Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/538

This page needs to be proofread.
504
CALHOUN
CALL

imagine that we saw before us a senator of Rome when Rome survived. . . . He had the basis, the indispensable basis of all high character, and that was unspotted integrity, unimpeached honor, and character. If he had aspirations, they were high and honorable and noble. . . . Firm in his purpose, perfectly patriotic and honest, aside from that large regard for that species of distinction that conducted him to eminent stations for the benefit of the republic, I do not believe he had a selfish motive or selfish feeling.” Mr. Everett once said: “Calhoun, Clay, Webster! I name them in alphabetical order. What other precedence can be assigned them?” Clay the great leader, Webster the great orator, Calhoun the great thinker. John Stuart Mill speaks of the great ability of his posthumous work, and of its author as “a man who has displayed powers as a speculative political thinker superior to any who has appeared in American politics since the authors of 'The Federalist.'” It has been said that Calhoun labored to destroy the Union, that he might be the chief of a southern confederacy because he could not be president of the Union. The writer remembers an interview that he witnessed between Calhoun and a friend within a month of his death, when the hopes and strifes of his ambition were soon, as he knew, to be laid in the grave. The friend asked him if nothing could be done to save the Union. “Will not the Missouri compromise do it?” He replied, the light in his great eyes expressing an intense solemnity of feeling that can never be forgotten, “With my constitutional objections I could not vote for it, but I would acquiesce in it to save this Union!”

Mr. Calhoun in his private life as husband, father, friend, neighbor, and citizen, was pure, upright, sincere, honest, and beyond reproach. He was simple and unpretending in manners, rigid and strict in his morals, temperate and discreet in his habits; genial, earnest, and fascinating in conversation, and magnanimous in his public and private relations. He was beloved by his family and friends, honored and almost idolized by his state, and died as he had lived, respected and revered for his genius and his honorable life by his contemporaries of all parties. He was stainless in private and public life, as a man, a patriot, and a philosopher, and his fame is a noble heritage to his country and to mankind. The view on page 500 represents the summer residence and office of Mr. Calhoun at Fort Hill, to which during his career many men of distinction repaired to enjoy his society and his liberal hospitality. Calhoun's works were collected and edited by Richard K. Cralle (6 vols., New York, 1853-'4).


CALHOUN, John Erwin, senator, b. in 1749 ; d. in Pendleton district, S. C, 26 Nov., 1802. When very young he lost his father, but was educated by his uncle. He was graduated at Princeton in 1774, studied law, began practice in Charleston, S. C. in 1789, and became distinguished in his profession. He was a commissioner of confiscated estates, was for many years a member of the South Carolina legislature, and U. S. senator from 11 Dec, 1801, till his death. He was a member of the committee to report a modification of the U. S. judiciary sys- tem. Senator Calhoun was a supporter of JefEer- son, and an eloquent and independent man.


CALHOUN, Simeon Howard, missionary, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1804 ; d. in Buffalo, N. Y., 14 Dec, 1876. He was graduated at Williams in 1829, and was a tutor there from 1833 till 1836. He was a laborer in the Holy Land for nearly forty years, was thoroughly versed in the Arabic and Turkish languages, and assisted Dr. Goodell in making the first translation of the Bible into Turkish. Williams gave him the degree of D. D. in 1804.


CALHOUN, William Barron, lawyer, b. in Boston, Mass., 29 Dec, 1796; d. in Springfield, Mass., 8 Nov., 1865. He was graduated at Yale m 1814, studied law, and by his talents and integrity soon won his way into public favor. In 1825 he was sent to the legislature, and continued a repre- sentative for ten years, being speaker during the last two years. He was elected to congress as a whig in 1835, and continued there till 1843. He was president of the state senate in 1846 and 1847, secretary of state from 1848 till 1851, bank com- missioner from 1853 till 1855, presidential elector in 1844, and mayor of Springfield in 1859. In 1861 he was again a representative for Springfield in the legislature. For many years he was an occasional editorial writer for the Springfield "Republican," and for a long period was a- voluminous contribu- tor to its columns. Amherst gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1858.


CALKINS, Norman Allison, educator, b. in Gainesville, N. Y., 9 Sept., 1822 ; d. in New York city, 22 Dec, 1895. He was educated in a classi- cal school. At the age of eighteen he became a teacher at Castile, and later at Gainesville, where he was ultimately principal of the central school. In 1845 he was elected superintendent of schools for his native town, and re-elected in 1846. He removed to New York in the autumn of 1846, and for many years following conducted teachers' in- stitutes in New York and the adjoining states. In November, 1862, he was elected assistant superin- tendent of schools in New York city, and by sub- sequent re-elections continuously held this place. The official designation of the office now is super- intendent of primary schools and primary depart- ments. From 1870 till 1880 he was professor of methods and principles of teaching in the Satur- day sessions of the normal college of the city of New York. Prof. Calkins was prominent in' the National educational association, having been president of the department of elementary schools in 1873 ; president of the department of school superintendence in 1883 ; treasurer in 1883-'5 ; and president in 1886. From 1857 till 1883 he held the treasurership of the American Congregational union. He was widely known in connection with his writings and lectures on object-teaciiing and other advanced methods of instruction. For ten years he published " The Student," which was used as a school reader, and furnished fresh read- ing matter every month. His contributions to edu- cational journals were very large, and he was the author of " Primary Object Lessons" (New York, 1861 ; new ed,, 1870 ; Spanish ed., 1879) ; " Phonic Charts " (1869) ; with Henry Kiddle and Thos. F. Harrison, " How to Teach, A Graded Course of In- struction and Manual of Methods" (Cincinnati, 1873); "Manual of Object-Teaching" (New York, 1881) ; and " From Blackboard to Books " (1883). He selected and classified " Prang's Natural His- tory Series" (Boston, 1873), and wrote the accom- panying " Manual " ; also " Aids for Object-Teach- ing^Trades and Occupations," with plates (1877), aiid " Natural History Series for Children " (1877).


CALL, Daniel, lawyer, b. about 1765 ; d. in Richmond, Va., 20 May, 1840. He was a brother-in-law of Chief-Justice John Marshall, and published "Reports of the Virginia Court of Appeals" (6 vols., 1790-1818 ; 2d ed., edited by Joseph Tate, 1824-'33).— His brother, Richard Keith, soldier, b. in 1757; d. in 1792, was a citizen of Virginia, and was a major in the revolutionary army. He