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EEV. A. J. RYAN, Editor
AUGUSTA,Ga„ NOVEMBER 7,18C8.
PATIENCE AND FORBEARANCE.
These are, certainly, great virtues.
They are great virtues, which the South
ern people possess in an eminent degree.
The history of the past three years fully
sustains us in this assertion. We have
borne insult, and reproach, and mis
representation, as no people in this
world ever boro insult, reproach, arid
misrepresentation before. And do we
get any credit for it ? Do we get any
compassion for it ? Do we get any sym
pathy for it ? Arc our sufferings lessened
any for it ? No. Well, do we deserve
any credit for it? We rather think
not. We don’t sec that it does any good
whatever. Well, what then ? How can
we resist the evils, that are iuflicted up
on us ? Must we go to war again ? Oh
no 1 by no means ! We don’t advocate
“ rebellion,” simply because we know
it would be folly to attempt such a thing.
If we could have any prospect of suc
cess, we might possibly advocate it—but
not now. We are too helpless, too pros
trate, too ruined, for that. But we
needn’t cringe, and bow, and fawn, be
fore and about our oppressors. We
needn’t be so humble, so patient, and so
forbearing. Throw a stone at a dog,
and it will turn, and bite the stone, if it
cannot reach the hand that threw it;
strike a horse, and it will try to kick
you; injure an elephant, and he will re
taliate. And so on through all animated
Nature. There may be patience and
forbearance, but it is not a cringing,
begging patience and forbearance.—
There may be humility, but it is not the
humility of cowardice. And, as it is in
Nature, why no* so too in Human Nature ?
Men may be patient, and forbearing, and
humble, but they need not be cowards,
nor fawning suppliants. The people of
the South may, and must, take a great
deal ; but they need not give up their
manhood, their self-respect, their bravery.
These are the inheritance bequeathed to
them by their fathers, and they must not
give them up. If the Yankees insult
us, we can call them cowards, for doing
that which they would not dare attempt,
were we their equals in arms and num
bers. If they reproach us, we can tell
them that we have done nothing to de
serve reproach. And if they misrepre
sent us, we can tell them that they lie,
and that they know they lie We can
refuse to patronize them. We can sus
tain our own home institutions; our own
merchants, mechanics, and laborers ; our
own schools, literature, and industry.—
Doing this, we shall be able to achieve
an independence which, though not a
political one, will, at least, punish the
wicked people, who have so long, and so
sorely, tried our patience and forbear
ance. Let our people unite on this
platform, and they will have no cause to
regret the result.
UNDER THE GAS LIGHT.
Under the gas-light—out there in the
quiet street—so quiet, after the noisy
day of toil, and business, bustle, and con
fusion, trade, and commerce, and work ;
out there, under the gas-light, the work
of business is over, but the work of evil
is not finished. It knows no rest; it
knows no quiet; it knows no sleep.—
Ever awake, ever active, ever doing, the
bright sun-light of day and the softer
gas-light of night shine, alike, upon its
work.
Under the gas-light—the merchant,
who has gathered his horde of gold and sil
ver, at th"' expense of honor, at the’expense
of the suffering of the poor and the lowly;
the merchant who has scorned and buffeted
the little beggar girl from his office door;
the merchant, whose charities fill the
papers, and whose popularity is only
bounded by his wealth, passes to his
comfortable home, where he sits under
his gas-light, counting over his ill-gotten
gains of the day, chuckles at the frauds
which he has practised, and laughs at the
suffering women and children. The
gas-light shinesJnto his mansion, and in
his parlor, and it gives a lustre to his
gold, and a brightness to his joy ; but
some day another gas-light will shine
upon his actions, and his gold will be
turned to dross, and his joy will be
changed to sorrow.
Under the gas-light, young men, at
times the associates of innocent girls
and pure women, now reel forth from
haunts of vice and shame, drunk and
blasphemous, filling the air with their
ribald song's, and jests, disgraceing them
selves, and those who should be dear to
them. And, in the day-light, these rude
rioters, so calm, and so quiet, and so
industrious, will be taken into the society
of the good and the pure, and though so
foul within, seem yet so fair without.
But the gas-light of Eternity will ex
pose them, “ whited sepulchres ” that
they are ; and the brightness of out
raged Virtue and Innocence will blacken
still more the darkness of Vice and
Shame.
Under the gas-light, poor starving
women come to ask a pittance of the
passer by ; and innocent little girls of
fer their choice nosegays to the rich and
the proud ; and the tempter comes, and
innocence is lost, and shame is added to
poverty, and wo to misery. But for this
night of Evil there will be, after the
long night of Death, a day of reckoning,
and tempter and tempted will stand forth
in a light more brilliant, more searching,
more terrible, than the gas-light that saw
the evil done.
Under the gas-light, the gamester
allures his victim to the temple of Mam
mon, and there, under the gas-lights of
that abode of Evil, fleeces him of his all,
sends him back under the gas-light of
the street, to curse himself, perhaps to
destroy himself. But, one day, the gas
light of the temple, and the gas-light of
the street, will “pale their ineffectual
fires” before the greater Light of Judg
ment, giving, as they expire, testimony
of the evil that they have witnessed.
Under the gas-light, the burglar en
ters the unprotected dwelling, and robs
it of its household goods. No mortal
eye looks upon him ; but the gas light is
there, and the Eye which knows no
sleeping sees him, and in the light of
Justice, his sin will grow black and his
deeds will be punished.
Under the gas-light,"the assassin lurks
to watch his victim, and, as the latter
passes into the darkness of the surround
ing shadows, strikes the blow which sends
him, all unprepared, before the Judgment
Seat above. The Police find the body,
and the officers of the law investigate
the murder; but there is no clue to it.
The assassin is unknown; he cannot be
found—unknown here, undiscovered
here; but known and found where all
is known, and found, and judged, ac
cording to its merits.
And so, under the gas-light, out in the
seemingly quiet streets, the Genius of
Evil does his work. He spares no ef
fort, he keeps ever busy, and he marshals
his followers here, and there, and every
where ; and they come and go at his
beck and nod; and the world moves Tin,
unheeding and uncaring.
And under the gas-light, as in the
darkness, of the dwellings of the good,
Innocence and Peace lie slumbering
“ dreaming, sweetly dreaming,” dreams
of purity, and goodness, and happiness;
while, under the gas-light of the streets,
evil is running riot, innocence is lost,
peace is destroyed, happiness is crushed.
It is no wonder that the gas-light flickers,
and glares, and hisses at the sights which
it witnesses. It could tell more tales of
woe, and shame, and villainy, than mortal
ears would wish to hear. But it cannot
t imhi ©i sii i©®Ei.
speak. It only shines and flickers, and
glares and hisses. But, perhaps, some
day it will have a voice to tell what it
has seen and heard ; and, perhaps, it will
be summoned before the Judgment Seat
of Heaven as a witness to tell all it
knows. Happy will it be for you in that
day, reader, if the light of Mercy shall
outshine the light which has witnessed
your evil deeds. Come out, then, from
under the pale Gas-light of Evil into the
bright Sun-light of Religion and Faith ?
and “so let your lights shine before
men,” that, in the day of your trial and
judgment, your reward may be a light
of Eternal brightness, eternal peace, eter
nal joy.
IGNORANCE OF THE SOUTHERN PEOPLE,
We invite the attention of our readers
to the article with this title, which we
take from the Nashville Home Monthly.
It contains food for serious reflection.
The South is its own destroyer. It has
built up its enemies, and made them
strong; and now s it is reaping the reward
of its folly. It is now a wasted and
ruined section, It is now buffeted and
abused by those whom it has pampered
and nourished. How long will this fool
ish policy of our people continue ? It
need not last a day, an hour, or a minute.
It is not in the province of bayonets to
force you to remain subjects to Northern
Literary, Commercial, and Manufacturing
tyrants. It is in your power to throw off
those shackles, and to maintain your free
dom from that oppression. If you could
not achieve your Political Independence,
you can, at least, achieve your Literary
and Commercial Independence. Will
you do it? Why not? It is so easy.
You have here all the facilities for as
serting and maintaining this independence,
and for punishing the haughty Vandals of
Yankeedom, who would force you to pay
tribute to them, and then receipt your
advances with jibes and jeers, insults and
blows. Use these facilities, and you will
have no cause to regret the effort.
SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE.
The South has failed in her effort to
achieve her political independence. She
has it yet in her power to make herself a
thorn in the side of the North, and to
humble the pride of her arrogant con
querors, who have battened on her blood,
and grown rich by the sweat of her brow.
She has, within herself, resources which,
if properly developed, must make her
financially, commercially, and otherwise,
independent of the North ; and these re
sources, properly applied, may, some day,
enable her people to see “ the Lost
Cause” Regained, and to enjoy that inde
pendence which they so much desire and
so well deserve. Among other essentials
to this result, is the establishment of
Direct Trade with Europe ; and the fol
lowing article on the subject, from the
Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution, is so appropos
that we give it a place in our columns, in
viting especial attention to it:
DIRECT TRADE WHAT IT WILL DO FOR THE
SOUTH.
It is impossible, in the brief limits of
a newspaper article, to more than glance
at the immense advantages which must
result to the South by the permanent es
tablishment of Direct Trade. When this
is done—when frequent and direct com
munication between the South and Eu
rope has become an accomplished fact,
we may well regard the South as on the
high road to wealth and prosperity.
Until then, we will look in vain for such
accessions to our producing population,
and for such an influx of capital, as. will
enable the people of the South to develop
and make available such resources as the
war could not destroy, and out of which,
if at all, they must recover their lost for
tunes. We must, by some means, re
place what the war swept away ; labor
and capital, or the resources that still re
main, will prove to be of little value to
us. The labor we must get from Eu
rope, either directly or indirectly. We
are no longer rich and prosperous ; no
longer able to pay others for doing what
we can do better for ourselves. If we
would succeed in inducing emigrants to
settle among us, to buy and cultivate our
idle lands, to develop our dormant re
sources, and thus to regain, and even
surpass, our former prosperity, we must
ourselves inaugurate and carry out active
measures that will bring about such a de
sirable result. We must not only direct
the attention of emigrants to the large
amount of fertile lands now lying idle,
and which can be bought—as compared
with the prices ruling in the North and
West—for a mere song; to our climate,
unsurpassed by any in the world, and ap
proximating nearer to the climate of
their native land than that of any other
portion of the United States; to the
great variety of our productions, and the
intrinsic value and ready sale of those
which are peculiar to the South; to the
richness and extent of our mineral re
sources, and to the thousand other advan
tages which the God of Nature has given
us. But, we must, in addition to these
advantages, provide, as we may do, a
shorter, cheaper, and less perilous way to
reach the South than there is to the West.
We must not compel emigrants to the
South to come through the North. We
must relieve them of the expense of an
increased and unnecessary travel; we
must protect them from the rascalities of
Northern emigrant agents and runners;
and we must keep them out of the reach
of Radical emissaries, who, by lying tales
of bloody deeds and manifold dangers to
life and property, would seek to deter
them from coming among us. We must
bring them from their own ports direct
to ours by a regular line of steamers,
and by combination with our different
lines of railroads, secure low rates and
few transfers, so that they may be trans
ported cheaply and expeditiously to their
destination. When we are able to an
nounce in Europe that such arrange
ments are perfected, then, and not till
then, may we expect emigrants. We
shall then have laid the foundation of a
labor system which will regenerate the
South. For, with emigration will come
capital, not that alone which the emi
grants will bring, but the simple fact,
that the South is being supplied with,
and. encourages, the introduction of
White labor, will, of itself, give the Euro
pean capitalist confidence that he can,
with safety .invest his capital in the South.
We shall not, then, be dependent on
Northern bankers, who, after absorbing
the greater portion of the National Cur
rency, demand double interest for the use
of that which is rightfully our own. Di
rect communication once established and
English bankers will gladly furnish at
six per cent per annum, funds for the
purchase of produce to be shipped to Liv
erpool. But not only will we pay a less
rate of interest on advances, but we will
realize more from the sale of our pro
ducts. Our daily reports of the New
York and Liverpool markets, show that a
margin of not less than five cents per
pound has been steadily maintained be
tween New York and Liverpool. We
must ship our cotton direct to Europe,
and let this enormous profit enure to the
impoverished South, instead of swelling
the already bloated wealth of the North.
If the North, out of the profits derived
from the sale of our productions in for
mer times, have been able to build co
lossal fortunes until they- are surfeited
with riches, and—rolling in luxury'—
pant for some new desire to gratify, shall
we not profit by their example, and, in
the future, use these profits to repair our
broken fortunes ? If we were generous
to them then, may we not be just to our
selves now? Our duty to ourselves, our
families, and to our country, demands
that we shall use all the honorable means
in our power to build lip the ruined
South ? We must have labor, we must
have the use of capital at alow rate of in
terest. We must sell our products in
those markets where they command the
highest price, and we must make our
purchases where we can buy the cheap
est. We must have free access to the
markets of the world. Direct trade is
the only avenue through which we can
reach them with profit to themselves,
and we shall, therefore, hail with joy
the establishment of every direct line
of communication between Europe and
the South as another step towards re
gaining our former prosperity.
Thanks. —Wc extend our kindest re
gards to our friend, who writes the sub
joined note. Such expressions of friend
ship and regard as “ the Doctor’s,” are
gratifying and encouraging. They'nerve
us to the good work and the pleasing
task which we have imposed upon our
selves:
Mr. Editor— Dear Sir : I am proud
that we have one in our midst who is
bold enough to speak the sentiments of
his mind as regards his Church and our
Country. Our Country has been in
want of someone to advocate her cause;
and, as for the Church, the people at
large have never understood her princi
ples, and, lam free to say, I had never
taken the pains to see if she was right or
wrong until your paper was started; and,
from what I have learned, she will be
the only Church left in the future. I
raised anything but a Catholic. Mr.
Editor, may you go on in the future as in
the past, and, rest assured, you have niy
best wishes.
I remain, very respectfully, yoill .
ob’t serv’t, Dr.
For the Banner of the South.
PIETISM!
There are in most communities— and
the smaller the community happens to
be, the more obvious becomes the nni
sauce—a class of men, who are easily
distinguishable by the term of Pietists.
Exceedingly sleek and respectable are
these men, and smooth and soft are
their appearance to the outside world.
Grimalkin having dined off the wicked
canary bird that sings on the Sabbath the
same songs sung during the week, can
hardly present a more unctuous and self
satisfied appearance. Pietism pays, with
them Like unto the broadcloth coat and
white “choker” carefully laid aside fur
Sabbath wear, Pietism covereth a multi
tude of sins, and hideth many a deformity.
The sublime impudence and unsurpassa
ble egotism of these men leads them,
like the Pharisees of old, to assume high
places in the Synagogue of the world;
and, as such a comfortable style of things
is very frequently allied with stocks, and
shares, and balances in bank, the whole
combined forming a terrible incubus on
any community cursed by such a consoli
dation. For, although many simply
reject the pious meddling and inter
ference of these “Aminidab Sleeks”; yet,
they trap the weaker ones, and, by their
quiet bullying, ably backed by parsonism,
but the real and amateur article, they
biud heavy burdens on many men’s
backs, and render them to the world in
the light of ludicrous shams, whose cloak
of religion fits “like a purser’s shirt on a
handspike.” These Pietists, emboldened
by their success, continue their evil
courses until they place their fat paws on
existing institutions which they find too
strong for them ; then, like the child pick
ing up a red-hot bar in a blacksmith shop,
they lay it down without being told, and,
weepingly, thank God that they are not as
other men. In many cases, being blessed
with excessive stupidity, allied with
enormous self-conceit, they have, in middle
age, ceased to find anything interesting
in many amusements natural to people
around them, and, having successfully
worshipped the “golden calf,” they stiil
retain the “wages of sin,” and deign to
patronize a god of their own conception,
who does not wed opinions differing from
themselves. This is all very well; we do
not object to this “sort of tiling,” if it
suits them ; but it would seem as if these
“holy men,” secretly conscious of the
huge sham they were guilty of, desired to
waylay, or, if necessary, drive in their
fold some other sheep having a good sup
ply of wool. The victims of this decep
tion must mould their “views” and ideas,
so as to be in consonance with the elect,
which means, serving God “according to
the dictates of your own conscience”;
provided , your conscience agreed with
the elect. In short, as some writer has
expressed it, the elects idea of Pell, “was
a place where every man could thin,-, as
he chose.” We still repeat, we havi no
objection to this sort of thing; if Grimalkin
eats canary birds, so much the worse for
the canaries; but we do object to being
classed with canaries, and imagine that
the interior of Grimalkin’s anatomy is not
agreeable or pleasant to us.
To drop metaphor, it is right to say
that Pietism is loosing daily its hold on
the minds of men. It is well that this is
so; for, a greater curse, or a harder
tyranny, never enslaved man, or more
completely ground the manhood out of
him, and rendered him more fit to bo
Treasurer of a Woman’s Sewing Society.
It is sad to contemplate what an evil it
has teen ; and, by way of drawing a
moral from our theme, we would ask each
of our readers to reflect, and look about
him, at its general results on the morals
and religious habits of the present age.
Young men, in their better moments,
sigh for something better than they have
become ; they seem, as it were, instinct
ively aware that real goodness, real piety,
real religion, real love and worship "1 a
good God exists, from whom cometh uli
good things, and who is ever merciful,
loving, and kind, and yet they do uot
know how to find Him.
Religion, to them, has been a nauseous
dose, connected with reminiscences ot
their early life — of dullness, stupidity, not
one elevating thought. Bible reading,
(forced!), Sabbath"School literature, ot
goodey boys and girls, long sermons
Irom Parsons, who only lacked ears to c
more useful animals, all combined
emetic of sufficient strength to enal o
them to throw up the “whole thing when
they became, legally, their own master.-.
No. Pietism will not rule this word.
The Sinners will not be crowded from a