could not but perceive the necessity of a very great reduction of the duties upon imports, if for no other purpose, to prevent the accumulation of a large surplus revenue, which all acknowledged to be a very great evil, and the almost certain source of corruption, in such a political system as ours. In order to anticipate any movement for a general reduction of duties, Mr. CLAY, early in January of that year, introduced a resolution in the Senate, declaring the expediency of repealing forthwith the duties upon all articles imported from foreign countries, which did not come in competition with domestic manufactures, leaving the enormous duties of the prohibitory system entirely untouched; and thus throwing the whole burthen of federal taxation upon the foreign exchanges of the planting States, while the manufacturing States distinctly acknowledged, by the almost unanimous voice of their representatives, that every duty which would remain on the statute book, was a bounty to them, instead of a burthen. Our lamented friend, always too much on the alert to be surprised by any disguised movement against the interests of his constituents, with that readiness and promptitude for which he was remarkable, immediately exposed the true character of Mr. CLAY's resolution, declaring that it would aggravate the evils of the protecting system, increase its inequality, and rivet its chains upon his constituents forever. He warned the Senate, in the most solemn and impressive manner, of the dangers by which it was surrounded, and declared that, in "the presence of that august body and before his God, it was his deep conviction, that the consequences to grow out of the adjustment of that great question, involved the future destinies of this country." He offered an amendment to the

resolution of Mr. CLAY, to the effect that "all the existing duties upon articles imported from foreign countries be so reduced, that the amount of the public revenue should be sufficient to defray the expenses of the government, after the extinguishment of the public debt; and that allowing a reasonable time for the gradual reduction of the present high duties on articles coming in competition with similar articles made or produced within the United States, the duties shall be ultimately equalized, so that the duty on no article should, as compared with he value of that article, vary materially from the general average." It is to be remarked, that this principle of gradual reduction was denounced by Mr. CLAY as slow poison, leading to the inevitable destruction of the manufacturing interest, though it subsequently formed the basis of the compromise, which he had an active agency in producing. Our illustrious fellow-citizen, regarding this declaration as closing the gates of hope on his long suffering constituents, delivered one of the best sustained arguments, and made one of the most fervid and eloquent appeals to the sealed ears of our oppressors, that I ever heard in any deliberative assembly. He exposed, in the most unanswerable manner, the gross inequality of the existing tariff; showing that it had produced the most blighting influence upon the prosperity of South Carolina, and the other planting States: and that it had proved to the Western States a most suicidal policy, cutting them off from their best and only customers, by reducing the value of their staples. He described, in the most glowing language of indignant patriotism, the melancholy memorials of desolation and premature decay it had produced in South Carolina, destroying the flourishing commerce which

once rewarded the enterprize of the merchants of this city, and compelling our planters to gather up the fragments of their ruined fortunes, and deserting the mansions and the tombs of their ancestors, to fly to the wilds of the south west, in the hope of mitigating the burthens of an oppressive system which they could not hope to escape. "Sir," said he, "when we look at our fertile fields, and consider the genial climate with which God has blessed the South -when we contemplate the rare felicity of our position as the producers of an article, which under a system of free trade would command the markets of the world is it not enough to fill our hearts almost to bursting, to find the richest blessings that an indulgent Providence ever showered down upon any people, torn from us by the cruel policy of our own government?" He went into an analytical examination of the true character and practical operation of the protecting system, demonstrating by a most powerful and lucid process of reasoning and illustration, its unconstitutionality, inequality, injustice, and oppression. Coming, then, to the consideration of the question more immediately before the Senate-the policy to be adopted on the great era of the extinguishment of the public debt :-"We have arrived," said he," at a most interesting crisis in our national affairs; one to which the people have been looking forward with intense anxiety, for several years past. They have contemplated the extinction of the public debt as the great day of jubilee, when they were to be relieved from the oppressions they have so long patiently endured. The people of the South, sir, like the children of Israel, have passed through the wilderness, and are now in sight of the promised land. They stand on the top of the Mount, and look with

delight at the goodly prospect before them; and it is for you, this day, to determine whether they shall perish in the wilderness, or be permitted to possess and enjoy their rich inheritance." He exposed the plausible but deceptive scheme of reduction proposed by Mr. CLAY, and demonstrated that it would aggravate the grievances under which we were then suffering, by increasing the inequality and injustice, which, more than the aggregate amount of the burthens it imposed, rendered the protective system so justly odious and intolerable to the planting States. He showed that the whole system thus modified would be tyranny and taxation to us, protection and bounty to them. "We insist," said he, "that this is a violation of the principles on which our government is founded, and reduces us to a state of colonial'vassalage." "Let not gentlemen," said he, "deceive themselves so far as to suppose that the opposition of the South to the protecting system, is not based on high and lofty principles. It has nothing to do with party politics or the mere elevation of men. It rises far above all such considerations. The spirit with which we have entered into this business, is akin to that which was kindled in the bosoms of our fathers when they were made the victims of oppression; and if it has not displayed itself in the same way, it is because we have ever cherished the strongest feeling of confraternity towards our brethren, and the warmest and most devoted attachment to the Union. If we have been in any degree divided amongst ourselves in this matter, the source of that division, let gentlemen be assured, has not arisen so much from any difference of opinion as to the true character of the oppression, as from the different degrees of hope entertained of redress. All parties have been looking forward for

years past to this crisis for the fulfilment of their hopes, or the confirmation of their fears. And God grant that the result may be auspicious."

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Sir, I call upon gentlemen on all sides of the House, to meet us in the true spirit of conciliation and concession. Remove, I earnestly beseech you, from among us, this never failing source of contention. Restore that harmony which has been disturb ed, that mutual affection and confidence which have been, impaired. Dry up at its source this fountain of the waters of bitterness. It is in your power to do it this day, by doing equal justice to all. And be assured that he to whom the country shall be indebted for this blessing, will be considered the second founder of the Republic. He will be regarded in all af ter times as the ministering angel visiting the troubled waters of political dissension, and restoring to the element its healing virtues."

Such was the lofty spirit of patriotism and liberty which pervaded this great effort of our illustrious fellow citizen, to rescue South Carolina from her unconstitutional and oppressive burthens, and to prevent the occurrence of that conflict of sovereign authorities which he saw to be unavoidable, if these burthens were not removed. The effect it produced upon every impartial auditor may be inferred from the remark of a very talented and accomplished lady, who resided in a manufacturing State. "When I heard General HAYNE," said she, "pourtray the wrongs of South Carolina with so much eloquence, and appeal to her oppressors in a spirit so generous and patriotic, I could scarcely command myself; and I almost felt, that woman as I am, I could take up arms in her defence." Such was the noble seņtiment excited in a mind unsophisticated and unper