Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-02-11
INHUMANITY AT THE NORTH.


cepions, are guilty of pcrpetraing the most
foul abuse against our gallant Representative,
whose memory is too pure for such inhuman
and cowardly monsters to dare breathe. The
following Article from the New York 1imes'
makes our blood boil with Indignation and lla-
tired towards the polluted author of such an
outrage:
Con-. PRESTON S. BRooKs-Thc whole public
was startled yesterday morning BY news OF
III. death of Preston S. Brooks. Not sylla.
be had been heard of his ilness,-his absence
from the House had nni been noticed, and it he
had been struck by tightening, the announce
mcut of his death could not have been more
unexpected.
Probably 10 many who read the announce
ment the first thUug that occurred was, that
the event was providenlial retrbulion for the
strangely savage act with which his name will
forever be associated. But it is not the pro-
vince of man thus TO assign motives, or trace
drs!nu, in the acts of the Almighty. The al
tempt To du so is always rash, aud in such
casr as thi. becomes presumpluous and unjust.
No individual act ever received so marked and
signal Il condemnation, from the judgment OF
tie civilized world, as the assault upon Alr.
Sumner. The event which has now U, ertakcn
the actor does not call for any renewed re-
prnarIlrs but rather Tor such charitable con-
sIruclions lis the case will permit. The testi-
mony those WHO knew him incnes Us to
believe that Col. Brooks, in his natural tenn.
prramcnl and disposition, was far from cruel
nr unfecIing,-lhat he was 4 man OF generous
nature, of kindly feelings and OF manly imru|-
srss, warmly attached to his friends, and by no
means .e'cntrss or vindic!ive toward, his foes.
He had l,ern educated in The extreme school ol
funlicism upon Sale rights, State pride and
personal honor, and all his notions upon these
subjects had been exaggerated and made moIe
inlru.c by the atmosphere in which he MOVED
ri Washington. We have never considered il
IL all surprising that he should have been great
IL excited and angerrd by the terrible invcc;ives
of Mr. Summer, nor that with his IDEAS upon
the subject he should have determined to inlet
uppn him some mark Of personal ndignity rs
puui. hment therefor 1t WAS the apparently
savage nature and extent ct The assault that
startled and astonshcd the pab!ic mind.
We have heard that in conversation Colonel
Brooks more Than once drpored lns conduc. on
that occasion IA the blot and misfortune OF his
hfr.-that he declared his only purpose 1T the
outset was 10 intlirl the disgrace Of Il blow and
not any severe bodily injury, that lie was excited
with wine, of which he had been drinking freely,
and that the first blow struck reused all the
demon viii in him, and left him no longer in
possession of his judgment or self control.
Whether this report be true or not, there Is
nothing in it at all Inconsistent with probability,
or with the character Of Col. Brooks. On the
contrary, it seems 10 US much more likely tu
have been the fact, than that he should have
deliberately planned the murder which lie but
Just escaped committing.
Col. Brooks Was educated at some Southern
military school, and served in the war with
Mexico with credit, if not distinction. He was
of more than ordinary mental ability, rs his
speeches in Congress and elsewhere SOW. lie
was but 81 years old at the date Of his death.
Bur Of all tile fLlse charges, the Boston Al
las caps the climax with the following:
"1hc sudden death of Preston S. Brooks, by
one of the most vrulent and painful diseases
that affects humanity, can scarcely fail to in,-
press the public us Il signal evidence of Divine
rr:ribuion for arrorious and peculiar crime. A
bold and arrogant man, willie yet boaSlng of
hi, dastarily >oulragc-w!,i!c yet swaggcring
with the barbaric hunrs showrred upon him
hy brulalzed ronstitucncy-his lips still qu;v-
cTinu with threats against the friends and asso.
ciales of his yicim-is seized by the throat BY
an invisible and irresistible grasp. and slransr'I
20 death. H. Grs, says despatch from Wash
/ ngion, korrid death, suffering intensely, and
endravoring to tca. his own throat open to get
breath.
II is well that Preston s. Brooks died in his
bei-llral he WAS struck down by Divine and
no, by !:uman Il:nds-lhat no son Of Alassachu-
>rlts sulIicd the fair fame our State ~ prJrc-
(ul and civilized community. by taking upon
Himself 20 avrngc her wrongs. Providence has
dealt with him ia its own way and at it. own
time'