Washington telegraph., 1851-07-16
.,THE TINES THAT TRIED MEN's Souls. >

The ZINES THAT TRIED MEN's SOULS. -
The secessionists of South Carolina are
much in the habit, in their belligerelt
essays and orations. Of likening the pre-
sent crisis to ''the times that tried men S
souls" and of invoking against the
United Staets the spirit which was then
manifesto against the British crown.
We should think THAT 4 mere mere upfortunate
analogy, or an analogy which is less of
an analogy, could not wei! be devised.
The "times that tried mems souls" were
unlike the present times in Carolina, in
almost every particular. They were
characterized throughout by great gravity
and deliberation, and by the eloquence of
action rather than that of words. A
writer in the Charleston Courier forcibly
says: "Let us review the conduct of our
fathers when they found the arbitrary
expressions of their mother country TOO
grievons to be borne; when injury and in.
suit followed 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 aete9 i,s concert. Al
though some States we're visited in great
er wrath than others. they bore il patient-
ly. waiting the time when all should
unite in the comrImon cause. Fourteen
years of patience, spent in active com.
munication one with another. brought all
to point; and. when the blow was
struck, it had the concentrated strength
of ALL No one State was so mad as to
make the onslaught alone, and no such
momstrous doctrine as that of dragging
other States up to the rescue was ever
broached."
The times that tried mems souls"
witnessed very different domination from
that of JINGLE Sam. This patient old
sopl who has never yet shed drop of
blood for treason. and who looks calmly
OH while South Carolina is gathering
arms and munitions of war, is very
different person to deal with from that
choleric old gentleman whose only argu-
ment with AMERICAN disadection was cold
steel, and who, If now ruler of this coun-
try, would long ago have quartered his
regiments in every town in South Caroli-
ma, destroyed every store house OF swords
and muskets, and scattered their defend
ers with that well known cry, "Disperse,
We rebels, disperse." We think it is very
well for South Carolina that "the times
that tried mems souls" have passed and
gone; aud that instead Of John Bull. she
has only TO deal with Uncle Sam. who
never, unless driven to the wall, resorts
to any harder argument than reeason and
persuasion.
:''rhe times that tried mems souls"
were times Of real and searching trial.
To be a patriot, in those days, required
the sacrifice of ease and comfort, of CO.
mestic enjoyment, of fortune, and of life.
Whenever we think of those heroes, ex-
alted 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. Charleston. &C.,
greater commercial CITIES. What more
noble than the Conduct OF these men,
giving up their houses to bombardmcnt,
spending their last dollar in the cause,
marching with bare and bloody feet upon
the winter SHOWS, yet ever patient. ever
uncompIaining. ever resolved? When
we think Of the !c9ndiii!tiioonl 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 hearts were so rich in
friendship, for our pockets were as bare
of gold and silver as if there was no such
metals Oh earth. And, but for carving
knife, or horse feam, or a gun-fint,
we had no more nse for a pocket than
Highlander has for knee-buckle" e"-of
Marion, offering his British guest dinner
of sweet potatoes served on clean piece
of bark, we can easily perceive that those
were times which tried mems souls aid
bodies also. Just contrast with such
scenes the soft ease. the overhowlng
luxuries, and the boundless plenty of a
South Carolina habitation. Can any
thing be more ludicrons than the specta.
Gle of one of these secession leaders, his
table shining with silver, and groaning
beneath the luxuries of air, earth and sea,
his counterance merry with Wine and
unctuous with good cheer, rising from
has board to write to the Oharieston
Mercury These are the times that try
MEMS souls" ."-Richnso,,d Republican,:
sff ~~~~~~--~-I-~H~~~I~
WEBSTER AS A DlPLoMIsT.-The Llv-
erpool Journal thus compliments the
great expounder of the Constitution:
I.i,Lo of nroat DoOnip