384 DANIEL WEBSTER 



either an Aristotelian or a Platonist. There is a sense 

 in which all American statesmen may be said to 

 be intellectually the descendants and disciples, either 

 of Jefferson or of Hamilton, and as a representative 

 follower of Hamilton, Mr. Webster was sure to be 

 drawn rather toward Clay than toward Jackson. The 

 course of industrial events in New England was such as 

 to involve changes of opinion in that part of the country, 

 which were soon reflected in a complete reversal of Mr, 

 Webster's attitude toward the tariff. In 1827 he was 

 elected to the United States Senate. In that year an 

 agitation was begun by the woollen manufacturers, 

 which soon developed into a promiscuous scramble 

 among different industries for aid from government, 

 and finally resulted in the tariff of 1828. That act, 

 which was generally known at the time as " the tariff 

 of abominations," was the first extreme application of 

 the protective system in our federal legislation. When 

 the bill was pending before the Senate in April, 1828, 

 Mr. Webster made a memorable speech, in which he 

 completely abandoned the position he had held in 1824, 

 and from this time forth he was a supporter of the 

 policy of Mr. Clay and the protectionists. For this 

 change of attitude he was naturally praised by his new 

 allies, who were glad to interpret it as a powerful argu- 

 ment in favour of their views. By every one else he 

 was blamed, and this speech has often been cited, to- 

 gether with that of March 7, 1850, as proving that Mr. 

 Webster was governed by unworthy motives and want- 

 ing in political principle. The two cases, as we shall 

 see, are in many respects parallel. In neither case did 

 Mr. Webster attempt to conceal or disguise his real 

 motives. In 1828 he frankly admitted that the policy 



