their fields for centuries, educated and amassed
for them princely fortunes, and while they were engaged in
riveting tighter the chains of bondage, were engaged in the care
and protection of their defenceless families. Mr. Chairman, I
ask, is this the mode to bring about harmony and prosperity? Will
this tranquilize this already distracted country? No, sir. On the
contrary, it will raise to its highest temperature the ill
feelings of an outraged people, and cause them to adopt for their
redress _lex talionis_, in opposition to the Edgefield _lex
loci_, as Mr. McDuffe truthfully says, "God has planted in the
breast of man a higher and holier principle than that by which he
is prompted to resist oppression; the vilest reptile that crawls
on the earth, without the gift of reason to comprehend the
injustice of its injuries, would bite, or sting, or bruise the
hand by which they were inflicted. Is it to be expected, then,
that freemen will patiently bow down and kiss the rod of the
oppressors?" I had hoped that the swift retribution that followed
the K. K's reign, and the withering rebuke administered by their
own counsel, (Hon. Reverdy Johnson,) would have put an end to
these inhuman and disgusting outrages; but, sir, the newspapers
must live and thrive, and this can only be done by a healthy
subscription list, and, in order to swell that list, they must
excite the worst passions of depraved men and pander to their
prejudices.

Are the disgraceful scenes that darkened the history of South
Carolina and cast a foul blot upon her proud escutcheon to be
re-enacted? It must not. If we expect to enjoy peace and
prosperity in our State, we must be more mindful of the rights of
each other, more tolerant in our political views, and finally,
leave the punishment of violators of the law to Courts of
Justice, and not constitute ourselves a Vigilance Committee for
every imaginary wrong. The Courts are certainly doing their duty,
as our increased appropriation for the penitentiary will evince.
If this course of action is followed, then, and not until then,
will South Carolina blossom as the rose, and peace and prosperity
flow as a river within her borders.

Again, Mr. Chairman, if the people of that and any other County
would only turn away from the sire