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SOUTHERN TRIBUNE.
EDITED AND PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
WM. B . HARRISON.
from the Charleston Courier.
CALHOUN.
by mrs. Wary s. whitaker.
Heir hack uur nolilo dead—
Tlie mighty and the wise
Fallen the stately head.
And closed the lightning eyes.
Mule now the lips of fire
, And lied the patriot soul
That dared Oppression's ire
And spumed our foes’ coulol.
Dear back our noble chief,
Lav him in Southern ground :
Deep-felt and stern our grief.
As slow we pile llie mound.
His voice is in our ears
His counsel in our heart;
And, still unknowing fear,
The South will act her part.
Our banner o'er his grave
Unfurl’d, shall flutter soon,
Inscrib'd—behold it wave !
“Rights of the. South Calhoun!"
I'loccotliiiKS in Congress.
Washington, April 1, ISoO.
Mr. Holmes announced to the House
of Representatives the death of the Hon.
John C. Calhoun, in the following elo
quent manner. * * * 4
We the Representatives of our State,
come to sorrow over our dead; but the
virtue and the life arid the services of the
deceased were not confined by metes and
bounds ; but standingou tbe broad expanse
of this Confederacy, he gave his genius to
the States, and his heart to his entire
* * He was born among a
people who knew but few books, and over
whose minds learning had not yet thrown
its cfiulgcnce. But they bad the Bible;
and with his pious parents, he gathered
rich lore, which surpasses that of Creek
or Roman. * *
[Mr. Holmes then traced him through
his youthful mcanderings up to his enter
ing Congress at twenty-eight years of age,
at which time a war was thiea'ened with
Great Britain, which he advised and suc
cessfully aided in carrying through to an
honorable termination.J Mr. H. remarked
Fortunately for the country Mr. Cal
houn’s advice was taken, and then the
great spirit of America, released front her
shackles, burst up from her prostrate con
dition, and made her bear ber incumbent,
and stand erect before the people of the
world, and shake her spear in bold defiance.
In that war, bis counsels contributed as
much, 1 am informed, as these of any man
to its final success. At a period when our
troops on the frontier, under the command
of the Governor of New York, were about
to retire from the line, and that Governor
bad written to Mr. Madison that bo bad
exhausted bis own credit, and the credit of
all those whose resources lie could com
mand, and his means were exhausted, and
unless in a short period money was sent
on to invigorate the troops, the war must
end, and our country bow down to a vic
torious foe ; sir, upon that occasion Mr.
Madison became so disheartened, that he
assembled bis counsellors, and asked for
advice and aid, but advice and aid they
bad not to give. At length Mr. Dallas,
tbe Secretary of the Treasury, said to Mr.
Madison, You are sick ; retire to your
chamber; leave the rest to us. I will send
to the Capitol for the youthful Hercules,
who hitherto has borne the war upon his
shoulders, and he will counsel us a reme
dy. Mr. Calhouu came. He advised an
appeal to the Stales for the loan of their
credit. It seemed as it' anew light had
burst upon His advice was
taken. The States generously responded
to the appeal. Those were times of fear
ful import. We were engage*! in war
with a nation whose resources were am
ple, while ours were crippled. Our ships
of-war, few in number, were compelled to
go forth on the broad bosom of the deep,
to encounter those fleets which had signali
zed themselves at the battles of Abouker
and Trafalgar, and annihilated the combin
ed navies of France and Spain. Hut there
was an inward strength—there was an un
dying the hearts of a free
people; ami they went forth to battle and
to conquest.
Sir, the clang of arms and the shouts of
victory had scarcely died along the dark
waters of the Niagara—the war upon the
plains of Oi leans had just gone out with a
blaze of glory—when all eyes were in
stinctively turned to this youthful patriot,
who had rescued his country in the dark
hour of her peril. Mr. Monroe transferred
him to his Cabinet; and upon that occa
sion, so confused was tbo Department of
War, so complicated and disordered, that
Mr. Wm. Lowndes, a friend to Mr. Cal
houn, advised him against risking the high
honors he had achieved upon this floor,
for the uncertain victories of an Execu
tive position. But no man had pondered
more throughly the depths of his own
mind and the purposes of his own heart—
none knew so well the undaunted resolu
tion and energy that always characterized
him ; ami he resolved to accept, and did.
He related to me what was extremely char
acteristic, he went into the Department,
but became not of it for awhile. He gave
m> directions—he lot the machinery more
on by its own impetus. In the mean time
he gathered with that minuteness which
characterized him, all the facts connected
with the working of the machinery—wifli
that power of generalization which was so
romarkably combined together in one sys- i
tom ; all the detached parts, instituted the!
bureaus, imparting individual respmisibili- j
ty to each, and requiring from them tha'.
responsibility in turn, but uniting them all
in beautiful harmony, and creating in the
workings a perfect unity. And so com
plete did that work come from his bands,
that at this time there has been no change )
material in this department. It has pass
ed through the ordeal of another war,
and it still remains fresh, and without symp
toms of decay. He knew that we should
have the science to conduct them ; and he
therefore directed his attention to West
Point, which, fostered by his care, became
the great school of tactics and of military
discipline, the benefits of which have so (
lately been experienced in the Mexican
campaign.
But, sir, having finished this work, his
mind instinctively looked for some other
great object on which to exercise its pow
ers. H e beheld the Indian tribes, broken
down by tbe pressure and tbe advances of
civilization, wasting away before the vices,
and acquiring none of the virtues of tire
while man. His heart expanded with a
philanthropy as extensive as the human
race. He immediately conceived the pro
ject of collecting them into one nation, of
transferring them to the other side of the
great river, and freeing them at once from
the temptations and the cupidity of the
Christian man.
Sir, he did not remain in office to ac
complish this great object. But he haul
laid its foundation so deep, he had spread
out his plans so broad, that he has reared
to himself, in the establishment of that
peojde, a brighter monument, more glori
ous trophies, than can bo plucked upon
the plains of war. The triumphs of war
are marked by desolated towns and con
flagrated fields ; bis truinphs will be seen
in the collection of the Indian tribes, con
stitiitng a confederation among themselves,
in tlio scltoolhouses in the valleys, in the
churches that rise with their spires from
the hill-top, in the clear sunshine of Hea
ven. The music of that triumph is not
heard in the clangor of the trumpet, and
the rolling of the drum, but swells from
the clang of the anvil, and (lie tones of
the water-wheel, and the cadence of the
mill-stream, that rolls dnvvti for the bene
fit of the poor red man.
Sir, he paused not in his career of use
fulness ; ho was transferred, by (lie votes
of a grateful people, to the chair of the
second officer of ihe government. There
he presided with a firmness, an impartiali
ty, with a gentleness, with a dignity, that
all admired. And yet it is not given unto
man to pass unscathed the fiery furnace
of this world. While presiding over that
body of ambassadors from sovereign
States while regulating their counticils,
the tongue of calumny assailed him, awl
accused him of official corruption in the
Riprap contract. Indignantly lie left the
chair, demanded of the Senators an im
mediate investigation by a committee, and
came out of the fire like gold refined in
the furnace. From that time to the day
that terminated his life, no man dared to
breathe aught against the spotless purity
ofhis character.
But while in that chair, Mr. Calhoun
perceived that there was arising a great
and mighty influence to over-shadow a
portion of this land. From a patriotic de
votion to his country, lie consented on this
floor, in ISI6, upon the reduction of the
war duties, to a gradual diminution of the
burdens, and thus saved the manufactu
rers from annihilation. But that interest,
then a mere stripling, weak, and requir
ing nurture, fostered by this aliment, soon
increased in strength, and became potent,
growing with a giant’s growth, and attain
ed a giant’s might, and was inclined ty- j
rannously to Use it as a giant. He at once
resigned his seat, gave up his dignified
position, mingled in the strifes of the arena,
sounded the tocsin of alarm, waked up the
attention of the South, himself no less ac
tive than those whom he thus aroused, anil
at length advised his own State, heedless
of danger, to throw herself into the breach
for the protection of that sacred Constitu
tion, whose every precept he had imbibed,
whose eve™ condition he had admired.—
Sir, although fleets floated in our waters,
and armies threatened our citigs, he quail
ed not; and at length the pleasing realiza
tion came to him and to the country, like
halm to the wounded feelings, and by a
generous compromise on all parts, the peo
ple of the South were freed from onerous
taxation, and the North yet left to enjoy
the fruits ot her industry, and to progress
in her glorious advancement in all that is
virtuous in industry and elevated in senti
ment.
But he limited net his scope to our do
mestic horizon, lie looked abroad at our
relations with the nations. He saw our
increase of strength. He measured our
resources, and was willing at once to set
tle all our difficulties with foreign powers
onapeimanont basis. With Britain we
had causes of contention, of deep and long
standing. He resolved if the powers of
intellect could avail ought before lie depar
ted hence, that these questions should he
settled fora nation’s honor and a nation’s
safety. lie faltered not. I know (for 1
was present) thus when the Ashburton
treaty was about to he made—when there
were apprehensions in the cabinet that it
would not he sanctioned by-the Senate—a
member of that cabinet called to consult
Mr. Calhoun, and to ask if he would give
it his generous support. The reply of Mr.
Calhoun at that moment was eminently
satisfactory, and its annunciation to the
cabinet gave assurance to tho distinguish
ed Secretary of Slate, who so eminently
had conducted this important, mootin'i «n
He at once considered the work V,- fini-b
ed; for it is the union of >• on in the in
tellectual as in the ph at world that
moves the spheres into h•inonv.
" hen that treaty was before the Senate,
it was considered in secret session; and I
never shall forget, that sitting upon yon
der side of the House, colleague of
Mr. Calhoun—who at that time was not
on social terms with him—my friend, the
honorable Mr. Preston, whose heart throb
bed w ith an enthusiastic love of all that is
elevated—left his seat in the Senate, and
come to my seat in the House, saying, 1
must give vent to my feelings : Mr. Cal
houn has made a speech which has settled
the question of the Northeastern bounda
ry. All his friends—nay, all the Senators
—have collected around to congratulate
him, and l have come out to express my
emotions, and declare that he lias covered
himself with a mantle of glory.”
Sir, after awhile he retired from Con
gress, but the unfortunate accident on
board the Princeton, which deprived Vir
ginia of two of her most gifted sons, mem
bers of the cabinet, immediately sugges
ted the recall of Mr. Calhoun from his re
tirement in private life, and the shades of
his own domicil, to aid the country in a
great exigency. His nominolion as Sec
retary of State was sent to the Senate,
without refeience to a Committee, was
unanimously confirmed. Sir, when he st
rived here, lie perceived that the Souther!
country was in imminent peril, and that
the arts and intrigues of Great Britain
were about to wrest from us that imperial
territory which is now the State of Tex#s.
By his wisdom, and the exercise of his,
great administrative talents, the intrigues
of Great Britain were defeated, and that
portion of the sunny South was scon an
nexed to this Republic.
With the commencement of \lr. Polk’s
administration, he retired once more from
public life, but he retired voluntarily.—
Mr. Buchanan (for I might as well relate
the fact) called upon me, took me to the
embrasure of one of those window’s, and
said : ”1 am to bq Secretary of State; the !
President appreciates the high talents of
Mr. Calhoun, arid considers the country
now encircled by danger upon the Oregon
question. Goto Mr. Calhoun, and tender
to him the mission to the Court of St.
James—special or general, as he may de
termine—with a transfer of the Oregol
question eutirely to his charge.”
Never can 1 forger how the muscles of
his face became tense, how his great eye
tolled as he reeieved the terms of the pro
posal. “No, sir—no, (he replied.) If the
embassies of all Europe were clustered
into one, I would not take it at this time;
my country is in danger; here ought to be
the negotiation, and here will I stand.”—
Sir, lie retired to his farm; but the Presi
dent, in his inaugural, had indicated so
strongly his assertion of the entirety of the
Oregon treaty; had inspirited the people
of the West almost to madness, and in ,
like manner had dispirited the merchants
of the East, and of the North and South.!
that a presentiment of great danger stile 1
over the hearts of the people, and a war
seemed inevitable with the greatest naval
power of the earth. Impelled by their ap
prehensions, tbe merchants sent a nos-
sage to Mr. Calhoun, and begged hima
gaiti to return to the councils of the natijn.
His predecessor generously resigned
He came, and when became, though hie,
he beheld dismay on the countenances of
all. There was a triumphant majorityiu
both parts of this Capitol of the Dcilo
ciaiic party, who, with a few exceptions,
were for carrying out the measures of if r.
Polk. ’I he Whigs, finding that thep wire
too few to stem the current, refused tc
breast themselves to the shock l|uc
" hen Mr. Calhoun announced on the flier
of the Senate, the day after his arrival, his
firm determination to resist and save fbtr
the riindness of thehour this great conntty,
they immediately rallied, and soon jii
friends in this House and in the Senkte
gathered around him, and tho country Was
safe. Reason triumphed, and the republic
was relieved of t(je calamities of war,—
J his was the last great work ho ever enu
summated.
But lie saw other evils : he beheld this
republic about to lose its poise from a do
rangement ol its weights grid levers ; In
was anxious to adjust the balance, and t«
restore the equilibrium; he exercised hit
mind for that purpose; he loved this Union
for I have often heard him breathe out tha
love ; he loved the equality of the State!,
because he knew that upon that equaliß
rested the stability of the government; le
admired that compact—the Constitutionof
our fathers—and esteemed it as a great
covenant between sovereign States, which
if properly observed, would make us the
chosen people of the world.
At length the acting of the spir it chafed
tho frail tenement of mortality, and to the
eye of his friends, the tide of life began te
ebb; but, sir, with an undying confidence
in h’s powers—with a consciousness of
the dangers which encircled his physical
nature, but without regard to his own suf*
ferings in the solitudes of disease, unabli
in the midst of disease even to hold a peg,
he dictated his last great speech. That
speech has gone forth to the world, and
the judgment of that world will now im
partially be stamped upon it.
Sir, when his health began gradually So
recover, his spirit impelled him, against
the advice of his friends, into the Senate
chamber; and there, with a manliness of
purpose, with a decision of tone, with a
clearness of argument, with a rapidity of
thought, he met and overthrew his antago
nists one by one, as they came up to the
attack. But, weakened by the strife, al
though lie retired victorious and encircled
with a laurel wreath, he fell exhausted by
bis own efforts, and soon expired on the
plains. And now where is he? Dead,
dead, sir, lost to his country and his friends.
“For him no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Nor wife nor children more shall he behold "
nor sacred home. But lie shall shortly
iest amid his own native hills, with no
dirge but the winds, and, after awhile, no
tears to moisten his grave but the dews of
Heaven.
But though dead, lie still liveth; lie liveth
in the hearts of his friends, in the memory
of his services, in the respect of the States,
in the affections, the devoted affections of
iliat hnushold he cherished. He will live
in the tomes of Time, as they shall unfold
their pages, rich with virtues, to the eyes
of the yet unborn. He lives, and will
continue to live, for countless ages, in the
advance of that science to which, by his
intellect, he so much contributed, in tbe
disenthralment of man from the restric
tions of government, in the freedom of in
tercourse of nations, and kindreds, and
tongues, which makes our common moth
er earth throw from her lap her bounteous
plenty unto all ber children. And it may
be, that with the example set to other na
tions, there shall arise a union of thought
and sentiment, and that the strong ties of
interest, and the silken cords of love, may
unite the hearts of all, until, from the con
tinents and the isles of the sea, there will
come up the gratulations of voices, that
shall mingle with the choral song of the
angelic host —“Peace on earth; good will
to all mankind.”
Mr. Holmes then moved the adoption of
:he customary resolutions, which were
seconded by Mr. Winthrop, of Mass., who
addressed the House in part as follows:
* * The distinguished person whose
death has been announced in the resolu
tions of the Senate, belonged not, indeed, to
ns. It is not ours to pronounce his eulogy.
It is not ours, certainly to appropriate his
fame. But it is ours to bear witness to
his character, to do justice to his virtues,
to unite in paying honor to his memory,
and to offer our heartfelt sympathies—ns
l now do—to those who have been called
to sustain so great a bereavement. * *
The loss of such a man creates a sensible
gap in the public councils.
Indeed, no one who has been ever so
distant an observer of the course of pub
lic affairs for a quarter of a century past,
can fail to realize that a star of the first
magnitude has been struck from our polit
ical firmament. Let us hope, sir, that it
; his only been transferred to a higher and
: p{irer sphere, where it may shine on with
j u/idimmed brilliancy forever !
I Mr. Speaker, it is for others to enter
| ilto tlic details of Mr. Calhoun’s life and
| strrvices. It is fur others to illustrate and
jtd vindicate his peculiar opinions aiul
principals. It is for me to speak of him
| oily as he was known to the country at
j arge, and to all, without distinction of
| /»arty, who have represented the country
of late years, in either branch of Nation
al Councils.
And speaking thus, sir, I cannot hes
itate to say, that, among what may be
j cal edthe second generation of American
I statesmen since the adoption of the Fed
-1 tral Constitution, there has been no man
of a more marked character, of more
pronounced qualities, or of a wider and
more deserved distinction.
The mere length and variety of his pub
lic service in almost every branch of the
National Government, running through a
continuous period of almost forty years—
as a member of this House, as Secretary
of War, as Y 7 ice President of the United
States, as Secretary of Stare, and as a
Senator from his own adored and adoring
South Carolinia—would alone have se
cured him a conspicuous and permanent
[dace upon our public records.
But be has left better titles to remem
berance than any which mere office can
bestow.
There was an unsullied purity in his
private life; there was an inflexible integ
rity in his public conduct; there was an
indiscribable fascination in bis familliar
conversation ; there was a condensed en
ergy in his formal discourse ; there was a
quickness of perception, a vigor of de
duction, a directness and a devotedness
of purpose, in all that he said, or wrote,
or did; there was a Roman dignity in his
whole Senatorial deportment; which, to
gether, made up a character which cannot
fail to lie contemplated and admired to the
latest posterity.
Mr. Venable roseandsaid ; Mr. Speak
er,in responding to the announcement just
made by the gentleman from South Caro
linia, (Mr. Holmes,) I perform a sad and
melancholy office. Did 1 consult my
feelings alone, l would be silent. In the
other end of this building we have just
beard the touching ‘eloquence of two
venerable and distinguished Senators,
his contemporaries and compatriots.—
Their names belong to their country as
well as Ins; and 1 thought while each
was speaking, of the valiant warrior, cloth
ed in armor, who, when passing the grave
of one with whom he had broken lances
and crossed weapons,dropped a tear upon
his dust, and gave testimony to his skill,
his valor, and his honor. He whose spir
it has fled, needs noeffort of mine to place
his name on the bright ’page of history,
nor would any eulogy which I might pro
nounce, swell the vast tide of praises
which will flow perennially from a na
tion's gratitude. The great American
statesman who has fallen by the stroke of
death, lias left the impress of his mind up
on the generations among whom he lived
—has given to posterity the mines of his
recorded thoughts to reward their labor
with intellectual wealth—wealth left an
example of purity and patriotism on which
the wearied eye may iesf.
“And gazo upon the great,
\\ here neither guilty glory grows,
-Nor despicable state.''
I - or more than forty years his name is
conspicuous in our history. Born at tho
of revolutionary war, he was in full
inatuiiiy to guide the councils of his coun
try in our second contest with England.—
Never unmindful of her claims upon him,
he has devoted a long life to her service,
and has closed it, like a gallant warri r,
with his armor buckled on him. “Death
made no conqest of this conqueror; for
now he lives in fame, not in life.” The
only fame, bir, which he ever coveted—an
impulse to great and honorable deeds—a
fame which none can despise who have
not renounced the virtues which deserve
it. It is at least some relief to our hearts,
now’ heaving with sighs at this dispensa
tion of Heaven, that he now belongs to
bright, to enduring history; for his was
one of “the few, the immortal names that
were not born born to die.” Os his early
history the gentleman who preceded me
has spoken ; of his illustrious life I need
not speak; it is known to millions now
living, and will be familiar to tbe world in
aftertimes.
But, sir, I propose to say something of
him in his last days. Early in the winter
ot lb4S- 9 his failing health gave uneasi
ness to his friends. A severe attack of
btonchuis, complicated with an affection
of the heart, disqualified him for the per
formance of his senatorial duties with
the punctuality which always distinguished
mm. It was then that I became intimate
ly acquainted with bis mind, and, above
ail, with bis heart. Watching his beside,
and during his recovery, I ceased to be
astonished at the power which his master
mind and elevated moral feelings had al
ways excited upon those who wore in
cluded within the circle of social inter
course. It was a tribute paid spontaine
ously to wisdom, genius, truth, Patriotism,
honesty of purpose, and purity of motive,
rendered active by the energies of such
an intellect as hardly ever falls to any man,
gathered around him sincere admirers
and devoted friends. That many have
failed to apreciate the value of the* truths
which he uttered, or to listen to the warn
ings which he gave, is nothing new in the
history ot minds. Bacon wrote for pos-
terity, and men fit profound sogascity al
ways think in advance of their generation.
His body was sinking under tlie invasion
of disease before 1 formed his acquaint
ance, and he was passing from among us
before I was honored with his friendship.
I witnessed with astonishment the influ
ence of his mighty mind over his weak
physical structure. Like a powerful steam
engine on a frail bark, every revolution of
tbe wheel tried its capacity for endurance
to the utmost. But yet his mind moved
on, and, as if insensible to the decay of
bodily strength, put forth, without stint,
his uneqalied powers of thought and ana
lysis, until Nature well-nigh sunk under
the imposition. His intellect preserved
its vigor while his body was sinking to de
cay. Ihe menstruum retained its powers
of solution, while the frail crucible which
contained it was crumbling to atoms.
During bis late illness which, with a short
intermission, has continued since the com
mencement of this session of Congress,
there was no abatement of his intellectual'
labors. They were directed as well to
the momentous questions now agitating
the public mind, as to the completion of a
woik which embodies bis thoughts on the
subject of government in gene red and out
own Constitution in particular; thus dis
tinguisihg his last days by the greatest ef
fort of his mind, and bequeathing it as his
richest legacy to posterity.
Checiful in a sick chamber, none of the
gloom which usually attends the progress
of disease annoyed him ; severe in ascer
taining the truth of conclusions, because
unwilling to be deceived himself, he scorn
ed to deceive others ; skilful in apprecia
ting the past, and impartial in his judgment
of the present, he looked to the future as
dependant on existing causes and fearless
ly gave utterance to his opinions of its
nature and chatacter; the philosopher
and the statesman, he discarded expedi
ents by which men “construe the times to
their necessities.” He loved the truth
for the truth’s sake, and believed that to
temporize is but to increase the evil w hich
xve seek to remove. The approach of
death brought no indication of impatience
—no cloud upon his intellect. To a
friend who spoke of the time and manner
in which it was best to meet death, he re
marked : “l have but little concern about
either; I have an unshaken reliance upon
the providence of God.”
I saw him four days after his appear
ance in the Senate efiambet, gradually
sinking under the power of bis malady
without one murmur at bis affliction, al
ways anxious for the interest of his coun
try, deeply absotbed in the great question
which agitates the public mind, and earn
estly desiring its honorable adjustment,
unchanged in the opinions which he had
held and uttered for many years, the ar
dant friend of the Union and tho Consti
tution, and seeking the perpetuity of our
institutions, by inculcating the practice of
justice and the duties of patriotism.
Aggravated symptoms, on tho day be
fore bis death, gave notice of his approach
ing end. I left him late at night, with but
faint hopes of amendment; and, on bcinc;
summoned early the next morning,l found
him sinking in tbo cold embrace ofdeath.
Calm, collected, and conscious ofhis situa
tion, but without any symptom of alarm,
his face beaming with intelligence, with
out one indication of suffering or of pain.
I watched his countenance, and the lus
tre of that bright eye remained unchanged,
until tho silver cord was broken, and then
it went out in instantaneous eclipse. When
I removed my hand from closing bis eyes
he seemed as one who had fallen into a
sweet and refreshing slumber. Thus, sir,
closed the days of John Caldyvk- l Cal
houn tho illustrious American ..tatesman.
llis lifo and services shall speak of the
greatness of by gone days with undying
testimony. Another jewel hasfallai from
our crown ; an insctutable Providence has
removed from among us one of the great
lights of the age. But it is not extinguish,
ed. From a bight to which the sjafts of
malice or the darts of detraction never
reach, to which envy cannot crawl, or jeal
ousy approach, it will shine brighter and
more gloriously sending its rays over a
more extended horizon, and blessing man.
kind by its illumination. The friend of
constitutionol liberty will goto his wri
tings for truth and to bis life for a model
We, too, should be instructed by his ex
perience, while his presages for the future
should infuse caution into our counsels
and prudence into our actions. His voice'
now no more heard in the Senate, will
speak most potentially from the grave
Personal opposition has died with his death
The aspiring cannot fear him, nor the am
bitious dread his elevation. His fife j, aa
become history, and bis thoughts the pro
perly ofhis couutrymen.
Sir, w hile w-e weep over his grave, let
us be consoled by tbe assurance that “hon
or decks the turf that wraps his clay.”
He was our own, and his fame is also ours.
Let us imitate his great example, in pre
ferring truth and duty to the approbation
of men, or the triumphs of party. ]} e
willing to stayd alone for the right, nor
surrender independence fur any induce
ment. He was brought up in the society
of the men of the Revolution, saw the work
our Constitution since its formation, was
profoundly skilled in constructing its mean
ing, and sought by his wisdom and integ
rity to give permanency to the Govern
merit which it created. If such high pur
poses be outs, then our sun, like his, will
go down serenely, and we shall have secu
red “a peace above all other dignities— a
calm and quiet conscience.”
The question was then taken on the
resolutions offered by Mr. Holmes, and
they were unanimously agreed to.
And thereupon the House adjourned.
Washington, April 3.
In the Senate to-day on motion of Mr.
Mason, of \ irginia, a committee was ap
pointed to convey the remains of Mr. Cal
houn to South Carolina as soon as intelli
gence is received from his family. The
Committee consists of Messrs. Mason, of
Ya. Webster, of Mass. Berrien, of Ga.
I).\ vis, of Mississippi, Dickinson, of New
York, Dodge of lowa.
Mr. Cass submitted a resolution that
the proceedings of the Senate in relation
to the death of Mr. Calaocn, be printed
ill pamphlet form.
1 ributes of Respect. —The tokens of
public mourning and respect paid to the
memory of Mr. Calhoun meet our view on
every side, and from every quarter of the
Union. Ihe New \ ork Express says:
“ 1 he city authoities, with a due respect
for the public feeling, bung out the flags of
the city over the City Hall, where they
were displayed at half-mast during the
day. Ihe same tokens of respect also
distinguiihcd the several public places of
the city, as well as the shipping gene
rally.”
Mr. Calhoun’s death was feelingly intro,
diiced nt the meeting of the N. Y. Histori
cal Socity on I uesday evening by Dr.
Stevens, who was his classmate at Yale.—
Among other things he said :
Asa medical man, 1 take liberty to sug
gest ibis opinion. Mr. Calhoun’s death—l
speak not of the occasion but of the cause,
was an intellectual death ; an overworked
mind, dwelling too long, too anxiously on
one object. Hisonc th uglit was for his
country, the strength of his intellectwas
ever running in one narrow channel,which
deepened itself until its hanks coved in.
Rev. Dr. Dewitt said, the great states
man was born of religious parents,and was
early brought up to a knowledge of the
Bible. He also was a of religion,
and from this fact he accounted for his
great purity of life, rectitude of purpose,
and integrity of principle, which had won
for him the confidence and respect of all
parties.
Gov. Fish communicated the death of
Mr. Calhoun to the N. Y. Legislature on
1 uesday, by special message, and appro
priate Resolutions were passed.
OCuEx. Gov. Hammond and Dr. R-
Henry, will deliver Eulogies on Mr. Cal
houn, at Charleston and Columbia.
The Galpiiin Claim. —ln the House
of Representatives Mr. Cobb laid before
the members the following letter from the
Secretary of War.
Washington, April 2, 1850;
Sir: My official connection with the
Government authorizes me, in my judg
ment, to ask and have accorded to me by
tho House over which you preside, a
prampt and full investigation, in such man
ner as it may thidk proper, of my conduit
and relation to the claim of the represen
tatives of George Galdhin; which elaim
has been adjudicated aud paid at one of
the Departments of the Goveanment, and
is now attracting public altentiod. I have
the honor to be, &c.,
GEORGE W. CRAWFORD
lion. Ilowcll Cobh, Speaker, 4'c-
On moliou of Mr. Toombs, ivho decline&
serving, a Committee of nine was appointe
to investigate the matter, and report upon* 1 -
Father Mathew. — The labors ojFn
thcr Mathew in the sacred cause of tt»p cr '
avee have been up to this period, crOU ”L
with signal success. Upwards of
have already taken the total abstinence
pledge in New Orleans. ITe will contin !l ‘
to attend at St. Teresa's Church until e> a
urday afternoon, when he is to remove to 1
church of St. Joseph, Commons!., where '
will be the guest of the Her. Mr. and U ml
—N. O. Crcs'c. t, Vhinst.
