The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-01-07

position this point by cease taken from
ecclesiastical affairs2" He has the advantage
of US in ecclesiastical matters; but, if his know
ledge of ecclesiastical law is no better than his
knowledge of constitutional law, he is a very
poor authority.
| He then announces the conclusion drawn
| from his first reason, follows:
believing then, do. that in this whole cru
SADIE against the institutions of the South which the
General Government is wagng. it is acting the part
of usurper and believing that God is the God of
Truth and Righteousness and is opposed to usurpa
| ton, would have State do any thing but
quiesce in the right of the Federal authority to
coerce her"
| How temperate and reasonable and chris
| tan-like a sentiment! Rather than that his
| State should acqniesce in right-a mere alb
| stract rght-which may never be carried into
action, this minister of the gospel would have
her do any thing! Consider how much is
covered by that word "any thing"
We pass on to the Rev. Mr.. BARNwELL's
| second reason
{" But another for this opinion is. that the
General Government i'd dependent upon public
sentiment for it's strength and public sentiment is
against the coercion of a State
This is decidedly more practical, and there
fore more sensible, than the other. He tells his
hearers, in effect, that public sentiment will
prevent the General Government from execut-
ing its threat therefore it will be safe hot to re-
gard the threat; therefore il ought not to be re-
garded.
Thesnext reason amounts substantially to the
same thing
"Another why conceive South Carolina
should not be frightened into submission to the
General Government is, that that Government is
under influences confessedly luxurious, and lux
urous power is always more boastful than valiant"
Thus it was, the Rev Mr.. BARNwELL tells
us, with Ben-hadad, whose story he quotes
from the Old Testament. He then goes on as
| follows:
at is not for to speak evil of dignites,
| to condescend to personalities from this sacred
| place; but may be pardoned for expressing the
opinion that the powers that be at Washington
| are not of that hardy, energetic, warike stamp,
whose threats to be dreaded the unerrng
preludes to execution. Epicures do not usually
evince either courage or strength 1t is not every
Sardanapalus who turns out to be hero. Before
of the garrisons in her harbor, brighten South
Carolina into submission her oppressors must learn
something of Marion's dinner
But although he is SO confident in the power
of South Carolina to withstand cold steel, he
expresses some very uncompmentary doubts
as to her power to withstand gold. lie nsin-
yates that every one who has had the patriot
ism to withstand the Disunion sentiments of
South Carolina has been bought by Govern
ment After this exhibition of Christian chart
ty, we have the following pious and humane
opinion as to the duty of the State:
''Better, far better, that in proud and honest
poverty, she gave her children to the sword, and
her soil to her slaves, and her ports tp the pirate
and her mansions to the owls and the bats, and her
civilization and refinement and religion to barbar-
ism, than that she permit herself to be bought by
the fascinating but fatal bride of corrupt and cor
rupting Government"
We pause moment to inquire what is the
dreadful alternative that the Rev MIR. BARNwELL
would shun even at the cost of all these horrors,
Are the people of South Carolina oppressed.
ground to the earth, by the power of the Union?
Are their lives endangered Is their property
taken away2 Is the press shackled? Is free
| speech denied them2 Is standing army quar-
tered upon them? Are they burdened with in
tolerable taxaton2 Are they subjected to fines,
and imprisonment, and chains, and tortures?
Nothing less than this can Justify such senti-
ment as we have quoted from this reverent
preacher.
There is but single passage in this sermon
= hat ,ei ital 10, 10, w
will give Mr.. BARNwELL the benefit of that:
eff any think that in the remarks now made
there has been tincture of boastuness, let it be-
| | am ready to confess and repent of every thing,
except the solemn. steadfast purpose to say what
it seemed to me right and proper to say"
There is an approach to humility here. The
boasttu humor, however, soon returns again, as
will be seen in the following passage, which,
by the way, shows difference of opinion be-
tween the Rev. Mr.. BARNwELL and Governor
MEANS. The Governor was satisfied with :"
place in the picture near the flashing of the
guns !" but the clergyman desires something
more than that:
"Pretexts of all kind should be avoided at pres-
ent, especially such affect relations to
co States of the South. When we tell them that
we feel incompetent or unwilling to lead In this
opposition to the General Government, they do not
believe us; and they ought not to believe us, for
ARE LEADERS in such a contest We
have been in it before single handed nay, without
the aid of a large part of abest and Vest men,
yet we gained our point. We broke down the
tariff We hurled defiance at the head of the great
captain of the country with the whole force of the
Union at his disposal. We declared null and
void and it has been, and is and will continue to
be- null and void within the limits of South Caro-
lina-the odious force bill"
We here close our review of this discourse,
which has already run to much greater length
than we intended. The extracts which we
have given convey a fair idea of the whole pro-
duction; and our readers may Judge from them
what a strange temper has lately pervaded
portion of the people of Charleston, where such
pitiful stuff was preached and praised, and
published