SMITH, William Loughton, diplomatist, born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1758; died there in 1812. He was educated in England, and in Geneva, Switzerland. studied law in the Middle Temple, and returned to Charleston in 1783, after an absence of thirteen years. He was twice chosen to the legislature, and was one of the governor's council. In 1788 he was elected to the first congress, and his was the first contested election case before that body, his opponent being Dr. David Ramsay, the historian. Mr. Smith was sustained with only one negative vote. He was an able and frequent debater, advocating, among other measures, a commercial treaty with England instead of France. When Jay's treaty was before the senate, he was burnt in effigy in Charleston, in the outburst of public feeling against it. He became charge d'affaires to Portugal in 1797. In 1800 he was transferred to the Spanish mission, which he held till 1801. He supported the administrations of Washington and Adams, but was a vehement opponent of Jefferson, against whose pretensions to the presidency he published a pamphlet. His other works include "Speeches in the House of Representatives of the United States" (London, 1794); " Address to his Constituents " (1794): " Fourth-of-July Oration" (1796); "Comparative View of the Constitution of the States" (Philadelphia, 1796); and several essays, published under the signature of "Phocion" as" American Arguments for British Rights" (London, 1806).