AN APPEAL 
 
 Tu THK 
 
 STATE KKJHTS PAKTY 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTH CAEOLINA: 
 
 IN 
 
 SEVERAL LETTERS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 l'l{ESE}tl.e,0N;DlTr()XdF TUDLIC AFFAIRS, 
 
 ( OLL M BiA, S. C: 
 
 IKINTK!) vT THK OFFICE OF THE SOL-THERV /i . tM>r v V 
 
 ISoS. 
 
n/ .-r 
 
 AN APPEAL 
 
 TO TUE 
 
 STATE RiailTS PARTY 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 IX 
 
 SEVJBRAL LETTERS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PRETEXT COSDITIOX OF PUBLIC AFFAIKS, 
 
 . !*•.; 
 
 COLUMBIA, S. C: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE SOUTHERN GUARDIAN. 
 
 185S. 
 
^v^'^ 
 V 
 
 Duke Uaiversity 
 AUG 1 9 1936 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface, ....... v 
 
 Letter of Col. Andrew P. Cai.houn, . . . . 1 
 
 Letter of Gov. Adams to the CoMMn-TEE of Arrangements 
 
 AT Edgefield, 3 
 
 Letter of Gov. Adams to the Committee of Arrangements 
 
 AT Cheraw, *. 7 
 
 Letter of Gejl Martin, 11 
 
 Letter of Mr. Tradewell, 13 > 
 
 Letter of Odi.. Allen J. Green, 24 
 
 Letter of Caft. XT. M. Eobert, 27 
 
 Letter of Gol. Gregg, 29 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 From the time of the great contest against the tariff until the death of 
 Mr. Calhoun, the State Rights party of South Carolina preserved an inde- 
 pendent position in Federal polities. Commonly, it acted in alliance with the 
 Democratic party, because that party professed, after a fashion, State Rights 
 principles, and pursued a general course of policy less objectionable than that 
 of tile chief opposing party. But the bad faith and corruption which pre- 
 vailed Iq a large portion of the Ujiuocritic party, and were tolerated by the 
 rest for the sake of keeping in power, always prevented the alliance from 
 resultiiifj in u consolidation. AiState Rights party, formed in some other 
 Southern States, acted ijiore Or less in concert with the^^arty in South 
 Carolina, but hud a greater" toniliiucy to become consolidated with the 
 Democratic party,-,.. The Stite Rfghts party in Soutt Carolina, to preserve' '. 
 its principles; was "obliged lo remain separate and distinct. ' This solitary 
 position, or to eqajploy a term much used of late for prejudice, as of some 
 dreadful import,,. Ihis isolation, was no doubt a disadvantage greatly 
 to be regretted. • But it arose from lirm adherence to the right, and 
 was not to be remedied b^.gon? promising the principles upon which the party 
 was founded. That othf^rs,' having the same interest, exposed to the same 
 wrongs, ancj professing the same principles, should consult a shortsighted ex- 
 pediency, and'pnrchase the unc£irtai a protection of a corrupt party, bv sub- 
 mitting tp its authori^y, was no good reason .\yhy we, to avoid beinT left 
 alone, should commit the same error.-' 'Mr. Calhoun followed no such w;4jak 
 policy. Knowing thatthe Democratic party was not to be trusted, he took 
 good care nevwr. to' give it any authority over him by calling himself a 
 Democrat, 
 
 In the latter years of Mr. Calhoun's life, some politicians in South Caro- 
 lina became restive under the restraint which his upright and lofty policy 
 
VI 
 
 imposed upon the lower order of ambition. The machinery of the Demo- 
 cratic party would have offered a wide field of occupation for busy men of 
 ordinary capacity to make themselves of importance. The love of change, 
 and the blind disposition to follow the example of the majority elsewhere, 
 conspired to increase this feeling of restiveness. But so long as Mr. Cal- 
 houn lived, nothing could be done to impair the fixed confidence which the 
 people of South Carolina reposed in him, or to induce them to depart from 
 his State Rights policy. It was not until some years after his death, that 
 the Innovators could make much progress. The State Rights party still 
 remained independent, and refused to become merged in the organization of 
 the Democratic psrty. But on the approach of the last Presidential elec- 
 tion, when things appeared to grow somewhat more ripe for change, a small 
 number of politicians undertook to send to the Democratic Convention at 
 Cincinnati, a Delegation which should assume to represent in that body the 
 State Rights party of South Carolina, not indeed under that distinct name, 
 but as merged in and forming a portion of the Democratic party. Meagre 
 meetings in less than half of the Election Districts of the State, held under 
 calls which excluded that part of the State Rights party opposed to amalga- 
 mation with the Democracy, appointed Delegates. These Delegates went 
 to Cincinnati, and instead of avowing, as truth required; that they in fact 
 represented but a small number of politicians, and that their appomtment 
 had no sanction from the great body of the State Rights party of South 
 Carolina, assumed authoritatively to cast the vote of South Carolina in the 
 nominating Convention. The whole affair is a striking illusiration of the 
 wisdom of Mr. Calhoun's opposition to the existing system of nominating 
 Conventions, as tending by the most unfair means to-* put all political power 
 into the hands of a small number of busy and unscrupulous managers. 
 
 It now became evident that to preserve the old State Bights' faith in 
 South Carolina, it would be necessary, before the next Presidential election, to 
 oppose and defeat the further movements of the National Democrats. An 
 opportunity for commencing offered itself last winter in the .election of a 
 Senator. The State Rights, party in ; 'the Legislature- elected General 
 Hammond, I do not mean ■lo.;say:-.thafc no jSTational Democrats voted for 
 him, or that no State Rights •n:>€irfbe,rs voted against him j but the fact was 
 notorious that his election was effected by a rally of the State Rights party, 
 and was opposed by the great body of the other party, .wto zealously sup- 
 ported a regular National Democrat. He had been for many years in re- 
 tirement, and having declined a nomination in peremptory terms, was elect- 
 
ed free from any express pledges. But he was known by his latest public 
 acts, and by iuteicoursc, of no remote date, with friends, as a thorough 
 State Rights man ; and if any change in his views had already taken place, 
 it was not known to the party, who, in electing him, gave him so signal a 
 mark of confidence. 
 
 The speech which General Hanimond soon afterwards made in the 
 Senate, did not disappoint the expectations of his State Rights friends, but 
 on the contrary, confirmed them in the belief, that, in him, they had a 
 leader whom they might follow with pride and confidence. But when, 
 after a few more months spent in the atmosphere of Washington, he came 
 home and delivered his speech at Beech Island, a very different feeling en- 
 sued. The State Rights party were astounded. Something like despair 
 was caused by so heavy a blow coming from such a quarter. The National 
 Democrats, and the lovers, open or secret, of the Union, were delighted and 
 triumphant. 
 
 Entertaining a very strong confidence in General Hammond, and in the 
 identity of his political principles with our own, some of his warmest State 
 Rights friends still clung to the hope that he had not fully expressed him- 
 self, and might yet, when fully understood, be found true to his old princi. 
 pies. We could not discover the evidence of that increased strength and 
 greater Union in the South^ which he told us he saw ; and we could no- 
 comprehend the policy whjch he rcoominendcd. But we imagined that 
 high and expanded views -presented themselves tq his Statesman-like, 
 mind, which, when G/bfliprehesqded by lis, might convince us of their wisdom. 
 And these ideas Were not finally dispelled, until the publication, a few 
 weeks after the Bocch'T'iiland speech, of his letter to the Committee of Art 
 rangeraents fcrr the ^innergiven to Mr. Orr, at Craytonville. In that letter 
 General tiammond applied terms of high and unqualified commendation to 
 the political- conduct of 3Ip. Oit. Mr. Orr is the leader of the National 
 Democratic, party in South Carolina, and the most pernicious enemy of our 
 old State Bights faith, and of our Starte Constitution. The Craytonville 
 letter at once gave a. key to the Beech lalatid speech. We had been vaaly 
 gazing at the hcig-hts where Calhouij.Vfas' accustomed to soar, instead of 
 lowering our. €yes W the level of Orr,>; . ;/.- • 
 
 The dissatisfuetioo, not loud but de^'p, with which the Beech Island 
 speech was received by the State Riglits party, was not to be mistaken. It 
 was quickly given 6ut, through the newspaper press, by authority, that tho 
 Report of the speech wag incorrect, and that General Hammond would take 
 
VI u 
 
 an early opportunity to set himself right. While opposition was thus depre- 
 cated, the condemned Ileport was left uncorrected for three months. At 
 length, in the speech at Barnwell Court House, lately published, the Sena- 
 tor has given an exposition of his views in his own language, deliberately 
 committed to writing, and carefully guarded. And verily the latter end is 
 worse than the beginning. The declaration made at Beech Ishxnd, of his 
 belief that the South will submit to the election of one Black Republican 
 President, and perhaps of a second, is not repeated at Barnwell Court 
 House; but it is not explained, withdrawn, or disclaimed; it is suppressed 
 in suspicious silence. A skilful and imposing argument is made to per- 
 suade the South into the belief that while reduced in the Confederacy to a 
 permanent and continually diminishing minority, threatened by the com- 
 bined powers of fanaticism and avarice in the dominant section, there is still, 
 through ''moral victories" or some inexplicable good fortune, a way for 
 the minority to govern the Union. We are assured that the South never 
 was so strong or so successful before, and as one proof of this, we are refer- 
 red to our great victory over the Protective system ; and the Senator gravely 
 declares that he has '* no hesitation iu saying that the Plantation States 
 should discard any Government that made a Protective Tariif its policy;" 
 and that ''they should not submit to pay tribute for the support of any other 
 industrial system than their own." The Senator must presume largely on 
 the apathy and forgetful ness of a people who have so long submitted to a 
 • Protective Tariff, differing only in degree, not in-, principle, from the " Bill 
 •of Abominations" of 1828, and from the " Bkck Tariff^ of 1842; and who 
 still continue, and have never ceased, to " pay tribute for the support of 
 another industrial system than their own." What ifien is the Senator's 
 meaning, when he talks of "discarding" such a governmeot? ' Nor are his 
 assertions more satisfactory, that the South is now better united against the 
 Protective system than formerly, or more ready to repel interference with 
 her slave property. In the Missouri controversy the spirit of .the South was 
 at least as high as in the late one about Kansas; and the same Southern 
 States that would now vote, against Protective -Tariffs, we.re qOite as much 
 united on the subject thirty years ago; yirginia probably ihore so. 
 
 The Speech, while abounding '-in phrases concerniDg the power and the 
 spirit of the South, more complacent than suits the condition of communi- 
 ties which " submit to pay tribute for the support of another industrial sys- 
 tem than their own ;" and while full of professions of readiness to resort to 
 decisive measures of resistance upon contingencies indefinite enough to 
 
IX 
 
 cause no uneasiness to our enemies ; is admirably well adapted to extinguish 
 all real spirit of iadcpondcncc, aud to render the people of the South as 
 submissive to the power of the Union as the North need desire. And such 
 is the well-founded impression which it has already produced in ihe North- 
 ern States. General Hammond would now find himself a popular man in 
 New York, or rhilaJelphia, or Cincinnati, in spite of the still recent remin- 
 iscences of the "mud-sills " of Northern society. 
 
 General Hammond scarcely names the Democratic party in the Speech. 
 And ho earnestly counsels union among Southern men. His language is 
 so lofty and imposing that one does not at once suspect the real tendency of 
 his advice. But the union which be counsels is evidently union with the 
 Democratic party. And his speech might be less hurtful to the State 
 Rights party, if his counsel was given more openly. He professes that he 
 can see no sound distinction between a National Democrat and a State Rights 
 man, or as with a common inaccuracy of language he calls it, a State Rights 
 Democrat. He may not be able to see now; but in former times, before 
 that change took place in his feelings towards the Federal Union, which he 
 now avows, he could very easily have seen the difference between himself 
 and one who wore the Democratic uniform. The Speech does not say a 
 word on the question of going into the next Democratic Convention. Au 
 editorial declaration that GenerarHaTumond, having always been opposed to 
 such conventions, has .seea nothing- io. change his opinions on the subject, 
 accompanied the puWicatio.n pf the Speech. How far General Hammond 
 may hold himself bound by this declaration, or how soon he may change his' 
 opinion, as hehas.fecenlly dojne on the subjects of disunion and of a supply 
 of slaves from AMlsaf it is not necessary to enquire. To profess disappro- 
 bation of Deioo.QTatic Conventions, while avoiding a discussion of the ques- 
 tion as prematute, and doing all in his power to paralyze opposition to 
 " his excellcot ^cncl, 3Jr. Speaker Orr," is indeed to look toward the State 
 Rights coast, Ifut ta ro'yr in the opposite direction. 
 
 The unexpected clianges and disastrous course of General Hammond, 
 impose on the members o^ the State Rights, party the necessity of greater 
 exertion to -.escape" from being hamejjsed into the Democratic team, and 
 driven hereafter- at the pleasure of such politicians as Douglas & Wise, or 
 Davis, Cobb «i; Orr. . If General Hamrpond has supposed, from the signal 
 compliment paid to'Tiitn by the Legislature last winter, that it is in his power, 
 through the deep confidence reposed in himself, or by any combination with 
 politicians at W.ashington, to control the State Rights party of South Caro- 
 a 
 
lina, without regard to their old principles, it is my hope that he will find 
 himself entirely mistaken. I do not believe that Mr. Calhoun himself, with 
 all the sway which an unbounded confidence, alike honorable to him and to 
 his party, gave him, could have done such a thing, if it had been possible 
 for him to attempt it. 
 
 This publication contains letters which were written by several 
 members of the old State Rights party in reply to invitations to a dinner 
 given by the citizens of Edgefield to their gallant and worthy representative, 
 General Bonham, on the 2d of September last; and which appeared in sev- 
 eral of the papers of the State. Their objeet was to oppose the sentiments 
 and counsels of General Hammond's Beech Island speech, and to suggest 
 for the consideration of the members of the State Rights party the necessity 
 of rallying and organizing in defence of their long-cherished principles. 
 These letters are now republished in this form, to contribute whatever they 
 can towards the same object. ^ Added to them is a letter addressed by Gov- 
 ernor Adams to the Committee of Arrangements for a dinner given to Gren- 
 eral McQueen, at Cheraw| to-day, and which the courtesy of the Committee 
 will permit to be used in this manner, as it treats more fully on the main 
 questions now in contest than did the letter previously addressed by the 
 same writer to the Edgefield Committee. Greneral Adams' first letter 
 touched more specially the subject of ihe African Slave Trade, because he 
 took the opportunity to defend himself agjiinst assaults recently made upon 
 him; for, almost simultaneously with the deliyery"of 'Greneral Hammond's 
 Beech Island Speech, in which that Senator decl'ai;^d'his opposition to the 
 proposal to re-open the African slave-trade — a measure which he had till so 
 late a period approved of — Mr, Orr and Mr. Boyee 'took occasion to de- 
 nounce it also, in terms and in a manner that indicated unfriendly purpose 
 towards General Adams. He had, when Governor, in discharging to the 
 best of his judgment a constitutional duty, recomme.tj.ded Chis subject to the 
 consideration of the Legislature. Since that time he -had said, nothing fur- 
 ther on the subject, in speech or in writing, to the public,.antl the discussion 
 had been carried on by others,... But if: any of our members of Congress, in 
 undertaking to shape public sentimea't and directlthepdliti6s6f the State, 
 imagined that they could tateadva-ntago of this, as a' weaker point of attack 
 than his State Rights doctrines; 'Jnaai assault on Geherdl Adams, and that 
 he would shrink from vindicating himself, they mistook the man. 
 
 I have to add, on behalf of myself, and of the friends in concert with 
 whom this publication is made, that in requesting Mr. Robert, of Georgia, 
 
XI 
 
 to permit us to include his letter, we did so on account of the high tone of 
 true Southern sentiment which pervades it, but that we by no means concur 
 in the indiscriminate censure which he applies to all the Southern members 
 of Congress who voted for the Kansas Bill. On that unlucky question, the 
 truest State Rights men might easily have difTered; and it is only to ^.hose 
 who gave their vote for the purpose of enabling a corrupt party to evade 
 responsibility, that Mr. Robert's censure properly applies. 1 am confident 
 that if Mr. Robert still resided iu South Carolina, so as to be more com- 
 pletely familiar with the course of our public men, he would, at least, be 
 entirely satisfied with Gen. McQueen's explanation of the reasons foj his 
 vote; and that his confidence in Gen. McQ,ueen, as a true State Rights 
 man, would remain unimpaired. 
 
 MAXCY GREGG. 
 Columbia, 19th November, 1858. 
 
 .--^ 
 
LETTERS. 
 
 LETTER FROM COL. ANDREW P. CALHOUN". 
 
 Fort Eill^ August 2Ut, 1858. 
 
 Gentlemen : I regret that I cannot accept your invitation to the 
 dinner to be given to the Hon. M. L. Bonham, on the 2cl of Sep- 
 tember. Independent of the liigh admiration I have for Gen. 
 Bonham's manlv, bokl, and eTninently Southern position in voting 
 against the " Conference Bilh* I have the additional inducement 
 of friendship, dating- b;\ck to -e'ehool and College days, to unite in 
 doing honor to one ]ivhOfT*^ver found courteous, brave and true. 
 If, in the midst of ^clradvefse times for. the South, we neglect to 
 honor the bold, honSt, and patriotic Representative, who fearlessly 
 performs a.higl.r.duty to his State and hi^ section, then is the South 
 ready for the yoke tjiat demons on the 'one side, and false friends 
 on the otiierj" are j)j-0paring fur her once proud but docile neck. 
 All that the trtic. rfcpi-eseut^tive of South Carolina, or any Southern 
 State, ca"u: Jiope for in honestly maintaining Southern principles, 
 without looking to the promotion of party interests, is the appro- 
 bation of his ielJoiw-citizens. As *-«ectipn,tbe South is irretrieva- 
 bly and hopelessly in a minority. • If .frneto herself, and her own 
 dignity, Federal f'j^tron age can no longer be reached by any of 
 her sons. In the Elector^ College the non-slaveholding States 
 have a majority of si.xty, soon to be swelled to twenty more. A 
 united South cannot elect a President. But a united South, with 
 a few Northern States, can. To ett'eetsuch a combination, will the 
 
anti-slavery States unite with us by coming to our standard of prin- 
 ciples, or are we forced to descend to their low political morality 
 and limited concessions to us ? That the latter is the alternative 
 presented, can be demonstrated by the fact that no one can be 
 prominent, nationally, from the South, who advocates Southern 
 Rights doctrines. They will meet you on the platform of Democ- 
 racy. But declare yourself a Southern Rights man. Meet in 
 Kashville, or Montgomery, only to consult and talk over the con- 
 dition of your section, and the vocabulary of invective is exhausted 
 in proclaiming you dangerous, not to the South — but to the Union. 
 On the other hand, let any Southern man affiliate with them — say 
 nothing in behalf of the South — raise no warning voice to arouse 
 his countrymen to the danger of the volcano over which they su- 
 pinely slumber — " damn with faint praise " some Southern man 
 or measure — eulogize the Union — speak trifiingly of devotion to 
 the South — and at once, even if destitute of any other merit, he 
 becomes a favorite with the North, and perchance a candidate for 
 the Presidency. The course of your immediate Representative 
 may not make him popular in one division of the Union, with 
 Northern men who profess Southern principles, but it has given 
 him a place in the hearts of all loyal Southern men, as a reliable 
 and faithful man. *5'-^ .: . • 
 
 Permit me to close with a sentiment; •' '»? 
 
 The Hon. M. L. Bonham: — Now alone ^"iCEmed, among South- 
 ern members, to the glory of voting on the ^' s^fe side " in a great 
 conjuncture for the South. ••' '' /.... 
 
 Yery respectfully yours, .•.-.., ; . . . ' 
 
 ANDRE W P. ■;& ALSO UN. 
 
 To Messrs. S. S. Tompkins, Emmet Seibels, J..B. Grttfipiii, Loudon 
 Butler, J. W. Hill, CoTtimiUee. '■'■■.) ;;•:.•;••;; 
 
LETTER FROM GOV. ADAMS TO COMMITTEE OF AR- 
 RANGEMENTS AT EDGEFIELD. 
 
 Live Oak^ August 30^/a, 1858. 
 
 Gentlemen : I regret very much that it will not be convenient 
 for me to accept your kind invitation to unite with you in the 
 merited compliment which you have decided to pay to your dis- 
 tin<]::uislied Representative. I have known Gen. Bonhain loncj and 
 intimately, and no man appreciates him more highly than I do. 
 " He is a gentleman on whom you may build an absolute trust." 
 You have confided, I am sure, in one whose heart will never cher- 
 ish an emotion inconsistent with your best interests and your 
 highest honor. 
 
 Upon the most vital question to the South, there is no issue be- 
 fore us, which if rightly viewed, should divide or distract us. 
 While the world has been madly and ignorantly assailing us, we 
 are daily standing more erect in the conviction that there is noth- 
 ing in Southern organization, social or political, for which we need 
 blush or be ashamed. AYhile the North, in blind fury, cry out for 
 "a new God and a uqw- Bible," we daily "search the Scriptures," 
 and in them find cpmjfcrt a^d consolation, both for ourselves and 
 our " bondmen." • * ' 
 
 The defence ot. the Institution of Slavery as a thing right in 
 itself^ was begun near thirty years ago, by Professor Dew, of Vir- 
 ginia. The ai'gament was subsequently resumed and pressed to 
 bolder oorujlitsibrtsv by Judge Harper. Then came Senator Ham- 
 mond, whosei-.vindicatidn. of this institution, morally^ socially and 
 politically ^''yv^?, unanswered,^, and to this day is unanswerable. 
 These pioneers rolled back the caffjent^ opinion that was sapping 
 its foundation, and lifted up Smithern^ sentiment to its present po- 
 sition, viz : "TArt/ slavery is a thing that is, and is to be. Can it 
 harm us to go a step farther and elevate it to the higher position 
 that the Institution did not originate in fraud and theft ? Will not 
 something be gained if we can root out from the Southern mind 
 the idea of man-stealing, which our enemies persistingly associate 
 
with the Institution ? There is all the difference in the world be- 
 tween man-trading and man-stealing. While the latter was con- 
 demned, the former was legalized by the great Law-Giver of the 
 Universe. 
 
 It would carry me far beyond reasonable limit, to go at length 
 into the merits of this question. It has, I am sure, vitality enough 
 to survive the oracular anathemas which Mr, Speaker Orr has re- 
 cently hurled at it. His insinuation that the purpose of its advo- 
 cates is " to furnish material for Black Republicans," is as absurd 
 as it is contemptible. Mr, Boyce contemptuously kicks it out of 
 his path as a " barren issue." The people of this State will be 
 sooner reconciled to cheap negroes, than they will to have annu- 
 ally abstracted from their pockets over a million of dollars for the 
 support of the Federal Government. When he submits his propo- 
 sition to a popular vote, he will find it to be a very " barren is- 
 sue." The clouds that hang around this question are daily rising 
 higher and growing thinner. When they are dissipated, it will be 
 viewed as a great question of labor inseperably bound up with 
 modern civilization. With her 850,000 square miles of territory, 
 all the South wants is the necessary supply, of labor to secure the 
 monopoly of the great tropical staples, and with these she can 
 command the commerce, wealth and-'manufactures of the world. 
 Why is it, that the inferior lands of 'fowa^ "jviih her inhospitable 
 climate, sell for twice as much as the rich lands of Texas, with 
 the finest climate on earth. It is because the former has labor, 
 and the latter wants it. Emigration to the'- SCnith west has weak- 
 ened and must contiue to weaken. us. TTpon^'Our Worn out lands, 
 can we hope at present prices, to retain our operatives, ;"' Uie mud 
 silW'' of our prosperity ? Is it desirable -to. supply their places 
 with '•'"mud sills'''' from the-..]^orth? If vfe. invite the element, 
 must we not in time expe'ct.'to.hear an our veiT; midst the cry of 
 " slaveocracy ? " Are not those in whose hands are now concen- 
 trated our slaves, vitally interested in the diffusion of slavery ? 
 Can we hope for this at present prices ? Is it wise, is it safe on 
 the part of those who own slaves, to desire to keep their price up 
 to a point that must forever exclude the laboring white man from 
 owning them ? Aspirants for public honor have been threatened 
 
with associated influence because they have taught their slaves 
 the mechanic arts. Is it not Letter that the white nieclianic 
 should be able to own a slave at a living price, and thus, by the 
 strongest of human motives, inierejit, be converted into a friend of 
 the Institution, than to have him chafing under what he now con- 
 siders an unfair competition between free and slave labor ? Can 
 the Institution, in the long run, sustain itself as an oligarchy ? 
 
 If the Coast of Africa were to-day thrown open to us, where is 
 the capital to come from to buy, and where the ships to transport 
 that might}' horde of barl)ariaiis with which we are told we would 
 at once be inundated? Will not the great law of supply and de- 
 mand regulate this commerce, just as it does all trade? The idea 
 that the sudden effect would be to reduce the price of cotton to 
 fiive cents, scarcely merits serious refutation. Except when extra- 
 neous causes have operated to depress it, the more cotton we have 
 produced the higher has been its price. He is a far-seeing man 
 who can fix the limit of the world's want of this mighty fabric. 
 It is the cheapest article with which to clothe the poor of the 
 earth, and their nakedness is beyond our capacity to hide for cen- 
 turies to come. Why does England hato slavery? She daily 
 manufactures and M-ears slave groion cotton. She consumes slave 
 grown sugar and rice ; -she ciiews and smokes slave grown tobacco. 
 It is because shedi-eads the commercial domination which the mo- 
 nopoly of these ti'opieal staples must inevitably bring to us. Her 
 statesmen of the present day, as they survey the deplorable condi- 
 tion of her. West India Islands, must in their hearts look upon AVil- 
 berforce, Clat-ksmr'aiiil 'Brougham as the veriest mountebanks that 
 ever eiroCessi nil J played off sentimentality against common sense. 
 If the 3i|dd'en withdrawal from market of three millions of bales 
 of cottoii (and I believe it) would cjiuse "England to topple down," 
 in what security, wilt we notj'epo^.'w£en we shall grow ten million 
 bales, and thewortd shall still ^^^ikr^ft more? It is a magnificent 
 destiny to which- the future invites us. Let us oil and trim our 
 lamps for the feast. It is true, as has been recently announced, 
 that the South has for thirty years been laboring to undo previous 
 blunders of Southern statesmen. Washington emancipated his 
 slaves, and Jeflersou was the originator of the ordinance which 
 
dedicated the Northwest Territory to Freesoilisra. The South to- 
 day repudiates by legal enactment the example of the former, and 
 deplores the blunder of the latter. I was taught in the nursery 
 that slavery was a wrong, and to look upon the negro trader with 
 horror and diso-ust. I have lived to see men in high places — men 
 selected to make our laws — trade for them by the hundred, and 
 hurry them off, as fast as steam could carry them, to the far 
 "West where fertile lands reward the husbandmen with abundant 
 harvests. Virginia and Maryland, without shock to our moral sen- 
 sibilities, enjoy the humane privilege of breeding and rearing 
 Christianized slaves for the Southern market, just as the Ken- 
 tuckians do mules and hogs. Now, as " trading in human flesh " 
 is inseparable from the existenceof slavery, some little forbearance 
 should be extended to those who are so " impracticable, visionary 
 and foolish " as to think that the trade should be conducted on 
 something like Free Trade principles. Some charity should be 
 manifested toward those who think there is no more wrong in 
 going to Africa to buy a slave than to Yirginia or Maryland. 
 Even Seward, Giddings, Hale and Wilson admit that if slavery is 
 right, then the slave trade is right. Seward declared, on the floor 
 of the Senate, that he preferred i\iQ foreign to the domestic slave 
 trade. The South on every sale day witnesses with composure, 
 and guards with all the sanctions of law, trading in slaves, and 
 still without even the formality of protest ; she annually pays her 
 quota of $700,000, money absolutely wasted in an abortive effort 
 to enforce the ridiculous enactment that the slav^ -trade is piracy. 
 The Emperor of France boldly sends his ships .to the Coast of 
 Africa for his needed 'm.^^^^^ pi chea^ptrojyicall'a^of-^ and when 
 called to account in the English ParliarneHfe, silences their impu- 
 dent interference by complac'§.ntly denominating, it free contract 
 and hired labor. England rue$,.iier deed of folfyjand in her rest- 
 less anxiety to repair, without the, candor to acknowledge it, quiets 
 her conscience with the euphonious Coolie system. Those in the 
 South who have ventured to look these truths fairly in the face, 
 and fearlessly to utter them, are straightway set down as extrem- 
 ists — " as pestilent fellows and as movers of sedition." 
 
When Southern statesmen voted to close the Slave Trade in 
 1808, they coiTiinitted a '■'' hi under .^^^ and I am not afraid to say so. 
 AVhen they voted the Slave Trade piracy, they not<»nly committed 
 a "blunder," but they fixed upon us a stain that ought to be wiped 
 out. When they voted for the Ashburton Treaty they committed 
 a "blunder," and the olFensive articles of that Treaty ought to be 
 repealed. Every compromise on Slavery has proved to be a " blun- 
 der," and we should blot out the very word. 
 
 The pass-word hereafter, it seems, is to be Xational Democracy, 
 to which we are indebted for the Proclamation — Force Bill — Vio- 
 lation of Tariff Compromise — Present Tariff — Application of Wil- 
 mot Proviso to Oregon — Abolition of Slave Trade in District of 
 Columbia — Loss of California — Dismemberment of Texas — An- 
 nual Expenditure of Seventy Millions — Submission of Constitution 
 to People of Kansas — (the black catalogue in hot haste to be en- 
 larged and embellished by the) Admission of Kansas with less 
 than ninety-three thousand inhabitants. 
 
 Whenever I get my consent to apologize for the authors of such 
 wounds upon Southern interests and Southern honor, " may my 
 tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, and my right iand forget 
 her cunning." 
 
 I have the honor j^-be, with high regard, 
 
 ■ '. : , ' Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. H. ADAMS. 
 To Mersrs. S, S.; 'Tompkins, Emmet Seibels, J. B. Griffin, Loudon 
 
 Butler, J. W.'iiill,. Committee. 
 
 LETTER FROM GOV. ADAMS-TO COMMITTEE OF AK- 
 EANGEMENTS AT CIIERAW. 
 
 Live Oak^ November 13^A, 1858. 
 
 Gentlemen : — I have received your invitation to be present at 
 a dinner to be given to Gen. McQueen, on the 19th inst. I regret 
 that business, which must be attended to on that day, compels me 
 
to forego tlie pleasure it would afford me to be present on the in- 
 teresting occasion. I would like very much to join you in doing 
 honor to one to whom honor is due — to mingle my congratulations 
 with yours, and to greet with a cordial " well done " a statesman 
 "in whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 
 "While many have halted on the wayside, and some, longing after 
 the "flesh pots," have strayed off in pursuit of false gods. Gen. 
 McQueen occupies the proud and enviable position of having, 
 from first to last, through good and through evil report, continued 
 a State Rights man " of the straightest sect." His voice, in clear 
 and unequivocal tones, is still heard counselling his countrymen to 
 cling to the faith and usages of their fathers, and rather than sub- 
 mit to degradation and ruin, to take their destiny in their own 
 hands. Would to God every Southern member of Congress were 
 as ready as he is to put the South at once upon her destiny. The 
 ISTorth would soon realize her weakness and dependence upon us, 
 and her betrayed people would turn upon her Giddings' and her 
 Sewards and devour them. But, I fear, two j)owerful motives 
 will for a time postpone the day of our "deliverance and liberty," 
 viz — "the -loaves and fishes," and the feeling which "makes us 
 rather bear those ills we have than fiy to others that we know not 
 of." Both these motives address themselves to the meaner quali- 
 ties of our nature, and, unfortunately, these latter too frequently 
 control the conduct and affairs of life. It vvould be instructive, 
 just at this time, to know how many Southern -politicians hoj)e to 
 be made President of the Republic; how man.ya're longing for 
 Cabinet and Ministerial appointments; hovir.many ^r.e speculating 
 as to where they will be located under, the ; approaching census, 
 and what their chance of being returned to*'-Washington. Many 
 of them have realized the comfort of feeding-- out of the public 
 granary, and it would go ,hard.;with them to have to draw their 
 allowance from their own- cribs. Politicians of: this type, when 
 " screwed up to the sticking place," will prove quite oblivious of 
 past wrongs, and will be found to have grave doubts whether it 
 would be good policy on the part of the united South to withdraw 
 from a Union, whose history has been one of "repeated iiijuries 
 

 
 and usurpation," and which, under Abolition su-av, must inevita- 
 bly reduce the Southern States to the level of degraded provinces. 
 
 lie is truly a 6an<(uine man who linds hope for the Soutli in the 
 existing signs of the times. When, in the history of the world, 
 has Fanaticism ever paused in its careeer until it had fullilled its 
 reckless mission ? Wiien did it ever listen to reason, or stop at 
 consequences? Point the Abolitionist to the "West Indies, and ask 
 him if he would precipitate upon the South such a doom, and he 
 will answer, Better that the South become a howling wilderness 
 than that one made in the image of God should be held in bond- 
 age. Interpose the Constitution as your shield, and he laughs in 
 your face — You don't understand it Hold up to him the Bible, 
 he hisses at you, and points to a " higher law." Mr. Calhoun, in 
 iny judgment, was the ablest and most sagacious statesman that 
 our country has ever produced. It will be rarely found safe to 
 " depart from his matured judgment." I commend to the hope- 
 ful the following extract from one of his latest speeches : 
 
 " I have considered this subject (abolition) largely — widely. I 
 think I see the future. If we do not stand up as we ought, in my 
 humble opinion, the condition of Ireland is prosperous and happy ; 
 the condition of Ilindostan is prosperous and happy ; the condition 
 of Jamaica is prosperous and happy, compared witli what must be 
 that of the Southern Statea." 
 
 Seward has announced on the floor of the Senate (the late elec- 
 tions leave no doubt of it), that the battle has been won ; and on 
 the hustings he p/t>claims to his ^^ sans culottes'''' "Equality and 
 Fraternity," an^ Ihafe"'-' this Government must be either wholly 
 Freesoil or wiioUy SlavelK^lding." Seward is said to be a man 
 who speaks what he tfihiks, and means what he says. Now what, 
 let me ask you, is to be the consequence of this victory ? What 
 less than the government of the Soutl]i.by the North — a sectional 
 government — a government of mere numbere — without check, 
 vulgar, despicable, and fit oidy for slaves? There are many now 
 in the South who would hold ofiice under Giddings or Seward, 
 from Cabinet appointment down to tide-waiter. There is now no 
 ditliculty in finding Cassius M. Clays and Francis P. Blairs, who 
 3 
 
JO 
 
 wonld glory in the service, and laugh to scorn yonr indignation at 
 their treachery. Senator Crittenden would to-morrow vote for the 
 emancipation of the slaves of Kentucky, rather than vote to with- 
 draw that State from the Union, Be pnrsuaded, in obedience to 
 the suggestions of a too cautious policy, to try how tolerable w^ill 
 be your condition under such a domination for the first four years. 
 In the meantime, exercise your ingenuity in devising new plat- 
 forms — your lungs in calling on the Northern Democracy to 
 " throw up their sweaty night-caps " in your behalf. Assume a 
 defiant attitude, and proclaim to your incredulous foe your impe- 
 rial resources. Put your trust in Northern politicians, who " keep 
 the word of promise to our ear and break it to our hope." Should 
 such a man as Yancey of Alabama, whose escutcheon is without 
 stain or blemish, foreseeing your degradation, call on you to 
 " league " together in defence of your rights, " ofi^ with his head." 
 Beware also of Maxcy Gregg. " He thinks too much— he is a 
 great observer, and he looks quickly through the deeds of men." 
 " Have about you men that are fat — such as sleep of nights." 
 " Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands 
 to sleep " — and what, I ask you, will it all end in ? Why, at the 
 close of the first term of Black Kepublican rule, we will find in 
 our midst an organized Freesoil Party ^ backed and uj)held by 
 the overshadowing power and patronage of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. The election will have been made under the forms of the 
 Constitution, and, if we go into it, it will not dp- to say we will not 
 submit, because we have been fairly outvoted. -..Abolition presses, 
 under the false pretence of giving the new Administration a fair 
 showing, will spring up among us. The' Post Qfiice will be in the 
 hands of the enemy. Its mission will became one of poison — poi- 
 son to be infused into our system through ' a thousand secret chan- 
 nels. Our enemy knows- -too well his game for an open assault. 
 Sapping and mining will be theprocess of our ruin, and that ruin 
 will be traced in characters which it will require no soothsayer to 
 interpret. Are we prepared for the state of vassalage which must 
 speedily overtake us ? If we are, let us blot out from the book of 
 our remembrance all recollection of the deeds of our fathers, and 
 
11 
 
 forget that we aspired to he masters, without the courage to bo 
 freemen. 
 
 "With high consideration, I have tlie honor to be 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. II. ADAMS. 
 To Messrs. James Powell, W. L. T. Prince, J. II. Harrington, C. 
 Kollock, J. F. !Matheson, li. F. Pegues, Gotfimittee of Arrange- 
 vieiits. 
 
 J^EITER FROM GEN. MARTIN. 
 
 Charleston^ August ^Gt/i, 1S.5S, 
 
 Gentlemen : — I have received the invitation with which you 
 have lionored me, to the dinner to be given to the Hon. M. L. 
 Bonham, by the citizens of Edgefield, on the 2d of September 
 next. 
 
 It would be very agreeable to me to attend. Edgefield is asso- 
 ciated with very ])leasant memories. Some of the happiest of my 
 youthful days were spent as a school-boy in your beautiful town. 
 There I first knew your distinguished Representative, and the 
 foundation of a friendship was laid, which has experieiiced no 
 other change than that of the enthusiasm of youth to the more 
 chastened sentiment of maturer years. The District is cherished, 
 too, in my best. 'affections, as the birth-place and home of my 
 family, many of \^dio4i% are beneath the soil they laid down their 
 lives to defend. I nfied not go beyon<l your Committee, gentle- 
 men, for the names of 'those whose ancestors, with mine, expeii- 
 enced the sharp struggles of the Whigfi and Tories of iUe Revolu- 
 tion. Many a green mound marks their resting place, though their 
 names till no page of histoiy. 
 
 I regret, however, tiiat I will not be able to be with you. In 
 every position in which I have known Gen. Bonham, in peace and 
 in war, in the council and the field, he has been fully up to the 
 strictest requirements of duty. In his Congressional career he haa 
 
12 
 
 exhibited the same high qualities which, in tlie responsible civil 
 and military positions he has filled, have commanded respect and 
 confidence of all. I^othing, therefore, would be more agreeable to 
 me than to unite with you in this demonstration of regard and 
 esteem. 
 
 As I fill no public station, I attribute your remembrance of me 
 to my friendship for your Eepresentative. I value it the more for 
 that reason. This fact, however, would exempt me from the obli- 
 gation which custom imposes, of expressing an opinion upon 
 public affairs. But although a private citizen, I am not without a 
 deep interest in the welfare of the State and the South. It belongs 
 to those of greater ability, and more familiarity with politics, to 
 advise with you upon the events now agitating the country. Upon 
 your public men, whose course necessarily influences the issues 
 before us, devolves the responsibility of telling you how to meet 
 them. You have committed your interests to their keeping, and 
 theirs is the duty of preparing you for the conflict. It would be 
 very gratifying if I could share the hopeful feeling lately exhibited 
 by many public men and presses of the South. As an observer, 
 removed from active participation in current events, I am unable 
 to perceive that improvement in public affairs by which others are 
 inspired. If the fanatics are less aggressive — with energies less 
 stimulated by the public sentiment around them than formerly — ■ 
 if there are any stronger grounds for expecting Constitutional 
 guaranties to be respected hereafter than they have heretofore 
 been, I cannot perceive them. On the contrary, I think this 
 aggressive spirit will be more fully put forth in..the Presidential 
 struggle of 1860 than it was in 1856, and with, greater probability 
 of success. We are in the middle of the.- Presidential term. The 
 comparative calm, denoting preparation, may lull us into a sense 
 of securit>' — but it will deceive ..us. Not hn element of strife here- 
 tofore present, will be wanting. Many not before known, or else 
 imperfectly organized and little felt, will be added. In the accumu- 
 lating tide of public sentiment at the North — a tide which has had 
 no ebb — we will encounter perils which no party can resist. Such 
 at least are my opinions. I acted upon them in 1851, and many 
 acted with me who seem hopeful now — but were hopeless then. 
 
13 
 
 I have ceased to hope for redress in tlie Union — and those who are 
 of my opinion and are unwilling to be recoi^ui/od as uuecinal, 
 must look for redress out of it. I can, then, but deplore the 
 policy which counsels so much patient philosophy in our ditHcul- 
 ties. It is calculated to lower the tone of our people. To con- 
 vince a man that his position is inevitable, is at once to set hiiu 
 about making it as endurable as })0ssible. To persuade our people 
 that the Union mitst last — nay, that their wi-ongs may be re- 
 dressed in it — is to familiarize them to its continuance; the next 
 and easy step is to be reconciled to it. I wish no such truce. I 
 prefer a cordial response to the Macedonian cry " come over and 
 help us," of our young sister Alabama. Deleiidaas Carthago. I 
 know no other motto for the South. 
 
 I have the honor to be, gentlemen, 
 
 With the highest respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 WM. E. MARTIN. 
 
 To Messrs. S. S. Tompkins, Emmet Seibels, J. B. Griffin, Loudon 
 Butler, J. W. Hill, Committee. 
 
 LETTER FROM MR. TRADEWELL. 
 
 Columbia, August 28^A, 1858. 
 GENTLE^rEN : I have the. honor to acknowledge your kind invi- 
 tation to be present at a dinner to be given to your imtnediate 
 Representative in Congress, the Hon. M. L. Bonham, at Edge- 
 field C. IL, en Thursday, the 2d of next -month, and at the same 
 time to express my mortification on ficcount of my inability to 
 accept it. An extra Court of Equity sits hero on Monday, the 
 Gth prox., on whicii my profi'ssional engagements command me to 
 attend. Many causes conspire to make my disappointment hard 
 to bear. I was born on the banks of the little stream that washes 
 the southern base of your hill, spent many houi-s of early study 
 in the grove of your academy, and the ashes of dear kindred re- 
 
14: 
 
 pose witliin your village boundaries ; and I cannot describe the 
 pleasure it would aiford me to join you in extending a cordial 
 " well done " to your honored guest and Representative, whose 
 first Session was signalized by a vote which will cover him with, 
 glory as long as the proud fame of a Quitman, who voted with 
 him, shall survive. It is probable, too, were I to be with you, that 
 your too kind consideration for me would induce you to call for an 
 expression of my own views concerning public men and aifairs, 
 and although my tastes and interest alike lead me away from pol- 
 itics at this time, (I am hopeless in regard to Southern politicians,) 
 I must acknowledge it would be grateful to my feelings to have it 
 in my power, on the spot of my birth, once more to deliver a sol- 
 emn warning to the people of our State concerning the delusions 
 as to their future policy and destiny which leading public men are 
 weaving into their hearts. But I must content myself with the ex- 
 pression of my sentiments in the form of a letter. 
 
 I said that leading public men, given over to strong delusion 
 themselves, are endeavoring to delude the people. I am sincere 
 in this conviction. It is their intention to bind the State to the 
 ITational Democratic car, and merging her in the great over- 
 shadowing, devouring organization of the itTational Democratic 
 party, to destroy forever her political identity. It is their design 
 to obliterate her past history and ancient political landmarks, and 
 from henceforth to give her no power, no honor, no glory, no vital- 
 ity beyond that which she may derive from her a^iliation with that 
 party. They intend to subjugate her unqualifiedly to the domin- 
 ion of that party to whose rule no voice o£ opposition shall be 
 heard but at the risk of political disfranchisement and death. 
 These men intend that that party shall sway a s6eptre of universal 
 empire, powerful to pull down and set lip irien and States, sections 
 and institutions. Is is to overturn "principalities and powers," to 
 break down all other organizations, to sway the public mind, pub- 
 lic press, and public councils, to tliunder forth edicts that are to be 
 the " higher law," — and, moving under the mighty energy of a 
 common desire and aim for Federal offices and honors, finally to 
 deliver over the country to public ravagers and spoilers. It is to 
 " know no Korth, no South, no East, no West." Its avowed mis- 
 
15 
 
 sion is to nationalize the Government, the States, the people, and 
 the Constitution ; to modify and reform tlie great principles of 
 State Rights and Stato Sovereignty into fjishiun to suit ambitious 
 leaders; and, careering onward in the path of tlie Proclamation 
 and Force Bill, and surpassing the achievements of that memora- 
 ble time, to lead captive South Carolina and the whole country, 
 and place them in confiding submission at the foot of the Tre-si- 
 dential throne. Such are to be the results of its i)rotracted domi 
 nation. Will the constituents of the umlaunted Bonham lend 
 themselves to such abhorred consummations? I do not believe 
 they will. The ghosts of the great dead, whose living voices in- 
 flamed them to fiery madness against the accui-sed tyranny of that 
 party in the past, will rise up to restrain them from such foul 
 apostacy. 
 
 But it appears to me that the power of that party has reached 
 its culminating point, and that it must tall off rapidly — at least 
 from its present organization. It is true, it was but recently suc- 
 cessful in a Presidential election, but as I have had occasion to say 
 before, in my opinion Mr. Buchanan's triumph was just only not 
 a defeat, and I suppose that it is now universally admitted that ho 
 was the only man who could have carried his party victoriously 
 through the contest of 1S56. When it is remembered, too, that 
 his rival for Presidential honors was a miserable scrawn — remark- 
 ably chiefly for the facility with which he appropriated other 
 men's labors and fyr his power of physical endurance, wholly des- 
 titute of any of thepfoper elements of a statesman — what has the 
 Democratic partly tO'Uope.fpr when a really great man, possessing 
 every necessary intellettual qualification, shrewd, calm, cautious, 
 and ambitious, is presented to the country by a party compactly 
 knit together, resolved' on tlie triumph of a single great idea, 
 which has kindled the fir68 of fanaticism and seized upon and 
 sways the public mind of three entire sections of the Union with 
 the power of a storm i It is easy to answer the question. The 
 contest'of 18G0 is certain in ita result. The South, with her en- 
 feebled Northern allies, will then be beaten, and will remain 
 beaten forever thereafter. It is plain that such is the conclusion 
 of some of the Icadei^s of the Democracy in the Free States, who 
 
16 
 
 look upon their party at home as on the verge of ruin. Mr. 
 Douglas, the idol of some of our National devotees, and whom 
 they recently commended to our confidence and aifections as 
 ^'-wearing the scars of lattle^^ is an admitted apostate. What a 
 pregnant commentary upon the sagacity of distinguished Nationals 
 in South Carolii^a, who two years ago proclaimed their preference 
 for the " Little Giant " over Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency, and 
 urged upon us the policy of going into the Convention at Cincin- 
 nati. Why, do the favorers of that policy suppose that the people 
 are blind or stupid ? Do they imagine that Washington is the 
 only point of political prospect and observation ? If they do, they 
 err, and whatever they may say concerning the movement of Sen- 
 ator Douglas, the interpretation which common sense at home 
 gives to it is, that he is escaping from a fallen edifice, determined 
 not to be crushed in its ruins. Mr. Orr has styled the defection 
 of his scarred warrior of the Northwest as an " aberration " to be 
 repented of and forgiven, but that gentleman well knows that it 
 crashed like a thunderbolt through his National party, dashing it 
 into fragnients, exposing him to consuming ridicule, and over- 
 whelming his scheme of amalgamation. " Biut it is Ms purpose 
 to return to the Deinocratic fold ! " I pity that public man, tlie 
 exigency of whose political relations, or the selfishness of whose 
 political ambition, compels him to become the apologist of the 
 traitor and renegade. 
 
 Ahead of the defection of Mr. Douglas, as ominous of the fate 
 of the National Democracy at the North, I point.'to the fact that 
 her great intellects and men of genius gji-e- no longfer sent to Wash- 
 ington, but men of low tastes, fanatics '.and "brawlers — a liorrid 
 crew. Looking at the character of 'Freesoil Abolition Representa- 
 tives, there can be no doubt but that -the. noisy demagogue and 
 brawler, aided by the ignorant fanatic (more signally in some lo- 
 calities than others), have succeeded in di-iving patriotism, honesty 
 and intellect from the public service, and in their place have ele- 
 vated a selfish and time-serving mediocrity. It cannot be long, 
 therefore, before the organized political power of the country will 
 have passed into the hands of men destitute alike of the ability 
 and inclination to conduct public affairs upon great principles of 
 
17 
 
 justice and the Constitution. " Coming events cast their sliadows 
 before," and the baleful shadows of Freesoil Abolition ascendancy 
 are now being projected into the South. Look at Virginia and 
 murk the signs there. Is it not apparent that her politicians are 
 already trimming their sails to the Freesoil breeze, and are pre- 
 paring to go into port under Freesoil ])ilotage ? The indications 
 are unmistakable that paralysis is creeping upon the limbs of the 
 great Democracy in the Freesoil regions which are to bo van- 
 quished for all time by Black licpublicanisni in the contest of 
 1860. When, therefore, we see Southern men in Congress ex- 
 Lausting their powers in Mormon speech-making and in delivering 
 stale platitudes about ''Free Exchanges," rather than stimulating 
 and organizing their section in view of an event just ahead of us, 
 which is to shake the whole fabric of American civilization and 
 liberty to its centre, in order to restrain our rage we arc compelled 
 to call their treachery simplicity, and laugh at it as we would at 
 the idle fiincy of a man who persists in building his,ox-stall while 
 his dwelling is on fire. As they have done before, such men> will 
 betray the South in the hour of her most imminent peril; and, 
 dragging her down beneath the feet of a great consolidated gov- 
 ernment, controlled by a great National party, will become the 
 charioteers of that Government to drive the car of its power over 
 their pr^Jstrate section; and, confounding the Constitution and lib- 
 erty with the Union and party, will hurl their bolts of destruction 
 at all who may presume to bewail its departed gl'»ry. 
 
 According, then, to my reading of the signs of the times, the 
 defeat of the Nittional Democracy in 18C0 is absolutely certain. 
 Before this State, therefoi'e, rushes into its embraces, it is wise to 
 consider what will be the oflect of that development upon the De- 
 mocratic party in the ;Frde.^tate8. Is it not evident that for all 
 practical political purposes the effect will be to kill that party stone 
 dead? That result must utterly disorganize and break it to ])ieces. 
 There would no longer be any leaders to point its course or pre- 
 serve its organization. Subsefjuent to a defeat, it would be out of 
 the ordinary course of things to suppose that the Democrats of the 
 Free States would consent to remain in a minority at home to ac- 
 commodate their friends abroad, especially when they agreed with 
 ^ I 
 
18 
 
 1 
 
 their enemies and differed from their friends on a most grave ques- 
 tion, involving sentiment and conscience. Such a conclusion is 
 repugnant to all reason and experience, to hold which is folly blind 
 as midnight ; and although in a succeeding Presidential contest, 
 in view of the spoils, an effort might be made to reconstruct the 
 fallen fortunes of the Democracy, that effort could not be made 
 on any great question, principle or platform relating to the rights 
 of the South, for if it should be, a second defeat, more disastrous 
 if possible than the first, would follow. Satisfied with what they 
 had done and suffered for the South on the first disaster in a Presi- 
 dential contest, the Northern Democracy, carrying with it the en- 
 tire party everywhere, would abandon forever all attempts to up- 
 hold the rights of the slave section, and, ever fruitful in inventions 
 to obtain and retain power, before we were aware of it, would out- 
 strip the Black Republicans themselves in originating schemes to 
 limit and confine the institution of slavery. And all this, let it be 
 remembered, would be done in a manner so handsome as not to 
 give offence to their slaveholding friends. To fail in this would be 
 to acknowledge that they were political bunglers, destitute of the 
 arts necessary to achieve an essential point of policy. 
 
 To my mind, one of the most alarming features in the condition 
 of our affairs, is that the National party ini'the Slave States, both 
 in and out of Congress has a perfect knowledge of the game that is 
 in progress, and yet will not cry out against it, but by silence and 
 inactivity sanctions it. Scene after scene in the drama of submis- 
 sion is unfolded and as soon as unfolded is explained by South- 
 ern men. The unity of party, fealty to party, the triumph and 
 consequent spoils of party are the ruling considerations poten- 
 tial in all sections, and to popularize "vtlieir position they claim 
 to be, ^ar excellence^ the Union loving. Union saving party. 
 Here is laid the foundation of JSTational Democratic organization 
 at the South. Their motto is " tJie Union must he /presermd^ 
 In my early days I saw an ensign flying with that inscription 
 while the stormy breath of the National Democracy kept it waiv- 
 ing and the shouts of the standard bearers were as the voice of 
 many waters. I have not forgotten— it is impossible that I should 
 forget the war of extermination waged by the National Democra- 
 
19 
 
 tic party of 1832 against the great and glorious principles ol 
 States Rights and States Sovereignty, and it is equally impossible 
 that I should forget how South Carolina won honor as undying 
 as truth in their defence. 
 
 But it is claimed that the National party of this day, purged 
 of its errors, are our friends and admit that we are right on the 
 present great questions. But is it not true that the party of '32 
 admitted that the South was right then and the North wrong, but 
 at the same time decided that the South must go down beneath 
 the tread of an army with banners rather than that the Union 
 should be disrupted? Will it, the Kational Democratic party, 
 not do the same again ? The leaders and the rank and file of that 
 party are protectionists and friends of internal improvements, 
 practicall}', I care not what they may be in platforms and resolu- 
 tions. Suppose then that they should actually pass a protective 
 tariff like that of ' 28 or ' 42, what possibility would there be for 
 the escape of the South from its intolerable oppressions and exac- 
 tions ? None, none, absolutely none. Could the Southern wing 
 resort to nullification ? No, that would be a measure of disunion 
 against which the whole party is pledged ; besides, the South 
 would be told that tlie secure enjoyment of her slave property de- 
 pended upon the integi'lty of the National Democratic party, and 
 to it therefore she must remain faithful. 
 
 Looking then to the certainty of the triumph of Black Republi- 
 canism in ISGO, and the consequent disintegration of the National 
 Democracy, as well as to the incongruous elements of which that 
 party is composed, I repeat that the idea of preserving its organiz- 
 ation on a basis favorably to the security of the South is absolutely 
 preposterous. In what, then, does the profound anxiety mani- 
 fested by certain politicians in Congress for an unconditional 
 amalgamation of the State Rights party of South Carolina with 
 the grand National organization originate ? Ever since 1837 the 
 State has uniformly voted with the Democratic party, but she has 
 done this without surrendering herself to its management or dom- 
 ination. She proudly stood upon her ancient principles and voted 
 for the Democratic nominees because she chose to do so, and not 
 because she was forced into the measure under the obligations of 
 
20 
 
 party alliance. During all the while no commonwealth of ancient 
 or modern .times occupied a more honorable or influential position. 
 Her public men of all that period were the'glory of the Confeder- 
 acy ; and her people, animated with State pride and profoundly 
 versed in the true principles of their government, though weak in 
 political elements, wielded a moral power in its administration 
 that absolutely amazed corrupt party leaders at "Washington. 
 Again I ask, why do certain politicians insist on pulling down the 
 State from her proud position of independence, where she remains 
 mistress of her own movemets ? Is she terrible in her virtue 
 and therefore must be debauched ? Do they distrust the fidelity 
 of her people to their own great principles so long cherished by 
 them 2 Or do they fear that the people, holding steadfastly to 
 those principles, may obstruct their path to E"ational office and 
 power ? May we not ask those eager politicians what better ser- 
 vice she could render the government in its efforts to uphold the 
 Constitution, clad in the armor of a National party than in her 
 own ? "When her identity had been lost, could she do more in the 
 cause of the Constitution and for herself than when she stood out 
 distinctively in her own political individuality? 
 
 The cause of this struggle to whelm the State in the slough of 
 National Democracy is to secure her co-opft-atipn in keeping the 
 South in the Union under all circumstances an.d in all contingen- 
 cies. The effort is to drive South Carolina from her safe isolation 
 in order to deprive her of the right to think and act for herself, 
 and thus to secure her aid in Nationalizing the government and 
 in ruling it absolutely by the law of party instead of the law of the 
 Constitution. Here lies the danger to" which the South will be 
 eminently exposed when South Carolina (one of the principal bul- 
 warks of its safety) shall have been won to the embraces of the 
 National Democracy. These nuptials celebrated, the destiny of 
 this State at least will be unalterably fixed. Thenceforth she will 
 liave no voice of her own. The Democracy of the Free Soil, anti- 
 slavery region, ever dominant in convention, through it will com- 
 mand her allegiance and claim the right to point her course on all 
 questions of discussion and action in Congress and out of Con- 
 gress, and she must be submissive, though that question should 
 
21 
 
 be tlie repeal of the Fuc^itive Slave Law, the demolition and recon- 
 struction of the Federal Judiciary, the refusal to admit a slave 
 State, a protective tariff or the election of a Black Republican 
 President. Should these measuies be forced upon the South, and 
 South Carolina amalnjaniate, it is a foregone conclusion that we 
 must submit and lii!;lit their authors ?;i </<',; Union. Who dreams 
 that the Democrats of the Free States will ever join the Soutli in 
 resisting Black Republicanism in any other way than the antago- 
 nistic array of parties at the ballot box? Is any one so fatally 
 blind as to suppose that Free Soil abolititm Democracy will ever 
 join the South in revolution? Xo. There is not jiower sufficient 
 on earth to drive them to such co-operation. They will wage a 
 warfare of voting against Black Kepublicanism to secure the spoils. 
 They will do no more ; and they will call upon their allies of the 
 South to uphold them, prescribing the terms of the coalition. Our 
 public presses, public men and people with all our resources will 
 be invoked to the rescue of the National Democracy — for what \ 
 To give it office and spoils. Nor could the invocation be resisted. 
 The South would be told that the North had stood by her shoulder 
 to shoulder in the day of their mutual and victorious power, 
 and that to desert the North in her adversity, brought on by her 
 efforts to serve and pa%'ti'the South, would be recreancy and dis- 
 honor. The South would therefore bo compelled to remain in the 
 Union, to make war in conjunction with the Democratic North, 
 against Black Republican domination, and the victory (if indeed 
 victory should be won) would enure wholly to the benefit of the 
 North, as a section, and to a few brawling advocates of National- 
 ism, at the South. Every Jiiovement of the leaders points in this 
 direction and they are resolved upon it. The great workshop at 
 Washington constructs all its engines with this view. The whole 
 power of the Federal Government will be wielded for this end. 
 Every dispensation of its i^atronage looks to this consummation. 
 To effect the iniquitious measure of thorough amalgamation, en- 
 ginery as artful as powerful has been put in operation in this State, 
 causing defection after defection to stain her political escutcheon. 
 Her public men, forgetful of her honor and unfaithful to her prin- 
 ciples, are perpetually giving way before its conquering pressure. 
 
22 
 
 The recent lion of the Third Congressional District, a while since 
 the vehement denouncer of National Democracy, who refused to 
 go into its caucus at Washington to vote for the nomination of its 
 sweaty leader in South Carolina for Speaker, under alternate lash- 
 ing and petting, has tamed down into its disgusting apologist, de- 
 claring that "of its fidelity he should entertain no doubt in ad- 
 vance." Oh shame! shame! From his constituents, heretofore 
 unterrified and uncorrupted, the moveless bulwark of " State 
 Rights and State E-emedies," will not some " chosen curse, some 
 hidden thunder, red with uncommon wrath," fall upon him ? To 
 bring about this darling purpose of absorption some of the very 
 best material South Carolina ever possessed has been buried 
 amongst Custom House ledgers at home or in Ministerial furs 
 abroad. One of her delegation in Congress, caressed for his 
 working ability and convenient facility, as a reward for his " cath- 
 olic patriotism," wears the soiled robes of Speaker of the House 
 of Representatives. As another flattering unction, the Spoilers' 
 Convention to nominate candidates for President and Yice-Presi- 
 dentfor 1860, is to meet in your Commercial Metropolis, and in 
 sight of Fort Moultrie, whose guns were pointed against its citi- 
 zens by the National party of 1832, and of the grave of your 
 Calhoun whom that party menaced with the gibbet at the same- 
 period, are the final bolts of that connection to be driven which is 
 to make us the vassal-subjects alike of government and party. 
 
 But I fear I have wearied you with my protracted protest and 
 warning. Pardon my trespass to an all-pervading desire to aid in 
 saving the State from the loss of her "honor' and loUg-cherished 
 principles, and to keep her out of the defiled hands of National 
 politicians, who, I solemnly believe, are bent on reaching place 
 and power over the ruins of both. 
 
 Allow me to assure you that I confide in the political integrity 
 and sagacity of your distinguished Representative, whom you pro- 
 pose to honor. I would help him, if I could, in his glorious pur- 
 pose of upholding the rights of the South and the honor of the 
 State at Washington. But I am powerless. It is his duty, how- 
 ever, (and he will perform it although he may be almost alone) to 
 preserve as much of our honor, liberties and Constitutional fran- 
 
cliises as he can. Let him husband all that exalted public virtue 
 and sentiment (the proper product of his State) which he carried 
 with him to Washington (a very charnel-house of everything good 
 and pure and true in politics), the fruits of which shall crown 
 him with honorable tame and bless the land of his birth and 
 hopes. Let him be assured that the frowns and flatteries of the 
 National Government, and its National party, will not be wanting, 
 fii-st to awe, and then corrupt him. Let him feel that to repose 
 under the luxurious shadow of that Government and that party, 
 will i)oison him politically as surely as he dies naturally who 
 sleeps under the shade and droppings of the Upas. Kansas will 
 go to Washington during the next session, or the session thereafter, 
 with an anti-slavery Constitution, demanding admission — the Eng- 
 lish Bill notwithstanding. She will be admitted, and with the aid 
 of National Democrats. Let him war against the measure with 
 unflinching fortitude. 
 
 Gentlemen, I pray that my gloomy anticipations concerning the 
 fate of our State and section may never be realized ; but in alli- 
 ance with and in subservience to the National-Democratic-Union- 
 Government party, I see no ground for hope that South Caro- 
 lina can be anything more for the future than a province of a co- 
 lossal consolidated empire — " an insignificant bit in a vast mosaic 
 of despotisiA*." Such being my convictions, I have locked up the 
 storehouse of our common.glorious recollections, " for every kind- 
 ling word drawn from the past would fall with the burning touch 
 of satire upon the present." 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Teiy respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JAMES D. TPtADEWELL 
 
 To Messrs. S. S. Tompkins, Emmet Seibels, J. B. Griflin, Loudon 
 Butler, J. W. Hill, Committee. 
 
24 
 
 LETTER FEOM COL. A. J. GREEInT. 
 
 Columbia, August 30, 1858. 
 
 Gentlemen: — I have the honor to acknowledge your invitation 
 to be present on the occasion of a "Public Dinner" to be given 
 to your immediate Representative, the Hon. M. L. Bonham, on 
 Tuesday, the 2d September next. I regret I shall not be able to 
 be' with you on that day, but beg to assure you, nevertheless, that 
 no one can more full}'' appreciate the high worth of your gallant 
 Representative than my humble self. To the confidence and inti- 
 macy engendered of a somewhat extended acquaintance with him, 
 I have now to add my admiration for that sagacity which could 
 penetrate the disguises of the " English Conference Bill," and for 
 that manliness which could know no compromise of right or of 
 justice. I congratulate you, then, upon the possession of a public 
 servant worthy of all confidence and of the highest honors. He 
 has not forgotten the ancient prestige of his State for scrupulous 
 devotion to principle — he has not forgotten the teachings of her 
 wisest and purest statesman — he has not forgotten the requiretnenta 
 of his own gallant constituency, and" the escutcheon of South Car-'', 
 olina has suffered no tarnish at his hands.' It would^-'I am aware, 
 be a great presumption on my part to question either the wisdom 
 or motives of the rest of our delegation in Congress who thought 
 fit to differ with Gen. Bonham on this Bill- {and with regard to one, 
 at least, I cannot entertain the slightest doubt as to his faithful ad- 
 herence to the cherished doctrines of. tfe State) ; yet, without com- 
 mitting this presumption, I may be permitted to say that, to one 
 brought up under the glorious "States Rights " principles of our 
 beloved Commonwealth, it sounds strange indeed to hear of so 
 much compromise for the sake (A ])arty, even though it be the 
 all-triumphant Democratic; and even here, I fear, the evil does 
 not rest : for South Carolina — that South Carolina which so de- 
 lighted to honor the great Calhoun — is not only claimed a's Demo- 
 cratic, but as " Nationally " Democratic — since we are gravely 
 told by those who " sit in the high places " that there is no differ- 
 
ence between tl)e "States Iviglits" ami "National" wins^s <»f that 
 organizatiun. Is this so indeed ? Has our State so soon forgotten 
 by what party was stricken every blow against her most cherished 
 doctrines of '* Free Trade," "States Riglits," and " States Sover- 
 eignty ? " Has she forgotten, alas ! that wealth of memories which 
 clusters around the names of her (Calhoun, lier McDutlie, lier Ham- 
 ilton, and her Ilayne!; In the Fourth Congressional District, you, 
 at least, can answer no I for a lionhara is your standard bearer. 
 
 I may bo indulged here, too, perhaps, if I venture to trespass 
 further upon your patience, by touching upon a subject which, dc- 
 sjute of its having been denominated "impracticable," "vision- 
 ary," and "foolish," does^ nevertheless, occn])y much of the atten- 
 tion of the South at this time. There are many amongst us who 
 recollect the not distanl^ast, when our institution of slavery was 
 held bv no stronger tenure than the "bated breath" of concilia- 
 tion ; when, indeed, it was considered the mere scaffolding neces- 
 sary perhaps for the erection of the building, but still to bo stricken 
 awav when the 'editice was completed. Yet how does it stand 
 now ? Driven to combat with the fierce fanaticism of the xs'orth, 
 reason and research have alike led n3 to an impregnable rock of 
 (lei^feiace. No longer apologists fortius condition of things in our 
 \\\\mX^ but finding it simctioned by Holy Writ and sustained by the 
 precedent (kl^wisest antiquity, we boldly proclaim ourselves ready 
 to defend it If necessary with the bayonet, and determined to trans- 
 mit it to our latest posterity. I say such is our present position on 
 the subject of slavery, and he who gainsays it is fitter associate 
 for Giddings and Greeley than for the people of the South. Is it 
 "unwise" " visionary," W-^' foolish," then, with this determina- 
 tion on Our part, and with the world arrayed against us, to devise 
 means by which this ijistitution is to be upheld and strengthened? 
 Mr. Giddings tells us, incJeed, that his party watchword of " No 
 more Slave States," is no longer to be the rallying cry for Aboli- 
 tion hordes ; but mark you why. The whilom silence«l, but never 
 abandoned, " Wilmot Proviso " is to be a condition annexed to our 
 Territorial Governments. Admirable concession ! Glorious moral 
 victorv of the South ! No State without the chrysalis Territorial 
 condition— no Territory without the "Wilmot Proviso? What 
 
26 
 
 matters it thtit we now stand as fifteen Southern States, including 
 Delaware, to eighteen iNorthern ? What matter if Kansas is to 
 swell that number at the next session of Congress to nineteen 
 against ns, despite the Conference humbug, and its requisition of 
 ninetj^'-three thousand inhabitants! What matters it that the Ter- 
 ritories West and jS'orthwest of ns are rapidly advancing to that 
 condition when they, too, shall demand admission as Freesoil 
 States? Has not Mr. Giddings told us his party abandons the po- 
 sition that " no more Slave States " are to be admitted ? And 
 even if they do insist upon that " Wil mot Proviso " (Wilmot, by- 
 the-by, was a National Democrat), what of that? Clearly, the 
 Abolition party has backed down from its audacious position — 
 and has not the South gained a "great moral victory ? " What 
 matters it that the great high priest of Jibolitionism, Freesoilisra, 
 and Black Republicanism (if there be any distinction among the 
 three), Mr. Seward, tells us the battle has been fought, indeed, but 
 that they have gained the victory ! What matters it, according to 
 the same authority, that the Supreme Federal Court is to be reor- 
 ganized ; and that a great States Convention, to alter and amend 
 the Constitution, is to be called ! Have we' not gained a victory,:. 
 too — and are we not most unreasonable men,' not to be satisfied 
 with its m.oral worth ! Sev.-ard, Giddings, Wilson, SuHiner, Hale, 
 Hamlin, Wade, Chandler, '•'- et id omne ^<?;?.W5," owe their seats in 
 Congress to their implacable^ unresting half ed to slavery ; and 
 yet we — we who believe this institution to be morally, religiously 
 and politically right — m'c, who declare ouraelves ready to sustain 
 it at the hazard of our lives, are called upon, forsooth, to signally 
 rehuhe any man amongst tis, wlwse greoimt fault may he his ex- 
 treme devotioii to this veo'y interest ! _ ■ \ 
 
 I am, fellow-citizens, -"': 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 ALLEN J. GEEEN. 
 To Messrs. S. S. Tompkins, Emmet Selbels, Loudon Butler, J. B. 
 Griffin, and J. W. Hill, Committee of Arrangements, Edge- 
 field, S. C. 
 
LEITEK OF CAPT. U. :^^. EOBEUT. 
 
 Jfrathmoi'e^ Dougfierty Co., Ga. 
 
 GEXTLorKx: Yours of the lOtli instant, invitinir my yire'^ence at 
 a dinner to Le given by the " Citizens of Etlgetickl," to their ini- 
 inediate Representative, the lion. M. L. Bonham, was duly re- 
 ceived. I thank you forgiving me theo]>portunity to mingle with 
 you on that interesting occasion, but I shall liave to deny myself 
 that pleasure. 
 
 As a Southern Rights man, I feel a deep interest in your festiv- 
 it}', and the occasion wli%i produces it, and as a native South Ca- 
 rolinian, I have a feeling of devotion and attachment beyond my 
 power to express. I am not a politician, and in no way connected 
 with places of political promotion, and it is not expected that I 
 sliould, in accepting your invitation, enter into a discussion of po- 
 litical matters. You will permit me, however, to say a few words 
 touching the present Condition of the South. 
 
 I regard the so-called Conference Bill as violative of the Kan- 
 sas Nebraska Act, as vet another surrender of Southern rijrhts, as 
 full of deception, sustained liy legislative trickery, and as a blem- 
 ish upon the reputation of every Southern man who voted for it. 
 After that vote was taken, I regarded the Southern Rights party in 
 the Democratic elemQlit as reduced to tico men out of our entire 
 delegation in Congi-ess. One of these was the noble and gallant 
 Quitman, who has since |i;oBe to receive his reward " of well done 
 good and faithful seitvant ^ — tor after so much tidelitv — in the 
 midst of so much deseritlctfi — Heaven cannot close its gates on hi3 
 immortal spirit. The other was the true and noble Bonham, who 
 now stands alone, among Southern Representatives, but is sur- 
 rounded and sustained by nearly all the South ; and her gallant 
 people feel that he is dear to their hearts and to their homes! 
 You cannot, within the purview of our Republican simplicity, and 
 independence, honor him too highly. 
 
28 
 
 While I am so elated with your immediate Representative, you 
 ranst not consider me disrespectful, if out of the abundance of my 
 Southern heart, I say Senator Hammond has disappointed the just 
 expectations of his warm Southei-n i'riends. That he shonkl have 
 voted for the Conference Bill is a small matter compared with the 
 motives v\^hicli influenced him, as exemplified in the report of Iris 
 late speech at Beech Island. Tliat speech is eminently Union, 
 transcendently^(2c(/jc. Coming from the man who was to wear 
 " Calhoun's mantle," it advises me that South Carolina must look 
 elsewhere, for the man to keep alive and active the principles of 
 that great statesman. 
 
 It is the more niortifying that the Senator is not alone, in his 
 lowering of the Southern standard, and which is not to revive 
 again until a Black Kepuhlican shall |^ elected President, and 
 '■'• there is a repetitio7i oi tha offence." We see Senator Hunter, 
 through the "Kichmond South^'''' and Jefferson D^vis, in his own 
 proper person joining in this cry of Union — that" masked battery 
 from behind which the rights of the South ard-'tq be assailed." 
 And even the distinguished author of this latter sentiment, seems to 
 have his ponderous brain opiated with the sam-e delightful recrea- 
 tion, while old Buck pats him on the ".back and calls him my 
 friend Tombs." I do not include in this category, Gov. Wise, for 
 " from him, the good Lord deliver us." 
 
 This sudden change of political phase is to be ascribed to the 
 game of President making.; and it is pretty well settled that the 
 next candidate of the Democracy will come .from the South. As 
 one of the unitiated, I will venture the assertion that it is unne- 
 cessary for these gentlemen to look in that direction, for the dis- 
 tinguished head of the Treasury Depai'tmenf-j backed by the Cabi- 
 net and eighty millions of patronage,"' lias, the "inside track," 
 and will likely keep it. 
 
 We would all be gratified to have, a President from the Cotton 
 States, but unless he can reach that exalted position without detri- 
 ment to his State Eights principles, there is more safety in one of 
 those " Northern men who is supposed to have Southern princi- 
 ples." 
 
29 
 
 In conclusion, ]icnnit nio to pive you this sentiment: 
 The ambitiiin of" our public men promises the ruin of the Soutii, 
 and we are suil'erint!: for more Bonhanas. 
 
 Kcspectlully. your friend, 
 
 U. 'M. TIOBERT. 
 
 To Messi-s. S. S. Tompkins, Emmet Seibels, J. 13. Griffin, Loudon 
 Butler and J. "\V. Hill, Committee. 
 
 LETTER FROM COL. GREGG. 
 
 Columhici, Avgiist 25M, 1S58. 
 
 Gentlemen: I have had the honor of receiving your invitation 
 to the dinner to be given by the citizens of Edgefield to Gen. Bon- 
 ham, on the 2d of September next. My engagements at homo 
 will deprive nig^f the pleasure of attending. But I desire to join 
 with you in reuTlering the high honor wliich he deserves to your 
 Representative in .Congress. lie has borne himself as becomes a 
 Representative fron:i South Carolina. And on the j^crplexed ques- 
 tion of Karsas, in which, from the apath}- of the Soutii, it was so 
 difficult to discern the least disadvantageous way of dealing with 
 a bad piece of business, and considerations of expcdiencv were so 
 doubtfully balanced, he exhibited the true spirit and tnie wisdom, 
 by following what ho believed right on principle, in spite of all 
 inducements to swervc.frotn it. That on such a question he should 
 have deliberately selvyatod from Gen. Hammond, a Senatorial 
 leader, whose adviceSvia^ justly entitled to the most profound re- 
 spect — from Gen. Mt^u^en, a States Rights colleague, then, and 
 still, as ever, implicitly to be relied on — Vrom all the South Caro- 
 lina delegation, and from the almost unanimous Southern vote, 
 shows that he is a man for whom the corrupt Capital has no po- 
 litical seductions, and in whom the old State Rights party may re- 
 pose their trust. 
 
 If there is any hope of our ever regaining our freedom and in- 
 dependence, I believe it must be by our public men following the 
 
30 
 
 example set to tliera on this recent occasion by your Representa- 
 tive, and by Gen. Quitman, that statesman and soldier, in whose 
 nntimely death the Sonth has suifered so iieavy a loss. In the 
 times of the nullification struggle, there was a favorite motto of 
 the States Eights party: "Do j-our duty, and leave the conse- 
 quences to God." It would be better if this were more held in 
 remembrance now. It has long been a prevalent and fatal delu- 
 sion in the South to rely on party management for protection 
 against the increasing preponderance of ISTorthern power. Rare 
 occasions may arise, when the State Rights party of the South, by 
 acting with perfect independence, and holding the balance of a 
 closely divided vote in Congress, may succeed in imposing their 
 policy upon reluctant xs^orthern associates. Such was the case, to 
 a great extent, during the administration o| Mr. Yan Buren. But 
 from the nature of things it cannot often occur. And to expect, 
 from this time forward, such unanimity and fidelity amongst 
 Southern politicians at Washington, that they wdll act together on 
 high principle, and by controlling ITorthern p.a'Vty associates, re- 
 form the corrupt and plundering Government, r^-establish State 
 Sovereignty, not onl}'- in party " Platforms," as they- are called, but 
 in fact, and make the South secure in the Confederacy, is to expect 
 of Southern politicians generally more wisdom, and perfection for 
 the time to come than the past has ever witnessed. Up to the 
 present time, we have seen a continual process going on, by which 
 the rights and interests of the South are compromised away for the 
 sake of preserving party ascendancy, and as eguivalents for the 
 honors and emoluments enjoyed by Southern .politicians. ".I per- 
 ceive no reason to anticipate a cessation of .tlii'§. process, so long as 
 the Southern people look to party manageriteil't.at Washington for 
 safety. To the great majority of that class cif men, whom a mod- 
 erate degree of intellectual power, united to fluency of speech and 
 popular address, qualifies to take the lead in the contests of popu- 
 lar parties, the objects of ambition, though they may be intensely 
 sought, are not of a high order. Not to do something worthy of 
 remembrance, but to stand well with party, and to attain the pre- 
 ferments bestowed by it, is the aim of such men. Send them to 
 Washington, where in place of being suitors for popular favor, 
 
.^1 
 
 tliey iind themselves courted for tlic power of dispensing oflice and 
 profitable jobs of all kinds which they possess; and where their 
 social position, as members of the governing body, is such as to 
 flatter and please them, especially those to wliom such social cir- 
 cumstances arc new; give them a salary from the Government, 
 sufficient for their wants and amusements; and it will not be sur- 
 prising, even if many State Rights men, who went to the Capital 
 as veritable Catos, yield to the allurements around them, grow re- 
 conciled to their position, and como home much tamed down, and 
 far better subjects of the Government than they went away. 
 
 The party which is commended to us as the kind protector of 
 the South, through whoso devoted friendship all our rights are to be 
 thankfull}' enjoyed, is the Democratic party. The price for which 
 this protection is to be afforded, is our amalgamation with that 
 party. Tiie name is a bad one. The ]Karty is the degenerate suc- 
 cessor of the old Republican party. Mr. Calhoun, for reasons 
 which to his clear, and powerful intellect were sufficient, studiously 
 avoided calling; himself a Democrat, even when acting for long 
 periods in alliance with the modern Democratic ]»arty. lie ac- 
 knowledged himself a member of the old Republican party, but 
 never consented' tftjnerge State Rights in Democracy. It would 
 be better for State'; Rights men to follow more caretiilly his ex- 
 ample in this partichlar, and to eschew the name which was so 
 distasteful to him. To commend the name of Democracy to us, 
 the appellation " National " is added. The addition is still worse. 
 The "odor of Xatio/jality " ouglit to be an abomination to every 
 States Rights niarvvi^^Xatioiial '' and "States, Rights" are terms 
 of necessity c<>ntrad%t^fy and incompatible. If the Government 
 is " National," the '^tafes cannot be Sovereign, except according 
 to that fraudulent gibberish suited to what is called in the dialect 
 of politicians, a "Platfonn." ?;[r. Calhoun carefully avoided ap- 
 plying the terms " Nation " and " National " to the United States. 
 He uniformly said "Confederacy" and "Federal." It would be 
 safer for States Rights; men to adhere to his example. AVhen, in 
 the decay of the old Republican party, a i><»pular name was wanted 
 to cover the advances of consolidation, "National Republican*' 
 was the term selected. If there is any reverence left for the States 
 
Kiglits lessons of Mr. Calbonn, "National Democracy" ought to 
 be execrable in South Carolina. 
 
 But of late, the policy of abandoning our State Rights abstrac- 
 tions and solitary position, to amalgamate with the Democratic 
 party, and set our liopes on everything coming right at last in the 
 existing Union, is dignified by favorers with the name of " Con- 
 servative." " Conservative," is a good word, and the innovatoi-s 
 should not be allowed to usurp it. The true Conservatives in 
 South Carolina are those who desire to preserve our State Institu- 
 tions and political usages as they have been ; to re-establish, if 
 possible, the rightful sovereignty of the State, not in the " plat- 
 form " sense, but as our safeguard in realit}^ against the prepon- 
 derant power of perfidious Confederates : and to avoid being 
 drawn into the downward progress of Democracy through mob 
 government to anarchy, which has already proceeded so far in tlie 
 IS'orthern States, and which by tliis time would have approached 
 nearer to the final goal of military despotism, but for the great 
 Western outlet, checking temporarily over-population. The .true 
 conservatives in South Carolina abhor the Union, because they see 
 in its continuance a long prospect of farther changes from bad to.' 
 worse. The sentiments which I now avow, are;.those which pre- 
 vailed in both the Secession and the Co-opcjration party in tlie 
 contest which teruiinated in 1853. The people of South Carolina 
 in convention assembled, in April, 1852, solemnly declarded, 
 " That the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United 
 States by the Federal Government, and its. encroachments upon 
 the reserved rights.of the Sovereign States of -.this Union, especial- 
 ly in relation to slavery, amply justify this S^iite, so far as any duty 
 or obligation to her Confederates is in^volved, in;. dissolving at once, 
 all political connection with her co-States..; -iahd that she forbears 
 the exercise of this manifest right of- self-government from consid- 
 erations of expediency only." This Declaration was adopted in 
 the Convention by a majority of seven-eighths ; and of the small 
 minority who voted against it, a large proportion were Secession- 
 ists, who could not stomach the adoption of what they accounted 
 so feeble a measure, as the Eesolution, and the ordinance declara- 
 tory of the right of Secession. The greatest and most venerable 
 
33 
 
 of tlie statesmen mIio opposed and prevented Secession, pro- 
 nounced the Government to which we arc in snhjection, " a ^'^ul- 
 ^'ar Tyranny." I know not wliat has since occnrred at Washinnr- 
 ton, to reconcile us with this "Vulgar Tyranny/' beyond 
 some new party tricks and compromises, such as wo had been 
 long before accustomed to. But causes have been at work amongst 
 ourselves, powerful enough to produce a change, both in unthink- 
 ing men and in that class of ambitious politicians to whom I refer- 
 red before. It was natural to expect gradual acquiescence among 
 the mass of men, in an order of things ap})arently established and 
 too strong to be resisted. And to the ambitious politicians, ab- 
 stention from the prizes of the political game, and resistance to the 
 allurements of Washington life, were likely to prove a greater sa- 
 crifice than submission to the '* Vulgar Tyranny." It is true that 
 on a refined calculation, an independent position of the State 
 Kights party of South Carolina might command from their allies, 
 the •Democrats,- a larger share of honors and promotions, than 
 would be accorded to a small and entirely subservient section of 
 the great Democracy. But then, while the entire amount of fa- 
 vors bestowed nnght'be greater in such an independent ])osi- 
 tloTi, each aspirant would imagine that his own individual chance 
 of being selected for favor, would be bettered by rendering him- 
 self as agreeable as possible to the ruling powers. And so the 
 tendency was a natural one, to become reconciled to the Union 
 and the Democratic party, and to desire to throw otf " extreme " 
 State Rights notions; that is, the faith which is in earnest. And 
 it was natural to e.^f>ect, that at first tiniidly and with qualifica- 
 tions, but by degrees more boldly and bmadly, regard and l«»ve 
 for the Union would be j)rofe.^sed, until in fulness of time, a Union 
 chorus may again be raised, as strong as that which first assailed 
 the Nullifiers at the commencement of the long contest against 
 Federal usurpations ; and as that which is still raised upon occa- 
 sion in most of the Southern States. It was against this danger 
 that seven years ago a distinguished Statesman, who held himself 
 aloof from the contest between the Secession and Co-operation 
 parties, sought to guard, when he placed in the hands of a friend, 
 his plan for uniting on common resistance ground, to be presented, 
 C 
 
34 
 
 if it should prove acceptable to the two parties, in the meeting 
 of Delegates from the Southern Kights Associations, held at Charles- 
 ton in Mav, 1851. That plan proposed to keep the State in an at- 
 titude of readiness for resistance at the first favorable opportunity; 
 and its most important provisions were directed towards withdraw- 
 ing our citizens from the means of corruption, seduction and al- 
 lurement, wielded by the General Government. After the defeat 
 of the Secession party, it was my hope that the sincere resistance 
 men of the Co-operation party, would bring forward and support 
 in the Convention of the people, the wise and far-sighted plan of 
 the Statesman referred to. It was not done; and we now see the 
 operation of those pernicious Union and Snbmission influences 
 against which that plan was directed by its sagacious author. 
 
 I do not see in the present head of the Democratic party any- 
 thing to increase my confidence in the body whijch he leads. I 
 can .never forget tliat Mr. Biiclianan, by his casting y-ote in the 
 United States Senate, passed the black Tarifi:' of-VSV2 ; b.eing"one 
 of the two or three Northern Democrats who did the act Q.f per- 
 fidy — -just enough, without requiring any more to commit the of- 
 fence against the South than the number absolutely necessar^C tii 
 Mr. Buchanan's whole course on the Kansas question, I see-'xiothing 
 but the duplicity suited to his function as manager of the ma&^iihery 
 by which a sectional conflict might be so dealt with as to.avoid a 
 disruption of the Democratic party. The object could only be 
 accomplished by giving to the Korth the substantial advantage, 
 and cajoling the South with delusive appearances of vict6ty. Ac- 
 cordingly, the President allowed Mr. Walker and Mr. Stanton to 
 do the necessary work in Kansas, to his affected displeasm-e, while 
 by Ijis parade of impartial performance of Constitutional duty, he 
 succeeded in the Southern part of his game. I have no doubt 
 that if party necessities had required the substantial advantage to 
 be givento the South, and the delusion practiced upon the North 
 the President would have played the game with equal determina- 
 tion and skill. In the equivocal instructions;. sent to the JS'aval 
 oflicers on the coast of Central America against Gen. Walker's 
 expedition, I see the perfection of Governmental duplicity. The 
 instructions equally warranted the officers in doing evervthino- or 
 
35 
 
 notliinn;; and left tlic Administration equally at liberty to avow 
 or condemn, accordln*^ to the subtlest calculations of policy, what- 
 ever they miii,ht do, or leave undone ; or, in fine, to accept the 
 service and disclaim the responsibility — censure the officer, but 
 avoid bringing hini to trial, and make no reparation of the 
 wrong. 
 
 There is another matter in which, perhaps, from not making duo 
 allowance for the downright blundere which are sometimes com- 
 mitted by Cabinets from more oversight, I may suspect a subtle 
 policy which was not really schemed. But the invitation given 
 by the Secretary of State to tlie I^ritiah Government, to blockade 
 the coast of Cuba, if they wished eflfectually to suppress the Slave 
 Trade, was felicitously adapted, if it was not designed, to bring 
 about an interference with American commerce, without which 
 the blockade would be nugatory, and the occurrence of which 
 would arouse a storm of indignation in tlie United States, and 
 give'theAdnlinist'ration a chance, by a great display of warlike 
 spirit, to retrieve its popularity, and eficct a useful divei-sion i'roin 
 the Kansas difficulty ; while a long-headed statesman might well 
 ■havc'f^ries(ien bliat Ki^glftnd, witli her embarrassments in Europe 
 ■and Asfhl,.ci>fnd'notafiprd to go to war with the United States; 
 arid \mild not lind in the terms of the invitation to blockade 
 Cuba, ftufficienV evidence to sustain a direct charge of perfidy 
 against the United States Government. 
 
 As for those persons in the Soutii who expect to repose under 
 the i)rotection of the Supreme Court, their reliance appears to me 
 as well founded as that <»f a traveller on a Mexican highway, who 
 being liesot by l>anditti, should de|>cnd upon saving his purse by 
 the exhibition of the ten commandments. 
 
 To me, the movement in South Carolina for an amalgamation 
 with the Democratic party, seems portentous of all evil. If 
 Southern unanimity is only to be obtained in that way, it will be 
 unanimity in submission and voluntary abasement. Such "moral 
 victories" as havd been hitherto gained, will make that condition 
 no better. If, in consequence of a "moral victory,'' public .senti- 
 ment had in reality so far changed in the Northern States, as to 
 tolerate slavery for the ability which it gives to the South to pay 
 
tribute, consolidation with Northern Democracy, under a National 
 Government, would still be utterly ruinous. Party consolidation 
 is the grand engine for converting the Confederacy into a consoli- 
 dated Nation. Against consolidation and " National " parties, 
 the States Eights party has been contending for long years. In 
 that long struggle, our great and pure leader wore out his life. 
 The monument to his memory has not yet been built. When the 
 marble rises to attest our veneration, shall its legend be false ? 
 Shall all his words be effaced from our hearts, and sliall we suffer 
 an inferior strain of men to undo the work of his life? Honor, 
 consistency, self-respect, and whatever of pride^^in South Carolina 
 is left to us, forbid it. 
 
 Gentlemen, I beg leave to offer the old States Eights sentiment, 
 which the conduct of your high-minded Representative has sug- 
 gested to me : " • ' 
 
 " Do your duty, and leave the consequences to God." 
 I am, gentlemen, 
 
 Yery respectfully, .... 
 
 Tour obedient servant, - .■^^^^ 
 
 To Messrs. S. S. Tompkins, Emmet Seibels, J. B. Griffii)',:.XiOudon 
 Butler, and J. W. Hill, Esqrs., Committee of An'qngements^ 
 Edgejieldy S. C. ,..■: