Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-09-09

| Lou alreauy see tuo eueco VI Nue "osA"
tion Of, the capital that arises from the sale
of your crops, which was formerly invested
10 negroes; you now invest it in improve
menis upon your real estate reducing the
number of acres cultivated, and increasing
the yield of your crops, by the use Of the
sbest fertilizers, and labor-saying implements,
Iapd in the adornment and identifying OF
your recently desolated homes The law of
primogeniture having been abolished in this
State, and the United States, the estates Of
individuals, at their deaths, are divided ts-
tween the heirs-atlaw, hence each one be-
comes more or less the architect of his own
fortune; and large estates are therefore not
usual in this country, and seldom remain in
the same families. So at the farthest the
South will regain her material prosperity in
thirty years, by her new system of economy,
and by having saved at the expiration Of
that time two billion Of dollars, that We form
erly deliberately buried. 49,,
It is strange that none Of the Statesmen
Of the South ever discussed the question OF
Slavery in its Politico Economical relations
to society. The constitutional right of slavery,
its being an institution recognized in Scrip
tnre, and the moral effect Of it, have all been
ably considered, but seldom if ever has the
Southern Statesmen even touched upon or
argued the question as to which was the
cheaper system of labor, the free or slave
labor system which, in my judgment, was
the practical question of that day. Mr.. CAL
houu, who was our political idol, was 9 lead
ing actor at the tune the question Of the
abolition of slavery was first agitated, ard
when the North offered gradual emancipation,
with compensation to tho South, it was
rejected by her fa7orite son, and his dis.in-
guished asssocixtes.s They closed their eyes
to the progressive spirit of Europe, as evil
denced by the declarations upon this subject
that emanated from Exeter Hall, and the
denunciations of O'Connel, the great agisa-
tor Of England, as far back as the year 1885.
The passage Of the bill for the universal
emancipation Of the British West Irdies,
failed to awaken their attention to II calm
consideration of the arguments for and
! against slave labor, nor did the gradual eman-
cipa.ion of the Northern States, and the sale
of them to the South. dispel this in.atuation.
Even after the war had begun, Dir. Stevens
of Georgia, vas so much afflicted with this
political blindness, as to declare that slavery
was the Corner Stone Of the Southern Con-
federacy. If We had succeeded in establish,
ing Southern Gonfederacy, the ghost of
abolition would have continued to haunt the
political visions of orr law makers, despite
the. Constitutional prohibitions intended 70
prevent it; Cor human mature Is the same
everywhere, North or South. and men will
act from self interest. Now, if these States
men did not perceive the Importance of dis
cussing the institution CT Slavery in its Po-
litico Economical relations to the South, they,
in my Judgment fell short of the highest
standard Of political excellence and if they
saw the importance of it, and shirked the
responsible duty Of considering and deciding
it, they were not patriots, but became cring.
ing %demagogues to prejudice that they
themselves had created.
Taking either horn Of the dilemma, it must
prove prejudicial to their regulations either
us Statesmen or patriots. 1t is true that
South Carolina had son who watched her
interest with devotion from foreign stand
point, and full appreciated the shadows and
quick sands that those who were then in
charge of the Ship Of State, Suffered her TO
drift upon. I refer to the erudite scholar,
The accomplished gentleman, the eloquent
and finished orator, aud the prophetic states;
man, Hugh Swinton Legare, who, while Min
lister at Brussels, predicted tho OWLS that
Slavery and Secession would bring upon us.
Ilia prophecies, alas! have proved too true,
and we now see and feel the evil results Of
these twin curses of the South.
IS never was one Of those who believed that
| Secession ~as peaceable or Constitutional
remedy. never could get my consent that
those who formed the Constitution put any
clause in it that empowered State to wifh-
draw from the Union, on account of actual,
or lancied grievances. Ny idea Of Gov.
ernment is that it is all Unity, an Entirety.
Perpetuity is necessarily the predominant
idea that must influence the minds Of all
founders of Government, be it Monarchical,
Aristocratic, or Republican; Esto ptpctua is
tho universal maxim of all Governments, and
this Government is no exception to the rule.
Those who formed the Constitution, provided
for the redress If the grievances ur wrongs u
the States, by establishing Supr me Cour:,
wherein the rights of tho states, if iuiringed
upon by Congress, or any of the coordinate
departments of che Government, could be
peaceably adjudicatcd. To seek redress in
any other way was simply to exercise the iu-
alienable right of man to revolution. Sc.
cession aud Notification were nothing more
nor less than the exercise Of this right, strip.
ped of the metaphysical theories and subtle
ties that ingenious minds attempted to throw
around them. For when the batteries of
South Carolina fred into the Star Of the
West the Aimsy veil Of Secession was
thrown aside, and every one saw revealed
reuolution and war, and that too in its bloodi.
est form.