Chcves, and Troup and Lumpkin,
the men who have transmitted TO this
generation from the las, the electric fire
of liberty and of genius. Let them
gather TO her council-let there be
council where wisdom shall preside over
the deliberations, and destiny a,,es, its
decisions.
But lei no tal,cring or treacherous
spirit be found there. il will no, be
place or n time for the weak, the scrvile
or the 'imid, the tricks of party or the
low ambition ofspoilers. Lelthe talent,
the energy and the principle of,hc South
alone be eligible 10 seats in that great
political sanctuary Of her States
South. Press.
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