rapidity of the Northern States, as will be seen by

the following statement :—

The increase in the slave population was, however, more rapid than that among the white; for their numbers stand thus:

So that in 1830 the whole population comprehended 581,458, of whom only 257,878 were whites, and 315,365 slaves, the remainder being 7,215 free people of colour, making the whole coloured population greatly in excess at the last census. The general impression here is, that the proportions of the excess has rather increased than diminished since that period; so that the evil of this disproportion is continually on the advance.

Some large mills, for the spinning of cotton yarn, have been established of late years in South Carolina, and these are said to yield a good profit. They are worked by machinery made at West Point, on the Hudson river, turned by water-power, and directed partly by free and partly by slave labour; the more expert of the latter being found to be the only persons fit for such employment among their race. Some of the yarn is exported to the north; and some is

woven into coarse clothes adapted for negro apparel, in which it is chiefly consumed.

The internal improvements of the State are advancing, though slowly in comparison with those of the northern sections of the Union. A canal, extending 22 miles from the Santee to the Cooper river, was completed in 1802, the length of which was 22 miles, at a cost of 650,000 dollars. Several smaller canals and streams extending beyond this, continue the water navigation to Columbia, the capital of the State, a distance of about 130 miles directly inland from Charleston. A railroad from Charleston to Hamburgh, a small town immediately opposite to Augusta, on the Savannah river, has also been completed for 135 miles, at a cost of about 800,000 dollars; and a railroad from Charleston to Columbia is in progress, and a large portion of it completed.

The government of South Carolina is conducted at the capital, Columbia, which is nearly in the centre of the State, where the legislature assemble once in each year. Its executive consists of a Governor, at a salary of 3,500 dollars per annum, a Secretary of State, and seven or eight other functionaries, at salaries of from 1,500 to 2,000 dollars per annum each; and a House of Assembly and a Senate form the two legislative chambers. The State is represented in the general legislature at Washington, by nine members of Congress sent by general election of the citizens to the House of Representatives, and two Senators elected by the Legislature of the State.

The Judiciary consists of four Chancellors in Equity, at 3,000 dollars per annum, who perform

LAW COURTS; EDUCATION; RELIGION.

45

the duty of Circuit Judges, and hold Equity Courts at different points of the State at fixed periods; and seven Judges of the General Sessions and Common Pleas, at the same salaries, who perform similar duties in the administration of the statute and common law, for civil and criminal cases. Appeal Courts are held also at Charleston and Columbia and a Court for the correction of errors, composed of all the Judges of Law and Equity, is held to consider all questions on which the Appeal Courts may be divided in opinion. The Judges are all appointed for life.

Education is not neglected in this State; for besides the College at Columbia, and the South Carolina College at Charleston, each containing a large number of students, schools are very numerous, and the State Legislature appropriates the sum of 40,000 dollars annually for the support of free schools, of which there were in the last year about 920, with from 9,000 to 10,000 scholars.

Of the various sects of religion in the State, the Methodists have the greatest number of church members, upwards of 30,000, though their ministers do not exceed 60. The Baptists have the greatest number of churches and ministers, 168 of the former and 142 of the latter, with about 15,000 communicants. The Presbyterians have 82 churches, 58 ministers, and about 15,000 communicants; and the Episcopalians have 28 churches, and 36 ministers; while Roman Catholics, Unitarians, and Universalists, have each a few congregations only.

Such is the present condition, as nearly as it can be ascertained, of the State of South Carolina.

CHAP. IV.

Description of the city of Charleston-Topography, aspect, Public buildings, churches-Benevolent and charitable institutions-Commerce, shipping, and seamen-Banks and insurance companies -- Institutions for education, colleges, schoolsLiterary and political journals, reviews, newspapers-Views of Southern writers on the subject of slavery-Advantages derived from breeding slaves-Examples of capacity for business and learning in Negroes-Invincible prejudices of Southern people on this subject.

THE city of Charleston is most advantageously situated for commerce with the interior, and communication with the sea; having, in this respect, a striking resemblance to the position of New York; for in the same manner as that city is seated on a peninsula, washed on the east by the East river, on the west by the Hudson, and on the south by the sea, so Charleston is seated on a projection of land, almost insular, and joined, like Boston, by a narrow isthmus, called "The Neck," to the main land, having the Ashley river to wash its sides on the west, the Cooper river to fringe it on the east, and its southern extremity bathed by the junction of these two streams in their passage to the sea; there being, as at New York, a point at this junction, called "The Battery," forming an agreeable pro

menade.

The city, extending from this point inland, or upward, occupies an area of about a mile and three quarters in length, from north to south, and an