American Eloquence, Volume I. (of 4) by Various

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Democracy took a new and extreme line of development under its alliance
with nationality. As the dominant party, about 1827-8, became divided
into two parties, the new parties felt the democratic influence as
neither of their predecessors had felt it. Nominations, which had been
made by cliques of legislators or Congressmen, began to be made by
popular delegate conventions about 1825. Before 1835, national, State,
and local conventions had been united into parties of the modern type.
With them came the pseudo-democratic idea of "rotation in office,"
introduced into national politics by President Jackson, in 1829, and
adopted by succeeding administrations. There were also some attempts to
do away with the electoral system, and to make the federal judiciary
elective, or to impose on it some other term of office than good
behavior; but these had neither success nor encouragement.

The financial errors of the war of 1812 had fairly compelled the
re-establishment of the Bank of the United States in 1816, with a
charter for twenty years, and the control of the deposits of national
revenue. Soon after Jackson's inauguration, the managers of the new
democratic party came into collision with the bank on the appointment of
a subordinate agent. It very soon became evident that the bank could not
exist in the new political atmosphere. It was driven into politics;
a new charter was vetoed in 1832; and after one of the bitterest
struggles of our history, the bank ceased to exist as a government
institution in 1836. The reason for its fall, however disguised by
attendant circumstances, was really its lack of harmony with the
national-democratic environment which had overtaken it. Benton's
speech presents a review of this bank struggle and of accompanying
political controversies.

The anti-slavery agitation, which began in 1830, was as evidently a
product of the new phase of democracy, but will fall more naturally
under the next period.

Webster's reply to Hayne has been taken as the best illustration of that
thoroughly national feeling which was impossible before the war of 1812,
and increasingly more common after it. It has been necessary to preface
it with Hayne's speech, in order to have a clear understanding of parts
of Webster's; but it has not been possible to omit Calhoun's speech, as
a defence of his scheme of nullification, and as an exemplification of
the reaction toward colonialism with which the South met the national
development. It has not seemed necessary to include other examples of
the orations called forth by the temporary political issues of the time.

ROBERT Y. HAYNE,

---OF SOUTH CAROLINA. (BORN 1791, DIED 1840.)

ON MR. FOOT'S RESOLUTION IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, JAN. 21, 1830

MR. SPEAKER:

Mr. Hayne said, when he took occasion, two days ago, to throw out some
ideas with respect to the policy of the government in relation to the
public lands, nothing certainly could have been further from his
thoughts than that he should have been compelled again to throw himself
upon the indulgence of the Senate. Little did I expect, said Mr. H., to
be called upon to meet such an argument as was yesterday urged by the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster). Sir, I question no man's
opinions; I impeach no man's motives; I charged no party, or State, or
section of country with hostility to any other, but ventured, as I
thought, in a becoming spirit, to put forth my own sentiments in
relation to a great national question of public policy. Such was my
course. The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Benton), it is true, had
charged upon the Eastern States an early and continued hostility toward
the West, and referred to a number of historical facts and documents in
support of that charge. Now, sir, how have these different arguments
been met? The honorable gentleman from Massachusetts, after deliberating
a whole night upon his course, comes into this chamber to vindicate New
England; and instead of making up his issue with the gentleman from
Missouri, on the charges which he had preferred, chooses to consider me
as the author of those charges, and losing sight entirely of that
gentleman, selects me as his adversary, and pours out all the vials of
his mighty wrath upon my devoted head. Nor is he willing to stop there.
He goes on to assail the institutions and policy of the South, and calls
in question the principles and conduct of the State which I have the
honor to represent. When I find a gentleman of mature age and
experience, of acknowledged talents and profound sagacity, pursuing a
course like this, declining the contest offered from the West, and
making war upon the unoffending South, I must believe, I am bound to
believe, he has some object in view which he has not ventured to
disclose. Mr. President, why is this? Has the gentleman discovered in
former controversies with the gentleman from Missouri, that he is
overmatched by that senator? And does he hope for an easy victory over a
more feeble adversary? Has the gentleman's distempered fancy been
disturbed by gloomy forebodings of "new alliances to be formed," at
which he hinted? Has the ghost of the murdered coalition come back, like
the ghost of Banquo, to "sear the eyeballs" of the gentleman, and will
not down at his bidding? Are dark visions of broken hopes, and honors
lost forever, still floating before his heated imagination? Sir, if it
be his object to thrust me between the gentleman from Missouri and
himself, in order to rescue the East from the contest it has provoked
with the West, he shall not be gratified. Sir, I will not be dragged
into the defence of my friend from Missouri. The South shall not be
forced into a conflict not its own. The gentleman from Missouri is able
to fight his own battles. The gallant West needs no aid from the South
to repel any attack which may be made upon them from any quarter. Let
the gentleman from Massachusetts controvert the facts and arguments of
the gentleman from Missouri, if he can--and if he win the victory, let
him wear the honors; I shall not deprive him of his laurels. * * *

Sir, any one acquainted with the history of parties in this country will
recognize in the points now in dispute between the Senator from
Massachusetts and myself the very grounds which have, from the
beginning, divided the two great parties in this country, and which
(call these parties by what names you will, and amalgamate them as you
may) will divide them forever. The true distinction between those
parties is laid down in a celebrated manifesto issued by the convention
of the Federalists of Massachusetts, assembled in Boston, in February,
1824, on the occasion of organizing a party opposition to the reelection
of Governor Eustis. The gentleman will recognize this as "the canonical
book of political scripture"; and it instructs us that, when the
American colonies redeemed themselves from British bondage, and became
so many independent nations, they proposed to form a NATIONAL UNION (not
a Federal Union, sir, but a NATIONAL UNION).

Those who were in favor of a union of the States in this form became
known by the name of Federalists; those who wanted no union of the
States, or disliked the proposed form of union, became known by the name
of Anti-Federalists. By means which need not be enumerated, the
Anti-Federalists became (after the expiration of twelve years) our
national rulers, and for a period of sixteen years, until the close of
Mr. Madison's administration in 1817, continued to exercise the
exclusive direction of our public affairs. Here, sir, is the true
history of the origin, rise, and progress of the party of National
Republicans, who date back to the very origin of the Government, and who
then, as now, chose to consider the Constitution as having created not a
Federal, but a National, Union; who regarded "consolidation" as no evil,
and who doubtless consider it "a consummation to be wished" to build up
a great "central government," "one and indivisible." Sir, there have
existed, in every age and every country, two distinct orders of men--the
lovers of freedom and the devoted advocates of power.

The same great leading principles, modified only by the peculiarities of
manners, habits, and institutions, divided parties in the ancient
republics, animated the Whigs and Tories of Great Britain, distinguished
in our own times the Liberals and Ultras of France, and may be traced
even in the bloody struggles of unhappy Spain. Sir, when the gallant
Riego, who devoted himself and all that he possessed to the liberties of
his country, was dragged to the scaffold, followed by the tears and
lamentations of every lover of freedom throughout the world, he perished
amid the deafening cries of "Long live the absolute king!" The people
whom I represent, Mr. President, are the descendants of those who
brought with them to this country, as the most precious of their
possessions, "an ardent love of liberty"; and while that shall be
preserved, they will always be found manfully struggling against the
consolidation of the Government AS THE WORST OF EVILS. * * *

Who, then, Mr. President, are the true friends of the Union? Those who
would confine the Federal Government strictly within the limits
prescribed by the Constitution; who would preserve to the States and the
people all powers not expressly delegated; who would make this a Federal
and not a National Union, and who, administering the Government in a
spirit of equal justice, would make it a blessing, and not a curse. And
who are its enemies? Those who are in favor of consolidation; who are
constantly stealing power from the States, and adding strength to the
Federal Government; who, assuming an unwarrantable jurisdiction over the
States and the people, undertake to regulate the whole industry and
capital of the country. But, sir, of all descriptions of men, I consider
those as the worst enemies of the Union, who sacrifice the equal rights
which belong to every member of the confederacy to combinations of
interested majorities for personal or political objects. But the
gentleman apprehends no evil from the dependence of the States on the
Federal Government; he can see no danger of corruption from the
influence of money or patronage. Sir, I know that it is supposed to be a
wise saying that "patronage is a source of weakness"; and in support of
that maxim it has been said that "every ten appointments make a hundred
enemies." But I am rather inclined to think, with the eloquent and
sagacious orator now reposing on his laurels on the banks of the
Roanoke, that "the power of conferring favors creates a crowd of
dependents"; he gave a forcible illustration of the truth of the remark,
when he told us of the effect of holding up the savory morsel to the
eager eyes of the hungry hounds gathered around his door. It mattered
not whether the gift was bestowed on "Towzer" or "Sweetlips," "Tray,"
"Blanche," or "Sweetheart"; while held in suspense, they were all
governed by a nod, and when the morsel was bestowed, the expectation of
the favors of to-morrow kept up the subjection of to-day.

The Senator from Massachusetts, in denouncing what he is pleased to call
the Carolina doctrine, has attempted to throw ridicule upon the idea
that a State has any constitutional remedy by the exercise of its
sovereign authority, against "a gross, palpable, and deliberate
violation of the Constitution." He calls it "an idle" or "a ridiculous
notion," or something to that effect, and added, that it would make the
Union a "mere rope of sand." Now, sir, as the gentleman has not
condescended to enter into any examination of the question, and has been
satisfied with throwing the weight of his authority into the scale, I do
not deem it necessary to do more than to throw into the opposite scale
the authority on which South Carolina relies; and there, for the
present, I am perfectly willing to leave the controversy. The South
Carolina doctrine, that is to say, the doctrine contained in an
exposition reported by a committee of the Legislature in December, 1828,
and published by their authority, is the good old Republican doctrine of
'98--the doctrine of the celebrated "Virginia Resolutions" of that year,
and of "Madison's Report" of '99. It will be recollected that the
Legislature of Virginia, in December, '98, took into consideration the
alien and sedition laws, then considered by all Republicans as a gross
violation of the Constitution of the United States, and on that day
passed, among others, the following resolution:

"The General Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it
views the powers of the Federal Government, as resulting from the
compact to which the States are parties, as limited by the plain sense
and intention of the instrument constituting that compact, as no further
valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact;
and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of
other powers not granted by the said compact, the States who are the
parties there-to have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for
arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their
respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to
them."

In addition to the above resolution, the General Assembly of Virginia
"appealed to the other States, in the confidence that they would concur
with that commonwealth, that the acts aforesaid (the alien and sedition
laws) are unconstitutional, and that the necessary and proper measures
would be taken by each for cooperating with Virginia in maintaining
unimpaired the authorities, rights, and liberties reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people." * * *

But, sir, our authorities do not stop here. The State of Kentucky
responded to Virginia, and on the 10th of November, 1798, adopted those
celebrated resolutions, well known to have been penned by the author of
the Declaration of American Independence. In those resolutions, the
Legislature of Kentucky declare, "that the government created by this
compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the
power delegated to itself, since that would have made its discretion,
and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all
other cases of compact among parties having no common judge, each party
has an equal right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of the
mode and measure of redress." * * *

Sir, at that day the whole country was divided on this very question. It
formed the line of demarcation between the federal and republican
parties; and the great political revolution which then took place turned
upon the very questions involved in these resolutions. That question was
decided by the people, and by that decision the Constitution was, in the
emphatic language of Mr. Jefferson, "saved at its last gasp." I should
suppose, sir, it would require more self-respect than any gentleman here
would be willing to assume, to treat lightly doctrines derived from such
high sources. Resting on authority like this, I will ask, gentlemen,
whether South Carolina has not manifested a high regard for the Union,
when, under a tyranny ten times more grievous than the alien and
sedition laws, she has hitherto gone no further than to petition,
remonstrate, and to solemnly protest against a series of measures which
she believes to be wholly unconstitutional and utterly destructive of
her interests. Sir, South Carolina has not gone one step further than
Mr. Jefferson himself was disposed to go, in relation to the present
subject of our present complaints--not a step further than the statesmen
from New England were disposed to go under similar circumstances; no
further than the Senator from Massachusetts himself once considered as
within "the limits of a constitutional opposition." The doctrine that it
is the right of a State to judge of the violations of the Constitution
on the part of the Federal Government, and to protect her citizens from
the operations of unconstitutional laws, was held by the enlightened
citizens of Boston, who assembled in Faneuil Hall, on the 25th of
January, 1809. They state, in that celebrated memorial, that "they
looked only to the State Legislature, which was competent to devise
relief against the unconstitutional acts of the General Government. That
your power (say they) is adequate to that object, is evident from the
organization of the confederacy." * * *

Thus it will be seen, Mr. President, that the South Carolina doctrine is
the Republican doctrine of '98,--that it was promulgated by the fathers
of the faith,--that it was maintained by Virginia and Kentucky in the
worst of times,--that it constituted the very pivot on which the
political revolution of that day turned,--that it embraces the very
principles, the triumph of which, at that time, saved the Constitution
at its last gasp, and which New England statesmen were not unwilling to
adopt when they believed themselves to be the victims of
unconstitutional legislation. Sir, as to the doctrine that the Federal
Government is the exclusive judge of the extent as well as the
limitations of its power, it seems to me to be utterly subversive of the
sovereignty and independence of the States. It makes but little
difference, in my estimation, whether Congress or the Supreme Court are
invested with this power. If the Federal Government, in all, or any, of
its departments, is to prescribe the limits of its own authority, and
the States are bound to submit to the decision, and are not to be
allowed to examine and decide for themselves when the barriers of the
Constitution shall be overleaped, this is practically "a government
without limitation of powers." The States are at once reduced to mere
petty corporations, and the people are entirely at your mercy. I have
but one word more to add. In all the efforts that have been made by
South Carolina to resist the unconstitutional laws which Congress has
extended over them, she has kept steadily in view the preservation of
the Union, by the only means by which she believes it can be long
preserved--a firm, manly, and steady resistance against usurpation. The
measures of the Federal Government have, it is true, prostrated her
interests, and will soon involve the whole South in irretrievable ruin.
But even this evil, great as it is, is not the chief ground of our
complaints. It is the principle involved in the contest--a principle
which, substituting the discretion of Congress for the limitations of
the Constitution, brings the States and the people to the feet of the
Federal Government, and leaves them nothing they can call their own.
Sir, if the measures of the Federal Government were less oppressive, we
should still strive against this usurpation. The South is acting on a
principle she has always held sacred--resistance to unauthorized
taxation. These, sir, are the principles which induced the immortal
Hampden to resist the payment of a tax of twenty shillings. Would twenty
shillings have ruined his fortune? No! but the payment of half of twenty
shillings, on the principle on which it was demanded, would have made
him a slave. Sir, if acting on these high motives--if animated by that
ardent love of liberty which has always been the most prominent trait in
the Southern character, we would be hurried beyond the bounds of a cold
and calculating prudence; who is there, with one noble and generous
sentiment in his bosom, who would not be disposed, in the language of
Burke, to exclaim, "You must pardon something to the spirit of liberty?"

DANIEL WEBSTER,

--OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1782, DIED 1852.)

IN REPLY TO HAYNE, IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, JANUARY 26, 1830.

MR. PRESIDENT:

When the mariner has been tossed for many days in 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 further 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 resolution before the Senate.

(The Secretary read the resolution, as follows:)

"Resolved, That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to inquire
and report the quantity of public land remaining unsold within each
State and Territory, and whether it be expedient to limit for a certain
period the sales of the public lands to such lands only 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 land offices, may not be abolished without detriment to the
public interest; or whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten
the sales and extend more rapidly the surveys of the public lands."

We have thus heard, sir, what the resolution is which is actually before
us for consideration; and it will readily occur to everyone, that it is
almost the only subject about which something has not been said in the
speech, running through two days, by which the Senate has been
entertained by the gentleman from South Carolina. Every topic in the
wide range of our public affairs, whether past or present--every thing,
general or local, whether belonging to national politics or party
politics--seems to have attracted more or less of the honorable member's
attention, save only the resolution before the Senate. He has spoken of
every thing but the public lands; they have escaped his notice. To that
subject, in all his excursions, he has not paid even the cold respect of
a passing glance.

When this debate, sir, was to be resumed, on Thursday morning, it so
happened that it would have been convenient for me to be elsewhere. The
honorable member, however, did not incline to put off the discussion to
another day. He had a shot, he said, to return, and he wished to
discharge it. That shot, sir, which he thus kindly informed us was
coming, that we might stand out of the way, or prepare ourselves to fall
by it and die with decency, has now been received. Under all advantages,
and with expectation awakened by the tone which preceded it, it has been
discharged, and has spent its force. It may become me to say no more of
its effect, than that, if nobody is found, after all, either killed or
wounded, it is not the first time in the history of human affairs, that
the vigor and success of the war have not quite come up to the lofty and
sounding phrase of the manifesto.

The gentleman, sir, in declining to postpone the debate, told the
Senate, with the emphasis of his hand upon his heart, that there was
something rankling here, which he wished to relieve. (Mr. Hayne rose,
and disclaimed having used the word rankling.) It would not, Mr.
President, be safe for the honorable member to appeal to those around
him, upon the question whether he did in fact make use of that word. But
he may have been unconscious of it. At any rate, it is enough that he
disclaims it. But still, with or without the use of that particular
word, he had yet something here, he said, of which he wished to rid
himself by an immediate reply. In this respect, sir, I have a great
advantage over the honorable gentleman. There is nothing here, sir,
which gives me the slightest uneasiness; neither fear, nor anger, nor
that which is sometimes more troublesome than either, the consciousness
of having been in the wrong. There is nothing, either originating here,
or now received here by the gentleman's shot. Nothing originating here,
for I had not the slightest feeling of unkindness toward the honorable
member. Some passages, it is true, had occurred since our acquaintance
in this body, which I could have wished might have been otherwise; but I
had used philosophy and forgotten them. I paid the honorable member the
attention of listening with respect to his first speech; and when he sat
down, though surprised, and I must even say astonished, at some of his
opinions, nothing was farther from my intention than to commence any
personal warfare. Through the whole of the few remarks I made in answer,
I avoided, studiously and carefully, every thing which I thought
possible to be construed into disrespect. And, Sir, while there is thus
nothing originating here which I have wished at any time, or now wish,
to discharge, I must repeat, also, that nothing has been received here
which rankles, or in any way gives me annoyance. I will not accuse the
honorable member of violating the rules of civilized war; I will not say
that he poisoned his arrows. But whether his shafts were, or were not,
dipped in that which would have caused rankling if they had reached
their destination, there was not, as it happened, quite strength enough
in the bow to bring them to their mark. If he wishes now to gather up
those shafts, he must look for them elsewhere; they will not be found
fixed and quivering in the object at which they were aimed.

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