Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-12-14

| of the Union "ineyitable." But II the Gov
ernment of the United States is to be over
thrown, no part Of the folly, the nickedness,
or the crime, shall be charged upon me, either
by the wise and good men Of the present age, or
Of generations yet 10 come
See with what admirable Skill Mr. Bolts dis
charges voley Of epithets. Now, we have al
ways held that vacuity is 4 necessary clemeri
Of the sublimcly terrible, at least in rhetoric.
Let him who doubts this, only compare the
minutely particularized fend Of Middle Age
literature, equipped with horns tail, flaming
ewes cloven foot, &c, with the majestic outline
sketch Of Miltcn's Satan. Or, take yet more
striking instance Conceive the grinning skel-
ctop, armed with scythe-employc by our
rude forcfathers TO pcrsonfy the grisly King
Of Tcrrors; and, then, compare this with the
fearful uncertainty Of
! "The other shape
.''If shape It might be called that shape had none
| "DistIneuIshuble In member, Joint or limb
| "Or substance might be cald that shadow seemd,
,'For each seemed ether black ltstood as night,
| "Fierce as ten fures, terrible es hell.
.'And shook dreadful durt;-what seemed his head,
| ''The Nyrnrs, Of "a lingiy crown had on."
Even so, Mr.. Bolts gives no tame precision
to his epthcts. lie leaves it to the imagna-
ton of his readers, to conceive the precise sub
iect of tlenuncation to which lie attributes
"G1llv," "tcickedness" and "crimc' leaving US
also in painful uncertainty, even as to the rea-
sol. which could have induced him to ltacisc
only tue two former with an emphasis superior
to that bestowed Oh the last epl!et. Yet it
was almost supererogatory for him to have re-
minded US that the wise and good men Of the
presen; age" Aare fred, and that generations
yet to cornc" rM .fe their adniring attention
on Mr.. Bolts.
The following sca'tin5 cxcoriaticn OF South
Carolina furnishes one Of the happiest in
stances Of Mr.. Bolts rhetorical triuRph:
"True, South Carolina has rushed on with q
headong impetuosity, wholly unsutcd to the
gravity Of the occasion, as if she were afraid 10
trust herself with time for calm deliberation,
relying more upon the passion than the wis
dom Of her people; and it may be- that under
O. ridiculous and false idea Of n becoming pride
and true greatness, she rnay involve herself in
very serious difficulty; she may even declare
herself out of the Union; she did so by the
Ordinance in Convention in 1888; but still the
Union vas not rent aSunder, nor will it now be,
as think; no other State is likely to 80 with
her and, what is best and surest Of all, Sirgi-
mia certainly ecW not, in her present state Of
mind
IF could sec the least scInb!ance Of justi6-
cation in the attitude South Carolina has as
sumed, would sylnpathize with her-but
cannot, for reasons already given in my speech,
which you suy you have just read. see no.
thing in that position but plcin, bon, daring,
fat.footcd rebellion, against and treason TO the
rest Of the States, and | cannot, under any
contingency, be induced to take sides with her
in her dsloyalty and treachcry."
ut may be-she may" may Be considered
Pathological by shallow critics. But, as eIn
ployed by Mr. BoLts, I. .u.i.'y .uIP"aticai.
Even as his oratory teens with faction! action!
action!" so his rhetoric is replete with "em'
phasis emphasis! emphasis
Next comes an admirable touch OF the jo.
cosely sardonc:
"You make an earnest appeal to me to unite
with you in assuming the position OF redet
and a traitor, for which may be sentenc-
ed to be hanged for violating the Constitution
and laws of my country. Pardon me, my re-
spected but impetuous friend, but hal ra'
ther not; am impelled by every consideration
Of honor and duty to decline your very polite
invitation"
Another pun, clearly and loosely intending;
''I'll be hanged il do"
And Mr. Bolts emrhaticaly repeats the
opinion, that the designations REBEL and Trai-
tor (anothcr example, by the bye, of the
forcc of the rhetorical figure of unequal en-
phasis) describe "truy the situation which ev-
cry man occupies who favors the movement Of
South Carolina, because Of the election Of Mr..
Lincoln"
And Mr.. Bolts adds Il have no particular
desire that they (Re6sl and TraitoT) should at
tach to my namc-cither now, or in after life
Nv aspirations do not run in that line
In what line do Mr.. Bolts aspirations run at
this time? This is very Important question
at this present juncture. We have searched
through all the italicised portions of his letter,
with the hope Of discovering a possible clue to
this problem Especially have we d@clt long
and earnestly on the following paragraph:
"The Northern party has succeeded opower;
they are therefore deeply interested, IN Po-
liticaL sense, in keeping the Union tosether
and can well afford to do all that we have
right to demand, under the Constitutions; and
if they do not ws may be able to accomplish
aU that is essential, through the action c'
Congress-"
And in another place Mr.. Bolts has more
than intimatcd that the present Congressional
ncumbcnts arc not up to The mark of present
requirement Is it not sufficiently obvious,
then, that patriotic promptings should imPel
Mr.. Bolts "aspirationS'-(not rhetorical, but
"in political sense)-towards 4 seat IN Con-
gress?
The following extract is replele with original
suggestions:
"South Carolina, spurnins the eounsels anu
cooperation Of Virginia and other ooutnerh
States, has. Of her own accord, anu upon her
own hook, chosen to raise mighty an" lear, !,
ful issue with the General Government ana
upon the General Government rests the rcSpon,
sibilily M Of settling the question. Hands Oft and
fair play to both, sayl In its present t. stage ia
we have nothing to do with it, and SO far as J.
am concerned, turn her over 10 "Cncie gam,
md # sho can maintain her position against
that respectable and powerful old gen5ilehman s5 hnan
let her have all the honor and glory, ana oene'
fiji Of the achievement to herself nope :, S,'c
nav nj v have sa,v good and merry time Of it, She
w;ii e,;I bs o State OF the Union, IS state Of
rebelIion lion and have not a shadow OF doubt,
ei,har ' Of rhe right, or the power to control her
the only question would be-1sit north ~ s1als1 ,
Would it not be better to let her 60 out, and
stay out until she had made the experiment,
and, like the prodigal son, return to her home
to eat up The latted calf"
We would mildly suggest, that until en-
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