Independent Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1842-1844, 1843-11-11
From the Spectator.
Mr.. CALHOUN.

The following brief, hut truthful and
discriminating, notice of Mr.. CALHoUN's
character and talents. is taken from an
article in the October number of HUNr's
Merchants Magazine, on The "His,ory of
the Chartering of The United States Bank,
by Francis WhortoB, of Philadelphia. p
The writer, with prophetic vision, anlici-
pates the verdict hat will be passed upon
Mr. Calhoun and his labors, when the
men and The parties of The present day,
and the feelings and piejudicas to which
they have gwen rise. shall have passed
away:
"On Mr.. Calhoun, as the CHAPMAN of
the Bank Committee, did The duty drvove
of presenting the charter TO the II u e.,
and supporting it, after it was presenie /.
Mr.. Calhoun, though not much beyond
thirty years of age, hid been present, and
had taken an active part in the House
during the two preceding sessions, and
from his great ability, his holiness. his
freem dofrom those points of otfenre
which so often delIact from the power of
parliamentary leader, he had been hit
upon by the administration as is organ,
not only upon The Bank question, but up
on most of the remaining points t. which
the attention of Congress was directed.--
We cannot but regret that So imperfect a
record should remain OF speeches uterei
at a period so critical by Il man, whose
efforts, under any cncn>tan G, deserve
study as much as they provoke admira-
ton. Mr.. Calhoun his now Withdrawn
from Congressional HE; and as the cur
tain has Cropped finally upon the scene of
his great efforts, we feel that ii is not I'M
suitable Tor US to rest for a moment TO
contemplate career which is one OF The
most remarkable in history. Not endow-
ed with those distinctive characteristics
which made one Of his great riv.ls The
most eloquent decaimer of the day land an
other its most powerful debater, we ques-
ton whether in the sphere which he had
laid open to hlmseIf--the sphere of po-
litical augmentation, he has ever been
equaled. Fastening his mind firm ~ ON
the point he is to make, and approaching
it with an energy which never faints, and
with an ability which never wavers, the
strict line of demonstration is pursued
with vigor almost painful in its intensity,
and which insures in the mind of the stu
dent, submission to the correctness of the
reasoning, if not conviction OF the truth
of the conclusion. 1t would have been
better, if immediate effect was sought for,
to have given the traveller resting places,
where he could have stopped occasional
y TO divert his attention from the strict
line of deduction, and 10 enable hun to
cheer the orator EDWARDS during the peri
cd of mutual relaxation. If Mr.. Calhoun's
speeches had been framed for the single |
prrpIse of parliamentary triumph, we
doub. not that the usual iltle epis des Of
retori, or Of story telling, by which the a.
tentlon Of his hearers, retre shed by the |
parenlhesis thus created, might have been
more completely won, Could have been
successfully introduced BIT it must be
remembered that the neglect of imagery,
The freedom from personal controversy,
the absence of appeals TO the personal
taste, or the political prejudices of his
hearers, the utter disuse Of the engines Of
!
bered, we say, that the freedom from un-
necessary DEPRESSION, ana the earnest ri.
gor with which the argument is pursued,
lends 10 heig hten, in the MUD of the stu
dent, the convictions which The power Of
the reasoning produces. We are sensl
bic that we have been worked upon by no
inferior appeals TO our personal tastes OF
patty associations, and that nei her our
sense of the ridiculous, nor our sense of
the sublime, has been tempered with, in
order that our reason should be betral ed.
1t must lave been impossible t. have lis
tened to Mr.. Wenstel's WONDERFUL speech
es during the debate on Mr.. Fouls RESP.
lu,ion-ll certainly is lmpo S bic t. stu y
them as eported--wltaout rls,ng with IA
deep sense of aunt alton for The Sp end,h
Qualities which have there been inIroduc
ed into action. We are earned away by
impetuous eluquence there display ed
the Mohawk onslaught as Mr. Randolph
called it-and we le that same enhu>I.
asm which we feel VIII n we witness The
Italian campaigns Of Nap ,leon. We ate
made partIsans al onceuy the felrleSsncss
Of the nttlck: and as We witne IS the guns
of the enemy turned against him,elf-as
we observe the most fearful odds over
come, and see the weakest points in the
whole field chosen, aim st becau-e the,
are the weakest, aud then made impreg.
nable, we enter into thu conflict lnstin :
lively, without knowing any thing more
than that we are enrolled under the STAN
dard of the eagle, and We AXE part in the
triumphal procession without feeling clea,
whether we are celebrating anything
more than the personal triumph OF the
chief Thara rn manu- M hn ..nnnnt rnnh