Page:Nullification Controversy in South Carolina.djvu/56

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The Origin of the Conflict
37

year it seemed that the South Carolina protest would at last be received in Washington with proper attention. Indeed, there appeared to be much opposition to the tariff act even in the North.[1] The editors in the state, even the most vehement ones, must have felt no little confidence that Jackson and Congress would reduce the tariff at the coming session; for, during the summer and fall, up to the time of the opening of Congress, the press was noticeably silent on the subject.[2] This must not be interpreted to mean that the people of the state, unanimously confident, were simply waiting patiently for Congress to meet and redress their every grievance. There were quite audible scattered grumblings. At the Walterboro celebration on the Fourth of July the toasts again reflected an ardent desire for resistance; one denounced the legislature of 1828 as having given a stone to the people when they were asking for bread. The Columbia Telescope did not

  1. Courier, February 11, 1829.
  2. Many men believed, as James H. Hammond said in his July 4 address at Columbia, that "the Powers that presided in our day of darkness are no longer lords of the ascendant. Another star has risen and there are streaks of light already visible in the horizon which augur the dawn of a new and bright day. The night will pass away"; its memory, he said, would serve as a warning against future attempts at usurpation (James fl. Hammond, Papers).