Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1854-03-01
sREsfIN SCIENCES OF JOIN q. CALHOUN.
81 ms lRiy.tTE slcRErAlss

N the choice library at slrt yvasa small vol
fkiilae Which, as near recoliect was calico
IsecolIections Of Mira beau By Dunont his private
speaking Of tlat estips uished fench
man and the book one Gay, aiEC calhoun Observed
That issthe proper method to give an idea OF q
great man. His humble friend and Secretary writes
what he remembers about the great dead, and gives
what he did and said he happens to remember it
! without any ornaments of his own. Such work is
valuable for it gives real insight into great char
! actef."
| Those words made an impression upon me, and
since his death, when have had occasion to write
about Mr. Calhoun, it has been in this style-inod-
| estiy attempting to give what he said and did as
briefly possible, and just as happened to recall
this or that circumstance connected with him to my
mind, if were narating them to either of his be-
loved daughters, whose love for the memory of their
great father would prompt them to listen eagerly to
what came from one who was near their father the
last months Of his life, and could tell them tkous-
and things about him that they did not know before.
I They would not much about the manner Of the
telling; they would only think Of the things told by
one who knew them
had blank book at Fort Hill in which fused
frequently to make notes of conversations with Mr..
Calhoun, and he would read them, and not unfre-
Gucntly correct them On occasion, speaking
Of Mr. Van Buren, he said, He taught the mass of
the people to hunt for Office they would for game
and the system had politically killed him." With
out the prospect Of plunder, convention to noin-
nate President would have more weight than if
many fddlers were to assemble at Baltimore to
play Aud Lang Syne."
The absurdity Of the mode of getting up the cen
sr1s used to call forth some very sarcastic remarks,
They will be obliged to act for the whole ter years.
The law intended to get the amount Of popua-
ton by taking census but it has been extended
as to embHce almost everything, and yet there is
one very Important omission among the yaluables"
/" hat is that:' [ asked.
Fences" was his reply.
l laughed, and who would not but soon stopped,
when he added, The fences more valuable than
all the cities added together Think of it."
| thought II a fence
yet but what thought of Mr.. Calhoun. 1 doubt
very much whether the valuation could ever be ac
curatey ascertaincd, but it would amount to some
hundreds of millions of dollars
Mr.. Benton had made several speeches attacking
Mr.. Calhoun carly in 1910, and soon after my arri
val the latter commenced to dictate to a reply
not to Benton but in an " Address to the People Of
the Southern States" One copy of that address
was given to the Pendlcton Gazette, and the other
was sent to YOU. When had written" With the
ordinance of Tmeo Dcanas, ct donna tereRtcs," he
added" This is the first time have ever used
quotation from the classics but it is very applicable
in this case" When he came to-"Job exclaimed:
Oh, that mine enemy would write a bookn" he
suggested that had better examine and lind whcth-
he had quoted correct. | went to the house and
got n Bible, and after little search l found that
adversary" was used instead of enemy" Any
word might have been originally used, for The whole
Book of Job'-a most wonderful book-was never
properly translated. 1t has connection whatever
with the rest of the Bble-not the slightest refer
to the Jews, their peculiar institutions, any
thing OF the kind. 1t bears no evidence Of Hebrew
origin or connection, and was written long before
these people known. Hahomet's Koran would
be suitably located in Hebrew Bible the
Book Of job except is evidently antccedcnt
to the times of Moses, the other is subsequent"
And then he proceeded to dictate.
1t known at Fort Hill that in the village Epis-
copal church the rite of confirmation was to be aG-
nlinistcred. Some members of the family were to
be confirmed, and Mrs Calhoun urgent that he
himself should go, If for other than out Of
IN liShn, mo
was loaded and the horses, driven by old Tom, left
the mansion for the village. [ rode in the buggy
with Mr.. Calhoun, who allowed me to drive, and !
gave ne some lessons about reversing the usual ord
CT of things viz: Allowing the horse go as fast as
he pleased up hill, and keep him close refined up
while going down one. When we reached the ]
church, services had commenced M. Calhoun sat /
in his seat with his eyes fixed upon the Bishop and
looking precisely as though he was not at home. |
There was a prayer read by the Bishop, which! had /
been composed by him expressly in reference to
the recent prevailing cholera, QS+o) Mr.. Calhoun !
sat up perfectly when he heard the word
tom used in it and, by the way, the~Bshop in his
sermon used it very frequently. After the services
were over and he had shaken hands with all Of his
home Nation ~ nation !" nation y he repeated
rs if to himself; sit is strange that like
Gadsdcn, who ought to know better would use
such 4 word. There is no truth no real meaning in
it. All such things tend to consolidate the govern
ment, and produce wrong impression. Gadsden
knows better. When the constitution formed
the word national was not used. Gen. Washington
never used t-nor did the other founders. They
speak of the general government the government
Of the federal Union'-but struck out nation in ali
placer, and the preamble to the constitution reads
We, the people of the United States We are not
I nation and the word was never heard of until
cent years Union should be the word but there is
word wanting. People speak of national song
Union song would be one mode of expressing it.
Denmark, Sweden, &c. are nations. Russia is not
naton-t is empire. American will be the
word in time"