The objects of my mission are set forth in the resolutions, of which I am the bearer to this commonwealth. I respectfully ask leave to have them read:

"Whereas the state of South Carolina, by her ordinance of A. D. 1852 affirmed her right to secede from the confederacy whenever the occasion should arise, justifying her, in her own judgment, in taking that step; and in the resolution adopted by her convention, declared that she forbore the immediate exercise of that right, from considerations of expediency only:

And whereas more than seven years have elapsed since that convention adjourned, and in the intervening time, the assaults upon the institution of slavery, and upon the rights and equality of the southern states, have unceasingly continued with increasing violence, and in new and more alarming forms: Be it therefore,

1. Resolved unanimously, that the state of South Carolina, still deferring to her southern sisters, nevertheless respectfully announces to them, that it is the deliberate judgment of this general assembly that the slaveholding states should immediately meet together to concert measures for united action.

2. Resolved unanimously, that the foregoing preamble and resolution be communicated by the governor to all the slaveholding states, with the earnest request of this state that they will appoint deputies, and adopt such measures as in their judgment will promote the said meeting.

3. Resolved unanimously, that a special commissioner be appointed by his excellency the governor to communicate the foregoing preamble and resolutions to the state of Virginia, and to express to the authorities of that state the cordial sympathy of the people of South Carolina with the people of Virginia, and their earnest desire to unite with them in measures of common defence."

Three distinct objects are presented by these resolutions. They direct me

1. To express to the authorities of Virginia the cordial sympathy of the people of South Carolina with the people of Virginia, in the trial through which they have lately passed.

2. To express our earnest desire to unite with you in measures of common defence.

3. To request a conference of the slaveholding states, and the appointment of deputies or commissioners to the same on the part of Virginia.

The expression of our sympathy is most grateful to our own feelings. Whilst in common with the rest of the Union, we feel our obligation for the large contribution of mind and effort which Virginia has made to the common cause, we of South Carolina are more largely indebted to her for manifestations of particular concern in our welfare, which I shall presently notice. We had supposed that her large contributions to the Union had secured to her the respect and affection of every state of this confederacy. Certainly there is no state to whom more kindly feelings are due. Her statesmen and soldiers had devoted their lives to the service of the country, and their honored remains now hallow her soil. There was the tomb of the father of his country. There lay the ashes of Patrick Henry, and of Jefferson, and of Madison, and of a host of others, whose names had given lustre to our country's glory, and the fruit of whose labors was the common inheritance of north and south and yet all this could not preserve her from the invasion of her soil, the murder of her citizens, and the attempt to involve her in the horrors of servile and civil war. That very north, to whom she had surrendered a territorial empire-who had grown great through her generous confidence-sent forth the assassins, furnished them with arms and money, and would fain rescue them from the infamy and punishment due to crimes so atrocious.

To estimate aright the character of the outrage at Harpers Ferry we must realize the intentions of those who planned it. They expected the slaves to rise in mass as soon as the banner of abolitionism should be unfurled. Knowing nothing of the kindly feeling which exists throughout the south between the master and his slaves, they judged of that feeling by their own hatred, and expected that the tocsin which they sounded, would at once arouse to rebellion every slave who heard it. Accordingly, they prepared such arms as an infuriate and untrained peasantry could most readily use.

They also expected aid from another element of revolution., They did not believe in the loyalty to the government of Virginia of that part of her population which owned no slaves. They seized upon the armory, and they expected help from its operatives, and

from the farming population; and to gain time for combining all these elements of mischief, as they conceived them to be, they seized upon a pass in the mountains, well adapted to their purpose. For months had they worked with fiendish and unwearied diligence, and it is hazarding little to conjecture, that the banditti who had been trained in Kansas, were in readiness to obey the summons to new scenes of rapine and murder, as soon as a lodgment were effected.

Is it at all surprising that a peaceful village, where no sound of war had been heard for half a century, should be overcome, for the moment, at midnight, by so unexpected an inroad? The confusion which ensued was a necessity; and it can only be ascribed to the superintendence of a kind Providence, that so few innocent lives were sacrificed. It is indeed wonderful that none of the hostages seized by these banditti should have suffered from the attacks which their friends were obliged to make, and that at so early a period the inhabitants recovered from their amazement and reduced their assailants to the five who were entrenched within the brick walls of the engine-house.

The failure to accomplish their purpose cannot lessen its atrocity; neither can their erroneous calculations as to the loyalty of the citizens to the state, or of the slaves to their masters, lessen the crime of these murderers; and they have justly paid the forfeit of their lives. But such a forfeit cannot expiate the blood of peaceful citizens, nor restore the feeling of tranquil security to the families which they have disturbed. The outraged soil of Virginia stands a witness of the wrong, and the unquiet homes which remain agitated along her borders, still call for protection; and as an affectionate mother, the state feels for her children, and is providing that protection. The people of South Carolina cordially sympathize in all these feelings. They regard this outrage as perpetrated on themselves. The blow that has struck you, was aimed equally at them, and they would gladly share in all its consequences, and most of all, in the effort to prevent its recurrence in the future.

In this desire, they are influenced not only by a sense of common danger, but by the remembrance of former kindness, exhibited towards South Carolina by the state of Virginia, in a day of trial.

In the year 1833, when South Carolina had nullified an unconsti

tutional tariff, imposed by the federal government, and was taking measures to maintain her position at every hazard, the state of Virginia, actuated by the kindliest and most honorable feelings, adopted the following resolutions:

"Resolved by the general assembly, in the name and on behalf of the people of Virginia, that the competent authorities of South Carolina be and they are hereby earnestly and respectfully requested and entreated to rescind the ordinance of the late convention of that state, entitled 'an ordinance to nullify certain acts of the congress of the United States, purporting to be laws laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities;' or, at least to suspend its operation until the close of the first session of the next congress.

Resolved, that the congress of the United States be and they are hereby earnestly and respectfully requested and entreated so to modify the acts laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, commonly called the tariff acts, as to effect a gradual but speedy reduction of the resulting revenue of the general government, to the standard of the necessary and proper expenditures for the support thereof.

Resolved, that this house will, by joint vote with the senate, proceed, on this day, to elect a commissioner, whose duty it shall be to proceed immediately to South Carolina, and communicate the foregoing preamble and resolutions to the governor of that state, with a request that they be communicated to the legislature of that state, or any convention of its citizens, or give them such other direction as in his judgment may be best calculated to promote the objects which this commonwealth has in view; and that the said commissioner be authorized to express to the public authorities and people of our sister state, in such manner as he may deem most expedient, our sincere good will to our sister state, and our anxious solicitude that the kind and respectful recommendations we have addressed her, may lead to an accommodation of all the differences between that state and the general government."

Mr. Leigh repaired to South Carolina, and on presenting his credentials, was informed by the governor that the ordinary authorities of the government had no jurisdiction of the subject of his mission, inasmuch as the ordinance of nullification had been passed by a con

vention of the people. The following extracts from the correspondence will exhibit what took place:

Extract from letter of Hon. B. W. Leigh, commissioner of Virginia, to his Excellency Robert Y. Hayne, governor of South Carolina.

CHARLESTON, Feb. 5th, 1833.

"I have now, therefore, to request your excellency to communicate the resolutions of the general assembly of Virginia, and this letter also, to the president of the convention, confidently hoping that that officer will not refuse or hesitate to re-assemble the convention, in order that the resolutions of the general assembly may be submitted to it, and that the convention may consider whether, and how far, the earnest and respectful request and entreaty of the general assembly shall and ought to be complied with."

Extract from a letter of James Hamilton, jr., to his Excellency Robert Y. Hayne, governor of South Carolina.

CHARLESTON, Feb. 6th, 1833.

"In reply to the reference which you have made to me, as president of the convention of the people of South Carolina, consequent on the application on the part of that gentleman, for the meeting of that body, I beg leave to communicate to him, through your excellency, that, appreciating very highly the kind disposition and the patriotic solicitude which have induced the highly respectable commonwealth which he represents, to interpose her friendly and mediatorial offices in the unhappy controversy subsisting between the federal government and the state of South Carolina, I should do great injustice to those dispositions on her part; and I am quite sure, to the feelings of the people of South Carolina, if I did not promptly comply with his wishes in reference to the proposed call."

In compliance with Mr. Leigh's request, the convention was reassembled. The mediation and request of Virginia was communicated. Her interference with the federal government, the other party to the controversy, had led to a modification of the tariff, and the result with South Carolina, was a repeal of the ordinance of nullification, and the adoption by the convention of the following resolutions: