AND THE SENTIMENT OF UNION 407 



Mr. Webster ever sacrificed his convictions to selfish 

 or unworthy motives. That he now and then sacri- 

 ficed certain convictions to certain other convictions, 

 when he felt himself driven to such a bitter alternative, 

 I would freely admit ; but that is a very different thing. 

 In 1850 he subordinated his feelings about slavery, 

 just as in 1828 he had subordinated his views on the 

 tariff to the paramount necessity of saving the Union. 

 In the later instance, as in the earlier, there was immi- 

 nent danger of nullification or secession on the part of 

 South Carolina; and in 1850 there was added danger 

 that the Gulf states might follow the lead of their im- 

 placable sister. Compromise seemed necessary. We 

 have seen that, as in 1833, Mr. Webster did not always 

 approve of compromises ; but there was a special 

 reason for supporting those of Mr. Clay in 1850. They 

 seemed to Mr. Webster a conclusive settlement of the 

 slavery question. The whole territory of the United 

 States, as he said, was now covered with compromises, 

 and the future destiny of every part, so far as the legal 

 introduction of slavery was concerned, seemed to be 

 decided. As for the regions to the west of Texas, he 

 believed that slavery was ruled out by natural condi- 

 tions of soil and climate, so that it was not necessary 

 to protect them by a Wilmot proviso. As for the 

 fugitive slave law, it was simply a provision for carry- 

 ing into effect a clause of the Constitution, without 

 which that instrument could never have been adopted 

 and in the frequent infraction of which Mr. Webster 

 saw a serious danger to the continuance of the Union. 

 He therefore accepted the fugitive slave law as one 

 feature in the proposed system of compromises; but in 

 accepting it he offered amendments which, if they had 



