FIRST SESSION. MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1860. Pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, entitled "An Act to provide for the calling of a Convention of the People of this State,", ratified the 13th day of November, 1860, the Delegates from the several Election Districts of this State, assembled in the Baptist Church, in the Town of Columbia, on this day, at twelve o'clock, M. On motion of Mr. James H. Adams, of Richland, Mr. D. F. Jamison, a Delegate from Barnwell, was called to the chair. On motion of Mr. J. Izard Middleton, of All Saints, it was Resolved, That the President appoint a member of the Convention temporary Secretary. The President, in accordance with this resolution, requested Mr. T. Y. Simons, of St. Philip's and St. Michael's, to act as temporary Secretary; and then addressed the Convention as follows: Gentlemen: We have met here under circumstances more solemn than any of us have ever been placed in before. No one, it seems to me, is duly impressed with the magnitude of the work before him, who does not, at the same time, feel that he is about to enter upon the gravest and most solemn act which has fallen to the lot of this generation to accomplish. It is no less than our fixed determination to throw off a Government to which we have been accustomed, and to provide new safeguards for our future security. If anything has been decided by the elections which sent us here, it is, that South Carolina must dissolve her connection with the Confederacy as speedily as possible. In the progress of this movement we have two great dangers to fearovertures from without, and precipitation within. I trust that the door is now forever closed to all further connection with our Northern confederates; for what guarantees can they offer us, more strictly guarded, or under higher sanctions, than the present written compact between us? And did that sacred instrument protect us from the jealousy and aggressions of the North, commenced forty years ago, which resulted in the Missouri Compromise? Did the Constitution protect us from the cupidity of the Northern people, who, for thirty-five years, have imposed the burden of supporting the General Government chiefly on the industry of the South? Did it save us from Abolition petitions, designed to annoy and insult us, in the very halls of our Federal Congress? Did it enable us to obtain a single foot of the soil acquired in the war with Mexico, where the South furnished three-fourths of the money, two-thirds of the men, and four-fifths of the graves? Did it oppose any obstacle to the erection of California into a free-soil State, without any previous territorial existence, without any defined boundaries, or any census of her population? Did it throw any protection around the Southern settlers of Kansas, when the soil of that territory was invaded by the emissaries of Emigrant Aid Societies, in a crusade preached from Northern pulpits, when churchmen and women contributed Sharp's rifles and Colt's revolvers, to swell the butchery of Southern men? And has not that Constitution been trodden under foot by almost every Northern State, in their Ordinances nullifying all laws made for the recovery of fugitive slaves, by which untold millions of property have been lost to the South? Let us be no longer duped by paper securities. Written Constitutions are worthless, unless they are written, at the same time, in the hearts, and founded on the interests of a people; and as there is no common bond of sympathy or interest between the North and the South, all efforts to preserve this Union will not only be fruitless, but fatal to the less numerous section. The other danger to which I referred, may arise from too great impatience on the part of our people to precipitate the issue, in not waiting until they can strike with the authority of law. At the moment of inaugurating a great movement like the present, I trust that we will go forward, and not be diverted from our purpose by influences from without. In the outset of this movement I can offer you no better motto than Danton's,, at the commencement of the French Revolution: "To dare! and again to dare! and without end to dare!" Mr. J. H. Adams, of Richland, offered the following resolutions: Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be opened with prayer, and that the Rev. Mr. Breaker be invited to officiate this morning. Resolved, That each successive day of our Convention be opened with prayer, and that the President of the Convention be requested to invite some clergyman to perform that duty. The question being taken, the resolutions were agreed to, and the proceedings were opened with prayer accordingly. The President laid before the Convention the following communication: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 17, 1860. To the Honorable the President of the Convention of the People of South Carolina: SIR: In accordance with a resolution adopted by the House this day, I have the honor of extending to you and the members of the Convention, an invitation to attend the inauguration of the Governor elect, to take place this day in the Hall of the House of Representatives. With profound respect, I have the honor to be, Respectfully yours, JAMES FARROW, Chairman Committee of Arrangements. On motion of Mr. James L. Orr, of Anderson, it was Resolved, That the communication be laid on the table until the organization of the Convention is completed. The credentials of the following individuals were then exhibited, and their names enrolled as members of the Convention : Abbeville Thos. Chiles Perrin, Edw. Noble, J. H. Wilson, Thos. Thomson, David Louis Wardlaw, Jno. Alfred Calhoun. All Saints-John Izard Middleton, Benjamin E. Sessions. Anderson-J. N. Whitner, James L. Orr, J. P. Reed, R. F. Simpsón, Benjamin Franklin Mauldin. Barnwell-Lewis Malone Ayer, Jr., W. Peronneau Finley, J. J. Brabham, Benj. W. Lawton, D. F. Jamison. Chester-John McKee, Thomas W. Moore, Richard Woods, A. Q. Chesterfield-John A. Inglis, Henry McIver, Stephen Jackson. Darlington-Edgar W. Charles, Julius A. Dargan, Isaac D. Wilson, Edgefield-Francis Hugh Wardlaw, R. G. M. Dunovant, James Parsons Carroll, Wm. Gregg, Andrew J. Hammond James Tompkins, James C. Smyly. Fairfield-John Hugh Means, William Strother Lyles, Henry Campbell Davis, Jno. Buchanan. Greenville James C. Furman, P. E. Duncan, W. K. Easley, James Harrison, W. H. Campbell. Horry-Thos. W. Beaty, Wm. J. Ellis. Kershaw T. J. Withers, James Chesnut, Jr. Lancaster-R. L. Crawford, W. C. Cauthen, D. P. Robinson. Laurens-H. C. Young, H. W. Garlington, John D. Williams, W. D. Watts, Thos. Wier. Lexington-H. I. Caughman, John C. Geiger, Paul Quattlebaum. Marion-W. B. Rowell, Chesley D. Evans, Wm. W. Harllee, A. W. Bethea. Marlboro'-E. W. Goodwin, William D. Johnson, Alex. McLeod. Newberry-John P. Kinard, Robert Moorman, Joseph Caldwell, Simeon Fair. Orange-Thomas Worth Glover, Lawrence M. Keitt, Donald Rowe Barton. Pickens-Wm. Hunter, Andrew F. Lewis, Robt. A. Thompson, William S. Grisham, John Maxwell. Prince William's-Jno. E. Frampton, W. Ferguson Hutson. Richland-W. F. DeSaussure, William Hopkins, James II, Adams, Maxcy Gregg, John H. Kinsler. St. Andrew's-Ephraim M. Clark, Alex. H. Brown. St. Bartholomew's-E. St. P. Bellinger, Merrick E. Carn, E. R. Henderson, Peter Stokes. St. George's, Dorchester-Daniel Flud, David C. Appleby. St. Helena-R. W. Barnwell, Jos. Daniel Pope. St. James', Goose Creek-John M. Shingler, C. P. Brown. St. James', Santee-Daniel DuPre, A. Mazyck. St. John's, Berkeley-William Cain, P. G. 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