Class X-'SA£l__ 
 Book.X_miiM 
 
. •'^^•t'r^;- ■ / ;•- i^i0m^' ' 
 
 MEMOIE 
 
 OF 
 
 - JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 TO THE CITY OF CHARLESTON, 
 
 WHICH HAS RECENTLY EXHIBITED A MAGNIFICENT AND IMPRES;5IVE FUNERAL PAGEANT, 
 
 IN HONOR OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 
 
 THIS MEMOIR IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
 (WITH A PORTRAIT.) 
 
 " Finis vitoe ejus nobis luctuosus, amicis tristis, 
 extraneis etiam ignotisque non sine cura fuit." 
 
 IFROM THE AMERICAN WHIG REVIEW, AUGUST, 1850.] 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY D, W. HOLLY, AMERICAN WHIG REVIEW OFFICE, 
 
 118 Nassau Street. 
 
PROSPECTUS 
 
 OF 
 
 WHIG PORTRAIT GALLERY. 
 
 Iw consequence of the continual "demand for extra copies of the engraved 
 Portraits of living statesmen and politicians, hitherto published in the 
 American Whig Review, the publisher has been induced to issue a 
 bound volume containing the Engravings. The list will embrace those en- 
 graved for the Whig Review^. The plates will be carefolly selected and 
 handsomely bound. Price of the volume of engraved portraits, $3. Orders 
 received at the Office of the Anaerican Whig Review, 118 Nassau street, 
 New York. 
 
 It will be sent by raail to orders encloeirog the price. 
 
 LIST OF PORTRAITS. 
 
 
 Hon. Abbott Lawrence, - - of Mass. S Hon. Daniel Webster, 
 Benj. F. Porter, - - - - Ala. \ " J. J. Crittenden, 
 Reverdy Johnson, - - - Md. ^ " Rufus Choate, 
 Geo. W. Crawford, Sec. of War. > Gen. Winfield Scott, 
 
 • - of Mass. 
 
 - - Ky. 
 
 Mass. 
 
 - U. S. A. 
 
 Wm. M. Meredith, Sec. of Treas. I Hon. J. Hampden Plea&ants, - - Va. 
 
 Wm. B. Preston, Sec. ef Navy. 
 
 Roger S. Baldwin, - - Conn. 
 Gov. Geo. N. Briggs, - - - - Mass. 
 Hon. Henrt W. Hilliaro, - - Ala. 
 
 Tho*. H. Ewing, Sec. of Home Dep. s 
 
 John Davis, ----- Mass. 
 
 Jos. R. Chandler, - - - Pa. 
 
 R. Toombs, ----- Geo. 
 
 Richard Yeadon, - - - S. C. 
 
 Willie P. MANorai, - - N. C. 
 
 Judge Story, - - - - Mass. 
 
 J. P. Kennedy, - - - 
 
 H. S. Legare, - - - 
 
 (( 
 
 n 
 
 {( 
 u 
 t< 
 
 (( 
 (( 
 (( 
 (( 
 
 Tho». Co-rwin, - - ■ 
 J. Mines Bott», - - 
 
 R. C. WiNTHROP, - • 
 
 JtTDGE Kent, - - - 
 Daniel D. Barnard-, 
 J. R. Underwood, 
 J. R. Ingersoll, - • 
 Samuel Vinton, - - 
 Wm. H. Seward, - ■ 
 
 Gov. Hamilton Fish, - - 
 
 Gen. Z. Taylor, - - - Pres. U. S. 
 
 Md. ^s Hon. M. Fillmore, Vice Pre*., U. S. 
 
 S. C. J Hod. T. Butler King, - - - Geo. 
 
 u 
 (( 
 
 u 
 (I 
 
 - Ohio. 
 
 - - Va. 
 
 - Mass. 
 
 - N. Y. 
 
 - - Ky. 
 
 - -Pa. 
 
 - - Ohio. 
 
 - N. y. 
 
 J. Q. Adams, - - ■ 
 H. Clay, ... - 
 Theo. Frelinghuysen, 
 Geo. Evans, - - - - 
 Samuel S. Phelps, - 
 
 Mass. s 
 
 ■ Ky. J 
 N.J. \ 
 - Me. J 
 
 ■ Vt. ^ 
 
 u 
 
 (( 
 n 
 
 Wm. L. Dayton, - - - N. J. 
 J. CoLLAMER, Post MastCT General. 
 Was-hinoton Hunt, - - N. Y. 
 J. McP. Berrien, - - - Geo. 
 J. C. Calhoun, - - - - S. C. 
 
 PLATES or THE REVIEW.—NOTICE, 
 
 agents are not ACTHORISED to sell PLATKS for the review, except the bound VOLUME 
 
 advertised above. 
 
^L- 
 
 \' liKN'-ll'IW 
 
y ■ 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 TO THE CITY OF CHARLESTON, 
 
 WHICH HAS RECENTLY EXHIBITED A MAGNIFICENT AND IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL PAGEANT, 
 
 IN HONOR OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS DE/J), 
 
 THIS MEMOIR IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
 [FROM THE AMERICAN WHIG REVIEW, AUG. 1850.] 
 
 ♦* Finis vitae ejus nobis luctuosus, amicis tristis, 
 extraneis etiam igaotisque non sine curSi fuit." 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY D, W. HOLLY, AMERICAN WHIG REVIEW OFFICE, 
 
 118 Nassau Street. 
 
(5i^!l5-^ 
 
JOM CALDWELL CALHOim. 
 
 To the City of Charleston, which has recently exhibited a magnificent and impressive funeral pageant, 
 in honor of the illustrious dead, this Memoir is respectfully dedicated. 
 
 MEMOIE. 
 
 The death of this ilkistrious citizen, 
 long identified with the public service, and 
 mourned with a depth of sorrow more gen- 
 eral, more solemn, and more impressive, 
 than has ever distinguished any statesman 
 Bince the decease of Washington, renders 
 the tribute of praise, at once an ap- 
 propriate and first duty. The deference 
 which men of all classes pay to great abili- 
 ties and incorruptible integrity, is a tribute 
 due to a sense of the immortality of the 
 soul and to the eminent superiority of vir- 
 tue. When a life is found to be full of ex- 
 hibitions of an exalted mind, and of de- 
 votion to principles of honor and moral- 
 ity, men, irrespective of mere diiference of 
 opinion, award it, involuntarily, the high- 
 est homage of their good opinion. Envy 
 itself, which always accompanies the steps 
 of the good man, and detracts from his 
 fame and misconstrues his motives, worn 
 out in the contest, perishes on his grave : 
 and contemporaries, who are ever distrust- 
 ful of success, and invidious in concessions 
 to merit, are the first to hang willows over 
 the bier of one, no longer capable of ex- 
 citing jealousy, or of triumphing in the 
 race of life. 
 
 It has been remarked, not unfrequcntly, 
 with loss of surprise than of disparagement, 
 
 that Mr. Calhoun had a hold on the affec- 
 tions of the people of South Carolina, un- 
 equalled in the history of public men. This 
 veneration for his person and opinions, has 
 often been attributed to the predominence 
 of a popular leader over the dependent, 
 yielding mind of the public. This suppo- 
 sition is untrue. If asked to state the rea- 
 son, which more than any other, caused the 
 extraordinary popularity of this statesman, 
 we would say, it was his stainless honor 
 and incorruptible good faith. Out of 
 these virtues, incomparable as they were, 
 grew his self denial, amidst the promptings 
 of ambition; his firmness in the cause of 
 ri<Tht ! 
 
 We will not say that, in every instance, 
 Mr. Calhoun saw the future with a per- 
 fectly true glance ; or that the objects at 
 which he looked, invariably sent back into 
 his orb of vision, a reflection entirely cor- 
 rect, not sometimes broken by the me- 
 dia intervening — not occasionally obscured 
 by rather hastily formed conjectures — 
 But this we believe — He ever looked 
 at things with honest intent — with an 
 anxious wish to ascertain the truth, and to 
 avoid evil ; and he both honestly and boldlj 
 spoke out what he conceived of the mis- 
 chiefs or advantages presented to his mind. 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, 
 
 Mr. Calhoun was not ambitious in the 
 sense in which that term has been used 
 with reference to his motives and acts. 
 He was desirous, ardently desirous, of being 
 known as the advocate of the solid truths 
 of politics. For the vanities of the posi- 
 tion of a statesman he never longed ; 
 and, therefore, to obtain them, never con- 
 ciliated or bargained. He fixed his mind 
 on justice, on principle, on the essence of 
 the mutual obligations arising between gov- 
 ernments and the people ; and to assert 
 these he poured forth from the copious 
 fountains of his intellect and his heart, the 
 most brilliant offerings, and most profound 
 devotion. We are confident that for sta- 
 tion and dignity, independently of the right 
 and glory of the means by which attained, 
 he cared nothing. " Sir," said he to the 
 writer, while in Charleston, on the last 
 journey he made to Washington, " The 
 Presidency has not been in my thoughts 
 for ten years. I would not take public 
 office at the sacrifice of what is due to my 
 own independence, or to my own opinions, 
 still less by waving the most immaterial 
 riffht to which my fellow-countrymen are 
 entitled." Mr. Calhoun's whole life at- 
 tests the sincerity and truth of this declara- 
 tion. Like the great Halifax, so power- 
 fully described by Macaulay, his public 
 career shows the prominent fixct, that, if 
 ever he did vary his opinions, the change 
 was never from the weaker to the stronger 
 side. Public sentiment may, as is often 
 said, be a foir indication of what is proper 
 to be done in a majority of instances ; but 
 it is not always right ; and certainly he 
 who withstands it, if he furnishes no evi- 
 dence of his superiority in judgment, gives 
 incontestable proof of his candor and firm- 
 ness. From the mass of politicians de- 
 lineated by history, posterity delights to 
 distinsruish those, who amidst groat imput- 
 ed defects of character, and many errors of 
 mind, have still preserved their scntuuents 
 
 inviolate — who, though mingled with all 
 the slanders of the times in which they 
 lived ; and, notwithstanding, the tempta- 
 tions of place ; the corruptions of party, 
 and the persecutions of opponents, have no- 
 bly maintained the truth, and resolutely spo- 
 ken for the right. On the contrary, however 
 successful they ma\ have been for the period 
 of elevation, and during the exercise of the 
 power of patronage, mankind with one ac- 
 cord, the impious seductions of the age re- 
 moved, condemn the dishonorable acts of the 
 Machiavels and Woolseys of every time and 
 country. The world is constantly deplor- 
 ing, and yet, while the thing is passing be- 
 fore it, constantly sustaining, the weaknesses 
 and illusions of politics. Every revolution 
 is based on a necessity for checking the 
 corruptions of the dynasty preceding ; and 
 yet, the succession falls into the debauch- 
 eries of the power existing before. A mild 
 and virtuous leader, raised up for the oc- 
 casion, possessed of f;iculties to command 
 the public voice and concentrate its suffrage, 
 scarcely finds himself successful, before he 
 discovers that he must be unjust. All that 
 is violent in partizanship must succeed to 
 whatever is sacred in principle ; ability and 
 honesty must be sacrificed to expediency, 
 and the fortunate politician must practice 
 guilt as if it were public virtue, and con- 
 demn integrity as if it were depravity. The 
 country in which we live presents, it is 
 true, exceptions ; but such have never been 
 successful politicians. Public honors have 
 fled from the statesman most worthy to 
 wear them, and swelled the triumphs of 
 those who have been dissolute in their pub- 
 lic lives. 
 
 When we assert that Mr. Calhoun was 
 not one of this latter class, we intend to 
 raise no issue whatever with respect to the 
 correctness of his views, considered as 
 mere abstract political sentiment. Such a 
 course would not only be disrespectful to 
 those generous men who have entertained 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 opposite opinions, and who have opened 
 bosoms, long mailed in the armour of vigor- 
 ous conflicts, and poured out from them 
 matrnanimous streams of eulogium and elo- 
 quence ; but would be unsuited to the 
 solemnity of the occasion of this memoir. 
 As the evil he has done, if any, must be 
 buried with him, so should all recollection 
 of the violent controversies of his day be 
 alike consigned to the tomb. The storms 
 and agitations of the various political ques- 
 tions in which he engaged, have, we hope, 
 passed away ; and friends and enemies alike 
 sorrowing — alike relieved of prejudices and 
 disarmed of resentments, amidst the de- 
 departing rays of the sun of his last day, 
 may stand in harmony around his grave, 
 and multiply the records of his memorable 
 devotion to the public service. 
 
 We do not intend to seek out for appro- 
 bation or condemnation, any of those lead- 
 ing topics which, during Mr. Calhoun ''s pub- 
 lic life, produced so much controversy, and 
 in respect to which the people of the United 
 States have been so divided. We seek to 
 give a history of, rather than a criticism on, 
 Mr. Calhoun's participation in public 
 events. We will not hold a scale by 
 which to determine his consistency or his 
 fluctuations, if guilty of any. The Tariff, 
 the Bank of the United States, State 
 Rights — on all of these, whatever his views, 
 they were invariably entertained in good 
 faith and frankly expressed. His most in- 
 veterate enemy, and who has not such, 
 however pure ! will admit this. In politi- 
 cal fiime, it is not the character of the 
 man's opinions which is to be considered ; 
 it is the honesty, the truthfulness of his 
 conceptions and of his advocacy of them. 
 We may not dwell too minutely on the na- 
 ture of a measure proposed. The human 
 mind is forced to view thinijs through su3h 
 variou.s media, that we may well distrust 
 its judgment. We are compelled as often 
 to blush at following precedents, as at con- 
 
 demning sentiments. But, on questions 
 involving clear principles, we may general- 
 ly express ourselves without reserve. In 
 measures embracing interests and holding 
 in issue the highest obligations, moral and 
 political, we can decide without inflicting 
 pain or exciting animosities. Of this na- 
 ture shall be the incidents of Mr. Calhoun's 
 life, on which we shall hazard approbatory 
 reflections. 
 
 The circumstance which first brought 
 Mr. Calhoun's name before the country, 
 was an Address and Resolutions made to 
 the people of Abbeville District, South 
 Carolina, on the occasion of the attack on 
 the Chesapeake by the Leopard. That 
 brutal violation of the laws of nations and 
 of humanity kindled a flame in every part 
 of the Union. His speech in support of 
 war was a fearless exposition of the privi- 
 leges of American seamen, and an indig- 
 nant denunciation of the cowardly attack 
 which had violated them. It placed him at 
 once so high in public confidence that he was 
 soon after voted into the State Leo;islature. 
 There his brief service was distinguished by 
 a masterly defence and sagacious arrange- 
 ment of the affiiirs of the Republican party. 
 He reviewed the prospects of the country, 
 and predicted the dilSculties in which Eu- 
 rope and the United States would soon be 
 involved. He denounced the restrictive 
 system proposed for the redress of our 
 grievances, and pointed to a war with Eng- 
 land -as both expedient and ine\atable. In 
 order to prevent distraction in the Repub- 
 lican party, he proposed the name of INIr. 
 John Langdon, of New Hampshire, for the 
 Vice-Presidency, under Mr. Madison. 
 
 In 1810, Mr. Calhoun took his seat in 
 the House of Representatives of the United 
 States. The period was pregnant with 
 portentous prospects. War raged over 
 Europe. The Berlin and MHan decrees of 
 France, and the British orders of council 
 had divided the commerce of the world be- 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 tween these nations. The policy, so ear- 
 nestly pressed on the consideration of the 
 people of the Union, of Peace and Non- 
 interference, it was not possible for the 
 government to pursue, without abandon- 
 in'' every rijjht dear to the citizen, and 
 forfeiting every claim to the respect of 
 foreign states. The navy of Great Brit- 
 ain swept the ocean. Flushed with vic- 
 tories, and arrogant under the acknowl- 
 edged title of mistress of the seas, she 
 boldly boarded our vessels, and manned her 
 ships from our crews. Apprehensions that 
 our trade and commerce would sink under 
 resistance, paralyzed for a time the resolu- 
 tion of our people. Embargoes and non- 
 importation acts were the favorite measures 
 of resistance. At this juncture, Mr. Cal- 
 houn entered the arena. He took a promi- 
 nent part in the eiforts to enforce the ne- 
 cessity of immediate preparations for war. 
 The defence of a Report from the Commit- 
 tee on Foreign Relations devolved on him. 
 He met John Randolph, and Philip Barton 
 Key, in the discussion, and placed the 
 question of the propriety of war beyond 
 controversy. His speech wrung laudatory 
 approval from the cautious and capable Mr. 
 Ritchie. He was compared to Hercules 
 with his club ; he was likened in his moral 
 sentiments to Fox ; and when South Caro- 
 lina was congratulated, it was said that 
 Virginia, full as she was of glorious intel- 
 lect, was not so rich but that she might 
 wish him her son The following extract 
 from Mr. Calhoun's speech on the occasion 
 is valuable, as disclosing striking truths, 
 clothed in apt phrase : — 
 
 "We arc next told of the expenses of the 
 war, and that the ifcople will not jiay taxes. 
 Why not "? Is it a want of means ? What, 
 witli I,fl0n,n00 tons of shipping; a commerce 
 of $100,000 000 annually; nianufactiiies 
 yielilinf^ a yearly prolit of ;t!'l-'jO,000,000, and 
 a<4iicultuie tiirice that amount ; shall we, with 
 such great resources, be told that the country 
 waiUs ability to raise and support 10,000 or 
 15,000 additiunal regulars ? No : it has the i 
 
 ability, that is admitted ; but will it not have 
 the disposition 1 Is not our course just and 
 necessary ? Shall we, then, utter this libel on 
 the people 1 Where will proof be found of a 
 fact so disgraceful T It is said, in the history 
 of the country twelve or fifteen years ago. 
 The case is not parallel. The ability of the 
 country is greatly increased since. The whis- 
 key tax was unpopular. But, as well as my 
 memory serves me, the objection was not so 
 much to the tax or its amount as the mode of 
 collecting it. The people were startled by the 
 host of officers, and their love of lil)erty 
 shocked with the multiplicity of regulations. 
 We, in the spirit of imitation, copied from the 
 most oppressive part of the European laws on 
 the subject of taxes, and imposed on a young 
 and virtuous people the severe provisions made 
 necessary by corruption and the long practice 
 of evasion. If taxes should become necessa- 
 ry, I do not hesitate to say the people will pay 
 cheerfully. It is for their government and 
 their cause, and it would be their interest and 
 duty to pay. But it may be, and I believe 
 was .said, that the people will not pay taxes, 
 because the rights violated are not worth de- 
 fending, or that the defence will cost more 
 than the gain. Sir, I here enter my solemn 
 protest against this low- and 'calculating av- 
 arice' entering this hall of legislation. It is 
 only fit for shops and counting-houses, and 
 ought not to disgrace the seat of power by its 
 squalid aspect. Whenever it touches sove- 
 reign power, the nation is ruined. It is too 
 short-sighted to defend itself. It is a com- 
 promising spirit, always ready to yield a part 
 to save the residue. It is too timid to have 
 in itself the laws of self-preservation. It is 
 never safe but under the shield of honor. 
 There is, sir, one principle necessary to make 
 us a great people— to produce, not the form, 
 but real spirit of union, and that is to protect 
 every citizen in the lawful jnirsuitof his busi- 
 ness. He will then feel that he is backed by 
 the government , tliat its arm is his arm. He 
 then will rejoice in its increased strength and 
 prosperity. Protection and patriotism are re- 
 ciprocal. This is the way which has led na- 
 tions to greatness. Sir, I am not versed in 
 this calculating policy, and will not, there- 
 fore, pretend to estimate in dollars and cents 
 the value of national independence. I cannot 
 measure in shillings and peace the misery, the 
 stripes, and the slavery of our impressed sea- 
 men ; nor even the value of our shipping, 
 commercial, and agricultural losses, under the 
 orders in council and the British system of 
 blockade. In thus expressing my.-^elf, I do not 
 intend to condemn any prudent estimate of the 
 means of a country before it enters on a war. 
 That is wisdom, the other folly. The gen- 
 tleman from Virginia has not failed to touch 
 on the calamity of war, that fruitful source of 
 declanialionj by which humanity is made the 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 advocate of submission. If he desires to re- 
 press the gallant ardor of our countrymen by 
 such topics, let me inform him that true cour- 
 age regards only the cause ; that it is just and 
 necessary, and that it contemns the sufferings 
 and dangers of war. If he really wishes well 
 to the cause of humanity, let his eloquence be 
 addressed to the British ministry, and not the 
 American Congress. Tell them that, if they 
 persist in such daring insult and outrages to 
 a neutral nation, however inclined to peace, it 
 will be bound by honor and safety to resist; 
 that their patience and endurance, however 
 great, will be exhausted ; that the calamity of 
 war will ensue, and that they, and not we, in 
 the opinion of the world, will be answerable 
 for all its devastation and misery. Let a re- 
 gard to the interest of humanity stay the hand 
 of injustice, and my life on it, the gentleman 
 will not find it difficult to dissuade his coun- 
 trymen from rushing into the bloody scenes of 
 war." 
 
 Though the first tones of Mr. Calhoun's 
 voice, in public life, were for war, yet they 
 were justified, we humbly believe, in the 
 eyes of the truest advocate of peace. They 
 were spoken to rouse the country to a de- 
 claration of hostilities, for frightful outra- 
 ges on humanity. The people of the 
 United States have no resentment to in- 
 dulge, no revenge to gratify. The judg- 
 ment of Providence has given them the 
 guardianship of that religion and those 
 laws which have so often been the boast 
 and admiration of England herself. Our 
 government is a trustee for those rights, 
 not for itself, not for our citizens alone ; 
 but for all nations, and for all objects dear 
 to civilization and to man. War is the 
 instrument of God, to punish nations. 
 Communities, as such, cannot be avenged 
 in their individuals, for crimes of their 
 rulers. The crimes which might condemn 
 the government, may exempt the citizen ; 
 and if war were not a means in the power 
 of Heaven, the flame of public liberty 
 might be extinguished, and the wrongs of 
 men, as nations, remain forever unredressed. 
 Inexorable tyrants might, with impunity, 
 overrun the peaceful territories of freedom, 
 and millions of suffering human beings be 
 
 subjected to the most severe political op- 
 pressions. When the United States made 
 war on England, these principles were at 
 stake. Had our Government failed to 
 vindicate the aggressions perpetrated, the 
 injuries inflicted on us would have become 
 perpetual exercises of power over the whole 
 civilized world. The United States, in 
 losing her sense of right, would have lost 
 the respect of the world. What we cease 
 to respect, we cease to fear. The nation, 
 now the asylum of the oppressed of all the 
 earth, the centre of free commerce, and 
 the locality of the altars of unrestrained re- 
 ligion, woidd have been, if not a feeble 
 colony of Great Britain, at all events a 
 miserable and weak Republic. Mr. Cal- 
 houn saw the consequences, and did not 
 hesitate to give his powers to the justifica- 
 tion of the principles involved. He sent 
 forth, in trumpet tones, appeals which 
 animated the patriotism of the American 
 peeple, and stirred up the slumbering en- 
 ergies of a previous revolution. He dissi- 
 pated the selfish views and doubting policy 
 of the few who considered, or were alarmed 
 by the probable results of a war with that 
 powerful country ; and substituted, for 
 these thoughts, a patriotic regard for the 
 honor, the rights, and glory of the Repub- 
 lic. In the crisis, he not only bore away 
 victory from all his opponents, but achieved 
 a triumph over himself, the greatest of aU 
 conquests. Had Mr. Calhoun been a mere 
 time-serving politician, had his soul been 
 capable of a selfish thought, now was the 
 time for ascendancy. Full as he was of 
 honors, crowded at every step with eviden- 
 ces of the approbation of the public, he 
 might have secured any place in the gift of 
 the peoi^le. But he had no self love in- 
 consistent with the pm'ity and integrity of 
 his motives ; and, having accomplished the 
 high end for which he had labored, he 
 looked about to see where his country 
 might be next attacked. He saw tlie weak 
 
8 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 point in our internal arrangements. He 
 saw a proclivity in the general government 
 to concentrate power, at the expense of the 
 authority of the States : and, from that 
 tune to the moment of his death, this dan- 
 ger absorbed his thoughts, and directed his 
 course. It was in vain that men looked, 
 and turned away contemptuously, because 
 K they did not see what he did. With eyes 
 i fixed on the future, he turned neither 
 to the right nor the left. He pointed to 
 the dim speck on the horizon, and foretold 
 the coming storm. It was the sole image on 
 his mind's eye. He anticipated terrible ca- 
 lamities ; and, to avert them, determined 
 on new, bold, and to many men, alarming 
 preventives. He left the ranks of a weU 
 organized, prosperous and conquering par- 
 ty ; a party, on whose eagles victory 
 seemed to have perched with strength all 
 powerful, to take an isolated position, 
 where all said he was fighting with a phan- 
 tom. He made all the sacrifices which are 
 thought dear to the human breast. He 
 forcbore the pomp and advantage of a ma- 
 jority, to array himself, with little hope of 
 success, or promise of reward, in the ranks 
 of a small and unpopular minority. May 
 we not, without either approving or con- 
 demning the opinions of this great man, 
 yet give him the just award of possessing a 
 resolute, a conscientious soul ? One 
 which justified right, and contested for 
 truth, in the midst of every disadvantage, 
 and upheld what seemed the right amid the 
 severest opposition ? 
 
 At the same session in which he defended 
 the war, Mr. Calhoun, against the precon- 
 ceived opinions of the body of the Repub- 
 licans, gave his enthusiastic support to 
 measures for the increase of the Navy. 
 To him, to Mr. Lowndes, Mr. Chevesand 
 Mr. Clay, are due all praise for fostering, 
 in its infancy, a branch of the national de- 
 fence, which has won immortal glory for 
 the American name. 
 
 On the retii'ement of Mr. Portor from 
 the position of Chairman on the Committee 
 on Foreign Relations, the duties of that 
 committee, all exceedingly arduous, fell on 
 Mr. Calhoun. He discharged them with 
 an ahilitTj and industry which elicited uni- 
 versal approval. 
 
 At the session of Congress ensuing, Mr. 
 Calhoun rendered a signal service to the 
 commercial interests of the country. A 
 forfeiture of millions of the capital of 
 the country, vested abroad, and under the 
 shape of merchandize, imported into the 
 country, to avoid loss under the non-im- 
 portation act, had been prayed to be re- 
 mitted. This the Secretary of the Treasu- 
 ry had recommended to be done, on the 
 condition that the amount were loaned to 
 the government. Mr. Calhoun, with 
 characteristic honesty, supported the prayer 
 of the petition, but denounced the condi- 
 tion. His efibrts relieved our merchants of 
 this onerous penalty. 
 
 The advocacy of the Loan Bill as ren- 
 dered necessary by the exigencies of the 
 war, gave Mr. Calhoun an opportunity for 
 new displays of eloquence and reasoning. 
 His speech, on that occasion, is a brilliant 
 efibrt ; the power and effect of which, in 
 rousing the mind to a just conception of 
 the duty of sustaining the war, transcended 
 the immediate occasion of its delivery. 
 
 On the great question of a Bank of the 
 United States, in 1814, a measure of the 
 Administration, Mr. Calhoun differed from 
 his party. He opposed the bill which 
 sought to parry out this measure, and re- 
 jected various propositions of his friends to 
 adapt its provisions to his views. 
 
 It would be profitless, perhaps invidious, 
 to survey the particulars of the contest on 
 the Tariff of 1816. A denial of the 
 charge that it was the origin of the Pro- 
 tective system, or the assertion that Mr. 
 Calhoun's opinions, respecting it, have been 
 misrepresented, would awaken sleeping 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 9 
 
 feuds, in wliich party predilections would 
 be substituted for arguments. WhUe, on 
 tbe one band, Mr. Calboun is said to be 
 tbe autbor of tbe system, it is, on tbe otber, 
 asserted tbat circumstances connected witb 
 our foreign relations, and not tbe idea of 
 borne protection, justified tbe support be 
 gave tbe measure. Botb positions bave 
 able and bonest advocates. Botb are, 
 bowever, under tbe influence of long 
 favored attacbments. Tbese sensibly 
 affect tbe judgment ; and like prejudices, 
 growing up witb infancy, and long cber- 
 isbed in manbood, are not easily dissipated, 
 even by tbe rays of reason. 
 
 Of tbe like cbaracter is tbe dispute on 
 Mr. Calboun 's position witb respect to set- 
 ting apart tbe bonus of tbe United States 
 Bank, for Internal Improvement. Mr. 
 Calboun is no longer bcre to defend bis 
 consistency, or to furnisb tbe explanations 
 so necessary to enable men to arrive at 
 trutb. Enemies and friends alike err — tbe 
 former in making too little, tbe latter too 
 niucb allowance. Let tbe contrast, so far 
 as bis memory is concerned, be witbdrawn. 
 Tbe gallant Saladin, and tbe cbivalrous 
 Ricbard of tbe lion's beart, did not tbink 
 it unwortby of tbeir magnanimity or cour- 
 age to decline a combat long maintained 
 vritbout success to eitber. 
 
 Tbe conduct of tbe war department as 
 Secretary under Mr. Monroe, gave Mr. 
 Calboun a very bigb cl^racterfor close in- 
 vestigation and bigb administrative talent. 
 Tbe confused and long unsettled accounts 
 of tbat office engaged bis attention, witb 
 unremitted industry, for seven years. From 
 an office difficult of management, it became 
 one of ease for bis successors. He reform- 
 ed it in many particulars, cleared its affairs 
 of all embarrassments, and literally brougbt 
 order out of cbaos. 
 
 In tbe contest for tbe Presidency, in 
 wbicb Mr. Adams, General Jackson, Mr. 
 Crawford, and Mr. Clay were tbe rival 
 
 candidates, Mr. Calboun, witb rare self- 
 denial baving witbdrawn from tbe field, bad 
 tbe justice awarded bim of being placed on 
 nearly all tbe tickets for tbe Vice-Presi- 
 dency. Having been elected to tbis office, 
 be took bis seat as President of tbe Senate 
 in 1825, and, by tbe exercise of mucb dig- 
 nity and firmness, brougbt tbe position into 
 very great distinction. It was cbaraeteris- 
 tic of Mr. Calboun, tbat in all bis public 
 acts, be leaned against power. Tbis was 
 never more prominently displayed tban in 
 bis decision of an important point arising 
 in tbe debate on tbe celebrated Panama mis- 
 sion. Mr. Randolpb bad made on tbis ques- 
 tion a most scatbing attack on tbe admin- 
 istration. In reference to it, Mr. Calboun, 
 as presiding officer of tbe Senate, decided 
 tbat be bad no power to restrain a Senator 
 in respect to words spoken in debate. Out 
 of tbat decision arose a controversy engag- 
 ing all tbe powers and prejudices of friends 
 and opponents of tbe administration No 
 one ever doubted Mr. Calbovm's bonesty of 
 purpose in tbis decision, or tbe superiority 
 of bis defence, under tbe signature of 
 "Onslow." 
 
 Mingling in tbe conflicts arising on tbe 
 Tariff of 1S28, and in connection witb tbe 
 efforts to defeat Mr. Adams on a second 
 election, Mr. Calboun was placed in a posi- 
 tion to display, in strong ligbt, bis extra- 
 ordinary resistance to party ties in tbe per- 
 formance of duty. Tbe contest in respect 
 to tbe Tariff bad nearly equally divided 
 tbe Senate. To avoid tbe consequences of 
 a tie vote, INIr. Calboun, wbo was on tbe 
 ticket witb General Jackson for tbe Vice- 
 Presidency, was advised to witbdraw from 
 bis seat. He indignantly refused — deter- 
 mined, as be declared, to risk all bope of 
 advancement for bimself, ratber tban sbrink 
 from bis duty. In order to avoid, bowever, 
 tbe possibility of injuring tbe prospects of 
 General Jackson, be declared bis willing- 
 ness to take bis name from tbe ticket. 
 
10 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 We pass ovei- various particulars in the 
 history of Mr. Calhoun's distinguished ser- 
 vices in the Cabinet of Mr. Monroe, m the 
 Vice-Presidency and in the Senate, all ex- 
 hibiting the superiority of his judgment and 
 the sincerity of his attachment to the Con- 
 stitution and the Union. We will pause to 
 consider that period, when, having done so 
 much to elevate General Jackson, he was 
 treacherously superseded in his confidence. 
 We will not examine into the causes of that 
 event — we will not gather up the nearly 
 extinguished sparks from the ashes of that 
 disgraceful and scandalous quarrel, in which 
 the only decency and moderation were dis- 
 played by its victim. 
 
 Two acts of Mr. Calhoun in the sessions 
 of 1814, 1815, and 1816, have been the 
 subject of frequent animadversion and de- 
 fence. It will be understood we refer to 
 the bill reported by him to set apart and 
 pledge the bonus of the United States 
 Bank, as a fund for Internal Improvement, 
 and his assent to the policy of the Bank, 
 recommended by Mr. Madison. It is 
 enough to say here, in regard to these 
 measures, that, with respect to the first, 
 Mr. Calhoun, as we understand, has never 
 denied that it was his early impression that 
 the constitutional power of Congress over 
 Internal Improvement was comprehended 
 under the money power. The error, as he 
 believed, of this view, was soon developed, 
 and the promptest confession of it made. 
 In reference to the Bank, Mr. Calhoun has 
 ever insisted that he yielded to the necessi- 
 ty for its establishment, in view of the 
 peculiar position of the country and its 
 finances at the time, and not of its general 
 policy or constitutionality. 
 
 We come to the exciting topic of State 
 Interposition. Out of the opposition of the 
 South to the Tariff of 1828, this doctrine 
 began to be developed. From the long 
 fallow ground of the Virginia and Kentucky 
 resolutions the seeds of this principle were 
 
 gathered, and scattered in a new soil. 
 They grew and flourished luxuriantly in 
 the South, and received the early and warm 
 encouragement of Mr. Calhovm. The 
 " South Carolina Exposition and Protest 
 on the TariS"," adopted by the Legislature 
 of that State, was understood to have been 
 proposed by Mr. Calhoun. The following 
 extract from a docmuent by Mr. Calhoun, 
 embraces the leading featm-es of this doc- 
 trine : — 
 
 " The great and leading principle is, that 
 the General Government emanated from the 
 several states, forming distinct political com- 
 munities, and acting in their separate and sove- 
 reign capacity, and not from all of the people 
 forming one aggregate political community; 
 that the Constitution of the United States is, 
 in fact, a compact, to which each state is a 
 party, in the character already described ; and 
 that the several states or parties have a right 
 to judge of its infractions, and, in case of a 
 deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of 
 power not delegated, they have the right, in 
 the last resort, to use the language of the Vir- 
 ginia resolutions, ' to interpose for arresting 
 the progress of the evil, and for maintaining^ 
 within their respective limits, the authorities, 
 rights, and liberties, appertaining to them.'' 
 This right of interposition, thus solemnly as- 
 serted by the State of Virginia, be it called 
 what it may, state-right, veto, nullification, or 
 by any other name, I conceive to be the fun- 
 damental principle of our system, resting on 
 facts historically as certain as our Revolution 
 itself, and deductions as simple and demon- 
 strative as that of any political or moral truth 
 whatever ; and I firmly believe, that on its 
 recognition depends the stability and safety of 
 our political institutions. 
 
 " I am not ignorant that those opposed to 
 the doctrine have always, now and formerly, 
 regarded it in a very different light, as anar- 
 chical and revolutionar}-. Could I believe 
 such, in fact, to be its tendency, to me it would 
 be no recommendation. I yield to none, I 
 trust, in a deep and sincere attachment to our 
 political institutions, and the union of these 
 states. I never breathed an opposite senti- 
 ment ; but, on the contrary, I have ever con- 
 sidered them the great instrument of preserv- 
 ing our liberty, and promoting the happiness 
 of ourselves and our posterity ; and, next to 
 these, I have ever held them most dear. 
 Nearly half my life has passed in the service 
 of the" Union, and whatever public reputation 
 I have acquired is indissolubly identified with 
 it. To be too national, has, indeed, been con- 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 11 
 
 sidered by many, even of myfiiends, to be my 
 greatest political fault. With these strong 
 feelings of attachment, I have examined, whh 
 the utmost care, the bearing of the doctrine in 
 question ; and so far from anarchical or revo- 
 lutionary, I solemnly believe it to be the only 
 solid foundation of our system, and of the 
 Union itself, and that the opposite doctrine, 
 which denies to the states the right of protect- 
 ing their several powers, and which would 
 vest in the General Government (it matters not 
 through what department) the right of deter- 
 mining, exclusively and finally, the powers 
 delegated to it, is incompatible with the sove- 
 reignty of the states and of the Constitution 
 itself, considered as the basis of a Federal 
 Union. As strong as this language is, it is 
 not stronger than that used by the illustrious 
 Jefferson, who said, to give the General Gov- 
 ernment the final and exclusive right to judge 
 of its powers, is to make ' its discretion, and 
 not the Constitution, the measure of its poivers ;'' 
 and that ' in all cases of compact between par- 
 ties having no common judge for itself, as u-ell 
 of the infraction as of the mode and measure of 
 redress.'' Language cannot be more explicit, 
 nor can higher authority be adduced." 
 
 But how shall we treat this important 
 period in Mr. Calhoun's life } How speak 
 of his views, without giving oflfence ? How 
 sball we mention the arguments, and re- 
 late the incidents of Nullification, without 
 awakening the prejudices and heart-burn- 
 ings of the times ? How shall we do jtts- 
 tice to Mr. Calhoun's sentiments, without 
 wrono-ins; the sentiments of others ? The 
 cause that produced this fearful controver- 
 sy was removed. The quarrel which shook 
 the faith of men in the stability of our 
 government, was adjusted. Great God ! 
 bless the noble spirits who substituted 
 peace for war ! Immortal be the mem- 
 ory of the statesmen who looked beyond 
 the animosities of a moment — who, in 
 the midst of the excesses of the times, 
 animated by holy emotions of patriotism, 
 resolved, by honorable concession and com- 
 promise, to preserve and perpetuate the 
 union of these States ! 
 
 During the pendency of this question, 
 tlie most momentous that ever agitated the 
 country, Mr. Calhoun engaged into an in- 
 tellectual conflict with Daniel Webster. 
 
 Never had the world listened to finer ex- 
 hibitions of mind. The ' rolling words of 
 the great New Englander came like the 
 swelling bosom of the great father of waters, 
 exciting terrible apprehensions of danger 
 to the Union. The keen logic, the clear 
 conceptions of his opponent, filled the 
 whole horizon with effulgence. 
 
 While the giants were contesting the 
 field, victory now inclining to the one, now 
 to the other, the issue uncertain — dreaded 
 by all men, the great chieftian of compro- 
 mises stepped into the arena, and threw up 
 the weapons of the combatants. He, whose 
 life was ever superior to the advantage of 
 the moment. He, who revives, in our 
 time, the most glorious conceptions of 
 Cicero. He, who, when others strove for 
 the triumphs of party, snatched from des- 
 tiny the victories of conciliation ; introdu- 
 ced his celebrated bill of Compromise, and 
 dispelled the storm. Mr. Calhoun was not 
 behind Henry Clay in magnanimity and 
 love of country. If not the first to pro- 
 pose the compromise, he was the first to 
 accept it. If, as most falsely charged, he 
 was ambitious of a Southern Presidency, 
 he would never have gone forth so readily 
 to accept, on the part of the South, the 
 proffered olive branch. He stood first in 
 the Northern States. Never had the 
 people of these States been so united in 
 opposition, never so warm in their confi- 
 dence in Mr. Calhoun Had their Union 
 been dissolved, he would have been the first 
 spuit in the South ; and this he knew. 
 But no one rejoiced more than he did, that 
 the day of tranquility had returned. That 
 the conflict was at an end, and the Union 
 saved. In the most inclement season, he 
 hm'ried to South Carolina, where resistance 
 had assumed a most decided aspect, and, 
 by his influence, induced the State to yield 
 to peaceful interference. No man in the 
 United States could have produced the 
 result but Mr. Calhoun : and the anxiety 
 
12 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 with which he pressed this Compromise, 
 attests, beyond question, his love for the 
 Union. Dissimulation has never found a 
 place in Mr. Calhoun's heart. Had he 
 desired a dissolution of the confederacy, he 
 would have avowed the wish fearlessly, and 
 without equivocation. But he believed 
 that the dangers of a consolidation were 
 upon us ; and if, out of his intense study 
 of a means to avert them, he came to con- 
 clusions, and pressed abstractions, the truth 
 of which did not strike other men, it does 
 not follow that he was not entirely honest 
 in his belief of their efiicacy and veracity. 
 
 Shall we probe further the wounds of 
 this controversy ^ Shall we draw aside the 
 pall covering the relics of a strife, at rest, 
 we trust, for all future time ? Shall we, 
 like opposing fanatics, as was done in the 
 case of William, the Norman, engage in 
 repeated exhumations, in order to indulge 
 in the ostentation of repeated funeral ser- 
 vices ? Who would be benefitted, who 
 convinced ? Let the storm rest ! The 
 winds are still ! The surface of the sea 
 is calm and undisturbed. The clouds 
 are receding from the overhanging canopy, 
 and men breathe freely. Out of the east, 
 a new sun, the successor of that which yes- 
 terday declined in clouds, is beginning to 
 rise, and pour its healthful rays over the 
 land. Brethren of the same household are 
 rejoicing in its splendor. May it warm and 
 light them forever ! May no dismal shad- 
 ows intervene, and obscure its beams — but, 
 full of luxuriance, may the land teem 
 with life, all busy in the ark of peace, all 
 faithful in devotion to the Union ! 
 
 On the adjustment of the Tariff question, 
 Mr. Calhoun gave himself, with great en- 
 ergy, to his labors as a Senator, in the more 
 general measures in which the country was 
 interested. Attached as he had been from 
 principle to the party of General Jackson ; 
 desirable as it evidently was on the part of 
 his friends to bring about a reconciliation, 
 and to aid the administration with his tal- 
 
 ents and influence, he did no act, he said 
 no word, indicating a desire to reconcile 
 past differences, or to avail himself of sup- 
 port. He felt he had nothing to atone for, 
 and, therefore, had none of the successes of 
 compliance. 
 
 He displayed his independence of party 
 ties prominently in the memorable debate 
 on the Removal of the Dcposites ; — he 
 condemned the dismissal of INIr. Duane, as 
 an abuse of power ; and, though he ex- 
 posed such defects of a national banking 
 system, he did not hesitate to deny the right 
 of the Secretary to withhold the deposits, 
 while the Bank performed its obligations 
 faithfully. He predicted in a speech of 
 extraordinary ability, various errors in the 
 management of the currency. He de- 
 nounced, with temperate but decided ex- 
 pression, the reception of the celebrated 
 Protest of the President ; and placed the 
 powers of the several departments of the 
 Government under the Constitution in a 
 novel and satisfactory light. He raised by 
 motion a Committee of Inquiry into the 
 abuses of Executive patronage — the able 
 report of which committee, prepared and 
 submitted by himself, astounded the coun- 
 try as to the extent of that corrupt system ; 
 and produced a more powerful and just re- 
 action against the administration than any 
 effort of its avowed opponents. With a 
 mind settled in its convictions as to 
 the powers of a National Bank, and of 
 State Banking institutions, as vehicles for 
 the dispensing of the money patronage of 
 he Government, he conceived and advo- 
 cated the adopting the principle of that 
 scheme, since carried into effect under the 
 name of the Sub-Treasury. The Specie 
 Circular next occupied his attention. He 
 denied the authority of the President to 
 issue the order on which it was based ; but 
 rc'rardinf' the mischiefs of the step as be- 
 yond remedy, declined voting on the ques- 
 tion of its revision. 
 
 It was at this juncture that the political 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 sky began to overcast with the approaching 
 Abolition storm. The immediate fears on 
 this subject was removed by the firmness of 
 Mr. Calhoun, who, forseeing the danger of 
 receiving petitions on this topic, which be- 
 gan to overload the tables of Congress, by 
 his arguments and influence, procured the 
 settlement of a precedent against their re- 
 ception. On the question of the admission 
 of Michigan, the danger spread again. 
 Mr. Calhoun, was opposed to admitting a 
 State on the authority of a mere informal 
 meeting of the people inhabiting a terri- 
 tory. His views are presented m the follow- 
 ino; brief extract : — 
 
 " My opinion was, and still is, that the 
 movement of the people of Michigan, in form- 
 ing for themselves a State constitution, with- 
 out waiting for the assent of Congress, was 
 revolutionary, as it threw off the authority of 
 the United States over the territory ; and that 
 we were left at liberty to treat the proceedings 
 as revolutionary, and to remand her to her ter- 
 ritorial condition, or to waive the irregularity, 
 and to recognize what wa.> done as rightfully 
 done, as our authority was alone concerned. 
 " A territory cannot be admitted till she be- 
 comes a State ; and in this 1 stand on the au- 
 thority of the Constitution itself, which ex- 
 pressly limits the power of Congress to ad- 
 mit new states into the Union. But, if the 
 Constitution had been silent, he would indeed 
 be ignorant of the character of our political 
 system, who did not see that states, sovereign 
 and independen* communities, and not territo- 
 ries, can only be admitted. Ours is a union 
 of states, a Federal Republic. States, and not 
 territories, form its component parts, bound to- 
 gether by a solemn league, in the form of a 
 constitutional co.mpact. In coming into the 
 Union, the state pledges its faith to this sacred 
 compact: an act which none but a sovereign 
 and independent community is competent to 
 perform ; and, of course, a territory must first 
 be raised to that condition before she can take 
 her stand among the confederated states of 
 our Union. How can a territory pledge its 
 faith to the Constitution 1 It has no will of 
 its own. You give it all its powers, and you 
 can at pleasure overrule all her actions. If 
 she enters as a territory, the act is yours, not 
 hers. Her consent is nothing without your 
 authority and sanction. Can you, can Con- 
 gress become a party to the constitutional 
 compact 1 How absurd." 
 
 This view of the subject was novel then 
 
 — it is novel now. The question has been 
 since raised on the admission of California, 
 but the grounds on which Mr. Calhoun 
 placed it, have been entirely overlooked. 
 
 Our limits will not permit us to follow 
 Mr. Calhoun's brilliant career through the 
 minor phases of his public life. We pass 
 to two great and wonderful exhibitions of 
 his mind and integi-ity. We leave out of 
 view his able speeches on the McLoud 
 matter ; Mr. Crittenden's resolutions to 
 permit the interference of executive officers 
 in elections ; the Veto power ; the Bank- 
 rupt bill ; and look to his services on the 
 Oregon question. In this controversy Mr. 
 Calhoun saw but the great interests of the 
 nation, and the justice of her position. He 
 became the great, the leading advocate of 
 peace. He threw his influence into the 
 scale at the very moment when that influ- 
 ence was most needed, and could be most 
 powerfully felt. He performed an act 
 which both God and man approved. He 
 rose superior to the excitements of the oc- 
 casion. He repelled from his breast the 
 national feelings, which so frequently rule 
 the judgment. He rejected the prejudices 
 which grow up in the American heart 
 against English power ; and, in the act, 
 anticipated the happiness of millions. Few 
 can estimate the value of Mr. Calhoun's 
 services in the adjustment of this interna- 
 tional difficulty. Had Mr. Calhoun no 
 other claim to the favor of his countrymen, 
 that were enough to secure for his name 
 immortality. We are disgusted with the 
 idea of the crime and guilt which would 
 have followed a war with Great Britain on 
 the Oregon question ; and in proportion to 
 our detestation of an unjust war rises our 
 respect for Mr. Calhoun's noble efibrt to 
 avert it. We almost tremble when we sur- 
 vey the consequences which would have 
 ensued. We blush to view the pretexts 
 set up for a resort to arms. Is our nation 
 — one boasting its foundation on principles 
 
14 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 of pacification and good order, to go to 
 war, only for success ? Are human beings, 
 proud of tlieir residence in a land of liberty 
 and laws, to contest as wild beasts, vaunt- 
 ing of their strength and struggling only 
 for spoils ? Is the commerce of all civilized 
 countries to be wrecked, the peaceful fields 
 of agriculture to be rendered desolate; are 
 men to be butchered, and widows and or- 
 phans to be left mourning, merely to gratify 
 the ambition of party leaders, and to min- 
 ister to the vain externals of politics? 
 "Who — what advocate of that war ever 
 promised himself, or his country, or the 
 cause of humanity, a single advantage 
 which it were not a crime to boast ? Who, 
 in seeing that chivalrous spirit who inter- 
 posed his magnanimous efforts to remove 
 all cause of difficulty, did not feel honor, 
 truth, justice, were all vindicated in their 
 own temple, and the cause of universal 
 peace among men subserved ? 
 
 It is scarcely necessary for us to say that 
 there are many things in the course of Great 
 Britain we do not approve. But, we also 
 declare, there are some things we venerate 
 and respect. Our memory dwells with 
 pleasure on the fact, that we have sprung 
 from her ; that we have been taught the 
 puiity of our language, amidst the glorious 
 remains of her literature, and to appreciate 
 the beauties of art and philosophy in her 
 splendid monuments of genius. We take 
 dclif'-ht in the recollection that we were in- 
 structed by her in our Religion and Laws, 
 and in our first rudiments of civil freedom. 
 That her Magna Charta extends its rays to 
 our institutions, and that the blood of Rus- 
 Bcll and Sydney sprinkled the door-posts of 
 our dwellings, and exempted us from poli- 
 tical death. To us, with these emotions, 
 the settlement of the c;uisc of this last dis- 
 pute brought the noblest reflections. And 
 to the memory of him, who, more than any 
 patriot and statesman, was the instrument, 
 nay, the conqueror, of peace, wc would 
 
 give the best and highest rewards which a 
 grateful country can bestow. 
 
 Scarcely had this afiair been settled, 
 before another cloud rose on the horizon. 
 The long agitated question of interference 
 with slavery in the District of Columbia, 
 and the new territories, was opened to wide 
 and intemperate debate. Ever jealous of 
 the slightest invasion of the constitution — 
 ever believing the South, in respect to this 
 institution, in peril, Mr. Calhoun, in feeble 
 health, hurried to his post. 
 
 It were fruitless to open the book of this 
 controversy over Mr. Calhoun's bier. The 
 South knows the wrong done her in regard 
 to this topic ; she knows the moral and 
 political influences that crowd around the 
 question ; but the whole world knows her 
 arguments of right, and her means of re- 
 pelling attack. She will make no boast of 
 her chivalry, and hesitate long to anticipate 
 the judgment of posterity as to her patriot- 
 ism. If these have not been attested in 
 many well fought fields in the Revolutionary 
 and late wars, she claims no privilege of 
 beino- further heard. On the facts of her 
 slave institutions she makes no explanation, 
 and requires no apology. She will arbitrate 
 mere difi"erences of opinion with any power, 
 but will yield no right in which the integ- 
 rity of the Constitution and the principles 
 of political liberty are at issue. For the 
 protection of those, she places herself on the 
 moral force of natural laws, and will never 
 resort to physical means of defence, till all 
 peaceful agencies are exhausted. 
 
 Will it be said — " This is Disunion ? " 
 Not so. Much as we revere the institutions 
 of our State — far as we would commit our- 
 selves for their preservation — we cannot 
 doubt, we never have doubted, we never 
 will doubt the virtue of loving the Union, 
 and guarding its inviolability. It is true, 
 as was said by Mr. Calhoun, declarations 
 will not preserve it. But it is equally true 
 that sentiments give direction to actions. 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 15 
 
 Though the greatest security of it will be 
 found in the most faithful observance of the 
 obligations of the Constitution ; this fact 
 does not forbid our contemplating with 
 alarm the consequences of a dissolution. 
 This great confederacy of States, consi- 
 dered irrespective of a centralizing power, 
 which micrht be used as a means of destruc- 
 tion to the authority of the States several- 
 ly, ■\^ewed in connection with the history of 
 its origin, with the characters of the im- 
 mortal men who originated and have sus- 
 tained the Union, — certainly is beyond all 
 value. No speculation can be indulged as 
 to its worth to posterity and to us, in these 
 respects ; no standard of appreciation can 
 be formed to designate its relative price. It 
 is a sacred heir-loom of a family, having 
 higher claims to respect than its age or its 
 parents ; its value consists in the memory 
 of the ancestry which first achieved it ; in 
 the honorable recollections of the triumphs 
 amidst which it was won and worn. Its 
 worth is at once moral and traditionary. 
 It is full of past glory, of present respect, 
 of future hope. It is the title, the dignity, 
 the birth-record of freedom ; the evidence 
 of all that is noble in the history of her 
 noblest contests. Adorninor and enrichintr 
 the story of our country, it comes to us 
 pregnant with proofs of struggles and suc- 
 cesses which were national at first, are na- 
 tional now, and should be national to the 
 last. How can this relic be divided.' Who 
 shall take Bunker Hill, Eutaw, Saratoga, or 
 the Palmetto Fort in the partition of these 
 gloiies ? How, when we come to make up 
 the list of the sacrifices and the victims of 
 the Revolution, shall we divide them.' 
 Long be the period removed, when pos- 
 terity shall throng about the resting 
 places of the illustrious dead, and prepare 
 to divide the sacred inheritance ! 
 
 We approach the close of Mr. Calhoun's 
 life. The human mind must necessarily 
 pass through a trial, when in great calam- 
 
 ity it is called to recognise the superior 
 wisdom of God's judgment, and to practice 
 resignation amidst its griefs. The vivid 
 intellect was declining at a time of great 
 danger to the principles he had so long de- 
 fended, and which had so long filled his 
 thoughts. On one occasion he said, he 
 desired to be heard as one asking noth- 
 ing for himself, but whose only wish 
 was to see his country free, prosperous and 
 happy. The same sentiment was on his 
 lips when he died. The man who conquers 
 the cruel terrors of death — who looks iu 
 the trying moment of dissolution, not on his 
 own immortality on earth, but to the im- 
 mortality of his country — who, anxious for 
 her liberty, overcomes the shock of disease, 
 the spectacle of a mourning wife and chil- 
 dren — whose last words attest his devotion 
 to the perpetuity of the Constitution, — is 
 surely a Patriot. The confessions of one 
 whose whole life we have distrusted, force 
 themselves on the belief, when they come 
 forth in the instant of dissolution. How 
 much more solemn and impressive the ad- 
 monitions of one whose lona; life, exhibitinf^ 
 the utmost purity of private character, and 
 the firmest displays of patriotic self-denial, 
 dying with a prayer for his country on his 
 lips ! Such was the life, such the death of 
 Mr. Calhoun. On his cenotaph let that 
 be written, to which his life was a martyr — 
 Sincerity. Long in his native State — long 
 in the history of his nation — will his mem- 
 ory illustrate the character of the true 
 statesman, and furnish uncommon induce- 
 ments to a life of virtue. The implacable 
 hatred which pursued him — the secret envy 
 that misrepresented him — are dead ! A 
 State, ever the rewarder of faithful servi- 
 ces in the cause of public virtue, mourning 
 her eldest son ; a nation, lamenting the ex- 
 tinguishment of an intellect lono- enlicht- 
 ening her progress, stand about his grave, 
 and record the uncontestable triumph of 
 The Honest Man. 
 
16 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 Few men can withstand the influence of 
 that love of public approbation, which, for 
 wise purposes, is planted in the human 
 breast, Few have the firmness to reject 
 honors for the sake of virtue ; — few, in the 
 moment of popular yoyor, can put back the 
 rewards ofifered ; — few can displa}', amidst 
 temptation, the immutability of conscience. 
 Lord Camden, in English history; Mr. 
 Calhoun in American, are conspicuous 
 examples of these unusual gifts. Alike 
 
 they were intellectual, alike unchangeably 
 incorruptible. Always important to parties, 
 always unaffected by their corruptions, they 
 were alilce victims to whatever was just. 
 For them office had no allurement, and 
 political power no terror. They declared 
 belief of right as frankly as they denounced 
 wrong ; and, as was said by St. Jerome of 
 religion, if in error, it was a glorious pri- 
 vilege to be deceived with such guides. 
 
 " Quicquid ex Agricoia. amavimus, qulcquid mirati sumus, raanet mansurumque est in animis homin- 
 um, in aeternitate temporum, fama rerum." Vit. Agric. 
 
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