of the ycleped men of genius? Was it more or less than the combination of the wisdom, judgment, and perception, too profound, possibly, even for their contemporaries to comprehend, and which, not understanding, or not being enabled to look into, through the same mental elaboration, they have accordingly defined as mere strength of character, (or it may be mistermed) chance, destiny, or intuition?

Of this noble stamp of men was the late Richard Irvine Manning, elected Governor of South Carolina in 1824; and whose vigorous intellect-strong and luminous as it was -has in some measure, perhaps, been overlooked, in the still more imperishable memory of his personal qualifications. Certainly it is no unenviable lot, to live in the affections, rather than the applause of our friends; to dwell in the hearts, rather than in the minds of our fellow beings; to merit the gratitude, rather than the admiration of our countrymen; and to have even our highest intellectual endow ments so incased in virtues as to obscure in some measure that mental effect in the portrait, which less estimable accomplishments would otherwise have left more strikingly developed. In either aspect, however, of his character, Gov. Manning was of those remarkable men, destined to occupy an important place in society, and to impress an influence on the minds of others. Had he possessed fewer virtues than he did, he had nevertheless talent enough, to command the admiration and respect of men. Had his talents been less conspicuous than they were, he had still qualities of the heart which in any sphere or condition of life, would have made him the idol of the popular mind. Gov. Manning was born in Sumter district, South Carolina, 1st of May, 1789. He was the second son

of Gen. Lawrence Manning, first Adjutant-General of the State of South Carolina, and officer during the revolutionary war in Lee's legion; and the hero of some of the most extraordinary acts of personal daring and prowess, that have been recorded of an age abounding in incidents of that character. His exploits, perhaps, more than any other of that time, have become the subjects of familiar and innumerable traditions, and would seem indeed to verify the adage, "that truth is . sometimes stranger than fiction." At the battle of Eutaw, he was ordered by Gen. Green to burn a house then occupied by the British troops; and from which the American army were receiving a galling and incessant fire. While in the act of doing so, Col. Manning found himself at once discovered by the enemy, and at the same time deserted by his command. With instant presence of mind, he rushed through the smoke of the enemy's guns-grappled a British Major of some renown, at the head of his troops-and as the only means of safety, interposed him as he retreated between himself and the fire of the foe, until in the face of both armies he paroled him a prisoner of war. This remarkable incident of the battle has been commemorated by one of the most eminent artists of South Carolina, in a work which still adorns the Senate chamber of this State.

Soon after the war, he married the daughter of General Richard Richardson; his sword being his only patrimony; his valor, his youth, and his health, his sole fortune.

On the first organization of the militia of South Carolina, he received the appointment of Adjutant General, in which capacity he continued to serve with singular ability and success, until his death in the

vigour of life in 1804. He left two sons; the eldest of whom (Colonel Lawrence Manning,) accepted a Major's commission in the army of the United States, during our late war with Great Britain; from which position he soon rose to the command of a regiment. At the declaration of peace, he retired to private and domestic life, with the reputation and popularity of a brave and accomplished officer. The younger son, the subject of our memoir, was then in his early youth, with scarcely any other inheritance than his father's renown; who, never rich, and always generous, had acquired but little of worldly thrift or careful economy from the experience of the camp.

Under difficulties of this kind, and with much greater impediments to education than happily now exist, Gov. Manning was deprived of the advantages of early culture, and may be said to have loitered away his youth in a sort of arcadian indolence. But a mother's piety did not permit this portion of his life to pass without imparting those moral impressions, which made him throughout life a devout and ardent christian. With him religion was a passion and feeling, as well as a conviction; an affair of the heart, as well as of the head; and the energies of his strong mind were never so thoroughly kindled into enthusiasm, as when employed in the adoration of his Maker. As he approached the verge of manhood, he became suddenly conscious of his intellectual deficiencies; and with that decision of character that always distinguished him, determined as instantly to supply them. He had heard of a Seminary of some repute at Mount Bethel in Newberry district, under the care of Dr. Smith. Against the remonstrances of friends and connections, he resolved to avail himself of its

advantages. A young man unknown and unknowing, with nothing but a strong will to sustain him-he left home and family, in what appeared to all but himself, the hopeless pursuit of knowledge, in a distant part of the State, that then seemed to the untravelled experience of the age, as difficult of access, as the shores of the Pacific would now be regarded by the mercenary adventurer.

It was, perhaps, the most important epoch of his life; the hinge upon which all its after events were destined to turn. From that period he became an ardent and enthusiastic student; thirsting for knowledge, and devoting all the time that he could spare from the avocations of an active life, to its attainment. His assiduity soon obtained for him the highest academic distinctions, and his character laid the foundation of those valuable friendships, which attended him through all the events of his after life; and which in ardor, attachment and fidelity, could only be exceeded by woman's love.

Leaving the institution with those of his friends, who were better prepared to enter College than himself, he was persuaded to apply with them for admission into the junior class, on the condition of completing the studies of the Sophomore year, in the summer vacation; beyond which state of preparation his short time of academic instruction had not allowed him to advance. This deficiency he not only amply supplied, but in the distribution of the appointments (and contrary to usage in this respect in the College) he was allotted a distinguished position in a class of great brilliancy and talent. Nor was he less honored by his fellow students, in being chosen as the valedictory orator of that year.

In his collegiate, as well as in his academic career, he preserved

On entering life, he was diverted from his early intention of pursuing a professional course of studies, by the declaration of war, then recently made with Great Britain. He was prompt to obey the call to arms, it was his element; and perhaps the vocation of all others, in which the strength of his character and the ardor of his mind, were best calculated to display themselves. In the absence of other appointments of service, he allowed himself to be placed at the head of a volunteer company, then under marching orders for the defence of Charleston. Although at that time in feeble health, yet his zeal, his energy, and his military accomplishments, attracted the attention of the whole army. All felt his fitness for, and prophesied his attainment of, a stili higher sphere of usefulness.

On the disbanding of the troops at the termination of the war, his habits of discipline, (impatient as the militia always are of its enforce ment,) for some time impeded his progress to popular favour.

At length, in 1822, he was elected a member of the South Carolina Legislature, and such was the manner in which he at once impressed himself on its confidence, that in the short term of two years, (and although still comparatively a young man,) he was chosen to occupy the Executive Department. His election was accompanied by the flattering distinction, of a large major

Amongst the events of his administration was the reception of Gen. LaFayette, then on his visit to this country; and whom he was instructed by the Legislature to entertain as the guest of the State. Few can forget that gala day in South Carolina, when the old and the young-the veteran and the boy-beauty, wealth and fashion, thronged the highways, and rushed to the cities, to grasp the hand of the Revolutionary Patriarch of two Hemispheres. Between Governor Manning and himself it was the commencement of a friendship, which time and after events strengthened in the hearts of both.

The administration of Governor Manning was, perhaps, one of the most popular in the annals of the State. His messages were bold, striking, and admired. His most sanguine friends dared not anticipate their merits, either of style or matter. They were quoted and praised, both at home and abroad; they even attracted the commendation of Mr. Legare; and, perhaps, with some exaggeration, were compared to the best productions of the very ablest men of the Union.

Shortly after the expiration of Gov. Manning's term of office, he was induced to become a candidate for Congress. But the germ of that party spirit, which afterwards embittered with such intense animosity the politics of this Stateeven then began to manifest its effects; and by various combinations defeated his election.

He subsequently occupied a seat in the Senate of the State, where he combatted with his usual boldness, power and energy, the doctrine of nullification, then progressing to its ascendency in South Carolina. He was confessedly the great champion of the opposition;

and it is not too much to say of his influence, that it was supposed (and truly) to suspend the triumph of his opponents, and to hold for a long time the power of their party in check and abeyance. Like Col. Drayton, he maintained, that a State could not at the same time be both in and out of the Union; and that to this solecism in terms the theory of his opponents inevitably tended. That secession was the true and only remedy for Federal evils-but one not rashly to be applied, or that few causes would justify a State in resorting to. That whether the measures of Government then complained of, were of oppressive character or not; or when or how South Carolina should exercise her undoubted right to secede from the Union, were questions which he was willing to leave without controversy or discussion to the calm and dispassionate judgment of the people. That if his opponents would thus make secession, instead of nullification, the issue to be submitted to the popular will, that he would at once acquiesce in a decision, which every State must of necessity have reserved the right of making for herself and her citizens. And that, regardless of all considerations of expediency, as to whether the causes were of a character sufficient or not, to justify a separation, he would yield a ready and cheerful obedience to the behest of South Carolina, then truly entitled to (because having reclaimed as she rightfully can do) his exclusive allegiance to her sovereignty.

a popularity, such as no man in the State possessed; he submitted to be abandoned by friends, such as no one ever had; he relinquished fame, reputation, and power, to share the ineligibility of a dispirited minority; and with no possible anticipation, that either time or circumstances could, in the few years that have transpired, have wrought that change which subsequently occured in his own, and the political fortunes of his party.

On the death of Gen. Blair, he was elected by an overwhelming majority to succeed him. He had scarcely taken his seat in Congress, before his influence began to be sensibly felt in its deliberations. While regarded by all as one of the most considered and considerable members of the South, he nevertheless shared in a higher degree, perhaps, than any other Southern man, the confidence and respect of other portions of the Union.

Always a Democrat in principle, and a State Rights politician of the Jefferson school, he was as vigorous and as decided an opponent of Federal usurpations, as he had been of the measures which South Carolina had adopted to resist them. With Gen. Jackson, then President of the United States, his political intercourse grew into personal intimacy and friendship. He spoke seldom in Congress, and with a brevity unusual for that arena, but there was no man in that body whose speeches were more popular, or more eagerly sought for distri

bution. On the last occasion of

mands, which the press found it difficult immediately to supply; and never before perhaps (or since) has a speech in Congress been more widely read throughout the Union. His reputation was in fact becoming national.

He had already begun to occupy much of the public mind, and to ascend those steeps of political fame and power, the summit of which (whether otherwise destined to reach or not,) death suddenly arrested his progress in attaining.

His health having become en feebled by the sedentary habits of a long Congressional session, he repaired to Philadelphia on a visit. of a few days, both for recreation and medical advice. On the day after his arrival, he was seized with a sudden indisposition-not alarming at the time to himself or his friends but which in a few hours terminated his valuable life. He expired in the evening of the 1st of May, 1836, in the 47th year of his age, of an affection of the heart. It was, perhaps, the most fitting and probable malady, of which such a man could die. His heart had been the moving principle, the chief element, the active member, the controlling agent, of all the events of his life. It had so often throbbed to other's woes; it had so constantly overflowed with sympathy and benevolence; it had so long and so ardently responded to the demands of patriotism, friendship and humanity; it had done so much for thought and action, that it could not be otherwise than the first portion of the human mechanism to waste and wear away-a

tions-the crushed shell of intense, absorbing and overwrought susceptibilities. Yes, we repeat it, there is a poetic harmony between the life and death of such a man. It was the heart that presided over the events and issues of both.

Gov. Manning left three sons; the eldest already distinguished in the counsels of the State; and all occupying useful and important positions in society.

Both as a speaker and a writer, Gov. Manning's style was strong, clear, forcible and impassioned; his manner winning, his address peculiarly agreeable.

His virtues abounded, his estimable qualities were innumerable, his faults those only of a noble, sensitive, and impassioned nature.

His countenance in repose was bland, but indicative of firmness, and wore the very aspect to invite confidence. When animated in debate or conversation, it reflected like a mirror all the emotions of his mind. There was no man who could express in his looks more scorn or indignation, higher resolves, or softer affection. His air was noble, his stature tall and well proportioned, his complexion clear and florid; his features regular, and in perfect harmony to produce that manly beauty, of which he was so eminently possessed. His person was faultless; and his manner and appearance of that commanding character, to make him the "observed of all observers"—in short, "A combination and a form indeed,

Where every God did seem to set his seal To give the world assurance of a man."

VOL. V.