CALHOUN AS SECRETARY OF WAR 331 aries and to propose schemes which were in their nature im- practicable or injurious, and which he seemed to offer merely for the purpose of displaying the affluence of his mind and the fertility of his ingenuity." 132 A New England man classed Calhoun next to Webster in intellectual power and second only to CHARACTERISTICS Clay as an orator. When Calhoun finished AS A PUBLIC speaking he left the impression of im- OFFICIAL mense power. 133 and "every thought that he uttered or imagined was marked by his grand characteristic, impetuous energy." 134 These three men were called at a later time the "illustrious triumvirate and the greatest of the second gene- ration of statesmen, who, within a brief time of one another, fell, shattered by the contentions of Congress." 135 A personal friend of Calhoun's gave the following character sketch of him : "He is ardent, persevering, industrious and temperate, of great activity and quickness of perception, and rapidity of utterance, as a politician, too theorizing, speculative and meta- physical, magnificent in his views of the powers and capaci- ties of the government, and of the virtue, intelligence and wisdom of the people. He is in favor of elevating, cherishing and increasing all the institutions of the government, and of making a vigorous and energetic administration of it. From his rapidity of thought, he is often wrong in his conclusions, and his theories are sometimes impracticable. He has always claimed to be, and is, of the Democratic party, but of a very different class from that of Crawford ; more like Adams, and his schemes are sometimes denounced by his party as ultra fanatical. His private character is estimable and exemplary, and his devotion to his official duties is regular and severe. 136 132 Am. Hist. Review, II, 570-2, 1905-6. Quoted by A. Hodgson, Letters from North America, I, 81. Published in 1824. 133 Gulf State Hist. Mag., I, 284. Documents, A New England Estimate of Calhoun. 1 34 Hart, S. P. Chase, 10. 135 Illinois Hist. Society, 1908, p. 56. Steven A. Douglas, by Adlai E. Stevenson. 136 Mass. Hist. Society Proceed., XIX, 37; 1881-1882. Letters of Elijah H. Mills.
