The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-04-08
THE SOUTH.
The Address of Colonel William l.. Tren-
holm, President Of the Charleston
Board of Trade, on the Occasion Of its
Third Anniversary.

The third anniversary OF the Charleston
Board of Trade was celebrated last night at
the Hibernian Hall, where, at the request OF
the Board, an address was delivered by Colo
mel W. L. Trenholm, whose terra Of Office as
President expired yesterday. The hall was
filed, and large number Of ladies graced the
occasion with their presence. Upon the plat
form were the newly elected President, Vice.
President, and officers Of the Board OF Trade,
ani number of prominent citizens.
After prayer by the Rev. Or. Hicks, Colonel
Trenholm then delivered the following address,
which was frequently interrupted by the hearty
applause Of his audience:
Our native South, the ''Land we love-" finds
herself III new aud unlooked-for LINES. Her
Tranquil and hapoy past was rudely broken by
one Of those epochs Of which history is full
sudden reyulsions in the life Of a people, when
that which is, terminates, and that which is to
be, begins.
Such moments Of tran ,ition, OF brief revolu-
| ton, are the landmarks Of great eras; follow
ing one upon another, they are the giant steps
by which nations mount to high destiny;
thev are never found upon the smooth descent
which leads to degradation; no serrated epochs
jar the peaceful movement OF the downward
bound
How short time ago does it seem that with
cav color. futtering IN javoring breeze we
sailed out from peace and affluence to dare the
storms Of war. Like those ancient heroes,
wi o, seeking Eldorado, found America, we,
tempest-tossed and defeated, have been thrown
upon the unknown shores Of new world, and
all the hopes in which we embarked have been
shattered, and now lie stranded before our des-
ponding eyes.
Tl k,,rn1 of n1o o6 ha
unsettled and our apprehensions excited; old
oracles arc silent; precedents cannot be ap
piled; startling phenomena in government and
society present themselves; re feel wants that
We do not understand and cannot supply; We
are alarmed by portents which We are not able
to interpret.
To obtain respite from these troubles by
thinking of the past and dreaming OF its res
toration has been too tempting to be resisted
by all; but it is no longer permitted to US to
indulge in dreams, nor even to encamp beside
the old wrecks, which we can never reht.
We must advance to the exploration of what
lies before US, and We should advance hope-
fully and confidently, for we stand before the
large opening of new world, whose unmeas-
ured resources await our coming.
In our former stale ne we're often envled by
certain classes labroad for the tranquility we
enjoyed, but that stats was not healthy one.
It was condition Of intellectual and INDUS
axioms instead Of graphing with problems,
the scope Of aspiration becomes inverted and
the circle Of enterprise is constantly growing
less. Nature and our predecessors made our
circumstances easy; we we're not indolent, but
our culture gave dignity to leisure, and when
we sought occupation it was OF u kind that
pleased our taste rather than OF kind conf
mnnded by utility.
In these characteristics we stood apart from
the rest OF the world, and being in other things
aienated from other branches OF the English
speaking family, wo had fallen into condition
OF morbid exclusivencss. We were ayorse to
contact with strangers; we looked with suspi-
clon and dislike upon immiSration; NE were
even discouraged from travelling, aid were
beginn ng to turn a7ay from current litnra-
ture.
manity to occupy us at home; our conceptions
of government were confined to what existed;
our political feeling was upon the side OF
strict constitution Of written law, rigid con-
seryatism Of all that was old; our simple faith
would brook no scepticsm as to the merit or
what was established; our declining tastes gave
no stimulus to Invention; our narrowing enter
prises dispensed with the spiri, OF progress.
Well WAS it for the South that the voice OF
war reused her from this fatal lethargy; seek
ing to avert the chauce of future change, our
own precau ution was made by Providence the
means OF our rescue. By change alone could
we have been saved from decay; by change
ulone could we have been brought to the
threshold Of the destiny now opening before us.
At the epoch OF the war the South had ful-
filled all the possibilities Of her peculiar civil.
zation; she had reached the elimination OF
her DEVELOPMENT; she had accomplished the
ends OF her existence; she had filled the meas
ure Of her destiny.
1t is no new thing in history for people to
live out more than one phase OF civilization. The
genius of Egyptian labor, Grecian art, Roman
law, the honor OF Medieval chivalry-haye
each in turn Powered and passed away. 1t is
no reproach to our former state to say that it
was state OF maturity, that it was becoming
oyer-ripe and tending to decay; but IL ID
source of congratulatlon that we have escaped
decay, and that we, even In our own time, are
able to see that our past has not been IN vain.
We need not be ashamed of our past; for
though the world long ago condemned slavery
without understanding 1t, history Will Justly
record how difficult its duties we're and how
faithfully aud successfully we discharged
them. Half century before the war, when
the slave trade ceased, the South contained
less than million souls of the African race;
| when the war occurred they had increased to
upwards OF four millions. These four million
descendants OF sayages were moro orderly and
moral than the same class in any other civil
| lied country, and they remain 80 up to the
present moment notwithstanding the tempta-
tions and priyations OF the war, the license Of
sudden freedom and the bad advice Of political
agitators. They wore deeply imbued with the
| principles of Christianity, nsomuch that since
emancipation they have cheerfully devoted
| their scanty earnings to the building and
maintenance OF churches and the establish
ment of charitable societies; their intellectual
powers were stimulated and improved as far
as they logically could be in O condition of
slavery, and sufficiently developed to furnish u
| stimulus for continued effort, and to consti-
| tute the basis Of future improvement upon the
part Of the freedmen themselves.
Slavery was something more than contrY-
ance for consolidating labor with capital; it
was discipline for both races, o school for the
formation OF character. AS far as slavery and
our administration OF it are ameuab!e to moral
| Judgment, 1T must be judged by it's influence
up5n the maturity, and not by its impression
upon the pupllaSe, OF those whom God placed
under its restraints.
The masters as well as the slaves, the whites
as we'll as the blacks, learned many noble les
sons III lite ut tLis discontinued school. Pro-
violence ard forecast for dependents indul-
gence of the weak. AID an habitual conscious
| ness OF responsibility upon the part of those
| invested with power--tie obligations OF honor,
| the forco OF character, the power OF self-rch-
ance, the sanctity OF individual rights, the Gle
| Va ION Of dignity above gain, Of worth above
| wealth, were all characteristics which we had il
| right to be proud OF, and which We should still
tenaciously cling TO.
Outside onr own limits, we exercised an i'll
fuence for good. the effect OF which is con-
! spicucus all over the United States. While
NeW England was exploring comm1nism
and disspatlng personal identity and re.
spoEsibility. tho South wag pcrtccting the ideal
OF the individual. Whcu the great Hood Of