the blows he believed to be necessary to save the country and restore the party to its pristine purity of faith and practice. We have given the history of the memorable contest in which, with unexampled odds against him, he maintained his foothold and accomplished his grand design. We have seen the series of skilful movements and masterly combinations by which, with comparatively few forces, he occupied and manfully contested every inch of disputed territory, until he finally struck down the protective system with blows from which it never can entirely recover in the face of the formidable array against him, wielding the battle-axe of Richard or the cimeter of Saladin, as strength or skill might best serve his turn. Ever ready, cheerful, and confident, he sometimes obtained concessions from mere respect to his gallantry and prowess, which no force at his disposal could then have extorted. Experience now proved that he had not been a moment too soon in striking at the protective system. The Republican party had been gradually wasting under the assaults of their open enemies, and the moral influences of the stock interests. The banks, deprived for the time of their natural ally the tariff, were forced to take the field alone, and the difficulty which the Republicans experienced in coping with this single interest, proved how impossible it would have been for them to have resisted the whole affiliated system if its strength had been unimpaired, and its united forces directed against them. They now saw that Mr. Calhoun had been warring all along, not against them, but a common enemy, which, but for him, might have overwhelmed all together. Mr. Calhoun, who had left his ancient friends in their strength to reform, but not to destroy, now returned to them in their weakness to cheer, to animate, to rally, and defend them, and was prouder of their alliance upon principle in their period of adversity than he would have been of all the honours which they could have heaped upon him in their prosperity. It was not in his nature to regard the execrations which these stock interests poured out upon him. They had too often tried the temper of his steel not to know the force of the arm which wielded it, and it was perhaps with as much of despair as rage that privilege saw its ancient and well-trained adversary take the field with additional strength against it. Mr. Calhoun did not now direct his attention so much to mere affairs of outposts as to placing the party upon that solid platform of principle, in which he well knew that the whole battering train of the Federal hosts could never effect a breach. With a true military eye, he readily seized all the advantages of position, and under his advice mainly, they have, at every sacrifice, directed column after column upon this elevated post, where they now command the field, and from which, if not abandoned or lost by want of vigilance, they must ultimately recover the country. He is now about to retire from the theatre of public life, neither weariled nor worn, but because his work is done, so far, at least, as senatorial life can afford him any useful part to play. If there be any new field of action worthy of his powers, and as yet untrodden by him, it is in that highest executive sphere, for which the character of his mind and the experience of his life have so eminently fitted him. It is, perhaps, only upon this theatre that his countrymen would not now exclaim, "Superfluous lags the veteran on the stage," and it is there that they will probably require him to consummate, as perhaps he alone can do, those great Republican reforms so cherished by the party, as destined to commend it to the grateful regards of posterity. We cannot better close this sketch than by extracting a portrait of Mr. Calhoun as a man and an orator, which was drawn by a friendly hand, it is true, but which we recognise as being so just and well executed that we gladly adopt it as our own. In his person Mr. Calhoun is slender and tall. His countenance, at rest, is strikingly marked with decision and firmness. In conversation it is highly animated, expressive, and indicative of genius. His eyes are large, dark, brilliant, and penetrating, and leave no doubt, at first view, of a high order of intellect. His manners are easy, natural, and unassuming, and as frank as they are cordial and kind. In all his domestic relations his life is without a blemish. He has none of the cautious reserve and mystery of common politicians; for he has nothing to conceal or disguise. He is accessible to all, agreeable, animated, instructive, and eloquent in conversation, and communicates his opinions with the utmost freedom. Some politicians seek popularity by carefully avoiding responsibility. Whatever popularity Mr. Calhoun possesses has, on the contrary, been acquired by bold and fearless assumption of responsibility on all critical and trying occasions. His judgment is so clear and discriminating, that he seems to possess a sort of prophetic vision of future events, and on occasions when most men doubt and hesitate, he decides with confidence, follows up his decision with undoubting firmness, and has never failed in the end to be justified by time, the arbiter of all things. Few men have been called upon to pass through scenes of higher political excitement, and to encounter more vigorous and unrelenting opposition than Mr. Calhoun; yet, amid all the prejudices which party feeling engenders, and all the jealousy of political rivals, and all the animosity of political opponents, no one has yet ventured to hazard his own reputation for judgment or sincerity so far as to doubt one moment his great and commanding talents. As an orator, Mr. Calhoun stands in the foremost rank of parliamentary speakers. On first rising in debate, he always felt the anxiety of diffi dence, arising from a sensibility which is almost always the companion of true genius. His manner of speaking is energetic, ardent, rapid, and marked by a solemn earnestness, which leaves no doubt of his sincerity and deep conviction. His style is pure, forcible, logical, and condensed; often figurative for illustration, never for ornament. His mind is well stored with the fruits of learning, but still better with those of observation and reflection. Hence depth, originality, and force characterize all his speeches. He lays his premises on a foundation too broad, solid, and deep to be shaken; his deductions are clear and irresistible; "the strong power of genius," to adopt the language of the eloquent Pinkney, in referring to Mr. Calhoun's splendid speech on the treaty-making power, "from a higher region than that of argument, throws on his subjects all the light with which it is the prerogative of genius to invest and illustrate everything." And his speeches, full of the most elevated and patriotic sentiments, after conquering the understanding, take the heart entirely captive, and carry along his hearers, often unconsciously, and sometimes against their will, to the point he desires. Mr. Calhoun had attained so high a reputation as a member of Congress, that it was thought by many that he was leaving his appropriate field when he accepted the appointment of Secretary of War. On the contrary, his new situation only presented another theatre for the exercise of his great and diversified talents. The distinguishing feature of his mind, the power of analysis, was now to be exercised in the practical business of Government, and at once, as by enchantment, order, efficiency, and perfect accountability sprang from the chaos in which he found the department, and demonstrated that his energy in execution was equal to his wisdom in organizing, and left it doubtful whether his legislative talents were not surpassed by his practical ability in administration. As a statesman, in the most enlarged and elevated sense of the term, K Mr. Calhoun has no superior. A philosophical observer of men and of their affairs, he analyzes and reduces all things to their original elements, and draws thence those general principles, which, with inconceivable rapidity and unerring certainty, he applies on all occasions, and banishes the perplexity and doubt by which ordinary minds are overwhelmed and confounded. By this wonderful faculty, he is enabled to decide at once, not only what measures are at present necessary for a government novel in its principles, and placed in circumstances of which there is no precedent in the history of mankind, but, by discerning results through their causes, to look into futurity, and to devise means for carrying on our beloved country in a direct path to the high and glorious destiny which, under the guidance of wisdom and virtue, awaits her. To the highest powers of mind Mr. Calhoun unites those elevated moral qualities, which are equally essential with ability to complete the character of a perfect statesman: inflexible integrity, honour without a stain, disinterestedness, temperance, and industry; a firmness of purpose which disdains to calculate the consequences of doing his duty; prudence and energy in action, devotion to his country, and inextinguishable love of liberty and justice. To these great qualities, perhaps, we ought to add a lofty ambition; but it is an ambition that prefers glory to office and power, which looks upon the latter only as a means for acquiring the former, and which, by the performance of great and virtuous actions for the accomplishment of noble ends, aims at the establishment of a widelyextended and ever-during fame. This ingredient, which enters into the composition of all great and powerful minds, seems intended by Providence to stimulate them to the highest pitch of exertion in the service of mankind; and if it be a defect, it is one which Mr. Calhoun shares, as well as all their high qualities, with the most perfect models of Greek and Roman excellence. To those who have not been attentive observers of the life, character, and conduct of Mr. Calhoun, or who may have been alienated by political conflicts, the above portraiture may seem to derive some of its colouring from the partial pencil of friendship. If an intimate connexion of that kind for more than a quarter of a century may be supposed to tincture the writer's mind with partiality, it will be allowed, at the same time, that it affords the best possible opportunity of forming an accurate estimate of the moral and political character of the subject of this memoir. His statements of fact and opinion he knows to be entirely authentic ; and after a deliberate review of every sentence and word he has written, he finds nothing which a reverence for justice and truth will allow him to alter. CALIFORNIA SPEECHES, &c., OF THE HON. JOHN C. CALHOUN, REFERRED TO IN HIS LIFE, AND WHICH ARE PUBLISHED IN SEPARATE VOLUMES, AND NUMBER- Speech delivered in the House of Representatives in 1812 (1st session of 12th Congress), Onslow's Letters in reply to Patrick Henry (Nos. 1 and 2). See Life, p. 32, and "Speeches," &c., No. 2. Address, stating his opinion of the relations which the States and General Government bear to each other. South Carolina, July 26, 1831. See Life, p. 38, and “Speeches," &c., No. 3. Letter to General Hamilton on the subject of State Interposition. South Carolina, Aug. 28, 1832. See Life, p. 41, and "Speeches," &c., No. 4. The following Speeches and Reports were delivered in the Senate of the United States during Feb. 15, 1833. Feb. 26, 1833. See Life, p. 46, and "Speeches," &c., No. 5. April 9, 1834. See "Speeches," &c., No. 9. March 9, 1836. Speech on the Abolition Petitions. See Life, p. 58, and "Speeches," &c., No. 12. April 12, 1836. Speech on the Bill to Prohibit Deputy Postmasters from receiving or transmitting through the mail certain papers therein mentioned. See Life, p. 58, and "Speeches," &c., No. 13. Feb., 1837. Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions. See Life, p. 58, and "Speeches," &c., No. 14. May 28, 1836. See Life, p. 62, and "Speeches," &c., No. 21. Speech on the Sub-Treasury Bill. See Life, p. 64, and "Speeches," &c., No. 23. Feb. 5, 1840. Speech on the Report of Mr. Grundy, of Tennessee, in relation to the Assumption of the Debts of the States by the Federal Government. See Life, p. 65, and "Speeches," &c., No. 24. March 13, 1840. Speech on his Resolutions in reference to the Case of the Enterprise. See Life, p. 65, and "Speeches," &c., No. 26. June 11, 1841. Speech in Support of the See Life, p. 65, and "Speeches," &c., No. 29. See Life, p. 68, and "Speeches," &c., No. 32. See Life, p. 68, and "Speeches," &c., No. 33. See Life, p. 68, and "Speeches," &c., No. 34. April 12, 1842. Speech on the Loan Bill. See Life, p. 68, and "Speeches," &c., No. 35. Aug. 5, 1842. Speech on the Passage of the Tariff Bill. See Life, p. 68, and "Speeches," &c., No. 36. Aug. 16, 1842. Speech on the Treaty of Washington. See "Speeches," &c., No. 37. Feb., 1843. Speech on the Bill for the Occupation of the Oregon Territory. 90 See "Speeches," &c., No. 38. |