Part 4 (2/2)
Mr Ada Mr
Webster, whose great ability and influence he thoroughly understood He told Mr Clay that he had a high opinion of Mr Webster, and wished to win his support; and the savage tone displayed in regard to the Edwards affair now disappears froh he knew, as he says, that ”Webster was panting for the English ratified hereafter, was not ready to go so far at the ht to dissuade Mr Webster fro a candidate for the speakershi+p, for which in truth the latter had no inclination Their relations, indeed, soon grew very pleasant Mr Webster naturally became the leader of the administration forces in the House, while the President on his side sought Mr Webster's advice, admired his oration on Adams and Jefferson, dined at his house, and lived on terms of friendshi+p and confidence with him It is to be feared, however, that all this was merely on the surface Mr Adams at the bottom of his heart never, in reality, relaxed in his belief that Mr Webster was morally unsound Mr
Webster, on the other hand, whose Federalist opposition to Mr Ada to the conclusion that his services, if appreciated, were not properly recognized by the adood deal of justice in this view The English mission never came, no help was to be obtained for Mr Mason's election as senator from New Hampshi+re, the speakershi+p was to be refused in order to proth in the House To all this Mr Webster subht the battles of the administration in debate as no one else could have done Nevertheless, all nition, and Mr
Webster would have preferred so more solid than words and confidence or the triumph of a common cause When the Massachusetts senatorshi+p was in question Mr Adaed the election of Governor Lincoln, and objected on the rounds to Mr Webster's withdrawal from the House It is not a too violent conjecture to suppose that Mr Webster's final acceptance of a seat in the Senate was due in large h for the adreeen the President and the Senator, and that the appointland, if still desired, never was made, so that when the next election came on Mr Webster was inactive, and, despite his hostility to Jackson, viewed the overthrow of Mr Adaood deal of indifference and some satisfaction It is none the less true, however, that during these years when the first foundations of the future Whig party were laid, Mr Webster forh life He inevitably found himself associated with Clay and Adams, and opposed to Jackson, Benton, and Van Buren, while at the sa apart He had no specially cordial feeling to his new associates; but they were at the head of the conservative elements of the country, they were nationalists in policy, and they favored the viehich were land As a conservative and nationalist by nature and education, and as the great New England leader, Mr Webster could not avoid beco the parliamentary chief of Mr Adams's administration, and thus paved the way for leadershi+p in the Whig party of the future
In narrating the history of these years, I have confined myself to Mr
Webster's public services and political course But it was a period in his career which was croork and achieve fresh fame and increased reputation, and also with domestic events both of joy and sorrow
Mr Webster steadily pursued the practice of the law, and was constantly engaged in the Supreuments, and also the prosecution of the Spanish claims, a task at once laborious and profitable In the summer of 1824 Mr Webster first saw Marshfield, his future home, and in the autu intervieith Mr Jefferson, of who the winter he formed the acquaintance and lived lish in this country This party consisted of the Earl of Derby, then Mr Stanley, Lord Wharncliffe, then Mr Stuart Wortley; Lord Taunton, then Mr Labouchere, and Mr Denison, afterwards Speaker of the House of Commons With Mr Denison this acquaintance was the foundation of a lasting and intimate friendshi+p maintained by correspondence In June, 1825, came the splendid oration at Bunker Hill, and then a visit to Niagara, which, of course, appealed strongly to Mr Webster His account of it, however, although indicative of a deepnature fell far short of his wonderful talent for picturing huy on Adams and Jefferson, when perhaps Mr Webster hest physical and intellectual perfection Such at least was the opinion of Mr Ticknor, who says:--
”He was in the perfection of th; his for, as he stood before the vast nity and power HisI never heard hirand and appropriate;when he ended the ht up to an uncontrollable excitement, and then followed three tremendous cheers, inappropriate indeed, but as inevitable as any other great movement of nature”
He had held the vast audience mute for over two hours, as John Quincy Adas found vent in cheers
He spoke greatly because he felt greatly His eination, his entire oratorical temperament were then full of quick sensibility When he finished writing the iinary speech of John Ada hour, his eyes ith tears
A year passed by after this splendid display of eloquence, and then the second congressional period, which had been so full of work and intellectual activity and well-earned distinction, closed, and he entered upon that broader field which opened to hireatest triumphs were still to be achieved
CHAPTER VI
THE TARIFF OF 1828 AND THE REPLY TO HAYNE
The new dignity conferred on Mr Webster by the people of Massachusetts had hardly been assumed when he was called upon to encounter a trial which must have made all his honors seem poor indeed He had scarcely taken his seat when he was obliged to return to New York, where failing health had arrested Mrs Webster's journey to the capital, and where, after , she died, January 21, 1828 The blow fell with terrible severity upon her husband He hadhis life, but this surpassed all others His as the love of his youth, the entle influence for good was now lost to hihts reverted to her, and as he followed her body to the grave, on foot in the wet and cold, and leading his children by the hand, it must indeed have seemed as if the wine of life had been drunk and only the lees remained He was excessively pale, and to those who looked upon him seemed crushed and heart-broken
The only relief was to return to his work and to the excite after he was once more in his place in the Senate Death had made a wound in his life which time healed but of which the scar remained Whatever were Mr Webster's faults, his affection for those nearest to him, and especially for the wife of his youth, was deep and strong
”The very first day of Mr Webster's arrival and taking his seat in the Senate,” Judge Story writes to Mr Ticknor, ”there was a process bill on its third reading, filled, as he thought, with inconvenient and mischievous provisions He made, in a iven, he expressed in a feords his doubts and fears Iinia broke out upon him in a speech of two hours
Mr Webster then moved an adjournment, and on the next day delivered athe whole operation of the intended act in the clearest manner, so that a recommitment was carried alratifying nature, and taught his opponents the danger of provoking a trial of his strength, even when he was overwhelmed by calamity In the labors of the court he has found it difficult to work hih efforts; but occasionally he comes out with all his powers, and when he does, it is sure to attract a brilliant audience”
It would be ie Story of Mr Webster's appearance and conduct in thethe death of his wife We can see how his talents, excited by the conflicts of the Senate and the court, struggled, sometimes successfully, sometimes in vain, with the sense of loss and sorrohich oppressed hiain come prominently forward in the Senate until the end of April, when he roused himself to prevent injustice The bill for the relief of the surviving officers of the Revolution see lost The object of the measure appealed to Mr Webster's love for the past, to his iination, and his patriotisnified speech which is preserved in his works, and saved the bill
A fortnight after this heextensive changes in the rates of duties ie in Mr Webster's views and in his course as a statesave up his position as the ablest opponent in the country of the protective policy, and went over to the support of the tariff and the ”Areat importance, subjected Mr Webster to severe criticism both then and subsequently It is, therefore, necessary to examine briefly his previous utterances on this question in order to reach a correct understanding of histhis important step and to appreciate his reasons for the adoption of a policy hich, after the year 1828, he was so closely identified
When Mr Webster first entered Congress he was a thorough-going Federalist
But the Federalists of New England differed froreat chief, Alexander Hamilton, on the question of a protective policy Hamilton, in his report on manufactures, advocated with consummate ability the adoption of the principle of protection for nascent industries as an integral and essential part of a true national policy, and urged it on its ownincident to revenue The New England Federalists, on the other hand, co from exclusively coarded with disfavor the doctrine that protection was a good thing in itself, and desired it, if at all, only in therevenue With these opinions Mr Webster was in full sympathy, and he took occasion when Mr Calhoun, in 1814, spoke in favor of the existing double duties as a protectivethe debate on the repeal of the eo, to define his position on this important question A few brief extracts will show his viehich were expressed very clearly and with his wonted ability and force
”I consider,” he said, ”the ireat object was to raise revenue, not to foster ht to be continued I think they ought not But what I particularly object to is the holding out of delusive expectations to those concerned in manufactures In respect to manufactures it is necessary to speak with so, their ene theislate precipitately, even in favor of them; above all, I would not profess intentions in relation to them which I did not purpose to execute I feel no desire to push capital into extensive ress of our wealth and population propels it