The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-05
The ADVERTISERS
 A HOME STUDY CIRCLE
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on the morning CT the speech Ar. Bell
 1t Is a critical moment and it is time 1t Is high time--that the people of this country should know what this Constitu- ton is.' Then" replied Mir Webster learn this day before the sun goes down what l understand it to be-" They did learn. ana they have never forgotten the the nature of the Union, as the cominon people had come to conceive of that mon and his sentiments went home to the peoples hearts with an abiding strength and power. He showed that there could be no peaceable nulllflcation,. end that torcible nullthcation was revolution. From that day the friends of the Union lifted ana more eoSden stsn nkeS so wn sr tor had taken the dead clay of their tiri- expressed thought. had moulded it into Form; and had breathed into it the breath Thenceforth until thirty years later when they had to defend their fath In the shock of hattle,, amid the thunders of Der who believed with him in liberty and union. now and forever. one and insep- It was during MT webster's career that reached its most acute stage. The Abo- the tmes aertS derious o my aFrssa with and especially with his own party in New England. in opposing the extension of slavery. He had spoken more than once strongly Sne positively against the ugly question sprung up again over the application of California for state hood. The flames of. sectional strife ing to consume the fabric of the govern. ment itself The Southern members of Congress openly talked secession Angry passions ragged: the air was rife with fhraAfG tatfv Were flying everywhere. It was a time of grave anxiety and dread The foun- cations of the Union seemed about to
 At this crisis Henry Clay come forward with his compromise bill. since known as the "'compromise of 1s50." The details or or this measure we have no space to men sion. All that need be said is that the
 pill as whole was more Favorable to sne slavery interests than otherwise. One
 sholit,ot sehaLuae that nat particularly enraged the ph ing for !. e,ement nenr vas the article provid- Iusitive slave law. The debate was ear nest and prolonged. and the bill wonid s,,nrnrt mste passed had 1t not been for the support or MT Webster On Marcn 7th ne made in favor of the conpromise one oI the most eloquent of all his sc,3ches
 IT. Tnis % IS known as his 7th of March spec ch agreed with most of his party in inc North, and with all those who V ,uid not under any circumstances. make terms w, with slavery The speech wss at,sailed ny storm Of Criticism and denunciation the echoes of whose thunders have not ccated to this cay. Webster was caI,ei ,ht q t' after to his country to hts party, to cused Of having betrayed his own record. He had acted, 1t was said, In direct vio- laton of his previous course of life, and was bringing to close long and other ise ccnslStent and illustrious public ca reer bH ( de"d of treacherv and dishonor Iht! called him Judas Iscariot All that he had once seemed to hold most dear, priests of slavery for thirty pieces of sil- yer, and had not even received the price of his humiliation and shame. They ad- ofsJn of dan a:m an6 19 IsSe at least the decency thou fallen. they cried, how art thou fallen from heaven, Q Lucifer. son of the rnornlngr' And so they followed hin with their maledictions to his grave.
 Now. what was tho mess ot pottage for hirth-fight? Nothing more nor less than ed that he had proved false to all his past in the hone of gaining the help of the, South in securing this object of his ambition.
 cannot here discuss at length tho merits of this controversy over Websters 7th of March speech. If you say that in his previous years he had steadily oppos- same question he made an entire change of attitude, we shall not quarrel with the assertion. But is this the last word of wisdom on the subject? It seems to me mental What has been the most promi- nent idea advanced by Mr Webster dur ing his previous career? Was n not the Union under the Constitution? This had been the theme of his boynood Fourth of July speech when a student at Dartmouth this was the Fundamental thought In his great reply to HAyne: this was his main contention in his debates with Calh )un on nultfcation; this was above all things his object in all his utterances on the slav- cry question. He loved the Union, Rnd all his powers had been exerted in de- perpetuating that Union. When he made the 7th of March speech he thought the Union to be in the graveSt peril. Could he stand by and see that cherished Union confronted by warning fragments when, be advocating conciliation not at all in- avert such catastrophe? To do so would have been criminal. He chose his course with sublime courage-not to gain votes but when he knew that what he was about to say would alienate many of his friends. In the very introduction to his speech he said: Il speak today for the preservation of the Union. Hear me tor my cause" This was the very esGence of patriotism. He sacrificed his Ambi- tion upon tha altar of his country.
 and postponed the Civil War eleven years. Had the struggle been preci .1itat- ed then the outcome might have been far different. But those years gave time for the growth Of public opinion and TOT the development of resources. so that when meet it. The Union was preserved and its existence today is due not more truly to Abraham Lincoln than to Daniel Web- ster.