corn-cob pipe. In a flash of anger he declared: "The
Union! It must and shall be preserved! Send for General Scott!" General
Scott was commander of the United States army, and "Old Hickory," as
President Jackson was proudly called by many of his admirers, was ready to
use the army and the navy, if necessary, to force any State to obey the
law.

In this bitter controversy Daniel Webster, then senator from
Massachusetts, had taken a bold stand for the Union. He said: "Congress
passed the tariff law for the whole country. If the Supreme Court decides
that Congress has the power, according to the Constitution, to pass such a
law, that settles the matter. South Carolina and every other State must
submit to this and every other law which Congress sees fit to make."

This shows clearly that Daniel Webster's belief was that the Union stood
first and the State second. His deep love for the Union breathes all
through his masterly speeches, the most famous of which is his "Reply to
Hayne." Hayne, a senator from South Carolina, was on the side of the South
and set forth its views in a public debate. He had declared that the State
was first and the Union second, and so powerful seemed his arguments that
many doubted whether even Daniel Webster could answer them.

But he did answer them. In a remarkable speech of four hours he held his
listeners spellbound, while he argued, with wonderful eloquence and power,
that the Union was supreme over the States.

Again the great peacemaker, Henry Clay, brought forward a plan of settling
the trouble between the two sections. By this compromise the duties were
to be gradually lowered. This plan was adopted by Congress (1833), and
again there was peace for a time.

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

The next dangerous outbreak between the North and the South came at the
end of the Mexican War. Then arose the burning question: "Shall the
territory we have acquired from Mexico be free or open to slavery?" Of
course, the North wanted it to be free; the South wanted it to be open to
slavery.

Henry Clay tried again, as he had tried twice before--in 1820 and in
1833--to pour oil upon the troubled waters. Although he was now an old man
of seventy-two and in poor health, he spoke seventy times in his powerful,
persuasive way, to bring about the Compromise of 1850, which he hoped
would establish harmony between the North and the South and save the
Union.

On one occasion when he was to speak he had to en