New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-05-09

to the whole number of the population was
thought sufficient ofiset-and resorted to only,
if we remember Alright. twice in the course Oh
our history, and once certainly without success
at the South-served to consolidate the slave
interest, and to make IL, BY securing 1t repre-
sentation in Congress, positive power In the
State. Whether it was by accident or by newt
able law that one of the great parties into which
the country was divided was chosen as the ally
of the South, the historical fact remains that II
was, as Mr.. Calhoun asserted, from necessity,
" thrown upon and solemnly welded to tho
Democratic party" And that compact has
never been seriously disturbed till it was broken
in the City of Charleston in the Spring of 1860,
and utterly destroyed in the harbor of that city
in the Spring of 1861. 1t was then, and then
only, that the owners Of slaves, the " essentially
aristocratc A" element of the country, 4" ceased
" to control the nation"
Had the opinion thus set forth half century
ago by Mr.. Calhoun, that the time would come
when the South would resort to dlssoll'
lion of the Union, because the ambition and
long rule of class in that section was at length
thwarted and destroyed, been then pub.
lished, even Southern Statesmen would also
have /" laughed incredulOusly.' But Dir.
! Calhoun was wiser than his generation.
! The faith of tie Fathers Of this Republic has
descended to their children; and, however strong
the feeling may have grown that Slavery was
subject with which we need not concern our
| selves, inasmuch as it did not exist among US,
| yet that the system was unwise and full OF evl
has ever been the faith Of the North; and this,
Of later years, has grown into wel-lounded
alarm at its increasing expressions. Familiar
both with this growth and its cause, careful
student of history, possessed of mind, Of an
inyinclble logic, and Of rigid integrity, though
in wrong direction Mr.. Calhoun was among
the first of his countrymen, the first OF his Sec
ton, to discern the signs Of the times, and
act accordingly Thirty years subsequent to
this conyersation with Captain Stewart, he
felt and confessed the danger that threatened
the system of Slavery in the appeal whicbt the
whole civilized world was making to the con-
science and the good sense Of the Shareholder.
He acknowledged, with that honesty which always
distinguished him, that if Slavery were wrong at
all it was very wrong, and should, so soon as
practicable, be got rid Of; but, moved by that
false philosophy which maDtains that thing
which is very expedient mus be right, he arrived
at the conclusion that Slavery was absolutely
RIGHT. because it was US clear to him then as it
was in Ic.2 that the " control of the nation"
was ON expedent and pleasant thing for :" the
" essentially aristocratc" though small class to
which he belonged. His compeers accepted his
doctrine Of the expediency Of Slavery and is con-
sequences, though they were shocked at frat at
| Lis doctrine of its rightlulness. 1t was not til
! later that Southern statesmen, aud even Southern
I diynes, could bring themselves TO advocate the
system as abstractly right, and the doctrine of
the rights of man, as laid down in the Declare
ton Of Independence as " glttering generality
| We know, however, how Of late years that per
nicious doctrine has spread.
Thus, from the beginning, Mr.. Calhoun was
perfectly consistent. lie foresaw how inevitably,
in the lapse of time, there must come, in the
growth If Slavery, collision between it and the
spirit of liberty which has never ceased to burn
in the bosom Of the North; how, in the lapse Of
time, the party on which it depended to main
tain its "control of the nation" must inevitably
fall away from il; how, in the lapse of time it
became necessary TO strengthen Southern purpose
TO stile Southern conscience; and how, in the
lapse Of time, when conscience was stifed, and
the dictates of ambition and of selfish interest
alone were listened to, that there would be " to
(" the South no resource but dissolution" He
hoped to live 20 long that bis eyes might be
blessed with that sight. 1t was well for his hap
piness and the hopes of his life that he died be-
fore the alternative was presented to his Southern
fellow citizens, for he would have seen their
purposes defeated, aud the - control Of the ma.
ton" pass ont Of their hands forever.