South Carolina—A Colony and State [pp. 668-688]

SOUTIH CAROLINA-A COLONY AND STATE.
old steel-clad warriors, the naked Indians, the majestic solitary rivers,
the stillness of the great rich forests, are all beautiful and true enough
for poetry or art. But they have all gone far away from us. Like
Rebaud's Column, with its graceful wreaths of laurel and native jessamine, what was fair has faded, and what was strong has crumbled;
and the very land on which that famous memorial stood, upon whichever of the bright islands of Broad river it may be, is more valued,
and very naturally, by the honest gentleman who owns it, for the
yield of cotton to its acres, than for the brave and gentle memories
which shadow its grass, and still, perhaps, murmur among its palmettoes.
But with the English settlement our history begins. The contrast
between the character of the settlement of the northern and southern
colonies was so marked, that it has become universally recognized,
and we hear constantly of the antithesis between the Puritan and the
Cavalier. Now it is true that a great contrast does exist; and, between Massachusetts and Virginia, Plymouth and Jamestown, Captain Smith and Elder Brewster, this antithesis may be accurate in its
rather extravagant expression. Not so, however, with regard to
Carolina. If I read history correctly, there was very little of the
Cavalier element in the settlement of this State; and as I cannot
help thinking that we indulge in no little cant on this subject, thus
unintentionally obscuring and diminishing some of the most honorable and powerful elements of our native growth and character, I will
endeavor to analyze the character of that settlement. In so doing, I
shall compare Carolina with Virginia, rather than with New England; for the contrast between the early Puritan settlement and our
own is broad and obvious, while the differences between Virginia and
Carolina, although very strong, are not so patent.
In point of ag,e Virginia had the advantage of nearly a century
over Carolina, and a century which embraced great revolutions in
human thought. The earliest settlement of Virginia was undertaken
at a time when the old monarchical spirit was strong; when loyalty
to the person of the sovereign was the crowning virtue in the character of the perfect gentleman; a time when the love of wild adventure
was an ardent stimulant to bold and dangerous undertaking; when
the discovery and settlement of vast and vague empires in the New
World were still looked to by grave statesmen as balances of the overgrown and detested Spanish domination; and the adventurers went
forth in the veritable spirit of knight-errantry, to bring, back the
homage of mysterious tribes of men, the rich spoils of mighty galleons,
the fruits and flowers of lands of marvellous beauty, all to be laid as
trophies at the feet of the Virgin Queen. And the heroes of this
early history are brave and courtly, the very pick of England's
chivalry-men like Raleigh and Gilbert, and that pure and niioble
gentleman, Sir Richard Grenville. Then, again, Virginia was an
important colony at the time of the great rebellion, stood by King
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