some portion of his constituents in Faneuil Hall, Mr. Webster made allusion to the necessity under which he had found himself placed, by a most strange and unprecedented manner of legislation, of taking the evil of a public measure for the sake of its good. "The candid interpretation," said he," which had been given to that vote, by those who disapproved it, and the assembling together here, for the purpose of this occasion, of those who felt pain, as well as those who felt pleasure, at the success of the measure for which the vote was given, afford ample proof, how far unsuspected uprightness of intention, and the exercise of an independent judgment, may be respected, even by those who differ from the results to which that exercise of judgment has arrived."

this

Another presidential canvass took place in the autumn of year, the competitors in which were ANDREW JACKSON and JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. The popular voice, which had not invited Mr. Adams to the chair of state, precipitated him from it with emphatic utterance. On the 4th of March, 1829, General Jackson took possession of the vacated seat, with a temper not at all softened by the unnecessary delay of four years.

We approach now the most important era of Mr. Webster's intellectual life; in which he gained, at once and for ever, the highest rank as a debater and orator. No previous production of his, of whatever eminent ability, had prepared the minds of men for the display of such a vast variety of genius as he ex

hibited in this greatest intellectual contest of the age. He had always been equal to the occasion, it is true, but he had

never hitherto encountered an occasion that demanded such infinite resources.

CHAPTER IV.

To understand fully the character and importance of the GREAT DEBATE, as it was called in the newspapers of the day, something should be known of the circumstances that immediately preceded and accompanied it, and of the more distinguished persons who participated in it.

It commenced, in the Senate of the United States, in the month of January, 1830, during the first session of the 21st Congress, and in the first year of the administration of Andrew Jackson; and lasted, with occasional but brief interruptions, four months.

Few persons ever attained to eminent position in this or any other country, under more auspicious circumstances, than Andrew Jackson. The idol of a party comprising much the larger portion of the constituency of the country, respected for the many liberal qualities of his head and heart, even by those who on conviction, or from interest, had opposed his elevation, this distinguished soldier in the earlier portion of his official career, gave assurance of an administration, equally brilliant and popular. In the presidential campaign of 1828, his competitor and immediate predecessor, JOHN QUINCY

t

ADAMS, whether from geographical position, or from a want of confidence among the masses in the policy of his measures, or purity of his intentions, or, more probable yet, from personal unpopularity, arising from a cold temperament and repulsive manners, had been signally and disgracefully defeated. No where, save in New England, and even there, perhaps, rather from local pride, than attachment to his person, or respect for his public character, had his canvass for re-election been honestly sustained. Elsewhere his efforts and those of his partisans had been vehemently rebuked. General Jackson received a majority in the electoral colleges unprecedented in the previous annals of party contention.

-not rare on earth-whose

Undoubtedly one great reason of Mr Adams' unpopularity, was his cold, antipathetic manner, and the suspicion of selfishness it suggested, or at least aided greatly to confirm. None approached Mr. Adams but to recede. He never succeeded, he never tried to conciliate. He seemed one of those persons enjoyment stops in themselves; who find no pleasure in the indulgence of social feelings, and cherish no hope but of self-gratification. Friendship which receives and repays mutual benefits, which responds alike to good or adverse fortune, which removes us from entire isolation, expands the heart, lends new force to genius, and a nobler expression to thought, he never seemed capable of comprehending.

His mind, wonderfully precocious, was developed at the expense of his heart. Undue exercise of the one, as happens

with the limbs of the body, dwarfed or weakened the other. He could elaborate vast schemes of political aggrandizement, construct stupendous tomes of incontrovertible logic, establish or demolish theories of perplexing ingenuity; but he was ignorant of an unselfish emotion, incapable of an ennobling expression, and constitutionally insensible to other than personal hopes and purposes.

All political dogmas, creeds and parties, were held by him in like consideration. He found them all equally fallacious and equally useful. He sacrificed no principle in espousing or repudiating either or all, for he had no principles to sacrifice. Without violence to his feelings or judgment, he admitted or rejected propositions and measures. He knew but one test of their soundness; how far they were useful, so far and so long they were right. In whatever other respect he resembled Cato Uticaensis, in one he differed from him materially. The victa causa never pleased him. The theory that failed was to him illogical; the party that fell, unprincipled.

This intense concentration of self upon self gave character to his countenance, manners, and habits. He seemed as cold, passionless and inscrutable as the Egyptian Sphynx, whose fate, too, his own resembled. He was successful while his secret was undiscovered, but that once exposed, he sunk for ever.

A disposition like his was its own Nemesis. Ever grasping at honors, success rather exasperated than satisfied him. While there was a step still higher, he was restless, discontented, morose, till he reached it; and when reached, the fear of its