there were those in the House and in the country who would take
their part. If we have bound ourselves by any treaty to do certain
things, we must fulfil such obligation. High words will not terrify
us, loud declamation will not deter us from the discharge of that
duty. In my own course in this matter I shall not be dictated to by
any State or the representative of any State on this floor. I shall
not be frightened from my purpose nor will I suffer harsh language
to produce any reaction on my mind. I will examine with great and
equal care all the rights of both parties.... I have made these few
remarks to give the gentleman from Georgia to understand that it
was not by bold denunciation nor by bold assumption that the
members of this House are to be influenced in the decision of high
public concerns."

When Mr. Webster was thoroughly roused and indignant there was a darkness
in his face and a gleam of dusky light in his deep-set eyes which were not
altogether pleasant to contemplate. How well Mr. Forsyth and his friends
bore the words and look of Mr. Webster we have no means of knowing, but the
message was referred to a select committee without a division. The interest
to us in all this is the spirit in which Mr. Webster spoke. He loved the
Union as intensely then as at any period of his life, but he was still far
distant from the frame of mind which induced him to think that his devotion
to the Union would be best expressed and the cause of the Union best served
by mildness toward the South and rebuke to the North. He believed in 1826
that dignified courage and firm language were the surest means of keeping
the peace. He was quite right then, and he would have been always right if
he had adhered to the plain words and determined manner to which he treated
Mr. Forsyth and his friends.

This session was crowded with work of varying importance, but the close of