the United States, and would seem to be incapable of further improvement.

During 1826 Mr. Webster distinguished himself by the delivery of an oration on the death of John Adams, exPresident of the United States, who expired on the 4th of July in that year at Quincy. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence. On the same day Mr. Jefferson, the author of the Declaration, paid the same great debt of nature. The coincidence was a most remarkable one; and the oration which he delivered at Boston on the 2d of August, 1826, will always remain one of the most masterly efforts of modern eloquence.

In November, 1826, Mr. Webster was again requested to become a candidate for re-election to the House of Representatives; but a vacancy occurring at this time in the delegation of Massachusetts in the United States Senate, he was elected to that high post by a large majority of the votes of the Legislature of Massachusetts. He therefore took his seat as a Senator in the twentieth Congress, with his fame established, his influence widely extended, and the highest expectations entertained of the position which he would quickly assume among the most gifted and powerful intellects in the land.

Nor was this expectation disappointed. His first speech was delivered upon a bill introduced for the purpose of affording relief to the surviving officers of the Revolution. He delivered a very able oration on this occasion, which at once placed him in the first rank among his Senatorial associates. The manner and spirit which pervaded it may be inferred from the following extract:

"But it is known to be impossible to carry the measure to such an extent as to embrace the militia; and it is plain, too, that the cases are different. The bill, as I have

already said, confines itself to those who served not occasionally, not temporarily, but permanently; who allowed themselves to be counted on as men who were to see the contest through, last as long as it might; and who have made the phrase "'listing during the war' a proverbial expression, signifying unalterable devotion to our cause, through good fortune and ill fortune, till it reached its close. This is a plain distinction; and although, perhaps, I might wish to do more, I see good ground to stop here for the present, if we must stop anywhere. The militia who fought at Concord, at Lexington and at Bunker Hill have been alluded to, in the course of this debate, in terms of well-deserved praise. Be assured, sir, there could with difficulty be found a man who drew his sword or carried his musket at Concord, at Lexington, or at Bunker Hill, who would wish you to reject this bill. They might ask you to do more, but never to refrain from doing this. Would to God they were assembled here, and had the fate of the bill in their own hands! Would to God the question of its passage were to be put to them! They would affirm it with a unity of acclamation that would rend the roof of the Capitol!"

CHAPTER VI.

Webster's Reply to Mr. Hayne-Preliminary Circumstances-Speeches of Mr. Benton-Mr. Hayne's First Speech-His Character and Talents -Mr. Webster's First Speech in Reply-The Second Speech of Mr. Hayne-Its Character-Extract from it-Mr. Webster's Reply-Intense Interest felt on the Occasion-Mr. Webster's Appearance and Manner-The Audience-Qualities of his Great Speech-Its Prodigious Effect and Power.

THE career of Mr. Webster in the United States Senate was one of constantly increasing celebrity; but his fame attained its culmination and its climax by the delivery of his memorable speech in reply to Mr. Hayne of South Carolina, on the 26th of January, 1830. This was the most glorious achievement of this great statesman's career. This oration is the masterpiece of all his performances; and in this respect it resembles the oration of Demosthenes on the Crown, or Burke's speech against Warren Hastings: it was the highest, the most complete, and the most consummate performance of his gigantic faculties. It is probably also the ablest effort of oratory which modern times have produced; and it is therefore proper that we should narrate at some length the circumstances under which it was delivered, and the results which were produced by it.

Andrew Jackson was elected President of the United States in the fall of 1828 by a vast majority, which clearly indicated the great unpopularity into which John Quincy Adams and his administration had fallen. Mr. Calhoun was chosen Vice-President at the same time. The first session of the twenty-first Congress opened in

December, 1829, Mr. Calhoun presiding in the Senate. The disposal of the public lands at once became a subject of prominent interest to the Federal Representatives; and on the 29th of December Mr. Foote of Connecticut introduced the following resolution in the Senate:

"Resolved, That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to inquire and report the quantity of public lands remaining unsold within each State and Territory, and whether it be expedient to limit for a certain period the sales of public lands to such lands as have heretofore been offered for sale, and are now subject to entry at the minimum price. And also, whether the office of Surveyor-General, and some of the landed offices, may not be abolished without detriment to the public service."

To this resolution an amendment was subsequently added to the effect, "whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten the sales and extend more rapidly the surveys of the public lands."

During the discussion which ensued upon this resolution, many offensive allusions were made by Southern and Western members, in reference to the policy which had been pursued by other portions of the Confederacy. Several weeks were employed in the discussion. The great difference of principle which seemed to lie at the foundation of the opposition of sentiment which prevailed was, that one party defended national views of the Constitution, and the other maintained the sectional doctrine of State Rights. Mr. Foote, having expounded and defended his resolution briefly, was answered by Mr. Benton in a furious tirade against the New England States, charging them with a premeditated design to encroach upon the interests of the West. The subject was then postponed for further consideration till the 13th of January. Mr. Benton again took part in the debate on the 18th, repeat

ing his attacks upon New England and her representatives. On the following day Mr. Holmes, of Maine, and several other Northern Senators, replied to the charges of Mr. Benton. These were followed by a speech from Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, of. the same drift and spirit which had been displayed by Mr. Benton.

Mr. Hayne was then one of the younger members of the Senate, and a man of ability. He was a special favorite of Mr. Calhoun, whose entire system of policy and opinion he had adopted and uniformly defended. His manner of speaking was rapid, declamatory, yet not devoid of brilliancy and force. He was deficient in that weight and impressiveness which alone belong to men of greater calibre; though, while speaking, few men could exceed him in the hold with which his fluent and graceful declamation retained the attention and thrilled the feelings of an audience. There was also frequently a degree of sarcastic bitterness in his remarks which inflammable natures generally display, and which often leads to more serious consequences than are intended or even anticipated. Mr. Hayne's speech on this occasion was one of his best efforts. On the next day, January 20th, Mr. Webster made a reply to him, which was chiefly of a dry and argumentative character, but serving as a complete reply to the attack on the New England States which the speech of Mr. Hayne contained. He defended the policy which New England had always pursued in reference to the Western and Southern States. In the course of his argument he used the following language:

"And here, sir, at the epoch of 1794, let us pause and survey the scene as it actually existed thirty-five years ago. Let us look back and behold it. Over all that is now Ohio there then stretched one vast wilderness, unbroken except by two small spots of civilized culture, the