The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-01-25
ON TEE WING.

Abbevile--A Beautiful Vsslnge--Lavv
and Order-Hospitality- Q t h o a is t
Conference--Bishop wightman--Dr.
Wh1tefOord smith-Iethodist Preach
de--Cotton-Business Firms
The Old Order and the New.
Pardon me, Mr.. Editor, end Messieurs
aud Mesdames, the readers of IHE NEWS, il
wing my flight somewhat slowly, and thor.
oughly digest my Impressions before I share
them with you. Abbeville, next In order on my
itinerary. is distinguished with q white mark.
The memories thereof are pleasing, and ar,
indellibly engraved on the conv5lutions of nv
cranial hemispheres. Abbeville is unquestion-
ably ONE Of the finest, that is most beautiful.
VILLAGES in South Carolina. Indeed I must
confess to pleasant surpriseat the general
appearance of the town, at tho humber and
beauty of it's stores, private residences and or.
namental grounds. The courthouse is sub
stantial and ornamental structure and the
Episcopal Church the handsomest in the
State, 1 think, outside Of Charleston and Co.
lumbia. The other two churches, the Methodist
or Presbyterian, however, in niJ humble opn-
ion, have nothing to boast in~ architectural
beauty or symmetry. was surprised to find
so many evidences OF high order OF civiliza-
ton, Of intelligence, education and social re-
finement. My surprise will be explained in q
measure when state that thiE was my first
visit, and had but recently resd the messa-
ges and proclamations Of Governor Scott in
which was led 10 believe that Abbevills was
the home Of rufianism and outlawry; that
there was no respect for the laws, and that
hy1 L.
there. Now, have most Christian defer
ence to the powers that be. and dislike ex-
ceedingly to differ in opinion from man who
has authority to print proclama ions in all the
newspapers, headed with the at-of-arms of
the State and counteraignedx xAA that other
high e,dinial. thin fas
truth must be told: state it as my deliberate
conviction that think Governor Scott is mis-
taken; that the-people of Abbevle are just as
peaceable, orderly and law-sbiding as the citi-
zens OF any other district or county in the
State. and think the Governor will so find 1t.
was shown the very spot at Hodges Depot
where Randolph was killed. Tsaw several gen
tlemen who Witnessed the decd. They see
these men dismount, hitch their horses, go to
the cars, shoot Randolph, then with pistols in
their hands deliberately walk backwards to-
ward their horses, mou mt and ride away. They
did not know q single one of the three men.
This was told again and again by persons
living in the vicinity, all of whom had heard
these eye-witnesses tell this, and they firmly be-
ieved it, How, say they, was it possible to arrest
these murdsrers when th3y were we'll armed
and Of course determined to sell their lives as
dearly as possible, and no one present prepared
for such confict2 II the people present at
this murder had been the most s.loyaT" in the
United States (and there is no evidence that
they were not), I do not see how they could
have acted otherwise than as they did.
see by the papers that one Talbot, who had
been suspected OF completely in this murder,
has been arrested. The people of the district
were harshly spoken against. in public and in
private, by the Executive Of the State, because
Talbot was allowed to be at large. Now, I have
met no one who knows anything Of Talbot's
participation in the Randolph murder, though
heard that he was not o man Of peaceable
reputation. During the war he was deaerter,
and deied the enrolling officers again and
again. And although the sympathies of the
community were then unquestionabIy against
him and with the enrolling officers, he sue
ceeded, by one means or another. in evading
their vigilance, and keeping out OF the army.
You will notbe surprised, then, TO hear THAT this
man was at large, months even after the Gov.
ernor suspected him Of being particeps crim-
i,is in the Randolph affair. Belt remember
ed, moreover. that saw no one who knew Of
such completely or connection on the part OF
Talbot.
And because a few bad men in community
break the laws, and, favoredby circumstan ces,