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CALDERON, DE LA BARCA, DON PEDRO. 



CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL. 



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title of 'La fausse Apparence," Calderon's ' Nunoa lo peor es cierto ' 

 (The worst is never true). The French translations by Linguet 

 doubtless contributed largely to produce this effect. On Linguet's 

 ' Viol puni,' a translation of Calderon's ' Alcalde de Zalamea,' the well- 

 known Collet d'Herbois built his ' Paysan magistral.' Not to mention 

 numerous other instances of a similar kind, it should not be forgotten 

 that Calderon'a 'Secreto a voces' (The published Secret) has appeared 

 in the Italian, French, and German languages. 



Calderon's talents, which had been early manifested at school under 

 the Jesuits, developed at Salamanca, and already admired in the 

 Spanish possessions of Italy and the Low Countries, were at last 

 encouraged by the patronage of Philip IV., who bestowed on him a 

 knighthood of Santiago in 1(330 ; invited him to Madrid in 1640 to 

 write the 'Certamen de Amor y Zelos' (the Contest between Love and 

 Jealousy), a sort of festival to be performed on the lake of Btien- 

 Retiro ; and Boon raised his allowance to an escudo more per day. 

 Subsequently, in 1649, he intrusted to his taste and ingenuity the plan 

 and directions of some triumphal arches, under which the royal bride 

 Mary Anna of Austria was to pass. 



At the age of fifty Calderon entered the church, and two years 

 afterward?, the king bestowed on him a chaplaincy of Toledo. In 

 1663 he gave him another similar piece of preferment, with a hand- 

 some pension charged on the revenue of Sicily, and other similar 

 acknowledgments of his services and merits. During the long period 

 of thirty-seven years he wrote, by special commission of the muni- 

 cipality of Madrid, and of other cities, such as Toledo, Sevilla, and 

 Granada, about 100 'Autos Sacramentnles,' or sacred pieces, which 

 resemble those of the 16th century, commonly called 'Mysteries.' 

 The ' Autos ' of Calderon soon superseded those of all previous 

 Spanish authors; and to their composition the poet devoted the 

 remaining thirty years of his life after he had entered the ecclesiastical 

 profession. In his eightieth year he wrote his ' Hado y Divisa.' As 

 the booksellers -vere now selling spurious works under his name, he 

 was urged by the Duke of Veraguaa to make a true list of all his 

 works, but be merely sent a lUt of his 'Autos,' expressing, on 

 religious grounds, very little concern for the rest 



Some of the ' Autos ' of Calderon, especially that entitled ' La 

 Devocion de la Cruz' (the Devotion of the Cross, meaning its 

 miracles), are the best productions of the kind. Augustus Schlogel 

 has translated this work, with some of the best of his dramas, such as 

 ' El Principe coostante,' a tragedy which might be called the Lusitanian 

 Regains for its Portuguese lofty subject. It is indeed Calderon's 

 masterpiece, and displays the full lustre of his genius. He wrote 

 likewise a poem in octaves on the ' Novisimos,' or ' Poatrimcrias ' (the 

 old scholastic and ascetic collective denomination of death, judgment, 

 heaven, and hell). There is also among his works a discourse on 

 painting, ' La Nobleza de la Piutura ; ' another in vindication of the 

 stage, ' Dcfenna de la C'omedia ; ' and many songs, sonnets, and ballads, 

 with numerous short poems to which the highest prizes were adjudged 

 on various occasions. 



The date of Culderon's death is variously stated, but that of 1681, 

 on the 25th of May, Whitsuntide day, which is given by an old 

 biographer, his great friend and panegyrist, appears to be the most 

 correct. 



To revert to the parallel between the two great Spanish dramatists. 

 Lope was bolder and ruder, Calderon more brilliant and refined, a 

 keener observer of the female mind and manners, a readier contriver 

 of plots, which are full of business and bustle, naturally arising from 

 intricacies which are most happily disentangled in his denouements. 

 In this respect he surpasses even Moreto and Solis, but he does not 

 always keep within the rules of strict morality. He allows vice too 

 frequently to triumph, out of deference, probably, as some would 

 have it by way of apology for him, to the fashionable morals of the 

 time. The chivalrous delicacy as to the point of honour, which often 

 supplies the place of morality, is displayed in its most favourable 

 aspect in some of his dramas. Sometimes he appears to be seized 

 with a moralising fit, which contrasts strangely with the levity, 

 merriment, intrigues, and mad gallantry which were exhibited for the 

 first time on the Spanish stage in his 'Comedias de Capa y Espitda' 

 (Plays of Cloak and Sword). These pieces take their name from the 

 dress in which they were performed (then the general costume of the 

 gentry throughout Europe), and in contradistinction to the ' Comedias 

 heroicas ' (Historical Dramas), which were intended to excite surprise 

 and admiration. In the latter, love is the feeling which actuated the 

 champions of chivalry, while in the former it is merely a verbose and 

 glozing gallantry which succeeded to the poetical worship of the fair. 

 These being a sort of dramatised novels, on subjects selected from 

 fashionable life, gave full scope to Calderon's elegance of language, 

 gracefulness of dialogue, facility of versification, richness of diction, 

 and fertility of imagination ; qualities indeed which sometimes make 

 him too diffuse. 



Calderon gave the last polish to the Spanish theatre without changing 

 its nature. He imparted dignity to the historical, or, as they were 

 styled ' heroic' comedies ; but while some of them are the best, others 

 are the most trivial of his productions, and are full of historical 

 blunders. 



The greater part of Calderon's works were published at Madrid in 

 9 vols. 4to, 1689 : the first three volumes contain his comedies, and 



the six last a great number of his 'Autos Sacramentales.' They were 

 reprinted at Madrid in 1726 and 1760 in 10 vols. 4to. A collection of 

 his ' Autos ' appeared also at Madrid in 1759 in 6 vols. 4to. In 1830 

 George Keil published at Leipzig a splendid edition of Calderon in 

 5 vols. 8vo; other editions of his plays have since been published. 

 The ' Teatro Espanol,' published by La Huerta, gives but a partial 

 idea of Calderon's talent; for he has selected the 'Comedias de Capa 

 y Espada," two only excepted, one of which is styled ' heroica,' although 

 it belongs to the mythological class. 



CALDERWOOD, DAVID, was a native of Scotland, and was 

 brought up to the church. He was bora in 1575. In 1604 he became 

 the minister of the parish of Crelling in the south of Scotland, where 

 he was greatly respected. 



When James I. of England visited Scotland in 1617 for the 

 purpose of introducing, by the aid of a Scottish parliament and 

 the general assembly, certain legal enactments, the object of which 

 was to bring the Scottish church into conformity with the church 

 of England, Calderwood was one of those who were most strenuous 

 in their opposition. He and other ministers of the church having 

 signed a protest against the proposed measures, they were sum- 

 moned before a court of high commission in which the king himself 

 presided. Persecution and threats having both failed to make Calder- 

 wood change his opinions, he was thrown into prison, and was after- 

 wards banished from the kingdom. He went to Holland, where in 

 1621-23, he published in 4to a work in Latin, entitled 'Altare 

 Damascenum,' &c., in which he enters into a full examination of the 

 principles of the Church of England, its government, ceremonies, and 

 connection with the state. The work made a great impression at the 

 time, and was translated into English under the title of ' The Altar of 

 Damascus, or the Pattern of the English Hierarchy and Church, 

 obtruded upon the Church of Scotland,' 12mo, 1621. A report having 

 been spread that Calderwood was dead, a man named Patrick Scot 

 published a pretended recantation, with the title ' Calderwood'a 

 Recantation, directed to such iu Scotland as refuse Conformity to thn 

 Ordinances of the Church,' London, 1622. It was soon discovered to 

 be a base forgery, and the king himself was accused of having lent 

 his assistance in writing it. Calderwood in the meantime had returned 

 secretly to Scotland, where he lived some years in concealment. He 

 collected the materials for a ' History of the Church of Scotland," 

 which are preserved in manuscript in the Advocates Library, Edin- 

 burgh, in 6 vols. folio, with a preface detailing the principal circum- 

 stances of his life. From the materials of this work Calderwood 

 wrote his ' History of the Church of Scotland from the Beginning of 

 the Reformation unto the End of the Reign of James VI., begin- 

 ning 1560 and ending 1625,' folio. He is supposed to have died 

 in 1651. 



CALEPI'NO, AMBRO'GIO, was born at Calepio in the province of 

 Bergamo in 1435. He became an Augustine friar, but devoted himself 

 chiefly to philology. His great work was a Latin dictionary, which 

 was one of the earliest works of the kind, and was first published at 

 Reggio, foL, 1502. It went through many editions, most of them 

 with numerous additions, which made it almost a new work. Passerat's 

 edition, 1609, with the title ' Dictionarium Oetolingiie,' contains the 

 corresponding words in Greek, Hebrew, Italian, German, Spanish, 

 French, and English. Other editions added the Slavonian and 

 Hungarian. Facciolati, assisted by Forcellini, published a new edition 

 of Calepino's, or rather' Passerat's dictionary, also in eight language?, 

 2 vols. fol., Padua, 1731. While engaged on this labour Forcellini 

 conceived the idea of a totally new and more complete and critical 

 lexicon, and after spending thirty years in compiling it, ha published 

 it under the title of ' Totius Latinitatis Lexicon,' 4 vols. fol., Padua, 

 1771. Forcelliiii's lexicon superseded all former Latin dictionaries. 

 Calepino died iu November 1511. 



CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL, one of the most influential of 



the recent statesmen of America, was born on the 13th of March 1782, 

 at Abbeville in South Carolina. His father, Patrick Calhoun, was by 

 birth ." Irishman, but he emigrated to America early in life, settled 

 in Carolina, and took an active part on the American side during the 

 war of independence. John C. Calhoun graduated with distinction at 

 Yale College in 1804 ; and, having completed his legal studies iu Con- 

 necticut, returned to his native place in 1807 to enter upon the 

 practice of his profession. He was elected the following year a mem- 

 ber of the South Carolina House of Representatives, where his clear 

 vigorous intellect soon obtained for him considerable notice. In 1811 

 he was sent as a representative to the United States Congress, and tho 

 rest of his life was spent at Washington. During the discussion of 

 the important measures which in the course of the next five years 

 excited the public mind, Mr. Calhoun played a prominent part, and 

 his fervid eloquence, eagerly defending and stimulating the popular 

 war-cry, won for him a commanding position. On Mr. Monroe's 

 election to the presidency of the United States in 1817, he appointed 

 Mr. Calhoun his secretary of war, a post he retained during the eight 

 years of Mr. Monroe's tenure of office. His administratiou was 

 marked by energy and judgment, and secured his position as one of 

 the ablest public men of his time. On the next election, 1825, he WHS 

 named as a candidate for the presidency, but withdrew his claim, and 

 eventually he was chosen vice-president. To this high office he was 

 re-elected in 1829, when General Jackson succeeded Mr. Adams ns 



