The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-06-19
Ftom ~ Richmond Republican.
THE Times that tried Mems Souls"

49, &e~1s
Tho secessionists Of South Carolina are much in
the habit in their bcllgerent cssays and oratious
Of kening the present crisis TO "fhs times thai tried
mss's souls" and of invoking against the United
States the spirit which was then manifested against
the British crown We should think that more
unfortunate analogy, or an analogy which is less
Of an analogy, could not we'll be devised Tho
"times that tried mems souis'' were unlike the
present times in Carolina in almost every particu
lar. They were characterized throughout by great
gravity and elaboration, and by the eloquence Of
action rather than that Of words. A writer in the
Charleston Courier forcibly says: "Let review
the conduct OF our fathers when they found the
bitrary expressions of their mother country too
grievous to be borne; when injury and insult fol-
lowed close after each other. and when it became
evident that systematic effort was to be made to
deprive them Of privileges most dearly earned.
How did they act? They scfsd IN cowcert. Al
though some States were visited in greater wrath
than others. they bore i patiently, waiting the
time when all should unite IN the common cause.
Fourteen years of patience. spent in active COM
municaton one with another, brought all to a
point; and, when the blow struck, it had the
concentrated strength Of all. No one State was 30
mad as TO make the onslaught alone, and no such
monstrous doctrine that Of dragging ether States
up to the rescue was ever broached"
"Thc times that tried mems souls" witnessed
very different domination from that of Uncle Sam
drop Of blood Tor treason, and who looks calmly on
while South Carolina is gathering arms and mnEi-
tions ofSwar, 10 very different person to deal with
from that c&rolerc old gentleman whose only argu.
ment with American disaffection was cold steel,
and who, If now ruler of this country, would long
ago have quartered his regiments in every town in
South Carolina, destroyed every store house of
swords and muskets, and scattered their defenders
with that well-knewn cry, "Disperse, ye rebels,
disperse." We think il is very well for South Car
DINA that "the times that tried mems souls" have
past and gone; and that, instead Of John Bull, she
has only 10 deal with Uncle Sam, who never, I'M
less driven to the WALL resorts to any harder argu
ments than reason and persuasion.
1.-The times that tried mems souls" were times Of
real and searching trial. To be patriot, in those
days, required the sacrifice of ease and comfort of
domestic enjoyment, Of fortune, and fife When.
ever we think of those heroes. exalted in courage
and sublime in self denial, we feel new respect for
human nature. They did not calculate the value
OF independence in dollars and cents; they did not
rebel because separation from Great Britain would
make New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charles
ton, &C., greater commercial cities. What more
noble than the conduct of these men, giving up
their houses to bombardment. spending their
last dollar in the cause, marching with baro
and bloody feet upon the winter SHOWS, yet
over patient, ever accomplishing, ever re-
solved? When we think Of the condition of
Marion, for example, scarcely ever knowing
the luxury Of blanket, and Of whom his friend
Horny said, "Well indeed was it for us that our
hoarts were 30 rich in friendship, for pockets
wero a. bare OF gold and silver if there no
such metals on earth. And, but for carrying
knife, horse-feam, or gun flint. we had no
more use for pocket than Highlander has for a
knee bucke"-of Marion, Offering his British guest
dinner Of awect potatoes served on clean piece
Of bark. we can. sasily perceive that those were
times which tried mems souls and bodies also Just
contrast with such the soft ease, the over
flowing luxuries, and the boundless plenty of a
more ludicrous than the spectacle of one Of these
secession leaders, his table shining with silver and
grooming beneath the luxuriea Of dir earth and soa
his countenance merry with wine and unctuous
with good cheer. rising FROM his board to- write to
the Charleston Mercury" These are the times that
try men souls"