ars. He
took his seat in the House in December, 1811, and was placed by
the speaker, Mr. Clay (with whom he was then in accord), on the
Committee of Foreign Affairs. He was earnest and influential in
supporting the war policy of the Madison administration, and gained
so rapidly in public estimation that six years later he was appointed
secretary of War by President Monroe. Thenceforward his career
was illustrious. As Vice-President, as secretary of State, above
all as senator from South Carolina, he gained lasting renown. His
life was eminently pure, his career exceptional, his fame established
beyond the reach of calumny, beyond the power of detraction.

MR. WEBSTER'S 7TH OF MARCH SPEECH.

Continuing the discussion invited by Mr. Clay's resolutions, Mr.
Webster delivered, on the 7th of March, the memorable speech which
cost him the loss of so many of his staunch and lifelong friends.
The anti-slavery Whigs of the North, who, as the discussion went
on, had waited to be vindicated by the commanding argument of Mr.
Webster, were dismayed and cast down by his unexpected utterance.
Instead of arraigning the propagandists of slavery, he arraigned
its opponents. Instead of indicting the Disunionists of the South,
the poured out his wrath upon the Abolitionists of the North. He
maintained that the North had unduly exaggerated the dangers of
slavery extension at this crisis. California was coming in as a
free State. Texas, north of 36 deg. 30', if her boundary should extend
so far, had been declared free in the articles of annexation. In
the mountainous and sterile character of New Mexico and Utah he
found a stronger prohibition of slavery than in any possible
ordinance, enactment, or proviso placed on the statute-book by
Congress. He would not, therefore, "re-enact the Law of God." He
would not force a quarrel with the South when nothing was to be
gained. He would not irritate or causelessly wound the feelings
of those who were just beginning to realize that they had lost in
the issue put at stake in the Mexican war. The speech undoubtedly
had great influence in the North, and caused many anti-slavery men
to turn back. But on the other hand, it embittered thousands who
pressed forward with sturdy principle and with a quickened zeal,
not unmixed with resentment and a sense of betrayal. In many parts
of the country, and especially in the Middle and Southern States,
the