Truly did
Mr. Webster--his personal friend, although his greatest political
rival--say of him in his obituary address, "There was nothing groveling,
or low, or meanly selfish, that came near the head or the heart of Mr.
Calhoun." His prophetic warnings speak from the grave with the wisdom of
inspiration. Would that they could have been appreciated by his
countrymen while he yet lived!
Note.--While the compromise measures of 1850 were pending, and
the excitement concerning them was at its highest, I one day
overtook Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, and Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, in
the Capitol grounds. They were in earnest conversation. It was
the 7th of March--the day on which Mr. Webster had delivered his
great speech. Mr. Clay, addressing me in the friendly manner
which he had always employed since I was a schoolboy in
Lexington, asked me what I thought of the speech. I liked it
better than he did. He then suggested that I should "join the
compromise men," saying that it was a measure which he thought
would probably give peace to the country for thirty years--the
period that had elapsed since the adoption of the compromise of
1820. Then, turning to Mr. Berrien, he said, "You and I will be
under ground before that time, but our young friend here may
have trouble to meet." I somewhat impatiently declared my
unwillingness to transfer to posterity a trial which they would
be relatively less able to meet than we were, and passed on my
way.
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