The Palatka news and advertiser., 1915-09-10
The Tale Of Two Southern Cities
n % Woman


steed which Heine speaks ola per-
feet horse of beautiful proportions,
splendidly caparisoned; it had but one
defect-it was dead.
So John Locke's constitution was
ideally perfect but practically impos
sible, and it soon fell into disuse.
Some features, however, did persist in
the life of the colony. There was a
barons and landgraves and
cassiques. Broad plantations were
laid out and landed gentry grew up.
But there was too a love of liberty,
and while the colonists were still at
Port Royal, before their voyage to
Charleston was finished, they held an
election summoning all the freemen TO
"elect five men to be of we counciP'-
the first popular election held in Am
erica. The early life of Charleston
was cosmopolitan-more so than any
ether of the colonies.
There were the English who had
first been sent over by the proprie-
tors; then the Scotch-Irish came in
from Lord Cardross' colony; then
came the Quakers, and then thhe HUI
guenots. The Huguenots came after
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
They were a fine people, religious and
resolute. They settled along the
banks of the Ashley and Cooper and
the Santee and rowed into Charles
ton for their religious services,
which were held according to the ebb
and flow of the tide.
Their story is romantic, but their
influence was not great and very soon,
like the Quakers, they were absorbed
into the English population and
church. 1t is said that the Quakers
held only one meeting and that was
a silent one.
The early Charlestonians were re-
ligious people. There was, of course,
st. Philips Church, the mother An
glican parish of the Province, whose
church building was for years the
pride of the city and the admiration
of visitors, and at an early date St.
Michael's parish was formed and its
present church was built. There was
the French Church, and there was the
meeting house used by either PresbN
terians or Congregationalists, and la
ter there was Baptist church and d
Jewish synagogue. The Huguenot
church is still in existence, one of the
most picturesque buildings in the city,
and the only place of Huguenot wor-
ship in this country.
With the churches rose side by side
the great social organizations, many
of which have a continuous history to
this day. In 1929 the Scotch founded
the st. Andrews Society-their ban
Quets are still the most famous in
Charleston life, and regularly on St.
Andrews Day they assembled around
the festive board and eat fnnan-had
dy, and praise old Scotland.
In 1888 the English founded the st.
Georges Society-and to this day NJ
English sovereign dies and no new
sovereign comes to the throne but the
st. Georges Society solemnly holds
service in st. Michael's Church to
commemorate the one or felicitate
the other.
In 1877 the French Protestants
founded the South Carolina Society,
whose home is still one of the most
imposing structures in Charleston.
In 1866 the German Friendly Soci
ETY. was founded and to this day the
Freund-schaftsbund meets and drinks
beer and eats pretzels, and just now
they are busily engaged trying to
mold the public opinion of Charleston
in favor Of the Fatherland.
1901 the Hibernian Society was
founded. 1t has been not so much So
cial as poitical-especially after tie
manner of the Irish, in a municipal
way. Which reminds one of the cur
rent saying that Charleston is owed
~ the Germans, ruled by the Irish
and enjoyed by the negroes.
These last came into Charleston at
an early date. Sir John Yeamans,
one of the early governors, came from
Barbados bringing with him slaves
accustomed to work in the heat Of the
tropical sun, and by so doing he de-
cided the institutions and conditions