The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-08-07
THE LATE EDMUND RHETE.
a tribute from'a Friend
PUBLISHED BY REouEsr.]

chronIc1ed,. demand more extended notice.
Notwithstanding he has descended to the tomb
before he had attained the. maturity Of man.
hood, he yet lived long enough to make his
mark upon the times In which lie moved, and
he has left behind him record to which his
friends may recur with a satisfaction qualified
only BY the regret that career so full of
promise should have been cut short before the
blossomings OF rare and elevated genius had
rlpenedint harvest ofabundant fruition.
Mr. Rhett was the fourth son Of the Hon.
Robert Barnwell Rhett, so well known in South
Carolina, and so highly distinguished through.
Out the entire country in the better days of the
republic, and was born in. the month of Novem.
Der, In the year 1888. After going through the
usual academic course he was sent to the
South Carolina College, and left that Institu-
lege, In Massachusetts,. He graduated about
the year. 1854 with great distinction, and enter
ed upon the study Of theslaw. His death took
place on Saturday morning, 29th July, at the
residence of his brother, Colonel Alfred Rhett,
at Cordesville, In the Parish Of st. Johns
Berkeley.
| His entrance upon the cares aad duties Of
manhood happening OF period when the
country was eonvulsed By weighty and impor-
tant political issues, he was naturally diverted
| from the duties of professional life, and at an
early age, yielding to the ardent patriotism,
which was passion Of his warm and gener-
Gus nature, he threw aside pursuit In which
he was likely to attain eminent success, and
devoted hlmse to the study and considera-
tfon of the grave questions on which depend
ed the welfare and even the existence of his
country TO these subjects he brought the
powers of mind well stored by careful prepa-
ration, and disciplined by original thought
and patient and laborious investigation, and'
superadded to this purpose and will that
were fully equal to the emergencies. OF any oc-
casion, however great.
The shallow s0phstries of. that school Of
| political philosophers who had suddenly dis
| covered that republic. established with spe-
lcial reference to the protection of the few.
against the many, the weak against the strong,
was, in fact, nothing more or less than an IT.
irresponsible mobocracy, in which the mere
the land, found no favor with the well poised
intellect of Mr.. Rhett, and, he at once avowed
| himself q Jealous and uncompromising adYo-
cate of the doctrine of State Rights, as the only
safeguard inculcated by the founders OF the
Republic, and recognized by the constitution;
and BY an adherence to which the permanen-
CT of our institutions could only be secured.
| 1t was In the discussion and support of.thls
| and other great cognate political problems
| that he pre-eminently distinguished himself,
and while get mere youth, almost before he
was entitled to the toga virilis, took high
rank among the thinkers of the period, and
placed himself by the side Of strong men who
which was to decide the future destiny Of
thirty millions Of the human race.
The columns of the Charleston Mercury, at
| that time owned and edited by his brother,
Colonel R. Barnwell Rhett, Jr., attest tie mas
culne boldhess and .vigor OF his trenchant
pen, and 1t is no more than simple justice to
say Of his mastery productions that they pro.
duced profound impression on the public
sentimentsof the times-an impression which
| the efforts OF the Interested and self.seeking
partisans of absolutism could neither weaken
or remove.
They stand as monuments not only OF his
genius, but of his lofty patriotism and sterling
| honesty. [-S
When the madness of Radicallsm, running
riot over everything that was sacred In law
or constitutional enactment, .calmlnsted IN
\ the election Of q sectional President, and the
| Southern States perceived that the argument
was indeed exhausted, and that nothing was
was felt only through Its exactlons and its
oppression, Mr.. Rhett found his appropriate
and cOngenial place among the brave defend
/ ers of Southern rights, andnwas unanimously
elected FIRST lieutenant III one OF the earliest
volunteer companies that. was formed in
| Charleston, and of which he soon became the
/ commanding officer. -
| very soon obliged to retire from active service
| by the requirements of declining health. But
| though he was thus compelled to rellnqutsh
/ the field and to sheathe his sword, he conttn-
ued to,wield, In all Its force and. energy, his
dexterous and cogent pen: All who were OF
ON age to take an interest in the discussions
OF the period will remember the dashlng and
racy effusions which gave such zest to the .edi-
torials OF the Mercury In the times to which
we are referring, and which were, by common
4 consent, recognized at once as the handl-
1 work of our departed friend.
j But as the battle Is not always to the strong,
4 80 Ia 1t not always to the just. The war ended
In the triumph of those who bad suoVertea tF1 .he
4 great principles Of the constitution, and Mr.
Rhett, In common with his compatrlots, was
reduced from comfortable aflnence to poverty
\ and deprivation. And here, as elsewhere, the
grand nature Of this true man asserted Itself.
i He gave way to no useless repinlngs, no un-
\ Awaiting regrets. With dauntless courage he
\ applied himself to the duties OF life, and
i thougha suffering from an incurable disease,
/ and borne down by bodily prostration, he en-
gagged in the pursuits of agriculture In order to
i relieve the necessities of those who were dearer
| to him than lie ITSELF His aged and honored
father, whose best days had been passed In The
| service of his country, had perilled his all In
4 defence of his native South, and had gone
down with the rest in the general'wreck and
ruin. To rebiltld the fallen fortunes of that
| father, to soothe his declining age, to aid him
| In the support OF his younger children, was the
| duty to which he now devoted his falling ener-
gies.
But alas even this noble eincentive-hlgh and
/ elevated as 1t was-could not suffice to save
4 him. Consumption had fastened 1t tangs upon
| him, and spite OF the anxious care of friends,
| spite of the manly endurance OF the victim
himself, he sank under Its relentless grasp, and
at the early age of thirty:seren years, with all
j the bright promise ot intellectual greatness III
his future, he fell
"Llke q full car OF corn
| Whose blossom escaped, yet'S Wltaered In the
| ripening.n
We have not adverted. except incidentally,
to the private life of Mr.. Rhett We would ap-
proach that precinct. sacred 10 domestic love
and family affection, with cautious and soft
ened tread; but this much We may be permit
ted to say Of him, as that which all who knew
| him will recognize to be true, that he was q
man of high and generous nature, sensitively
s.]ealous in honor" of noble impulses, Of een-
tie and amiable temper, and open as the day
to all that was pure and lnagnaninous in hui
man character.
| The moral and personal inLrepdity which
had characterized him through llfe did not de.
sert him on the approach of death, and he met
his fate with the calmnesS and serenity of one
who, having lived as becomes . man, was con.
tent to leave his future in the hands of that
God in whom he had always trusted. and