preparations were made to resist the collection of the duty. Governor Hayne, of South Carolina, threatened that if the government used force, his state would secede or withdraw from the Union and declare itself independent.

268. Daniel Webster's Reply to Calhoun; what we owe to Webster. When, in the Senate of the United States, Governor Hayne had boldly upheld the right of nullification, Daniel Webster replied to him, closing with the well-known words: "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.” Later, when Calhoun in the United States Senate defended the right of secession, Webster made a powerful speech, in which he declared that "there can be no secession without revolution." He saw that if a state is resolved to leave the Union, the national government, sword in hand, must insist that it shall remain in its place and obey the laws.

We owe an immense debt to Webster's commanding eloquence on this subject. In the remarkable series of speeches which he delivered at this period (1830-1833), he made Americans realize the inestimable value and sacredness of the Union as they had never felt it before. When, thirty years later, the Civil War threatened to destroy the nation, the reverence for the Constitution and the Union with which that great statesman had inspired so many hearts, made thousands willing to die to save it. The North and the South are now one. All discord has passed away, and as brothers we can join in honoring the memory of Daniel Webster for his services to our common country.

1 Daniel Webster, born at Salisbury, New Hampshire, 1782 (see note 4, page 95); died at his residence at Marshfield, near Boston, 1852. He graduated at Dartmouth College, and began the practice of law in 1805. In 1812 he was elected to Congress, and again in 1822. From this time forward he was constantly in public life, as representative, senator, or in the Cabinet. He was unquestionably the greatest orator this country has produced, and as a statesman he stood second His defence of the Union in his second reply to Hayne has been called "the most remarkable speech ever made in the American Congress." Webster's 'Reply to Calhoun was delivered February 16, 1833.

to none.

GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY.

243

269. Jackson's Fidelity to the Union; his Orders to General Scott; Henry Clay obtains a New Tariff. - President Jackson had the same feeling that Webster had of the necessity of preserving the Union. He did not like the tariff, but he was resolved to enforce it so long as it remained law. He saw that what was called the doctrine of "State-Rights," that is, the so-called right of a state to decide for itself when it would obey Congress and when it would not, was destructive of all government.

The Union, said he, is at present like a bag of meal with both ends open. Whichever way you try to handle it, you will spill the meal. "I must tie the bag and save the country."

So saying, the President ordered General Scott to go forthwith to Charleston and enforce the law. It was done, and the duties on imported goods in that city were collected as usual.

A few months later (1833) Henry Clay, the "great peacemaker," succeeded in getting Congress to adopt a new tariff more acceptable to the South. The country could well afford to reduce its taxes on foreign goods, for we did not owe one dollar of public debt. Every claim against the government had been paid.

270. Growth of the Country; Extension of Railroads and Canals; Use of Coal; the Express System.With the exception of a very destructive fire in New York City (1835), Jackson's presidency was a period of great prosperity, and of rapid growth for the entire country, but especially for the West. Canals had been opened, steamboats were running on the Great Lakes and the Western rivers, and the whistle of the locomotive was beginning to be heard beyond the Alleghanies.

Both hard and soft coal1 had been found in immense quantities in Pennsylvania, and they were now coming into use for manufacturing as well as for other purposes.

1 Hard or anthracite coal was not discovered until 1790. The first load taken to Philadelphia, in 1803, was thought to be too hard to burn, and was used, it is said, to mend roads with. This bed of Pennsylvania hard coal is the richest in the world, and has been worth more to the country than all the gold mines of California.

The increased activity of the country, in connection with steamboats and railroads, gave rise to a new enterprise. A young man named Harnden1 conceived the plan of making a business of carrying parcels between Boston and New York, and shortly after (1839) began it. At first a small hand-bag was sufficient to hold all the articles sent. In that humble way he laid the foundation of the American express system, which now extends to every town of the United States, and employs millions of money and an army of men to do its work.

271. Indian Wars; Growth of the West; Chicago. - The increased growth of the country alarmed Black Hawk, a famous

Indian chief at the West, and he, at the head of a large body of Indians, attempted to prevent emigrants from taking possession of public lands in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. He was defeated

2

1 William Frederick Harnden was born in Reading, Massachusetts, in 1813; died 1845. On his monument, erected at Mount Auburn cemetery, near Boston, by the "Express Companies of the United States," he is called the "Founder of the Express Business in America."

2 In 1835 a second Seminole war (see Paragraph 238) broke out. The Seminole Indians of Florida were led by Osceola, a celebrated chief, who had been badly treated by the whites. The war continued for nearly seven years. The Indians were finally conquered by General Zachary Taylor, and were later removed to a region west of the Mississippi.