Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOLUME XLIIL I >? . M M.i -,,<J?M??,~,',.".?,...,.?.>?">?,m....>....>. Hii'l.li.l'i.Ou'l.M.liii'liKlill.Hu'l.Pi.'l.?...'.MM????Ml??Mn?H?m?MtM|??MM??lMWM?M?l???^.?|tu?.l'?l<<il,?i<l1l?llM.ltM?,ff|??tr(l^>u?* EDGEFTELD. S. C? NOVEMBER 7, 1878. fl NUMBEB 47. im HIM HIN? James H. Hammond was 1 the District of Newberry, Carolina, on the 15th of No1 1307. His father, Elisha Hai "b a descendant in the fourth ? tion from Benjamin Hummon grated from England in 1G? settled in Massachusetts, was a of Massachusetts and a gi adi ? Dartmouth Col ego. He ci South Carolina in 1S03, was ? Professor of Language* in the Carolina College in 1S05, and ii married Catharine F. Spann, a ber of a weil known and accomr family of Edgefield District. Hammond was a fine scholar unu>ual gifts as a teacher, devoted himself to the educat his son, and by his bfeill and cai broad the foundation of those sc ly attainments for which the : Governor and Senator b eam markable. In 1823young Ham entered the junior class of the! Carolina College and gradual 1S25, fourth in a clars of distingu merit, in which the first place been won by the Hon. Randall! the second by the late Judge Th Jefferson Withers, and the thin Bishop Stephen Elliott. Ado] the profession of the law, Mr. I mond was admitted to the Ba 1S2S, and almost immediately tered upon a practice more lucn and successful than often falls t( lot of so young a man. In 183 addition to the duties of his pr sion, he undertook the editorsh the Southern Times, a newsp devoted to States Rights and Nu cation, and in a period of intense citement conducted the paper 1 marked ability. Mr. Hamm early imbibed the doctrine the absolute and indivisible so eignty of every State. The Fed Governmet was the creature of States with certain delegated pov clearly defined and limited in Constitution, which must itself strictly and literally construed, sovereignty of the State carried v it the right of the State to judge itself, of every encroachment of -r-^u-r;'J -rGo-veriwafiiit^ of every fraction of the Constitution, (md determine the mode a a measure redrets." With these doctrines entered upon his public career, a he stcod by then; with unwaver; conviction and unflinching fidelity the last moment of his life. In 1S31 Mr. Ilrmmond marri Miss Catherine E. Fitzsimons, Columbia, S. C., whose elder sister woman of rare excellence, was t wife of Col. Wade Hampton, a abandoning his profession of the la soon after settled upon a plantati on thc Savannah River, at Sil\ Bluff, in Barnwell District. M Fitzsimons was of Irish family. H f-ther, Christopher Fitzsimons, cai to Charleston in 17S3, acquired gre wealth and served the State for time in the Logi?lature. Mr. Hal mond entered with ardor upon 1 new pursuits but did not negle public affairs. He took an acti share in the events of those stirrii :mes, and aided materially in orga izing the forces with which Sou Carolina was preparing to meet tl impending conflict with the Feder Government. The increased demands of tl manufacturers had, as early as 1S2 pretty weil united the South in vigorous but unavailing resistance 1 the Protective System, and served f raise the question of it* constitt tionality. It became a leading issu in the succeeding Presidential car vass. Mr. Clay was the avowed champio of the Protectionists, while the Sout had been led to believe that Genera Jackson was in favor of a Tariff fo revenue alone. In 1S2S the Tari; act was still more injurious to th interests of the South, and the Com mittee on Federal Relations presentei the subject to the next session of th South Carolina Legislature in a re port drawn np by Mr. Calhoun, ii which he suggested, as an ultimad resort, a State veto or nullification President Jackson's first message dis pelled the delusion of the South am showed that he intended to sustair the Tariff. South Carolina became deeply agitated, but it was not unti November, 1832, that the Couventior met and passed the Nullificatior Ordinance. The President repli?e with a proclamation denouncing the proceedings of South Carolina, anc Congress scon alter passed the bili "known as the Force Bill, whici: clothed the Executive with extraor dinary powers. The Force Bill South Carolina also nullified and prepared for war. Mr. Hammond was elected to Congress in 1834, and when he entered Congres i this great question had been temporarily settled by the passage of Mr. Clay's compro mise bill in which the Federal Gov ernment abandoned the principle of protection and pledged it-elf to the gradual reduction of duties for nine years, after which time they should not exceed 20 per a nt. " ad valoran' except in the emergency of war. j But a question of still mon J importance to the South-thes! question-was looming up into t ening proportions. Mr. Ham i ic a vigorous speech, during hi ' S'ssion, pointed out the rapid g of the Abolition movement fi I single society of eleven perso j New England, in 1S32, in less f ;ur years, to three hundred anc societies, with a membership c less than one hundred thous? ? flooding the mails w"lh abo documents, and besieging Cor with petitions for the' aboliti? slavery and the skvc trade ii District of Columbia-he derna the rejection of these petitions declared that the in<vitable rest continued attacks on the iustituti slaver}7 must be a dissolution o? Union. This was almost the bi ning of that great struggle w carried on for nearly thirty j with ever increasing acrim reached disunion and terminated with the overthrow of the Conf rate Government. Before tLe expiration of his t of office, Mr. Hammond's he? which had never been robust, fa completely, and forced him to res He went to Europe and tra veled tl for nearly two years. Returning c putially restored, he resisted solicitation of his friends to rest his seat in Congress, which was 1 dered bim by his successor, '. Elmore. The next few years w divided between a search for hea and attention to private busim Deeply inter? sted in the militia ganization of the State, Mr. Ht mond accepted the office of Gene of Brigade in 1841, and in 1S42 i elected Governor. Under this ? ministration the /. rsenals at Charl ton and Columbia were converl into military academies on the p] of West Point. In his second anni message Governor Hammond invit the Legislature to "an earnest c( sideration of Federal affairs." 1 Compromise Act, he says, " was fact a treaty made between b ligerent parties-with arms in tie hands-solemnly ratified by t Federal Government on the one pr and a Convention of the State South Carolina on the other, a deposited amorio^b^?areJijypp of t country. No treaty ever made w more sacredly binding in its oblig tions. Our State faithfully adher? to the compact and patiently bore tl burdens impos 1 upon her ! B in 1S42, the period arrived for r ducing the duties, "instead of i 1 oing them, the rate of duties w increased-actually increased to h/gher point than the Tariff whit Sjuth Carolina had declared nu and void within her limits in 1832 "Our State," he continues, "is bonn by her past history and tLe princip she professes, and owes it to berte and the country to adopt sue measures as will nt an early perio bring all her moral, constitution! and, if necessary, physical resource in direct array against policy whic has never been checked but by he interposition." Attention is calle to the glowing animosity of the Nort to slavery, and the recent action c the Northern wing of the Methodis denomination, in deposing a Souther Bishop, " virtually because he was slave-holder," and declaring that the; would no longer tolerate a slave holder in their pulpits,cited in prool Atilslastsession Congress had rejectee theannexation of Texas, and hostility tjthe expansion of slavery was openly avowed as the reisen of the opposi tion of the North "by nearly th? whole press of the non-slave-holdinj State-; by their public lecturers, bj their most distinguished orators, anc by tlie Legislatures of several State; -particularly thatof Massachusetts.' At the expiration of his term o ofii'.e Mr. Hammond returned tobi.' planting pursuits with renewed ardor But his pen was not idle Early ii; 1845 he wrote two letters in reply ti Thomas Clarkson, the noted English Abolitionist, on the subject of slavery in the United States. As example* of controversial writing of a high order these letters are worthy ol study-as a defence of African slavery, as it then existed in the South, and of the slave holders them selves, the facts and the logic are unanswerable. The writer does not defend the slave trade, neither is he in favor of slavery in the abstract "any more than of poverty, disease, deioimity, idiocy, or any other ine quality in the condition of thehuman family. "I love perfection and think I should enjoy a Millennium, such aa Ged h ?i3 promised. ' ^^g. Comparing the actt??? condition ol the African slave in the South with that of a large portion of thc English laboring population, as shown by the reports of Commissioners appointed by Parliament, tbe great superiority, moral and physical, in that of the slave is made plain. We have not space to give the picture of the con dition of English working men and women and children of tender years, as it is presented in these Parlia mentary Reports, but it insufficiently horrible; and turning from it in dis gust Mr. Hammond exclaims, "when you look around you, how dare you talk to us before the world of sla\ For the condition of your wret laborers, you, aud every Briton is not oue of them, are respon before God and man. If you really humane, philanthropic charitable, here are objects for y< relieve them, emancipate them, i them from the condition of brute the level of human beings-of An can slaves, at least." Mr. (dari had said that "he burned to try hand on another little essay, if i the subject could be fourni," am is proposed to him to answer question put by Mr. Jollivet to ? land: " JPourqoi, sa philo, nt h rap ic pas daig >e, jusqu, a present, don la cap dc Bonne-Esperance?" question to which the subseqn terrible revolt of the Sepoys, and reeent destructive famines in Im add significance. Alluding to conservative nature of slavery, ,' its influence in giving security r stability to Government, Mr. Hi mond quotes and endorses thc cc brated remark of McDuflle ti "slavery is the coi n^r-stone of ] publican Institution"," and continu ''you cannot be ignorant that, i cepting the United States, there is country in the world whose exist i Government would not be overturn in a month but for its standi armies, maintained at an enorme and destructive cost to those win they are destined to overawe rampant and combative is the spi of discontert wherever nominal fi labor prevails, with its osien.i privileges and diemal Fcrvihv. Nor will it be long bcfor<: thc " F, States" of this Union will bc co, pcllcd to introduce thc same expens machinery to preserve order amo their ' free and c<j?<nl ' citizens." During the r.exfc four yea although absorbed in extensive ag cultural improvements of a nov character, which taxed his energi to the utmost and gave a little eau for anxiety, Mr. Hammond, beid minor contributions to the press, pu lishe J aseries of articles again t tl Railroad system and Ban lc of tho St i -an elaborate review of El wood Fis! er's " North and South "-an eratic before the Mechanic's Instit.ile Charleston on the manufacturing i terests of the State, and another d livered at Columbia in 18-?9, befo; the two societies of the South Car lina College. These comp sitionsa; all marked by careful, accurate ar original thought, clothed in the faci and graceful style of the accomplish* writer. The college oration is esp? cially remarkable for its novel an instructive view?- of thought an speculation, and finished elflqance i language. In 1S50, Mr. Hammond attende the session of the Southern States Cos vention held in June, at Nashvilli Tenn., and took a prominent part i the debates. For personal reason he did not return to the second meei ing, but went to Charleston, in N( vernier, and delivered an oration, ?1 the invitation of the city council, 0 the "life, character and services c John Caldwell Calhoun." By man this is considered the best effort of hi life. As giving interesting facts i the history of the country and caree of Mr. Calhoun, and as showing tin style and power of the writer, I hopi I do not trespass upon the patienc of the reader in making as libera extracts as my space will permit Following the early life of Mr. Cal bonn to the moment, when in 1811, li first t??ok his se it in Congress, he tell the services he rendered to the conn trv in that session in these eloquen words : " Mr. Calhoun, placed seconc on the Committee on Foreign Bela tiona, soon became its head by tin retirement of the Chairman, and, bo fore the close of his first session, bi reported and carried through lin House a bill dedaring war upoi Great Britain ; and, throughout tin momentous conflict, undaunted ii courage and infinite in resources, hi stood for ?ard the leading champioi of every measure for its vigorous prosecution. Young as he was h< shrunk from no Opponent in tba Congress, never before or si net equalled for its assemblage of talent He surrendered nothing and shunne no . e.'ponsibility. In the darkes and most perilous hour of the war when Napoleon had fallen and Eng land was free to turn the whole ol' he; armament upon us ; when the East ern States, not content with denounc ing the war through their presses and from their platforms and pulpits had assailed in every form the credit of the Government-had paralyze the financial operations of thc coun try and caused a general s'.spensioi of Southern Banks-had given valu able " aid and comfort" to the enemj by loans of specie, and wi re conspir ing tu withdraw from tl c Confedera cy and make peace for themselves in that desponding hour, when al seemed lost, hs did not falter for ar instant. " The great cause," he said " will never be yielded, no never never ! I hear the future audibly an nounced in the past, in the iplendi? victorie? over the Guerri?re, the Javi and the Macedonian, opinion is pow er. The charm of British naval in vincibility is gone." Again, when 1 in 1S28 the^. odious Tariff Bill," . blotched and bloated with the corrupt j bids of a majority of the Jackson j; Party, itself, for ? anufacturers' votes," was on "its* J?S?Sg? in 'th? Senate, the conduct of Mr. Calhoun i in this, the very crisis of his political ! career, is thus graphically polraycd. '* It was known that he was opposed t:> this bill, and he was now appealed to as the supporter of Gen. Jackson,i and candidate of the Republican!,' Party for the Vice-Presidency, and.n out of regard to his own future pros-t/ p-.cts, not to give his casting vetc-L against it, but to leave the chair, a&V was not at all unusual, and allow thcJ\ bill to take the chances, of the Senate.*! Mr. Calhoun knew the full import oij*? his reply to this appeal. If he not only refused to pledge himself to ajf "Judicious Tariff," but openly and|p u ii equi vocal ly took Iiis stand aga i nadir the whole protective system, now| overwhelmingly popular, he s'irren-f dered, in all human probality, everyj prospect of the 1'residcncy, anti musi^$ pass the remainder of his life in com bating in a small and hopeless mi nority, not for power, not for glory j but for justice, and, in a ra? asure/ for the existence of the South. He) was thus, iu a critical moment, called on to make, at once and forever^^ decision which was to shape his desj tiny, and perhaps the destiny of ? whole people. He did not hesitate.j He had now mastered thc Constitu?-j tion ; lie also now saw clearly the^ fatal tendency of the prominent measures brought forward at thej close of the war; and, casting behin him all the glorious labors of thtrji past, and all the brilliant prospects of the future, holding in one hand thV Constituti ii, and in the other trut?jj^J t justice, and the violated rights of his native land, he took his post with lijs little baud, waged in the breach truceless war of two and twenty years, and perished there. Neither ancient nor modern annals furniSi | 1 a nobler example ol' heroic sacrifie.' of self. Peel yielded to popular tb raands, and exchanged party for pnV lie gratitude and influence. Bu are gave up friends, but power srai?^r upon him. Self banished Aristifl-is had already satiated his ambiti^t-. Chato ami Brutus perished in ilise shock. BUG in the early prime of. ??T?, mnTway-l?s yetLuncncoiieu^jP j ; reer-with the greatest of ambition's prizes but one hound ahead, \U\ Callioun stopped and turned aside, to lift from the dust the Constitution of his country, trampled, soiled and rent ; and, bearing it aloft, conse crated himself, his life, his talents and bis hopes to the arduous, but sacred task of handing it down to future generations as pure as it was when received frc ni the fathers of the Revolution. Glorious and not bodiless struggle. The Constitution has not been purified. It never will be, but its principles have been made immortal and will survive and flour ish, though it shall, itself, bi torn to atoms and given to the winds." Of thc great debate on the Force Bill, in 1S0J, it is said ins (Mr. Calhoun's) speech is not surpassed by any rc* corded in modern or in ancient limes' not even by that of the great Athe nian on the Crown. This debate can never be read without its being seen and felt that Mr. Webster, his only opponent worthy to be named, gifted as he is universally acknowledged to be, with talents of the highest order, and remarkable even rn--re for his power of reasoning than for his bril liant declamation, was, on this memo rable occasion, a dwarf in a giant's grasp. Ile was prostrated on every ground that he assumed. And, if logic, building on undoubted facts, can demonstrate any moral proposi tion, then Mr. Calhoun made clear as mathematical solution, his theory .of our Government, and the light of each State to judge of infractions of the Constitution, an.i to determine the m?ile and measure of redress. When the ?I ns-i of ages shall . have covered alike the mm, the passions, and the interests of that day, .this, speech of Mr. Calhoun will remain ? to po: teri ty, not mere a triumphant vindication of the Stnte of South Carolina, but. a tower-light to sbM the brightest, purest, and truest ray1'? upon the path of every Confederacy j of Free States that shall arise upefi the earth." Analyzing Mr. Calhoun's moral and mental qualities, the writer continues. "Mr. Calhoun's_mo?l character, as exhibited to the public, was ol the liomin stamp. Lofty iu his sentiments, stern in his bearing, inflexible in his opinions, there was no sacrifice he would not have made without a moment's hesitation and few that lie did not make,, lo his sense ol duly and his love of country. The intellect of Mr. Calhoun was cast in the Grecian mould, intuitive, '?? profound, original-descending Lothe ! minutest details of practical alfairs, and soaring aloft, with balanced wing, into the highest beavens of,inven tion, * * * The intellectual power of Mr. Calhoun was due main I ly to the facility and accuracy with which he resolved propositions into their elementary principles, and the astonishing rapidity with which he deduced from these principles all their just and, necessary consequences. JAME? ^he moment a sophism was presented 0 him he pierced it through sftii md through, and^plunging*into the abyruth, brought truth frooi the emore. recesses where she delights to Iwell, and placed her, in her native limplicity, before the eyes of men. [t was in these pre-eminent faculties hat Mr. Calhoun's mind resembled ,he antique, and particularly, the genuine Greek mind, which recoiled "rom plausibilities and looked with ineffable disgust on that mere group ing of associated ideas which so gen 3rally puses for reasoning." Thus the author of this admirable oration -in language sonorous, yet s' .pie, rrrn??iiifit?to aud<]*!ri'k^phLc-t,lKMl>glit; with the critical accuracy of tue Historian, and the broad sweep of ?.he Statesman-traces the career of Mr. Calhoun and analyzes the ?vents identified with it-events .vhich cover the history of the coun ty for nearly forty years, and whos? ssues lead far down the stream of ;ime. Nowhere can the same amount )f information concerning Federal politics, the great movements and . manges of parties and of men, and ,he principles and motives upon vhich they rested, be found in the ?ame brief compass. With this speech, and with his de- j eat for the United Stated Senate by the Hon. Robert Barnwell Rhett a Tew weeks later, Mr. Hammond's, public utterances and connection ?vitli public affairs ceased for many | pears. 1 will now return to an earlier ? period and record his works in an-1 >ther field of labor and of useful- ? less, without which no memoir could Jo justice to the man. Active as bis nterest, and fruitful as his pen, in politics and in letters, by far the greater part of bia thought and en ergy had been devoted since 1833, md more especially since 1845, to igriculture. For many year: his ?il'orts in this direction were confined :o clearing new landa and such ex periments and improvements as would Dccur naturally to the active and in telligent planter. In 1841, consid erable interest was manifested by plantera about marl as an improver )f land, and a number of experiments made by Mr. Hammond in 18-12, sat sfied him of the value of its appli cation. There was an immense de posit (containing an average of about 31 per ct. carbonate of lime and a trace of phosphate mingled with sand" mainly) at ?hell Bluli', twelve miles below Silver Bluff on the Savannah I River. Satisfactory arrangements were made with the owners, boats were built, carts and teams supplied, and hands appropriated especially for this work. For four years mari was dug and boated and hauled ami spread, until Mr. Hammond had ap plied a halt million bushels on his plantation. This was only a prelimi nary step. Marl, or rather lime, its chief constituent, is not a manure in itself, but only a solvent which, in the great crucible of the earth, pre pares animal and vegetable libre for plant food. It had already done good by its action on the mould which na ture had supplied to the land, but to reap its full and continued benefits it was necessary that manure should be added. Mr. Hammond had already set to work to supply this need, which was, in fact, estimated in bia earliest plana, with characteristic energy. He proposed to apply annually ?OO bu hels of coarse manure per acre to one-half his planted land, alternating each succeeding year. This involved the manufacture of about 400,000 bushels of manure per annum. Tile > HENRY JHLAM! forests were raked, the swamps were , ! entered und their rich deposits brought ] out, and all the resources ofc the i plantation, in this line, carefully hus- ? banded. But afte?two years of I '.vork the results Vere not encour- I aging. Ou these light,soils, and un- i der the arid heats of "l!>u turner, these- i coarse manures, applied ip sich larger quantities, did not bring cg?pensatin;, I returns. The marl had Ueen of dc 1 cided service, and to continue its i benefits Mr. Hammond concluded to adopt a more moderate system of | manuring, with biennial rests, when ? the land would produce a good crop of vegetable matter to be turned under, sfi&sptt*!more .easily jgggptedjo this view, perhaps, because he had lately discovered facts which led to the formation cf new and still more im portant projects. Digging in the swamps ?br muck to add to manure' heaps, he had been astonished at the surpassing richness of the soil. These swamps are inland marshes whore nature for ages has accumulated vegetable matter, layer upon layer, until it lies in great masses six, eight, ten, and sometimes fifteen feet in depth. The undergrowth was a tangled mass of vine, bramble J and cane, and towering high above, the gum and bay and immense pop lars. Instead of the laborious opera tion of transporting the swamp to the high-lands, cleat ly it- were better, if practicable, to drain and clear and make far more productive the swamps themselves. This Mr. Ham mond determined to do. It was a project in planting of no ordinary magnitude and risk. Little had been done in this way in the South. What few precedents there were proved failure only. In the latter part ol 1S4C the work was begun. The first crops were wretched, but, believing the fault to lie in defectivo drainage, the ditches were dug deeper, the drainage was improved, and the work pushed forward. By 1S50 there was ample evidence of a great success. No sooner was he satisfied of this than Mr. Hammond prepared to extant his operations. The swamps hereto fore worked upon, varied in extent from 30 to 200 acres ; but within a few miles was a great swamp of more than a thousand acres, where the foot of man had never penetrated. The land was considered valueless, much of it was bought at 50 cts per acre, while some was vacant and had only to be entered under the laws oi the State. Ground was broken early in 1S51. Here new difliculties were encountered and of greater magni tude. But the ditches were deepened and multiplied and the clearings ex ?tended; until in 1S57 out of this j tangled wilderness, this pestilential I morass, where no ear of grain or I blade of useful grass had ever grown, ! was wrought a plantation, which in I that year produced live and thirty thousand bushels of corn. Thus in ten prear? had fiftoeu hundred acres of linn worthless b>?g been ' brought limier the plough and into a j high state of culture. Nor w.re the I highlands neglected ; out under the j judicious system already described j they continued to grow remunerative ! crops and giadually increased in pro ; ductivenes*. And it should not be supposed that j this work wai done mainly through the : agency of others, as was too much ; the custom with large planters in the South. Mr. Hammond wrought bim ! self. Mounting his horse every morn ing, often at dawn, it was his hand which made the surveys and laid off the parallels for the ditches-his eye which oupervised every important Ti flOND.& _9%kk piece of work-his brain whicif'i planned and?, dirtrcted every move i ment. Verjv {emperate, nay, ab- ] ?temious almost in his habitst, for twenty years he led tliis life of labor ; lightened, it is:True| hy the absorbing interest which fte took in his pursuits, i md rebe ved hythe enjoyments, which t Hie many works'of Art brought back i from Europe with him, and the fine 1 library, that hilad collected, afford- i ed. " ; No planter^aa ever more devoted to the comfort.Cand health of his dave*. Firman* discipline, requiring full work b?t<Bje?-too much of it, he was always jupt^iind kind. He did not entrust tb^cafe* of them to others. Day Gy^y^PvTsiied the libspitals and examined into th? cases of all th i sick. He provided amusements, looked personally after all their little wants and interests, sympathized with them in their bereavements. A believer in the civilizing influence and practical uses of religion, inlS45 be built, a church (Matlock,) for them mainly, and got the Methodist preach ers to include it in their circuit. The result of tin? patriarchal system was to fostsr feelings of reverential con fidence and " affection which have lasted long and borne good fruit. When emancipation came, although he was dead, they did not waver in their allegiance to his family. They remained and continue to remain on the plantations, in the same homes where he placed them, and to be good laborers and tenants. The older ones who knew him well, his co workers of former years, cling still to his memory with a loyal love rare among men; and this is a jewel which any man might be proud to place in the crown of his life's work. In 1855, Mr. Hammond removed a few miles from his plantation, to Beech Island, in Edgefield District, to a place which he named Redcliffe. And there he was living, engaged in his leisure moments, in the cultiva tion of orchards and viueyards, and in other horticultural pursuits, when, in November, 1S57, without his knowledge and very much to his surprise, he was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy occa sioned by the death of Judge And.-ew Pickens Butler. Frequently during the preceding summer his name had been proposed, but he had published a letter declining to be a candidate. He did not really wish to re oater politics. So long out of the harness, he had lost taste for political life; so long, not only without holding office, but without even taking any active interest in political affairs, he doubted his fitness for the position. But, when thus elected, it did not enter his mind for a moment to refuse to obey the call of his State; and so, arranging his private affairs as quickly as possible, he went to Washington. The great question of that session of Congress was the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Consti tution. The territory of Kansas had been for more than two years the main theatre of the conflicts between thc two great parties of the country> between Slavery and Abolition, between the North and the South; and now she came to Congress, asking admission into the Union under a pro-slavery Constitution. It was on this question that Senator Hammond mad . his first speech in the United State-t Senate, on the 4th of March, 1S5S, jn reply to Wm. H. Seward, who, the day before, had made an elabo rate speech on the same subject The galleries were packed and the floor of the Senate Chamber thronged. Thero was a great curiosity to hear this new Senator, about whom iLtre seemed to be some mystery-who had so liLtle to do w?th politicaL trfe lor nearly fifteen years, and nothing whatever for nearly seven years-and yet whom South Carolina had sent to "represent her with such peculiarly high endorsement. The speech was not elaborate; there was little about it of the closet and midnight lamp. It had not been written, a d was delivered without pretension to ora torical display, but with a ciear, ... musical voice f.nd with graceful seu-'v-^ tttiSBai dignity. It was a speech of rare ability, sustaining the hopes and expectations of his f iends, and j-ro deefhg a marked sensation there, at the tidfe, and afterward throughout khec?fttry. It was certainly emirled to"Uke very high rank if the force of i spee&h ia to be estimated by the ?fibrts of those opposed to ?ti doc trines to answer it, to misrep.eseitt ind abuse it. It was violently as sailed in the Senate by a number of Republican Senators, and hardly a Radical paper, fi om Maine t> Cali fornia, failed to attack it. Senat ?r [lammond treated the thremlbwe Kansas question in a hrief but powerful Constitutional argument, ind then proceeded to contrast the social and industrial system ot the North and South, and compare their resources in the events of separation* He showed the conservativeinfluence ji Southern slavery and said, " the greatest strength of the So-th arifc-? from the harmony of her political an 1 social institutions." "In all social? systems," he continued, "there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. TLat rs-*J?ias3 requiring but a low order o? ntellecTa?T?^-^r^^t^e skill, lt's requisites are vigor, doci?i?yy-fi.'^yli:y auch a cla.s? you must have, or yo?r-v ivouid not have that other cla>s which eads progress,civilization and refine ment. It constitutes the very mud ?ill of society and government, mid r'ou might as well attempt to build a rouse in the air as to build either tl.e ?ne or the other, except on this mud jill. Fortunately for the South, sLe found a race adapted to that purpose to her handV * * * We found them slaves by the "commo-i ^onspnfr nf mankind 'L^Hifdi^ accord ing to Cicero, " lex 7iaIumftW^^^^/P^} * * Slave is a word di^c?l?SjHhg now-by. " ears polite."^ I will nut^W characterize that class at the" Nur 11 by that term, but you have it, it is there; it is everywhere; it is eternal." Great offence seemed to be taken at the word "mud-sill," and it was ferociously assailed far and wide. The word might very well have been Dmitted, and any other (ground sill, foundation, corner-stone, &c.,) substi tuted, and would have been, could the Senator have imagined the vile use to which demagogueism in Con gress and elsewhere would strive to pervert it. It is in this speech those famous sentences occur so often quoted in defence of the South. Mr. Seward had said the " the victory has been fought and won"-meaning, that in the great struggle between the North and the South for suprem acy in the Government, on the one side, and equality on the other, the North had triumphed, and remarked, alluding io the admission, as fi ea States, of Minnesota and Oregon that there would now be ninettcn Free States to fifteen Slave States, and," he continued, " we intend to take the Government from unjust and unfaithful bands and pul it into just and faithful hands." At. the conclusion of his speech Senator Hammond, turning to Mr. Seward, said, withgrea' impressiveness, "you complain of the rule of the Sou'h; that has been another cause that has preserved you. We have kept ila - Government conservative to the gre it purposes of the Constitution. WV have placed it, and kept it. upon i lie Cousiitution; and thit has been the cause of your peace and prosperity. The Senator from New York says that this is about to be at an ei d; that you intend to take the Gov* m ?k ment from us; that it will pas-s froin^| our hands into yours. Perhaps wh^B . he says ii true: it may be; but do^fl forget-it cannot be forgottiM^? written on the brightest ?w? human history, that we^fl holders of thc BontjM country in her infancjH ruling her sixty out of seventy years of her existence, we surrendered her to you without a stain upon her honor, boundless in her prosperity, incalculable in her strength, the wonder and the admiration of the world. Time will show what you will make of her; but no time ran diminish our glory or your respond bility." / On the 29th of October^Senator Hammond made a speech t|o his c< n 8tituents at Barnwell C. H.p(ff^tt?L even more than the Kansas speech! attracted universal attention througLl^^? out the country, and unlike "ihat^NB excepting the ullraists North and j South, was received with universal favor by men of all parties. He traversed the whole field of politics analyzed the history of the great struggle between the North and the J South for thirty years; discussed the [CONCLUDED ON FOURTH PAGE.J