thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are. I ask for the reading of the reso lution before the Senate. 4. There wanted no more to enchain the attention. If among his hearers there were those who affected an indifference to his glowing thoughts and fervent periods, the difficult task was soon laid aside, and profound, undisguised, devoted attention followed. In the earlier part of his speech one of his principal opponents seemed deeply engrossed in the careful perusal of a newspaper he held before his face; but this, on nearer approach, proved to be upside down. In truth, all, sooner or later, involuntarily, or in spite of themselves, were wholly carried away by the eloquence of the orator. 5. The speech of Mr. Hayne necessarily led Mr. Webster through a very wide range of debate. The personalities of his opponent were to be referred to; the charges upon the long-established policy of the government in reference to the public lands were to be met and repelled; Massachusetts was to be defended against the attack made upon her, and her historical record vindicated; the subjects involved in the constitutional rights of slavery, in the policy of internal improvements, and of the tariff, were to be examined anew; and, finally, the true principles of the Constitution were to be defended against the South Carolina doctrine of Nullification. In the following Lesson we give a small portion of Mr. Webster's remarks upon this latter subject. LESSON CXVI. FROM MR. WEBSTER'S SECOND SPEECH, JANUARY 26-7, 1830. 1. AND now, Mr. President, let me run the honorable gentleman's doctrine a little into its practical application. Let us look a little at his probable modus operandi. If a thing can be done, an ingenious man can tell how it is to be done. 2. Now, I wish to be informed how this state interference is to be put in practice without violence, bloodshed, and rebellion. We will take the existing case of the tariff law. South Carolina is said to have made up her opinion upon it. If we do not repeal it (as we probably shall not), she will then apply to the case the remedy of her doctrine. She will, we must suppose, pass a law of her Legislature declaring the several acts of Congress, usually called the tariff laws, null and void, so far as they respect South Carolina, or the citizens thereof. So far, all is a paper transaction, and easy enough. 3. But the collector at Charleston is collecting the duties imposed by these tariff laws; he, therefore, must be stopped. The collector will seize the goods if the tariff duties are not paid. The state authorities will undertake their rescue: the marshal, with his posse, will come to the collector's aid, and here the contest begins. 4. The militia of the state will be called out to sustain the nullifying act. They will march, sir, under a very gallant leader: for I believe the honorable member himself commands the militia of that part of the state. He will raise the NULLIFYING ACT on his standard, and spread it out as his banner! It will have a preamble bearing that the tariff laws are palpable, deliberate, and dangerous violations of the Constitution! He will proceed, with this banner flying, to the Custom-house in Charleston: "All the while Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds." 5. Arrived at the Custom-house, he will tell the collector that he must collect no more duties under any of the tariff laws. This he will be somewhat puzzled to say, by the way, with a grave countenance, considering what hand South Carolina herself had in the tariff law of 1816. But, sir, the collector would, probably, not desist at his bidding. 6. Here would ensue a pause: for they say that a certain stillness precedes the tempest. Before this military array should fall on the Custom-house, collector, clerks, and all, it is very probable some of those composing it would request, of their gallant commander-in-chief, to be informed a little upon the point of law; for they have, doubtless, a just respect for his opinions as a lawyer, as well as for his bravery as a soldier. 7. They know he has read Blackstone and the Constitution, as well as Turenne and Vauban. They would ask him, therefore, something concerning their rights in this matter. They would inquire whether it was not somewhat dangerous to resist a law of the United States. What would be the nature of their offense, they would wish to learn, if they, by military force and array, resisted the execution, in Carolina, of a law of the United States, and it should turn out, after all, that the law was constitutional? .8. He would answer, of course, treason. No lawyer could give any other answer. John Fries, he would tell them, had learned that some years ago. How, then, they would ask, do you propose to defend us? We are not afraid of bullets, but treason has a way of taking people off that we do not much relish. How do you propose to defend us? "Look at my floating banner," he would reply; "see there the nul lifying law!" 9. Is it your opinion, gallant commander, they would then say, that, if we should be indicted for treason, that same floating banner of yours would make a good plea in bar? "South Carolina is a sovereign state," he would reply. That is true; but would the judge admit our plea? "These tariff laws," he would repeat, "are unconstitutional-palpably, deliberately, dangerously." That all may be so; but if the tribunals should not happen to be of that opinion, shall we swing for it? We are ready to die for our country; but it is rather an awkward business, this dying without touching the ground! After all, that is a sort of hemp tax, worse than any part of the tariff. 10. The honorable gentleman would be in a dilemma like that of another great general: he would have a knot before him which he could not untie. He must cut it with his sword: he must say to his followers, Defend yourselves with your bayonets !—and this is war-CIVIL WAR. LESSON CXVII. . THE IMPRESSION MADE BY MR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH. His Peroration. From March's Reminiscences of Congress. 1. No one who was not present can understand the excitement of the scene. No one who was can give an adequate description of it. No word-painting can convey the deep, intense enthusiasm, the reverential attention, of that vast assembly, nor limner transfer to canvas their earnest, eager, awe-struck countenances. Though language were as subtile and flexible as thought, it still would be impossible to represent the full idea of the scene. There is something intangible in an emotion which can not be transferred. The nicer shades of feeling elude pursuit. Every description, therefore, of the occasion seems to the narrator himself most tame, spiritless, unjust. 2. Much of the instantaneous effect of the speech arose, of course, from the orator's delivery-the tones of his voice, his countenance, and manner. These die mostly with the occasion that calls them forth: the impression is lost in the attempt at transmission from one mind to another. They can only be described in general terms. "Of the effectiveness of Mr. Webster's manner in many parts," says Mr. Everett, "it would be in vain to attempt to give any one not present the faintest idea. It has been my fortune to hear some of the ablest speeches of the greatest living orators on both sides of the water, but I must confess I never heard any thing which so completely realized my conception of what Demosthenes was when he delivered the Oration for the Crown." 3. The exulting rush of feeling with which he uttered the now famous peroration of that speech, threw a glow over his countenance like inspiration. Eye, brow, each feature, every line of the face, seemed touched as with a celestial fire. The swell and roll of his voice struck upon the ears of the spellbound audience, in deep and melodious cadence, as waves upon the shore of the "far resounding" sea. The Miltonic grandeur of his words was the fit expression of his thought, and raised his hearers up to his theme. His voice, exerted to its utmost power, penetrated every recess or corner of the Senate-penetrated even the anterooms and stairways, as he pronounced, in deepest tones of pathos, these words of solemn significance: MR. WEBSTER'S PERORATION. 4. "I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the Union, to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. 5. "I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counselor in the affairs of this government whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the Union should be best preserved, but how tolerable might be the condition of the people when it shall be broken up and destroyed. 6. "While the Union lasts we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us for us and our children. Beyond that, I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. God grant that, on my vision, never may be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on states dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! 7. "Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as, What is all this worth? nor those other words of delusion and folly, |