No less mercenary is the reason which he attributes to the Southern States. He says that the Non-importation Act has reduced cotton to nothing, which has produced a feverish impatience. Sir, I acknowledge the cotton of our plantations is worth but little, but not for the cause assigned by the gentleman. The people of that section do not reason as he does; they do not attribute it to the efforts of their government to maintain the peace and independence of their country: they see in the low price of their produce the hand of foreign injustice; they know well, without the market of the Continent, the deep and steady current of our supply will glut that of Great Britain. They are not prepared for the colonial state to which again that power is endeavoring to reduce us. The manly spirit of that section will not submit to be regulated by any foreign power.

The love of France and the hatred of England have also been assigned as the cause of the present measure. France has not done us justice, says the gentleman from Virginia, and how can we, without partiality, resist the aggressions of England? I know, Sir, we have still cause of complaint against France, but it is of a different character from that against England. She professes now to respect our rights; and there cannot be a reasonable doubt but that the most objectionable parts of her decrees, as far as they respect us, are repealed. We have already formally acknowledged this to be a fact. But I protest against the principle from which his conclusion is drawn. It is a novel doctrine, and nowhere avowed out of this house, that you cannot select your antagonist without being guilty of partiality. Sir, when two invade your rights, you may resist both, or either, at your pleasure. The selection is regulated by prudence, and not by right. The stale imputation of partiality for France is better calculated for the columns of a newspaper than for the walls of this house.

The gentleman from Virginia is at a loss to account for what he calls our hatred to England. He asks, how can we hate the country of Locke, of Newton, Hampden, and Chatham; a country having the same language and customs with ourselves, and descended from a common ancestry? Sir, the laws of human affections are steady and uniform. If we have so much to attach us to that country, powerful indeed must be the cause which has overpowered it. Yes, there is a cause strong enough; not that occult, courtly affection, which he has supposed to be entertained for France, but continued and unprovoked insult and injury: a cause so manifest that he had to exert much ingenuity to overlook it.

But the gentleman, in his eager admiration of England, has not been sufficiently guarded in his argument. Has he reflected on the cause of that admiration? Has he examined the reasons for our high regard for her Chatham? It is his ardent patriotism—his heroic courage, which could not brook the least insult or injury offered to his country, but thought that her interest and her honor ought to be vindicated, be the hazard and expense what they might. I hope, when we are called on to admire, we shall also be asked to imitate. I hope the gentleman does not wish a monopoly of those great virtues for England.

The balance of power has also been introduced as an argument for submission. England is said to be a barrier against the military des potism of France. There is, Sir, one great error in our legislation; we are ready, it would seem from this argument, to watch over the interests of foreign nations, while we grossly neglect our own immediate concerns. This argument, drawn from the balance of power, is well calculated for the British Parliament, but is not at all suited to the American Congress. Tell the former that they have to contend with a mighty power, and if they persist in injury and insult to the American people, they will compel them to throw their weight into the scale of their enemy. Paint the danger to them, and if they will desist from injuring us, I answer for it, we will not disturb the balance of power. But it is absurd for us to talk about it, while they, by their conduct, smile with contempt at what they regard as our simple, good-natured vanity. If, however, in the contest, it should be found that they underrate us, which I hope and believe, and that we can affect the balance of power, it will not be difficult for us to obtain such terms as our rights demand.

I, Sir, will now conclude, by adverting to an argument of the gentleman used in debate on a preceding day. He asked, why not declare war immediately? The answer is obvious-because we are not yet prepared. But, says the gentleman, such language as is held here will provoke Great Britain to commence hostilities. I have no such fears. She knows well that such a course would unite all parties here -a thing which, above all others, she most dreads. Besides, such has been our past conduct, that she will still calculate on our patience and submission till war is actually commenced.

If any of Mr. Calhoun's friends had previously been inclined to doubt his ability to take and maintain a position among the ablest members in the House, this

speech must have served to dissipate all their fears. It was a favorite maxim of Napoleon's, that "it is the first step which is difficult." This is as true in politics as in war,—in the life of a statesman as in the career of a warrior. Mr. Calhoun had now taken the first step, and the pathway to distinction lay open and plain before him: it was not, indeed, free from difficulties and embarrassments-for there are always thorns to tear and wound mingled with the roses that charm the eye with their beauty and refresh the wearied senses with their fragrance-but in the distance it presented the bright promise of an abundant harvest of fame.

Among his associates in the House of Representatives were many of the ablest men in the nation, who had either already become distinguished, or were advancing with rapid strides on the road to greatness. "In all the Congresses with which I have had any acquaintance since my entry into the service of the federal government," said Mr. Clay,—" in none, in my opinion, has been assembled such a galaxy of eminent and able men as were those Congresses which declared the war, and which immediately followed the peace."* First and foremost among them was the Speaker himself-Henry Clay, of Kentucky-the eloquent and impassioned orator; and beside him there were James Fisk of Vermont, the honest and independent; Peter B. Porter, of New York, the chivalrous and highminded; John Randolph, the talented and eccentric; Langdon Cheves and William Lowndes, the eminent and able colleagues of Mr. Calhoun; Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, the skilful debater; Nathaniel Macon,

* Remarks of Mr. Clay in the U. S. Senate, April 1, 1850

the independent and fearless, but often impracticable politician; Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, the accomplished but vindictive partisan; and Timothy Pitkin of Connecticut, the industrious and conscientious.

The maiden effort of Mr. Calhoun was not merely well received. Expressions of approbation were heard on every side, and it was as generally commended for its ability and eloquence, as for the patriotism of its sentiments. In allusion to this speech, and to the arguments offered in reply to Mr. Randolph, the experienced editor of the Richmond Enquirer, Thomas Ritchie, with much justice remarked: "Mr. Calhoun is clear and precise in his reasoning, marching up directly to the object of his attack, and felling down the errors of his opponent with the club of Hercules; not eloquent in his tropes and figures, but, like Fox, in the moral elevation of his sentiments; free from personality, yet full of those fine touches of indignation, which are the severest cut to a man of feeling. His speech, like a fine drawing, abounds in those lights and shades which set off each other: the cause of his country is robed in light, while her opponents are wrapped in darkness. It were a contracted wish that Mr. Calhoun were a Virginian; though, after the quota she has furnished with opposition talent, such a wish might be forgiven us. We beg leave to participate, as Ameri cans and friends of our country, in the honors of South Carolina. We hail this young Carolinian as one of the master-spirits who stamp their names upon the age in which they live."

Having made one successful effort, Mr. Calhoun did

not sit down in inglorious ease to repose on the laurels he had gained, but with increased ardor and eagerness pressed forward in the race. Like the young eaglet which had for the first time ventured into the clouds and returned in safety to its eyry, he purposed to take a still higher and prouder flight. Whatever of application and industry were necessary to ensure his success in the career upon which he had fairly embarked, were not lacking. Action-which the great master of oratory declared to be so essential to the successful orator-was in and a part of his character, and genius, like the spear of Ithuriel, had imparted to it an almost unearthly fire.

Republican principles were firmly rooted in the mind of Mr. Calhoun,-too firmly to be swerved from maintaining them, as he thought, in their pristine vigor and purity, by any considerations of mere party expediency. Nature never designed him for a partisan. He professed to belong to the Republican party, and supported its measures, where he did not regard them as conflicting with its principles, in all honesty and faith. But there was nothing grovelling in his disposition. He could not be fettered by political ties; they were regarded, perhaps, when his judgment and his conscience approved what they required, but when more was demanded they were powerless as the withes of the Philistines against the lusty strength of Samson.

At an early period in his first session he acquired a highly honorable reputation for his fearless and independent conduct; and this he never lost even amid the many trying scenes of his subsequent life."

To the administration of Mr. Madison he in the