The Abbeville banner. [volume], May 05, 1847, Image 1

About The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869

Image provided by: University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC

                
" LIBERTY AND I>IY NATIVE SOIL."
VOL. 4. " ~ ABBEVILLE C. IL, S. C., MAY 5, 1847. ? wo ^
Published every Wednesday, by
CHARLES'H. ALLEN,
Editor and Proprietor.
Terms.
ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS if paid
within thrco months from tho time of subscribing,
or TWO DOLLARS if paid within nix months,
and TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS if
not paid until the end of the year. No subscription
recoivcd for less than nix months ; and no papor
discontinued until all arrearages aro paid. Subscriptions
will bo continued unless notico be given
otherwise, provious to tho closo of volume.
No paper will be sent out of tho State unless
payment is made in advance.
ivjj v iiiiv. i waiuiiw i ?, inserted at 7;> cts. per
square of twelve lilies for tlio firt-t insertion ; and,
37 1-2 ctfl. for cach continuance. Those not having
the desired number of insertions marked upon them,
will bo continued until ordered out and charged accordingly.
ESTRAYS, Tolled TWO DOLLARS, to be
paid by tho Magistrate.
For announcing a Candidate TWO DOLLARS,
in advanco.
Tho Postage must bo paid upon all letter* and
communications to secure attention.
From the Sumter Banner.
The Huguenots.
Written with reference to their early settle nirtif
ill Sini.fjl
The improvement of man has been effected
by a succession of Revolutions. Some
"have been mild, peaceable, the result of
causes working for a long series of ages,
others have burst forth on the " world's
trembling multitude," sudden and powerful.
Such was the reformation of Luther. Its
great principle?its noble aim was civil and
religious liberty. History records the struggles
of the contest, rousing up all the energies
of Europe. Foremost in this drama
stand forth the Protestants of France,?a
Spartan band in the great army of Reformers.
Sympathy for their sufferings, reve
? . v ^ > o ; #
rence for their piety, admiration for their fortitude
and perseverance, and gratitude to
God for the preservation of a remnant of this
afflicted people, affect us. when we think of
the religious despotism which, for ages,
warred against their souls.
The Huguenots were a people peculiar
to France. Separated from their brethren
of Switzerland bv the vast mountain barriers
of nature, removed from intercourse with
the English by a great extent of land and
water they formed a community among
themselves, leagued together for the mutual
defence of their country and religion Animated
by these high and noble principles,
thev faltered not in the lmnr of d.-mrror?
V " w"
when necessity called them to the field, they
shrunk not from the sword of persecution?
when the fires of llomish bigotry kindled
around them, they bore their martyrdom
with that unflinching constancy so characteristic
of their faith, and of their cause.?
The love of religious liberty, arising from
the conviction of duty, has, in all past time,
given an undaunted spirit to its votaries.?
Witness the zeal of the early Christian
Church! Witness the firmness of our
Pilgrim fathers! Witness the persecutions
of the Huguenots!
[VInet nrnmmont in tin* 1* . .
in nib moiuiy uj iiiis people,
is the tragedy of Saint Bartholemew.
The Protesiants of that time were considered
too formidable a party to be any longer
tolerated. ' As Cato continually said in the
Roman Senate, "delenda est Carthargo,"
so did the men in power of that time unceasingly
shout, c* Let the Huguenots be destroyed."
And at length, their desire was
well nigh accomplished. T.ie night of St.
Bartholemew gluts the all-devouring thirst
of their enemies. During that terrific
slaughter^the cry for mercy was drowned in
the relentless shout of "Death to the Huguenots,"
and the light of day but added
new horrors to the scene. The streets of
fans Ilowed with the blood of her murdered
citizens; and from that city the masacre
spread through all the provinces, bringing
.death and desolation to every part of the
land. Thousands of useful and peaceable
citizens were struck down by the demon ol
destruction, and one united cry for vengeance
oo such monstrous injustice arose to the
ihlrone of God, and will yet have to be silenced
by ihe woes of coming ages. This
dreadful instance of the barbarism of religious
bigotry excites the indignation of the
world. At Ahatj time it was eulogized, by
many of .tlje nations of Europe, as a glorious !
triumph?r-tlje .cold-blooded murder of thou
j_ _ - ?m- -
Htiuus. a giuricus triumph?the triumph of
leligion!
But let us turn from such a scene, and
- contemplate the magnanimity of Henry, so
worthily styled the Great. This Prince,
ascending the throne at a time when faction
had torn his kingdom (or more than a century,
had exhausted its resources, and impovished
his people, who had wrongs to revenge
and crimes to punish, nobly buried
thejp all in oblivion, and the world saw the
poof pf an exalted mind in the Edict of
..ilSantes. What a contrast with the conduct
Of the firuiltv
. v-,rr. v. u*?biaicu WHOI ICOj VVUU)
-. century before, looked calmly on the
: ; inv/rdcr or his subjects I This celebrated
J^iciptoce^ the rights of the Huguenots on
, a basis,, which the most flagrant Violation of
justly could1 alone overthrow; and H was
k to be hoj^d thatnofutu re Monarch of France j
.
sWfmk. . S'WMM
would have the rashness to annul it. And
yet, not one century had passed before its
revocation Piled the whole land with tinblood
of her slaughtered citizens. The
l?dict of Nantes gave to the Protestants of
France a distinct and separate existence as
a political body, sotting them in array
against a government which recognized no
such thing as religious liberty, anil held to
nnn nrin/iinln ~ " ?i: ... /~* 1
uiuuu Ul Jjuncy "1./MC VJOll,
one King, one Faith." During the reign
of the Great Henry, the Huguenots exercised
their rights ami liberty of conscience
was secured ; his death was the death of order,
of peace and of freedom.
From this time, the Huguenots,alarmed
at the intrigues of the court, and the measures
talcen for their overthrow, wore in
arms; and when,
" Tho living cloud of \v;ir"
burst upon them from the north of France,
their rights, their existence as a people, were
swept away. For the next half a century,
persecution followed persecution,unti 1 finally}
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
by depriving the Eluguenots of all securities
of life, and liberty?by annihilating their
exis'ence as subjects, compelled the emigration
of this people. Thousands of imluitri
uua umzcii? n;n ujruvur uieir native f ranco,
to seek in foreign lands the liberty denied
them in their own. As their predecessors
the Pilgrims, bade their native land good
night and lay down to rest on the shores of
New England, so did the Huguenots, driven
across the western ocean by persecuting
fanaticism, at length find a resting place on
the shore of Carolina. The hand of welcome
was held out to them?1 hey were
hailed as brothers. And noble sons of Carolina
have they proved themselves I?
Braving the perils of savage war-fare, they
plunged into the wilderness; pioneers of
the South, they strengthened the infant co
lony of Carolina by their religion anil by
their arms.
But to us, the settlement of the Huguenots
though not followed by consequences of
such import, as those succeeding the landing
of the Pilgrims, was attended with the
most important results. The addition of
large bodies of men, virtuous, industrious,
inured to peril and war, but, above all, martyrs
of religious liberty, would be welcomed
by any people; and peculiarly fortunate
was it for a small colony, pressed on every
side by a savage enemy, and but poorly
assisted by the mother country.?Their
s? I ri #ri 11 i* t ? ..1. -1- r._l". f
v-iuguiuiiiy, ciuauu ?iiu cuticniii lempur 01
mind enabled them to endure the hardships
necessarily attended on a settlement in liie
country, new, surrounded by enemies, and
exposed to an almost tropical sun. The
same spirit, which made them prefer exile
to slavery, sustained them in the long and
arduous struif<'le of ths Revolution.?
o o
Shoulder to shoulder with their brethren in
the field, they met the invading foe, and the
"plains of Carolina" became the altar on
which they sacrificed their blood in defence
of their common country. When the
u black and smoking ruins," of desolation
covered the land, the same fiirnness which
upheld their fathers in the old world sustained
their descendants in the new. The
names of Horry, of Huger, and of Marion
are coupled with those of Laurens, of Rut
ledge, ol 1'inckney, and of Sumter names j
dear to every American, the watch-words of
liberty. Sustained by the example of these
South Carolina proved the noble daringand
heroic courage of her adopted people.?
Thousands of their descendants at this lime
hail America as the land of their birth?
the land of their fore-fathers' adoption?the
asylum of their ancestors?land of civil and
religious liberty. May its standard, reared
on the solid foundation of virtue, ever wave
over millions of the sons of freemen, until
lime shall be no more 1
As we review these scenes, we cannot
refrain from asking, what had the Huguenots
done, that they should thus be.
j " At the mercy of a mystery of tyranny V
what were their crimes that they should be
deprived of all civil existence; that they
should be hunted down like wild beasts?
that their blood should stream under the
sword? They worshipped God according
to the dictates of their conscience. This
was their crime?this their abomination.
This doomed them to the stfovd, to the stake,
and to exile. That they were a peaceable
people, orderly, industrious, and weil disposed,
is acknowledge by the Romish historians.
They were aroused to revolt, when'
the iron yoke of oppression became too grevious
to be borne?when bigotry sent lorth
the destroying angel; when life and liberty
were crushed by oppression. Their emi
gration furnished many nations with numbers
rf useful subjects, and France now
deplores the unjust policy which banished
her citizens, depopulated one-fourth of her
commerce, and for many years placed her
under maitial law, To her, the. result oif
such policy has been disastrous in the 0*treame?rtne
despotic persecutions of centu-'
ries having ended in the dreadful catastrophe
of the French Revolution.
The nineteenth century has brought to
the Huguenbts that toleration, which* has
' .-o-T
'<?.*
' \:v ' "' ' -.
b wm&
*
permitted tliein to rebuild their peaceful
temples, and to worship God in their own
way. The conflicts of centuries have
taught both parties the necessity of mutual
forbearance; and the religion of reason,
and the religion of authority, have learned
that they can exist in the same country
without continual wars and fightings.?
The severe blow which the Romish Church
received, at the time ol the Revolution, in
ino confiscation ol its property, and in the
prevention of ecclesiastical interference!
with the a flairs of State, and the wise policy
of the new movernment, which grants
religious liberty to the subject, conspire to '
root out from France a most fatal source of
discord, destructive of the wel fare of any
people.
The influence of the Reformed principles
has delivered the human inind 'rorn the fetters
which bound it during the middle ages.
To them, Science, Literature, and the Arts
own their developemcnt and progress: to
them, we owe all which enables man to
r<*Slf*ll tlir* trim 'lirmif.. "' ??? rni_
.? ?.- ...u i> ..v/ uijjuuy ?_ji his iiiimie. l no
mind is free from the apathy of a blind superstition
Freedom of conscience is the
acknowledged right of every one. The
lethargy of ages is shaken off. Shall we
not honor those, who conferred this great
good on mankind ??shall we not revere
those, who periled all in the cause of religious
liberty,and nobly resolved to do ordie?
Let us not lorget that the Huguenots were
the martyrs of Christianity, the sons of everlasting
truth; and, while we regard them
with veneration, let us cherish the feelings
of brothers for their descendants in the far
south?let us hail them as Americans?let
us hail them as members of the same great
and free people.
From the Picayune.
Lulcr from Vera Cruz.
Important intr/lesrciic.c?Advance of the American
Army?Santa Anna's preparations
for dele nee?But lis supposed to have been
fought on the. 1 oth inst.
The U. S. steamship Massachusetts arrived
here last evening from Vera Cruz,
which place she left on the evening of the
14th. Our correspondence is down to the
latest hour. The news is of the most stirring
interest. The best advices lead to the
impression that a battle was fought at Cerro
Gordo, nearly midway between the Puente
""'I f"'"*? " '''' 1 "
..ii.Li 011 i nursuuy or rnday
last. We have heretofore announced
the advance of (Jen. Twiggs' division into
the interior. When last heard from he was
beyond the Puente Nacional and in close
proximity to the Mexican army. Gen. Scott
was expected to arrive at Gen. Twiggs'
headquarters on the night of the 14th inat.
General Worth left Vera Cruz with the
last division of the army on the 13th and bivoucked
that night at San Juan, about twelve
miles in the interior. He probably joined
the advance on the 15th. Santa Anna was
said to be at Cerro Gordo, where La Vega
and Canalizo were posted with a considerable
command. The Mexican force at that
point when joined by Santa Anna, v. is estimated
at fifteen thousand strong?consisting
of two thousand regular infantry, three
thousand cavalry, and the remainder irregulars.
The pass of Cerro Cordo is forty four
miles from Vera Cruz, and is naturally a
strong one, some difficulty is anticipated in
forcing it. Rumors state that Santa Anna
can obtain any amount of irregular force he
may desire. Reconnoitering parties from
the American arm)' had been tired upon and
several wounded, amongst them was Capt.
(now Lieut. Col.) Johnson, of the Topographical
Engineers, who was shot in the
.....w ?...i i.:
tvx.i <ui<i hi|/ wuiisicvamming trio Mexican
works at Cerro Gordo. Intellogont officers
who arrived in the Massachusetts, entertain
very little doubt that a general engagement
has taken place.
A number of soldiers have been shot in
passing the road to and fro. All accounts
represent the Americans as confident of victory,
and the Mexicans as burning for revenge.
Our next advices from Vera Cruz
will we doubt not, bring us the details of an
important engagement.
We subjoin the news from Vera Cruz papers
and our correspondence. The letter
from Mr. Kendall of the 14th, written at
cam]> San Juan, is the very latest from the
army. The soldiers were suffering at Vera
Crux from ?ipliu>co Knt ilw. u-j ?*
wiiiiuuiji uui uiu ? UIIIUU IlilU noi
appeared.
Vera Cuuz, April 14, 1847.
The Massachusetts sails In half an hour,
and I hasten to send you the latest intelligence
received from the advance of our army
on its march towards Jalapa. Despatches
were received here yesterday evening from
i General Twigg stating that the enemy had
been discovered, and that in a recon'noissanee
some eighteen miles beyond the National
Bridge at a point called the Black
Forrest Pass, Captain J. E. Johnson, of the j
Topographical Engineers?now Lieut Gol. I
of Voftigeurs?r-wa^ severely wounded with
a shot through'the' dVm' rind'another in the
thigh; - it is' more than probable that ere;
thisQerierals Twiggs and Pillow have had
: ' : 0
-'A- . ^
-V?f' ;v- *" ' ^
' '
&& r&yggfc' i' Mv -w.-e. /;
I something of a " brush" with the enemy,
i Santa Anna is known to have arrived at
this pass with a force said to be about 15'000
strong, consisting of 2,000 regulars and the
balance of irregular troops?of whom 3,000
are cavalry The point above named is a
very strong one, and naturally affords great
advantages to the enemy; but, my word
lor it, they will not hold it long alter our
Irnnns :is?siil if
r-w
Shut up as I am in my room I cahnot
know much of what is going on. Mr.
Kendall started last evening on the way to
the advano of the army; he will probably !
be in the camp sometime to-day. He wrote
you a letter before starting, which goeo
with this. It is becoming quite sickly here,
but as yet I hear nothing of the vomito
amongst the soldirs. It is very healthy in
the interior, and our army, excepting those
who stay to garrison this city, will soon be
beyond the influence of the impure and
sickly air of the co:ist.
1 am still slowly recovering from my
accident, and hope to be with you ere many
days. It is entirely out of the question to
think of follovvintr thn nr.v??r i? m A
t, "'j *"jr tuiiuiuuiij
and 1 wouldn't stay in Vera Cruz a month
for it. I learn that the steamship New Orleans,
now here, is to make one more trip
to Tampico for mules, which are much
wanted here, and after that she goes to your
city. Yours, &c., F. A. L.
P. S. When Captain Johnson was
wounded in his reconnoisance, he was with
an escort of the 2d Dragoons, under Capt.
Hardie. F. A. L.
Vera Cruz, April 13, 1846
So many vessels arc leaving almost every
day that it is hard keeping the run of them.
L send a line by every one that I hear^)f.
A German srentleman has iust tnld mp
?it is now 10 o'clock A. M.?that Santa
Anna was at his old hacienda of fcnceiro
day before yesterday. This place is near
Jalapa. Canalizoand La Vega are at Cerro
Gordo, where no less than three heights
have been fortified. Gen. Scott went out
last night, Gen. Worth, *vith his division
marched this morning, and will bivouk tonight
at San Juan, on the other side of Santa
Fe. Gen. Twiggs is at Plau del Rio,
close by the mexicans, and there are those
who think it more than probable that he
has already had a brush with them. It is
thought the position at Cerro Gordo can be
turned, and in mcp T .n Vom f"1.*
7 ... ju.u v uuu wnuaiiz,u
make good their retreat that they will make
another stand at Los Dios. Time will
show.
The hospitals are full, and the sickness
is said to be on the increase. I still cannot
learn that there has been any well authenticated
case of vomito, although many have
died of fever. I am off to-day for the headquarters
of the army.
Yours, &c., G. W. KA
Washington letter in the Boston post
says :?
Nicholas P. Trist, Esq , former consul at
Havana, and for the last eighteen months
chief clorlc in the department of state, lelt in
the southern boat this evening, for Vera
Cruz, in the capacity of a special bearer of
despatches to Gen. Scott. The precise character
of "the documents" is, of course, unknown,
but it is rumored that Mr. Trist carries
with him to our land and naval commanders
in Mexico the definite and final
purposes of our government, both in regard
to the further prosecution of the war, and
the prosprctive restora'ion of peace.
It is settled beyond all doubt or peradventure,
that 110 new proposal to negotiate will
be made by this government, and if diplomatic
relations are to be restored, the advance
must be made by Mexico. She has
once, twice, thrice, rejected the propositions
of our government to c?ase the b foody arbi
trament of the sword, and if a more pacific
mode of adjustment of our dfTerences is to
supervene, the inilatory step must be talferi
by her. Such, it is believed, is the settled
policy of the administration, which every
patriotic American will most heartily ap-1
prove.
An Ancient Witness?A Judge renowned
for liberty and sagacity 1 Sir '
Matthew Hale, in early life, was addicted j
to pleasure, and vain, not lo say profligate, i
company. One of his companions,' from
drunkeness, bfcamo apparently dead, and
this was one of the principal means of rei
claiming Hale. His biographer states, in j
summing up his character, that, ever after
the time lie was started into this thotfghtfoTness,
he cherished the utmost dread of excess
in drinking; and his testimony was
thus solemnly recorded in the latter part?of
his life:
"The places of judicature, which t have
long held in this kinjgddnV, hav<a given rttfc
opportunity to observe the original cause of
most of the enormities that have been committed
for the space of" near1 TWENW.yeiitfji
and by a due observation, I have found, that
four or Jive of them have bedft. the issues
and product of excessive drinking, at'taV-T
'Cms or ale-house nieetirigd.,> 5
A
.
u.? \/? JU\J 9
| This was said by Sir Matthew Hale near:
| ly two-hundred years ago. Ever since that
i time, the uniform experience and observa-r
j tion of all Judges have been the same ; and
the investigations of political economistsand
phi'anthropists concur in establishing tho
same result.
God Everywhere.?Lord Craven lived
in London when the great plague raged.
?f I is house was in that part of the town
since called Craven Buildings. To avoid
the threatened danger, his lordship resolved
to retire to his seat in the country. His
coach and six were accordingly at thedoorj
the luggage put up and all things ready
for the journey. As he was walking along
his hall, with his hat on, his ctTne under
his arm, and putting on his gloves, in order,
to step into his carriage, he overheard hi^
negro, (who served him as postillion,)
saying to another, UI suppose by my lord's
quitting London to avoid the plague, that
his God lives in the country, and not in
town." The poor negro said this in the
simplicity of his heart, a3 really believing
in a plurality of gods. The speech forcibly
struck lord C., and made him pause?
"My God," thought he. "lives evrywhere,
and can preserve me in the town as well as
in the country; I'll stay where I am. The
ignorance of that, poor fellow has preached
a useful sermon io me. Lord, pardon that
unbelief arid that distrust of thy fcrovidencfc
which made me think of running away
from thy hand." Immediately he ordered
the horses from the coach and the luggage
to be brought in. He continued in London^'
and was remarkably useful among the
neigbours' and never caught infection.
Magnetic Circuit of the Globe.?Art
experiment with the sub-marine telegraphy
at Portsmouth England, encourages the belief
that the lightening news-conveyor will
yet make the circuit of the globe. The accounts
given of it states :
cc'PU- -
i no iuui ui iiiu water, acting as a ready
return conductor wag beyond question; for
to lest this most thoroughly, repeated experiments
were made in the presence of some of
the principal .dock-yard authorities, including
the heads of engineering departments.,
There can be no doubt, without refernce t<p
the distance the water will act as a returnconductor
in completing the circuit. Independent
of the simplicity of this sub-marine
telegraph, it had an advantage which even,
the telegraphs on land do not possess. In
the event of accident it can be replaced iri
ten minutes.; . The success of the trial here
has, we understand, determined the inventors
to lay down their contemplated line ac
ross me cnannei irom iilngland to Franco
under the sanction of the respective governments."
Gen. Taylor's Profanity?We havefrequently
seen letter-writers' accounts ot
the battles of Gen. Taylor, in which writers,
we thought, gratuitously introduced
oaths as having been made use of them..
We are happy to learn, that Lieut. Critten-.
den, who served as one of his aids at.the
battle of Buena Vista, mortified to find that
several of the incidents of this battle yyero,
erroneously narrated and ascribed to hja
authorship, and especially the profane Ian-,
guage attributed lo Gen. Taylor respecting
the second Regiment of Kentucky infantry,"
has give'ri it his positive denial.?Th? n^ws
papei accounts of that incidents were correct^
leaving off* the profanity which was incor- >,
rectly put into the mouth of the General.
Southern Chroaicle.
The great 1>evelofment iii Science.-?|
We cannot be indifferent to th6 wqndprfnl
developements in Science; the ever:steady
clear unfolding of laws of the Material Universe
; transcripts of the Divine Power*1
Wisdom and Goodness, All these shall
illustrate God's omnipotericy ; shall unfold
clearer and brighter as the waves of salvation
roll on ; shall seal the lips of unbelie-.
vers; shall sw.ell the triumph's of redeeming
Love. The leaves of the; greai ^books
Nature, Providence and RevealatiOn.shall
be uo folded together. For what purpose
is the Earth now intersected with railroads/
but to bring the distant ends of it tog?th?Xj.
the followers of Jesus with idolatrou.8 Jie^then
? And why, again, is the Earth Jjejng^
belted with wires, thereby being converted'
into a vast .whispering gallery, by wjhicht,
the thoughts, purposes, actions, and; yn>'rds
of men are instantaneously traade omnipresent,
but that the news oF salvation'mnv
b6 borne wilh electric speed, that tbq dwellers
on the nountains, and in th^.vflic? ;-p^'
the sea and the lai^,. Ji^ast:'
and South, rmiy eaten the song of s^wation,
anij shout, simultaneously together, Jtsus
Christ is King ! Jesus Christ is King!
- - i ' ' ; /
ANgel8.?These ministering spirits are ./.
?f?wjr