Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1878-11-07

in vigorous speech, during his first
SESSION, pointed out the rapid growth
of the Abolition movement from a
single society of eleven persons IN
New England, in 1882, in less than
fur years, to three hundred and fifty
societies, with a membership of not
; less than one hundred thousand
flooding the mails VIII abolition
documents. and besieging Congress
with petitions for thet abolition oi
slavery and the slave trade In the
District of Columbia he demanded
the rejection of these petitions and
declared that the int vitable result OF
continued attacks on the institution OF
slavery must be dissolution of the
Union. This was almost the begin
ming of that great struggle which
carried on for nearly thirty years
with ever increasing acrlmony,
reached disunion and terminated only
with the overthrow Of the Confede-
rate Government.
Before tue expiration OF his term
of office, Mr.. Hammond's health,
which had never been robust, failed
completely, and forced him to resign.
He wentto Europe and travelled there
ornearly two years. Returning only
p,rtially restored, he resisted the
solicitation of his friends to resume
his seat in Congress, which was ten
dered him by his successor, MIR.
Elmore. The next few years were
divided between search for health
aud attention to private business.
Deeply inter' sted in the militia or
ganization of the State, Mr.. Ham
mond accepted the Office of General
of Brigade in lS4l, and in 1912 was
elected Governor. Under this ad-
ministration the Ersenals at Charles
ton and Columbia were converted
into military academies on the plan
of West Point. In his second annual
message Governor Hammond invited
the Legislature to IAN earnest con-
sideration of Federal affairs. The
Compromise Act, he says, "was in
fact treaty made between bel
ligerent parties-with arms in their
hands -solemnly ratified by the
Federal Government on the one part
and Convention Of the State oil
South Carolina on the other, and
dsioeitsd nggAshssarahiyes Of the-
country. No treaty ever made was
more sacredly binding in its obliga-
lions. Our State faithfully adhered
to the compact and patiently bore the
burdens impos upon her But
in lS42, the period arrived for re-
ducing the duties, Instead of re-
cling them, the rate of duties was
increased actually increased to
b CHER point than the Tariff which
S)uth Carolina had declared null
and void within her limits in 1882.
"Our State, he continues, is bound
by her past history and tue principle
she processes, and owes it to herself
and the country to adopt sucn
measures as will at an early period
bring all her moral, constitutional
and, ii necessary, physical resources
in direct array against policy which
has never been checked but by her
interposition." Attention is called
to the growing animosity of the North
to slavery. and the recent sction OF
the Northern wing of the Methodist
denomination, in deposing Southern
Bishop, virtually because he was
STAKEHOLDER" and declaring that they
would no longer tolerate a slave
holder in their pulpits, cited in proof.
Atits lastsession Congress hadrejected
theannexation of Texas, and hostility
t, the expansion Of slavery was openly
avowed as the re.son of the opposi-
tion of the North "by nearly the
whole press Of the non-slave-holding
States; by their public lecturers, by
their most distinguished orators, and
by the Legislatures of several States
particularly thatof Massachusetts,.
At the expiration of his term OF
Office MIR. Hammond returned to his
planting pursuits with renewed ardor'
But his pen was not idle Early in
lS45 he wrote two letters in reply to
Thomas C!arksou, the noted English
Atolitionist, on the subject of slavery
in the United States. As examples
of controversial writing Of a high
order these letters are worthy OF
study-as defence of African
slavery, as it then existed In the
South, and of the slave holders them
selves, the facts and the logic are
unanswerable. The writer does not
defend the slave trade, neither is he
in favor OF slavery in the abstract
"any more than Of poverty, disease
deioi nifty, idiocy, or any other lne'
quality in the condition of the human
family. II love perfection and think
1 should enjoy a Millennium, such as
God has promised D,nG