Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-07-22
THE MERCURY,s N Illusion.

porary, although our own position ID not sahteu a'
fully as it should be- and wsubmit to all who have
read our respective articles whether the Advertiser
has not made good every point ofis original editorial
of the 9th of Juno.
Our cotemporary terminates the discussion by re-
verting to the vindcvo hostility Of the people OF
the North" "the deceptive lullabys sung by blind
Union "the feebleness and treachery of the
General Government" and "he aeplorable fgnorance
raccation treachery and division Ohich rcig" at the
South" And it may be gathered from his article,
that something must be done, than is now being
done by any existaut political organization in the
country, or that the South will be converted into
ruined Northern dependency.
Now, to end all this vague defamation as to our
grievances these mournfu forebodngs Of destruction,
we would respectfully nsk our cotemporary, what spe-
cifc measure does he offer for our adoption? What
direct issue doe, he make up7 Waat positive action
does he propose that tho South shall take For the
first time in thirty years ardunited Heretofore,
when struggling against real grievances and the di-
rect action of the Government The difficulty was that
when any portion of the South proposed remedy,
divisions at once sprung up md prevented success
full ISSUE Now the influence of the Government IS
least not against and an unprecedented unanmy
prevails in Southern Counsels. Now too, the North
is becoming in her turn the subject of dcep and radi
cal divisions, those dangerous divisions that spring
out of the antagonism of capital and labor, and which
in the present condition Of Northern society must
continue to widen. We have already adyerted to this
fact but it is not out of place here to speak OF 1t
little more fully. As we before remarked, the men OF
property, North begin now for the first time to SEQ
that if those who waging anatical war upon the
rights of property in the South ever permanently OBJ
tain power, the next step would be war upon capital
and associated wealth in their own section. This is
being seriously felt in the great State Of New York
this very day. The corporate authorities OF the City
of New York raised moro then seven million in rove
nue. by annual taxation within the City; and the
majority in the State have through the Legislature,
made attempt to take possession OF the municlpal
powers of that great metropolis nstigated to do SO
by the fact that the City dared to differ with the ma
jorty in the State on the politics of the Union. The
rights of minorites are thus brought to direct issue
in the very heart of the Empire State of the North,
and the result has been rioous conflict Of arms well
calculated to bring the full realization, of the great
questions here involved to the hclrt and understand
ing of every Northern property Indeed,
Northern society generally mny tbe said to be in
state of commotion and uncertainty; and when the
movement shall be there made torestore the Missou-
ri Compromise or any of its kindred measures, or to
make war upon the Supreme Court as they have al
ready begun to DO, it must end in division and DIS
traction. Their strong men of property and eapltal
must feel that their own snfety depends upon stern
conservative course calculated to preserve the equl
brum of the Constitution and its sacred guarantees
of property whether North or South. In all this we
may be mistaken yet the developments of every sue
ceeding month are substantiatng the opinion we ad
vince. In view Of this condition of matters as be-
tween the two Sections, woe betide that political
leader who shall urge any premature move or i'll
digested counsels which may form but prete1t for
division in the South. Our true policy is "moderate
language with firm position" and with these the pre-
servation of IN unbroken Southern line. Premature
and isolated movements will divide US, and upon
that division may follow the fall Of our power The
slavchoding States have common interests and they
sinking into Frcc-Soilism, is idle; and to suggest
that the other Southern States separate from her to
organize an immediate system Of tac'ion-an idea
thrown out by the Mercury in ,t0spsso of this dis
cusson-is to suggest political suicide Virginia mas
500 900 slaves to-day, and will continue to hold more
than any other State, unless it be perhaps Texas.
Before she can become Freesoil State, even leaving
, lc1,, ;nto M of fhn
must first forget that her LEES her RASDoLrHs and
her MAsoys ever lived. The blood that now runs
warmly gushing from her great heart whose every
pulsaun is for the South must first bc turned into
new channels. The records of her glorious past must
first be torn to pieces and tramped in the dust by
her degenerate, Abolitonizcd children Of a coming
day. Not till then will Virginia forget her destiny,
or cease to stand forth and assist in guarding and
defending Southern Rights under the Constitution, or,
if forced to it, above the Constitution.
At present we occupy the position of standing BY
the Government where it stands on the Constitution.
If the issues of the day should be changed, and our
enemies break down the Supreme Court or seize the
Executive power, subvert the Senate, and by fraud
or otherwise restore the Missouri Compromise or any
kindred measure, and repeal the Fugitive Slave Law,
then wc are for war. The questions involved are deli
cate in the last degree and mighty in their consequcn-
ces. The attitude and prospects of the South are
better now than they have been for years. Her cause
is OH rising ground. Her chances Of success were
never more rational or assured But any prcclpltan-
cy at this uncture might result in reaction and loss
of position. As matters stand, We hold that it be-
hovcs us to net the defensive true to the relations
We bear to our sister States of the South and true too
to our relntions undor the Federal Compact to the
States Of the North.
Our desire is not so much affiliate (as the Mercury
terms t) with the Democratic party North, as to act
in cordial harmony with the Democratic party South
As long though as we are in tho Union and the Gov
crnment is with US on the Constitution, we owe it to
ourselves it to posterity to discharge al! our
duties faithfully under the Compact Then, should
the last extremity DO forced upon u.s. we Gun take tho
step for separate independence, ind our course will
commend itself to the nations of the earth as being
right in its wisdom and mighty in its justice.
SOUTHERN CONVENTION.
The reader will find elsewhere call upon the peo-
pie of the Saveholding States to join in the annual
Southern Convention to be hold ut Knoxville, Tenn.
in August next, commencing on Monday the 10Th Of
that month. The subjoned paragraph from the New
berry Mirror expresses what VIC would say in regard
to these meetings:
There can be no doubt, but that if properly con-
Quoted, great good will spring from these conven-
: lS.,, 10