It is obvious now that, in the midst of all this agitation about other matters, Mr.Calhoun and the South Carolinians never lost sight of the conflict for which they were preparing, and that they were on the alert to bring nullification to the front in a more menacing and pronounced fashion than had yet been attempted.
The grand assault was finally made in the Senate, under the eye of the great nullifier, who then occupied the chair of the Vice-President, and came in an unexpected way.

In December, 1829, Mr.Foote of Connecticut introduced a harmless resolution of inquiry respecting the sales and surveys of the Western lands.

In the long-drawn debate which ensued, General Hayne of South Carolina, on January 19, 1830, made an elaborate attack on the New England States.

He accused them of a desire to check the growth of the West in the interests of the protective policy, and tried to show the sympathy which should exist between the West and South, and lead them to make common cause against the tariff.

Mr.Webster felt that this attack could not be left unanswered, and the next day he replied to it.
This first speech on Foote's resolution has been so obscured by the greatness of the second that it is seldom referred to and but little read.
Yet it is one of the most effective retorts, one of the strongest pieces of destructive criticism, ever uttered in the Senate, although its purpose was simply to repel the charge of hostility to the West on the part of New England.