Calhoun as a Lawyer and Statesman. do at the bar. What are the facts in the case? O'Neall, in his "Bench and Bar of South Carolina," says: " My recollection of Mr. Calhoun as a lawyer is from hearing him, when I was a schoolboy at Newberry, and of course my judgment was then very imperfect. His reputation was extraordinary for so young a man. He was conceded, as early as 1809, to be the most promising young lawyer in the upper country. Chan cellor Bowie of Alabama, who lived at Abbe ville, and had a fine opportunity of knowing Mr. Calhoun's early reputation as a lawyer, says : ' With the members of the bar, as well as with the people, he stood High in his pro fession. Perhaps no lawyer in the State ever acquired so high a reputation from his first appearance at the bar, as he did. With a towering intellect and untiring energy, he could not long remain second to any man in any station. With a mind like his, so logical, so profoundly metaphysical, so powerful to analyze, and so clear in its conceptions, he could not be less than a thorough and suc cessful lawyer. When at the Bar, the busi ness of the Court was nearly equally divided between himself, Mr. Yancey, and my brother George.' At Newberry, he had also a large practice. Newberry District was the home of his mother's relations, and by their in fluence he would have received practice under any circumstances, but his acknow ledged legal abilities were enough to make him, in that district, a leading lawyer, where the resident lawyers, until 18 10, presented no claim to learning or eloquence. " John S. Jenkins, in his life of Calhoun, one of the best that has ever been written of him, says : "He immediately took a place in the front rank of his profession, among the ablest and most experienced of its members. Clients flocked around him, and a lucrative practice was the reward of his long and severe course of study. Had he remained at the bar, his great talents must have enabled him to attain a high standing, but he left it so soon, that this can be only a matter of speculation."
199
Says Mr. Rhett: "His preparation for the bar was so thorough and ample, that, with his commanding abilities, on entering it, he stepped at once to the head of his profes sion." These extracts show that Mr. Calhoun started out remarkably well in his profession, and it omened well for the future. Had Mr. Calhoun continued the practice of his profession, would he have become a great lawyer? This is an interesting ques tion, but a purely speculative one. Into this domain of speculation, however, as we have already seen, Mr. Von Holst has gone. In his judgment, Mr. Calhoun never could have become a great lawyer. I will quote what he says: "Yet he would undoubtedly never have become a great lawyer, because he was not objective enough to examine his prem ises with sufficient care, while he built his argument upon them with undeviating and most incisive logic, thereby frequently ar riving at most shocking conclusions with nothing to stand upon except a basis of false postulates. Moreover, such natures never attain greatness, unless they pursue an aim which fills the whole head and heart with the force of a burning passion, a frame of mind into which but few men can be put by the common law; and of these few Calhoun certainly was not one." I doubt very much if Mr. Calhoun would ever have done much on the criminal side of the court. It is not likely that criminal practice would have been congenial to his taste and feelings. Then, besides, it requires very little study. In exceptional cases, how ever, even on this side of the court, he would in all probability have distinguished himself. These would have been cases which ap pealed deeply to his sense of justice and right. On the civil side of the court, I do not see why he would not have attained to great eminence. In the first place, he was a man of fine natural endowments. His in tellect far surpassed that of most men. In thte second place, he had a splendid educa tion, both collegiate and professional. In
