OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 203 



His first important political pamphlet was a criticism on the 

 embargo laws, published in 1808. In 1812 he made a speech 

 in Portsmouth which summarized the objections of the New 

 Englanders to the war just declared against Great Britain. This 

 speech brought him wide recognition as an orator and in 1813 

 he took his seat in Congress, being made a member of the Com- 

 mittee on Foreign Relations. In 1816 he moved to Boston, and 

 at the expiration of his second term of Congress in 1817, he 

 retired to private life. He built up his law practice and soon 

 foun-d himself at the head of the American Bar. The tariff of 

 1828 furnished an occasion for the display of Mr. Webster's 

 strong Federalist spirit, and he earned undying fame as an 

 orator and statesman. His reply to Hayne, January 25, 1830, 

 has been characterized as the most genuinely powerful oration 

 delivered since that of Demosthenes on the crown. In 1839 

 he visited England, gaining a cordial reception and sincere 

 admiration. 



He was appointed Secretary of State in 1840 under William 

 Henry Harrison, and showed a remarkable ability and diplo- 

 macy. Owing to a quarrel between the Northern and Southern 

 Whigs following the death of President Harrison, all 

 of the members of the cabinet, except Mr. Webster, resigned 

 in an effort to force President Tyler to resign. Webster was 

 involved in a series of negotiations with Great Britain, on the 

 treaty concerning the Canadian border, and felt that he should 

 finish this problem before abandoning his portfolio. The 

 Whigs attributed this failure to back them up to unworthy 

 motives and as soon as the treaty was signed, opened severe 

 newspaper attack requiring his resignation. Once the treaty 

 was firmly established he responded to their challenge and 

 resumed his law practice in Boston. Two years later he was 

 elected to the Senate and took an active part in opposing 

 the incipient movements of that day to disrupt the Union. On 



