...sensible as well as the most charitable interpretation of his speech is that which he gave himself: "I speak today for the preservation of the Union. 'Hear me for my cause.'"1 The great triumvirate of Clay, Calhoun, and Webster, whose intelligence and eloquence had...

...keep me to my duty during this struggle, whether the sun and the stars shall appear or not appear, for many days, I speak today for the preservation of the Union. 'Hear me for my cause.' " Describing the occasion of the speech Varina wrote : "The Senate, before the morning hour, was crowded...

...words: "I wish to speak today not as a Massachusetts man nor as a Northern man, but as an American. ... I speak today for the preservation of the Union. 'Hear me for my cause.' " He supported the Compromise measures at every point. As to California and New Mexico, he held that...

...wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American. . . . I speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. "Hear me for my cause."' How fortunate that there was a Senate of the United States, he said, 'a body to which the country looks...

...he began his Seventh of March Address that would cause former antislavery admirers to repudiate him. "I speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause." Having opposed the Mexican War and supported the Wilmot Proviso, Webster now urged northerners to bury...

...speak today," he began, "not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American. ... I speak today for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause.' " He continued for three hours, repeating many of Clay's arguments and denunciation of secession."...

...man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United States. ... I speak today for the preservation of the Union. 'Hear me for my cause.' " After that opening the crowd knew that Webster would not fail them and would deliver a heroic oration....

...President, I wish to speak today not as a Massachusetts man, not as a Northern man, but as an American — I speak today for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause."16 In his last great oration before a crowded Senate chamber with grand diction and trenchant...

...as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American," says the mighty Daniel Webster. "I speak today for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause." Webster has always been Clay's opponent — now he is agreeing with Henry Clay! People gasp. But Webster...

...skies, and to disclose its profoundest depths." In "this combat of the political elements," he said, "I speak to-day for the preservation of the Union....quiet and that harmony which make the blessings of this Union so rich and so dear to us all." Disorder outside the chamber halted Webster for a moment....