Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-05-25
1 Recollecttons Of the lats Hon. John

/, NeCOll6CtlUnS VI SCal0 lctV0 AAu4' JUN
O.4EalhDh,
Mr.. Powers, in a lettersrit!en TO friend
in the United States from Florence, is said
to have made the following statement re-
garding the bust Of Mr. Ghoun:
/" have no bust in ,Jstudio which at.
tracts so much attention hs Calhoun'a if |
except the ideal ones. ainy have said that
it would pass for bustIof Brutus, One
said, ."I should not liEeto be judged by
;: that man, unless my .caus{was good" An
other said, /" He is a vet Stern man; but
good and amiabIe, Notwithstanding" Nei-
ther of these knew whoBbust it was"
OF all the public men l,otemorary with
Mr.. Calhoun, it SO chansetthat ! knew him
best. My acquaintane with him dates
back as far as 1882. ltss.s at Columbia,
in South Carolina, whereI was on brief
visit during the session, ofhe State Legisla.
ture. He was then onlhiswayto Washing
ton, from Fort Hill, bis residence in Pendle-
ton District.
At that time notification ran very high.
1t was deemed BY Mr.. Calhoun and his
friends to be constitutional States-right
remedy, to he applied insha last resort, to
check the Observation-Disclosures of an
irresponsible majority in Congress.
We found MIR. Calhoun; at the interview
referred to, plainly and simply dressed, and
quite unpretending in his minners. fle was
| frank and accessible in his intercourse ; yet
earnest and animated in conversation. He
then wore blue dresscoatswith gilt buttons,
and dark colored pants and vest, which had
been so we'll worn on his frame, as to give
them externally rather & seedy" look.
The next time we saw Mr.. Calhoun was
at Washington, in 1896. He was then in
the Senate, and as industrious and as active
as ever.
He then stood very high as a forcible and
argumentatve debater. | heard him on
several occasions, and was impressed with
the earnestness Of his manner, close logical
deductions, aud the terse brevity with which
his ideas were expressed. There was nc
attempt at rhetorical ornament, nor was
there waste Of words. There was moth.
ing sacrificed to the applause to be gained
by the use of rounded periods or of empty
sounds, conveyed in beautifully selected
words, destitute of IDEAS. Every sentence
he uttered abounded in thought, or in ideas
strictly applicable to the subject in debate
and was expressed. in just the number o
nrnner word to convey Ihis meaning 70 the
was peculiar and 'forcsSspect his oratory
were better when delivered & i mar
when written.
We did not meet Mr.. Calhoun again un
til the called session OF lS4l, in Tyler's Ad
mnistration. We found him in opposition
to Mr.. Clay on the question of a national
Bank, and occupying, as usual, strong ground
on the democratic side OF politics.
We were at this time frequently in his
company, and had frequent conversations
with him. We had then just returned from
visit to Europe. He asked many ques.
tions about England. He said that the in.
crease of pauperism and the necessity for
its relief, was proof to him that the people
were over taxed, and that those who had
despoi!ed them were compelled to return
a portion of the money, to MAINTAIN them, or
to save them from starvitlon.
It cannot be denied that Mr.. Calhoun Was
ambitious, and at times, no doubt, INDUCED
reasonable hopes Of oneday reaching the
Presidency; but his oper rupture with Gen.
Jackson, planned and fdnented by another
less scrupulous aspirant, together with the
odium which SELLS political partisans at.
tempted to fix upon the bctrine of nulliGca.
tiou had the effect (Go much the worse for
the country of disappointing bis views in
that direction.
Notwithstanding his rilliant services in
the cabinet of Mr.. lyle, to which he had
been reluctantly on his part called, and his
great agency in securin the annexation of
Texas, instead of receihg the nomination
of the Democratic part in 1914, he was
overlooked, and James J Polk, greatly his
inferior in every respeelwas taken up and
elected, and mainly onhe strength Of Mr.
Calhoun's annexation nasures.
Mr.. Polk, at his iuauuration, found Mr..
Calhoun in office, andwork ed down to
he'd of sickness. After good deal of insin-
, cerity displayed on thenrt Of Mr.. Polk TO-
, wards MIR. Calhoun an his friends, whom
y he led to believe at outline that Mr. Cal.
boun would be retaine in Office, to com.
plete the great work oanneXation, as we'll
rs important reforms had commenced
= and partially accomphed in his depart
s ment and which wouequire some months
of additional labor to fish up, latter which
he himself proposed t'etire,, be was dis
y missed, and Mr.. Buchan installed in his
}, place.
7 1t was at this periodve called to see Mr..
:. Calhoun. He had Eafully, honorably and
u usefnly devoted thirty forty years Of lis
life to the service of country. He was
d now reduced by illnefrom over e1ertion,
v and had Just been disarsed by MIR. Polk,
It and apparently desert by the country at
o large. 1t is at such ancture that we can
best Judge of a man'se greatness of soul.
On entering his ro we found him sit
'r ting up in an arm ch; and cheerful, but
" " wasted and thin. Hdulged in no repin-
u ings, in no censure Off. Polk's course, no
complaints Of the F. of lngratltude.
J. Our conversation ohat occasion shall
~ y, never forget, and shabroceed to give it in
:, j. some detail.
I'd His face was turnel the direction OF
m northern window, the ar subdued light of
IS, which i minated hisatures. His eyes,
ID naturally OF large c blue, beamed with
20 great brilliancy and iligence. | sat ra.
II ther at one side and ront of him, which
oave me sort of fulDfle view of his fea-