extraordinary range, extending from the ringing clarion tenor note, to
the bass of a deep-toned organ. The historian tells us "Webster had the
faculty of magnifying a word into such prodigious volume that it was
dropped from his lips as a great boulder might drop into the sea, and it
jarred the Senate Chamber like a clap of thunder." The Kentucky lawyer,
Thomas Marshall, said when Webster came to his peroration in his reply
to Hayne, that he "listened as to one inspired." He finally thought he
saw a halo around the orator's head, like the one seen in the old
masters' depictions of saints.

Webster's opponent was John C. Calhoun, senator from South Carolina.
Calhoun was the first Southern statesman to mark out the lines of battle
and indicate the methods of attack and defense for the supporters of
slavery. Graduating with high honours at Yale, in the class of 1802,
Calhoun studied law for three years at Litchfield, Connecticut, and then
decided to enter politics. In the lecture halls and class rooms, he
stood at the very forefront, as orator and logician. One day, in Yale
College, Calhoun delivered a speech on an apparently absurd proposition,
which he defended with great acuteness. When he had finished, President
Dwight said, "Calhoun, that is a brilliant piece of logic, and if I ever
want any one to prove that shad grow upon apple trees, I shall appoint
you."

Upon the lines of broad patriotism, with reference to the interests of
the country as a whole, Calhoun supported the war with England in 1812.
From city to city the young lawyer journeyed, travelling all the way
from Charleston and Savannah to Boston and Portland, urging the right
and the duty of the Republic to resist England's claim to the right of
search of American vessels. Calhoun was widely read in history, he was
full of intense patriotism, his arguments were clear, he had unity,