Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1851-05-08

the course of events our district may lower
her standard and belle her character, but she
has the reputation of looking pretty stcadi-
lyupon the flash of gunpowder and the blaze
Of cas- eel.
Pardon us for speaking little proudly.
We have no fears of our people when the
emergency arrives. They are in advance of
their leaders, if possible, and in the pursuit
of the right-thcy are prepared to enter the
breach along with the first.
THE POSITION OF THE SECESSION PARTY.
THE policy of large portion of this Dis
trict and of the State is either entirely misun-
derstood by many, or greatly misreprcsented.
The men, who are most active and determined
in resisting our political wrongs, and in vim
dicating our rights, liberties and equality are
ether styled fire CATERS" or intemperatc boys
and adventurcrs, with nothing to lose and
every thing to gain by change in The gov.
ernment and by civil commotion; or their
principles and plan of conduct. so far from
being investigated and understood by those
who would lay claim to all the discretion, and
all the prudence, and all the responsibility in
the State, are really thought to be matters
unworthy of serious and grave consideration.
The readers of this Journal, if they will
carefully follow us through this article, may
be properly advised as to the genuine pur-
poses of the secessionists, and as to the
grounds they occupy in the present contro-
versy with the Federal Government, and the
platform upon which they mean to risk their
hopes of future promotion, their property and
their lives.
They hold it TO be the duty of the South
crn States to resist the past epcroachments
of the General Government on their property,
and on rights and privileges which they cam
not yield without being reduced to slavery
and contempt. Our wrongs are deemed to
be of so gricvous nature as to demand any
sacrifices in their redress. tits therefore con-
sidered the duty of South Carolina to secedc
alone, when she shall have exhausted all rea-
sonable means to secure the cooperation of
her sisters, or when it shall become perfectly
apparent that the other Southern States have
determined to acquiesce in the late measures
of political and actual fraud, termed the Com
promise acts.
The charge that there is a party in the
State who wish to close the doors against
Southern cooperation, and to rush headlong
into secession, without any preparation what
ever, is utterly grcundless. There are many
patriotic men of great ability, who have no
faith in any concerted action of all the Slave
holding States, and, in that opinion, they are
sustained by the course of events but :here
are none who would not rejoice in the assur.
ance of assistance from our sisters, and in the
prospect of forming union of the South for
the safety, defence and independence fus ALL
! stirSt tt IS a6st1ru, II nor 1nsinceTe
and wicked, to attribute to them sentiments
of any other character If it shall appear to
the Legislature, or to the Convention which
is to be called at the next Session of the LIE.
gislaturc, that the Slavcholding States are
likely to be aroused from their apathy, and to
become sensible of the importance of forming
a league for their mutual preservation, we
dare say, there is not man in South Caro-.
lima. who is not ready to wait as long even
as two years for the laggards.
The Bill too, authorizing the call of a Con-
vention, as much as it has been censured, is,
perhaps, the wisest that could have been
framed We speak after due reflection, and
can maintain our opinions by reasons that
are more than plausible. When the Legis-
laturc assemblies next winter, if it receive any
encouragement to wait for the action of the
other Southern States, it can call the Con-
vcntion to meet, consistently with the honor
of the State, during the latter part of the year
ensuing, and by the wise provisions of that
Bill, the Convention may then defer its final
action for, at least, the period of twelve
months. So, it will appear, that every provi-
sion has been carefully made, in that very in
discreet hasty measure, for profting by all
the favorable contingencies that can possibly
happen. If we desire time TO put the State
in more complete posture of defence, it is
fully granted to US in the odious Convention
Bill In truth, it seems to have contemplated
our whole condition with comprehensive
sagacity and dcliberation seldom displayed in
serious and exciting exigencies. 1t has left
no room for cavil; but it would be unchari-
table to say, for that very reason, it has been
most criticised and abused by vapouring
tongues and satirical envenomed pens. The
Act of the Legislature has afforded no ex-
cuse for the formation of an opposing party,
and it has furnished no argument for sub
mission.
Nor in our opinion, has the course of the
friends of State Rights, State remedies, and
okSeccssien in South Carolina, given even
the shadow of prctcxt for the opposion and
camor which have been raised against them
at their own homes, by men whose dcstinies
are embarked in the same ship with theirs, and
4 i Al. F,t