222 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

tist, the greatest captain of his day, yet a dishonest man, faith-
less to his sovereign, a traitor to his country, and a robber of the
brave soldiers whose strong arms gave him victory. He pie-
tured in glowing language the beauty and the grandeur of “Blen-
heim,” the seat which national gratitude or kingly extravagance
had given to the great bad man, naming it after that famous
victory. After all, “Blenheim,” with its storied urn and ani-
mated bust, its pompous eulogy and lying praise, could only
serve to perpetuate the shame and infamy of John Churchill.
But away on the banks of the calm Potomac, there rose an
humble mansion, bought with no money wrested from the hands
of an oppressed and reluctant people, a mansion in which the
Father of his Country lived quietly and well with his beloved
Martha, and from which he passed away peacefully to the bosom
of his God. Around that humble mansion clustered hallowed
recollections unstained by aught that could dim their purity.
That home the women of America sought to secure, that they
might guard it as a sacred trust, restore it to the pristine beauty
and simplicity in which its great owner had left it, and transmit
it as a sacred heritage to their children forever.

In the course of his oration, Mr. Everett alluded very feel-
ingly to Washington’s last and most emphatic advice to his
countrymen, to preserve the Union of the States. He drew him-
self a most painful picture of the probable effect of disunion.

The audience was the fullest we have ever seen in Wilming-
ton. We should think the receipts will not vary much from a
thousand dollars. We believe all were pleased, many delighted,
none dissatisfied, although some, perhaps, looked for a rather
different style of speaking, more, perhaps, of what is generally
regarded as oratory, more stirring, more declamatory. The ad-
dress was highly polished, beautiful in conception, chaste, yet
magnificent in execution, the work of a scholar, a rhetorician,
faultlessly delivered, too faultlessly for an orator, perhaps, for
oratory is never finished, it suggests more than it directly con-
veys, its apparent failures are sometimes its most effective
points, its seeming, mayhaps its real forgetfulness, makes us,
too, forget, carries us away, leads our feelings captive; we cease
to mark gesture or tone, we feel but do not analyze our feelings.
Mr. Everett may be, perhaps is, something more or higher than
an orator, but he is also something different.

Notable Incidents 223

RECEPTION OF THE REMAINS OF JOHN C.
CALHOUN.

In April, 1850, one of the most remarkable demonstrations
in the history of Wilmington occurred on the occasion of the
death of the illustrious John C. Calhoun. The following ex-
cerpts from the local newspapers of that date indicate the pro-
found emotion which stirred the hearts of our people:

Another of the master spirits of the country has passed from
time to eternity. John C. Calhoun died in the City of Wash-
ington on Sunday morning last. The sad intelligence of his
death was to some extent anticipated from recent reports of his
dangerous sickness, yet it will strike with heavy force upon the
public mind.

The following telegraphic dispatch, dated Washington, March
31st, we copy from the Charleston Mercury of Monday: “Mr.
Calhoun died this morning at a quarter past seven o’clock in
the full possession of his faculties. A few hours previous he
directed his son, Dr. John C. Calhoun, to lock up his manu-
scripts, and just before his death he beckoned him to his bedside
and, with his eyes fixed upon him, expired. He died without
the slightest symptom of pain, and to the last his eyes retained
their brilliancy. With his son, there were at his bedside, Mr.
Venable, of North Carolina, and Messrs. Orr and Wallace, of
South Carolina. Mr. Venable has been devoted in his atten-
tions to him for weeks, and is entitled to the deepest gratitude.
The body will be placed in a metallic coffin and deposited in
the Congressional Burial Ground until the wishes of his family
are ascertained.

“The Governor of South Carolina has appointed a committee
of twenty-five, consisting of citizens of Charleston, to proceed
to Washington to receive and convey to his native State the
remains of John C. Calhoun.”

Wilmington Chronele.
Wednesday, April 24, 1850.

Rematns or Mr. CaLHoun.

It is expected that the remains of Mr. Calhoun will reach
Wilmington today about 12 o’clock. The Committee of Ar-

Tangements publish the following: