USA > South Carolina > Charleston County > Charleston > The newspaper press of Charleston, S.C.; a chronological and biographical history, embracing a period of one hundred and forty years > Part 7
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Dr. IRVING has been a miscellaneous writer all his life. He has contributed a great deal to our daily press, and frequently edited the Mercury, in the absence of the pro- prietor, Mr. PINCKNEY. It can truthfully be said, that in his manifold literary writings, he has never indited a word calculated to injure, or to give pain to any human being. Dr. IRVING is graceful in elocution, has command of chaste and beautiful imagery-exquisite humor, pungent, yet playful satire, and touching pathos. These endowments have repeatedly brought tributes of applause from large audiences in this City and elsewhere. His lectures on COLERIDGE'S " Devil's Walk," and " Cock Robin," give evi- dences of his grace, originality, and happy vein. “ A. Day on Cooper River," proves him to be a remarkably spirited cicerone.
The circumstances which induced Dr. IRVING to prepare
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and deliver the lecture on " Cock Robin," which has been declaimed thirty-four times, and which has benefited the · charities of life to an amount not less than $11,000, is men- tioned as a pleasing episode. The " Literary and Philo- sophical Society of South Carolina," over which that pure divine, and learned ornithologist, Reverend JOHN BACH- MAN, D. D., presided, found, after the completion of their museum, that their revenue was inadequate to compensate the naturalist and chemist, Doctor FELIX LOUIS L'HER- MINIER, member and correspondent of several learned so- cieties, who was especially brought from Europe for this service. It was then determined that this want should be met by means of a course of lectures, to be given by some of the prominent members of the society. Doctor IRVING was one of the lecturers, in aid of that fund. " Cock Robin" was the Doctor's theme.
""Tis a history
Handed from ages down; a nurse's tale."
The simplicity of the subject was relieved by the general splendor of the production, and from every part of the " Old Theatre," on the night of the lecture, rang out uni- versal applause, revealing to the author the pleasing assu- rance, that from a simple nursery tale, he had drawn com- pliments from a large and delighted auditory. Dr. IRVING now quietly enjoys communion with thoughts pure and worthy, at his country seat, " Kensington," in St. John's, Berkley, unalloyed by the promiscuous admixtures of City life.
CHAPTER IX.
THE ONLY JOURNAL OF THE PAST AND PRESENT-FIRST ISSUED AS CHARLESTON COURIER, JANUARY 10, 1803- LORING ANDREWS, A. S. WILLINGTON, S. C. CARPENTER, ITS FOUNDERS-CONTENTS EPITOMIZED-GROUND-MOLE PLOT-B. B. SMITH, F. DALCHO, P. T. MARCHANT, 1807- JOHN PALM.
OF the several rivals now contending for the honors and rewards held out in Charleston to the press, The Charles- ton Daily Courier, let it be remarked, has had an existence of sixty-seven years. This fact is only referred to now, as indicating and measuring, not so much its claims, as a competitor, but to show what should be its inducements and motives to grateful remembrance and continued exertions. The field is ample, both for duties and rewards, and it is pleasing to state, that in the progressiveness of enlarged and liberal views, it is fast coming to be admitted, that in the legitimate and honorable publishing business, the over- throw of one competitor is never necessarily the advance- ment of another.
The Charleston Daily Courier has outlived all its elders, and many of its contemporaries in journalism, and in the history of the press, no less than in other provinces of thought, action, and adventure, it has witnessed many changes. These changes constitute a narrative within them- selves ; which, did space permit, it would be exceedingly interesting still further to dwell upon.
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The Courier began its commercial career on the 10th day of January, 1803, sixty-seven years ago, through the energy of AARON SMITH WILLINGTON. This gentleman was born in the Town of Weyland, Massachusetts, on the 12th March, 1781. In 1802, just after reaching his ma- jority, he came to Charleston. It was at the pressing solicitations of LORING ANDREWS, also of Massachusetts, that Mr. WILLINGTON, the friend of Mr. ANDREWS, came to dwell in the Southern quarter of the Union. Mr. WIL- LINGTON'S purpose was to superintend the mechanical de- partment of a paper that Mr. ANDREWS intended to estab- lish, to supply the place of the South Carolina State Ga- zette; a journal which had just finished its career, in the family of newspapers. These gentlemen, on their arrival in Charleston, found another candidate for newspaper honors, in STEPHEN CULLEN CARPENTER. Mr. CARPENTER Was an Irish gentleman, advantageously known as having been, at one time, a writer for the periodical press of London ; reporter of the parliamentary proceedings, during the trial consequent upon the impeachment exhibited against WAR- REN HASTINGS* by the English Government, which began in the spring of 1788, and the author of the " Overland Journey to India," under the assumed name of DONALD CAMPBELL. Mr. CARPENTER was a federalist in politics, and quite active in arranging for the establishment of a political journal. At that time, an effort made to main- tain two daily papers would, in the opinion of those inter- ested, terminate in the failure of both. Wisely was it, then, that Messrs. ANDREWS and CARPENTER determined to combine both enterprises. This adjustment produced the Charleston Courier, on the day already mentioned, from
* Warren Hastings, at the conclusion of the speech made by Edmund Burke on that occasion remarked : " I thought, for about half an hour, that I was the greatest villain in the world."
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their office, No. 6 Craft's South Range, (Adger's South Wharf.) The tri-weekly, or country edition of this paper was not instituted until April 16, 1804.
In the first number of the Courier is the "Prospectus," one column in length. We find, as prominent articles among the reading matter, Congressional proceedings; an epito- mized comparison between the monarchical and the consular despotism of France; British domestic intelligence ; mis- cellaneous matter, and a lengthy editorial on the subject of "Intolerance." It concludes with the annexed sig- nificant paragraph, in which are occurrences the editor seemed to have anticipated, and which have since come to pass :
" Against the worst of abominations and mischiefs, with " which this growing spirit of intolerance if not resisted " must ultimately overwhelm and trample down the coun- "try, unhinge the public policy, corrupt the morals and " brutalise the manners of the people, and extinguish all " the decencies and tender charities which invigorate, while "they soften the human heart, we shall in some future " number endeavor to warn the citizens of the United " States. To moderate, not to inflame-to mediate and " heal, not exasperate-to fill up the hideous gulph which " now yawns across the commonwealth dividing one por- " tion of the people from the other, shall be the object of " our strenous efforts as it is of our most anxious wishes. " Were the former as potent as the latter is sincere, there " would soon be in this country but one heart, one hand, " one sentiment, and one voice-and that voice would pro- " claim to the world-America is, and ever shall be a " Confederated Republic."
In the advertising columns of this first number, there are the sales at auction advertisements of VEREE & BLAIR, DAVID LOPEZ; SCOTT, CAMPBELL & Co .; WM. HOLMES &
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Co .; WM. HORT, and CHARLES LINING, executors, who ad- vertised for sale the lands belonging to the Right Reverend Doctor SMITH. JNO. GILLIS, who offered five dollars reward for JOHN WILLIAMS, a runaway from the schooner Garland. Among the most prominent of those who conducted the grocery business, were CROCKER & HICHBORN, THOMAS & FLECHER, JOSEPH WINTHROP, J. M. DAVIS, and MCKENZIE & McNEILL. Of the vessels ready for London and Liver- pool there were eight; for freight or charter, five, and were advertised by J. WINTHROP, CROCKER & HICHBORN, TUNNO & Cox, J. & J. HARGRAVES, BAILEY & WALKER, DAVID McTAGGART, GILLESPIE & MACKAY, W. & E. CRAFTS, JOHN HASLETT. NATHANIEL INGRAHAM advertised for sale " the house the subscriber now resides in, situated in King Street, near South Bay." W. WIGHTMAN had a column advertisement in this first number, and therein an- nounced, " an elegant and fashionable assortment of sterling plate, gold and silver watches, rich jewelry, plated goods, etc." The marine news consisted of six vessels arrived, and five sailed.
In the same issue, there is given an account of the pro- ceedings of Congress, of December 23, 1802, in which is a message from Mr. JEFFERSON, then President, giving in- formation with regard to the violation of the treaties with the United States on the part of Spain, and conveying, among other papers, letters from our consul at New Or- leans. Since then the territory of France and Spain on this continent, has not only been ceded to the United States, but also out of that territory great and powerful States of this Union have been formed. The Courier has seen in the course of a life of sixty-seven years, nations rise and fall. It chronicled the triumph and descent of the first Napoleon. It announced the trampling by France upon Germany. Events have indeed taken a turn. Germany
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has been avenged, her hosts have heavily pressed the soil of France. It recorded the first notes of secession which were sounded in New England by JOSIAH QUINCY, and by the Hartford Convention, and it subsequently heard New Eng- land's denouncement of State Rights in every shape and form. It mentioned the fact that New England slavers brought Africans to Charleston for sale, and subsequently reported New England's condemnation of the very act in- augurated by herself, and through which she had acquired wealth. It lived in the times which enabled it deservedly to extol such men as WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON, MADISON, MONROE, ADAMS, CHEVES, RUTLEDGE, LOWNDES, CAL- HOUN, WEBSTER, and CLAY. It lives to-day to herald with deep humiliation, the workings of a self aggrandizing President like GRANT, politicians like MORTON, and Gov- ernors like BULLOCK, HOLDEN and SCOTT.
In literature, it has seen the rise and success of COLE- RIDGE, WORDSWORTH, Sir WALTER SCOTT, COWPER, BY- RON, TENNYSON and MOORE, among English Poets; Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON, the HERSCHELLS, HUMPHREY DA- VY, and Sir DAVID BREWSTER, among English Philoso- phers; DICKENS, BULWER, THACKERAY and GEORGE EL- IOT, among English Novelists ; HALLAM and MACAULEY, among English Historians. It has seen the genius of the new world begin with nothing of value, yet produce such men as WHITNEY, WASHINGTON IRVING, POE, BRYANT, COOPER, KENNEDY, BANCROFT, and our own SIMMS.
American art was then unknown. How is it to-day ? The works of ALSTON, BENJAMIN WEST, STUART, FRA- SER and BOUNETHEAU, reply. Others, too, we might men- tion, have won admiration from all who love the beautiful and admire genius.
The subsequent publishing localities of the Courier were at No. 1 Broad Street, to which place it was removed May
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7th, 1806 ; then to No. 28, North side of Broad Street, just West of State Street; then further East, and near the Bay ; then on the South side of Broad Street, West corner of Gadsden's Alley. There, it was published during the second war with Great Britain, which lasted from 1812 to 1815.
The Courier when first issued, had for its superscription, " Printed by A. S. WILLINGTON for LORING ANDREWS." It was printed on paper of demy size, 19 by 22 inches, each page containing four columns; dimensions very cir- cumscribed, when compared with the "Map of busy life," which is now spread before the public. In its early num- bers, there was marked reticence of the publishers on per- sonal or local matters.
It is a fact highly creditable, and worthy of mention, that in all cases of emergency in former days, the mer- chants-a class of men high-toned and indefatigable in bu- siness, free, open and generous in their manner of conduct- ing it-together with the astute politicians, invariably came forward to the aid of our City press, not leaving editors to sustain a cause alone. In all such cases, the press of South Carolina, more so perhaps than elsewhere, poured forth a profusion of intellect.
Co-eval with the early issues of the Courier, there was brought to light one of the most novel attempts at rob- bery, ever known in Charleston, and which produced much excitement at the time. The circumstances of the case- known as the " Ground-mole Plot"-were familiar to two, now among the most venerable of the citizens of Charles- ton, who then, with young and eager eyes, witnessed the scene. From notes made by one of them, entitled, " Occurrences of my early Life," the modus operandi of the would-be bank robber is taken and thus related : The gentleman, then an apprentice to a mechanical concern,
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was attracted to the scene by the wide-spread rumor, and informed that there had just been dug out from the earth, a human ground-mole, who was industriously attempting to rob the South Carolina Bank, then located in the build- ing now occupied by the Charleston Library Society, at the North West corner of Broad and Church Streets. The man-WITHERS, by name-was discovered in the effort, and arrested before he had effected his purpose. He was of middle size, and had, as his accomplice, a youth, who made his escape. WITHERS was arraigned for this attempt to plunder, but not having accomplished his design, was released from confinement. The examination of this case showed that he came from the West, and that he had visited the City with a drove of horses, and having dis- posed of them, unfortunately lost all his proceeds by gaming. Desiring to recover his losses, he conceived the idea of so doing, at the expense of others. A project entertained by him was carried into effect one night in Oc- tober, 1802, by his entering the drain at the intersection of Broad and Church Streets, which, under the old system of drainage, could be entered by the removal of an iron grat- ing. Once in, he tunneled a passage to within a short distance of the bank vault. The strangest part of his feat was, that he remained earthed for the space of, at least, three months. The discovery of the plot-through the in- cautiousness of the youth-defeated one of the boldest and most novel methods of tapping the strong box of a moneyed institution, ever brought to light.
Early in the summer of 1805, less than three years after the first publication of the Charleston Courier, Mr. AN- DREWS, who had an ardent affection for those sweet heart affinities, known by the name of parent, brother and sis- ter, having resolved to return home, parted with the inter- est he had in the Courier establishment to BENJAMIN
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BURGH SMITH. Mr. ANDREWS, before he came to Charles- ton, was the editor, successively, of The Herald of Free- dom, Boston, and The Western Star, of Stockbridge, Mas- sachusetts. While preparing to return North, he was ta- ken sick, and died on the 19th October, 1805, at the early age of 38 years, having retired from the Courier but a few months before. Mr. ANDREWS was gifted to a high degree with all those qualities which make men useful to society, and estimable in private life ; his manners, plain, frank, and unaffected, showed sincerity, which he possessed in an uncommon degree. In the cemetery of the Unitarian Church of this City, where mortality ends, but where " there is no death but change, soul claspeth soul," LOR- ING ANDREWS, fourth son of JOSEPH ANDREWS, of Hing- ham, Massachusetts, was buried, aye, forgotten, save by one fair and faithful hand, whose unceasing duty it is to commemorate the spot. " No flowers so fair, no buds so sweet" as those which bedeck the grave of him, who died so soon after the forming period of life.
In the fall of 1805 the Courier appeared, published by BENJAMIN BURGH SMITH & Co. Mr. S. C. CARPENTER was the Company.
It was on the 10th of January, 1806, that Mr. SMITH retired from the firm, in the fourth year of the paper's ex- istence ; the firm then became MARCHANT, WILLINGTON & Co. "The Wreath or the Rod" was the motto of the paper, and it was placed under the sub-title.
Mr. SMITH was a federalist in politics. He was remark- able for his wit, as well as his talent. This same position insured good breeding, and a respect for the opinions of others. He was distinguished for a courteous method of expression, now, unhappily, too scantily possessed by the press militant. This gentleman died in Charleston, of country fever, on the 2d day of June, 1823, aged 47 years.
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Messrs. MARCHANT, CARPENTER, DALCHO, and WILLING- TON, the individual members of the firm, were, also, the edi- tors. In their salutatory address to the public, at that period, appears the following exposition of their future course as journalists, to wit : * " Their labors will " still be the same; namely, to maintain the Federal Con- " stitution inviolate, pure, and uncorrupted, generally ; to " defend, as far as they can, the cause of Christianity, " order, and good government, and to oppose every attempt " that may be made, to pervert the sound principles, or
" contaminate the morals of the community. * * * * The "new proprietors have not only pledged themselves, that " the foregoing is to be simply and unequivocally their ob- "ject; to which they not only bind themselves, but have " devised means to bind those who may hereafter possess " the property of the paper. Support or hostility to par- " ticular parties, merely as such, or to particular men, ex- " cept as they affect or are affected by the general princi- " ples, avowed, is entirely out of the scope of their views. " Abhorrent of personal calumny, or vulgar scurrility, " they promise that their columns shall never be stained " by any invective or indecorous allusion that can wound " the feelings of the most sensitive individual, unless the " fair, manly discussion of affairs, merely national, shall " have that effect." Mr. WILLINGTON was then, for the first time, known as proprietor.
On the 1st of November, 1806, this firm published a weekly organ, called the Carolina Weekly Messenger, but it did not succeed in getting hold of the public mind, and hence it failed. On the 4th of the same month and year, the first supplement ever published by the Courier, made its appearance, though these appendices had appeared in other journals, certainly thirty years before. This supple- ment of the Courier contained an Ordinance of the City,
9
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regulating the City Guard. It was a document of some length, and signed by JOHN DAWSON, jr., then Intendant. In that supplement, there was, also, a proclamation from the Intendant, requiring " all owners and occupants of " houses within the City, to put one or more lights against "every window fronting the streets, whenever fire or " other alarms may occur in the night time."
S. C. CARPENTER withdrew from the firm of MARCHANT, WILLINGTON & Co., on the 9th of July, 1806, and in the summer of the same year removed to New York City, where he bought out The Daily Advertiser, published in that City, and began, on the 1st January, 1807, the publi- cation of a half-weekly, called the People's Friend and Daily Advertiser. Mr. CARPENTER pledged himself in the prospectus of that paper that "its columns shall never "inflict an unnecessary, or unprovoked sting, in the heart " of any individual, nor contain a line to wound the bosom " of integrity or innocence, or to bring a blush into the " cheek of modesty." Sentiments truly noble, but seldom regarded now by journalists. The encouragement this pa- per received outstripped the expectations of the proprietor. To Philadelphia Mr. CARPENTER went in 1811, and while there, became the publisher of a magazine, named the Monthly Register and Review. In the same year, there was published in England, in six volumes, duodecimo, the works of S. C. CARPENTER. They consisted of treatises upon various subjects : Essays, Moral, Critical, and His- torical ; Poems ; Translations and Letters upon interesting subjects. It is to be regretted that these works cannot be found, so far as is known, in either of our libraries. Mr. CARPENTER also started The Bureau, or Repository of Lit- erature, Politics and Intelligence, but that Magazine was not a success. From Philadelphia he went to Washington City, in the summer of 1818, where he obtained an appoint-
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ment as book-keeper for the Quarter Master's Department. This was not accomplished, however, without a change of political sentiment, for he became, at least in profession, a violent republican. Mr. CARPENTER was not without his enemies; and the feeling was so intense against him, that in a published letter from Washington, dated July 26th, to the editor of the Baltimore Patriot, he was styled " the notorious STEPHEN CULLEN CARPENTER." He was, the letter adds, " placed in a position to the exclusion of native worth and talent." Several of the clerks declared they would leave the public service, if CARPENTER received an appointment in the office where they were. Mr. CAR- PENTER died in 1820, of a chronic disease, after two years residence in Washington.
There is printed, from the London Courier of September 30th, 1806, in The Charleston Courier of the 5th January, 1807, the account of the execution of JOHN PALM, by com- mand of BONAPARTE. This murder excited, in a peculiar degree, the attention of the English people. It was a di- rect blow given to the "Liberty of the Press"-the magi- cian which works wonders-the medium which transforms the night of superstition into the noontide of truth.
JOHN PALM was a book publisher, and for selling a work containing "Free strictures on the conduct of BONAPARTE," was dragged from a city under the protection of Prussia, tried by a military commission, and shot in the Austrian City of Brannau. The conduct of PALM, in vindicating the utility of the press, was most gallant. He was offered his pardon upon condition that he would give up the name of the author. This he refused to do. The opportunity was again offered him at the place of execution; but his reply was, "that he would rather die than betray the author." He was immediately shot. With the view of intimidating others, six thousand copies of the sentence of
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the tribunal were circulated over the Continent. In re- turn, several patriots subscribed largely for the publication and distribution of sixty thousand copies of the letter writ- ten by PALM to his wife, from the military prison of Bran- nau, dated the 26th August, 1806, 6 o'clock, in the morn- ing. In that letter PALM instructed his wife to collect, as soon as possible, the wreck of his fortune, and with it retire to America, "in which land," he said, "innocence is still secure, and patriotism is yet revered."
CHAPTER X.
THE COURIER TO 1809-EDMUND MORFORD-THE EMBAR- GO-THE BURNING OF PLACIDE'S THEATRE, RICHMOND- THE COURIER'S EAST BAY LOCATION-ISIDORE GAND- OUIN-THE COMMERCIAL TREATY-MR. WILLINGTON AS BOARDING OFFICER-INCIDENTS-JOSEPH PREVOST AND HIS SUCCESSORS-ELFORD'S OBSERVATORY.
FROM January, 1808, to January, 1809, though the title of the paper, the career of which we now record, was the Charleston Courier, yet the sub-title on the second page, for the length of time above mentioned, read Courier and Mercantile Advertiser. The Courier was, at that time, ex- ceeded only by one or two daily papers on the continent.
PETER TIMOTHY MARCHANT, who was a grandson of PETER TIMOTHY, withdrew from the paper, January, 1808. Mr. WILLINGTON and Doctor DALCHO remained, under the firm of A. S. WILLINGTON & Co.
On the 3d July, 1809, Mr. E. MORFORD, a bookseller, whose store was the great literary centre of the City, and who was, as will be seen, the founder of the Mercury, I became an associate editor, and one of the proprietors of the Courier, the firm then assuming the title of E. MOR- FORD, WILLINGTON & Co. This firm established and con- ducted a Reading Room, second in importance to that estab- lished by ROBERT HOWARD, (already noticed) in the City. They were also extensively engaged in the traffic of patent medicines, and material appertaining to the book trade.
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It was in MORFORD, WILLINGTON & Co's Reading Room that the "Franklin Society," which was established in 1813, held their meetings.
On the 1st July, 1812, the proprietors of the Courier, Messrs. MORFORD, WILLINGTON & Co., announced that the paper would be reduced to half a sheet, in consequence of the difficulty of procuring paper. The non-intercourse act produced this abridgment.
The embargo* soon followed. The bill for an embargo of sixty days, was carried in the House of Representatives of the United States, on 3d April, 1812. Having passed the Senate, the bill was ratified by President MADISON, on the 4th of the same month. This was the precursor of de- termined war, after a peace of nine and twenty years. The President's proclamation supervened. It was declar- ing a state of war existing between the " United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Dependencies there- of, and the United States, and their Territories," and was dated at Washington, on the 19th June, 1812. War was formally proclaimed in Charleston, in compliance with the President's proclamation, at 12 M., June 26, 1812, by NA- THANIEL GREENE CLEARY, Sheriff of the District, " accom- panied by beat of drum."
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