Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-03-10

lIcY. " htetOru Snllth.
" But let us not vent our indignation
against the ministers of religion and the oili.
GERS of State as though they alone had snncd.
If we turn our eyes upon the great body of
our people, how much shall we discover call.
ing for humiliation and repentance 1t will
not do always to deal in general denunciations
against sin. 1t is necessary sometimes to be
specific and minute. Let us then look close
ly and with a scrutinizng eye upon somo of
the more fragrant iniquitcs of which as u
people we have been guilty, Although the
page of history is full Of examples of the
truth, that national dcgcncracy and corrup-
ton are the sad but inevitable consequences
OF wealth and although this truth is of fire.
qucnt application to individual character, we
have been strangely infatuated with desire
Tor opulcncc and increased riches a consc
quencc of this general covetousncss has lccn
an unwillingness on the part of thousands to
pursue the steady and hunourablc path OF in
dustry contented with the blessings OF co,npc-
tcncc, but they must needs rush into wild and
cXtravagant speculations with the hope of
amusing in year what might well be- tive
reward Of life of toll Flushed with ,iie
success of first trial, or mortified by a Hlst
defeat another experiment has been Lazartcd
and still another, until the habit of spccua-
ton has been fully formed and revulsion If.
ter revulSiou in the commercial world has
scattered the fragments of many Il wrecked
fortune. This spirit has likewise scduccd
from agricultural pursuits many of our people
congregating them in large cities where they
have been "engulphed in luxury and cilem-
macy" 1t has led many to the abandonment
ot home and all its sweets, to the sundcring
otthc dearest ties of friendship and kindred
tn hp roll 1,,,n e III a, Il
Il settled and well ordered community. to ex-
pose themselves and their families to the in
convenienccs and sufferines of a life in the
wilderness. Its latest development has been
the crowding of cmigrant vessels with suitors
ot fortune, who have left houses full of bread
that they may stawc in sight of California
gold.
To crafty this insatiatc appetite for gain
our people arc already beginning to manifest
desire for conquest and extended territory
And although every acquisition becomes the
subject OF fierce contention and threatening
Its very dissolution, yet SO imp2tuous is this
passion and SO blind, that before we have re.
allied the results of the late Mexican con
quest, we hear clamours about the Canadas
and Cuba. Shall we forget that whom God
would destroy, he first turns mad ? The pre-
sent area of our national domain is amply
sufficient for every want we can properly have,
and enough for our postcrity for ages
In Immediate connection with this accurs-
cd ayaricc, stands the lawless agrarianism of
the age; principle as hostile to religion as
1t Is antagonistic to the constitution of socie-
ty. Not satisfied with the largest blessings
of constitutional liberty, it threatens the oyer
throw Of all law, and the annihilntion of all
distinctions among men. Under the preten-
dcd right of the majority to govern. it would
wrcst from the minority all that has been Sc
cured to them by fcderative compact.
Nothing is made palmer both by nature
and revelation, than the design of God that
there should be inequalities in the condition
of man. "Thc poor shall never cease out OF
the land" was declared by the inspired law
givcr; and the fulimcnt of the purpose was
witnessed by our Lord, when he said ~ the
poor yc have always with you" Had every
man been made independent of his fellow,
how soon would the sordid seliishncss OF our
degenerate nature have raised every mans
hand against his brother But the same in-
finite wisdom which made the law of mutual
dependence the basis of all inanimate creation,
has applied the same principle to all the rcla-
tlons of human society. Wise and mcrciful
is this arrangement Of our Heavenly Father
IOT, ny lJ inc SylDpaJnteS OF our DaturC are
called into action, all that is lovely and gene
rous and grateful in man finds room for exer-
else, and we are permitted to initiate our Ma
kcr i'll the luxury of blessing others.
We have asserted that this communism So
cialism, or callitby What name you pleascis hos
tile to the genius of religion It's eminentyso
in its origin, which jealousy &C III who seem
more favoured than ourselves 1t is obviously
so in its practical working, which is incepec
tive of the rights of property and in violation
of the Fundamental principle Of honesty aud
justice. Religion imposes moral Obligations
and gives moral precepts to the rich and to
the poor, to the master and the soruant. It,
teaches coptentmept with the lot in life which
Heaven assigns to each, and enforccs its teach
ings by the promise of great reward. But
if such inequalities in society did not exist,
if such relations were unlawful and destined
to be'oVerturnod, what need of rules for the
regulations of human conduct in these rela-
tions?" None Of us liveth to himself, and
no man dieth to himself" is a great feature
IN Christian character, great principle in
christian life.
Obedience 70 magistrates and, respect to
law arc among The important duties which re-
iigon teaches. And he who for purposes of
would destroy all forms
OF human government, and plunge society in
TO the horrors of snarchy and barbaris,n, is a
tfaitor TO his country, to his race, aud to his