when andrew jackson became president mr. webster found himself an anti-administration leader. he was respected and feared, and a plan was formed to break him down and overwhelm him in debate. the champion who was supposed equal to this task was col. hayne, of south carolina, a graceful and forcible speaker, backed by the party in power and by the silent influence of john c. calhoun, who, as vice-president, presided over the councils of the senate.
on the 29th day of december, 1829, an apparently innocent resolution was offered by mr. foote, of connecticut, in the following terms:
“resolved, that the committee on public lands be instructed to inquire into the expediency of limiting for a certain period the sales of the public lands to such lands only as have been heretofore offered for sale and are subject to entry at the minimum price; also, whether the office of surveyor-general may not be abolished without detriment to the public interest.”
this resolution called forth the celebrated debate in which mr. webster demolished the eloquent champion of the south in a speech which will live as long as american history.
mr. benton, of missouri, in an elaborate speech furnished the keynote of the campaign. on monday, the 18th, he made a speech in which a violent attack was made upon new england, its institutions and its representatives. he was followed by col. hayne, who elaborated the comparison drawn between the so-called illiberal policy of new england and the generous policy of the south towards the growing west. he charged the east with a spirit of jealousy and an unwillingness that the west should be rapidly settled, taking the resolution of the senator of connecticut as his text.
this attack excited surprise, not only by its violence and injustice, but by its suddenness. mr. webster shared in the general surprise. it was not long before he was led to suspect that he was aimed at as a well-known defender of new england. at any rate, he rose to reply, but a motion for adjournment cut him off, and he was obliged to wait for the next day before he could have the opportunity. the speech he then made, though not his great speech, was able and deserves notice. he disproved in the clearest manner the charges which had been made against new england, and showed that her policy had been the direct reverse. he dwelt especially upon the part which the eastern states had in settling the great state of ohio, which even then contained a population of a million. upon this point he spoke as follows:
“and here, sir, at the epoch of 1794, let us pause and survey the scene. it is now thirty-five years since that scene actually existed. let us, sir, 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 one at marietta, the other at cincinnati. at these little openings, hardly a pin’s point upon the map, the arm of the frontiersman had leveled the forest and let in the sun. these little patches of earth, themselves almost shadowed by the overhanging boughs of the wilderness, which had stood and perpetuated itself from century to century ever since the creation, were all that had been rendered verdant by the hand of man. in an extent of hundreds and thousands of square miles no other surface of smiling green attested the presence of civilization. the hunter’s path crossed mighty rivers flowing in solitary grandeur, whose sources lay in remote and unknown regions of the wilderness. it struck, upon the north, on a vast inland sea, over which the wintry tempest raged as upon the ocean; all around was bare creation.
“it was a fresh, untouched, unbounded, magnificent wilderness. and, sir, what is it now? is it imagination only, or can it possibly be fact, that presents such a change as surprises and astonishes us when we turn our eyes to what ohio now is? is it reality or a dream that in so short a period as even thirty-five years there has sprung up on the same surface an independent state, with a million of people? a million of inhabitants! an amount of population greater than all the cantons of switzerland; equal to one third of all the people of the united states when they undertook to accomplish their independence! if, sir, we may judge of measures by their results, what lessons do these facts read us on the policy of the government? what inferences do they not authorize upon the general question of kindness or unkindness? what convictions do they enforce as to the wisdom and ability, on the one hand, or the folly and incapacity on the other, of our general management of western affairs? for my own part, while i am struck with wonder at the success, i also look with admiration at the wisdom and foresight which originally arranged and prescribed the system for the settlement of the public domain.”
mr. webster said in conclusion: “the senate will bear me witness that i am not accustomed to allude to local opinions, nor to compare, nor to contrast, different portions of the country. i have often suffered things to pass, which i might properly enough have considered as deserving a remark, without any observation. but i have felt it my duty on this occasion to vindicate the state which i represent from charges and imputations on her public character and conduct which i know to be undeserved and unfounded. if advanced elsewhere, they might be passed, perhaps, without notice. but whatever is said here is supposed to be entitled to public regard and to deserve public attention; it derives importance and dignity from the place where it is uttered. as a true representative of the state which has sent me here it is my duty, and a duty which i shall fulfill, to place her history and her conduct, her honor and her character, in their just and proper light.
“while i stand here as representative of massachusetts, i will be her true representative, and, by the blessing of god, i will vindicate her character, motives and history from every imputation coming from a respectable source.”
this was the first reply of webster to hayne, and it was able and convincing. but col. hayne and his friends had no intention of leaving the matter there. the next day the consideration of the bill was renewed. mr. webster’s friends wished to have the discussion postponed as he had an important case pending in the supreme court. mr. hayne objected, saying in a theatrical tone, “that he saw the senator from massachusetts in his seat, and presumed he could make an arrangement that would enable him to be present during the discussion. he was unwilling that the subject should be postponed until he had an opportunity of replying to some of the observations which had fallen from the gentleman yesterday. he would not deny that some things had fallen from the gentleman which rankled here [touching his breast], from which he would desire at once to relieve himself. the gentleman had discharged his fire in the face of the senate. he hoped he would now afford him the opportunity of returning the shot.”
“then it was,” as a southern member of congress afterwards expressed it, “that mr. webster’s person seemed to become taller and larger. his chest expanded and his eyeballs dilated. folding his arms in a composed, firm and most expressive manner, he exclaimed: ‘let the discussion proceed. i am ready. i am ready now to receive the gentleman’s fire.’”
col. hayne’s speech was the great effort of his life. he was a ready, accomplished and forcible speaker, and he vainly thought himself a match for the great senator from massachusetts whose power he was yet to understand. he spoke as one who was confident of victory, with a self-confidence, a swagger, a violence of invective, which increased as he went on. he was encouraged by the evident delight of his friends, including the vice-president. he did not finish his speech the first day, but closed with a hint of what he intended to do.
“sir,” he said, “the gentleman from massachusetts has thought proper, for purposes best known to himself, to strike the south through me, the most unworthy of her servants. he has crossed the border, he has invaded the state of south carolina, is making war upon her citizens, and endeavoring to overthrow her principles and institutions. sir, when the gentleman provokes me to such a conflict, i meet him at the threshold, i will struggle while i have life for our altars and our firesides, and if god gives me strength i will drive back the invader discomfited. nor shall i stop there. if the gentleman provokes war he shall have war. sir, i will not stop at the border; i will carry the war into the enemy’s territory, and not consent to lay down my arms until i shall have obtained ‘indemnity for the past and security for the future.’ it is with unfeigned reluctance that i enter upon the performance of this part of my duty. i shrink, almost instinctively, from a course, however necessary, which may have a tendency to excite sectional feelings and sectional jealousies. but, sir, the task has been forced upon me, and i proceed right onward to the performance of my duty, be the consequences what they may; the responsibility is with those who have imposed upon me the necessity. the senator from massachusetts has thought proper to cast the first stone, and, if he shall find, according to a homely adage, that ‘he lives in a glass house,’ on his head be the consequences.”
brave words these! but brave words do not necessarily win the victory, and col. hayne little knew what a foe he was challenging to combat.