He, too, was faithful in his devotion to his country. To the day of his death he showed his deep affection for the flag, the emblem of that Union which had inspired his noblest efforts. During the last two weeks of his life he was troubled much with sleeplessness. While through his open window he gazed at the starlit sky, his eyes would sometimes fall upon a small boat belonging to him, which floated near the shore not far away. By his direction a ship lantern had been so placed that its light would fall upon the stars and stripes flying there. At six in the evening the flag was raised and was kept flying until six in the morning up to the day of Webster’s death.
He died in September, 1852, only a few weeks after his great compeer, Henry Clay. His was a master spirit, and the sorrow of his passing was well expressed by the stranger who said, when he looked at the face of the dead: “Daniel Webster, the world without you will be lonesome.”
Some Things to Think About
- What can you tell about the early life of John C. Calhoun? Of Henry Clay? Of Daniel Webster?
- Why was Clay called “the Great Peacemaker”?
- Why were the people of South Carolina opposed to the high tariff laws of 1828 and 1832?
- What was Webster’s idea of the Union, and in what way did it differ from Hayne’s?
- What was the Missouri Compromise? What was the Compromise of 1850?
- What do you admire about each of the three great statesmen?
- Are you making frequent use of your maps?
CHAPTER XVI
THE CIVIL WAR
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
It was thought by many that the Compromise of 1850 would put an end to the bitter and violent feeling over the spread of slavery, but it did not. For in the North the opposition to its extension into new States became so powerful that in five years there had grown up a great political party—the Republican party—whose main purpose was to oppose the spread of slavery.
