The southern press., 1851-03-31


hour more TO speak In the Senate, could do
more good than Q. anyPAs' ossAsi0. 2. Of my life
"Alr. Calhoun's moral character, as exhibited
10 me pul ) was Of the Roman stamp. Lofty
in his sentiments, stern in his bearing iniiexible
in his opinions, there was no sacrifice he would
not have made without q moments hesitation,
and few that he did nobMIhake to his sense Of
duty and his love Of country. AS consul, he
would have been Publicoa,-as a censor,
Cato--as Tribune, Gracious He was often
denounced for his ambition, but his integrity
was never questioned. "Ambition is" AS Mr..
b lrke justly sad the maady Of every exten-
sve genius" Mr.. Calhoun's enemies believed
that it infected him to an extraordinary aud dan
gerous degree. But the enemies OF every dis
tingushed man have said the same. He un-
doubtedly desired power. But there is no eyi-
dence to be found, either in his conduct or in his
words, that he ever stopped to any mean com-
pliance to obtain it, or that when obtained, he
ever used it but in the purest manner and for the
| welfare of his whole country. The nature OF
his ambition was well tested. Eight years
Vice President: for as long period minister
of State six years in the House Of Representa-
| tives, and fifteen in the Senate of the United
| States, he enjoyed all the power of the highest
and that he would ia all human probability have
attained, but that his aspirations were subordi-
nate to his principles, and these led him to re-
pudiate his party, and throw himself into oppo-
sition to its c0rruptions when it was ut the zenith
of its power.
That he did not reach the Presidency, and
that no other statesman of the first rank has had
the slightest prospect of reaching it for the last
five and twenty years, are among the most strik-
ing proofs Of the downward tendency of our
federal Institutions
In private life Mr.. Calhoun was remarkably
accessible. Open, unsuspicous, mild in his man
ners, and uniformly warm, cheerful, and hopeful
he was interesting, instructive and agreeable to
all who had the happiness to know him. While
in every domestic relation his conduct approach
ed as near perfection as we can suppose human
nature capable of doing.
4 The intellect of Mr. Calhoun was cast in the
Grecan mould intuitive, profound, originaI-de.
scending to the minutest details Of practical af
fairs; and soaring aoit with the balanced wing
into the broadcast heavens of invention. He ap
preciated wit and humor the flights of fancy and
the keen shafts of sarcasm but he either did
not possess or entirely failed to cultivate the
faculties which lead to distinction in these lines
He admired and valued lofty defamation on ap.
propriate occasions; and sometimes, though
rarely, attempted it himself, and not without
success. The force of his Imagination, his com
mand of language, his nobility of sentiment and
his enthusiastic temperament emnently quail
fled him for defamation of the highest order
and his themes were as well adapted to it rs
those of Demosthenes himself But the audience
to which he commonly addressed himself could
not hear his voice or see his action, decide his
cause under the spell of eoqucnce. 1t covered
millions of square miles, and reached far down
] the stream of time. And his keen judgment
and deep earnestness would not often permit
! him to use weapons that could reach effectively
| those only who were near ut hand. The intel
lectual power Of MIR. Calhoun was due mainly to
the facility and accuracy with which he resolved
propositions into their elementary principles;
and the astonishing rapdty with which he de-
duced from these principles all their just and ne
cessary consequences. The moment sophsm
was presented to him, he pierced it through and
through, and plunging into the labyrinth
brought truth from the remote recesses where il
delights to dwell, and placed it before the eyes
of men. 1t was in these pre-eminent faculties
J that Mr. Calhoun'a mind resembled the antique
, and particularly the genuine Greek mind, which
recoiled from plausibilities, and looked with in
!, effable disgust on that mere grouping of as
sociated ideas which 80 generally passes fol
reasoning 1t was in conformity with these great
intellectual endowments that he created all his
speeches and State papers 1t was commonly
said Of his productions that they were charac-
terized by extraordinary condensation. But Mr..
Calhoun was often careless in his diction, and
habitualy 80 in the construction of his SEN
tences He sought only the words that most
clearly expressed his meaning, and left their ar
rangement apparently to chance. What he did
do was to 90 straight to the bottom of his sub
ect, following the slender plummet line of truth
until he reached it. Then he built up in man
ner equally direct, discarding all extraneous ma
terals and erected structure, simple, uniform
and consistent, decorated with no ornament for
the sake Of ornament, and occupying no more
space than was necessary for the purposes in
view
The faculty of invention--which is the high
est characteristic of genus-is the necessary
result Of rapid and correcl analysis and synthe-
sis. To the possession of these powers then is
also due the acknowledged originality of Mr.
Calhoun, which gave such a peculiar charm to
every one of his productions, as led the public
invariably to pronounce his latest to be the best
The common mind never looks beneath the sur
face and draws its conclusions from the facts
and arguments that float around it, Even rather
uncommon minds seldom penetrate very deep
or very quickly. From whatever subject, there.
fore such extraordinary powers of anal ysis and
generalization were brought to bear upon, they
would necessarily extract ideas lying far beyond
the range of others, and 80 new and startling as
to overwhelm ordinary intcllects and obterate
their confused remembrances of past produc-
tions, in which he had carried them delighted
through equally unaccustomed regions.
Hence also arose and was received the charge,
worn thread-b bare by reiteration, that Mr.. Cal
houn's mind was too metaphysical and specula-
tive for conducting the affairs of government
A charge which, if it was not absurd in itself,
was signally refuted by his conduct of the war,
by his organization of the War Department, by
his negotiations as Secretary of State, by his
| frequent minute, and accurate, and powerful
calculations Of all the financial, commercial,
manufacturing and agricultural operations of the
country--in short, by his whole course from the
commencement to the close of his career. II
was the remarkable characteristic of the Greek
mind, now too little appreciated, to be at once
| practical and speculative as in fact il ever has