The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-08-13

Thus the first act OF Calhoun on the national
stage was to sound the war trumpet. and n
week or two aftcrward he defended against
John Randolph the bcicose resolutions pro-
posed by the committee, which were speedily
followed by tho passing of an embargo bill. and
not long afterwarj by declaration OF war.
1t is noteworthy that at this period the word
nation" which Calhoun in later years sought
TO strike from the constitutional dictionary OF
the United States. was frequently IN his mouth.
His solicitude. moreover. for national IA dis
tingushed from sectional interests did not
cease with the war against Great Britain nor
was 1t confined to objects Immediately con-
nected with that struggle. In speech delivered
in January. 1916. he distinctly declared him
self In favor Of internal improvements: he de-
sired great permanent roads to be built at the
public cost. and urged the measure upon Com
gress. because the building of such highways
would tend not only to promote the safety
Of the country in future wars. but to ma
tionalize tho Union. 1t is remarkable
that in the whole course OF this speech there
wac no mention made whatever OF the Consti-
tuition. The thought does not seem to have yet
entered his head that constitutional objections
could be raised to the execution Of internal i'm
provements at the expense OF the national
treasury. Equally surprising is the fact that in
the same month and year he supported bill
to incorporate n United States bank having
according to his own statement deliberately
come to the conclusion that Congress had the
constitutional power to create such an institu-
ton. DIR. Won Hoist. in short, demonstrates
that. with regard to all the great economical
problems which were soon to deeply agitate
the country, Calhoun held exactly the op-
poste ground to that which he after
ward occupied on the question OF constitu-
tionality as well as on that Of expedency. The
charge of Inconsistency cannot therefore,
be refuted In the judgment Of the biographer.
who. however. does not doubt that the South
Carolina statesman was as sincere at the later
as at the earlier epoch. But. while we may ad-
NIT that the marked change in his utterances
did but reflect an honest revolution in his con-
victions 1t Is not the less curious to find In the
last great speech which he delivered in the
House OF Representatives such remarks as
these: L am no advocate for refined arguments
on the Constitution. The instrument was not in
tended as q thesis for the logcian to exercise
his ingenuity on. 1t ought to be construed with
plain good sense" He goes on to argue that the
practice Of the Government afforded better
evidence OF the true Interpretation OF the Con-
stitution than the most refined and subtle ar
guments "a position which he subsequently
assailed with the greatest vehemence.
DR.. Won Hoist passes somewhat hastily over
the first part Of Calhoun's public life. which.
beginning with his successful debut In the
lower House OF Congress- comprised his term
Of service as Secretary Of War in the Monroe
Cabinet and the two terms for which no was
elected to the yice-Presidency. For a little
while after the Presidential election Of 1928 1t
looked as II Calhoun was likely to reach the
White House. Ii being generally understood
that Jackson did not intend to be a candidate
for reelection. But in fact. so far as this wish
was concerned. his star had already passed its
zenith. The personal relations between Jackson
and Calhoun were no longer so friendly as they
were supposed to be. and the double programme
on which the General had been elected led the
Vice-President to look on him with a
certain distrust. This feeling was fully
reciprocated by Jackson. but probably
an open quarrel might have been avoid
ed had not Calhoun considered 1t his duty
to take the lead In the determined opposition
against Jackson's attempt to force Mrs. Eaton
upon Washington society. Van Buren,. on the
other hand. ingratiated himself with the Presi-
dent by paying his court to Mrs. Eaton, and in
the end, managed to make himself Jackson's
candidate for the succession to which Calhoun
believed himself entitled.
Calhouns disappointment was unQuestion-
ably very bitter. but according to DR.. Won
Hoist. they strangely misjudge the man
who attribute TO 1t the terrible energy
with which he henceforth pursued the
course upon which he had entered in his first
great political manifesto. tho so-called South
Carolina Exposition. He was not driven"
his biographer thinks. by disappointed am
bition into a sectional policy with view to
tearing the Union asunder in order to be-
come the chief OF one-half because he could not
be the chief OF the whole. Slavery had split the
Union into two geographical sections, and, in
spite OF everything man could do. the rent was
destined to widen into chasm. and the chasm
into an abyss That was not the work Of CAL
houn. but the unavoidable consequence Of the
fact that the Union was composed OF free and
slave-holding States" DR.. Won Hoist insists
that the only effect OF the disappointment of
Calhoun's ambition was the quick dispersion
OF the mist which had hitherto been lying over
his eyes, as over those of the whole people
The shackes Of minor considerations and per-
sonal interest fell from his limbs Embittered
but free. he henceforth pursued his course
forming alliances without needing the claims
OF old or new party connections and not
afraid to encounter the enmity of any one
never ceasing to love and cherish the
Union. but learning to love slavery better
and better. Not for the world" says the BIZ
| try and even slavery could not turn him into q
dark conspirator Those who. like Senator
Benton honestly imputed to him such inten-
| tions. stumbled into an egregous bunder be-
| cause in spite OF their keen-si ghtedness they
remained blind to the fact that the wedlock be-
tween slavery and freedom could not be n last
ing one" DIR. Won Hoist sums up his remarks
upon this topic by pronouncing it not CAL
| houn's crime, but his misfortune that there
came q time when he saw everything relating
TO slavery with such appalling clearness. dis
corning with unerring eye the last conse-
Quences at the first glance.
Two-thirds of this volume Is devoted to
Calhoun's career in the Senate. when he stood
! forth no longer as an aspirant for Presidential
honors. but as the representative OF a great
! idea-that extreme deduction from the theory
| OF State rights which asserted the right of a
State in the last resort to nullfy an act OF Con-
gress. The biographer shows how. from the
beginning to the end Of the long struggle upon
which Calhoun now entered no was candid