The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-08-16
Mr.. r. B. Rhett, Jr., and His Re:
cord--Thc Fortunes of a Free
Lance.
From the News and Courier.

Lance.
From the News and Courier.
From the day the present propri etors
of The Me1ps and Courier began the
publication of q newspa1erin Charles
ton, they have been assailed at
intervals by the public robbers
whose ,plundering schemes they
have felt it a duty to expose,
and by p~retentious patriots of the
stamp of Mr.. r.. b. Rhett, jr., who,
knowing nothing in. their own person
of the stern realities of war, ignore the
commanding necessity, to this people,
of absolute concord and peace. From
the plunderers who call themselves Re-
publlcans we expect hatred and abuse,
for we have done our best to hinder
them from fattening at the public crib,
and, in some cases, had caused the
hand of the law to rest heavily upon
them. Mr.. r. 3. Rhett, jr., belongs
to a different set. To him we are doub-
|ly obnoxious, IS publishing a paper
which has been the steadfast compan-
ion of that public order and and con-
servatism which is a fatal atmosphere
to Incl of his kind, and as having
achieved in southern journalism a sue
cess only less conspicuous than the
signal and repeated failures Of Mr. r.
B. Rhett, jr., in the same field. From
him we looked for just such an attack
as he made upon M Of the proprietors
of this paper yesterday, The journal
of which Mr.. r. B. Rhett, jr., is now
editor was conceived in a spirit of hos
tility to The NeWs aud Courier and the
liberal ideas and practical and pro-
gressive policy which it Is the expo
nent. With the shadow ola wretched
failure creeping over them, the mana
gers Of that sheet displaced the cour-
teous Virginian who had controlled its
columns and summoned, in his stead,
from his Alabama hiding place, a mai
who was known to have q pistol case
for hire, and had, besides the prime
qualifications Of being our bitter and
relentless enemy. 1t is no secret that
Mr.. R.. B. Rhett, jr., was brought to
Charleston for just such york az he
has now begun. His ostensible griev-
ance is our application to him of the
identical words that he had In his pa
per, applied to us. But one pretext, to
Mr. II. B. Rhett, jr., is as good as an
other. What he is hired to do he must
at least attempt. And we do not regret
that he has given US the occasion of
showing the whole country, once for
all, what manner of mai this fre-eat-
ing Bobadil really is.
At the outbreak of the confederate
war, this all MI. r. B. Rhett, jr.,
was, and for some time had been, the
proprietor and nominal editor of the
Charleston Mercury. That newspaper
was the leading advocate and champi-
on Of secession, and to its influence
more than to any other n agency
wrs due the withdrawal OF South Car
Olina from the union. The fire and
vigor of the articles of The Mercury
were recognized throughout the land;
but not a word or line of them came
from the pen of MR.. B. Rhett, jr.
This shallow pretender was willing
then, as he was willing in 1856 81,
and at New Orleans at a later day, to
take the entire credit of, and live upon,
the work ofhis accomplished kinsmen.
The satire and %invective, the keen ar
gument and apt illustration that made
The Mercury famous, in the north as
well as the south, came in no sort from
the brain or hand of Mr.. r. 3. Rhett,
jr. The difference between him and
the mel who did the work for him is
the difference between the shabby
sheet he now controls, and does write
for, and the great newspaper he used
to own. The war came. All that MI.
R. B. Rhett, jr., was presumed to hold
dear vas involved In the momentous
struggle. Friends and kinsmen hur-
ried into the ranks. Carolina was All
armed camp. Day by day the Mercu-
m, in words that should have warmed
the coolest heart, called the people to
arms. Where, at the time, was MI.
r. B. Rhett, jr.? Where was he
while Carolinians were bleeding and
diving under the walls of Sumter and
on the hard fought fields of Virginia
and the west? MI. r. B. Rhett, jr.,
was content to send others to the
front, and to leave the brunt Of the
fight to those whom his newspaper
had taught to die for Carolina. He
himself remained snugly ensconced
in his newspaper Office III Charleston
throughout the war. Not a sword die
this valorous Carolinian draw. Not a
shot did he fire in the service. 1t sat-
isfled him to enjoy ease anu safety,
while the man whom he traGuces
wore, as a volunteer, upon whom
neither the south nor Carolina had
any claim, the humble uniform of u
private in the confederate army.
Nav! Mr.. r. b. Rhett, jr., did some
thing after all. Month by mouth his
newspaper kept assailing the leaders
of the confederate armies, weakening
their hold upon the confidence of the
southern people, and so iomentlng
the distrust and dissatisfaction which
FASTENED the downfall Of the southern
cause. What right has this man, we
ask, to set himself up to-day as the
special champion of South Carolina :?
There is not a soldier who served IN
the Confederate army at all who did
not sacrifice more for the South than
this MI. r. B. Rhett, jr.
After the war. with the gifted Wrl-
tiers to aid him who had already made
him a name, Mr.. r. B. Rhett, jr., re-
sumed the publication Of the Mercury.
The man whom he now denounccs
was lien the associate editor of that
paper, and at MIR. r. B. Rhett, Jr.'s,
express request, cheerfully consented
ut that time to become personally
responsible, under the code, for what
ever might be published in the Merc"-
RI. The reason MI. r. B. Rhett, jr.,
then assigned for the proposition was,
that he was "a member Of the church,"
and could not conscientiously engage
lin aduel. In this Mr. /. Il. B. Rhett, Jr.,
tookthe same position that his distin.
puished father, the Hon. Robert
RarnweIl Rhett. wears before, had ia