The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-12-28
COLUMBIA.
Friday Morning, Dec, %, 1855.
Is there Hope:

nope 1Or tne IuCure OF our country.
The signs are ominous. When ma
riners, III mid-ocean, toss over the
compass by which they have safely
steered for years from haven to
haven, what is to be expected but
disaster, if not destruction? Provi-
dence may, in its wisdom. think pro-
per to preserve the ship for the sake
OF the souls that it carries. but, the
compass once gone, there is no ccr-
tainty that human skill will be able to
keep the vessel from laundering in
the first storm that occurs, or going
to pieces on the first reef that may
resemble smooth water.
The New York Sunday Times says
that the compass of the great Amcri-
can republic is the Federal Constitu-
ton. BY that Constitution, the ship
of State has been steered successfully
for nearly century. Officers and
crew have not always agreed: during
, that time, upon the subjects Of its
variations, and they have INDUCED in
disputes, now and then, as to the
subordinate ''f4ings'' of the instru-
ment. But they have never called in
question its absolute authority to
direct the vessels head-they have
never ignored its authority to indi-
cate the course to be pursued, in
order to bring ship and cargo safely
into port.
Now, however, the officers who op-
pose the man chosen to act as master
of the ship, insist that this going by
the compass O., Constitution is old
fogyish, and not in accordance with
the progress Of the age. They main
tain that this compass, in short, is
not up to the times and circumstances
in which we live, and that, however
useful as a guide in mill-pond, it is
not adapted to the navigation of
waters that have been disturbed by
storm and lost their normal condition
of placidity. They deny the binding
authority of this compact at the pre-
sent day. They protest that if it
cannot be altered to suit the views of
an alleged majority on board, that
majority, in virtue of its majority,
may ignore the compass altogether,
and steer by the light of their own
wisdom and experience.
There WAS a time when the Federal
Constitution was held i'll high esteem
by all parties. There was a time
when every man, OF every party,
bowed his head in sincere assent to
those passages Of the farewell ad-
dress Of Washington i'll which that
"great and good man" prayed that
"the Constitution may be sacredly
maintained, and said that "the Con
stitution, till changed by an explicit
and authentic act of the whole peo-
pie, is sacrealy obligatory upon all. I"
There was q time when all parties
conceded with John Adams in his
inaugural address, and adopted
heartfelt ''attachment to the Consti-
tuition Of the United States, and a
conscientious determination to sup
port it, until it shall be altered bv
the judgment and wishes of the peo-
pie, expressed in the mode prescribed
by it.
There was Il time, in short, when
the most idolatrous devotion to the
Constitution, manifested by the ac-
knowlcdgcd fathers Of the republic,
was honestly echoed by every Amcri-
can citizen, and he felt proud to stand
forth as Q conspicuous champion of
its perfection. But that time has gone
by. a race of statesmen has been
succeeded by Il race Of dcmagogues,
and these do not hesitate TO pooh!
pooh! at the "sacred obligations" OF
Washington, to scott at the econ
scientiousness" Of Adams, to hold up
to public ridicule tie Constitutional
scruples Of q Clay and q Webster.
They do not hesitate to exalt the po-