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 
found himself at the head of the American Bar. The tariff of 
1828 furnished an occasion for the display of Mr. WeEBSTER’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 
