The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-09-21

should not shut their eyes, and open
their mouths to swallow all the
garbage that may be thrown into
their Threats, no matter whether to
advance a political heresy or to
promote a religious folly. ,
Former negro slaves honor ana
worship Lincoln for the emancipation
proclamation that let fall from their
limbs the shackles that bound them.
The credit for that proclamation Is
primarily due to John G. Calhoun
who is, more than any one else, re,
sponsible for the war which resulted
in their freedom. In attempting to
rivet the shackles more firmly, he
gave the hand Of the deliverer the
chance to strike, and when that hand
struck, the slave, no less than the
'poor white trash," became a free
man.
THE UNEDUCATED CITIZEN, LIKE
THE UNARMED SOLDIER, IS NOT
PREPARED FOR THE CONFLICT.
While all admit the ability of Cal
houn, and while none deny the
purity of his character or the honesty
of his purpose, yet the facts and the
logic of events show that he was from
his own standpoint, mistaken In
pursuing the course which resulted
in the secession of the State and
which secession brought on the war,
and which war freed the slave. This
result is due more to Calhoun's
efforts than to the force
or power of any other. For years he
urged a course that finally led to the
accomplishment of his desire for
secession, but he did not live to see
the country in the throes of a death
struggle. He did not live to see the
'poOr white trash" have an equal
chance to prove that his manhood
was equal to that of his more
wealthy and more pretentious neigh
Dor.
That the manhood and the citizen
ship of the despised poor white
trash" was equal to that of the
slave owner is proved in the greater
progress, and in the greater develop
ment of the country which, for
the last thirty years, far surpasses the
advancement of a hundred years
before Democratic reconstruction.
Abbeville County, with a part
of it's territory cut off, last year con-
tributed for public schools as much
as did the whole State of South
Carolina in any single year before
the war when all of South Carolina
sneezed as Calhoun took snuff. If he
did favor the education Of anybody,
and if such proof is on record, 1t
would be well for some man who Is
better informed than myself to pro-
duce it.
CALHoUN's ERROR-DAvIs's CRUEL
TY.
Did not the great Calhoun contri-
butte more than any other to the Sc
cession movement? Did not Jeff
Davis propose to have the last Of his
followers slain even after General
Johnston had said that further
fighting would be murder? Do not
the words of the u%nequalled Calhoun
and the proposed unsurpassed cruelty
of Jeff Davis teach us to be a little
self-reliant, and learn us to do a
little of our own thinking We
should not forfeit our own manhood.
SCRIPTURE MAY BE QUOTED TO
SUSTAIN ALMOST ANY CON-
TENTIoN.
Did not our preachers, during the
war, present Scripture authority to
support the justice and the righteous
ness of a slavery which was then re-
pulsive to all the world and, except
in the Southern States, stunk in
the nostrils of civilized men in every
part of the earth? Do not the clergy
of today burden home churches for no
better purpose than that of r0bbing
the people under some mysterious
plea of Scripture authority to squeeze
the life out Of home churches that
their pride or their vanity may be
gratifed at the enormity of the
wrong that they are inflicting upon
the people, or the injury which they
may be doing to churches? Scripture
authority may be quotedifor any pur-
pose. When garbled words are
used the scriptures may be quoted to
prove "that there is no God"
The enormity of the sin of collect
ing money for the Lord from limo.
cent, confding people, may be seen
in the fact that ofall money collected
for the Lord about ninety per cent.
of it goes in fancy salaries for alleged
services of which no definite account
ing is ever made. The Lord or his
cause gets almost none Of it. 1t
seems that the Mexicans "work" our
missionaries, and that we are
worked" too.
DIR. JOHN DE LA HOWE THE POOR
MANS GREATEST BENEFACToR.
Then, may it not be asked if any
orator has ever mentioned the name