Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/590

 584 CALHOUN continued to reside with his mother, laboring on the farm, and, though most anxious for an education, determined not to attempt to obtain it till sure of the means without impairing her comforts. In his 1'Jth year he recommenced his studies with a view to the profession of the law, having arranged with his mother and brother that he should be furnished with means to pursue them for seven years. He declared his preference for the life of a plain planter over that of a half-educated professional man. In June, 1800, he entered the private academy of his brother-in-law. Dr. Waddel, a Presbyte- rian clergyman, and two years afterward joined the junior class of Yale college. He graduated in 1804 with the highest distinction. Dr. Dwight, then president of the college, remarked, after a discussion with him on the origin of political power, "That young man has talent enough to be president of the United States." The next three years he devoted to the study of the law, 18 months of it in the law school at Litch- field, Conn., then the only institution of the kind in the country. In addition to the regular course of study, he cultivated his talent for ex- tempore speaking. He returned to Abbeville to complete his studies, and being admitted to the bar established himself in the old home- stead and commenced practice. The country at that time was greatly agitated by the ag- gressions which France and England, in their desperate struggle against each other, were led to commit on neutral commerce. The contro- versy with England was rendered still more bitter by her claims to visit American ships in search of British seamen. The outrage upon the American frigate Chesapeake, committed under this pretext, in June, 1807, called forth a burst of indignation. In Abbeville, as else- where, a public meeting was held to ex- press the feelings of the people. Calhoun was appointed to draw up a report and resolu- tions. He was soon afterward chosen a member of the state legislature, and in 1811 was elected to congress. In May, 1811, he married his second cousin, Floride Calhoun, with whom he received considerable prop- erty. Upon his marriage he removed from the old homestead to Bath, on the Savannah river, a few miles distant. He took his seat in congress Nov. 4, 1811, that body having been called together by the president's proc- lamation a month before the regular day of meeting. The struggle which had been going on for the three or four years previous in the ranks of the administration party, between those inclined still to promote peace and those in favor of war against Great Britain, was just approaching a crisis. In the election of mem- bers of the new congress the war party had gained a complete triumph. They had sent into the house of representatives a number of ardent young men, of whom Calhoun -was one, determined to force the administration into the adoption of the war policy. The election of speaker resulted in the choice of the candidate of the war party by a very decided majority over both the peace and cabinet candidates. Calhoun was placed on the committee of for- eign relations. A report from that committee, understood to have been drawn by him, dis- tinctly indicated the policy which the majority were determined to pursue. The time had come, as the report asserted, for choosing be- tween tame submission and resistance. By the retirement of the chairman of the committee of foreign relations, Calhoun became its head, and introduced a bill for an embargo of 60 days, as preliminary to a declaration of war. President Madison having sent in a message recommending a declaration of war, Calhoun reechoed that recommendation in a report from his committee, and followed it up by a bill declaring war against Great Britain. In his report at the next session from the commit- tee of foreign relations, to which had been referred the papers in reference to a suspension of hostilities, he warmly justified the adminis- tration in proceeding with the war, notwith- standing the recall of the British orders in council, on the question of impressment alone. He had joined with his colleagues, Cheves and Lowndes, both young men like himself, and the former chairman of the naval committee, in urging, among other preparations for war, an enlargement of the navy. He also took decided ground against the whole system of non-im- portation and non-intercourse, and assisted by his votes and speeches in getting rid of what remained of it. The action of these young South Carolinians attracted attention in New England, and the idea presently began to be entertained there of a coalition with South Carolina to put down the Virgini.i dynasty, and what in New England was denounced as its narrow and anti-commercial policy. This feel- ing was a good deal strengthened by what happened afterward in relation to a national bank. The growing financial distress of the government had led, early in 1814, to the sug- gestion of such an institution. It was reported against by Eppes, Mr. Jefferson's son-in-law, and chairman of the committee of ways and means, as unconstitutional. This objection Calhoun proposed to evade by limiting the charter to the District of Columbia, but it was not thought by the treasury department that such a bank would answer the purpose. At the next session Alexander J. Dallas, lately appointed secretary of the treasury, proposed a national bank with a capital of $50,000,000, $5,000,000 in specie, the rest in government stocks; the government to subscribe two fifths of the capital, and to have the appointment of the president and two thirds of the directors, with power also to authorize a suspension of specie payment ; the bank to be obliged to lend the government $30,000,000, and not to be re- quired to pay specie during the war or for three years after. This scheme was opposed by Calhoun, who proposed to furnish the gov- ernment with $45,000,000 by means of a na-