USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 23
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'We are next told of the expenses of the war, and that the people will not pay taxes. Why not? Is it a want of means? What, with 1,000,000 tons of shipping ; a commerce of $100,000,000 annually; manufactures yielding a yearly profit of $150,000,000, and agriculture thrice that amount; shall we, with such great resources, be told that the country wants ability to raise and support 10,000 or 15,000 additional regulars? No: it has the ability, that is admitted; but will it not have the disposition? Is not our course just and necessary ? Shall we, then, utter this libel on the people ? Where will proof be found of a fact so disgraceful? It is said, in the history of the country twelve or fifteen years ago. The case is not parallel. The ability of the country is greatly increased since. The whiskey tax was unpopular. But, as well as my memory serves me, the objection was not so much to the tax or its amount as the mode of collecting it. The
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people were startled by the host of officers, and their love of liberty shocked with the multiplicity of regulations. We, in the spirit of imitation, copied from the most oppressive part of the European laws on the subject of taxes, and imposed on a young and virtuous people the severe provisions made necessary by corruption and the long practice of evasion. If taxes should become necessary, I do not hesitate to say the people will pay cheerfully. It is for their government and their cause, and it would be their interest and duty to pay. But it may be, and I believe was said, that the people will not pay taxes, because the rights violated are not worth defending, or that the defence will cost more than the gain. Sir, I here enter my solemn protest against this low and "calculating avarice" entering this hall of legislation. It is only fit for shops and counting-houses, and ought not to disgrace the seat of power by its squalid aspect. Whenever it touches sove- reign power, the nation is ruined. It is too short-sighted to defend itself. It is a compromising spirit, always ready to yield a part to save the residue. It is too timid to have in itself the laws of self-preservation. It is never safe but under the shield of honor. There is, sir, one principle necessary to make us a great people-to produce, not the form, but real spirit of union, and that is to protect every citizen in the law- ful pursuit of his business. He will then feel that he is backed by the government, that its arm is his arm. He then will rejoice in its increased strength and prosperity. Protec- tion and patriotism are reciprocal. This is the way which has led nations to greatness. Sir, I am not versed in this calculating policy, and will not, therefore, pretend to estimate in dollars and cents the value of national independence. I cannot measure in shillings and pence the misery, the stripes, and the slavery of our impressed seamen; nor even the value of our shipping, commercial and agricultural losses, under the orders in council and the British system of blockade. In thus expressing myself, I do not intend to condemn any pru- dent estimate of the means of a country before it enters on a war. 'That is wisdom, the other folly. The gentleman from Virginia has not failed to touch on the calamity of war, that
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fruitful source of declamation, by which humanity is made the advocate of submission. If he desires to repress the gal- lant ardor of our countrymen by such topics, let me inform him that true courage regards only the cause; that it is just and necessary, and that it contemns the sufferings and dangers of war. If he really wishes well to the cause of humanity, let his eloquence be addressed to the British ministry, and not the American Congress. Tell them that, if they persist in such daring insult and outrages to a neutral nation, however inclined to peace, it will be bound by honor and safety to resist; that their patience and endurance, however great, will be exhausted; that the calamity of war will ensue, and that they, and not we, in the opinion of the world, will be answer- able for all its devastation and misery. Let a regard to the interest of humanity stay the hand of injustice, and my life on it, the gentleman will not find it difficult to dissuade his countrymen from rushing into the bloody scenes of war.'
Though the first tones of Mr. Calhoun's voice, in public life, were for war, yet they were justified, we humbly believe, in the eyes of the truest advocate of peace. They were spoken to rouse the country to a declaration of hostilities, for frightful outrages on humanity. The people of the United States have no resentment to indulge, no revenge to gratify. The judgment of Providence has given them the guardianship of that religion and those laws which have so often been the boast and admiration of England herself. Our government is a trustee for those rights, not for itself, not for our citizens alone; but for all nations, and for all objects dear to civilization and to man. War is the instrument of God, to punish nations. Communities, as such, cannot be avenged in their individuals, for crimes of their rules. The crimes which might condemn the government, may exempt the citi- zen; and if war were not a means in the power of Heaven, the flame of public liberty might be extinguished, and the wrongs of men, as nations, remain forever unredressed. In- exorable tyrants might, with impunity, overrun the peaceful territories of freedom, and millions of suffering human beings be subjected to the most severe political oppressions. When
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the United States made war on England, these principles were at stake. Had our Government failed to vindicate the aggressions perpetrated, the injuries inflicted on us would have become perpetual exercises of power over the whole civ- ilized world. The United States, in losing her sense of right, would have lost the respect of the world. What we cease to respect, we cease to fear. The nation, now the asylum of the oppressed of all the earth, the centre of free commerce, and the locality of the altars of unrestrained religion, would have been, if not a feeble colony of Great Britain, at all events, a miserable and weak republic. M. Calhoun saw the conse- quences, and did not hesitate to give his powers to the justifi- cation of the principles involved. He sent forth, in trumpet tones, appeals which animated the patriotism of the American people, and stirred up the slumbering energies of a previous revolution. He dissipated the selfish views and doubtful policy of the few who considered, or were alarmed by the probable results of a war with that powerful country; and substituted, for these thoughts, a patriotic regard for the honor, the rights, and glory of the republic. In the crisis, he not only bore away victory from all his opponents, but achieved a triumph over himself, the greatest of all conquests. Had Mr. Calhoun been a mere time-serving politician, had his soul been capable of a selfish thought, now was the time for ascendency. Full as he was of honors, crowded at every step with evidences of the approbation of the public, he might have secured any place in the gift of the people. But he had no self-love inconsistent with the purity and integrity of his motives; and, having accomplished the high end for which he had labored, he looked about to see where his country might be next attacked. He saw the weak point in our internal arrangements. He saw a proclivity in the general government to concentrate power, at the expense of the autho- rity of the States; and from that moment to the time of his death, this danger absorbed his thoughts, and directed his course. It was in vain that men looked, and turned away contemptuously, because they did not see what he did. With eyes fixed on the future, he turned neither to the right nor
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the left. He pointed to the dim speck on the horizon, and foretold the coming storm. It was the sole image on his mind's eye. He anticipated terrible calamities; and, to avert them, determined on new, bold, and to many men, alarming preventives. He left the ranks of a well-organized, prosper- ous and conquering party-a party on whose eagles victory seemed to have perched with strength all-powerful-to take an isolated position, where all said he was fighting with a phantom. He made all the sacrifices which are thought dear to the human breast. He forebore the pomp and advantage of a majority, to array himself, with little hope of success, or promise of reward, in the ranks of a small and unpopular minority. May we not, without either approving or con- demning the opinions of this great man, yet give him the just award of possessing a resolute, a conscientious soul? One which justified right, and contested for truth, in the midst of every disadvantage, and upheld what seemed the right amid the severest opposition.
At the same session in which he defended the war, Mr. Calhoun, against the pre-conceived opinions of the body of the Republicans, gave his enthusiastic support to measures for the increase of the Navy. To him, to Mr. Lowndes, Mr. Cheves and Mr. Clay, are due all praise for fostering in its infancy, a branch of the national defence which has won immortal glory for the American name.
On the retirement of Mr. Porter from the position of Chair- man of the Committee on Foreign Relations, the duties of that committee, all exceedingly arduous, fell on Mr. Calhoun. He discharged them with an ability and industry which elicited universal approval.
At the session of Congress ensuing, Mr. Calhoun rendered a signal service to the commercial interests of the country. A forfeiture of millions of the capital of the country, vested abroad, and, under the shape of merchandize imported into the country, to avoid loss under the Non-importation Act, had been prayed to be remitted. This the Secretary of the Trea- sury had recommended to be done, on the condition that the amount were loaned to the government. Mr. Calhoun, with
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characteristic honesty, supported the prayer of the petition, but denounced the condition. His efforts relieved our mer- chants of this onerous penalty.
The advocacy of the Loan Bill as rendered necessary by the exigencies of the war, gave Mr. Calhoun an opportunity for new displays of eloquence and reasoning. His speech on that occasion is a brilliant effort; the power and effect of which, in rousing the mind to a just conception of the duty of sustaining the war, transcended the immediate occasion of its delivery.
On the great question of a Bank of the United States, in 1814-a measure of the administration-Mr. Calhoun differed from his party. He opposed the bill which sought to carry out this measure, and rejected various propositions of his friends to adapt its provisions to his views.
It would be profitless, perhaps invidious, to survey the par- ticulars of the contest on the Tariff of 1816. A denial of the charge, that it was the origin of the Protective system, or the assertion, that Mr. Calhoun's opinions respecting it have been misrepresented, would awaken sleeping feuds, in which party predilections would be substituted for arguments. While, on the one hand, Mr. Calhoun is said to be the author of the system, it is, on the other, asserted, that circumstances con- nected with our foreign relations, and not the idea of home protection, justified the support he gave the measure. Both positions have able and honest advocates. Both are, how- ever, under the influence of long-favored attachments. These sensibly affect the judgment; and, like prejudices growing up with infancy and long cherished in manhood, are not easily dissipated, even by the rays of reason.
Of the like character is the dispute on Mr. Calhoun's posi- tion with respect to setting apart the bonus of the United States Bank, for internal improvements. Mr. Calhoun is no longer here to defend his consistency, or to furnish the expla- nations so necessary to enable men to arrive at truth. Ene- mies and friends alike err-the former in making too little, the latter too much allowance. Let the contrast, so far as his memory is concerned, be withdrawn. The gallant Saladin,
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and the chivalrous Richard of the Lion's Heart, did not think it unworthy of their magnanimity or courage to decline a combat long maintained without success to either.
The conduct of the war department, as Secretary under Mr. Monroe, gave Mr. Calhoun a very high character for close investigation and high administrative talent. The confused and long unsettled accounts of that office engaged his atten- tion, with unremitted industry, for seven years. From an office difficult of management, it became one of ease for his successors. He reformed it in many particulars, cleared its affairs of all embarrassments, and literally brought order out of chaos.
In the contest for the Presidency, in which M. Adams, General Jackson, Mr. Crawford, and Mr. Clay, were the rival candidates, Mr. Calhoun, with rare self-denial, having with- drawn from the field, had the justice awarded him of being placed on nearly all the tickets for the Vice-Presidency. Having been elected to this office, he took his seat as Presi- dent of the Senate in 1825; and, by the exercise of much dignity and firmness, brought the position into very great dis- tinction. It was characteristic of Mr. Calhoun, that in all his public acts, he leaned against power. This was never more prominently displayed than in his decision of an important point arising in the debate on the celebrated Panama mission. Mr. Randolph had made on this question a most scathing attack on the administration. In reference to it, Mr. Calhoun, as presiding officer of the Senate, decided, that he had no power to restrain a Senator in respect to words spoken in debate. Out of that decision, arose a controversy engaging all the powers and prejudices of friends and opponents of the administration. No one ever doubted Mr. Calhoun's honesty of purpose in this decision, or the superiority of his defence, under the signature of 'Onslow.'
Mingling in the conflicts arising on the Tariff of 1828, and in connection with the efforts to defeat Mr. Adams on a second election, Mr. Calhoun was placed in a position to display, in strong light, his extraordinary resistance to party ties in the performance of duty. The contest in respect to the Tariff
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had nearly equally divided the Senate. To avoid the conse- quences of a tie-vote, Mr. Calhoun, who was on the ticket with General Jackson for the Vice-Presidency, was advised to withdraw from his seat. He indignantly refused; determined, as he declared, to risk all hope of advancement for himself, rather than shrink from his duty. In order to avoid, however, the possibility of injuring the prospects of General Jackson, he declared his willingness to take his name from the ticket.
We pass over various particulars in the history of Mr. Calhoun's distinguished services in the cabinet of Mr. Monroe, in the Vice-Presidency and in the Senate, all exhibiting the superiority of his judgment, and the sincerity of his attach- ment to the Constitution and the Union. We will pause to consider that period, when, having done so much to elevate General Jackson, he was treacherously superseded in his con- fidence. We will not examine into the causes of that event; we will not gather up the nearly extinguished sparks from the ashes of that disgraceful and scandalous quarrel, in which the only decency and moderation were displayed by its victim.
Two acts of Mr. Calhoun in the sessions of 1814, 1815, and 1816, have been the subject of frequent animadversion and defence. It will be understood we refer to the bill reported by him to set apart and pledge the bonus of the United States Bank, as a fund for internal improvement, and his assent to the policy of the Bank, recommended by Madison. It is enough to say here, in regard to these measures, that, with respect to the first, Mr. Calhoun, as we understand, has never denied that it was his early impression that the constitutional power of Congress over internal improvement was compre- hended under the money power. The error, as he believed, of this view, was soon developed, and the promptest confession of it made. In reference to the Bank, Mr. Calhoun has ever insisted that he yielded to the necessity for its establishment, in view of the peculiar position of the country and its finan- ces at the time, and not of its general policy or constitution- ality.
We come to the exciting topic of State interposition. Out of the opposition of the South to the Tariff of 1828, this doc-
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trine began to be developed. From the long fallow-ground of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions the seeds of this prin- ciple were gathered, and scattered in a new soil. They grew and flourished luxuriantly in the South, and received the early and warm encouragement of Mr. Calhoun. The 'South Carolina exposition and Protest on the Tariff,' adopted by the Legislature of that State, was understood to have been proposed by Mr. Calhoun. The following extract from a doc- ument by Mr. Calhoun, embraces the leading features of this doctrine :
' The great and leading principle is, that the General Gov- ernment emanated from the several States, forming distinct political communities, and acting in their separate and sove- reign capacity, and not from all of the people forming one aggregate political community; that the Constitution of the United States, is, in fact, a compact, to which each State is a party, in the character already described; and that the several States or parties have a right to judge of its infractions, and, in case of a deliberate, palpable, dangerous exercise of power not delegated, they have the right, in the last resort, to use the language of the Virginia resolutions, " to interpose for arrest- ing the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties, apper- taining to them." This right of interposition, thus solemnly asserted by the State of Virginia, be it called what it may, State-right, veto, nullification, or by any other name, I con- ceive to be the fundamental principle of our system, resting on facts historically as certain as our Revolution itself, and deductions as simple and demonstrative as that of any politi- cal or moral truth whatever; and I firmly believe, that on its recognition depends the stability and safety of our political institutions.
' I am not ignorant that those opposed to the doctrine have always, now and formerly, regarded it in a very different light, as anarchical and revolutionary. Could I believe such, in fact, to be its tendency, to mne it would be no recommenda- tion. I yield to none, I trust, in a deep and sincere attach- ment to our political institutions, and the union of these
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States. I never breathed an opposite sentiment; but, on the contrary, I have ever considered them the great instrument of preserving our liberties, and promoting the happiness of our- selves and our posterity; and, next to these, I have ever held them most dear. Nearly half my life has passed in the service of the Union, and whatever public reputation I have acquired is indissolubly identified with it. To be too national has, indeed, been considered by many, even of my friends, to be my greatest political fault. With these strong feelings of attachment, I have examined, with the utmost care, the bear- ing of the doctrine in question ; and so far from anarchical or revolutionary, I solemnly believe it to be the only solid foun- dation of our system, and of the Union itself, and that the opposite doctrine, which denies to the States the right of pro- tecting their several powers, and which would vest in the General Government (it matters not through what depart- ment) the right of determining, exclusively and finally, the powers delegated to it, is incompatible with the sovereignty of the States and of the Constitution itself, considered as the basis of a Federal Union. As strong as this language is, it is not stronger than that used by the illustrious Jefferson, who said, to give the General Government the final and exclusive right to judge of its powers, is to make "its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers," and that "in all cases of compact between parties having no common judge for itself, as well of the infraction as of the mode and measure of redress." Language cannot be more explicit, nor can higher authority be adduced.'
But how shall we treat this important period in Mr. Cal- houn's life ? How speak of his views without giving offence ? How shall we mention the arguments, and relate the inci- dents of Nullification, without awakening the prejudices and heart-burnings of the times! How shall we do justice to Mr. Calhoun's sentiments, without wronging the sentiments of others? The cause that produced this fearful controversy was removed. The quarrel which shook the faith of men in the stability of our government was adjusted. Great God! bless the noble spirits who substituted peace for war! Im-
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mortal be the memory of the statesmen who looked beyond the animosities of a moment-who, in the midst of the ex- cesses of the times, animated by holy emotions of patriotism, resolved, by honorable concession and compromise, to pre- serve and perpetuate the union of these States!
During the pendency of this question, the most momentous that ever agitated the country, Mr. Calhoun engaged in an intellectual conflict with Mr. Daniel Webster. Never had the world listened to finer exhibitions of mind. The rolling words of the great New Englander came like the swelling bosom of the great father of waters, exciting terrible appre- hensions of danger to the Union. The keen logic, the clear conceptions of his opponent, filled the whole horizon with effulgence.
While the giants were contesting the field, victory now in- clining to the one, now to the other, the issue uncertain- dreaded by all men-the great chieftain of compromises stepped into the arena, and threw up the weapons of the com- batants. He, whose life was ever superior to the advantage of the moment. He, who revives, in our time, the most glorious conceptions of Cicero. He, who, when others strove for the triumphs of party, snatched from destiny the victories of con- ciliation; introduced his celebrated bill of compromise, and dispelled the storm. Mr. Calhoun was not behind Henry Clay in magnanimity and love of country. If not the first to propose the compromise, he was the first to accept it. If, as most falsely charged, he was ambitious of a Southern Presi- dency, he would never have gone forth so readily to accept, on the part of the South, the proffered olive branch. He stood first in the Northern States. Never had the people of these States been so united in opposition, never so warm in their confidence in Mr. Calhoun. Had their Union been dis- solved, he would have been the first spirit in the South; and this he knew. But no one rejoiced more than he did, that the day of tranquillity had returned; that the conflict was at an end, and the Union saved. In the most inclement season, he hurried to South Carolina, where resistance had assumed a most decided aspect, and, by his influence, induced the State
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to yield to peaceful interference. No man in the United States could have produced the result but Mr. Calhoun; and the anxiety with which he pressed this compromise attests, beyond question, his love for the Union. Dissimulation has never found a place in Mr. Calhoun's heart. Had he desired a dis- solution of the confederacy, he would have avowed the wish fearlessly, and without equivocation. But he believed, that the dangers of a consolidation were upon us; and if, out of his intense study of a means to avert them, he came to con- clusions, and pressed abstractions, the truth of which did not strike other men, it does not follow that he was not entirely honest in his belief of their efficacy and veracity.
Shall we probe further the wounds of this controversy? Shall we draw aside the pall covering the relics of a strife, at rest, we trust, for all future time? Shall we, like opposing fanatics, as was done in the case of William the Norman, engage in repeated exhumations, in order to indulge in the ostentation of repeated funeral services? Who would be benefitted, who convinced? Let the storm rest! The winds are still! The surface of the sea is calm and undisturbed. The clouds are receding from the overhanging canopy, and men breathe freely. Out of the east, a new sun, the successor of that which yesterday declined in clouds, is beginning to rise, and pour its healthful rays over the land. Brethren of the same household are rejoicing in its splendor. May it warm and light them forever! May no dismal shadows in- tervene, and obscure its beams; but, full of luxuriance, may the land teem with life, all busy in the ark of peace, all faith- ful in devotion to the Union !
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