A GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA, had been in Madagascar and seen the plant cultivated in its hot swamps. He lived in Charleston, on the bay, and it struck him that a marshy spot in his garden might well serve for a plantation of rice. Just then (1694) a vessel put in from Madagascar in distress, whose commander the Governor had formerly known. Her wants were liberally relieved. In gratitude for the kindness he had received, the master gave the Governor a bag of rice. It was sown, and produced abundantly. The soil proved singularly favorable for its culture. The marshes of Georgia and South Carolina were soon covered with rice plantations. A large part of the crop was exported to England. In 1724, 100,000 barrels were sent out from South Carolina alone. In 1761, the value of its rice crop was more than $1,500,000. Its white population could not then have been more than 45,000, and it is easy to conceive the tide of wealth that was distributed annually among its small band of planters. They built costly mansions on the coasts and bays, lived in fatal luxury, were noted for their wild excesses, and often fell speedy victims to the fevers of the malarious soil. Indigo, sugar, molasses, tar, pitch, and a great variety of valuable productions added to the wealth of the South. But cotton, which has grown through many vicissitudes to be the chief stapel of British and American trade, was, at this period, only cultivated in small quantities for the use of the farmers. It was spun into coarse cloths. But it was not until Whitney's invention, in 1793, that it could be readily prepared for commerce, and to the inventive genius of Connecticut the Southern States owe the larger part of their wealth and political importance.—"The First Century of the Republic," in Harper's Magazine.