The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-05-08

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great University Of Chicago by that
very cited and excellent SouinToh, tn"
Tate Hon j. l.. ". Curry. il. -. born.
i thluk, in South Caroline. His theme
Nas John Caldwell Calhoun, and q
great theme it was. ] have read no
literary or historical address since the
Ftt. that 50 impressed me for &DIlly
a4I interest. DR.. Cur eXceIIcd as TO
style. He was both q clear thinker
ana IN admirable rhetoFiciun. His dis
cuasiou Of the most iltustripus SCUM
Car"Iinian was bold, mastery.
finely i~utcrpretatiEc Of the ma4.
.al as exact in portraiturc aa happy iI
0lciiou. | remember to have quoted
IassaGcS from it in some article /
"rotc upon il. It is a pity that IT is
. OF universally read throughout our
southland, for it presents in llNinE
colDr@ possibly the abIest and most
profoundly philosophical Of all Amer
loan statesmen with the one exception
Of Thomas Jefferson the greatest point
ical genius VIII. was ever born or fig
uted on this ,Intinent. ! regret IN
advanced age that / aid not study MI
Eathoun'S speeches ard writings more
in my young manhood and middle age
than fell to my lot. l missed q great
opportunity, for he vas always pro-
found, luminous. candid and impress
sivc. This great statesman of the
South WAS born in South Carolina ON
tho lSth March. l1H2. ana died IN
Washington, ID. g.. 81 March, 1880,
aged IS years. He was Of Irish des-
cent, his grandfather ~emigratiug to
this country in 1888. His father was
a strict Presbyterian as vas the great
statesman. Ills mother was a Virgin
ian by birth, but her father was an
Irish Presbyterian immigrant. Her
name az Martha Caldwell. Mr.. cal
noun read law and was educated Al
yale College, Connecticut. He was of
strict moral life, and of sincerity and
simplicity Of manners from his youth.
lie entered the United States Congress
while the war with Great Britain, IN
1914, was imminent. He made Il de-
cided reputation at once. Ihe great
orator William P~inckneN, of Maryland.
declared Of him that he had brought
into the debate the strong power Of
genius from Il higher sphere than
that OF argument" OF course | can-
not follow him now in his great career
as a statesman. 1t would take col
ulnns to give anything like q fair and
requisite outline. Intellectually he was
a greater man than amy of the men he
served With in the Senate-than Web
stcr, Clay, Pinckney, Benton, or any
others. His speeches hay" never been
50 read and admired as those of Nh.
Webster, but that is of the
lofty style, the noble elOQuenCe of the
NEW SllSltllttl- IIplt. JAMES bINN''
of the British Parliament. a member
formerly Of Gladstone'S great cabinet.
author of three works of ability, and
held in high esteem for character and
learning. in a work of his | read but
two years ago, ON his chief contemp0-
ralieS, with much interest and Satisfac-
ton (there were four or five sketches
] skipped said that in the United
States Webster was the only American
statesman who was now read. That is
true in the =enSe he meant. He also
said that in Great Britain the only
speeches in Parliamentary history that
Were then read were those by BuIke e.
and Macaulay, n that is true also.
] doubt not. He did not mean that a
few curious readers or literary men
did no read others, but that the read
ing for the most part was confined to
those named.
1t is a matter for regret that Mr..
CalhOun's speeches and two political
works are not read now by all men as
piring to being ClaSSed as intelligent or
educated or as cultured. Mr.. Cal
houn's second speech on the Force Bill
was of great power and splendid elab-
GRAFTON of argument. Webster never
attempted a reply, although he re-
piled to Calhoun's first speech. one
OF Calhoun's greatest achievements
was his reply in 1888, to q fierce per
sonal attack of MI. Clay'S. 1t was a
reply of genius, and in it he gave
what Clay did not possess, while clear
ly thinning his own high, command
ing qualities. | have space for but
a few sentences from his speech. It
gives a capital example of CaIhoun's
style, VIgOr, | reproduce one
rassagc lie said:
Il cannot retort on the Senator the
charge of being metaphysical. | can
not accuse him of possessing the pow
a,,o, nf a,nly-ri- nnI oa,,,rl IiZat n,,
those higher faculties of the mind
tcalied metaphysical by those who do
not possess them) which decompose
and resolve into their elements the
complex masses Of ideas that exist in
the world of mind. as chemistry does
the bodies that surround us in the ma
terial world, md without which those
deep and hidden causes which are in
constant action and producing such
mighty changes in the condition of
society. would operate unseen and UNI
detected. Throughout the
whole OF my service l have never fol-
lowed events. but have taken my
stand in advance. openly and freely
aNoWing my opinions on all questions,
and leaving it to time and experiences
to condemn or approve my course"
lie said chat he believed the CONSTITUTE
ton to be a beautiful and profound
system" and the Union under it AN
iaestinable blessing"
When Calhoun lay dead twelve years
later, Mr.. Clay lauded his private char
acter, his patriotism and public honor.
lie said of him: He possessed am Gle
waited genius ofthe highest order. IN
felicity of generalization of the subject
OF which his mind treated, | have
seen his surpassed by no one. and the
charm and captivating influence of his
~colIoquial powers have been felt by all
VINO have COnVerSed With him" The
great Webster who SO ~antagoniZed cal
houn. said: He was a man of un-
doubted genius and of commanding
talent. All the country and all the
world admit that. : lie had
the basis. the Indispensable basis of all
high character and that was unspotted
integrity. unimpeacned honor and
character do not believe
he had a selfish motive or selfish feel
ing" sue WAS the great southern
statesman. He was of higher. more
commanding intellect than WashlngF
ton was his full equal in the loftiest
Qualities Of manhood. and much be
yond him in the simplicity and de
youtness of his and life. ms
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