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KEV. A. J. RYAN, Editor
AUGUSTA, Ga., MARCH 13, 1869.
ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS AND
BUSINESS LETTERS FOR THE “BAN
NER OF TIIE SOUTH” SHOULD BE
ADDRESSED TO THE PUBLISHERS -
L. T. BLOME & CO.
TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS-
We hope our friends will renew their
subscriptions at once. Those who do not
intend to renew will please notify us of
the fact. All who don’t renew in two
weeks will have their papers discontinued.
THE BANNER OF THE SOUTH.
This issue of the Banner brings the
first volume to a close. We established
our journal under many difficulties. A
few predicted success ; many foretold
failure. We, ourselves, were not without
many misgivings. But steadily our
Journal increased in popularity. Every
month increased its circulation. This
encouraged us—and on we worked.
Not that we care for popularity save as
a means of doing good ; for if we know
ourselves at all, we are sure that the
good of the South has prompted every
effort we have made, has inspired every
line we have written—and has been the
sole, supreme object of our editorial
labors. In these labors we have, per
haps, at times somewhat failed—owing
to other duties more important ; but we
did our best. Our Journal we do not
publish as a matter of speculation. It
is not our means of support. Whether
it pays us a cent or not for our trouble,
we care little. For this, though we do
care, that it may be one of the many
humble means promotive of the welfare
of the South.
A mercenary Press whose sole object
is to make money—and which, to reach
that object, will stoop to means most de
grading, is one of the greatest evils of
our country. We are not such. We
have never written a line merely to please.
We arc a little too proud for that. What
we know to he the Right, the South, the
Principle, that and that alone, regard
less of fear or favor, unmoved alike by
llattery or censure, we advocate. We
cater and have catered to no prejudices ;
we have been sycophants to no perverted
tastes. And fearlessly as we try to sus
tain the Right; so just as fearlessly have
we denounced the wrong.
The first issue of the Banner of the
South, in language plain and unequivocal
contained our “Principles and Position.”
We have stood by them. We intend to,
stand by them. We would sacrifice the
interests of the Banner to-day rather
than yield a single iota of these princi
ples or retreat a single inch from our
original position. We defend the Roman
Catholic Church. We have defended
that Church for one year, editorially ;
we hope ever to have the honor of being
ranked as one of her warmest, though
perhaps one of her humblest defenders.
Some have not liked our course on this
point. We care not for what any one
likes. We are the slaves to no one’s
likes. But we are royal slaves to the
Right in the Spiritual as well as in the
temporal order. Time and again we have
been, tho reluctantly, obliged to call at
tention to attacks planned by malice and
made by ignorance against our holy
Church. We have expressed them ;
and wc still watch for any assault that
may be made upon that Church.
Another object of the Banner was to
defend the temporarily—defeated princi
ples of the Southern Confederacy. As
a matter of History the Confederacy is
dead and buried. We waeh at the grave
and await the Resurrection. For as a mat
ter of Principle and Right the Confede
racy still lives—in no one’s heart more
sacredly than in our own.
We arc still a People —distinct from
the People of the North. Our histories
and memories arc diverse. Our tastes
cannot be made to harmonize. They
arc the conquerors—we the conquered ;
though it costs a bitter pang to write
that fact down. But our Rights are only
held in abeyance for a while—a while by
wrong—but over the little whiles of
wrong rests the Eternity of Right. Right,
like God, is patient—because immortal.
And hence, to-day as the first day we
issued the Banner, we can but repeat
the self same words used then to define
our Position. Those who do not like it ;
those who stood with us then in that posi
tion; but have since surrendered to wrong
—let them go. We do not wish their
names on our Rolls. “No deserters”—
that is our motto and watchward. Who
will stand by us ? Who will rally to
our side and keep vigils when Wrong has
lit his bivouac-fires over the graves of
Rights? Who? He is our frieud, and
our Banner should be his. As long as
we hold the editorial staff, these are the
only supporters we want ; men who are
true , who scorn the false and who have
vowed eternal war against wrong. We
have no more to say. We are not beg
gars for subscriptions.
THE PRESIDENT.
The Fourth of March has come and
gone. Andrew Johnson has had his day,
and passed from the White House at
Washington City to “the shades of private
life.” His successor, elected under the
forms of the Constitution—perhaps under
its letter, but not under its spirit—has
taken the oath of ofliee, and assumed the
position once honored by a Washington,
a Jefferson, a Madison, a Monroe, a
Jackson, and other illustrious men,
whose deeds have shed a halo of glory
around their country’s history, and whose
names live in the memory of patriots
everywhere. The forms have all been
complied with, and Grant is now the
President of the United States of Ameri
ca, so-called. What will be his course—
his policy ? lie gives us no clue to
answer this query. He only promises
that lie will be iintrammeled by any party
policy or party promises, and thus he
gives us some hope that justice will guide
his conduct of the affairs of State. His
Inaugural is, in the main, non-com
mittal and un-meaning ; but he holds
these three points : Ist, That he is un
trammeled; 2d, That he will execute
all laws—good or bad; and, 3d, That he
approves the “15th Amendment,” as it
is called. With the first, as we have
already said, some hope of relief comes
to us; with the second, much of that
hope is diminished, while we see a blind
submission to the will of Congress, from
whom must emanate these laws—good
or bad ; and with the third, there is the
assumption of a position which can re
sult in no good to the country —the ap
proval of a measure which, if adopted,
must make evil and only evil, to every
section of the Union, but more particu
larly to the South. We regret it. Still,
wc are not disappointed. Grant was not
our choice ; he is not, in our judgment,
the choice of a majority of the legal
voters, of the Union ; but he is the Presi
dent of the United States, and, good or
bad, wc must endure his administration
hoping, however, that he will do justice
to our section, and stand as a breakwater
between 11s and the waves of Radical
fanaticism.
SUBMISSION.
There are three kinds of submission.
There is the Christian submission to the
will of Heaven, which accepts every'
Providential occurrence, with humility
and patience ; there is the honorable
submission to what cannot be prevented
or avoided; and there is the mean, abject
submission which yields not only obedi
ance to the will of the conqueror, but
—— " ' » _ 3. :
licks the very hand that smites the blow.
The first of these kinds of submission
is a crown of glory to every human
being who practises it; the second is
an honor to our human nature, and
commendable at all times ; but the third
is a disgrace to humanity, and sinks
those who practise it to a depth below
the brutes. This last is the kind of sub
mission to which we wish to allude, and
which we wish to condemn. It is a
kind of submission which has been
practised pretty liberally in the South
since the war, and made it the prey oi
political vultures, instead of what it ought
to be, the pride and the glory of the
Union.
There were men who, in the darkest
hours of Southern history, stood lip for
principle, and honor, and patriotism; but
they were well nigh overwhelmed in the
popular anxiety to escape the troubles
which encompassed the ex-Oonfederate
States. Still they battled on for the right;
they kept the faith political as it ought
to be kept; and they held up the hands
of their people, arid made them strong.
Around this faithful band of patriots,
others clustered, and finally began to
speak above a bated breath, and even
dared to say that, though they were
forced to yield up their arms, they were
not yet forced to give up their principles
or their opinions. If their cause was
just when it triumphed, it was equally
just when it failed ; and they would de -
fend it with their lips and their pens,
now that it was lost, as they had defended
it with their swords and their guns when
it lived. But alasl there were others
who went down beneath the surging
waves of popular fear and popular
corruption. Some feared for their safety,
if they did not, in addition to submission,
give prompt and public evidence of
their “loyalty” to the “glorious Union.’’
Others saw golden opportunities for
securing offices, which they never could
obtain, when their fellow-citizens were
free and unshackled. And thus be
tween the cowards and the traitors,
treason flourished and corruption ran riot.
These creatures cared not for their
country. Some of them, it is true, had
been good and faithful soldiers in the
cause of the South; but their gallantry
was not proof against temptation and
wrong, and they fell in on the side of
error and corruption. These men have
done a grievous wrong. They have
given strength to the enemies of their,
section, they have ruined the South, and
injured their fellow-citizens. It is no
wonder, then, that they are hated and
despised. It is abject submission and
abject meaness that has brought the
trouble upon them; and if they are
now tabooed and outlawed, as it were
the fault is their owu and nobody else’s.
Oh ! if there be one of these unhapp y
creatures who reflects and sees the evil of
his conduct, we appeal to him to change
his policy, to come out of the wicked
party, and act in the future, for his coun
try’s good, and his country’s honor.
THE REDEMPTORiST FATHERS-
Tlic Mission of the Redemptorist Fath
ers, Revs Gross, Rathke, Freitag. and
O’Donoughue, closed at the Church of St.
Patrick, in this city, last Sunday even
ing. Their zeal, fervor, learning, and
piety, have impressed our people most
favorably, and their labors have produced
abundant, and we hope lasting, fruit in
this portion of the Lord’s Vineyard.
Sunday, the 27th ult., the Mission
opened, the exercises and devotions con
sisting of Mass and instructions at 5
and 8 o’clock a. m., and of devotions and
instructions in the evening at seven
o’clj|ek. Great interest was manifested
by the entire congregation, and the spec
tacle presented was truly edifying. Hun
dreds approached the sacraments. The
lukewarm were aroused to a sense of
their spiritual welfare and reconciled to
the Church, and thezealous became more
zealous in the good work. The Redempt
orist Fathers left here last Monday even
ing to prosecute their labors in other
portions of our State, carrying with them
the heartfelt prayers of the Catholics of
Augusta. We fervently hope that God
will long spare them to make their an
nual visits to the Diocese of Savannah —
where they have accomplished the
greatest good by their indefatigable
labors and self-sacrifice in the cause of
the Church of Christ. Our prayers at
tend them, and in the name of our people
we thank them from our inmost heart.
May God protect them.
[For the Banner of the South.]
PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
It is a usage in political salons —often
“more honored in the breach than in the
observance”—to turn from the setting to
worship the rising sun.
The sun of Mr. Johnson is njt setting
in a clear sky, but the clouds which
shade it are slightly tinged with crim
son which serves to soften, while it sad
dens the scene. Asa public man, his
course has been marked with many
demerits, and has not been without some
commendable conduct. He has stood
firmly in theory by bis “policy.” He
lias been powerless to enforce it in prac
tice. Having once given bis adhesion
to a policy which was in utter disregard
of the Constitution, he in vain has striven
to restore the Government to its Consti
tutional orbit. II is first departure was
Radical, and, therefore, irretrievable.
Tiie law of retribution could not be
evaded, and it has vindicated its power
upon the offender, and with him upon the
country. “The way of the transgressor
is hard.” And the present times have
furnished another signal exemplification
of the Scripture teaching that, “when
the wicked beareth rule the people
mourn”—which, the benevolence of the
Divine Providence mitigates. With a
moderate portion of public, virtue bo has
exhibited a modicum of personal in
tegrity that is honorable to his reputa
tion in this generation of almost univer
sal demoralization. But even this
generation would scarcely excuse the
commendation or accusation of the justice
and clemency of President Johnson.
Yet, in a day of equal retribution, and
before an infallible Judge, the wronged
and gentle spirits of the Widow Surratt
and her orphaned daughter—trie un
timely ghost of the unfortunate warden
ot Andersonville, and the many sufferers
from, and victims of, military commis
sions and despotic power, will have some
thing to allege or testify against the
compassion and humanity of his Excel
lency. His treatment of the vanquished
verged on an abuse of the rights of con
quest, and his military orders werebut
little less sanguinary than those of his
military sub-alterns; and, in the just com
putation of his motives, whatever may
be subtracted from animosity must be
accredited to temper ; and whatever may
be* justly deducted from this infirmity of
the Great , is attributable to the national
compassion for a great and fallen peo
ple; and this was accompanied with
concomitants which made it less grate
ful to the recipients than generous in
the bestower.
We commend him to the retributive
justice es history, with the hope that in
the adjustments of its compensations to
the merit or demerit of human actions,
it will find something to mitigate the
penance it rigidly imposes on human
delinquincies, and rescue him from all
impalement with the oppressors of past
generations.
Selma, Ala., March 4, 1861).
Procopius.
[For the Banner of the South.]
THE BANNER OF THE SOUTH IN TEXAS
Belton, Texas, Feb. 1869.
Rev. A. J. Ryan:
Dear Sir : Several numbers of The
Banner of the South have reached me,
and filled my soul with gladness. The
glowing sheet comes like rich music to
one who has been long doomed to harsh
discord; like air and light to a wasted
inmate of a dungeon ; or, like an ample
feast to one who feels the keen fangs of
hunger. Siice the surrender of our
glorious arms, I have mourned over the
fact that there was no Southern paper
in the South—at least, within my know
ledge—but am now rejoiced to find a
journal brave enough to express, in lan
guage as eloquent as emphatic, the feel
ings which lie deep in the true Southern
heart.
Generally, the papers in our section of
the country declare the distorted and
unnatural sentiments of those whose
feelings arc dwarfed and deformed by
political and pecuniary interests. These
journals do not reach below the surface
of general Southern opinion. Thereisan
under current, seldom rising to the lip
v nich the old Confederate reco<*niz n s
when he communes with himself. ° The
press, on this side of Mason and Dixon’s
line, has endeavored to dry up the pure
fountains of this stream, and teach the
people to stifle and forget what they so
fondly cherished and loved a short tin H >
ago. Under such influence, many good
persons have despondingly yielded°too
much of their manhood. But I believe
there is a gradual recuperation or re
assurance going on in the South, carrying
the press along with it. The weak are
gaining strength, and the strong are be
coming bold. There is the life in the old
land yet. B. H. Hill, of your State,
sounded a thrilling blast that echoed and
re-echoed throughout the Southland. His
burning and brave words electritied the
chain that links our hearts together
And the Banner of the South beauti
fully gives to the light the thoughts that
dwell in the inmost souls of those who are
faithful to the soil.
Too much admiration cannot be ex
pressed for him, who, scorning to throw
himself into the polluted current which
hears others on to place, power, and
wealth, boldly stands aloof, and, in hj
honest rags, dares to be a man. This is
the spirit which despises Southern ackn.
tion of Yankee meanness, and rt*p<*ls
Yankee encroachment; which firmly un
holds Principle ; loves Truth lor its own
sake; and cannot be driven, purchased
or cajoled. Its home is in the South, an 1
the Northern mind is unable to appreci
ate, or even understand it. This is the
unconquerable spirit of Southern chivalry
which is so much hated by the envious
craven. And it is fortunate in finding
an exponent and friend in the Poet
Editor.
As an unsubdued son of the South—
one who remains faithful to his native
clime, and yields no principle—one who
cannot be Yankeeized —l wish you all
success, and hope the Banner will soon
find its way to every “nook and corner”
of the sunny land. Shenandoah.
For the Banner of the South.
THE PRAIRIE LANDS OF LOUISIANA
NUMBER. FOUR.
The traveler who seats himself in the
cars of the Opelousas Railroad, opposite
New Orleans, is in a few hours at the
broad tide water of Berwick’s Bay,
where he takes passage on a steamer and
is rapidly carried up the smooth waters
of the Bayou Teche, through the most
charming agricultural lands of the State,
meandering all the time amidst groves, of
pecans and overhanging live oaks, and
constantly in view of handsome residences
surrounded by groves of sweet orange,
and other evergreens. This is known as
the garden spot of Louisiana. The
M inter frosts scarcely leave any traces
of a visit in this region, which is so hap
pilyytnd beautilully known as St Mary’s
Parish But we must not tarry too long
as our destination is “the Prairies,’’ and
we must leave our steamer at New Iberia
and take stage to Opelousas, a charming
old Catholic settlement where the Arca
dians and the Marylanders settled long
ago. Near this point commences the
beautiful rolling Prairies, where the bor
ders are skirted by groves of lofty tim
ber; and the farms stretch off into the
vast expanse which teems witli herds of
cattle and horses. Sugarcane, cotton,
rice, corn, and all the usual crops are
cultivated, whilst the vast range enables
the cultivator to be the owner of large
droves of stock, ramblihg over the Prai
rie pasture. Hogs abound and grow fat
in the heavily timbered creek lands
throughout the parish of St. Landry.
Lands are $2 to $8 per acre.
Louisiana.
For the Banner ot tho South.
CHEAP RAILROADS-
Our Southern States labor under the
disadvantage of not being sufficiently
intersected by Railroads. A glance at
the maps of the different States will soon
convince any one of this. There are
vast sections of immensely rich lands
that are either absolutely inaccessible to
railroad or river transportation, or >0
nearly so as to render the transportation
of crops one of the most expensive items
of making them ; especially now, tha
the hire of teamsters is suah a costly
luxury, and teamsters, too, who care very
little for the cattle under their charge.
In the best of times the waggoning of :l
load of corn, or of cotton, twenty, tha A
or fifty' miles, in the winter through
mud and mire, over hills and down tial<‘>.
stalling here with the wheels to the hiu*'
in clay, or detained by a swollen stream
or a broken bridge, and the hauling
through the same difficulties, of a
of provisions or of guano, was extreme..-
onerous, and no slight undertaking.
Now it is much more so! Dy 1 *
such an expense to a crop which iu ;
already cost nearly as much as u
brine: in market, is ruinous to the p ia - u
O
or to the farmer.
