The life of John Caldwell Calhoun

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JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.

Preface

One after another of the remarkable men of our country has gone down to the tomb, until the number of the distinguished dead far exceeds that of the living who have become illustrious. The history and fame of the former constitute the glory and greatness of the country, and the promise of the latter is its hope and admiration. To portray the character of the one is to excite the emulation of the other ; and to depict the virtues of a single individual, may be to scatter the seeds that will germinate, and bud, and blossom, and bring forth similar fruit, in due season.

For more than thirty-five years, Mr. Calhoun has been one of the most prominent statesmen in the American Union, and during that long period their history is woven together. No important question has been agitated since he first entered Congress, in which he has not participated, or with which he

Vlll PREFACE.

has not in some way or other been connected. His biography, therefore, if executed as it ought, should be full of interest to the American reader.

I have been aware, from the first, of the difficulties and embarrassments in the way of preparing a memoir that would be acceptable to both of the parties occupying extreme grounds on the sectional questions with which Mr. Calhoun was identified. It has been my aim, however, to present all things truly; and, having done this, to rely upon the generous kindness of the public. It cannot be that passion and prejudice will follow the dead, to disturb the quiet slumbers of the grave ; and if these are forgotten, there can be no doubt that justice will be done to the memory of Mr. Calhoun. He was emphatically a great man, — a model statesman, — one of those who visit us, like angels, " few and far between."

He lived in eventful times, and his history is full of important incidents. A minute account, therefore, of the details of his life would require a much larger volume than the present. But it is the design of this work k to exhibit his character with sufficient distinctness to satisfy the general reader, and faithfully to represent his course and position with reference to the important questions that arose during his

PREFACE. IX

public career. In order to accomplish this object, I have found it necessary to insert a number of his speeches, that he might be allowed to speak for himself far more ably and eloquently than I could hope to do.

In making the selections of the speeches, I have preferred to take those delivered on subjects of great temporary importance, or which are likely to possess a permanent value from their connection with the federal constitution and its proper interpretation.

No apology need be offered for occupying so large a space with the history of Nullification. It was the great episode in the life of Mr. Calhoun, and the principle of state interposition, or state veto, was very dear to him. " If you should ask me the word," said he, " that I would wish engraven on my tombstone, it is Nullification."

Chapter I. Pagk

Roman Virtue and Integrity — Often paralleled in America — Character of Mr. Calhoun — His Reputation — Attachment of the People of South Carolina to him — Influence — Ancestors — His Father — Characteristic Traits — His Birth, 15

Chapter II

Early Development of Character — His Education — Enters College — Graduates — Studies Law — Commences Practice^ * ■ sessional Reputation — Enters the Arena of Politics — Eler***' to the State Legislature — Services in that Body — Populari among his Constituents — Chosen a Member of Congress, 25

CHAPTER in.

Enters the House of Representatives— Appointed on the Committee of Foreign Affairs — Speech on the War — His Character — Standing — Support of Madison's Administration and the War Measures — The Restrictive System — Remarks of Mr. Calhoun — Course in regard to the Embargo — Speech on the Loan Bill, . . 87

Chapter IV

Reelection of Mr. Calhoun — Results of the War — The Commercial Treaty — Course of Mr. Calhoun — His Speech — The United States

XU CONTENTS.

Bank — Mr. Dallas' Bill — Opposition of Mr. Calhoun to this Measure — Its Defeat — Chairman of the Committee on the Currency— Report of a Bank Bill — Speech — Passage of the Bill, . . 64

Chapter V

Changes in Politics — Consistency of Mr. Calhoun — Resolutions of 1816— The Direct Tax— Speech— Tariff Act of 1816— Views of Mr. Calhoun — Principle of the Law — The Military Academy — The Compensation Act — Temporary Displeasure of his Constituents — Internal Improvements — 'Veto of Mr. Madison, . . 100

Chapter VI

Expiration of his Service in the House of Representatives — Appointed Secretary of "War — Management of the Affairs of the Department — Financial System — Other Improvements introduced — Reorganization of the Army — System of Fortifications — Medical Statistics — Missouri Compromise — Tariff Act of 1824 — Internal Improvements, 140

Chapter VII

Presidential Election of 1824 — Mr. Calhoun chosen Vice-President — Character as Presiding Officer — Refusal to leave his Seat when a Tie Vote was anticipated— Decision in regard to the Right to call to Order — Opposition to the Measures of Mr. Adams — Reelection of Mr. Calhoun— The Tariff Question— Matured Opinions — Address 152

CHAPTER Vni.

Nullification— The Protective System introduced— Act of 1828 — Opposition in the Southern States— State Interposition proposed — Mr. Calhoun's Views — Election of General Jackson— Distribution and Protection combined— Dissolution of the Cabinet— Difficulty between Mr. Calhoun and General Jackson— Letter to

CONTENTS. 3C111

PAOB

Governor Hamilton — Convention in South Carolina — Mr. Caluoun elected a Senator in Congress, 1M

Chapter IX

ourney to Washington — Takes his Seat in the Senate — Special Message of the President — Mr. Calhoun's Resolutions — The Force "Bill — Speech against it — The Debate— Argument of Mr. "Webster — Reply of Mr. Calhoun— Character of this Effort — Passage of the Compromise Act — Peaceful Termination of the Controversy,

Chapter X

Xemoval of the Deposits — Opposition of Mr. Calhoun to the Jackson Administration — Course in Regard to the Bank — Executive Patronage — Reelected to the Senate — Abolition Excitement — Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions — Admission of Michigan— Separation of the Government from the Banks — Speech of Mr. Calhoun— Reply to Mr. Clay, . . . -316

CHAPTER XL

Reweftnions on the Subject of Abolitionism — Opinions of Mr. Calhoun — Assumption of State Debts — Bankrupt Bill — Case of the Enterprise — Support of Mr. Van Buren — Election of Harrison and Tyler — fhe Public Lands — Distribution — The Bank Bdls — Defence ol the Veto Power — Mr. Clay's Resolutions — Tariff of 1842— Ashburton Treaty, 379

Chapter XII

The Oregon Question — Resignation of Mr. Calhoun — Appointed

Secretary of State — Annexation of Texas — Administration of

Mr. Polk— Declines Mission to England — Returns to the Senate

—Memphis Convention — Improvement of Harbors and Rivers —

"Humph of Free Trade — War with Mexico — Continued Agitaxiv CONTENTS.

MSI

tion of the Slavery Question— Southern Address — Mr. Clay's Plan of Compromise— Last Speech of Mr. Calhoun, . . . 39$

Chapter XIII

Death of Mr. Calhoun— Funeral Honors — His Family — Personal Appearance — Character — Habits in Private Life — Mental Powers — Style as a Speaker and "Writer — Work on Government — Manner as an Orator — Course as a Statesman — Popularity — Memory, 44]

LIFE OF JOHN C, CALHOUN,

Chapter I

Roman Virtue and Integrity — Often paralleled in America — Character of Mr. Calhoun — His Reputation — Attachment of the People of South Carolina to him — Influence — Ancestors — His Father — Characteristic Traits— His Birth.

When Brennus, the Gallic chieftain, and the dark and uncouth, but stalwart and intrepid warriors, whom he led forth from their transalpine homes down upon the fair and fertile plains of Italy, entered the gates of the Eternal City, — and their startling cry of " Vce vietis !" — woe to the conquered ! — awoke a thousand echoes in her ancient streets and thoroughfares, in her palaces and her temples, — her defeated soldiery and her affrighted inhabitants fled for refuge to the Capitoline Hill, "that high place where Rome embraced her heroes." But some few of the nobler spirits of the republic, reverencing the memories of the past, cherishing its patriotic impulses, and practicing its virtues, remained in the Forum, and seated in their curule chairs, fearlessly and calmly awaited the approach of the enemy.

Rude and unpolished as were the invaders, though reckless of danger and indifferent to peril, they were instantly struck with astonishment at this exhibition of firmness and devotion, of patriotism and virtue ; and they regarded with awe, the sublime majesty of the countenances in which dignity and determination were so nobly blended. These Romans were the types of a once numerous class, whose character has been held in admiration for ages, in every clime and among every people to whom their history is known.

Roman virtue — that virtue which constituted the bright peculiar trait of statesmen, and soldiers, and citizens, in the earlier and purer days of republican simplicity, and whose light, though shorn of many of its beams, was not wholly lost amid the glory and splendor of the Empire, till the throne of the Caesars had crumbled into dust — the virtue thus exemplified and thus ennobled in Rome, has been often paralleled, if not surpassed, in the great republic of the West. While we have in some degree imitated her form of government, we have also copied the traits of character which rendered her distinguished men so famous ; and it is justly esteemed no small praise among us, to be commended for the possession and practice of Roman virtue and Roman integrity. It is, too, a fit subject for congratulation, that our country, though so young in years, has produced so many men deservedly entitled to this high distinction : they have not appeared only once in a generation or an age, but like the branches of the golden tree which opened the portals of the lower world, when one is torn away another is not wanting,* — when

1733.] ATTACHMENT OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 17

one is numbered with the dead, another springs up to fill his place, to emulate his virtues, and to follow his example.

Not the least worthy, and not the least conspicuous among them, was the subject of this memoir. For nearly forty years he occupied a prominent place among the most eminent statesmen of America. His reputation, furthermore, had crossed the Atlantic, where he had himself never been, and had elicited the most flattering encomiums from those high in ability and in station. At home, among his own countrymen, his independence of thought, his fearlessness in the expression of his opinions, and his unbending and uncompromising integrity, caused him to be generally admired even among those who differed from him the most widely upon political questions. While, therefore, his sentiments with reference to matters of public policy were not always cordially approved, but were oftentimes earnestly opposed, his character and his talents were held in esteem in every section of the Union, and it may be truly said that his fame was national, and was bounded only by the confines of our territory.

For much the greater portion of the period during which he was in public life, he held a seat in the legislature of his native state, or represented her in one or other of the two houses of Congress. To the people of South Carolina he was closely endeared, as well by the sterling qualities of his head and heart, as by his fidelity in watching over and protecting their interests, and his long and arduous services in the councils of the state and nation. Open and frank in the avowal of his sentiments upon the great questions that divided the public mind — prompt and energetic — faithful and true — he commanded alike their respect and their admiration.

To most of them personally a stranger, yet when his name was uttered, it awoke many a lofty and animating recollection, and around it clustered hosts of stirring associations. They looked up to him as their leader and their head, — they trusted in him to carry them safe through every emergency, and to sustain them in every crisis. Did danger threaten them from within or without, he was invoked as the guardian genius who possessed the power to heal all dissensions, and to triumph over all opposition. Did the gathering clouds on the political horizon forebode aught of disaster, to him they applied as to one who could not be daunted by the omens that filled the souls of others with terror and awe; and when the warning voice, the counsels, or the admonitions, of that statesman-planter, were heard rolling down from his distant home at the foot of the Blue Ridge over the lowlands of South Carolina, few there were who did not heed and obey them. Like a gallant knight he was foremost in every position of danger, and when his banner was unfurled in the midst of the timid and faint-hearted, they raised their eyes to it in the confidence of faith, and turned from it full of encouragement and hope.

Possessing such traits of character, and uniting with them a commanding intellect, and an indomitable will, it is not surprising that he exerted an influence so wide-spread and so powerful. " When a firm decisive spirit is recognized," says Mr. Foster, " it is curious to see how the space clears around a man, and leaves him

1733.] INFLUENCE AND MEMORY. 19

room and freedom. * * * A conviction that he understands and that he wills with extraordinary force, silences the conceit that intended to perplex or instruct him, and intimidates the malice that was disposed to attack him. There is a feeling, as in respect to Fate, that the decrees of so inflexible a spirit must be right, or that, at least, they will be accomplished."*

It was so with Mr. Calhoun. Without an effort on his part, other than the natural operations of his mind and character in the progress of development, he acquired a reputation of which his fellow-citizens were exceedingly proud, as they well might be. They soon learned to love him, and loving, to admire and revere. For twenty years he was first and foremost in their affections, and the dearest hopes of thousands followed him to the silence of the tomb. In their hearts his memory must long be enshrined, and the spot hallowed by the presence of all that remained of his mortal existence must be to them as " holy ground," — like Mecca to the followers of the Prophet, or the meadow of Griitli to the peasantry of Switzerland. It is consecrated earth that contains beneath its bosom

" Ashes which make it holier, dust which is Even in itself an immortality."

The paternal ancestors of Mr. Calhoun came originally from Ireland, that fruitful hive from which sprung most of the early inhabitants of the eastern slopes of the Alleghany mountains. His grandfather emigrated with his family to Pennsylvania in the year 1733 ; they afterward removed to Virginia, and in 1756 finally

* Essay on Decision of Character, Letter ii.

established themselves permanently in the province of South Carolina, near the base of the Blue Ridge, and in the fine healthy region drained by the tributaries of the Savannah river.

His father, Patrick Calhoun, was born in Donegal, but was a mere child when the family left Ireland. Accustomed from his earliest years to sights and scenes well calculated to heighten the natural daring of his spirit, and to render him courageous and self-reliant ; familiar with hardship and privation, with war and bloodshed ; he was distinguished for his boldness and intrepidity, his determined energy, and his manly independence, — traits which were reproduced and reexemplified in the life and character of his distinguished son. The family were driven from their temporary home in Virginia by the hordes of ruthless savages let loose upon the frontier settlements in consequence of the defeat of Braddock, and in the hostile encounters that took place previous to their removal, Patrick was old enough to take a prominent part. He subsequently participated in the frequent skirmishes between the white settlers of South Carolina and the Cherokee Indians previous to and during the Revolution. For a long time he commanded a company of rangers, who did good service in keeping off the marauders that hovered upon the borders of the infant colony, seeking an opportunity to plunder and destroy.

His occupation was that of a farmer or planter, ana he resided upon and cultivated the same place where his father's family first settled, and which now belongs to the heirs of his youngest son. He was married in 1770 to a young lady, whose maiden name was Cald

1776.] HIS FATHER. 21

well, and who was a native of Charlotte county, Virginia. Her father was a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, and was one of the founders of the settlement on Cub Creek.

The elder Mr. Calhoun was an industrious and enterprising citizen. To great natural shrewdness he added an inquiring disposition, and a boldness and independence of sentiment that were rarely imitated. He thought, and spoke, and acted for himself. He was a Whig in principle long before the Revolution, and when the crisis came, he did not hesitate publicly to make profession of "the faith that was in him." He battled manfully against the Tories ; he contended with them in speech ; and at the head of his rangers aided essentially in putting them down with the strong hand. Both the Caldwells and the Calhouns were active and zealous Whigs. As such, they were the peculiar objects of the red man's hate and the Tory's vengeance. Oi' three of the Caldwells able to bear arms during the revolutionary struggle, one was murdered by the Tories in cold blood, in his own yard, after his house had been set on fire ; another fell dead at the battle of the Cowpens, being pierced with thirty sabre wounds ; and the third was taken prisoner by the enemy, and confined for nine months in a loathsome dungeon at St. Augustine.

Nothing but his stout arm and intrepidity of soul, saved Patrick Calhoun from experiencing a similar fate. " Upon one occasion," — says a memoir of his son, published by his political friends during the presidential canvass of 1843-4, — " with thirteen other whites, he maintained a desperate conflict for hours with the Cherokee Indians, until overwhelmed by superior numbers, he was forced to retreat, leaving seven of his companions dead upon the field. Three days after, they returned to bury their dead, and found the bodies of twenty-three Indian warriors, who had perished in the same conflict. At another time, he was singled out by an Indian distinguished for his prowess as a chief, and for his skill with the rifle. The Indian taking to a tree, Calhoun secured himself behind a log, from whence he drew the Indian's fire four times by holding a hat on a stick a little above his hiding-place. The Indian at length exhibited a portion of his person in an effort to ascertain the effect of his shot, when he received a ball from his enemy in the shoulder, which forced him to fly. But the hat exhibited the traces of four balls by which it had been perforated. The effect of this mode of life upon a mind naturally strong and inquisitive was to create a certain degree of contempt for the forms of civilized life, and for all that was merely conventional in society. He claimed all the rights which nature and reason seemed to establish, and he acknowledged no obligation which was not supported by the like sanctions. It was under this conviction that, upon one occasion, he and his neighbors went down within twenty-three miles of Charleston, armed with rifles, to exercise a right of suffrage which had been disputed : a contest which ended in electing him to the Legislature of the state, in which body he served for thirty years. Relying upon virtue, reason, and courage, as all that constituted the true moral strength of man. he attached too little importance to mere information, and never feared to encounter an adversary who, in that respect, had the advantage over him : a confidence which many of the events of his life seemed

1782.] POLITICAL VIEWS, 23

to justify. Indeed, he once appeared as his own advocate in a case in Virginia, in which he recovered a tract of land in despite of the regularly-trained disputants, who sought to embarrass and defeat him. He opposed the Federal Constitution, because, as he said, it permitted other people than those of South Carolina to tax the people of South Carolina, and thus allowed taxation without representation, which was a violation of the fundamental principle of the revolutionary struggle.

" We have heard his son say, that among his earliest recollections was one of a conversation when he was nine years of age, in which his father maintained that government to be best which allowed the largest amount of individual liberty compatible with social order and tranquillity, and insisted that the improvements in political science would be found to consist in throwing off many of the restraints then imposed by law, and deemed necessary to an organized society. It may well be supposed that his son John was an attentive and eager auditor, and such lessons as these must doubtless have served to encourage that free spirit of inquiry, and that intrepid zeal for truth, for which he has been so much distinguished. The mode of thinking which was thus encouraged may, perhaps, have compensated in some degree for the want of those early advantages which are generally deemed indispensable to great intellectual progress. Of these he had comparatively few. But this was compensated by those natural gifts which give great minds the mastery over difficulties which the timid regard as insuperable. Indeed, we have here another of those rare instances in which the hardiness of natural genius is seen to defy all obstacles, and develops its flower and matures its fruit under circumstances apparently the most unpropitious."

Patrick Calhoun died in 1795. His wife was a woman of rare excellence, whose many virtues endeared ner to all that knew her, and are still held in grateful remembrance by those who witnessed the evidences of her worth and profited by her kindness. They had five children, four sons and a daughter, of whom John Caldwell Calhoun was the youngest save one. He was born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, at the resi, dence of his father, on the 18th of March, 1782, and was named after his maternal uncle, Major John Caldwell, who was murdered by the Tories.

Chapter II

Early Development of Character — His Education — Enters College- Graduates — Studies Law — Commences Practice — Professional Reputation — Enters the Arena of Politics — Elected to the State Legislature — Services in that Body — Popularity among his Constituents — Chosen a Member of Congress.

Born and nurtured amid the closing scenes of the Revolution, and when its dying thunders were still heard faintly echoing in the distance, the stirring incidents of that protracted contest, and the legends and traditions of border warfare, were among the first and earliest recollections of young Calhoun. They were often recounted in his hearing, and left their impress upon his character, in its sternness, and what might almost be called its harshness. He inherited, too, from his father, the active energy, firmness and determination, that characterized him, and from his mother's family, their ardency of feeling, and their high-toned and impulsive enthusiasm. When a lad he was remarked for his thoughtful disposition, his quickness of apprehension, his decision of character, and his steady and untiring perseverance in the accomplishment of any plan he had conceived, or in the pursuit of any object which he desired to secure.

The early trials and struggles, the hopes and disappointments, of those who are successful in life, whatever may be the calling or profession, differ oftener in kind than in character. Few minds are so peculiarly constituted as not to require to be submitted to the ordeal, when in the early stages of development. The discipline of the young is like the task of the pruner. What is unsightly or unproductive is removed, in order that the thrifty or more promising shoots may grow with greater vigor, and bud and blossom with increased luxuriance. " It is no doubt a true observation," remarked Bishop Patrick, " that the ready way to make the minds of youth go awry, is to lace them too hard, by denying them their just freedom ;" but when the regimen is properly advised and faithfully observed, it is healthful, and strengthens and invigorates the character for the sterner and severer duties of advanced years. Chance sometimes fairly thrusts her favors upon those who seem little inclined to profit by them, but like Dead Sea fruits, though fair and tempting without, they turn to dust and ashes within. Fortune is proverbially a blind goddess, and she has nevei maintained a very high reputation for her impartiality. The French have a political maxim, that " Time is a statesman's principal assistant." This is equally applicable to the career of every man, in boyhood and in age: — Time, Patience, Energy, and Perseverance, like the brothers in the fairy tale, find nothing so difficult that it cannot be overcome.

In the life of Mr. Calhoun, this truth is strikingly exemplified. The advantages which he possessed in so far as an education was concerned, while he remained at home, are now exceeded by those enjoyed by the child of the humblest citizen of his native state. The

1795.] HIS EDUCATION. 27

upper country of Virginia and the two Carolinas was settled mainly by Irish and Scotch-Irish emigrants, — a very different class of people from the more polished and refined Huguenots and descendants of the Cavaliers, who dwelt in the lower valleys of their noble rivers. The former were poor in this world's goods, but rich in those sterling qualities of heart and soul that fitted them so well for the hardships and privations of a pioneer life, and which constituted a richer legacy to their children than the wealth secured by their industry among the hills and dales of their forest homes. Among such a people, the means of instruction were, of course, quite limited, and children were taught the rudiments of learning principally by their parents.

Mr. Calhoun was indebted for the most part to his father and mother for the information acquired in his youth. There were few or no schools in the sparsely settled district where they resided, and the only branches of education taught in them were reading, writing, and arithmetic. When he was old enough they sent hint to an ordinary country school, at which he learned al< that his teacher could communicate. These draughts from the fountain, turbid though it was, created a thirst for more ; but as there was not a single academv in the whole upper region of the state, and none within fifty miles, except in Columbia county, Georgia, of which Mr. Waddell, a Presbyterian clergyman who had married his sister, was the principal ; and as his father was unwilling, both on account of his limited means, and of his aversion to the learned professions, to send him away from home ; he reached the age of thirteen without having added anything to his stock of knowledge, except the limited amount of information he was able to pick up in conversation with others, and to obtain from the few books to which he had access.

At the age of thirteen he was placed under the care of his brother-in-law, and commenced a course of study in the higher branches. He had but just made a beginning in this new occupation, with which he was perfectly delighted, when the death of his father took place. His sister shortly after died, and Mr. Waddell immediately discontinued his academy. John continued to reside with his brother-in-law; but as the latter was absent for the greater part of the time, engaged in the performance of his clerical duties, he was left to depend upon his own resources for amusement. The plantation was in a remote district, and he had not a single white companion, with the exception, at intervals, of Mr. Waddell, and an occasional visitor. In this situation, had he fallen a victim to listlessness and ennui, it could /lot have been wondered at. But his active mind required employment, and in the house he found what proved to him a rich mine of intellectual wealth.

His brother-in-law was the librarian of a small circulating library, and to this he at once resorted. No one counselled or directed him in the selection of books tor perusal, but as if led by instinct, he discarded fiction entirely, and occupied himself, to the exclusion of all lighter reading, with historical works. These were lew in number, but he devoured them eagerly. Rollin's Ancient History; Robertson's Life of Charles V., and History of America; and a translation of Voltaire's

1800.] FONDNESS FOR READING HISTORY. 29

Charles XII., first attracted his attention. He was completely fascinated with the inexhaustible store of information which the French scholar had accumulated, and admired the well-turned periods and graceful and easy diction of Scotland's great historian, while he hung with delight upon the thrilling account of the daring exploits of the Swedish monarch. Having dispatched these volumes, he took up the large edition of Cook's Voyages, Brown's Essays, and Locke on the Understanding, the last of which he was unable to finish, for the reason that he had already overtasked his strength, and his health had become considerably impaired.