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4 .*r : (’<&<?. '% v mbmmm&j&m o r .X. the: EEY. A. J. RYAN, Editor- AUGUSTA, GA., AUGUST 29, 1868. THE ISSUE. The grave issue before the Grand In quest of the Country—the People—in the present canvass, is not whether Sey mour and Blair are sounder patriots and better men than Grant and Colfax— though they are; but whether Constitu tional Liberty shall perish with this can vass, or bo perpetuated to future genera tions. That is the grand issue before the Corntry ; and it is a grand issue. In it are involved numerous minor questions, issues, and principles, all more or less grand and important in themselves; but alone, little and insignificant, when com pared with the grand issue itself. The Radical party, through its corrupt Congress, and through its venal office holders, has placed itself “outside of the Constitution has trampled upon that sacred Charter of our Liberties ; and has sunk the country in debt, ruin, and dis grace. It has manacled and shackled the South. For three long, dreary, years, it has ruled here with the sword and the bayonet; it has disfranchised her intelligence and enfranchised her ignor ance ; it has given to venal, corrupt, de graded men, high positions in the coun cils of the State; it has done this by fraud, trickery and, corruption ; it has impoverished the people, and bankrupted corporations; it has incited animosities between the white and black races; it has inaugurated revolution and blood shed by forcing illegal Governments upon the people of the South, and depriving them of their just rights; it has dragged innocent men from the bosoms of their families, to be tried for high crimes, be fore illegal tribunals ; it has corrupted, by false promises and bribery, men who once held the confidence and respect of the people ; it has established tortures in the shape of “sweat boxes” and bayonets; it has alienated the people of the North and the South; it has ruined and de graded the Negro; it has plunged the whole country into an onerous and over whelming debt, into anarchy, poverty, and ruin ; it has—but why go on ? Is not the indictment terrible enough to alarm the people of every section of the Union ? Is it not enough to wake them from their lethargy, and make them open their eyes to the awful fate that awaits them ? Can a party with such a record —can a party reeking with such corrup tion and such crimes as these be tolerat ed in a country boasting itself “the land of the free and the home of the brave?” We believe not. It must perish. It must go down in shame, in degradation, and be hidden forever in oblivion’s dark est recesses. It must be made a thing to be loathed and despised by honest and true men and women everywhere. And it will be. The South has appealed from her ty rants to the Grand Inquest of the Nation ; and the verdict will be overwhelmingly in favor of Constitutional Liberty. She wants no war. She craves peace. She asks to be delivered from tyranny, that she may go to work in the fields of pro gress and industry, and help to build up once more the glory and grandeur of the Nation. This is her appeal; and we be lieve that it will not be made in vain. The cheering answer comes from every quarter of the Union, from the waters of the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico; from the Atlantic to the Pacific; from Maine to California : “Be of good cheer; the dawn of day is at hand ; the clouds of Fanaticism are rolling away ; the light in the East is breaking , the People are aroused; they arc coming ‘terrible as an army w 7 ith banners,’ ” and November next will witness a great, glorious, and over whelming victory for Constitutional Li berty. Niagara thunders forth the glo rious news. The shores of the Mexican Gulf re-echo the glad tidings; and along the Rocky Mountains the welcome rever berations are sounding. Let us then, people of the South, join, heart and hand, with the gallant men and women of the North, and standing firm with them, shoulder to shoulder, in this great contest, relaxing none of our energy 7 and activity, but persevering in our honest efforts to secure success, we cannot, and will not, under the Providence of God, fail to achieve a great and glo rious triumph. POLITICAL PROBLEMS. When a people honorable, brave, and accustomed to liberty—a people who have put their honor and virtue in the scale of war—who, reduced to poverty and slavery, by the ruthless and bloody sword of the oppressor, find themselves, after the dark and turbulent storm of war, in the transi tion state, it becomes them, as a brave and patriotic people, to lift up their heads, and make one more effort for liberty and civilization, before the great cooling calm consolidates.the conflicting and hetero geneous elements of discord into one vast solid rock of despotism. For the last four years, the power and enginery 7 of the Government, has been in the hands of politicians; in the com ing eventful twelve months, the people will make an effort to regain lost authori ty. The issue of the contest is yet veiled in the impenetrable obscurity of the preg nant future. The liberties of a whole people are on solemn trial. The social reaction, which is an inevitable conse quence of military usurpation, has come, and the last act, in the Drama of this Republican Government, will now be enacted. Virtue and intelligence are more ne cessary for the stability and prosperity of a Republican Government, than for any other form of Government yet de vised by the wisdom of men. It must be so, for it emanates free from man, and is accepted and obeyed by freemen. A Limited Monarchy, like England, will do, where power is in the hands of the few rich, with some checks secured to the wealthy traders of commerce, and where the starving millions of hungry paupers must be kept down, and revolu tionary instincts stifled by the iron hoof of power. John Bright, enlarging the Democratic element in England, may al leviate the masses, as individuals, but it is not too certain he is strengthening the pillars of Monarchy. Quite different is it in a Republic, working out its mission, and undergoing its chamelion changes. Here, the individual and masses must be educated, and that education accompa nied by virtue; for, intelligence without virtue is a sharp weapon in the hands of a strong child, who endangers himself, as well as those about him. In the great coming contest, we must hold fast to the old landmarks of liberty; deal strong and heavy blows for the old Constitution, brush away the cob-webs and dirty fringe of Amendments, or the Constitution, the “Pillar and Ground” 0! our Republic, falls, and the distinctive type of this free Republican Government is for ever lost, and passes into History as a thing that was. It does appear as if with slavery the great conservative element of the coun try was snapped and broken asunder and with that so-called “twin relic of bar barism,” perished also the Constitutional Governmentof checks and balances. But, this may be the ghost of a past issue ; let us pass on, aud take courage ; neither fear nor despair. The perpetuity of this Government, with its distinctive characteristics of De mocratic Republicanism, depends very 7 much upon the tone and temper of the pub lic mind within the next few months, and the turnt hat mind will take. Though a Democrat, we say pure Democracy, with , universal suffrage, will ruin this or any other country. In Democratic Athens, six thousand names were wanted, and were obtained, to ostracise the just Aristides. If the mere say so of a pure majority is right, the minority are at their mercy. Let the majority of ignorant and vicious vote to take away my house, or planta tion, and there be neither law nor appeal against the will of that majority, security would be lost, and with it the Govern ment. This brings us to the corner-stone of the difficulty 7 . Who can be allowed to vote, with less likelihood of abusing the franchise? The excellence and beauty of a Government consist in conferring franchise on as many of its people as will be consistent with security and safety. That intelligence, at least, should be a qualification, can scarcely be doubt ed, for, counting the votes of mere num bers, without taking into consideration their weight or value, is inverting the order of estimation, and making “confu* sion worse confounded.” Suffrage is a civil or political privilege, where the in dividual unites and participates in the personality of the State, and not a natural right; for in a state of nature, one man has no right over another man, and as many as can may unite together, it will not confer right, for the multiplication of nothing is still nothing. If suffrage is a natural right, why not be logical and consistent, and extend it to all, women, boys, children, and idiots ? The old man votes in his dotage or second infancy ; why not these ? In them, the right ex ists in esse at last. Permit us a little digression, as we mentioned woman with the franchise* She is wisely excluded from the preaching and sacerdotal functions by the Church aud Scriptures, and surrounded with a halo of sanctity and respect, within the domestic hearth. Her delicacy, feeble ness, timidity, modesty 7 , with the cares of maternity, point to a private life, where she is happy and honored, and not to a public life. Iu taking from her all the vain empitiness of preaching and political turmoil, the Scriptures cast to the winds for ever the two domestic pests, polygamy and divorce, and thus contributed to place woman on the altar of true dignity. Suffrage, then, being a civil or politi cal privilege, the exercise of which, more or less restricted, is clearly allied to the security of the State, the State, alone, should confer the privilege, and give to the worthy and intelligent the right to vote, without leaving them (always a mi nority,) to the mercy of the vile herd of ignorant Voudooists; make voting an honor, an incentive with inducements to men to improve themselves, and climb up to attain that proud privilege of par ticipating in that moral being, the sov ereign State, by being citizens and being able to vote. We see no injustice in restricting suf frage, when the intelligent and worthy only vote, nor injustice in this being a pure White Man’s Government. Nature and natural law have nothing to do about voting, and Radicalism should not try to make equal what Nature and natu ral laws have made unequal. God does not make men equal—why should the Radical? One man is born poor, another rich; one strong, “with Atlantian shoulders, fit to bear the weight of might” iest empires,” another weak, puny, and consumptive ; one rarely gifted, erudite, and brilliant; another dwarfedjand stu pid ; one refined, elegant, and polished in his manners; another awkward, gawky, and a stammerer. Why should the Rad icals try to make everybody equal by un just laws ? It is because they are jealous, and hate us, and the leveling process levels downwards and never upwards. The clean, snowy, tips of mountains, are leveled down to the dirty hollows, and not the dirty hollows up to the illumined tops. It is for their benefit—not ours. In her palmiest days, during the Con suls, when mistress of the world, Rome was very careful whom she allowed to vote. The Pater familias , had the de cision of all questions, and Pater fami lias did not mean every father of family, but the Head of a family, a House, or Es tate, who could live within himself, sup port his retinue, and not depend upon others. Artisans, servants, and domestics generally, who lived with the Pater fa milias, though fathers of children, or Gmilies, by Nature, were not Pater fami lias by law, and could not exercise the electoral franchise. The crown of reward* when placed on the brow of a noble Pa ter familias, was more prized and honored than when gained as a simple Tribune or Consul. But soon, the Radicals of Rome> like ours, clamored for Egalite, Liberie, et Fraternite; and lo! on freedmen, slaves, on men who owned neither house nor lands, on the vast multitude, was conferred the electoral franchise, and then the market place became a vast sink of corruption, where votes were bought and sold in broad day light. From this, Rome dates her fall; and she fell rapidly. Let this country take warn ing. If in November next, every white man would vote, who could vote before the war, which we had fondly hoped, from the President’s proclamation of July; though now it appears otherwise, there is little doubt that the Democratic nominees would receive the popular vote of the whole country. If intelligence and vir tue could control, or had controlled since May, 1860, all the white men could and would vote at this election, and the coun try might be saved, and the Republic and Liberty perpetuated. The proud old ship of State, with all her broad white sailsy set, dashing through the spray, with the colors of Liberty all flying from every mast-head, would show a reconstructed country, the oue we ocne loved; and we could then feel and say: “She walks the waters like a thing of life, And seems to dare the elements to strife. W 7 ho would not brave the battle fire—the wreck— To move the monarch of her peopled deck ?” One of the Counsel in the case sends us the following, which, without note or comment, we gladly publish. In a very kind letter to us, he states that his connexion with the case was one of the means which led him into the Catholic Church ; “for,” writes he, “my 7 investi gations and study of the case, drew my attention to many facts respecting the English Protestant Bible, of which I was wholly iguorant; facts, which went far to convince me that the English Bible was altogether too unreliable to be the sole means of conveying the Revelations of God to man” : Ax Interesting Lawsuit— A Court of Chancery to Decide wiiat is a Cor rect Version of the Bible. It will be remembered by 7 persons, whose attention was called to the matter, that quite a controversy arose amongst Protestant Divines aud Theologians, ten or a dozen years ago, as to the correct ness of the version of the English Bible, published by the American Bible So ciety 7 . It appeared, in the progress of the controversy, that, in 1847, the American Bible Society referred to its Committee on Versions the subject of collating the different editions of the Protestant Eng lish Bible from that of King James, in 1611, down to the latest publications of the Society, for the purpose of correcting the many typographical, and other errors, which had crept into them, and of making a standard Bible, from which all the Bibles of the Society should be published. This Committee, composed of eminent Divines, of different Protestant sects, labored at this work for several years, and, finally, in 1851, completed a copy of the Bible, which they reported to the American Bible Society as a correct standard. The Report was adopted, and thenceforward the Society printed its Bibles according to this copy. The matter attracted little attention for several years; but, in 1856, or ’57, some enquiring Bible reader discovered, as he alleged, that the Committee 011 Versions had altered the Sacred Text in some places, and Had changed the headings of chapters, and marginal references, so as to make them amount to notes and com ments, more or less sectarian; and that, consequently, the Bibles published by the Society were not according to the version of King James. The subject was taken up by the re ligious newspapers and periodicals, and a vigorous attack was made on the Society’s Bible, in a pamphlet, entitled, “An Apology for the Common English Bible,” published in 1857, by Joseph Robinson, in Baltimore, an<’ by Dana A Cos., in \\ M . York. The Maryland Bible Society took tr the subject, and made earnest remou strances to the American Bible Society against the alleged changes, particularly those where the sense f the text L a *d been altered. The Bib.* Societies ,»f Pennsylvania, Virginia, and many other auxiliary Societies, soon joined in the re* monstrance, and quite a breeze of con troversy sprung up in the Protestant Theological world. The detailed Report of the Committee on Versions was published by the Ameri can Bible Society, in the same year, 1857 . but this, so far from allaying the disturb ance, seemed to add fuel to the flame, fi appeared from the Report, that the “number of variations recorded by tin* collator, solely in the text and punctua tion of the six copies compared, falls but little short of twenty-four thousand.”-. Report, page 31. And they add, with u simplicity which did not seem to satisfy their more orthodox brethren : “Yet, of all this great number, there is not one which mars the integrity of the text, or affects any 7 doctrine or precept of tip Bible.” The Committee were evidently actuated by an honest purpose to “present a correct version of the Bible in the English lan guage, and when, from the collation of different copies, they discovered a mani fest error, they 7 went back to the Greek, or Hebrew, and, consequently, made soon' passages to differ from any previous edi tion. And whatever may have been the effect of the twenty-four thousand varia tions discovered iu the six copies com pared, it is evident, and, indeed, admit ted by 7 the Committee, t.ha'c some of their own changes affected the sense of the text. See Report, page 25. To a disin terested spectator, it is clear, that, in some instances, at least, the Committee were right in making the changes, if the object of the translation be to convey the sense of the originals. But, to men, who be lieved that King James’ version was made under immediate Divine guidance, any change in the text seemed to be little better than an attack on the Bible itself. The breeze grew to be almost a storm, and was not quieted until the American Bible Society 7 , on the 28th January, Iffu adopted the following resolutions: “ Resolved , That this Society’s present Standard English Bible be referred to the Standing Committee on Versions for examination, and in all cases where the same differs in the text, or its accessories, from the Bible previously published by the Society, the Committee are directed to correct the same by conforming it to previous editions printed by this Society, or by the authorized British presses: reference being also had to the original edition of the translation printed in lfill: and to report such corrections to tiff Board, to the end that anew edition, thus perfected, may be adopted as the standard edition of the Society 7 . “ Resolved, That until the completion and adoption of such new Standard Edition, the English Bibles to be issued by this Society shall be such as confirm to the editions of the Society, anterior to the late revision, so far as may 7 be practi cable, and excepting cases where the per sons, or auxiliaries, applying for Bibles, shall prefer to be supplied from copies of the present Standard Edition, now <-:i hand, or in process of manufacture.” > 42 d Annual Report of American LP Society , 1858, page 31. This terminated the theological con*:o - ; but a lawsuit has grown out of it, and the Court of Chancery at M >nt gomery, Ala., is called upon to decide, whether the Committee on Versions di make such changes in the text of the Bible as to make a version different from that previously in common use, and whether the changes made in the head ings of the chapters, and marginal rc‘ ; t ences, amounted to notes and comment-- Abner McGehee, a wealthy citizen or Montgomery County, Alabama, made Iff will January, 1855, and died the follow:: ; month. Ilis will was duly probated,ram amongst other charitable bequest.-, en tains the following clause: “7. I give, bequeath, and devise, to my -• Executors, hereinafter named, a suff number of shares of my Stock in Montgomery and West Point Rail B Company, to amount to fifty tlimi- tr dollars; this bequest is made in tv > r and upon the conditions and limitat: a following, viz : My r said Executors collect and receive all such divide and payments as may he allowed. 1 made by said Rail Road Corporati"’* apon the said shares of Stock, anl iff over the same to the American citey, a corporation located in the Cff- New York, and chartered by the New York in the year 1835, the ff,ff having been formed in the year Such dividends, or payments, are to made by my said Executors, to be by said Corporation, for the object-'