sels. He gave the names of upwards of a score of vessels taken by the pirates under his command, the crews of which had been murdered. Sometime in the course of the year 1819, Gibbs left Havana for the United States, carrying with him about thirty thousand dollars. He passed several weeks in New York, and then went to Boston, whence he took passage for Liverpool, in the ship Emerald. Before he sailed, however, he had squandered a large part of his money in dissipation and gambling. He remained in Liverpool a few months, and then returned to Boston in the ship Topaz. His residence in Liver pool, at that time, was testified to by a female in New York, who was well acquainted with him there, and where, as she stated, he lived like a wealthy gentleman. In speaking of his acquaintance with this female, Gibbs said: “I fell in with a woman, who, I thought, was all virtue, but she deceived me, and I am sorry to say that a heart that never felt abashed at scenes of carnage and blood, was made a child of, for a time, by her, and I gave way to dissipation and torment. How often, when the fumes of liquor have subsided, have I thought of my good and affectionate parents, and of their godly advice! But when the little. monitor began to move within me, I immediately seized the cup to hide myself from myself, and drank until the sense of intoxication was renewed. My friends advised me to behave like a man, and promised me their assistance, but the demon still haunted me, and I spurned their advice." He readily admitted his participation in the Vineyard mutiny, revolt and robbery, and in the murder of Thornby; and, so impressed was he with the universal detestation and horror which his heinous crimes had excited against him, that he often inquired if he should not be murdered in the streets, in case he had his liberty, and was recognized. He would also frequently exclaim, "Oh, if I had got into Algiers, I should never have been in this prison, to be hung for murder!" Though he gave no evidence of contrition for the horrible and multiplied crimes of which he confessed himself guilty, yet he evidently dwelt upon their recollection with great unwillingness. If a question was asked him, in regard to how the crews were generally destroyed, he answered quickly and briefly, and instantly changed the topic either to the circumstances attending his trial, or to his exploits in Buenos Ayres. On being asked why with such cruelty he killed so many persons, after getting all their money, which was all he wanted, he replied that the laws themselves were responsible for so many murders; that, by those laws, a man has to suffer death for piracy, and the punishment for murder is no more,-besides, all witnesses are out of the way, and, consequently, if the punishment was different, there would not be so many murders. On Friday, April twenty-second, 1831, Gibbs and Wansley paid the penalty of their crimes. Both prisoners arrived at the gallows about twelve o'clock, accompanied by the marshal, his aids, and a body of United States marines. Two clergymen attended them to the fatal spot, where, everything being in readiness, the ropes were adjusted about their necks, and prayers offered. Gibbs addressed the spectators, acknowledging the heinousness of his career, and adding "Should any of the friends of those whom I have been accessory to, or engaged in, the murder of, be now present, before my Maker I beg their forgiveness-it is the only boon I askthe only boon I ask and, as I hope for pardon through the blood of Christ, surely this request will not be withheld by man, from a worm, like myself, standing, as I do, on the very verge of eternity! Another moment, and I cease to exist-and could I find in my bosom room to imagine that the spectators now assembled had forgiven me, the scaffold would have no terrors. My first crime was piracy, for which my life would pay the forfeit on conviction; no punishment could be inflicted on me farther than that, and therefore I had nothing to fear but detection, for had my offenses been millions of times more aggravated than they now are, death must have satisfied all." Gibbs shook hands with Wansley, the officers and clergymen, the caps were then drawn over the faces of the two criminals, and a handkerchief dropped by Gibbs as a signal to the executioner caused the cord to be severed, and in an instant they were suspended in air. Wansley expired with only a few slight struggles. Gibbs died hard. XXXV. NULLIFICATION OUTBREAK IN SOUTH CAROLINA, UNDER THE LEAD OF CALHOUN, MCDUFFIE, HAYNE, AND OTHERS.-1832. State Sovereignty, Instead of the Federal Government, Claimed by them to be Supreme.-The Wrath of President Jackson Aroused-His Stern and Heroic Will Upholds the National Authority and Saves the Union from Anarchy and from the Perils of Dismemberment.-Momentous Nature of this Contest.-The Tariff a Rock of Offense -Action in the Palmetto" State-Anti-National and Defiant.- Pacific Proposals Scouted.-A Political Dinner in Washington.-Jackson's and Calhoun's Toasts.-Plan of the Conspirators.-A Bomb-shell in Their Camp-Convention of Agitators in Columbia-Nullification Ordinance Passed." Old Hickory" Bold and Resolute.-His Peremptory Proclamation.-South Carolina's Counter-Blast.-United States Troops Sent to Charleston.Presidential Idea of Compromising.-Clay's Conciliation Scheme.-The Leading Nullifiers in Danger.-Jackson Threatens to Hang Them.-They are Roused from Bed at Midnight.-Two Alternatives Presented.-Swallowing a Bitter Pill. "Thou too, sail on, ( ship of State,- ITTER and momentous was the political contest which shook the Union to its very center in 1832, the year in which culminated, in all its violence, the South Carolina doctrine of State Rights and Nullification. In a general, preliminary way, the nature or origin of this great sectional conflict presents itself thus: A powerful party in South Carolina, led on by able and ambitious politicians, contended that congress had no power to impose taxes for protecting home industry or manufactures, but solely for purposes of revenue, sufficient to defray the expenses of the government; that each state had a right to judge whether congress, in its legislation, exceeded its powers, and in that case to disobey it,-treat it as of no binding. force. They therefore declared the tariff which passed into operation at the close of the session of 1832, to be null and void; making it unlawful for any of the constituted authorities to enforce it; and disallowing all appeal to the supreme court. Any act which might be passed by congress to coerce them into obedience, they would consider as dissolving them from the obligation to maintain the Union, and they would proceed to organize a separate government. These views were supported by their legislature, and vehemently advocated by Calhoun and McDuffie at Washington,-two of the most celebrated leaders in public affairs, who have ever appeared in American history. FAVORITE STATE EMBLEM, S. c. Their scheme, however, of defying the national government, on the assumption of the sovereignty of the states as principals, and the subordination of the federal government as a mere agency, found a mortal enemy in Andrew Jackson, who, at the very time chosen by the sectionalists, or nullifiers, to put their doctrine into practice, was chief magistrate of the nation. But, though the climax of these antinational proceedings was not reached until this period, the great leaders had for years been sowing the seeds of contempt for federal authority and the constitution and Union from which that authority was derived, and, in doing this, even went so far as to claim that the fathers of the republic, especially Mr. Jefferson, held and taught the same principle. Of these tactics, Mr. Benton gives a notable example, in his account of the anniversary of Mr. Jefferson's birthday, April thirteenth, 1830, celebrated by a numerous company, that year, in the city of Washington; Mr. Benton's account agreeing, in every material point, with that furnished by other pens, as follows: It was the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, and those who attended the party did so avowedly for the purpose of honoring the memory of the author of the Declaration of Independence. Such at least was the tenor of the invitation. Andrew Jackson, the president of the United States, was there. So was John C. Calhoun, the vice-president. Three of the cabinet ministers, namely, Van Buren, Eaton, and Branch, were there; and members of congress and citizens not a few. It soon became manifest to the more sagacious ones, that this dinner party and the day were to be made the occasion for inaugurating the new doctrine of nullification, and to fix the paternity of it on Mr. Jefferson, the great apostle of democracy in America. Many gentlemen present, perceiving the drift of the whole performance, withdrew in disgust before summoned to the table; but the sturdy old president, perfectly informed, remained.` When the dinner was over and the cloth removed, a call was made for the regular toasts. These were twenty-four in number, eighteen of which, it is alleged, were written by Mr. Calhoun. These, in multifarious forms, shadowed forth, now dimly, now clearly, the new doctrine. They were all received and honored in various degrees, when volunteer toasts were announced as in order. મ The president of the United States was of course first called upon for a sentiment. His tall form rose majestically, and with that sternness appropriate to the peculiar occasion, he cast that apalling bomb-shell of words into the camp of the conspirators, which will forever be a theme for the commendation of the patriot and the historian-"THE FEDERAL UNION: IT MUST BE PRESERVED !" He was followed by the vice-president, Mr. Calhoun, who gave as his sentiment-" The Union : next to our Liberty the most dear; may we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the States, and distributing equally the benefit. and burden of the Union!" Those who before doubted the intentions of Calhoun and his southern friends, and were at a loss to understand the exact meaning of the dinner party, were no longer embarrassed by ignorance. In that toast was presented the issue-liberty before union -supreme state sovereignty-false complaints of inequality of benefits and burdens-'our rights' as we choose to define them, or disunion. From that hour, therefore, the vigilant old president watched the South Carolina conspirator, his lieutenant, with the searching eyes of unslumbering suspicion. But the opposition of South Carolina. to a protective tariff dated farther back than this. In 1820, and again in 1825, the legislature of that state protested against all such congressional measures, and in 1827 instructed her representatives at Washington to maintain these views, to the fullest extent, on the floor of congress. The next year, she entered a formal protest and resolutions against any right of congress to impose protective duties on imported goods. More resolu | tions, addressed to other states, followed appointed. She refused to take an honest in December, 1828, and in 1830 the state part in the presidential election, giving legislature most forcibly reaffirmed the her votes for citizens who were not candidoctrines to which it had previously given. dates. She had resolved-or rather the such emphatic expression. In fact, the conspirators had resolved for her—not to people had been worked by their leaders be pacified with anything less than federal into a temporary frenzy. dismemberment ! In an exhaustive, as well as most vivid and truthful review of the events pertaining to this exciting period in national affairs, a writer in the New Monthly Magazine has contributed one of the most thrilling chapters to be found in American history. From that source the following abridged narrative is derived for the most part: A prominent issue in the presidential election of 1832 was that of the protective tariff, otherwise known as the American System. South Carolina had virtually threatened to secede from the Union unless Jackson, the chosen standard-bearer of the democratic party, and to which organization the conspirators professedly belonged, was re-elected; yet the malcontents continued to defy the government, and exhibited the falsity of their professions of attachment to that party by immediately, when the result of the election was known, calling a convention of the delegates of the people of South Carolina, at Columbia, their state capital, for a rebellious purpose. In that convention, composed of politicians, the professed representatives of |