Page:Nullification Controversy in South Carolina.djvu/244

Rh had looked to Virginia for support in their movement had long before this found themselves disappointed. The men of the western part of Virginia had early shown that they had no sympathy with thfe Nullifiers. In the lower Piedmont and Tidewater counties there was much sympathy with the South Carolina protest against the tariff, and even some sympathy with the nullification doctrine, but a majority even here agreed with Thomas Ritchie and the Richmond Enquirer, that nullification was unlike the Virginia doctrines of 1798 and without sanction or precedent, even though they disagreed with Ritchie on political questions related to the presidency. They believed in the compact theory of the formation of the central government and affirmed a belief in the right of secession; hence they disagreed with the President's proclamation on these points. Some expressed to the President an appreciation of the cause for which James Hamilton, Jr., and John C. Calhoun were working, but gave definite assurances that though the former was considered a "noble fellow," he must "throw overboard Mr. Jonas Calhoun" before aid could be expected from Virginia.