The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-01-30
The Southern Aid Meeting in New
York.

Ahe Southcrn Ala Meeting in New
York.
We extract the following account
of the proceedings Of the Southern
aid meeting held at Cooper Institute,
on Friday evening last, from the
World, of the Goth:
The meeting at the Cooper Insti-
tute last evening was less successful
as mere meeting than we had hoped;
but 1t VIII answer the only purpose
which such q meeting can serve, that
Of calling general attention to the
magnitude and urgency of Southern
destitution. The great famine in
Ireland, which caused the charity of
New York and other American cities
to gush forth in such abundant
streams, near twenty years ago, had
less in it to touch commiseration-to
say nothing of the fact that the pre-
sent sufferers are our countrymen
There are large areas in the States Of
Mississippi, alabama and Georgia,
where the supply of food is INSULT
clent to last through the month of
March, and cases were recited, at the
meeting, of families who have already
passed successive days without food.
besides the States mentioned, there
is a widespread dearth in the two
Carollnas, and the whole area of des-
tltution comprises hundreds of thou
sands Of square miles. Unless there
is early relief, on large scale, tens
Of thousands of people must, before
the spring blossoms appear, die week
Ix- Of starvation Of 4ho
which follow in the train of famine.
The almost total failure of the corn
crop in several of the States, and the
scantiness Of the other crops, have
brought to the doors of the South q
spectre more hideous than the car
mage of war. Respectable clergymen
are fleeing from their parishes on
missions like that for which reluct-
ant Jacob sent the son of his old age
into Egypt. We call attention to the
pictures of distress presented to the
meeting in the remarks of Rev. Mr.
Bright and of Mr. Greeley.
Henry Ward Beecher was the crack
speaker Of the evening, and we trust
we may never again listen to crack
speaker on a topic which appeals so
touchingly to humane sympatlies
We have heard Mr. Beecher on many
occasions, often with amusement,
sometimes with admiration, but we
never heard him make a speech so
misplaced or so bad as that last night.
It seemed to be his aim to use this
opportunity to atone to the plymouth
congregation for the Cleveland letter,
which raised about his ears such a
frenzied howl, last autumn. When
they read his speech, in this morn
ing's papers, we trust they will be
pacified. We could pardon his rant
and his touches of low comedy, if the
spirit Of his remarks had not Jared
On all the proprieties of the occasion.
: He began by a sneering allusion te
the great ''Union-saving'' meeting al
Castle Garden, some sixteen years
ago, and proceeded to rake into the
entrails of the defunct fugitive slave
law, and tear open and expose all the
old political wounds mutually give1
and inflicted, between the North anC
the South, from that day to this. We
noticed that Mayor Hoffman ant
some other gentlemen, on the stage
very soon left, probably not perceiv
ms eiiS SoibCCtlOu DclWGcH SUCH
harangue and the objects of the meet
ing. Those who sat it through hat
an opportunity to discover that Mr.
Beecher's chief argument for reliev
ing starvation in the South was. tha
it was Il refined method of infiictine
revenge! He seemed rather to rejoice
on the whole, and glorify God, tha
famine had overtaken the South
partly because it afforded an op
portunity to practice what he wa
pleased to call ''Christian ven
geance," and partly because ia
mine is a necessary means, in th
FRO oeidepce of God, of compellin
the lazy Southerners to learn habit
Of industry He profcssed that h
could not exactly see the reason c
this wise ordinance; but some othe
divine mysteries, he said, are equal
beyond his depth, which he exempt
fed by string of illustrations. H
did not know, for instance, VIII
every apple blossom does not grow
be ripe apple; he did not know VIII