386 DANIEL WEBSTER 



and his speeches in defence of the high tariff policy 

 never once had the ring of true metal. Other men 

 might be fooled by the sophistry of protectionism, but 

 he was not. It would be unfair, however, to charge 

 him with conscious dereliction to principle in this 

 matter. It would be more just and more correct to 

 say that, amid the complication of conflicting interests, 

 he felt it necessary to subordinate one question to an- 

 other that was at that time clearly more important. 

 His conduct was far more the result of his strong Fed- 

 eralist bias than of the temperament which has some- 

 times been called " opportunism." 



This tariff of 1828 soon furnished an occasion for 

 the display of his strong Federalist spirit in a way that 

 was most serviceable for his country and has earned 

 for him undying fame as an orator and statesman. It 

 led to the distinct announcement of the principles of 

 nullification by the public men of South Carolina, with 

 Mr. Calhoun at their head. During President Jack- 

 son's first term the question as to nullification seemed 

 to occupy everybody's thoughts, and had a way of 

 intruding upon the discussion of all other questions. 

 In December, 1829, Samuel A. Foote of Connecticut 

 presented to the Senate a resolution inquiring into 

 the expediency of limiting the sales of the public lands 

 to those already in the market, besides suspending the 

 surveys of the public lands and abolishing the office 

 of Surveyor-general. The resolution was quite natu- 

 rally resented by the Western senators, as having a 

 tendency to check the growth of their section of the 

 country. The debate was opened by Mr. Benton, and 

 lasted several weeks, with increasing bitterness. The 

 belief in the hostility of the New England states toward 



