Instead of waiting for Mr.Clay to come to him, Mr.Webster went over to Clay and Calhoun, and formed for a time the third in that ill-assorted partnership.

There was no reason for his doing so.

In fact every good reason was against it.

Mr.Clay had come to Mr.Webster with his compromise, and had been met with the reply "that it would be yielding great principles to faction; and that the time had come to test the strength of the Constitution and the government." This was a brave, manly answer, but Mr.Clay, nationalist as he was, had straightway deserted his friend and ally, and gone over to the separatists for support.
Then a sharp contest had occurred between Mr.Webster and Mr.Clay in the debate on the tariff; and when it was all over, the latter wrote with frank vanity and a slight tinge of contempt: "Mr.Webster and I came in conflict, and I have the satisfaction to tell you that he gained nothing.
My friends flatter me with my having completely triumphed.

There is no permanent breach between us.