The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-06-03

Southern Pa6riet An she Ce0ycnslen.
We find the following paragraph in An article
on the Charleston convention in the Southern
Patriot Of Saturday
4The members of this convention were
mostly young men. or men not advanced In me-
The chairman of the committee of twenty one,
who drew and reported the addresses and reso-
lutions is perhaps thirty live years old, and that
may be regarded as an average for the msm' ers
generally 1t ID the proper age for action and
resolution but is it the ripest age for prudence
and wisdom in determination?
With very few exceptions, there were no
men in this convention to whom the people OF
South Carolina have looked for years past, as
leading statesmen Butler and Barnweil we're
there, and opposed the action Of the convention.
Rhett, Coc0ck, Richardson, Seabrook, and
others who have been prominent politicians in
the State, were members OF the convention But
the great majority Of them, although clever men,
are not those to whom the State has been look
ing in times past for counsel and lead.
The editorial corps were pretty well repre-
scented all over the State in the convention, and
they are mostly young men, who have had
good deal to do in producing the excitement and
getting up the convention. II would seem, too,
that they were not without their influence in the
deliberations of the convention, when we see
one of them, the Hornets Nest, from North
Carolina, successful in causing the convention
to treat with rudeness and discourtesy the sage
counsel and advice of the great and venerable
Chevesw
We cannot allow these statements to pass
unnoticed We say that in the late convention
there was, we imagine, as fair a proportion Of
the wisdom and experience of the State as has
4 -. L.
borders. We are further Of belief confirmed
by the opinion Of all who attended it and OBJ
served its proceedings, that there was larger
proportion of men advanced in life" than has
often been seen in any delberative body Of the
same extent. With regard to the chairman Of
the committee oftwenty-one, the resolutions and
address reported by him from that committee
are the best evidences that he was just the right
age-they are unanswerable.
To whom, we ask the editor of the Patriot,
can South Carolina look as her leading states
men beyond those men who were present at the
convention or who had been appointed delegates
to it! Her two UnitedStates senators were there;
three Of her members of Congress were there
Langdon Cheves was appointed delegate two
Of her ex-governors were present, and. we be-
lieve, nearly all of her leading men in whom the
people have confidence were either there or were
appointed delegates. The Southern Patriot has,
however, the assurance to announce to the world
that, with very few exceptions, few OF the South
Carolina leading statesmen were there. We
admit that the "Union" coterie in the State,
numbering in its narrow circle perhaps a few of
the proprietors Of the Patriot, we're not there.
The reason may be found in their own virtual
expatriation from their State.
The editorial corps was well represented and
! 4 it,, Oh
suitable selection. Their avocation led them to
become thoroughly acquainted with the present
position of affairs, the GAUGES which induced it,
and the tone of popular sentiment here and else
where in relation to it. They were, we think,
peculiarly fitted for the post and we challenge
the venerable editor of the Patriot to answer
whether, in despite of the juvenility which he
attributes TO them, in any other State Of the
Union, the editorial corps embraces larger pro-
portionate amount of the requisite qualifications
for the arduous and responsible duties of their
profession
1t is high time that the erroneous impression,
misconception or misrepresentation with regard
to the action of the convention on Judge Cheves
letter should be corrected. Neither the editor
of the Hornets Nest, nor any other member of
the convention that we saw, had any influence
In causing it to treat it "with rudencss or dis
courtesy" 1t received neither at the hands of
that assembly for that body was composed of
CARoLNIANs--mcn, the pulsations Of whose
hearts beat responsibility to the eloquent recital
of the wrongs inflicted on their State, and whose
prayer would be that they should tie struck dumb
ere ttey might insult, either by rudeness or any
species of discourtesy, the counsels of the VEN
cradle Cheves. The letter Of that distinguisl ed
patriot took the ordinary course of all docu-
ments brought before the convention, manly, a
reference to the committee Of twenty -one; and,
besides this, received a mark Of courtesy which
none of the other documents received--it was
ordered to be printed with the official proceed
ings
We think the Southern Patriot had better
drop the convention. Its proceedings are all in
dicatve that the sentiments of that journal have
very few sympathzers in South Carolina
Among the men to whom the State has formerly
looked us her leading statesmen there is not one
| that we know of who entertains any love for
the onion. On the common platform Of DIsu-
MON will be found Batter and Rhett, Cheves
and Colcock, Barnwel ard Richardson, Ches-
nut and Gregg, and almost all other Caroiinians
who are regarded either as ripe or rising states
men. And we defy the Southern Patriot to
point ont the slightest shade of any difference
of opinion within the State, but on The single
point Of The most efectual mode of securing a
dissolution of The Union. We will be greatly
enlightened il it should be able to do so.