Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 9.djvu/119

 CALHOUN ted to proceed with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and gravest question that can ever come under your consideration: How can the Union be preserved? To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty question, it is indispensable to have an accu- rate and thorough knowledge of the nature and the character of the cause by which the Union is endangered. Without such knowledge it is impossible to pronounce with any certainty, by what measure it can be saved; just as it would be impossible for a physican to pro- nounce in the case of some dangerous disease, with any certainty, by what remedy the patient could be saved, without similar knowledge of the nature and character of the cause which produce it. The first question, then, presented for consideration in the investigation I propose to make in order to obtain such knowledge is: What is it that has endangered the Union ? To this question there can be but one answer, — that the immediate cause is the almost univer- revlewing tbe deeds of the flesh." " It was a strangely haunting spectacle," he adds. "The author turned half round and listened as tho all were new to him, moving not a muscle of his face, but keeping his Immovable posture— pale, skinny, and emaciated that he was— his eyes partially closed, until the last words were uttered and the spell was broken," When the Senate adjourned. Von Hoist says Calhoun, "supported on the shoulders of two of his friends, tottered out of the Senate-chamber." Abridged. 109