Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1872-05-09

A4e-'
been enacted. It was related in Marshall. .
Life Of Washington. volume 2, chapter 3
that there was great commoticn IN the re-
fbellious Golony-ef Massachusetts between
4! I!thetgovernment and the people on &C
count of the stamp act In the neigh
boring Colonies 81 New York and Con
= 'necticut they had secret organizations
known as the Sons of Liberty, and it was
impossible for Great Britain to get yer,
dict of conviction in the courts Of Massa.
> chusetts. He quoted from Justice Mar
- shall: ---
The next measure proposed. was bill
for .theiimpartaal administration Of justice
sIin theproy oyinss9 Mgssaclhepssstts n Bay. It
!, ,1propded g Fiat in case any person should
%fbe Indicted N that province tor murder or
: 4anysufher apitaf ofence and it should
eppear, BY information given on oath to
the Governor that the fact was commit
i ted in the exercise 6riaid Of themhg gstra-
cy in suppressing riots; ard that a fair
trial could not be had in the province, he
r should send the person, so 6indicted, to ahy
{ EotRer colony,for to- Great Britain, hto-{be
Z EtnedN i This oct mas I'd eoaknaa IN foice
four years, and was, as an English writer
observes, the counterpGtgf the obsolete
. and 1tyranficai act 81 T Henry VIII, lately
a revived forthe traah siRsR Great Britsans OF
II treasons committed ilr America. :" - 40
r. Colonel Hamilton continued "a few
weeks ago was riding on the public road
leading fromY orkville to- Chester and /
came upon a mansion standiag on.I one
side of the road. :. Inside d that .4nan-
sion knew that there. was q lady and
sonESe Bright Beau atifuL Ldtill llhe1ss ssshnsthere
was vacant place beside the hearth, "a
| vacant seat at the family table, and a
terrible ieeling-that only the desolate
know-of vacancy and loneliness in all
the ehambersrof that mansion q ;IhatEwas
the once happy. home Of Mr. John S. Brat
ton; the brother of the DR.. Bratton who
! has been spoken Of in the testimony in
this ease, who was as innocent, gentlemen,
as any OF you can be, but who was still,
! and who is now, gentlemen OF the jury,
an exile from home all exile from his c6un-
Try and all that. is. dear to, the human
heart, Riding allttle further, ! came. to
| arsh nmble aog cabin, and thereia silence |
| prevailed IRE that Of the grave No
smoke was curling upward from the Chin
| pey, and no sound OF human life disturbed |
| the quiet of the dense wood on one side, |
or the pine thicket on, the other. That
was the cabin OF Jim Williams, and say
10 you, gentlemen, that my heart was fill
cd with the profoundest sorrow when |
reflected on the untold misery caused on
both sides by thcscEunhappy occurrences.
l could not help thinking of these two
unhappy pictures; and could not help
going 10 the causes which produced them.
/ see them clearly, and hope that you
will see them as plainly; and | tell You
that, as hope to be believed hereafter as
truthful man, and as | value my life
long reputation as q truthful man, be-
lieve-l firmly believe-that the cause OF
these organizations was the introduction
OF that armed miltia-thc distribution
9f 9q6f,hhe9g thh9sa fnape aapqbSf hSS oleyGa pnIl d=
state of semi-wariare. l Will Call your
attention to the facts, as they have come
out on these various trials. III the liisV
nIacc take the County Of Laurcns-there,
as YOU have been told there was lighting
killing and slaughtering by the militia
In Union County there WAS the murder
Of Stevens, poor, one-armed cripple,
committed by whole company OF thiS
militia Go to Roundtree's country, ana
there were the paradcs and demonstrations
of Captain Fcrriss company. Wherever
you 90 YOU can trace these causes as clear
Iy as an effect can possibly he traced back
to. its cause. do not blame the coiorGd
men for their desire to bear arms. 10
not censure their desire to have militia
companies; but do blame those meli-
those officers Of the State-who turned
them loose without offccrs-wlthout any,
one of discretion and intelligence TO lead
them-to march over the face OF peace
full country. These proceedings mustevent-
uallv result in war between the races
And here l. beg to call your attention to
a significant fact, and one which must be
accepted as conclusive evidence OF tins
practice This factls, that Governor Scott
the Republican Governor OF tins State
has since taken away these guns from the
colored miitia-taken every arm and eve
rv round of ammunition away from the
NEGROES. and left us unarmed and une-
ouipped, but at peace with each other
You will see now, l think, how these dis
trrLances arose. You will see that the
question Of politics came in only as an
incident Of the disturbances. The causes
lie a great deal deeper. 1t was dlstnr-
bance, an uasetting OF the whole condi-
tions of society. 1t happened that the
colored men belonged to one OF the poilti-
cal parties and the white men to another
and it was by this accident that all this
show of testimony has been gotten up TO
show that there was conspiracy TO op-
pres. somebody, because they voted in
certain way" .,....5.. ,<,
Colonel Hamilton then recountsd the
charges contained in the indictment, and
spoke of the government witnesses who
4 were depended upon to prove the general
conspiracy. Gum, 1.-THE 5000 Gunn, as he
was generally called, since it was shown
that the attorney general had given him.
that amount for his services,) Mulllnax,
Mosely and the rest, were, he said, OF
flat class who are known as swift WIT
nesses." and very swift they were to tes-
tify in these cases, although they acknowl-
, edged that they were themselves guilty OF
the most heinous crimes They had their
lessons by heart. They were fully prlmed
! and loaded, and they wentright Oft He
once knew a celebrated quarter-horse IN
!, Florida He was an Indian pony, and.
: had, one eve. He could make the fastest,
time for three hundred yards of any horse
. in the world, and the reason was that at
e. the first Jump he could always get off at
e his full speed. His master would always
q stand at his head to start him. He would
t keep that one eye Of his Oh his master,
: and his master would start him by slap
!, ming his hands and shouting lnjun." So
/. With these witnesses The district attor-
If ney I.eld them exactly as the man in
e Florida held his pony-with halter
h round their necks-and he slaps his hand
e and hollers Ku-Kluy," and off they 90,
l. first lump, at full speed. He didnot be-
r, licve ono word of their nonsense. He
It did not see how they dared to come upon
l. the stand and expect any sensible, hon
10 est man to believe one word they said
d The testimy Of a principal in murder
te could not be taken against his accessory
e. and he believed with Greenleaf that these
1t men were not competent to be put upor
M | Il. r4ond ANYWAY ETn claimed that ne