The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1849-07-18

place, one other glowing paragraph Of
the senatorial speech which has been, al-
ready so freely quoted from, in which
! Mr.. Barton thus graphically delineates
1.-THE illistrious deliverer of Calhouniacs.
He is reforing to Mr.. Benton us the for.
mer conductor Of newspaper: 5s
! "Tho St. Louis Enquirer-not then
edited by the public printer--accrsed
the ex-Presidcnt Adams of attempting
at Ghcnt to bargain the Mississippi for
some fishing privilege at the Northeast;
and after imprcssing and rivetting the
calumny upon the public mind, refused
even to publish his triumphant refuta,
ton! No, sir. Truth has not yet
even discovered the author of the East
Room letter! His place of residence
became an object Of as much curiosity
and inquiry as the birthplace of Hon
or. Some located him at Richmond
Virginia-some elsewhere. Public Gu
riosity was on the alert. Our frank
huntsmcn Of the West, lovers of Wash
ington and of holy truth, that daughter
OF Heaven, sent on earth to cement and
hold together civil society among men,
say (to use their parlance, and draw
my figures from my own country, and
the scenes of my own country) that
they tracked this prowler for human
reputation and civil discord to q deep
and dark recess, amidst the vast prairies
of the magnificent valley of the N1issis.
sippi, that they fire the prairies, and
ran their line of fire into his retreat un-
til it scorched bis very nose, and envel.
oped him in smoke; and still he lay sui.
len, and silent, and concealed. And
they had given up the hunt, until he
walked forth again upon the prowl for
human reputation and civil discord, in
the darkness of night, under the mask
of 'Amcricanus,' and committed an
outrage more flagtious than the first.
lie will be hunted again. It is pro 6o-
no p"dtico, that such calumniators and
Catilincs should be known; ay, and i'm.
palcd on high-high as a Roman cross
or American pillory could place them,
as a warning to our young men to be-
ware of the fate of convicted calumni.
ator-bewarc of the fate of an Amcri-
can Catilinc!"
| wish heartily that T could now let
Mr.. Benton off; but as he sometimes
says, ''In order to vindicate the truth
Of history" l must send one or two
more shafts at him. Would any man
believe, who is only familiar with Mr..
Dcnton's more recent history, that he
was once raving Nullifcr and Seces-
slonist, and an advocate for armed resis.
tance to laws regularly enacted by Con-
gress, in pursuance OF the established
parliamentary formula, and backed and
sustained by the decisions of the Su.
prcme Court Of the Union? Strange
as these accusations may appear to some
will sustain both and Immediately, by
lrrcfragablc proof.
And now for his being at one time a
nullifier and seccssionist. 1t will be re-
collected by you that General 1Iaync,
of South Carolina, in the celebrated
controversy between himself and Mr..
| Webster, asserted, boldly and fully, all
the extreme doctrines of the nullifyiny
school then prevailing in his State In
this grand strife Of arms, Mr.. Benton
was actually so closely associated with
the South Carolina champion, that Mr..
Webster thought proper to take very
special notice of their apparent combi-
nation against him, complaining partic-
ularly of their "mutual quotation and
commcndation," of their "casting the
characters in the drama, assigning to
each his part; to one the attack, to an
other the cry of onsct,' and said ia.
thcr:
81 offer myself, sir, as match to no
man; throw the challenge of debate
at no mans feet. But then, SIR, since
the honorable gentleman has put the
question in manner that calls for an
answer, will give him an answer; and
tell him, that, holding myself to be the
humblest of the members here, I yet
know nothing in the arm of his friend
from Missouri, either alone or when
aided by the arm of his friend from
South Carolina, that need deter even
me from espousing whatever opinions
may choose to cspouse, from debating
whenever may choose to debate; or
from speaking whatever / may see fit
to say upon tho floor of the Senate" {"
Mr.. Haync had cited the Virginia and
kentucky resolutions of '98 as his lead
ing authorities: he had cited Madison's s
report, Jeiterson's protest, written for
tho Virginia Legislature in 1926, and
his letter to Mr.. Giles of the same yc,
IN which language was used going :,
very far indeed beyond anything stated
IN our Southern Address. You will
/ recollcet MIR. Jeflerson's language. I,