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SPEECH OF THE HON. JOHN HARLESTON Read.

Mr. Smith offered the following sentiment:

"The Hon. John Harleston Read, the Senator from Prince George, Winyaw: He has borne the brunt of persecution, may he reap the reward of perseverance.'

Upon the delivery of which, Mr. Read rose and spoke in language nearly as follows:

Fellow-Citizens,—I should be wanting in candor did I not acknowledge my high sense of obligation for the friendly notice taken of me in the toast which has just been given. This unexpected attention meets me unprepared to respond to it in a manner that would be satisfactory, either to you or to myself. Yet I cannot but feel deeply sensible to the sympathies you offer me, under the trying circumstances to which allusion has been made. It adds another consolation to that of being conscious that I have suffered in a just cause, and in the vindication of those principles which I am proud to profess. But, as these are matters which interest another district, I will not occupy your attention with them further than to assure you that I rely with confidence upon those good feelings which have always characterized the constituents whom I have the honor to represent, and which they are ready to evince in behalf of those who have suffered in their service.

The subjects which the present situation of our State, in relation to the general government, forcibly suggests to the consideration of every true lover of his country, have been so ably and amply dilated upon by those distinguished statesmen who have already addressed you this day as to leave me nothing further with which to engage your attention.

I will, therefore, only say on the present occasion that while I am opposed to a law so partial in its operation (in this land of equal rights) as is the present tariff law for the protection of domestic manufactureswhile I cannot but regard such a law as conferring privileges upon the North, in which we of the South cannot, from the nature of things, participate; while I regard that law as injuriously affecting our commerce, and consequently also our agricultural products, yet I cannot approve of the remedy prescribed by our political opponents. I cannot hold to the monstrous doctrine that any single State has the right under the Constitution to put her veto upon a law of the general government, passed under all the prescribed forms, and yet remain a member of the Federal Union; that one of a confederacy of twenty-four States can by her sole voice check the action of the government, and stay its arm in the vital operation of collecting its revenues. This doctrine seems to me to lead to consequences which threaten anarchy and misrule; it puts the State in direct opposition to those constituted authorities which are sworn to enforce the laws, and sets at defiance the very powers

which were appointed to settle differences. To such a doctrine it is impossible for me to assent; nay, I feel bound utterly to reprobate a scheme which, unless arrested by the intelligence and patriotism of the people of this State, will bring ruin upon our happy institutions; for I see in it the rising tempest which threatens to overthrow the altar consecrated to Liberty and Union by the immortal Washington himself.

In conclusion, I offer you the following sentiment, which touches that subject which is nearest our hearts at the present time:

The American Constitution: The ark of our National Covenant; it will be preserved by the combined exertions of the Union and State Rights Party throughout the State from the profane influence of delusion and of faction.'

SPEECH OF ABRAHAM MOISE, ESQ.

Abraham Moise, Esq., having been called upon to address the meeting, rose and said:

Being requested, Mr. Chairman, unexpectedly and without notice, to address my fellow-citizens, I propose with your leave to offer a few brief remarks.

Previous to this festival, one of the journals of the city anticipated great and alarming excitement from such an assemblage. It was said that the consequences might be dreadful to relate-father would be set against son, and brother against brother, even unto blood; for such was the meaning of the dark forebodings, if any meaning could be attached to them. Thank God, sir, the period has arrived, and no such dreadful consequences have ensued. I see around me an overwhelming band of brothers, sacredly attached to the Union, and determined to maintain it at all hazards. The bone and sinew of the country constitute this great party. Sir, it is animating in the highest degree to witness the old and the young-citizens from all parts of the community-from all sects and denominations, assembling around the altars of their common country to preserve, by all virtuous means, the institutions of that country; and if ever there was a period when it was expedient and necessary that every good citizen should join in the performance of a duty so solemn and important, that period has arrived; it is a duty consecrated by the love we bear our country, by the blood and treasure that country has cost us and our forefathers for more than half a century. In what bold relief stands all this to the condition of France, the distractions in England, and the waste of life and the pouring out of blood in Poland. If this be excitement, as an American citizen I glory in such excitement; as a native Carolinian I rejoice to behold it; it is a wholesome excitement, it serves to purify our political atmosphere-it is an excitement worthy of those engaged in it, worthy of the great occasion, worthy the effort to maintain regulated liberty, and put it beyond the reach of those who would innocently or wickedly impair the smallest part of it.

Sir, this is no ordinary struggle-it is a contest in which all we have to boast of is concerned, and indeed all that the world has to boast of: Our bright example to suffering humanity, our invaluable institutions; it may be our homes and our firesides. The value of our Union can only be known by the benefits it has conferred. It has furnished an asylum to all nations; to every inhabitant of the world, whether he be an Englishman, an Irishman, or a follower of Moses, the moment he sets his foot upon these shores, he is free as the freest, lofty as the loftiest; when he lifts his voice and claims the title of American citizen, he is inferior in civil and political rights to no being on the habitable globe. And shall we yield up all these invaluable blessings upon a mere experiment, for a doubtful evil? Are we quite sure that while we lay the axe at the root of one evil, we are not opening an avenue to greater evils. A new form of government may, perhaps, bring upon us oppressions and errors in legislation far greater than those we suffer; for if we are to draw our lessons from history, we shall not always find that the successful party are most competent for self-government, or that the conqueror is the most generous of enemies.

But, sir, if I mistake not very much the temper of the times and the indignation of our citizens, the true cause of much of the excitement now pervading our city, may be traced to a matter differing very widely from this festival. Sir, much has been said of oppression, of imposition, of the abuse of power. Has not the Speaker of the House of Representatives refused to the people their writ of election? Have they not asked for it and been refused? Have they not demanded it, and has not their demand been treated with contempt and scorn? And shall the organs of the Mercury party complain of excitement, with this palpable and unquestionable act of oppression, imposition and abuse of power fastened upon them? Sir, it cannot, it will not, be denied that many of our citizens, equally distinguished for private worth and public duty, will be deprived of the privilege of voting, by a scheme of party management and manoeuvering. Can oppression be greater than this to those who value this great privilege, and whose only crime it has been, that they opened not their eyes south of the Potomac, or that a southern sun burned not on their heads? Sir, I will dwell no longer on a subject so painful to those who love justice, and who, I persuade myself, would equally dispense it to all classes and condition; nor will I offer any comment upon other topics already so ably and eloquently disposed of. Let the advocates of nullification only read and honestly digest the sentiments of Washington and all their visionary schemes must vanish like mists before the sun.

Permit me to offer you a sentiment:

General Jackson and the Disunionists-General Washington and the Whiskey Insurrection."

SPEECH OF MAJOR PAUL S. H. LEE.

Maj. Paul S. H. Lee being called on for an expression of his sentiments, rose and observed:

Gentlemen,-I have been called on for an expression of my sentiments. I am unaccustomed to public speaking, and unprepared. But on an occasion like this, when we are assembled to celebrate the birthday of our country, and particularly to show our devoted attachment to the Union of these States, I will obey the call.

I sincerely believe that the measures of the opposition party, however pure their motives, have a direct tendency to destroy the Union of these States. We were told about twelve months ago, by a leading member of that party, to "tremble not at disunion." However high and respectable the source from which this expression emanated, in my humble opinion there is not a word in our whole vocabulary that should make an American citizen tremble, if it is not that word disunion.

"Tremble not at disunion!" Shall we see that noble edifice which has been the pride of our country, and the admiration of the world, torn to the ground, crushing in its fall so many votaries at the shrine of liberty, and we remain unmoved spectators?

"Tremble not at disunion!" Shall we see the torch of civil discord lighted, and our land fertilized with the blood of its citizens, shed by a son's, a father's or brother's hand, and our own not become palsied?

"Tremble not at disunion!" Is there a curse under Heaven that could more effectually blight our happy land, destroy our fairest prospects, and convert this blooming Eden into a howling wilderness, than the besom of destruction-disunion.

"Tremble not at disunion!" The nations of the earth who are now struggling for freedom, would tremble, if that beautiful constellation which is lighting them to the blessings of civil religious liberty, were extinguished.

"Tremble not at disunion!" The Goddess of Liberty, who had left the glaciers of Switzerland, the last abode of freedom, and was returning to her native skies, but beholding the struggles and devoted patriotism of the heroes of our Revolution, descended on our happy land, would tremble at the disunion of these States, and wing her flight from the world forever. Gentlemen, our fathers, to achieve the glorious work of American Independence, pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Shall we hesitate, in order to perpetuate the work of their hands, to give a pledge less solemn? No! I, therefore, with the fullest confidence give you

"The Union of the States: We will protect it with our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

LETTER FROM General Blair.

RED OAK CAMP, June 15, 1831.

Samuel H. Dickson, J. Harleston Read, E. P. Starr, Committee of Invitation: GENTLEMEN,—I thank you for the polite invitation to dine with you and your fellow-citizens of the Union and State Rights Party, in Charleston, on the approaching Fourth of July, and regret that the delicate and precarious health of my family, the hazard of so long a ride through the low country at this time of year, and a variety of other circumstances, will prevent my attendance. However, if my presence were of any importance, my absence will be compensated, no doubt, by a brief disclosure of my political views.

You obligingly express a belief "that a community of sentiment in relation to the great political questions which now agitate our beloved State and a common feeling of devoted attachment to our country unite us closely together." Of this you can judge more correctly when I present you a synopsis of my opinions in relation to the topics which now agitate the public mind.

I view a protecting tariff as not only unconstitutional, but highly injurious to our best interests. Indeed, I am willing to regard it in as bad a light as the most violent nullifier can place it; yet it is not a whit worse than the national system of internal improvement. If it is possible for me to dislike one branch of the American system more than the other, I bear a greater hatred to the internal improvement than I do to the tariff, but I regard the two as one. Indeed, a distinguished individual of our State, who claimed to be "the father of internal improvement," not many years ago coupled it with the tariff and advocated both with the utmost zeal as the "true policy of the country!" To prove the alliance between the tariff and internal improvement would be superfluous. They are as inseparably connected as the Siamese twins. I am, therefore, surprised that while some of our ablest orators are pouring out such vollies of invective upon the tariff they have not one word to say about internal improvement; while they darken our vision by the flight of their arrows against the former, they throw not a single shaft at the latter. They would move heaven and earth and hazard the integrity of the Union to suppress the tariff, while they seem to regard internal improvement as a harmless thing! Every one must draw his own inference; but it seems to me if I was not deeply committed in favor of the one I could not confine my raillery exclusively to the other branch of the American system.

To this system, I take it for granted, we are all opposed, and that our most anxious inquiry is, How and when shall we resist it? Is nullification the proper remedy? It seems to me a political axiom, that whilst South Carolina remains a member of the federal family she must refer