Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1851-03-06
This sentences setsforth, we suppose, what

combination of Circumstances that waEwar-
rant Southern. resistance. 1t is cvident erom
his usesof the wore may" which we,haye
italiciscd in the quotation) that he regards
the future existencetof this particular combi-
nation, as bare possibility. And well may
he thus regard itswHaiShe f6ds sc necessary
to couple with the adjective "gener0l," the
still more wide. spread sterm universal" to
convey his idea of.the degree of conviction
necessary t fof the success 8 of Our r cause, at
any time. This is demanding IS a requisite
to triumphant Southern action, condition.
that it fis Simpossiblesto reach, viz: entire
unanimity It is tHebelief of South Carroll.
na secessionists,. .thatswe. are nearer this nOw
than we will eyerhe hereafter. And they
come to this conclusion from a careful exam
ination of the past with the present. Ten
years ago, itwonld Hays5 beer an insult TO Il
Southerner, to ftelIfhim that the time was near
at hand, when lhtli The Federal Congress would
rob him Of his r5ightef possession in provin.
ccs, for the aequisilion:of. which,, he had per.
illcd his life upon. tile battle yet this is
come to.pass, and ahes decd has been sane,
toned bylsome Of fithcfvery men who would
then have maintained the impossibiity OF
such consummation, with their lifc-blood.-
'Wherein7do thosesofithis day; who loudly
swear their enmitys 10 any future act of Fed
cral Tyranny, diaa2 from the sclfdeludcd
men who have gone before them? We, in
South Carolina, have seen quite enough to
be convinced that this SELF delusion grows but
stronger with every succeeding trial of its
truth. We feelthats the habit, Of ,'a.postpon.
ing till tomorrow What can as well be done
today" is, in thisssas in every thing else
frought with iminent danger Of ultimate
ruin. We belicve.S that, if this course be
foolisIlly persevcredin, by the people Of the
South, the aday'is not far distant, when the
foul ficnd' Of Abolition; wildly laughing
amid, the wreck Of our Republican system
will be heard screaming 70 our panic stricken
ranks, aye iwouldsbles ;dupes and victims
and ve are.p $ sys I'D s:asps,:s5 s:5., ms.
But, to: return toSthe above quoted remark
of the Constitutoaaliss every one must be
struck with the singular incongruity Of its
parts. aThe conviction may become general
ard universal that secession is a necessity
forced upon Us IS ~ --7y what? BY any opposi,
ton to our welfare, veto spring up? No
but by cause, admitted to be in full and
tlourishing existence .nt, this moment, ".tlle
anti-slaycry spirit which, (alrcady) perrades
the minds of Il .uaaiority of the American
people,. Andayet tshes quarcls with those,
who have discovered the full scope Of this
baneful ulspirit and are determined to resist it,
while yet they may because the general and
uanlitrersdl sagaeiit has not yet come to sec
the Danger in al FITS terrible reality We
Judge ffrom ffoe onstitutionalist
would prefer Yaia; s until the shindmost lag
gard has, opened his drowsy cye-lids, and we
submit that the opinion maybe dcduced from
his ownwords.ai Isl iias,7.. 80! s.
Thcrcare several other points, in which the
Constitutionalist is equally vulnerable; but
we must conclude with brief notice of but
one of tbon,. We allude to the paragraph
which begins with the "wise saw"-'ohal
has been done, is. done. This wonderful truth
is followed upywith the announcement of
the fact that the people Of the South (Sou;h
Carolina excepted have made up their minds
to acquiesce; in what, has been done. Then
come few sentences of balder-dash which
we lad not expected ever to hear from 4
Southern press conducted by Southern mcn.
They imply that the South has not the COM
mon sagacity to understand her strength and
that she is, as yet, the miserable subject OF
vague fancies of her, weakness and inability
TO cope with the formidable adversary Of
Federal oppression. And he advises to a
course of Legislative progress, which is to
place our peopleSinia more complete knowl-
edge of their resources. This last idea
would be somewhat less repugnant TO our
feelings than It's, were it coupled with re-
solve to resist certainly at some coming day,
But this is not the case On the contrary
he expressly says that the object of this de-
lay is to place our people in u condition to
resist, or to submit, or to use his own words
"to take EITHER course according rs their
sense of right and of sclf-respcct should
prompt. 1t clearly deduciblc from this that
the Constitutionalist regards the course OF
submission to afurther aggressions" as one
that may yet be chosen by the people of the
South, as COMFORTING with their "sensc OF
right and of sclf.respect." Else why present
it in the alternative to be decided! And in
this latter view,:w concur, regarding every
years delay in nresisting aggression, as acom-
promise of principle which must in the end
vitlatc, If not destroy, this "sense Of right
and of self.respect."
We will only say, in conclusion, of tho
evident spirit, thatpervades the article, under
consideration, to hold up South Carolina to
the South as the only State having the tc-
merity noao toresia, he has unintcntonally