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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1866)
■HP""""" . L * CJe Constitutionalist Wednesday Morning, Jan.. 17,1866. CONSANGUINITY Ilf MARRIAGE The L°vitical law with regard to marriasre i« the law of Christendom. The Catholc Churcli especially is most aurtere in its re strictions of alliance within forbidden degr.es of kindred; the Prolestant demominations are only less rigid ; and even legislatures have called upon to interpose limitating ttat utos. The common experience of modern society, in i's professional and social branches, was dead against the infraction of it. Matrons have gossiped and physicians written, theo logians fulminated and civic tribunals enacted, all, with scarcely an exception,coalescing upon the common interpretation of the law Levit ical. It seem*, however, that we have all of us, lay, clerical and political, been ridiculous ly in the wrong about marriage and its con comitant advantages. The modern theory has met with a powerful assailant named Adam, an English pundit of vast erudition, and, if not the first man, we are firmly per suaded that he is a lineal descendant of that patrician gentlemen. This Mr. Adam has written an essay on the subject of “Conbah otnglTr,” and such is the array of statistics, lpgic and evidence brought to bear against the opinions of mankind, that honest folks in England begin to rub their eyes and wonder if they have been dreaming or not. That Mr. Adam has made out a very formidable case, we admit; that Mr. Adam will per suade the world of the veracity of his excog itation; we ore not so sure. And yet, so many startling surprises meet us everywhere in the history of this planet, and so many more are predict* and before Anti-Christ, and such a multiplicity of them can be cited of even the last four years, that we have adopted the motto of Horace and so, Nil Admirari 1 We wonder at nothiug. Wherefore, though Heaven forbid, we may see the reign of a new Adam before we lake our departure hence for a foreign mission—address unknown. Let us see what this daring theorist asserts. We canpot follow him through all the ram ifications of his treatise, but sot forth a few items sufficient in brevity and pith for com prehension. Every nation has had tribute exacted from it by Mr, Adam to substantiate his idea. He begins at the beginning with old Adam who married bis fifth rib. Here is a palpable case of consanguinity. Cain end Seth married their sisters. Abraham married bis half sister. Lot married his own daughters. An ancestor of Moses married his aunt. Hero dias, granddaughter of Herod, married her uncle. Even after the advent of the Redeemer, this sort of thing was common amongst the nations of Aria and Africa. Mythologic divinities and mystic Egyptians atid Persians are in the same category. Everybody knows that Jupiter had no business to marry his sister any more than Osiris had to marry his. Darius espoused his niece and Artaxerxcs his daughter. • “According to Philo, marriage with half sisters was legalized both at Athens and at Lecedemon, hut with a difference. The Athe nian law permitted men to marry tlitir sisters by the same father, but forba le them to marry those lay the same mother ; while the Lace demonian law allowed of marriages between brothers and sisters of the same mother, hat prohibited those between brothers and sisters by the same father. 1 ’ In Peru and New Zealand we are told that sell marriages frequently prevail, and here is the Chinese law on the subject. It qua ifios that “the sons and daughters of an uncle on the father’s side, as thcyjiave the same family name and very often live under the same roof, are styled brothers and si-ters, and like broth ers and sisters cannot intermarry with their cousins; not so the children of an aunt, since a woman, when once mairied, belongs alto gether to her husband’s family, and becomes almost alienated from her owu relations by blood.” And again, "the children of sisters can intermarry, huving different surnames; the children of brothers cannot, haviug the same." Our onrious friend Adam has nr t let the United States pass uncommented. He declares that several ‘of the Commonwealths permit alliance between an uncle and niece and in variably between cousins. Louisiana and In diana are the only exceptions. By which it would appear that the ancient gods derai-gods aud common nationalities agree with Mr. Adam’s theory. Further, that mod ern practice is not wholly against him. Still farther, that the patriarchs and prophets were not utterly averse to pretty sisters, cousins, aunts, etc. Having, then, exhausted mankind for exemplification, it was an easy descent to the analogies existing between humanity and vegetables, birds and boasts. All sorts of grains and cabbages are shown to be better off for consanguinious affinity. Horned aui mals, horses and chickens arc susceptible of triumphant proofs. Asa matter of coarse, all this theory won’d be valueless unless the inference could be drawn that perfection exists n*>t in an obser vance of theLcvitical law but ou the con trary, in its denial. Audaciously does cur author deny. He denies that consanguinious marriages have produced tie physical or mental obliquities gem rally b lieved. These detects wou and seem to c< me from respect for the orthodox system. Here is an awful puddle. If the world has succeeded so well with the Levi deal Law, it is not a little curious to wonder how it would have progressed, by quashing all manner of relatloaship and es tablishing a promiscuous routine. Have we not the Mormo.fß? Have we not the Fourierites snd Free Loveisms, both de fended by that pu/e moralist Horace Greely ? Have we Uot Spiritualism? Had we not Abolitionism ? Less than a century ago, thous ands believed that Johanna Southhote was about to produce anew Messiah. Before long, we shall not marvel’if the new sect of Ada mites obtain a lodgment. Nil admirari. That’s the family motto. Other folk may affect amazement; we wonder at nothing TWEEDLEDUM OR TWEEDLEDEB There is a very great difference betwixt tweedledum and tweed edee. The Republi can journals and statesmen are jubilant over the ratification of the Constitutional amend ment by twenty-seven States, and hence the destruction of the slavery institution by form of law. It is not necessary to explain or even mention the modus operands and some of the processes of ratification by some #f the States; suffice it, the amendment has been adopted by the concurrence of States, which concur rence is denominated in that much abused instrument, the Constitution, the supreme law of the ’ land. Nearly all the legislation of Congress has been founded npon the policy of the adopted amendment and yet the very statesmen who thus required the adoption of that amendment by States, and who build tholr fabric of government upon its legal rat ification —t' ese men, we say, are foremost in opposing the restoration of the South to he suspended functions. Is not this the very bottomless pit of stultification ? If we are not States, then our acceptance of the Con stitutional amendment was fraudulent and farcical, and hence it does not exist as supreme law, and hence, too, legislation predicated on its validity is flagitious. If we are States, why have we not the privileges of representa tion, the sovereign privilege that makes a State a bona fide member of the Federation ? In a word it has come to pass that a State is such only so far as it suits the Latter Day Saints, and not a State when they so choose to consider it. Now you see it and now you do not. What a splendid game of Little Joker the Capitol dome overlooks. The whole authority for the declaration that slavery is abolished by Constitutional amend ment is founded upon a proclamation of Mr. Seward. In this proclamation we find the names of several insurgent States, and as States, not Polands or satrapies, are they spoken of by the Hon. Secretary. It follows then that if there are no States in the South, Mr. Seward has been cruelly mistaken and imposed upon. It follows still further that the necessary majority has not been secured and hence, however slavery may stand abolished de facto, it does not so stand ile jure. ITere'is a pretty pickle for a great nation. 0, for'one hour of Webster or Cal houn ! What is a State ? Manifestly there can be but one dictionary for such definition —the Constitution. Art. 1, sec. 2d, says : “ The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States.” N< w it so happens that in his proclama tion Mr. Seward enumerates eight Southern States engaged in ratification, and yot notone of these political communities has an ac knowledged representation. Verily, and in deed these are not States. The Constitution again says: “ Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which mav he included within the Union according to their respective numbers.” Wo have apportioned taxes and enough of them, but representation is not accord and in conformity with this act. Again: ■ “The Senate shall be composed of two Senators from each Sta*e.’’ Will Messrs. Sumner and Wilson ii form us as to the number of Senators those eight aforementioned States possess, and how many are now seated in the Capitol. From such definition, gathered from the jrjvat Const tutional pact, we must reluctantly •onfess that Georgia’ is not a State, and an Attempt to use her name for party purposes is a sacrilege npon the Constitution. We are growing weary of Washington political aquabbles. The matter, we suppose, will he settled some day; in the meanwhile let ns addros* ourselves to internal improve ment and the re organization of individual concern*. LOST TITLES TO PROPERTY. We are pleased to know that the General Land Office at Washington has ordered its Agents throughoat the South “ to collect all vestiges and remnants of records and forward them to the Commissioner, in order that new plots and evidences of title may be supplied, as Air ns possible.” Those of our people who have thus suffered by theft, mutilation, or ahandondonment of their tides should do all in 'heir power to recover their and cumen's or. >f destroyed, make S"ch exhibit of evidence as will prow cone'nrive of the o'aim. To Presi dent Johnson we owe this clement and saga cious policy, and t.ie era'itude of thousands f homeless, landless individuals will he ac corded him without stint. M HERE 18 THE BLANEI We have not unfit qit?nt!y mentioned in this column that bad wnite men were the in stigators of grand and petty larcenies. Nu merous developments proved the tru'h of this assumption. Negroes are chiefly the misera ble tools nsed by depraved whites for the sake of plunder; the whites meanwhile receiving the stolen property, absorbing the lon’s share, and encouraging bv partition af spoils further depredation. We advised the community to keep watch upon the small fry, but incident ally strike terror to the whole shoal, by a de termined assault upon the big fish that pre pared the mischief and kept it alive. About one week since, a man named Gibson, an over seer on Beech Island, was apprehended by a patrol of planters and found with the damning evidences of crime al! about and around him. He had for a long time poisoned the negroes bodies with detestable liquor, and, latterly, debauched their moral instinct by betraying them into wholesale theft. Thousands, of pounds of. meat were traced to his possession, all of which had been robbed. Members of the patrol recognized their individual marks upon some of the stolen property discovered in his dwelling. Upon the wall tallies of tremendous quantities of pork were scored. Finding that he was cornered, he, at first, dis sembled, but, finally, made a clean breast of his atrocity. A more consummate scamp was never so mesht in his' own toils. Having secured the malefactor and fastened the de linquency npon him beyond a peradventure, he was brought before a magistrate and fully committed to jail, bail having been refused in the premises. It may as well be stated here that this man had a considerable snm of gold, probably accumulated by nefarious practices, and gave out that had he been allowed another day of security, he intended to have abscond ed. Hitherto, the man had borne a respecta ble character, but as a black snake’s dimen sion is best ascertained after death, the prom inence of some men’s dereliction is best reveal ed after they have been found out. But to the sequel:—Here was a splendid chance to establish a firm precedent against villany, and the people of Beech Island con gratulated themselves accordingly. They reckoned without their host, however, for Gibson never saw the inside of a jail or, if he did, it did not trouble him grievously. He is at large; and by some negligence or culpa bility a dangerous and depraved character has full swing and justice is made a laughing stock. If this is the way Affairs are managed, let ns surrender forthwith to burglars and assassins. In this ease there must be some blamable person. Who is he ? STRAINING AT GNATS. The Philadelphia parsons, of the Blood hound of Zion stripe, are waging a rabid con troversy with John W. Forney of the Press, bjeanse said Forr ey has thought proper to publish his paper on Sunday. Wcnever liked the savor of John W., and as for the saintly Bloodhounds, they are as a stench in the nos trils of heaven and earth. Arcades arribo— rapscallions all. Wherefore, though we think the editor of the Press has the right side of the question, we do not care how he acquits himself. We sincerely desire a wholesome damage to either side, for political hypocrisy is ranged'with the Pres3 and ecclesiastical hypocrisy \v\th the satanic pulpit. Forney has pandered to popular tastes and cannot be expected to swerve at this late day. At pres ent, it is fashionable to have perpetual jour nalism and so, John, mindful of his popular divinity aud the spoils of the Egyptians, does as the world and the pocket admonish him. Theranent, the Pharisees, probably at a lo c s for anything c’se to stick their noses in, snuff a treasonable taint in the virtuous John. For our part, we believe that the clerical anathema originates in downright jealousy. The sten torian priests have no idea of rivalry and competition. They prefer to howl, blastpheme and denounce in their own way and on their own day. The doctrines of the meek and lowly Jesus have nothing to dc with their belligerent, polemical monopolies. In effect they cry out to Forney : “ six days sbalt thou curse and do all manner of mischief, but on the seventh thou shalt abandon thy voice to us.” THE STRONG DIVORCE CASE. Tbe Northern journals have been regaling their readers from day to day with nearly verbatim reports of the Strong Divorce case. They emulate the Police Gazette with a spicy detail of domestic filth aud disgusting ob scenity. Divorce is on the rampage in that soction.and even in the prim, straightlaced city of Philadelphia, there have been no less than 282 suits brought forward during the year 18(55. There is a bad state of civilization towards the North Pole and we would prefer to see some of its own turpitude excoriated before it sends missionaries to Booraboola Gha and the heathen—so called—South. Schiller has more statues erected to his mem ory than any other poet in Germany. There is a monument in Stuttgart, Weimar, Frankfort, Mainz, Hanover. M&uheim, Hamburg, Munich, and Grao. Vienna and Berlin have as yet only the projections for the intended monuments. What a Lib —The Commercial’s Washing ton SD-cial s«ys : It :s expected the cotton tax p\id at Ma on alone, for January, will exceed $5, COO, 000. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. “Mr. Stephens is one of nature’s noblemen ; and from our heart of hearts we believe that every throb of his soul is in favor of the Union, of his country, and of his whole country. Mr. Stephens ought to be in the Senate of the Uni ted States. Let Congress repeal the test oath and receive into its body again with acclama tion, the erreat and good Georgian, one of the noblest Romans of this or any other country. Oh, we do abhor that nai row spirit and ’hat short-sighted policy that keep from the coun cils of the Republic such a man as Alexander H. Stephens.” —Louisville Journal. Old Prentice has some excellent qualities and among them we may cite the occasional recognition of pre-eminent worth. We have said much of Mr. Stephens laudably; it is not necessary to add more to the Journal's neat compliment. We agree heartily with the sentiments expressed and trust that they may not sink into the ground. Mr. Stephens is unquestionably the proper man to represent the Empire State in the Senate, and his in fluence over the moderate Radicals in either House of Congress could not fail to be bene ficial. As the case stands, he could not be a candidate without embarrassment, but we hope that the obstacle of a forthcoming par don will not be long a stumbling block in his way and the way of the State —when she becomes so in reality. President Johnson can expedite this matter, and we feel Base in the assertion that our Leg : slatnre will not act precipitately. With such men as Stephens, Sharkey, Perry and Randal Hunt in the Sen ate, the South has reason to believe that her honor and interests will be championed with zeal and wisdom. These men may be excluded by Jacobins; but, once allowed a h taring, their temperate judgment, vast erudition and undoubted genius will assert their eloquence above the snarling Radicals, like the deep throb of cathedral bells, quelling the mimicry of crazy steeples. DOUBTFUL. By a telegraphic dispatch from Augusta, Ga., which will be found in another column, it will be seen that "reso’ntions” are stated to have been introduced into the Georgia Senate demanding the speedy pnnishment of Jeffer ft>n Davis and the principal actors in the re bellion. It is vpry possible that the whole affair is a canard, or a sensational rumor con cocted to gratify the taste of the Northern fanatics. If it be true, and sneb a resolution has been introduced, and should eventually pass, it will only prove conclusively that the present State Legislature, which was elected under the dictation of an armed force, does not represent the true feelings of the people of Georgia, who were far too loyal and de voted to their eogaaements dnring the war to be willing to stultify themselves now by heaping additional pain on their former chief, who has already suffered and endured so much. — Richmond Examiner, Our Richmond cotemporary has been very badly sold by the telegraph or “ some other man.” As the Georgia Legislature was not in session at the date of the telegram (Janu ary 1 ltb) it is fair to presume that no such resolutions could have emanated therefrom. Even if the General Assembly had been in session, no such drivel could have had a hear ing from the good and true men at Milledge ville, who were elected without any military dictation whatever. Until Bill Arp, one of those calumniated Senators, launches a thun derbolt against his coadjutors, we would ad vise our friend o f the Examiner to treat all such telegrams as unmitigated bosh. We think, however that if instead of Augusta, Georgia, there had been read Augusta, Maine. the whole matter would assume instantaneous lucidity. * The Test Oath—How It Works Washington, Jan. 8, 1866. The Secretary of the Treasuy to-day com municated the following statement of one of his assessors of internal revenue, showing the difficulties of finding officers Who can take the test oath : Assessor’s Omcs, U. S. Internal 1 Revenub, 3d Bist. of Ga., >• Augusta, Dec. 20, 1865.) Sir: lam constrained to write you in rela tion to the repeal or modification of the test oath, so far as it relates to internal revenue of ficers. or at least assessors in Southern States. I have labored assldiously to find competent men who could lake the oath necessary for as sessors; I failed to find any such except in a single town in my district, comprising twenty three of the most populous counties in tbe State. I have organized my district by allowing my assistant to take tbe oath of office and allegi ance and proceed to tbe discharge of their du>- ties, trusting to Congress to provide for their payment as directed by tbe Commissioner of In ternal Revenue. Many of the men are much reduced is circumstances by war and stand in imperative need of tbeir pay in order to provide for their .families; aud, indeed, some of them will be compelled soon to resign their places in order to engage in some business that will yield them ready money on which to live. I am satisfied that unless something is done in th ; B matter immediately I shall be unable to as sess tax in my district if Congress does not modify the oath, as far as it relates to affairs of the internal revenue and the Post Office Depart ment down here. lam sure it would be re garded everywhere as a patriotic measure, in which both the North and South are equally interested. lamat a loss to know what to do. Respectfully, J. Bowles, Assessor oi Third District of Ga. Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of Treasury. New Town Council.— An election for Town Council took place on Monday last. Henry W. Addison, Esq, was elected Intendant; Messrs. N. Ramey. Sr., F L. Smith, W. J. Ready and T. H. Clark were chosen Wardens. All gen tlemen of energy, capacity and business tal e t. We earnestly hope ihev will not betake themselves to the Sieepy Hollow which has been <he refuse of their predecessors for years back. They ought to survey the fit-id and go to work without a day’s delay. Every hole and corner of the corporation, and everything connected with it, cries out to them urgently, '‘A tileb in time saves nine ” Edgtfidd Advertiser. For the Constitutionalist. NOTES FOR THE lIMES. “ The Sabbath drew on." The Sabbath has come. Venerable with age, sacred in the his tory of its first and second institution, it chal lenges now and ever the attention of the world to its calm, sublime utterances. Amid the storm of human strife, fretting and cha fing with its ceaseless friction, it dawns as the resurrec'ion morn of higher and holier thoughts. It stands a perpetual protest against human passion—an unfailing and ever-recur ring landmark to arrest the maddening rush of life and point silently yet emphatically to another aud better world. To-day it points upward and heavenward and bids us listen to the voice of God. The hearts of millions in the land are sad den* and with memories of the past, and darken ed with apprehensions of the future. In the day of omr adversity He who “putteth down one, and setteih up another ,” has raised up a friend for the South in the person of the present Chief Magistrate. But the leaders and representatives in Congress are not en tering into the same broad and generous plans of pacification. And if we are to infer the feeling of the masses from the frowning and averted glances of their representatives, the demand seems plain enough for more suffering, and humiliation to be meted out to an already suffering and afflicted people. God has visit ed us for our sins, and we would recognize His hand. But when, in the history of any conflict, the victorious party has pushed too far tMfc advantage and failed to remember the principles of moderation and magnanimous forbearance in their treatment of the vanquish ed, Providence has always lifted its finger in solemn and emphatic warning. If the lead ers at Washington are now, at the conclu sion of this memorable struggle, leaning to this stern and pitiless policy, blotting ont from their statute books of conscience aud judgment the kindlier dictates of that charity which “ believeth all things, and beareth all things, and hopeth dll things," while they press an unfortunate and impoverished people to the wall, there is a voice of warning for them which, as sure as there is a God, and history is the interpretation of His will, tells of retri bution sooner or later. It comes with the chiming of the Sabbath hells to-day. It is the voice of God. 1 1 was but a little dis pleased, and they hdped forward the afflic tion." “ Thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother, in the day that he be came a stranger ; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction ; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity / yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee ; thy reward shall return upon thine own head." Watchmak. General Thomas and Bishop Wilmer. The Montgomery Advertiser makes the fol lowing just comments on the order of General Thomas, which we publish this morning in relation to Bishop Wilmer; Major General Thomas, for reasons beat known to himself, suspended from their fun ca tions the ministers of the Episcopal Church of this State. The inconvenience to which that respectable body of Christians was subjected has been borne with commendable patience, and at last an order comes from military au thority graciously allowing the doors of the church to be opened and services to be held as usual. Ts e terms in which Major General Thomas sees proper to make known this with drawal of his extraordinary “ bull,’ will re flect no credit upon his good temper, and cer tainly ought not to reconcile any one to his unwarrmted interference in cliurch It is a sure indication of a man’s conscious weakness of his own cause, when he attempts to uphold his action not by sc lid reasoning but a continual reference to alleg’d short comings in others. He argues bi3 cse in the style of those who begin at a remote period, and not confining themselves to the present require ments, accuse their adversary and justify them selves after the most approved style of plead ers. Bishop Wilmer's character as a Christian, a supporter of the government Bnd friend of tbe President needs no defense, and Gen. Thomas is greatly mistaken in the people of Alabama if be imagines they will tbaok him for his com pliment to their loyalty, when he does so, at the expense of so pure a man. The order con veys throughout an idea of what may be called mental reservation, or of what the extra loyal journals of the North 6ay of the people of the South. ‘•My tongue took an oath, but my mind is pn sworn.” The General in remitting the churches to tbeir ancient rights, strives aftereffect in a man ner that would do credit even to a poet of the dramatic order, snd for the sake of it, not only offends against decorum, but takes away much of the good and of the happy state of affairs the order under other circumstances would have produced. But no matter in what form it may come, the temporary ban upon religious wor ship bag been removed, and we hope that without let or hindrance as guaranteed by the Constitution of our fathers, the people may hereafter be left free to worship “God according to the dictates of their own consciences.’’ If General Thomas in this matter has no greater cause for quarrel with his conscience than has Bishop Wilmer be will rest eafcy. Says a late Irish paper: “It is known that a number of our most skillful and experienced pi'ot- from every part of tbe Irish seaboard have recently left the country for the purpose, it is believed, of taking charge of a Fenian ex pedition. on its arrival on our coast A few weeks since a shipmaster, whose knowledge or every nook and cranny of the Irish coast is well known in nautical circles, left Queenstown as a saloon passenger by one of the emigrant steam ers for New York, and it is generally believed among his friends at Cork that he is to pilot one of the Fenian gunboats, whose power, it is said, will be directed against British commerce.
