The event in Mr. Calhoun's political life which will give him the greatest distinction in our history, was the bold and perilous course he took on the subject of nullification. It brought him and his native State directly in conflict with the powers of the Federal government, and but for the compromise of the Tariff question, out of which the controversy grew, would have ended in civil war. We shall not undertake to narrate the origin or the purpose of this most fearful crisis, referring our readers to the regular memoirs of Mr. Calhoun for the details, but we cannot refrain from expressing our high admiration of the gallant bearing of the great South Carolinian during the whole of the protracted and embarrassing dispute. The energy with which he pursued his ends, the originality with which he defended them, the boldness of his position, the devotion to his friends, the formidable objects that he had to encounter, the calm, earnest self-reliance with which he encountered them, and, in the end, the graceful concessions on both sides, by which the difficulties of the juncture were avoided, are brilliant illustrations both of the lofty energies of his spirit, and of the happy, peaceful working of our national institutions. In any other country, and under any other government, if it had been possible for such a conflict to arise, it could only have terminated in bloodshed or war. Either the reigning authority would have been overturned, or the chief agent in the insurrection would have been executed as a traitor. Under the benign and conciliatory genius of our constitution, by that pacific legislation, which knows how to temper the rigid and inflexible exercise of law by the spirit of concession, the struggle ended in compromise. It was in his domestic life that Mr. Calhoun won the warmest homage of the heart. Miss Bates, who was for many years a governess in his family, and who enjoyed the finest opportunities for observing him, has given us the following record of his private virtues and peculiarities.