Newspaper Page Text
BQPTIIERN TRIBUNE
EDITED BY
WW. B.4TTM. P.HA KRIS**.
The Cobbler of Cobbstown.
BY THOMAS DCNN ENGLISH.
"Rub a dub ! rub-a-dub! Dub!”
The housewife suspendel her labors to
gaze into the road; the loungers at
Byrne's tavern leaned over the porch,or
strode out to the pump to enjoy an unin
teriupted view ; the blacksmith, whose
shop was located next to the tavern, drop
ped the foot of the horse he was shoeing,
and strained his vision in endeavoring to
penetrate the approaching cloud of dust.
"Rub-a-dub! rub-a-dub! Dub!”
The coach approached nearer, and lo !
upon the same seat with the driver wa9 a
fat little drummer, tn regimental dress,
who bewhacked his noisy instrument zeal
ously to the great delight of the bystan
ders.
"Rub a-dub! rub-adub! Dub!”
The dogs of the village assembled in
townmeeting, by the tap of the drum,add
ed their voices to the music.
“Bow-wurr-wow-wurr! Rub-a-dub!—
prrrrrrrrm !”
The coach drew up to the tavern-door,
and stopped. The drummer drew him
self up on the seat and stopped also—and
then dismounted, followed by the driver.
Ibe coach then disgorged itself succes
•ively, of a long legged lifer, with ferret
eyes, and a nose of milestone dimensions,
six privates, in uniform, asmatt looking
sergeant, 3nd a captain, with epaulettes
and regimentals, all after the latest army
regulations. It was a very nice little re
entiling party, tho’ what, in.the name of
Mars and Bellona,brought them to Cobbs
town, puzzled the brains of the specta
tors. There they were, however, they
could be no doubt of that; and the village
poured out its one hundred and fifty in
habitants to see thorn. A crowd collected
but the captain, pressing bis way through,
nodded bis bead to the landlord, and said,
inquiringly—-Room for us/” Receiving
a nod in the affirmative he said—“ Show
me my room. Sergeant Coxe see my bag
gage taken care of.”
“\es, sir,' replied the subaltern, and
his superior officer left the press.
As soon as he left a crowd gathered a
round the sergeant, in the vain endeavor to
get some information ; and the children
gazed in the faces of the strange ‘‘sojers,”
to learn the whereabouts of their origin
The efforts were unavailing—and the
divers drinks in which ihe party indulged,
at the expense of the bystanders, had no
more effect. The curiosity increased; and
one little,thin cobbler, with a face of hatch
et shape and tallow complexion, contriv
ed to scrape acquaintance with the long
fifer, and inveigle him on one side. What
their conversation was, no one knew—but
it resulted in the instant departure of the
cobbler, minus a half dollar, lawful cur
rency, which he had paid fur the infor
rnation obtained.
When the cobbler left, be started straight
to his home, and took from thence an old
rusty pistol,which he loaded to the muzzle
with powder and slugs. Hastily conceal,
ing this about bis person, he took the road
leading from the centre of the village be
tween Dr. Martin’s and Squire Fleming’s
houses,and traveled it with an energy and
speed truly wonderful. He looked like
the hurrying genius of famine; and as he
went muttered to himself constantly.—
Above these mutterings, the following
words might have been distinguished :
“I knew it—when old John Smith came
here two years ago, I thought that there
was something suspicious about him.—
Ten thousand dollars reward !—half if I
ketch him—by jingo! wont I do it !—the
varmint—the old sneakin’ broadbrim,—no
more cobblin,—five thousand dollars !”
My eyes !”—and the sound "my eyes!”
found him at the end of bis journey. He
turned off from the road, and passing up a
narrow lane which led to a white house,
be stopped at tho door of the dwelling,
and asked for John Smith.
The girl who was standing on the etep
was the only daughter of the one inquired
for. She was a very lovely young crea
ture, about the age of nineteen,with a very
mild and tender blue eye, and a very pale,
but intelligent countenance. Her father
was a very respectable member of the
society of Friends,and owned several val
uable farms in ther neighborhood. He
had removed there from Bucks county, in
Pennsylvania, two years before; and was
known univesally as as a mild iuoffensive
and upright man. The daughter was
about to answer his question, when her fa
ther came from the barn, on to the house,
and turning to the cobbler, said—"what’s
wanting friend Cobb!”
"Oh! you dodrotted, old sneakin’ var.
mitt*!’’ cried thecobbler, grasping him sud
denly—"you’ve nigh ’scaped justice; but
you’ll git your desarta now. Purty, long
while you’ve got off, for gartain. Come,
go along with me Uncle Sam’s sol
diers want ye! Come!” and he made an
effort to drag him off.
John Smith was a powerful and deter
mined man, as well as a very cool one ; so
he merely shook off the gripe >f cobbler,
and said quietly —"Cunius Cobb! I don't
feel free lo strike thee, as it is against the
discipline of oar society ; and friends ne
ver do such things; but if I didn’t think
thee in liquor, or deranged in thy mind,
thy face would be apt to run against my
fist. Thee had better go home and get
sober."
This cool speech exasperated the cob
bier almost to frenzy, and he replied in his
loudest voice—" You ‘tarnul old rascal!
you aint goin’ to git off so. There’s ten
thousand dollars reward offered for you,
and you must go down to Byrne’s, where
they’re awaitin’ for you. If you don’t,”
and here he presented a pistol, “dodrot
my skin, if I dont blow your cussed old
brains out, right off the reel.”
The Quaker saw that either there was
some strange mistake, or else the man
was crazy. A moment’s reflection told
him that the safest way would be to follow
his captor. If the first, it could be soon
dissipated; if the second, the lunatic
would be more easily captured in the vil.
lage. So, bidding his daughter not to be
alarmed, he quietly went with Cobb, who
kept a tight grasp on his coat-sleeve.
Mary was, however, thoroughly alarmed,
and sending word for one of the men at
work on the farm to follow, she started to
overtake the couple who had departed,
and did so, just as they arrived at Dr. Mar
tin’s front gate. Here they met the cap
tain, who had just crossed from Byrne’s
and Cobb exclaimed triumphantly, “ 1 got
him, captain; here’s the old rascal. Half
t he reward’s mine, by the livin’jingo.”
But the captain took no notice of this.
He only saw the prisoner’s daughter
and exclaiming, “why, Mary !” he was at'
her side in an instant. She pointed to her
father. He looked in surprise at the lat
ter, and at the cobbler whose rude hold
he shook off, and asked what was ment by
all that he saw.
It s all plain enough,” cried Curtius
Cobb, “you are after the commandin’ gin
eral of the army, who’s deserted, and run
away, and been livin’ here for two years
under the name of John Smith. Your
fifer told me all this, arid you're a cornin’
this game to cheat me out of my share of
the reward. But it aint to be did. Them
five thousand dollars is mine;” and be
smacked bis bands together wiih determi
nation. “That’s the man you’re after, and
you know it.
The crowd by this time took the joke
and began to show its enjoyment, by a
loud fit of laughter. J bat led the captain
into tho secret of Cobb’s credulity. He
saw that the waggish fifer had perepetra
ted a hoax, and he was inclined to laugh.
Hut there was Mary and Mary’s father
and lie gave his arm to the former, and
walked home with the latter, after giving
directions tn the seigeant to drive off'Cur
lius Cobb, or get rid of him as prudence
dictated.
There was a long talk that night in
John Smith’s house, and tho result of it
may be best told in old Smith’s words.
“Why, Mary, when Charles Springly
came a courting thee, 1 told thee 1 would
not consent, nor will 1 yet. Thee has
been growing paler and paler every day
since then, aud wasting away. Tin’s was
vety foolish 1 bee should have known
that I have every legard for Charles here ;
but that the descipline forbids me to give
my consent to thy marriage with one out
of Friends’ meeting. And thee might
have known, and if thee dosn’t it is never
too late to learn, that if thee had got mar
ried, under such circumstances, while I
should have blamed thne for violating the I
Friend’s discipline, I should have loved
thee none the less, nor Charles either.
But as it is never too late to learn. I’ll
leave thee to talk with Charles. God bless
thee, Mary. I bee’ll make a good wife, I
know, and one like thy dead mother. I
am 6orry that Charles has taken up the
trade of war.”
“I’ll leavethat, sir. when I get married,”
said Charles, as the old Quaker left the
room.
Os the result of their interview the rea
der may well guess, and will not only be
desirous of learning something more of
the little cobbler of Cobbstown. We are
sorry that wo cannot gratify such a
laudible curiosity to any extent. All we
know is, that in a few days after he was
missing. Where or how be went is a
matter of mystery, though a man answer
ing his description was seen the next day
after his disappearance, about twenty
miles from Cobbstown, travelling on the
road to the great west. As that was thir
ty-two years since, and no traces has been
r ound of him, “the oldest inhabitant” from
whom we had the facts, concludes that he,
the missing mender of shoes, has departed
this life.
English Philanthropy
Can find a much better field for opera
ting within the limits of Great Britain,
than can be afforded in the U. States.
We clip the following extiacts from an
author quoted by a writer in the Southern
Press in relation to George Thompson, the
Foolish abolitionist, now on a tour in this
country, for the purpose, as it is said he
openly avows, of promoting a dissolution
of the Union. Speaking of the poverty of
the Lower Classes in Ungland, the British
writer says :
“Os this misery and degradation there
are some who say the cause is gin. It
may he so, but let us see. Evry one re
marks the increase of gin shops. In all j
those parts of Leeds and and Manchester,
and of London too, where the poorest peo- j
pie live,there you find in almost each dirty
street, not only one, but several, fine lions- |
es, handsomely stuccoed, cui iously painted, ;
ornamented with plate glass and polished I
brass; in the windows placards inviting
custom by such expressions as “mountain
dew,” and "cream of the valley inside,
great bariels of spirits, gaily painted
and disposed for show, carved mahogony
and more polished brass, with men and
women smartly dressed, smiling welcome
to all who enter. The. doors of these
splendid dens are carefully hung, so as to
fly open with a touch, and shut in an in
stant ; whether for the convenience of
dram diinkers, who are ashamed of their
taste, or to give the concern an air of mys
tery, which pleases the ignorant, Messrs.
Thompson & Feason best can tell. These
gentlemen, who being rich, are highly re
spectable, keep the largest gin shop in En
gland—in the world.
“Here gin is served up by young wo
men, dressed up like liellc Litnonadiere of
a Paris coffee house, and the establishment
in all its parts is nearly as fine as Very's
or the Case de Paris. There is another
great gin shop, not much inferior to it, a
little further west, adjoining the gate of
Gray’s Inn ; two or three close by Chan
cery Lane ; and twenty or thirty not far
off. In half an hour you may visit a hun
dred. What a contrast between the finery
of the shops and the beggarly appearance
of the customers ! Among these are few
really old people ; hut then plenty of young
people appear old. Livid cheeks, deep
wrinkles, blood shot eyes, brown teeth, or
white gums Aiithout teeth, skin and hone,
shaking heads, sore legs, creeping palsy,
a hacking cough, lags, fi th, and stench ;
these are marks by which you may know
lie regular gin drinker. Nine out of ten
who may either enter the finest gin shops
in Manchester on Sunday morning, will
shew one or more of these marks : count
ing women, boys, and girls, as well as men;
hut not the children, who, of course, are
only beginners. In some great towns in
the North they have low counters and small
glasses, on purpose for the small children;
in Loud n they stand on lip toe; but Lon
don will improve tapidly, both in number!
and finery ; every week, every day, pro
ducing anew gin shop, fitted up wit spring
doors, plate glass,carved mahogany or rose
wood, and polished brass, all "more hle
gant,” as the Americans say, than the gin
shops that sprung up the Week (refine.”
One of these miserable gin drinkers oti
being remonstrated with for drinking re
plied :
“Sir, all that you say is true. The more
gin we drink.the more we want; hut the
less gin we drink, the more we feel the
want of something else. Give us bread,
meat beer and fire, then we would feel
warm without gin. lam not begging ; vve
are all ready to work. 1 work God knows,
morning, noon, and night—work, work,
work ; we have plenty of that. If we did
not work we should starve But what
does our work bring? Work and hunger,
work and cold work and sorrow. 1 get a
bout fourteen shillings a week, out of
which there is rent to pay —we can’t lie in
the street—aud clothes to find, such as
they are—wo must he covered. What is
left for fire and food among six of us, four
children, their mother and me ? Enough
to starve upnti —that’s all. In cold wea
ther we shiver lor want of fire. The
chili) ren and mother may lie in bed to keep
themselves warm ; hut 1. hungry and cold,
must work. Ido work and when I drink
gin, it is lo keep myself from going mad.
U you were as poor as we sir, and had to
work as hard as 1 have, without hope, you
would be apt to learn that gin is bread,
and meat, and fire and hope, all in one.—
Without gin, 1 should not have the heart
to work, and we must all go to the poor
house or die, for the poor-house is chock
full, and the rates are not paid. We say
cold in the stomach, but we mean hunger
in the belly and despair in the heart. Gin
cures both for a time ; hut it kills at last,
you say. Well, we can but die, with gin
or without it; life, snch asonr’s, is worse
than death.”
Thomas Carlisle, the English Critic,
sometimes utters sentiments of truth and
wisdom, of which class are the following:
“Descend where you will in the lower
class in town or country, by what course
you will, by factory enquiries, agriculture
enquiries, revenue returns, mining labor
committees, by opening your eyes and
looking, the same sorrowful result disclos
es itself. You have to admit that the
working body of the rich British nation, is
fast sinking into a state to which, all things
considered, there was literally never any
parallel. At Stockport Assizes, a mother
and a father are arraigned; and found guil
ty of poU tiling three of their children, to
defraud a burial society of <£ 3 Bs., due on
the death of each child. They are ar
raigned, found guilty, and the official au
thorities, it is whispered, hint that perhaps
the case is not solitary; that perhapsyou
had belter not probe further into that, de
partment of things.'’
j “But,” continues the British writer, “is
nothing done by the “nobility, clergy and
gentry to conciliate the affection of the
pauper mass, by whose toil all their own
wealth is produced ? Charity ! the char
ity of the poor laws which paupers have
been taught to consider a right, which op
erates as a curse to the able-bodied and
■ " ell disposed, while it just enables the in
firm to linger on in pain and sorrow.—
Soup ! Dog's meat they call it. They
I are very ungrateful, but there is a way of
relieving a man's necessities that will make
| him hate you ; and it is in this way that
soup is generally given to the poor.—
; Books ! good little hooks which teach pa
! tience and submission to the powers that
: be ? with which such paupers as obtain
them, usually boil their kettles, when not
j distressed by fear of the reverend donor,
j Dt this gift the design is so plain and of
' tensive, that its effect is contrary to what
I VVf,s intended, just as children l'mrn whom
| obedience is very strictly exacted, are
commonly rebels at heart. What else 1
Is nothing else done by the rural rich to
win t lie love of the rural poor ? Speaking
generally, since all rules have exceptions,
the privileged classes of our ruial districts
take infinite pains to he abhorred by their
poorest neighbors. They enclose com
mons. 1 hey stop foot-paths. They wall
in their parks. They set spring guns and
men-traps. They spend on the keep of
high bred clogs what would suppeut half
as many children, and jet persecute a la
boring man for owning one friend in his
cur. 1 hey make tales of wages elabo
rately calculating the minimum nffuod hat
wid keep together the soul and body of a
clodhopper. They breed game in profu
sion for their own amusement, and having
thus tempted the poor men to knock down
a hare for his put, send him to the tread
mill or the antipodes for ttiat inexpiable
offence. They build jails, aud fill them,
'i hey make new crimes and new punish
ments fur the poor. They interfere with
the marriages of the poor,compelling some
and forbidding others to come together.—
They shut up paupers in work.houses,
separating man and wife, in pounds by day
and wards by night. They harness poor
men to carts. They superintend ale-hous
es, decry skittles, deprecate beer-shops,
meddle with fairs, and otherwise curtail
the already narrow amusements of tho
poor. Even in the church, where some
of them preach that all are equal, they sit
on cushions, in pews matted, and shelter
ed from the wind and the vulgar gaze,
while the lower order must put up witli a
hare hem h, on a stone floor, which is good
enough for them. Everywhere they are
ostentatious in their display of wealth and
enjoyments, while in their intercourse w’ith
the poor, they are suspicious, quick it) ta
king offence, vindictive when displeased,
naughty, overhearing, tyrannical and wolf
ish.”
After these representations of society in
the poorer classes of England, what man
is there wi ll brains enough to weigh a
penny weight, who cannot see room enough
for Mr. Thompson to carry out his noble
purposes at home ? Let him emancipate
poor white people in England from suffer
ing— let him abolish crime arid starvation
from Great Britain before he attempts a
crusade against slavery in this country.
Jenny Lind Leading the Fashion.—
The most laughable incident connected
with the the Queen of Song that we have
yet heard, is said to have taken place at
Irving House on the fiist day of her arrival
in the City ofGotham. As the gong rung
fur dinner, there was a perfect stampede
among the female hoarders of the house,
to obtain the earliest possible scrutiny, of
the articles of dress,ribbons, comb, or hair
pins with which the Swedish nightingale
might be pleased to adorn herself on this
hei fiist appearance, before the young and
blooming females .if America. Judge,
then the mortification of every lady pre
sent when the affected songstress entered
the room dressed in the simplest manner
possible, and nothing to prevent her flow
ing locks ftom falling on her gracefully
slopingshoufilers,but a few plain hair-pins.
As she entered ihe room and took her seat
at the table, there was almost a unanimous
exclamation of—“ What !no comb on the
hack of the head ! Oh, how unfortunate
that I should not have known it, so that I
might have left mine in my room and used
a few pins instead.’*
Now, he it known to our male readers,
that the anxiety to asccrtian the quality
and quatntiy, of Jenny’s wearing fixins,
was not a fault or peculiarity belonging
exclusively to the foregoing ladies; bu*
one that is inheritant in the sex. or proven
by the fact that on Jenny’s retiring to her
room, she immediately addressed her dies
sing maid as follows
“Suspy, dear I noticed the ladies pre
sent at The table to day, had their hair dies
sed with great taste and care, and fastened
behind with a large comb—and as I diJ
not wish to appear odd or eccentric while
Sojourning among so good a people, you
will please go out shopping to day, dear,
and obtain me a large comb with which 1
can fasten up my frait behind, American
fashion.’’
With a determination to ho behind the
fashion no I mger than could possibly he
helped, some thing over a hundred fe
males were busily engaged during most
of the day, in so dressing their hair that
without the assilan. eof combs, it should
appear ala Jenny Lind,
As Jenny entered the rnom.thenext day,
what was her surprise and mortification,
on noticing that, instead of every lady hav
ing a large comb in her as on the day previ
ous the hair in every instance, was fasten
ed up in true-roll hair pin style.
The mortification of the female board
ers, however, wasstil greater than that of
Jenny—to think that the entire part of the
afternoon of the previous day, and some
three hours previous to the ringing of the
gong on the present occasion.vvas devoted
! o the subject of hair dressing, (the Irving
in fact, having been transformed into a six
tiered Barber shop,) and after all, the
Nightingale had made her second ap
pearance in a large comb of precisely the
same pattern that they had cast aside as
u-eless and unfashionable, hut twentyfour
hours previous.
MACON, G A.
SATURDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 21.
Merry Christmas ! —Next Wednesday w ill
he Christmas Day, and in order to give our
selves a few hours to recruit, that we may en
ter with more vigor and spirit upon the dis
charge of our weekly duties for the New Year,
vve design giving holyday next week, and there,
fore our paper will not appear again before Sat
urday, January 4.
Nr.w Year's Address. —We shall have an
Address fixed up in fine sty le for our Carriers on
New Years Day, and ue forewarn our patrons
if they want lo keep on amicable terms with our
“Devil,” they had better lay aside a few dimes
to give him when lie makes the customary call
The Male Academy.— We learn with pleas,
ure that this Institution, under the charge of
Rev. P. A Strorel, and Rev. Geo. 11. Has
cock, former Professor of Languages in the Wes
leyan Female College, will begin its session on
Monday, the (itlt of January with cheering pros
pects. The public is well informed as to the fit
ness of both these gentlemen for Teachers, and
will, we doubt not, patronize them liberally.
TO OUR PATRONS.
The undersigned having associated with him.
self, his son, Wm. P. Harrison, in the Editorial
Department of tile Southern Tribune , the paper
will hereafter he edited by us jointly. Os the
benefits likely to result to our readers from this
arrangement, vve forbear to speak, preferring that
the paper should be judged by its merit. We
contemplate making material improvements in
its appearance, and therefore, whilst we return
our thanks to our friends for past favors, res
pcctl’ully solicit a continuance of the same.
WM B. HARRISON.
To the Patrons of the Southern Tribune.
In making the announcement of my connec
tion with the Editorial Department of this Pa.
per, a word or two by way of prefatory remark
may be expected by its reader*. The cause of
Southern Rights, so dear to every man with a
heart wont to beat in unison with Southern
thoughts and motives, litis called the aged from
their retirement, and placed thpir grey heads
again among the political struggles of the day
and ushered forth the ardent voting to sustain
the cause of truth and candor, for years flagging
tinder the weight of tyrannical oppression. Our
homes, our firesides and our sovereign existence
have been placed in jeopardy by the inctirsive
power of a section, which, above all others,
has reaped the munificent rewards of Southern
industry and toll. We are threatened with
evils, compared to which, extermination anti
depopulation are favorable gifts. The elements
ot a fierce National warfare are collecting in the
East, the West, the North and the South, arid
ever) American freeman will he called upon to
pass his decision on the momentous issues pend
ing. The battles of freedom are to he fought
again, by the potent arm of the popular will
Every day that we live, some new evidence of
preparation for this sanguinary conflict is de
veloped, and unless we of the South come bold
ly to the van of the invading foe, and repel him
from our border, our representative and sove
reign existence will he lost, amid the unconquer
able majority against our institutions in Con.
gress, and the heterogeneous mass of those
who will be forced upon us as fellow-citizens
Envied in foreign iands for our salubrious cli
mate, luxuriant soil, and democratic privileges ;
plotted against by unholy minds on our North
ern boundary—divided and distracted among
ourselves, the People of the South must look to
a vigilant and unpolluted Press, and the purity
of their attested champions, for their political
salvation from irretrievable ruin.
It shall lie my humble aim, if aught of power
or perspicuity attaches to my pen, in connection
with the senior Editor, to present these issues
in their legitimate and evident form before the
readers of this Paper. No partizan spirit should
mingle its putrid counsels in this contest now.
It is a struggle for the safety of our endearments
at home, and the quieiuue of our christianized
liberty. Far be it from us to permit personal
motives of aggrandizement and advancement to
govern our actions in this important crisis—a
heart unswayed by the hope of reputable emol
ument, and unterrified by rampant opposition,
is best calculated for these emergencies and dan.
gers, and should alone breast the responsibili.
ties that increase at every step of progress.
The Tribune will endeavor to maintain the
cardinal doctrines of n Democratic Government,
but above all, the preservation of State Ri >hts
and Southern Rights, attacking alike the abuses
of good policy at home, and the undisguised en
emies to our institutions abroad. The land of
our birth shall ever receive the most careful and
hand to defend her against foreign aggression
we shall upon the other zealously advocate that
peaceful policy of diversified labor, which will
tend to developo the vast resources of our coun
try, and to establish her in wealth and honor
able independence.
WM. p. HARRISON.
Macon, Dec 21,
SOI'TH-CAROLISA SKOESSION.
There is a school of philosophers extant in
these chaotic times, which inculcates the doc
trine, that to fear the power of the Federal Gov
ernment, and to acknowledge its unconditional
and unlimited supremacy, are the only safe
guards of this mighty “Union.” The spirit of
the Three Millions which revolutionized the po
litical systems of the world, seems to have died
away in the distance of years, until the record
of their actions is regarded as the varnished his
tory of (to us) an unexperienced past. The
magnetic attraction existing in the focus of Na.
tional power destroys the agency of free think
ers, and renders them obedient to the arbitrary
force of organized affinity. In a word, say these
frightened Submissionists, to array the will of
the people of a State in opposition to the “om*
nipotent majority” which sways the destiny of
the National Legislature, is, as a consequence
inevitably sure, forever to alienate that people
from the slightest participation in the benefits
flowingfroma united confederacy. They appear
to forget that aggressive power grbws with sub
mission, and even though there may be an ho
nored “fiat” that “hitherto shalt thou go, but no
farther,’’ existing from time immemorial, yet it
is the province of power to subvert as well as
establish, and the right which authorized the
inscription of this forbidding principle, can
likewise be used to erase it.
Why has llte true Republican spirit failed (0
produce beneficial effects, and to establish itself
upon a permanent basis in the Old World?
History answers that the consolidation of power
into the hands of a few rulers, and ultimately
the conformation of independent State* into ono
Federal head, have resolved the responsibility
of Government into a source entirely incapable
of adequate legislation. And thus, the celehr|-
ted Republics of Greece and Rome fell, never
more to rise from their ruins in any other form
than monarchical or aristocraticnl kingdoms and
empires. And so, too, the Government of these
United States is rapidly tending to the absorp.
tion of individual and Stale sovereignties into a
great Federal head. Indeed, the doctrine has
been openly avowed by Northern Senators, that
this Government is one of an unalterable nature
that we must leave the correction of abuses to
those that make them—that we have no right as
States to withdraw from the Union, no matter
what measures of oppression may be binding
upon us, nor how much our particular rights
may be violated—we must await the current of
events, and if a hostile and fanatical majority,
who have declared us to be an enemy whom,
they will persecute to the furthest limit of their
power, choose to take pity upon our defenceless
condition, and give us a few crumbs of “aid
and comfort,” we must receive them, meekly
kneeling to testify our veneration for the gene
rosity that prompted such “quarter.”
It is vain to talk of Constitutional barriers to
farther aggression, and the respect of “law-abi
ding” people for the rights of the South. The
same secret power that prompted Rob’t Toombs,
once the champion of the South, to desert the
Southern army, and to defend a measure fraught
with incalculable evil to the institution of slave
ry, can muster brethren of this recreant stamp*
and “good and true” abolitionists enough to re
move every hindrance that the Constitution
presents, and to legalize measures potent enough
to render the land of our birth a hot-bed of ruin,
devastation and death, to every man who bears
the mark of Cain, a quondam slaveholder, on
his forehead. The same mysterious acumen
which suddenly burst forth upon the brain o'
Alexander H. Stephens, with more than
Drummond brilliancy, and exhibited the won,
derftil fact that there was no harm in the Omni
bus Bill, but rather art unequalled triumph for the
South, can very clearly unfold Federal honors
and Federal emoluments, enveloped within the
keeping of the Washington junto for those who
help to put us down. What then is our remedy?
Tho Georgia Convention has said—wait and see.
The time is not yet come.
But Sooth Carolina, the enemy of despot
ism ; from the foundation of the American
Union a fearless advocate for equal rights and
privileges ; the land of Calhoun, still breath
ing the patriotic spirit of 1776 ; the home of
talent and wisdom ; the nursery of a large por
tion of American greatness ; whose citizens
scorn the bribery of partizan aspirants, and the
the taunts of impotent scribblers—Carolina
stands with her feet based upon the rock of
State sovereignty, and she will repel the foe
that dares venture another movement upon he r
rights. Yes, true and loyal citizens of Georgia
may with propriety and aptitude exclaim :
“Carolina ! Carolina ! Heaven’s blessings attend
her !
While we live we will cherish, and love, and de
fend her.
Tho' scorners may sneernt, and witlings defame
her,
Our hearts swell with gladness, whenever we
name her l”
It is not to he wondered at, that there are
some men who will seek to cast odium upon
South Carolina. Her political principles are too
pure for these mud-colored classes—her prac
tices and theories are too legitimate and straight,
forward for their dodging propensities —and
'herefore, although their better judgment de
murs from sucli a course, they can only maintain
tlicir supposed consistency by heaping insulting,
though harmless epithets, upon that gallant
Stale. But it is useless work—Georgia, tb®
twin-sister of Carolina, if left to herself, freed
from the malicious interference of false friends
and partizan humbugs, and truly aware of the
momentous issue at stake, will, notwithstand
ing the recent election appears to indicate*
contrary disposition, be found side by side with
our brethren on the other bank of the Savannah
River.
But ilie question arises, will South Carolina
secede now ? We do notbefieve she will, lb®
Fed era I iniquity is not yet lull, -"bo
will wart until her Sister States see tlieir San.
gor and join her ; until the encroachments upon
our rights have been finally and eflectun.ly
stopped —or in the failure of both these events*
until she shall have challenged the world for a
word of condemnation, founded in truth, agoinst
her course. Then sho will secedo. And w
Mr Fti.t.MOßr., or Mr. anybody else, attciop
