ns to Mr. Mathew,
impressed upon him the necessity of being very cautious lest he should
in any manner prejudice the interests of the local institutions within
his consular jurisdiction; to make no requests that were incompatible
with the local laws; but to pursue a judicious course in bringing the
matter of Her Majesty's subjects properly to the consideration of
the legal authorities, and to point to the true grievance; and as it
involved a question of right affecting the interests and liberties of
her citizens, to ask the exercise of that judicial power from which it
had a right to expect justice. The main object was to test the question
whether this peculiar construction given to that local law which
prohibits free colored men from coming within the limits of the State,
was legal in its application to those who come into its ports connected
with the shipping interests, pursuing an honest vocation, and intending
to leave whenever their ship was ready. The consul was censured by the
press in several of the slaveholding States, because he dared to bring
the matter before the local legislature. We are bound to say that Consul
Mathew, knowing the predominant prejudices of the Carolinians, acted
wisely in so doing. First, he knew the tenacious value they put upon
courtesy; secondly, the point at issue between South Carolina and the
Federal Government, (and, as a learned friend in Georgia once said,
"Whether South Carolina belonged to the United States, or the United
States to South Carolina;") and thirdly, the right of State sovereignty,
which South Carolina held to be of the first importance. To disregard
the first, would have been considered an insult to the feelings of
her people; and if the question had first been mooted with the Federal
Government, the ire of South Carolinians would have been fired; the
slur in placing her in a secondary position would have sounded the
war-trumpet of Abolition encroachments, while the latter would have been
considered a breach of confidence, and an unwarrantable disregard of her
assertion of State rights. The Executive transmitted the documents to
the Assembly, that body referred them to special committees, and the
Messrs. Mazyck and McCready, reported as everybody in South Carolina
expected, virtually giving the British consul a very significant
invitation to keep his petitions in his pocket for the future, and his
"black lambs" out of the State, or it might disturb their domesticated