Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1833-04-10
LETTER FROM CHARLESTON.
CHARLESTON. S. c. March 81, 1875

AT last | am in the city Of the blue cockade,
and the palmetto button. l have shipped one
of these multiplying badges to crafty Portland Gu.
riosity, which when it arrives, please hang up
" as a mirror" see the n~ullifefs in every
street with their badges on, wearing them as
proudly and as fearlessly as if they were wear
inc the Eagle Of their country. But peace has
come. The blue cockade is gradually beng doff.
ed. The sloop Of war hatcher has moved up
near the city. The numerous Revenue Cutters
are lying Just of the wharves, and are no longer
threatening in the ofing. To-day the Match
ez gives a party, aud lady. nullIiers and gentle
men nulliiers, in abundance, will undoubtedly
honur the occasion with their presence. Thus |
shall see the cockade of Carolina under the folds of
the American flag. Thus | shall see peace and
harmony restored, and better feelings, prevailing
in a city, where two months ago, had not q
doubt that by this time there would be bloodshed
and cODfasration. No Carolinian of any party
doubts that the ~nulllfers were in earnest. No
one doubts that they had resolved To do their ut
most. Union men have told me that they ex-
pected to lose their lives and their property, but
at all hazards they we're determined 10 MAINTAIN
the supremacy Of the laws, aud they had not a
doubt of their final success. They calculate
that they had sufficient numerical strength OF
their own to match the nullihers, but with the
VIII ole nation to back them, they were inspired
with a confidence which the other party could
not feel. The n~ulliiers do not deny that they
are glad to have escaped from the peril in which
they were involved, escaping as they do without
b retreat, or q capitulatioD, but under the Obscu-
rity of q tariff bill, which is so ingeniously franz
ed as for awhile at least sufficiently to pro.
tect the manufacturers yet leaving open for good
arguments on both sides, the principle of protec-
ton.
! have been in South Carolina but {. little
while, but | have been here long enough to see
that there are three parties, for ! have conversed
freely with each and all. There is not a small
party here adverse to the Union in any fnrm. and
bent upon ITS destruction. Tariff or no Tariff,
they are eager foe a dissolution of the confedera.
CIV. They pant Tor an opportunity to put IN mo-
ton the wheels ut a revolution that shall upset
every thing. Thus party Is principally compos-
ed of men who have nothing to lose and much to
gain. Young men of ruined fortunes and disco
lutte habits, horse racers. gamblers, card PLAYERS,
are conspicuous a nong the number. They EN-.
body the very materials that Cicero described as
under the orders of Cataline. There Is another
party among the nuillfiers, much as strong. com
posed of men honest, and ardently attached to
the Union, Who will peril their lives aud fortunes
in support of il but who are as resUlutely Opposed
| tothe protecting system, and who honestly believe
that notification is a peaceable remedy, and that
it has nOw effected its purposes, that Of compel.
ing government to recede from its position. The
third party Is the Union party, stronger than Ell.
Their Of the two first disunited, but weaker when
they are united. the character of this party is
50 we'll known that | need not describe 1t. In
Charleston it is composed Of the principal men Of
business.
The late convention at Columbia which is Just
dissolved, discloses a little Of the spirit of all
these parties. You see one man at least, there
openly denouncing the Union, and clamorlng
for a separation. You see for q wonder. the ia
nous Hamilton. who, by the way, is the most
popular man in South Carolina. and who never
knew what it was to be beaten in an election.
honorably opposing this sentiment and sebukipg
it. You see also, that the Union men and the
~nullifers have defeated the dlsunion men, in
form at least, so far as to put If the proposed
test oath to the consideration of the Legislature.
This convention has also been very moderate for
a ~despotic. uncontrolled, party majority. which.
by the way, is one of the worst tyrannies on
earth, bad enough in concurrent majorities, but
insuferable IN a single body. Tru e, g. the
bloody bilI". as it is termed here par erceHence,
is nulliied, but this is impotent. and safe nullifi-
cation, aud people only laugh at 1t. The Union
men here tell the nullifiers, ..if you don't steal.
you WON'T be hanged. and as you have resolved
to be quiet, you nullifed the bloody bill even
without the form of laws. Notification is only
rendered a little more ridiculous by this opera
tion- just as If a body Of men were to nuilify all
the penal laws Of the land, but at the same time,
resolve to commit 90 offence under them.
cannot give you a better idea Of the state Of
things here. than by reciting the conversati ons
which, hold. l give you first the conversation
with a stage driver, whom, as soon as we entered
upon the dominions Of South Carolina. we found
to be a %nullifier. He was ignorant enough on
many points, but he is fair specimen, | dare
say, Of many Of the nuIli6ers in the country.
Question How old are you! .4ns,cer Almost
twenty. Q Are there any ~nullifi,rs about herei
A am q nulliher. Q But YOU can't voter A
dc vote. Q How soa The law will not let a
man vote, unless he is twenty one. A know il,
and | suppose if itwa strictly inquired into, I
could not vote; but l live in a multiplying district
and | do vote; aud if any body challenged me,