402 DANIEL WEBSTER 



1844 he supported Mr. Clay in a series of able 

 speeches. On Mr. Choate's resignation, early in 1845, 

 Mr. Webster was reflected to the Senate. The two 

 principal questions of Mr. Folk's administration re- 

 lated to the partition of Oregon and the difficulties 

 which led to the war with Mexico. The Democrats 

 declared that we must have the whole of Oregon up to 

 the parallel of 50 40', although the 49th parallel had 

 already been suggested as a compromise line. In a very 

 able speech at Faneuil Hall, Mr. Webster advocated 

 the adoption of this compromise. The speech was 

 widely read in England and on the continent of Europe, 

 and Mr. Webster followed it up with a private letter 

 to Mr. Macgregor of Glasgow, expressing a wish that 

 the British government might see fit to offer the 4Qth 

 parallel as a boundary line. The letter was shown 

 to Lord Aberdeen, who adopted the suggestion, and 

 the dispute accordingly ended in the partition of 

 Oregon between the United States and Great Britain. 

 During the operations on the Texas frontier, which 

 brought on war with Mexico, Mr. Webster was absent 

 from Washington. In the summer of 1847 ne travelled 

 through the Southern states, and was everywhere re- 

 ceived with much enthusiasm. He opposed the prose- 

 cution of the war for the sake of acquiring more 

 territory, because he foresaw that such a policy must 

 speedily lead to a dangerous agitation of the slavery 

 question. The war brought General Zachary Taylor 

 into the foreground as a candidate for the presidency, 

 and some of the Whig managers actually proposed to 

 nominate Mr. Webster as Vice-president on the same 

 ticket with General Taylor. He indignantly refused 

 to accept such a proposal ; but Mr. Clay's defeat in 



