The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-01-13
0rigiual starg.
B. BERKELEY J. *. ] J / HALL. A
By GA CAROLINE"
CHAPTER i.

"Hesperian lands. beyond the Atlantic wave;
Home of the poor, and refuge of the brave,
Who yainly striving With oPPS5,ssiiGn PSsnnis1 ~
The Province of Carolina was settled
by emigrants from. all countries, but es-
pecially England and France. A pet
colony of the English Crown, its storied
wealth in gold and pearls, its fertile
lands, and the widespread fame of its
hunting grounds, abounding in game of
every kind, rendered it favorite resort
for the gay Cavalier in search of gold
nd,adyenture, while the poor prosecuted
Huguenot was attracted probably by its
mild and genial cline, when forced to
leave the sunny homes and vine-clad
hills of 'la belle France"
About the year 1852, while still under
the Proprietary Government, the Pro-
vince was divided into the counties of
Berkley, Craven and Colleton. Berkley
contained the Metropolis, (the city of
Charlestou.) Aided by the hardy chill
dren of Africa, in few short years,
through the industry, enterprise and
endurance of the colonists, large plan
tations were laid of, the forests were
leyelled, comfortable, comraodious and
often handsome dwellings were erected,
and fields, smiling with plenty, took the
place of the howling wilderness. Rap
idly the planters; rose to wealth and the
power and influence which wealth con-
fers, and in December, 1860, when Caro-
lina's sons arose en- m,asse to assert her
'sIndependent State Sovereignty" the
planters of the State, and especially of
those old counties, were in the zenith of
prosperity.
More than century had passed away,
and the children and children's children
of the early settlers were still masters in
the halls of their fathers. They were
remarkable for their refined and courte-
GUS manners, gay, open and hospitable
dispositions, intelligent and cultivated
minds. Their courtesy was without
ostentation; their gaiety, the natural
efilsion of: thankful hearts, "to whom
the lines had fallen in pleasant places" )"
in their free and noble hospitality, there
was no egotism, and their learning was
devoid Of pedautry-it was simply the
culture of a gentleman. Their occupa-
tions were the guidance of their children,
the superintendent fitheir well-ordered
plantations and the government and care
of their apparently contented and happy
sslavss. Their pastimes were the health
full and manly sports of hunting and fish
ing, and the social reunions at the various
plantations, where music, dancing and
pleasant repartee whiled away the mirth-
full hours. Their homes, those old plan
tation homes, with their treasured memo
ries of joyous loves and chastened sor-
rows, may well serve as ideals of all of
human happiness this world can ever
offer
: 1t must not be supposed the planters
SONS, were always and only the Country
Gentleman" devoting their lives to the
quiet pursuit of agriculture. No, from
the heartstones of our plantation homes,
through the length and breadth of the
land, earnest workers have been sent!
To our courts they have given lawyers,
distinguished for ability, truth and integ-
rity to communities, physicians, scien-
ti6c, practical and charitable; to schools
and colleges, teachers, learned and high
toned; to our country, soldiers and states
men of untarnished honor, tried courage
and pure patriotism; and to the noble
work OF the ministry, self-sacri6cing
messengers of pardon, Of love and mercy
to fallen man! Truth, however, compels
us to admit our heroes were only men,
and as men imperfect. Their faults, like
their virtues, were conspicuous. They
were proud, imperious and impatient
under wrong. They were proud, proud
of their native land-the warm, sunny
South! Proud of their heroic lineage
the pure, the true, the brave from all
lands. The hardy Briton, the industri-
GUS German, the patriotic Pole, the pious
and gentle Huguenot, the noble patriot
fathers of '76., They were proud, too, of
the scorned epithet, Shareholder, believing
that since "by Gods command" the igno-
rant and debauched African had come
'for wiser teaching to a foreign land,".
it was their part to fulfill, with yea, and
hope, the all-directing Will" Slaves it
is true the negroes were to command, but
friends to. love, to depend on and to cher
ish; and while their almost absolute
power over the negroes nurtlred the
chief fault of the Southerners-imperi-
ousness-it brought also into play their
most generous and kindly feelings, for
the simple and unlettered Africans were
oft-times tried and trusted friends!
Living in open defiance to the opinions
of the so-called Christian World, as
shareholders, it was not strange that the
Southerners should be impatient OF con-
troll, and ever jealously alive to every
shadow Of encroachment upon their lib
critics as people, and as distinct sover-
eign States. But naughty and proud as
was the attitude they assumed before the
world, they were truly Christian peo-
Pile, and their deep reverence for the
sanctuary, the Sabbath and Gods most
Holy Word, with their unfeigned abhor-
renee of the 'iSms" and unscriptural