ble. In
the judgment of many it had been critical, and the dangers attending
its action were increased by the death of General Taylor. The
South would endure from him what they would resent and possibly
resist if imposed by an anti-slavery Whig from the North. This
fact had, doubtless, great influence in shaping the policy of Mr.
Fillmore, both as Vice-President and President. The events of the
session marred and made the reputation of many. Four senators
especially, of the younger class, had laid the foundation of their
prominence in the struggles of after years,--Mr. Seward as an anti-
slavery Whig, Mr. Chase as a Free-Soiler, previously of Democratic
affiliations, Mr. Jefferson Davis as a Southern Democrat, and Mr.
Douglas as a Northern Democrat. Calhoun was dead. Clay and Webster
and Cass and Benton were near the end of their illustrious careers.
New men were thenceforth to guide the policy of the Republic, and
among the new men in a Senate of exceptional ability these four
attained the largest fame, secured the strongest constituencies,
and exerted the widest influence.

Both political parties began at once to take ground in favor of
the Compromise measures as a final and complete adjustment of the
slavery question. The Southern Whigs under Mr. Clay's lead eagerly
assumed that conclusion. Mr. Fillmore, having approved all the
bills separately which taken together formed the Compromise, was
of course strongly in favor of regarding these measures as a
finality. Mr. Webster took the same view, though from a bill he
had prepared before he left the Senate for the rendition of fugitive
slaves, guaranteeing jury-trial to the fugitive, it is hardly
conceivable that he would have voted for the harsh measure that
was enacted. Mr. Corwin to the surprise of his friends had passed
over from the most radical to the ultra-conservative side on the
slavery question, and it was his change, in addition to that of
Mr. Webster, which had given so brilliant an opportunity to Mr.
Seward as the leader of the Northern Whigs. Mr. Corwin was
irretrievably injured by a course so flatly in contradiction of
his previous action. He lost the support and largely forfeited
the confidence of the Ohio Whigs, who in 1848 had looked upon him
as a possible if not probable candidate for the Presidency.

But against this surrender to the Compromise measures of 1850, the
Whigs who followed Seward and Wade and Thaddeus Stevens and Fessenden