Autobiography of Seventy Years | Page 4

the logical result
of the doctrines of the Old Testament and of the New. It recognized the
dignity of the individual soul, without regard to the accident of birth or
wealth or power or color of the skin. If she were in the company of a
Queen, it would never have occurred to her that they did not meet as
equals. And if the Queen were a woman of sense, and knew her, it
would never occur to the Queen. The poorest people in the town, the
paupers in the poorhouse, thought of her as a personal friend to whom
they could turn for sympathy and help. No long before her death, an old
black woman died in the poorhouse. She died in the night. An old man
who had been a town pauper a good part of his life sat up with her and
ministered to her wants as well as he could. Just before she died, the
old woman thanked him for his kindness. She told him she should like
to give him something to show her gratitude, but that she had nothing
in the world; but she thought that if he would go to Mrs. Hoar and ask
her to give him a dollar, as a favor to her she would do it. The draft on
the bank of kindness was duly honored. And I think the legacy was
valued as highly by her who paid it as if it had been a costly gem or a
work of art from an emperor's gallery.
Mr. Calhoun was very intimate in my grandmother's household when
he was in college, and always inquired with great interest after the
young ladies of the family when he met anybody who knew them. He
had a special liking for my mother, who was about his own age, and
always inquired for her.

William M. Evarts visited Washington in his youth and called upon Mr.
Calhoun, who received him with great consideration, went with him in
person to see the President and what was worth seeing in Washington.
Mr. Calhoun spoke in the highest terms of Roger Sherman to Mr.
Evarts, said that he regarded him as one of the greatest of our statesmen,
and that he had seen the true interests of the South when Southern
statesmen were blind to them. This Mr. Calhoun afterward said in a
speech in the Senate, including, however, Mr. Paterson of New Jersey
and Oliver Ellsworth in his eulogy.
The story of Roger Sherman's life has never been told at length. There
is an excellent memoir of him in Sanderson's "Lives of the Signers,"
written by Jeremiah Evarts, with the assistance of the late Governor and
Senator Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut. But when that was written
the correspondence of the great actors of his time, and indeed the
journals of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention
and the Madison Papers, were none of them accessible to the public.
An excellent though brief memoir of Mr. Sherman was published a few
years ago by L. H. Boutell, Esq., of Chicago. Mr. Sherman was a man
who seemed to care nothing for fame. He was content to cause great
things to be done for his country, and cared nothing for the pride and
glory of having done them. The personal pronoun I is seldom found in
any speech or writing of his. He had a large share in the public events
that led to the Revolution, in the conduct of the War, in the proceedings
of the Continental Congress, in the framing of the Constitution, in
securing its adoption by Connecticut, and in the action of the House
and Senate in Washington's first Administration. He was also for many
years Judge of the highest court of his State. He was a man of
indefatigable industry. An accomplished lady employed to make
investigations in the public archives of the Department of State,
reported that she did not see how he could ever have gone to bed.
He had a most affectionate and tender heart. He was very fond of his
family and friends. Although reserved and silent in ordinary company,
he was very agreeable in conversation, and had a delightful wit. Some
of the very greatest men of his time have left on record their estimate of

his greatness.
Thomas Jefferson said of him: "There is old Roger Sherman, who never
said a foolish thing in his life."
Theodore Sedgwick said: "He was a man of the selectest wisdom. His
influence was such that no measure, or part of a measure which he
advocated, ever failed to pass."
Fisher Ames said that if he were absent through a debate and came in
before the vote was taken he always voted with Roger Sherman, as he
always voted right.
Patrick