"
The pilot now returned to the quarter, and commenced dilating upon
the beauty of Charleston harbor and its tributaries, the Astley and
Cooper Rivers--then upon the prospects of fortifications to beat the
United States in the event of South Carolina's seceding and raising
an independent sovereignty, composed of her best blood. The Captain
listened to his unsolicited and uninteresting exposition of South
Carolina's prowess in silence, now and then looking up at the pilot
and nodding assent. He saw that the pilot was intent upon
astonishing him with his wonderful advancement in the theory of
government, and the important position of South Carolina. Again he
looked dumbfounded, as much as to acknowledge the pilot's
profundity, and exclaimed, "Well! South Carolina must be a devil of
a State: every thing seems captivated with its greatness: I'd like
to live in Carolina if I didn't get licked."
"By scissors! that you would, Captain; you ha'n't an idee what a
mighty site our people can do if they're a mind to! All South
Carolina wants is her constitutional rights, which her great men
fought for in the Revolution. We want the freedom to protect our own
rights and institutions--not to be insulted and robbed by the
General Government and the abolitionists."
"Do you practice as a people upon the same principles that you ask
of the General Government!" inquired the Captain.
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