Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1851-04-03

US, while we contemplate the mournfu spec
tacle, and amanhoofs eye tear-drop flls,'
when we think how the mighty are fallen
The language of MOORE, when bewailing his
down-trodden and dispirited country, is well
nigh applicable to the ancient land of the
Cavaliers
"Gone is the light of other days,
And Gfory's thrill is DER
And hearts, that once beat high for praise,
Now feel that pulse no more"
But grief is unayailing to rescue back to
life that spirit of independence and galantry,
which made the Virginia character, one of
the most brilliant episodes of American His
tory. Its death-knalI has been sounded by
those who should have gloried in transmitting
it, pure and perfect asit came to them. Be
it SO. We brushs away.the tear, (sorrow's
unaffected tribute and address ourselves to
the task of extracting lesson of frmness
and of increased determination from this
melancholy exhibition. Of Southern delin-
quency: ~, >
. Well may we at this moment ask ourselves,
swhere no1o is theghope of the Soulh?"-
And the answer arises simultaneously from
many quarters" Our trust is in South Caro-
lina."
Virginia, once our banner State, is gone ouer
to The enemy. She. has declared that the pre-
servation of the Union is, with her, the great
and paramount. consideration, before which
the interests of the sections and the rights
of the States sink into comparative insignifi-
canoe. She has taken the initiative towards
repudiating State interference under any cir
cumstances. With the facts of the last
twenty years staring her full in the face, she
makes the blessings ,Oe have derived from the
Union, her main ground of appeal in support
of its pcrpetuity. Singular infatuation! To
what we are to attribute this wilful blindness,
it is rot our purpose to enquire. But the
fact is one of serious import, being deeply
significant of the rapidly increasing preva-
lence of those political notions which regard
the central government as the all-important
and indispensable sun of our system, to de-
part from which will necessarily plunge us
into chaotic confusion and certain destruc-
ton. To propagate, and to fasten upon our
people this deceptive belief, is the insidious
plan of the most formidable foes of Southern
prosperity. The desertion of Virginia Isl
startling evidence that our breast-works arc
being rapidly undermined by these serpent
like advances Our danger becomes daily
more imminent. The instance alluded to, af-
fords fresh evidence of this truth. And shall
South Carolina noW shrink from position,
the firm maintenance of which is more pow
erfully urged upon her than ever! Shall
she delay final action until the main body of
her allies shall have either yielded to the
plausible appeals of hypocrisy, or to the Sc
ductive temptations of direct bribery? Shall
she tarry until the timid and the covetous,
aided and abetted by the suggestions of
Northern cunning, shall have crippled her en-
ergies and distracted her counsels? In the
name of God and our country, let not the
guilt and infamy of such fatal inactivity be
laid at our doors Not only would it result
in our disgrace-but in the eternal destruc-
tion of our influence as an independent men,
Der of the confederacy. This influence is
now unquestionably powerful throughout the
Union. 1t is felt and proudly acknowledged
by our friends in the South 1t is felt too,
and feared by ourenemies at the north. The
former are looking to us at this time with
trembling hope, and are awaiting our action
with the deepest The latter are ea-
gerly watching for the slightest indications
of declension-theyarc already gloating over
the intelligence they have received of the
slight division Of sentiment which exists
among us-they con it over aa5 over again
as delicious harbinger of our final, sncondi-
tional surrender: When the day shall come,
in which South Carolina shall sound the re-
treat and basely Withdraw her forces from the
heights she is now fortifying for 2 decisive