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REV. A. J. RYAN, Editor-
AUGUSTA, GA., JULY 11, 1868.
LIBERTY.
Such is the word that runs through the
weft of all human history, now as a thread
of gold, and then again resembling a
thread that has been steeped in blood.
Every man desires to be free, every na
tion aspires to liberty, every century has
laken the word “Liberty” for its watch
word ; and yet there are scarcely two
men living who entertain exactly the
same opinion as to what that word im
ports. It is just because of this diversity
of opinion on so vital a point, that one
and the same word is so fraught with a
curse as well as a blessing for humanity.
In order to be free, men will fight and
reduce each other to slaves; one people
will conquer and oppress another because
each considers its liberties secured only
by the oppression of its antagonist; under
the banner of Liberty, one party will as
sail another; in the name of Liberty, one
man will mutilate and butcher another ;
with that name for a watchword, one
generation and one century will revile
the other without measure and without
scruple. Thus, from the very beginning
of time, a constant war of all against all
has been carried on in the name of
Liberty. What one century strove to at
tain as its ideal of Liberty, that same is
rejected as tyranny in the next; what,
during one epoch, every man sought to
realize as Liberty, even at the price of
his blood, that is opposed and branded as
downright slavery by the epoch that fol
lows. Thus, in olden times, all were
anxious to belong to the “ free,” while
now, those same “ freemen” are stigma
tized as a blot upon humanity, who de
served nothing better than the fate of
slaves. During the middle ages, there was
a general rush after so-called “ liberties, ’’
while, to-day, all those liberties are de
nounced as so many outrages upon the
liberty of the race, that should be looked
upon in no milder light than that of
abuses and acts of violence. During the
centuries that followed, doctrinal innova
tors everywhere called out lustily for the
free Word of God; but no sooner did
any one of their number dare to interpret
the Word of God in a sense different
from their own, than he was anathematized,
and, it possible, executed by the same in
novators. In more modern times, various
attempts have been made in various places
to secure what was thought political
Liberty, but it was in this, as in all other
cases, whosoever did not think and act
precisely as those thought and asked, who,
for the time being, had proclaimed them
selves the privileged heralds of Liberty,
had often an opportunity of atoning on
the gallows, or under the guillotine, for
the liberty of his speech, or even* his
thoughts.
By this means it has come to pass that
the word Liberty, at the sound of which
all hearts, at once, beat faster, has now
become a term of dislike, if not hatred to
many. Amid such a confusion of ideas
and the many prejudices and errors that
follow as a necessary consequence, it is
necessary to cast a glance at Liberty in
the abstract before we can throw any
available light upon the subject, or reduce
the various mistaken ideas concerning its
nature, into order.
Liberty, in its general sense, implies
the power and freedom to do only that
which one desires. It is, therefore, of a
three-fold kind, namely; 1. The liberty to
desire and to do only that which is yood.
2. To do both good and evil. 3. To
desire and do only that which is evil,
God alone possesses the capacity for the
first in its perfection and of Himself, and
therefore it is called the Divine Liberty.
by pre-eminence. The second kind cor
responds with the nature of man, and,
hence, it is known as Human Liberty: ;
while the third dwells in the nature of
the Evil Spirit, and, is, on that account,
designated as Diabolic Liberty. Man
was created and called that he might will
only that which is good, but man’s nature
is such that he may also will that which
is evil. He is a being composed of spirit
and matter. The spiritual element within
him urges him on to that which is good,
while his material body inclines him to
evil. Between the two, man is given his
free choice, since he is endowed with a
will perfectly free, and hence, man ap
proaches either Liberty Divine or, Dia
bolic, in the same proportion as his will
decides in favor of that which is good or
that which is evil.
As this is the case with the individual,
so, too, it may be said to hold good in re
gard to entire nations, or, rather the en
tire human family. Whenever the race
desires for, and labors to attain that
which is good and which is vouchsafed for
as such both by reason and revelation,
then it is drawing nearer and nearer to
that Liberty which is Divine. If, on the
contrary, the race follows its natural in
clinations to sensual indulgence and evil,
it, no doubt, still follows the dictates of its
free will, but that will accords, in such
case, with the will of the Evil Spirit, and,
hence, the liberty made use of in so acting,
is the Liberty of the Devil.
But a daily experience proves to us
that the nature of man is so constituted
that he but very seldom does only that
which is either good or bad. To do no
thing but good requires on our part a
degree of sanctity which docs not belong
to man without the intervention of a most
special grace of Almighty God ; while,
again, on the other hand, to do only evil
presupposes a degree of diabolism to
which man sinks but very seldom during
life. Thus, as man possesses an innate
free will, by virtue of which he may
choose either the good or bad, we find
that, during life, he avails himself of this
elective power, now to do that which is
good, and then again, that which is bad;
and in this circumstance lies the reason
why so splendid a gift of God proves often
a curse rather than a blessing to the race.
It follows, of course, from what we have
already stated, that every man—the good
no less than the bad—constantly aim at
the full attainment of liberty as the neces
sary condition for securing the final end
at which they are aiming. Now, as each
individual struggles to attain this liberty,
so does, also, every political, doctrinal,
and literary party forever aim at the same
boon, since without it they cannot secure
the end and aim of their party. This is
the reason why, at all times, the cry for li
berty has been raised as by acclamation
wherever anew faction or anew genera
tion succeeded that which went before.
But, since one party only furnishes the
other with the desired weapons of de
fence, in granting such an universal liber
ty, it most freqently happens that each
party lays exclusive claim to the liberty
in question, at the same time withdraw
ing all similar claims from their oppo
nents. Hence arises that anomaly in his
tory—a warfare against Liberty carried on
in the name of Liberty.
And this warfare becomes all the more
stubborn and sanguine when party aims
come to its assistance, for, thenceforth, the
battle rages simply to vindicate, either the
right or the wrong Since, however,
that which is evil easily finds a response
in the human heart, and since it is no
difficult matter for our sensuality to tri
-1 uph over the arguments of reason, it fol
lows, likewise, that man, during his life,
far more frequently abuses his liberty of
choice, by selecting that which is evil,
rather than that which is good. One evil
deed, however, is but a stepping stone to
another, and the habit of evil, when once
acquired, serves but to determine the will
more and more to that which is bad, and
hence it comes that the party of evil fre
quently gains the victory over the party
of good, and that human Liberty has be
come like unto a thread of blood that
MBBSn ©S SIS SOUSE.
winds its tortuous way through the his
tory of humanity.
If, therefore, Liberty is at the same
time the ambition and the bone of con
tention between all, if it forms the source
both of virtue and vice, if it hides within
its bosom both a curse and a blessing for
the race, what must we do in order that
this Liberty may henceforth bring only well
being and not misfortune, to the human
family ? All manner of Governmental in
junctions, laws, and safeguards, have been
tried time and again to avoid an abuse of
Liberty; but they have, one and all,
invariably proven themselves as insuffi
cient, and they will, no doubt, continue to
do so until the end of time. The only
sure and certain means to avoid an abuse
of Liberty is not of a physical but moral
nature, and may be found in the teach
ings and the practice of the Religion of
Him who brought unto us the “liberty to
become children of God.”
It is only in our endeavors to secure
this Divine Liberty that vie find a safe
guard strong and efficient enough to
prevent our human Liberty from becom
ing a Ijiberty which is diabolic. These
few words contain the sum and substance
of all that can be said upon this subject,
and they are borne out by the experience
of our race, as recorded in the world’s
history during the last six thousand years.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
When other and seemingly greater
names shall perish and be stricken from
the roll of fame, the name of Jefferson
Davis will still live, and have its place
among the highest on that roll. Not
because of his name, not because of his
deeds, not because of his trials and suffer
ings—but because of the great principles
of which he was the representative man,
and for which he was the indomitable pa
triot, and the patient, enduring martyr.
Whether we view him in the Council
Halls of the United States, declaring his
love for the Union, deprecating the mad
fanaticism of the hour, and hoping for
the restoration of peace and harmony
between the jarring sections; or in the
zenith of his official career as Presi
dent of the new-born Nation, wielding
its destinies with Roman firmness and
Grecian bravery; or, as the patient, en
during martyr in the felon’s cell within
the Prison walls of that grand old For
tress which guards the seaboard of old
Virginia—we can but admire the man,
his character, and his greatness. And
what made him great ? It was not alone
his nobility of soul, his moral fortitude,
or his powers of endurance. These, it is
true, are the ingredients of real, human
greatness; but there is something else
underlying and overlaying all these ins
gredients. There are groat principles to
be sustained and defended at any and all
hazards; and among these great princi
ples are those which gave birth to the
Confederate States, and which, though
their supporters and defenders are over
whelmed and defeated, still live, and will
forever live. Those principles put Jef
ferson Davis at the head of the young
Nation; and there he stood, calm, firm, and
unmoved, as incorruptible as the Roman
Senator in Rome’s palmiest days ; there
he stood, until the last gun had been fired,
and the last sword had been given up,
and the last banner bad been sadly and
sorrowfully folded and laid away ; there
he stood, until the great and glorious
cause of American Liberty had become,
indeed, a “Lost Cause,” until “its people’s
hopes were dead,” and until its followers
were chained to the Moloch car of Mili
tary Despotism under “the best Govern
ment the world ever saw.” Then, and
only then, he sought safety in retreat;
and then when his hopes as Father of
the young Confederacy had all gone, he
clung, with true affection, to those who
were nearest and dearest to his heart.
Unwilling to save himself and leave them
to the tender mercies of a cruel and re'
lentless foe, he stood by them, as he had
stood by his country, until the minions of
Despotism overtook him, and carried him
a prisoner to Fortress Monroe.
Chained, guarded, insulted, here he
lay, a very martyr to those great princi-
pies he loved so well, and defended so
bravely, for weary, weary months, until
Yankee barbarity, ashamed of its own
cruelty and wickedness, at last released
him upon bail to stand his trial as a trai
tor to his country! Jefferson Davis, the
patriot, the martyr, the representative
of American Liberty, a traitor to his
country! Verily, Time will do him
justice, and our cause justice ; and those
“great men” who sought to destroy his
principles and our principles, the princi
ples of Constitutional Freedom, will, in
that time, be either sunk in oblivion, or
else have their names blazoned on the
records of Infamy; while the name of Jef
ferson Davis will shine forth from the
bright scroll of illustrious names, re
splendent because of these illustrious
names which will surround it, resplendent
because of the grand principles which it
represents to-day, and will still represent
then.
CHEERING.
It is somewhat cheering, amid the gloom
which surrounds our unhappy country,
to hear the bugle notes of Democracy, as
it were, calling its clansmen from every
section of the Union to rally around its
standard of glorious and time honored
principles, and give the victory to Truth,
Justice, and the Constitution. It is cheer
ing, because it gives us hope that the peo
ple may at last be aroused to a sense of the
impending danger—that they may see in
the fate of the South the fate which awaits
other sections of the Union, It is cheer
ing, because, in that hope of triumph, is
another hope of release from the tyranny
under which we of the South are suffer
ing.
We cannot identify this journal with
any political party, but firmly and sincere
ly bound to our dear Sunny land, as we
arc, devoted to principles which wc hon
estly and conscientiously hold, we would
be recreant to ourselves and to these prin
ciples did we not express a hope, or breathe
a heartfelt prayer, for the triumph of a
party, which we truly and firmly believe
will, at least, give justice to the South and
release her from that cruel bondage under
which her people are now bound down.
Hence, while we raise no political
banner, or shout no political war cry, still
we hope and pray for the success of prin
ciple, for the restoration of the Constitu
tion, and the speedy return of prosperity.
Hence, we are cheered by the enthusiasm
of the people, by the prospects of success,
and by the hope of Constitutional tri
umph. Hence, we bid our people be ot
good cheer, and never to forsake princi
ples which they have learned to love from
childhood, which they have cherished in
manhood, and which they have defended
at the point of the bayonet. These are
the principles of Constitutional Liberty,
upon which the American Government
was founded, and which was attempted to
be perpetuated in that later Government
to name which now is esteemed, in some
quarters, a crime, but to Freemen every
where is as dear as though it still exist
ed, as dear as the principles which it was
to perpetuate, as dear as those who gave
up their lives in its defence.
[For the Banner of the South.]
THE DRESS IS NOT THE MAN.
BY MATTIE C. CHAPMAN.
Some writer, in a hopeful mood, has
said: “ The Dandy is almost extinct, that
we seldom meet with a specimen nowa
days.” But, I think , it is a mistake.
We still have a quantity of that rnonkey
fied variety of the human race. We see
them swaggering along the streets of our
towns and cities, smelling of musk aud
insolence; ringed and chained with triu
kets, and rejoicing in ringlet whiskers
and moustaches.
See the pompous airs they assume—
how vain-glorious are their ideas of self-im
portance —they have a vacuum in the cra
nium large enough to admit the idea that
man’s true greatness consists in the amount
of gaudy trash with which lie decks the
body—spend their time in idleness, and
perchance in crime, “ For Satan finds
some mischief still for idle hands to do.”
Observe them in company: every one
must succumb to them and their opinions;
think they are vastly smarter than other
people, because they gab faster and say
more senseless nothings ; imagine all
the ladies are, in love with them, and all
the gentlemen envy them—remaining i n
blissful ignorance of the fact, that the
dress doesn’t constitute the man, rather
thinking it can overbalance all mental and
moral deformities. But, I say it can no
more do it than a prolusion of fancy
goods put upon an effigy of a imm
can mike it think, act, and move. X ,
the dress is not the man. The greatest
minds and the noblest hearts are often
hid beneath a mean exterior. History,
as well as observation, verifies the asser
tion. Why was it the loud cry of “ Long
live the Emperor!” would be raised and
caught up with wild enthusiasm through
out N mighty army, as he passed
through the encampments, or mingled
with the weary soldiers on the march ? It
could not have been the dress he won*
for he was ever recognized by the
slouched hat and the old grey coat. No
it was his unrivalled heroism and trans
cendant genius before which inferior
minds bowed with wondering, involun
tary admiration. Such a mind as that
needed no outward ornaments of dress it
shone without them with a dazzling bright
ness that astonished and stupefied the
world. While history affords us striking
proofs like this, observation points us to
instances of the same nature. In the
late struggle with our country’s foe,
while the true patriot and noble hero had
donned the “Jacket of Grey,” and were
attempting to uphold its Banner, through
the heat of summer and the winds and
snows of winter, led by a Jackson and a
Lee, who were habitually seen in the uni
form of the common soldier, without any
insignia of rank to tell their high posi
tion ; these butterflies of folly and fashion
were still to be found in the rear, idly
looking on. Oh! which were the men?
And, though the war is over now, we arc
not free, nor our country independent.
We have as much need now of sensible self
sacrificing, deep-thinking men, as we had
then. Therefore, I hope men will cease
to tolerate such vain idleness, and, also,
that ladies will cease to smile upon them.
Look upon them as they really are, re
membering “ all is not gold that glitters,”
As the glittering sands may cover the
barren soil, so a shining exterior may
conceal a mind as devoid of merit. Turn
from such with genuine contempt, and seek
rather to admire the beauties of the
mind, the cultivated, refined intellect,
the generous noble heart, adorned with
knowledge, virtue, truth, and grace:
with these the immortal mind may shine
when the body is senseless dust.
Jefferson , Ga.
[For the Banner of the South. J
A FRAGMENT
BY MRS. SUSAN H. WADDELL.
As I stepped into the parlor, I saw a
man sitting by the fire. He had a glazed
cap upon his head, and wore an overcoat
buttoned to the chin. He held his head
down, and was busily engaged in examin
ing a leather pocket-book full of papers ;
some of them were very much soiled,
and interspersed with them were bank
bills, apparently to a large amount. He
had, also, a purse upon his knee, which he
presently took up, and. opening the end,
poured into his left palm several pieces
of gold and silver. So much absorbed
was the stranger that he did not observe
me; but when I opened a drawer to a
china buffet, he loooked up, and, as I was
directly in front of him, I saw the linea
ments of his face, and noticed the rapid
manner in which his eyes ran over my
figure and passed away again to his papers.
11 is complexion was red, eyes deep set
and black, nose long, very high cheek
bones, with a projecting mouth and teeth.
He resembled that corrugated bad face
of Nero, that is sometimes seen upon the
old imperial coins.
“I have found the paper at last”—said
he, handing it to Mr. Brief-—and I have
counted out your retaining fee, and now,
Lawyer, there is one thing I want you to
do; it is to humiliate that man in the
Court House, until he is not able to hold
up his head for shame; I will pay you
more for that”—lie slapped his knee by
way of emphasis—“than for gaining my
suit.”
“Mr. Lister,” said his counsel gravely,
“I thought you had more respect for me
than to suppose I would receive pay for
mortifying a man before a large audieuu ■
and for so small an offence, or even for a
great one, unless necessary to the devel
opment of my client’s wrongs.”
He looked down for a moment, shook
his head, bundled up his pocket-book
and purse, handed the fee to Mr. Brief,
and, throwing himself back in the chair,
drew from his side pocket a piece of to
bacco, and stripped it into shreds.
A noise, as if from a restive horse, at
tracted his attention; he rose quickly and
hurried out of the apartment.
We heard him calling loudly : “Whoa
Trotter, Whoa, I say !”
