SOUTH CAROLINA DURING THE REVOLUTION.

It is with unfeigned reluctance, Mr. President, that I enter upon the
performance of this part of my duty. I shrink almost instinctively from a
course, however necessary, which may have a tendency to excite sectional
feelings and sectional jealousies. But, sir, the task has been forced upon
me, and I proceed right onward to the performance of my duty. Be the
consequences what they may, the responsibility is with those who have
imposed upon me this necessity. The Senator from Massachusetts has thought
proper to cast the first stone, and if he shall find, according to the
homely adage, that "he lives in a glass house,"--on his head be the
consequences. The gentleman has made a great flourish about his fidelity to
Massachusetts. I shall make no professions of zeal for the interests and
honor of South Carolina--of that my constituents shall Judge.

If there be one State in the Union, Mr. President, (and I say it not in a
boastful spirit,) that may challenge comparison with any other for a
uniform, zealous, ardent, and uncalculating devotion to the Union, that
State is South Carolina. Sir, from the very commencement of the Revolution
up to this hour, there is no sacrifice, however great, she has not
cheerfully made; no service she has hesitated to perform. She has adhered
to you in your prosperity, but in your adversity she has clung to you with
more than filial affection. No matter what was the condition of her
domestic affair's--though deprived of her resources, divided by parties, or
surrounded by difficulties,--the call of the country has been to her as the
voice of God. Domestic discord ceased as the sound--every man became at
once reconciled to his brethren, and the sons of Carolina were all seen
crowding together to the temple, bringing their gifts to the altar of their
common country.