The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-02-13
Monday Morning, Feb. 1s, 1866.
Frow the Baltimore Clipper.
The Approaching Reckoning with
Charleston .tiaH


having humbed Georgia efectually, and leav-
ing his troops ia possession OF her chief city,
was moving on Charleston and other points
in South Carolina, the State which led off in
the wicked and foolish revolt which has at
last resulted in nearly depopulating the whole
South. And we believe it is the feeling of all
loyal men, that for 10 other objective point
involving even great resnlts possibly, should
the present movement have been longer post
poned, since could it SO happen that peace
should be made and the cradle of the rebellion
be untouched, there would be sentiment of
disappointment experienced for which there
would be no compensation. Whilst all kno W
the Importance OF taking Richmond, SO far as
breaking up that organization which keeps the
rebellion alive is concerned, still, Richmond
and Virginia, however yirulent and bitter they
have latierly became, were at tlast but the mere
cats paws of South Carolina; and whilst such
miserable demagOgues as Mason and Floyd,
and Wise and Letcher, have demons trated
their short sightedness, and in palt received
their punishment, have suffered defeat and
modification in seeing the ruin of the old COM
monweallh, the masses there, were but the
helpless victims of villainous combinations
they could in no wise prevent. 9A
And that Charleston will speedily receive
her deserts, in part, there is now little doubt.
The howls and shrieks and dtierce,-almost era.
zy-appeals for help, of that pestilent sheet,
the Charleston Mercury, prove this. And we
think OF its changed tones as exhibited of late,.
when we contrast 1t with the Heaven and
earth defying Trades which it put forth four
years ago, to drive the people of that State in
to rebellion and bloodshed, we are constrained
to feel that evenin the course of earthly events
there not unfrequently comes signal retribu-
tlon and punishment, which from the magni-
tude of the crimes committed would seem to
call for the reckoning of higher tribunal.
In this connection, let US recur to a speech
made by Mr.. Rhett in the South Carolina Con-
vention when that body was in the act Of in
augurating Secession 4e az
He did not betjeUe that aUor Dotld come oft
land if they wanted our blood, ifauite them to
the bdyonet. Ihroac GloGg the scdbbdrd, and
Set them understand zoe ,oitl neither qiue nor
stake quarter"
CHANGING at this, now, does any one believe
that this miserable, short-sighted braggart,
fancied for one moment that justice would find
them out, did they not feel assured, that who
ever else might suffer, they would escaped
But the Charleston Mercury of that period
was disposed to be quite jocular at the pros
poets opening up as the consequence OF their
attempts to destroy the Government Whilst
it appears to have had some dim and remote
idea that the yankees" ought not to look on
quietly and see the work of Washington and
Adams and Jefferson destroyed, it seems to
have actually thought that the North would
confne its demonstrations of disapprobation
to war OF words, or to some trifing opposi-
sion, hardly necessary to be needed Let us
hear from its issue of this date:
They viii hurl at us a storm of wooden
.nutmegs which will not prove more grateful
from the fact that they will not CRATE. And
they will have TO go on tick, like their clocks,
sand will m dnmn ELo Eorf in,
"ty-two hours. They will shoot at us
with Tutdbog1, and we may sprout when
"They would nave us fall. There will be bait
"teries to deliver Us garden seeds, and shells
THAT Will Vomit wares of tin, and tempests of
tea pots. Crockery ware will take the place
"of hardware in a bombardment; and in
'charge, there will be more brooms than bayo-
"nets. Mats, not missiIes-baskets, not bull
"lets-and 'sasses,' long and short, rather than
"sulphur-wil be served up by the bloody
"hands of farmers from Connecticut
Well, it is not needful now to recur to what
the scorned North, the despised yankees"
have done in the past four years to convince
the pufed-up descendants of the Huguenots"
OF their mistake, because South Carolina has
long ago found out what sort of "crockery
ware" and "rutGbagG" the New England fish
ermen have treated them to from time to time,
as they have seen Fort Sumter crumble to
powder before Yankee batteries; and it is fair
to suppose, further, that since the Swamp
Anger spoke to Charleston, good many old
opinions held before the war and such as we
have quoted, have been reversed. We have
heard from the Charleston Mercury of four
fears ago-let US hear from it Joithin the
month justpdSsed: taking a few of its crazed
exclamatlons, born OF the consciousness that
Sherman with his invincibles are beating up
its quarters. 57ia egsasl4
"rhe enemy does not intend to ocGit upon
our leisure, and We have much to do.
The path zoe are travelling leads
straight TO destruction. The crisis OF the
"Confederacy has arrived in fatal earnest. n
We want no more of JEFF.
"Davis' foolery-we want one atom of
"brGins, one spark Of nerue p a
Alas, are these the preur cheudlierS, the
"gamecocks"- as they called themselVes-
who lour years ago boasted SO loudly that
they stood proudly forth with not feather
futtering in their plumes ?" Do they at last
need "brains," indeed even an "atom of
brains" and more than all, zone spark of
ner0e?' Have the hated "Yankeeso at last
scared them to the verge of imbecilitv with
their tempests Of tea-pots?
But way quote further from the recent
frantic appeal for help put forth by the Mer-
cuTy? Why call attention TO its proposition
TO bring about order amongst its frightened
associates in rebellion, by shooting them?-
"We must have"-it texclaims-"reform, shoot
Ing, cashiering, order. .subordination- soldiers,
not ranGtudys, rdgmu6tns, ruftdns p
Alas, that the .'chivalry, ?" the exemplars of
the cock,a.doodle-doo school, of the "game
cock" and "swamp fox" array, should now be
denounced by their whilom organ and oracle,
as "runaways, ragamuffins, rul6ians !" Truly,
"adversity keeps a dear school, but fools will
learn in no otlierp We have heard the braq-
gart Mercury in its major key-let us hear It
in the minor, as the invincibles of Sherman,
having swept away by their presence the last
shred OF faith in their cause, in their ability
to hold out, hem them in. Truly adversely
keeps q dear school, but fools will learn in no
otherw