Your solemn announcement, Mr. Chief Justice, has confirmed the sad intelligence which had already reached us, through the public channels of information, and deeply afflicted us all.
Joseph Story, one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for many years the presiding judge of this Circuit, died on Wednesday evening last, at his house in Cambridge, wanting only a few days for the completion of the sixty-sixth year of his age.
This most mournful and lamentable event has called together the whole Bar of Suffolk, and all connected with the courts of law or the profession. It has brought you, Mr. Chief Justice, and your associates of the Bench of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, into the midst of us; and you have done us the honor, out of respect to the occasion, to consent to preside over us, while we deliberate on what is due, as well to our own afflicted and smitten feelings, as to the exalted character and eminent distinction of the deceased judge. The occasion has drawn from his retirement, also, that venerable man, whom we all so much respect and honor, (Judge Davis,) who was, for thirty years, the associate of the deceased upon the same Bench. It has called hither another judicial personage, now in retirement, (Judge Putnam,) but long an ornament of that Bench of which you are now the head, and whose marked good fortune it is to have been the professional teacher of Mr. Justice Story, and the director of his early studies. He also is present to whom this blow comes near; I mean, the learned judge (Judge Sprague) from whose side it has struck away a friend and a highly venerated official associate. The members of the Law School at Cambridge, to which the deceased was so much attached, and who returned that attachment with all the ingenuousness and enthusiasm of educated and ardent youthful minds, are here also, to manifest their sense of their own severe deprivation, as well as their admiration of the bright and shining professional example which they have so loved to contemplate,--an example, let me say to them, and let me say to all, as a solace in the midst of their sorrows, which death hath not touched and which time cannot obscure.
Mr. Chief Justice, one sentiment pervades us all. It is that of the most profound and penetrating grief, mixed, nevertheless, with an assured conviction, that the great man whom we deplore is yet with us and in the midst of us. He hath not wholly died. He lives in the affections of friends and kindred, and in the high regard of the community. He lives in our remembrance of his social virtues, his warm and steady friendships, and the vivacity and richness of his conversation. He lives, and will live still more permanently, by his words of written wisdom, by the results of his vast researches and attainments, by his imperishable legal judgments, and by those juridical disquisitions which have stamped his name, all over the civilized world, with the character of a commanding authority. "Vivit, enim, vivetque semper; atque etiam latius in memoria hominum et sermone versabitur, postquam ab oculis recessit."
Mr. Chief Justice, there are consolations which arise to mitigate our loss, and shed the influence of resignation over unfeigned and heart-felt sorrow. We are all penetrated with gratitude to God that the deceased lived so long; that he did so much for himself, his friends, the country, and the world; that his lamp went out, at last, without unsteadiness or flickering. He continued to exercise every power of his mind without dimness or obscuration, and every affection of his heart with no abatement of energy or warmth, till death drew an impenetrable veil between us and him. Indeed, he seems to us now, as in truth he is, not extinguished or ceasing to be, but only withdrawn; as the clear sun goes down at its setting, not darkened, but only no longer seen.
This calamity, Mr. Chief Justice, is not confined to the bar or the courts of this Commonwealth. It will be felt by every bar throughout the land, by every court, and indeed by every intelligent and well informed man in or out of the profession. It will be felt still more widely, for his reputation had a still wider range. In the High Court of Parliament, in every tribunal in Westminster Hall, in the judicatories of Paris and Berlin, of Stockholm and St. Petersburg, in the learned universities of Germany, Italy, and Spain, by every eminent jurist in the civilized world, it will be acknowledged that a great luminary has fallen from the firmament of public jurisprudence.[1]
Sir, there is no purer pride of country than that in which we may indulge when we see America paying back the great debt of civilization, learning, and science to Europe. In this high return of light for light and mind for mind, in this august reckoning and accounting between the intellects of nations, Joseph Story was destined by Providence to act, and did act, an important part. Acknowledging, as we all acknowledge, our obligations to the original sources of English law, as well as of civil liberty, we have seen in our generation copious and salutary streams turning and running backward, replenishing their original fountains, and giving a fresher and a brighter green to the fields of English jurisprudence. By a sort of reversed hereditary transmission, the mother, without envy or humiliation, acknowledges that she has received a valuable and cherished inheritance from the daughter. The profession in England admits with frankness and candor, and with no feeling but that of respect and admiration, that he whose voice we have so recently heard within these walls, but shall now hear no more, was of all men who have yet appeared, most fitted by the comprehensiveness of his mind, and the vast extent and accuracy of his attainments, to compare the codes of nations, to trace their differences to difference of origin, climate, or religious or political institutions, and to exhibit, nevertheless, their concurrence in those great principles upon which the system of human civilization rests.
Justice, Sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever her temple stands, and so long as it is duly honored, there is a foundation for social security, general happiness, and the improvement and progress of our race. And whoever labors on this edifice with usefulness and distinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens its pillars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august dome still higher in the skies, connects himself, in name, and fame, and character, with that which is and must be as durable as the frame of human society.
All know, Mr. Chief Justice, the pure love of country which animated the deceased, and the zeal, as well as the talent, with which he explained and defended her institutions. His work on the Constitution of the United States is one of his most eminently successful labors. But all his writings, and all his judgments, all his opinions, and the whole influence of his character, public and private, leaned strongly and always to the support of sound principles, to the restraint of illegal power, and to the discouragement and rebuke of licentious and disorganizing sentiments. "Ad rempublicam firmandam, et ad stabiliendas vires, et sanandum populum, omnis ejus pergebat institutio."
But this is not the occasion, Sir, nor is it for me to consider and discuss at length the character and merits of Mr. Justice Story, as a writer or a judge. The performance of that duty, with which this Bar will no doubt charge itself, must be deferred to another opportunity, and will be committed to abler hands. But in the homage paid to his memory, one part may come with peculiar propriety and emphasis from ourselves. We have known him in private life. We have seen him descend from the bench, and mingle in our friendly circles. We have known his manner of life, from his youth up. We can bear witness to the strict uprightness and purity of his character, his simplicity and unostentatious habits, the ease and affability of his intercourse, his remarkable vivacity amidst severe labors, the cheerful and animating tones of his conversation, and his fast fidelity to friends. Some of us, also, can testify to his large and liberal charities, not ostentatious or casual, but systematic and silent, --dispensed almost without showing the hand, and falling and distilling comfort and happiness, like the dews of heaven. But we can testify, also, that in all his pursuits and employments, in all his recreations, in all his commerce with the world, and in his intercourse with the circle of his friends, the predominance of his judicial character was manifest. He never forgot the ermine which he wore. The judge, the judge, the useful and distinguished judge, was the great picture which he kept constantly before his eyes, and to a resemblance of which all his efforts, all his thoughts, all his life, were devoted. We may go the world over, without finding a man who shall present a more striking realization of the beautiful conception of D'Aguesseau: "C'est en vain que l'on cherche a distinguer en lui la personne privée et la personne publique; un même esprit les anime, un même objet les réunit; l'homme, le père de famille, le citoyen, tout est en lui consacré à la gloire du magistrat."
Mr. Chief Justice, one may live as a conqueror, a king, or a magistrate; but he must die as a man. The bed of death brings every human being to his pure individuality; to the intense contemplation of that deepest and most solemn of all relations, the relation between the creature and his Creator. Here it is that fame and renown cannot assist us; that all external things must fail to aid us; that even friends, affection, and human love and devotedness, cannot succor us. This relation, the true foundation of all duty, a relation perceived and felt by conscience and confirmed by revelation, our illustrious friend, now deceased, always acknowledged.
He reverenced the Scriptures of truth, honored the pure morality which they teach, and clung to the hopes of future life which they impart. He beheld enough in nature, in himself, and in all that can be known of things seen, to feel assured that there is a Supreme Power, without whose providence not a sparrow falleth to the ground. To this gracious being he entrusted himself for time and for eternity; and the last words of his lips ever heard by mortal ears were a fervent supplication to his Maker to take him to himself.[2]
First Period:Law and Politics in New Hampshire.
Second Period:Leader at the Bar and in the Forum.
Third Period:Expounder and Defender of the Constitution.
April, 1817.
Mr. Webster had been elected to Congress from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1813, and his term expired in March, 1816. In August of that year (1816) he removed his family to Boston, and decided to devote himself exclusively to the profession of the law. He had won a high position both in law and politics in New Hampshire. The change of residence marks an era in the life of Mr. Webster. Mr. Lodge says that there is a tradition that the worthies of the Puritan city were disposed at first to treat the newcomer somewhat cavalierly, but that they soon learned that it was worse than useless to attempt such a course with a man whose magnificent physical and intellectual bearing won the admiration of all who met him.
He now began a career of great professional distinction, and took a place at the Boston bar even more conspicuous than his friends had anticipated-- that of an equal of the most famous of its members. His cases called him before the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the Circuit Court of the United States, and the United States Supreme Court. Among the first cases which came to him on his retirement from political life was the Goodridge Robbery Case, the argument in which was addressed to the jury at the term of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held at Ipswich in April, 1817.
The singularly dramatic story of the prosecutor, the almost universal belief in the guilt of the accused, both by the public and by the members of the Essex bar, and the impossibility of accounting for the motive (self-robbery) assumed by the defence, make this exhibition of Mr. Webster's "acute, penetrating, and terrifying" power of cross- examination,--by which such a complicated and ingenious story was unravelled,--one of the most memorable in the history of the
Massachusetts bar. It is a model of close, simple, unadorned argument, adapted to the minds of the jurymen. In it there are no attempts to carry the jury off their feet by lofty appeals to their sense of justice, nor to cover the weak points in the case by fine oratory. The oft-repeated, "It is for the jury to determine," illustrates Mr. Webster's respect for the common sense of the jurymen before him and his reliance upon evidence to win the case. The following are the facts relating to the case:--Major Goodridge of Bangor, Maine, professed to have been robbed of a large sum of money at nine o'clock on the night of Dec. 19, 1816, while travelling on horseback, near the bridge between Exeter and Newburyport. In the encounter with the robbers he received a pistol wound in his left hand; he was then dragged from his horse into a field, beaten until insensible, and robbed. On recovering, he procured the assistance of several persons, and with a lantern returned to the place of the robbery and found his watch and some papers. The next day he went to Newburyport, and remained ill for several weeks, suffering from delirium caused by the shock. When he recovered he set about the discovery of the robbers. His story seemed so probable that he had the sympathy of all the country-folk. He at once charged with the crime Levi and Laban Kenniston, two poor men, who lived in an obscure part of the town of Newmarket, New Hampshire, and finding some of his money (which he had previously marked) in their cellar, he had them arrested, and held for trial. By and by a few of the people began to doubt the story of Goodridge; this led him to renewed efforts, and he arrested the toll gatherer, Mr. Pearson, in whose house, by the aid of a conjurer, he found some of his money. On examination by the magistrate, Pearson was discharged. It now became necessary to find some accomplice of the Kennistons, and he arrested one Taber of Boston, whom he had seen (he said) on his way up, and from whom he had obtained his information against the Kennistons. In Taber's house was found some of the money; he was accordingly bound over for trial with the Kennistons. As none of these men lived near the scene of the robbery, Mr. Jackman, who, soon after the robbery, had gone to New York, was arrested, his house searched, and some of the money found in the garret. The guilt of these men seemed so conclusive that no eminent member of the Essex bar would undertake their defence. A few of those who mistrusted Goodridge determined to send to Suffolk County for counsel.
Mr. Webster had been well known in New Hampshire, and his services were at once secured; without having time to examine any of the details of the case--as he had arrived at Ipswich on the night before the trial--he at once undertook the defence of the Kennistons and secured their acquittal. The indictment against Taber wasnol prossed. Later, he defended Jackman and secured his acquittal. Mr. Pearson brought action against Goodridge for malicious prosecution, and was awarded $2000, but Goodridge took the poor debtor's oath and left the State.
Cf. Curtis'sLife of Webster, Ch. VIII.; Everett'sMemoir of Webster, in Vol. I. of Webster's Works.
March, 1818.
Within a year after the defence of the Kennistons, Mr. Webster was called upon to defend his Alma Mater against the acts of the Legislature of his native State.
The case was one of the most interesting ever argued before the Supreme Court of the United States, because there were involved in it certain constitutional questions which had never been tested. "Mr. Webster by his management of this case," says Edward Everett, "took the lead in establishing what might almost be called a new school of constitutional law." Not until within a few years has the complete history of the case been accessible. In 1879, a volume of "Dartmouth College Causes" was published by Mr. John M. Shirley, and in it we have, for the first time, a clear statement of all the points relating to the origin and development of the case.
Dartmouth College was originally a charity school, and was founded by Eleazor Wheelock at Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1754. Afterwards private subscriptions were solicited in England, and the Earl of Dartmouth was a large donor and became one of the trustees. The site was soon moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, where large grants of land had been made by the proprietors. It was chartered by the Crown in 1769, and was created a perpetual corporation, with Dr. Wheelock as founder and President; he was empowered to name his own successor subject to the approval of the trustees, to whom was given power to fill vacancies in their own body and to make laws for the College subject to the Crown.
It seems that in his early days Dr. Wheelock had a controversy on religious matters with Dr. Bellamy. These men were graduates of Yale; the former was a Presbyterian, and the latter a Congregationalist. This religious war was carried on by the successors of these men, the son of Dr. Wheelock, and President of the College, and a pupil of Dr. Bellamy, who had been elected a trustee; it soon, however, became a political contest between factions of the trustees, one of which objected to what it called the "family dynasty." In 1809 this faction became a majority and opposed the other so vigorously that in 1815 the Wheelock party set forth its case in a lengthy pamphlet. Much ink was shed upon both sides as a result. Wheelock then sent a memorial to the Legislature charging the trustees with violation of trust and religious intolerance, and prayed for an investigation by a committee of the Legislature. The trustees were Federalists and Congregationalists, the ruling power in State and Church. Mr. Mason, Mr. Webster's old antagonist at the New Hampshire bar, was secured as counsel for the trustees. The Wheelock party made advances to Mr. Webster, but he saw that the case was fast assuming a political tone, and he declined the offer. Contrary to Mr. Mason's advice, the trustees removed President Wheelock, and appointed Rev. Francis Brown in his place. As a result all the Democrats and all religious orders, other than the Congregational, united against the trustees--and the political die was cast.
At the next election the Democrats carried the State, and the Governor in his message took occasion to declare against the trustees. The Legislature, in June, 1816, passed an act to reorganize the College, and under this law the new trustees were chosen; thus the College became a State institution. Woodward, the Secretary of the old board, had been removed, and became the Secretary of the newly constituted board. Suit was brought against him by the old board, for the College seal and other property, and the case in charge of Mr. Mason and Judge Smith came up for trial in May, 1817; it was argued and then went over to the September term of the same year at Exeter. It was at this stage of the proceedings that Mr. Webster joined the counsel for the College. He made the closing argument of such force and pathos as to draw tears from the crowd in the court-room. The decision was against the College.
In Mr. Mason's brief we find that there were three points made against the Acts of the Legislature: (1) that they were not within the power of that body; (2) that they violated the Constitution of New Hampshire; and (3) that they violated the Constitution of the United States, or the right of private contracts. The third point was not, however, pressed by the counsel, and was not considered as very important; they based their case mostly upon the first point: that the College was founded by private parties, for special purposes, and that any quarrel of the trustees was a question for the courts to settle, and not for the Legislature. When it was decided against them, they removed the case to the Supreme Court of the United States on this one point, that the acts impaired the obligation of contracts. The friends of the College now desired Mr. Webster to take entire charge of the case; he consented, and selected as his assistant, Mr. Hopkinson, of Philadelphia. Mr. Holmes of Maine and Mr. Wirt conducted the defence.
The case was heard on March 10, 1818, and was opened by Mr. Webster. With the notes and minutes of the previous counsel Mr. Webster was familiar, and he said that the credit of the legal points and theories he set forth was due to them; he was only the arranger and reciter of what they had prepared. Mr. Webster had a remarkable power of selecting and using the material of other men, but he was always ready to give them the credit due.
With a skill and judgment which Chief Justice Marshall said he never saw equalled, Mr. Webster outlined the question at issue, and by his marvellous adroitness in arranging, and clearness in presenting the facts, together with that wealth of legal and historical illustration with which he was always so well endowed, he seemed to carry with him every man in the court-room. Such was the ease, grace, and fascination of his argument, that Justice Story, who sat, pen in hand, to take notes, was completely absorbed and forgot his pen and paper.
1.P. 58, l. 15. I. Here, the argument being ended, Mr. Webster stood still for some time before the court, while every eye was fixed upon him, and then addressing the Chief Justice, he proceeded with that noble peroration which has become one of the masterpieces of eloquence, and which is an expansion of the closing argument which he delivered at the previous trial in New Hampshire. This does not appear in the printed argument; I have added it from the report of Dr. Goodrich.
2.P. 59, l. 5. 1. I give the beautiful description which Dr. Goodrich wrote to Mr. Choate in 1853. "Here the feelings, which he had thus far succeeded in keeping down, broke forth. His lips quivered; his firm cheeks trembled with emotion; his eyes were filled with tears; his voice choked, and he seemed struggling to the utmost simply to gain that mastery over himself which might save him from an unmanly burst of feeling. I will not attempt to give you the few broken words of tenderness in which he went on to speak of his attachment for the college. The whole seemed to be mingled throughout with recollections of father, mother, brother, and all the privations and trials through which he had made his way into life. Every one saw that it was wholly unpremeditated, a pressure on his heart, which sought relief in words and tears." The court-room during these two or three minutes presented an extraordinary spectacle. Chief Justice Marshall, with his tall and gaunt figure, bent over as if to catch the slightest whisper, the deep furrows of his cheek expanded with emotion, and his eyes suffused with tears; Mr. Justice Washington at his side, with his small and emaciated frame, and countenance more like marble than I ever saw on any other human being--leaning forward with an eager troubled look; and the remainder of the Court at the two extremities, pressing, as it were, toward a single point, while the audience below were wrapping themselves around in closer folds beneath the bench, to catch each look and every feature of the speaker's face. If a painter could give us the scene on canvas,--those forms and countenances, and Daniel Webster as he there stood in their midst,--it would be one of the most touching pictures in the history of eloquence. One thing it taught me, that thepatheticdepends not merely on the words uttered, but still more on the estimate we put upon him who utters them. There was not one among the strong-minded men of that assembly who could think it unmanly to weep, when he saw standing before him the man who had made such an argument, melted into the tenderness of a child. Mr. Webster had now recovered his composure, and, fixing his keen eye on the Chief Justice, in that deep tone with which he sometimes thrilled the heart of an audience, continued."
3.L. 10. 2. When Mr. Webster sat down, there was a stillness as of death in the court-room, and when the audience had slowly recovered itself the replies of the opposing counsel were made, but seemed weak indeed in comparison to what had just been heard. On the conclusion of the arguments, the Chief Justice announced that the Court could not agree, and that the case must be continued to the next term. During the interim, the utmost effort was used by the friends of the College, the press, and the Federalists, to bring the matter before the public, and to impress the judges with the condition of the public mind. The defence prepared to renew the contest, and able counsel was secured. At the next term, however, the Chief Justice ruled that the Acts of the Legislature were void, as they impaired the right of private contract. Of this argument Mr. Justice Story said: "For the first hour we listened with perfect astonishment; for the second hour with perfect delight; and for the third hour with perfect conviction."
Mr. Lodge says: "From the day when it was announced, to the present time, the Doctrine of Marshall in the Dartmouth College Case has continued to exert an enormous influence."
After the trial Mr. Hopkinson wrote to the President of the College and said: "I would have an inscription over the door of your building: 'Founded by Eleazor Wheelock, Refounded by Daniel Webster.'"
Cf. Curtis'sLife of Webster, Ch. VIII.; Lodge'sWebster, Ch. III.; Everett'sMemoir, in Vol. I. of Webster's Works; Shirley'sDartmouth College Causes; Correspondence of Webster, Vol. I., pp. 266-70; Magruder'sLife of John Marshall.
December, 1820.
The "Old Colony Club," formed for social intercourse in 1769, was the first to celebrate Forefathers' Day. Although the club was dissolved in 1773, the anniversary celebrations were continued until 1780; between this time and 1820, when the "Pilgrim Society" was founded, they were held with but few interruptions.
The foundation of the "Pilgrim Society" in 1820 gave a new impetus to the celebrations, and in that year Mr. Webster was chosen to give the address.
1.P. 64, l. 17. 1. The allusion is to the painting by Sargent; it was presented by him to the Society in 1824.
2.L. 22. 2. Cf. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
3.L. 30. 3. Cf. the report of the Pilgrim Society on the correct date of the landing of the Pilgrims. The 21st is now considered to be the date.
4.P. 66, l. 31. 1. Cf.Herodotus, Ch. VI., § 109.
5.P. 70, l. 23. 1. Cf. "The Start from Delfshaven," by Rev. D. Van Pelt, in theNew England Magazine, November, 1891. For a through treatment of the whole subject read Chapter II., "The Puritan Exodus" inBeginnings of New England, by John Fiske.
6.P. 77, l. 13. 1. Cf.Beginnings of New England, by John Fiske, pp. 12-20, "The Roman Method of Nation-Making."
7.P. 81, l. 18. 1. Cf.Beginnings of New England, pp. 20-49, "The English Method of Nation-Making."
8.P. 82, l. 30. 1. Cf. Hutchinson'sHistory, Vol. II., App. I. "The men who wrote in the cabin of theMayflowerthe first charter of freedom, were a little band of protestants against every form of injustice and tyranny. The leaven of their principles made possible the Declaration of Independence, liberated the slaves, and founded the free Commonwealths which form the Republic of the United States."--C. M. Depew, Columbian oration.
9.P. 83, l. 15. 1. Cf.Germanic Origin of New England Towns, H. B. Adams.
10.P. 108, l. 7. 1. Cf. Cicero'sOratio pro Flacco, § 7.
11.L. 29. 2. The first free public school established by law in Plymouth Colony was in 1670.
12.P. 111, l. 17. 1. Cf.Beginnings of New England, p. 110, "Founding of Harvard College." Lowell's "Harvard Anniversary."
In 1647 the Colony of Massachusetts Bay passed the law requiring every town of one hundred families to set up a grammar school which should prepare youth for the university.
If Mr. Webster by his handling of the Dartmouth College Case founded a new school of constitutional law, by the Plymouth Oration he founded a new school of oratory. This field of occasional oratory was a new and peculiar one for him. He had never before spoken upon a great historical subject demanding not only wealth of imagination, but the peculiar quality of mind and heart which unites dignity and depth of thought with ease and grace of manner. But he was equal to the task. The simplicity and beauty of the thought, the grand and inspiring manner of presentation, gave evidence of commanding genius, and gave Mr. Webster a place in the front rank of orators and stylists.
"I never saw him," says Mr. Ticknor, "when he seemed to me to be more conscious of his own powers, or to have a more true and natural enjoyment from their possession."
John Adams, who had heard Pitt and Fox, Burke and Sheridan, says: "It is the effort of a great mind, richly stored with every species of information. If there be an American who can read it without tears, I am not that American. Mr. Burke is no longer entitled to the praise--the most consummate orator of modern times. What can I say of what regards myself? To my humble name 'Exegisti monumentum ære perennius.' The oration ought to be read at the end of every century."
"It is doubtful," says Edward Everett, "whether any extra-professional literary effort by a public man has attained equal celebrity."
Cf. Curtis'sLife of Webster, Ch. IX.; Lodge'sWebster, Ch. IV.; De Tocqueville'sDemocracy in America, Vol. I.; Whipple'sAmerican Literature, "Webster as a Master of English Style"; Bancroft'sHistory of the United States, Vol. I., Chs. XII., XIII., XIV.; Burke'sOrations on the American War, edited by A. J. George; Fiske'sBeginnings of New England.
June, 1825.
As early as 1776, the Massachusetts Lodge of Masons, over which General Warren had presided, asked the Government of Massachusetts for permission to take up his remains, which were buried on the hill the day after the battle, and bury them with the usual solemnities. The request was granted on condition that the government of the colony should be permitted to erect a monument to his memory.
The ceremonies of burial were performed, but no steps were taken to build the monument. General Warren was, at the time of his death, Grand Master of the Masonic Lodges of America, and as nothing had been done toward erecting a memorial, King Solomon's Lodge of Charlestown voted to erect a monument. The land was purchased, and a monument dedicated by the Lodge Dec. 2, 1794. It was a wooden pillar of Tuscan order, eighteen feet high, raised on a pedestal ten feet in height. The pillar was surmounted by a gilt urn. An appropriate inscription was placed on the south side of the pedestal.
The half-century from the date of the battle was at hand, and, despite a resolution of Congress and the efforts of a committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts, no suitable monument had been erected by the people. It was then that, at the suggestion of William Tudor, the matter was taken up in earnest and an association was formed known as the Bunker Hill Monument Association. Ground was broken for the monument June 7, 1825. On the morning of the 17th of June, 1825, the ceremonies of laying the corner- stone of the monument took place. It was a typical June day, and thousands flocked to see the pageant and to hear the greatest orator in the land.
The procession started from the State House at ten o'clock. The military led the van. About two hundred veterans of the Revolution rode in carriages, and among them were forty survivors of the battle. Some wore their old uniform, others various decorations of their service, and some bore the scars of honorable wounds. Following the patriots came the Monument Association, and then the Masonic fraternity to the number of thousands. Then came the noble Frenchman, Lafayette, the admiration of all eyes. Following him were numerous societies with banners and music. The head of the procession touched Charlestown Bridge before the rear had left the State House, and the march was a continual ovation. Arriving at Breed's Hill, the Grand Master of the Masons, Lafayette, and the President of the Monument Association laid the corner-stone, and then moved to the spacious amphitheatre on the northern side of the hill, where the address was delivered by Mr. Webster.
1.P. 122, l. 7. 1. An account of the voyage of the emigrants to the Maryland Colony is given by the report of Father White, written soon after the landing at St. Mary's. The original in Latin is still preserved by the Jesuits at Rome.
TheArkand theDoveoccupy the same place of interest in the memory of the descendants of the colony as does theMayflowerwith us.
2.L. 18. 2. Mr. Webster was at this time President of the Monument Association.
3.P. 125, l. 13. 1. Even the poetical nature of Webster would not have been equal to the conception, that within the century the number would reach sixty million.
4.L. 16. 2. "The first railroad on the continent was constructed for the purpose of accelerating the erection of this monument."--Everett.
5.P. 127, l. 15. 1. The allusion is, of course, to the ships about the Charlestown Navy Yard, which is located at the base of Breed's Hill.
6.L. 21. 2. This magnificent address to the "Venerable Men" was composed while Mr. Webster was fishing in Marshpee brook.
7.P. 128, l. 4. 1. Milton'sParadise Lost, V.
8.L. 17. 2. Cf. Bancroft'sHistory of the United States, Vol. IV., p. 133. A prelude to Warren's patriotism at Bunker Hill is well illustrated in his oration at the old South Meeting House, commemorating the Boston Massacre; in the presence of British soldiers he said: "Our streets are again filled with armed men, our harbour is crowded with ships of war; but these cannot intimidate us; my fellow-citizens, you will maintain your rights or perish in the generous struggle."
9.P. 130, l. 9. 1. Cf. Burke'sOrations on the American War, edited by A. J. George.
10.P. 131, l. 32. 1. Virgil'sAeneid, VI. 726. Compare Burke's use of this same quotation in his speech on American Taxation, page 13, line 13. Edited by A. J. George.
11.P. 133, l. 9. 1. Cf. Bancroft'sHistory of the United States, Vol. IV., Ch. XIV.
12.L. 22. 2. General Lafayette had arranged his progress through the other States so that he might be present on the 17th.
13.P. 140, l. 22. 1. Homer'sIliad, Book XVII.
14.P. 141, l. 13. 1. Cf. account of Webster's speech on the Revolution in Greece, made on the 19th of January, 1824, in Everett'sMemoir, Vol. I. of Webster's Works.
Great as the Plymouth Oration was acknowledged by all to be, the Bunker Hill Address was a distinct advance upon it, both in the scope of the ideas and in the skill with which they are wrought into an organic whole. It is more compact, more picturesque, more vigorous, more finished. In this field of oratory he probably has never had any equal in the English- speaking world.
Mr. Everett said of the Address: "From such an orator as Mr. Webster, on such a platform, on such a theme, in the flower of his age, and the maturity of his faculties, discoursing upon an occasion of transcendent interest, and kindling with the enthusiasm of the day and the spot, it might well be regarded as an intellectual treat of the highest order. Happy the eyes that saw that most glorious gathering! Happy the ears that heard that heart-stirring strain!"
Lafayette wrote to Webster on the 28th of December, 1825, from La Grange, saying: "Your Bunker Hill has been translated into French, and other languages, to the very great profit of European readers."
Mr. Hillard, in his Eulogy on Webster, says: "His occasional discourses rise above the rest of their class, as the Bunker Hill Monument soars above the objects around it."
Mr. Choate, in his address to the students of Dartmouth College in 1853, in that sublime paragraph in which he reviews the history of oratory and contrasts the eloquence of despair with the eloquence of hope, says: "Let the downward age of America find its orators, and poets, and artists, to erect its spirit, or grace and soothe its dying; be it ours to go up with Webster to the rock, the monument, the capitol, and bid the distant generations hail."
Cf. Curtis'sLife of Webster, Ch. XI.; Everett'sMemoir, in Vol. I. of Webster's Works; Lodge'sWebster, Ch. IV.; Memorial of Webster; Mr. Hillard's and Mr. Choate's Address; J. Fiske'sThe American Revolution.
January, 1830.
The third period of Mr. Webster's life and work may be said to begin with his new honor--his election to the United States Senate in 1827, and his changed attitude toward the question of the tariff as seen in his great speech on the tariff of 1828.
To understand Mr. Webster's position on the question of the tariff, one must remember that he insisted upon the principle that the question of the tariff was purely a business question, and that it was to be determined by the conditions affecting business. Up to this time Webster had opposed Protection, but now as the business of New England required assistance, he boldly stood forth as the champion of a Protective Tariff. It was in connection with the tariff legislation of 1816, 1824, and 1828 that the monster Nullification--carefully disguised until 1830--had its birth. In this year it was found stalking abroad, and in the halls of Congress menacing the bulwark of our liberties--the Constitution of the country. It fell to the lot of Mr. Webster to grapple with this monster and to strangle it in his giant grasp.
On the 29th of December, 1829, Senator Foot of Connecticut moved a resolution in regard to the Public Lands, and a long and weary discussion followed until Mr. Hayne, a Senator from South Carolina, on June 19, 1830, took part and introduced a new element into the discussion by making an elaborate attack on the New England States. Mr. Webster had taken no special interest in the question, and on the day in which Mr. Hayne began his speech he was engaged in the Supreme Court, but came into the Senate in season to hear the closing paragraphs. Thinking that such an attack upon New England required a reply, Mr. Webster at once rose, but yielded to a motion to adjourn. On the next day, the 20th, Mr. Webster proceeded with his reply, in which he showed the absurdity of Hayne's accusations and by which he completely shattered his whole elaborate argument. There was hardly an allusion in Mr. Webster's speech to the question of the tariff as it concerned South Carolina, but so aroused was Hayne by Webster's defence of New England, that on the following day he spoke a second time and in a tone of even greater severity and bitterness than that which marked his previous speech; he indulged in personal allusion to Mr. Webster, and strove to bring odium upon him and the State which he represented; he openly espoused the cause of Nullification and declared war upon the tariff. Before he concluded the Senate adjourned until the 25th, when he completed his speech; Mr. Webster immediately rose to reply, but as it was late yielded to a motion to adjourn. Mr. Hayne's speech had caused the greatest alarm throughout the North; many were afraid that it was unanswerable. This was an evidence that the true nature of the Constitution was not thoroughly understood. "It is a critical moment," said Mr. Bell of New Hampshire to Mr. Webster on the morning of the 26th, "and it is time, it is high time, that the people of this country should know what this Constitutionis." "Then," said Mr. Webster, "by the blessing of Heaven, they shall learn, this day, before the sun goes down, what I understand it to be." With this utterance upon his lips, he entered the Senate Chamber, which was already crowded. Every seat on the floor and in the galleries was occupied; the House of Representatives was deserted; the lobbies and staircases were packed. The vast audience was composed, on the one hand, of those who feared and trembled lest the rushing tide of hostility to the Constitution and the Union should sweep over the country; and on the other, of those who believed that New England had no champion strong enough to stand in the breach. This scene in the Senate Chamber is rivalled only by that in the House of Commons, when Burke, in 1774, stood forth as the defender of the American colonies. Such was the anxiety to hear the speech that all the ordinary preliminaries of senatorial action were postponed, and Mr. Webster began his "Second Speech on Foot's Resolution," better known as "The Reply to Hayne."
1.P. 146, l. 10. 1. Mr. Webster rose with great calmness, and in the majesty of that personal presence which could cause the English navvy to shout as he saw him, "By Jove, there goes a king!" with a confidence in his own resources which was the result of experience, in a clear, calm, and firm tone pronounced this magnificent exordium which was such a piece of consummate art that its effect was electric; all who feared, and all who hated, knew that he was master of the situation.
2.P. 147, l. 27. 1. When on the 21st Mr. Chambers asked that there be a delay to enable Mr. Webster, who had engagements out of the house, to be present, Mr. Hayne was unwilling to grant the request, saying that the gentleman (Mr. Webster) has discharged his fire in the presence of the Senate, and he wanted an opportunity to return it. Mr. Webster said, "Let the discussion proceed: I am ready now to receive the gentleman's fire."
3.P. 149, l. 8. 1. The notes, covering only five sheets of ordinary letter paper, from which Webster developed the entire speech of seventy pages, contain no hint of the exordium, but begin with
"No man hurt. If his 'rankling' is relieved, glad of it."
"I have no 'rankling' fear, anger, consciousness of refutation."
"No 'rankling,' original, or received--bow not strong enough."
4.L. 12. 2. Mr. Benton.
5.L. 27. 3. Mr. Webster's preparation for this reply lay in the nature of his thought and reading from his first entrance into public life, and especially from the nature of the constitutional questions which he has argued before the Supreme Court of the United States.
6.P. 152, l. 1. 1. Should not this be "more"?
7.L. 24. 2. This was a political cry raised against President Adams, who was elected by the House of Representatives. Clay had been a candidate, and because Adams gave him a seat in his Cabinet, a cry went up that they had made a bargain, by which Mr. Clay's friends were to vote for Adams in the House, and in return Clay was to receive a Cabinet position. This was a piece of political clap-trap. Cf.American Politics, Johnston, Ch. XI.
8.P. 155, l. 5. 1. If there had been a coalition and it was killed, it was killed by Calhoun, who threw all his influence against Adams and for Jackson. But at the time of this speech Calhoun was treated somewhat cavalierly by Jackson, and had not much reward in party succession.
9.P. 157, l. 13. 1. "The Missouri Compromise." Cf.American Politics, Johnston, Ch. VIII.
10.P. 162, l. 22. 1. This Convention of 1814 was composed of men of the old Federal party, strongly opposed to war with Great Britain. Cf.American Politics, Johnston, Ch. VIII.
11.P. 170, l. 3. 1. The "South Carolina Canal & Railroad Company" had on Jan. 9, 1830, asked Mr. Webster to present its claims to government assistance.
12.P. 179, l. 5. 1. Calhoun, Vice-President, and President of Senate.
13.P. 180, l. 5. 1. Mr. Forsyth.
14.L. 25. 2. Cf. Calhoun's speech in the House of Representatives in April, 1816.
15.P. 182, l. 6. 1. Mr. McDuffie.
16.P. 186, l. 12. 1. Letter of the Federal Convention to the Congress of the Confederation transmitting the plan of the Constitution.
17.P. 188, l. 4. 1. Cf. Lodge'sWebster, Ch. VI.
18.P. 197, l. 1. 1. President Jackson, who had been an avowed Federalist all his life.
19.L. 15. 2. A Portuguese prince, who led the revolutionists against the constitutional government.
20.P. 198, l. 1. 1. A body of Federalists in Essex County, Massachusetts, strongly opposing the Embargo of 1807, and the War of 1812.
21.P. 199, l. 24. 1. After the passage of the Tariff of 1828, the legislature of South Carolina set forth a "Protest" asserting the principle of Nullification.
22.P. 203, l. 29. 1. "At the conclusion of this paragraph there was scarcely a dry eye in the Senate, the Massachusetts men shed tears like girls,"Reminiscence of Congress, March.
23.P. 205, l. 28. 1. A toast proposed at a Democratic dinner, April 30, 1830, in New York, in honor of Jefferson's birthday.
24.P. 212, l. 16. 1. Senator Hillhouse of Connecticut.
25.P. 214, l. 8. 1. The purpose of this Embargo was to retaliate on both Great Britain and France. In the commercial war waged by those two countries, the foreign trade of the United States was cut off. The Embargo fell with crushing weight upon New England.
26.P. 227, l. 11. 1.Paradise Lost, Bk. I., l. 540.
27.P. 228, l. 9. 1. The leader of the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania.
28.P. 234, l. 9. 1. This celebrated peroration was entirely unpremeditated, there is no allusion to it in the "notes" of Mr. Webster. Mr. March says, "The exulting rush of feeling with which he went through the peroration threw a glow over his countenance like inspiration. Eye, brow, each feature, every line of the face, seemed touched as with celestial fire.... His voice penetrated every recess or corner of the Senate,--penetrated even the anterooms and stairways." Mr. Webster himself said: "I never spoke in the presence of an audience so eager and so sympathetic." Mr. Everett says: "Of the effectiveness of Mr. Webster's manner in many parts, it would be in vain to attempt to give any one not present the faintest idea. It has been my fortune to hear some of the ablest speeches of the greatest living orators on both sides of the water, but I must confess I never heard anything which so completely realized my conception of what Demosthenes was when he delivered the Oration for the Crown."
Mr. Lodge in his excellent review of the speech says: "The speech as a whole has all the qualities which made Mr. Webster a great orator. An analysis of the Reply to Hayne, therefore, gives us all the conditions necessary to forming a correct idea of Mr. Webster's eloquence, of its characteristics, and its value." Cf. Ch. VI.,Webster, American Statesman Series. This book should be a constant companion of the student while reading these selections.
Dr. Francis Lieber wrote: "To test Webster's oratory, I read a portion of my favorite speeches of Demosthenes, and then read, always aloud, parts of Webster; then returned to the Athenian; and Webster stood the test." As a result of this great effort, Mr. Webster was overwhelmed with congratulations from all parts of the land. The speech was the universal theme of conversation, and there was a general demand for the printed copy. Probably no speech in history has had so many readers as the Reply to Hayne.
Cf. Healey's historical painting of the scene of this great debate, in Faneuil Hall; Curtis'sLife of Webster, Ch. XVI.; Everett'sMemoir, Vol. I. of Webster's Works;Correspondence of Webster, Vol. I., p. 488.
August, 1830.
Almost immediately after the Reply to Hayne, Mr. Webster was engaged with the Attorney-General of Massachusetts in one of the most remarkable criminal cases on record, and on August 3d made the argument in the trial of John Francis Knapp for the murder of Captain Joseph White.
The following is a summary of the facts: On the night of the 6th of April, 1830, the town of Salem was visited by a desperado who entered the house of Joseph White, a wealthy and respectable citizen, and murdered him in his bed. The citizens formed a vigilance committee and worked without avail until there came a rumor that a prisoner in the New Bedford jail knew something of the affair. He was accordingly brought up before the grand jury, and on his testimony Richard Crowningshield, of Danvers, was indicted. A few weeks later Captain Joseph Knapp, a shipmaster of good character, received a strange note from Belfast, Maine, which was signed by Charles Grant, Jr. This note threatened exposure unless money was forwarded. Knapp could not understand it. He showed it to his sons, Francis and Joseph, Jr., who resided in Wenham. The wife of the latter was a niece of the late Mr. White, and was his housekeeper prior to the murder. When Joseph saw the letter he said it contained trash, and told his father to hand it to the vigilance committee. When they received the letter they sent to Belfast to find the writer. This proved to be one Palmer, who had been in state prison and who was intimate with Crowningshield. He said he saw, on the 2nd of April, Frank Knapp and a man, Allen, in company with Crowningshield, and that he heard the latter say that Frank Knapp wished them to kill Mr. White, and that Joseph Knapp would pay them one thousand dollars.
After the murder the Knapps reported that, on the 27th of April, they had been attacked by robbers on their way from Salem to Wenham. The purpose of this will be seen in what follows. On the testimony of Palmer the Knapps were held for investigation, and on the third day Joseph made a full confession of the murder and of the fabrication of the robbery story. He had found that Mr. White intended to leave his (Knapp's) wife but fifteen thousand dollars by will, and he thought that if he died intestate she would come in for one-half of the estate, as the sole representative of Mr. White's sister. Under this impression he determined to destroy the will. Frank agreed to hire the assassin, and he (Joseph) was to pay one thousand dollars for the deed. Crowningshield was hired; he entered the house by a window and committed the murder. So cool was he that, as he said, he paused to feel the pulse of the old man to be sure he was dead. Frank was waiting the issue, while Joseph, who had got the will, was in Wenham at his home. When Crowningshield heard that the Knapps were in custody, and that Joseph had confessed, he committed suicide in his cell.
At a special term of the Supreme Court at Salem, July 20th, indictments for murder were found against Francis Knapp as principal, and Joseph Knapp and George Crowningshield (a companion of Richard) as accessories. The trial of Francis took place August 3d, with Mr. Franklin Dexter and Mr. W. H. Gardner for the defence, and Mr. Webster assisting the Attorney-General in the prosecution.
1.P. 239, l. 13. 1. Mr. Lodge says that this account of the murder and analysis of the workings of a mind, haunted with the remembrance of the horrid crime, must be placed among the very finest masterpieces of modern oratory. "I have studied this famous exordium," he says, "with extreme care, and I have sought diligently in the works of all the great modern orators, and of some of the ancient as well, for similar passages of higher merit. My quest has been in vain."
2.P. 241, l. 23. 1. Mr. Webster's appearance for the prosecution gave rise to some complaints on the part of the defence, who intimated that he was in the interest of Mr. Stephen White, a residuary legatee of the murdered man. The fact was that both the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General were old men, and had asked for Mr. Webster's assistance.
3.P. 243, l. 20. 1. Chief Justice Parker.]
4.P. 248, l. 10. 1. Mr. Webster's presentation of the evidence is omitted. Cf. Webster's Complete Works, Vol. VI., p. 61.
Knapp was convicted as principal and sentenced to death. At the November term Joseph was convicted as accessory and sentenced to share the same fate. George Crowningshield proved analibi, and was acquitted. The argument in the Goodridge case stands in marked contrast to this; and it must be conceded that, as a presentation of the law and the evidence, with no attempt to work upon the feelings of the jurymen, it is a work of higher quality. As a specimen of eloquence, of dramatic setting forth of the horror of such a deed, of the experiences of the criminal, and of the certainty that "murder will out," the argument has no equal in the language.
For a remarkable analysis of Mr. Webster's career as a lawyer, see Rufus Choate's address before the students of Dartmouth College in 1853 in "Memorial of Daniel Webster from the City of Boston."
February, 1833.
Mr. Webster had intimated in his Reply to Hayne that South Carolina was playing a high game. There were some at that time who thought that he had sounded the note of alarm in too loud a strain; but when in November, 1832, the State Convention, assembled at Columbia, South Carolina, adopted an ordinance declaring the revenue laws of the United States null and void, the voice of the croakers ceased to be heard in the general excitement that filled the country. The Legislature assembled on the 27th, and the governor in his message said that "the die has been at last cast," and that the Legislature was called upon to make "such enactments as would make it utterly impossible to collect within our limits the duties imposed by the protective tariffs thus nullified." The Legislature passed acts providing that any one who should attempt to collect the revenue should be punished, and made it lawful to use the military force of the State to resist any attempt of the United States to enforce the tariff laws. Mr. Webster now had a very difficult and delicate task before him; he was bound to criticise the general tone of the administration of Jackson, for he believed that it had not met the needs of the country, and yet he was equally bound not to put himself in such antagonism as to prevent him from aiding the administration, should his aid be sought, against those who were determined to destroy the laws of the land. In the then impending presidental canvass he took the ground that President Jackson was in hostility to the idea of protection, and that therefore he could not be safely trusted with the executive power. But President Jackson, whatever had been his record on the question of the tariff, showed that he had no desire to shirk his duty, for he at once issued a proclamation, which embodied the principles maintained by Mr. Webster in his Reply to Hayne, and warned the authorities of South Carolina that all opposition to the laws of the United States would be put down. He thus served notice that treason was not to win by default of the President. Calhoun had resigned the vice-presidency and had taken his seat in the Senate, and it was known that such an act meant the attempt to raise the flag of nullification high in the Senate-chamber.
Mr. Webster was on his way to Washington when he heard of the prompt and decisive action of the President. At Philadelphia he met Mr. Clay, who told him that he had a plan for settling the difficulty by gradually reducing the tariff, and for levying duties "without regard to protection or encouragement of any branch of domestic industry." When Mr. Clay brought in his bill, it was not so strong as the one he had submitted to Mr. Webster a short time before, but yet Mr. Webster could not think of taking any step at such a time that would look like concession. The first thing to be done was to enforce the existing laws and sustain the administration by suitable legislation. There was to be no surrender of constitutional power. At the opening of the session the President asked Congress for the power to use the land and naval forces if necessary to enforce the laws. The committee to which the message was referred reported what is known as the "Force Bill," which granted the President the powers asked for. Some of the senators doubted that the President had such "daring effrontery" as to ask for such power. Mr. Webster said, "I will tell you gentlemen that the Presidenthashad the 'daring effrontery' to ask for these powers, no matter how high may be the offence."
President Jackson had used very strong language against the leaders of Nullification, and this made many of the (Southern) administration senators hostile to the measures of the "Force Bill." When it was found that the President had called for the assistance of Mr. Webster, Mr. Calhoun became very uneasy, and at once sought for Mr. Clay, who promised to bring in his bill for reducing the tariff. "On the 8th of February, Mr. Clay introduced the measure and claimed that its purpose was to save the tariff, which he considered to be in imminent danger. Mr. Webster, as was expected, opposed the bill and introduced a series of resolutions. On the two following days he was prevented from addressing the Senate on his resolutions because of the discussion of the "Force Bill," when Mr. Calhoun took the opportunity to expound the theory and practice of Nullification. The speech was in Mr. Calhoun's very best style of close, logical argument, with but little that made for eloquence. Calhoun was a master of logical method, and such was his skill in dovetailing together the elements of his speculations that he was a powerful antagonist. He had waited until most of the senators in opposition had spoken and then broke upon them and tore their arguments into shreds. It was an able supplement to the speech of Hayne and was likely to produce quite as much alarm, unless its position could be turned. Here were sown the seeds of secession which grew into that frightful civil war. By establishing the principle of the Union as but a confederacy of States the right of secession was assured.
Mr. Webster felt the importance of the occasion; he saw clearly the direction in which such appeals were sure to lead the people, and he at once determined to throw himself into the conflict. The doctrines which he had maintained in the Reply to Hayne had now taken strong hold of the people of the Central and Western States, and of many of the strongest public men of both parties; it was from this vantage ground that (on the 16th) he began his great speech known as "The Constitution not a Compact between Sovereign States."
1.P. 275, l. 9. 1. Mr. Rives.
2.P. 326, l. 27. 1. "The vital question went to the great popular jury. The world knows what the verdict was, and will never forget that it was largely due to the splendid eloquence of Daniel Webster when he defended the cause of nationality against the slave-holding separatists of South Carolina."--Henry Cabot Lodge.
"Whoever," says Mr. Curtis, "would understand that theory of the Constitution of the United States which regards it as the enactment of a fundamental law must go to this speech to find the best and clearest exposition."
"Then and there," says Dr. Hudson, "it was that real battles of the Union were fought and won. For the cause had to be tried in the courts of legislative reason before it could come to trial on field of battle."
This speech is much less rhetorical than the Reply to Hayne. The subject was not a new one, nor was the condition of the public mind so feverish as in 1830; consequently the case required not so much an appeal to the emotions as to the reason. It has always been considered as the most compact, close, logical, and convincing of all Mr. Webster's speeches. The people have relied upon it from that day to this to teach them the principles of the Constitution: in it they find the origin, the history, and the purpose of our great national fabric. By this speech Webster placed himself upon the highest pinnacle of fame, and added to his title of first orator that of the greatest statesman of his time, winning the proud distinction of "Expounder, Commentator, and Defender of the Constitution." On the 12th of October, 1835, the citizens of Boston presented to Mr. Webster a massive silver vase in testimony of their gratitude for his services in defence of the Constitution against South Carolina Nullification.
It contained the following inscription:--
Presented ToDaniel Webster,The Defender of the Constitution,By the Citizens of Boston,Oct. 12, 1835.
In reply to the address of presentation Mr. Webster said:--
"In one respect, Gentlemen, your present oppresses me. It assigns to me a character of which I feel I am not worthy. 'The Defender of the Constitution' is a title quite too high for me. He who shall prove himself the ablest among the able men of the country, he who shall serve it longest among those who may serve it long, he on whose labors all the stars of benignant fortune shall shed their selectest influence, will have praise enough, and reward enough, if, at the end of his political and earthly career, though that career may have been as bright as the track of the sun across the sky, the marble under which he sleeps, and that much better record, the grateful breasts of his living countrymen, shall pronounce him 'the Defender of the Constitution.' It is enough for me, Gentlemen, to be connected, in the most humble manner, with the defence and maintenance of this great wonder of modern times, and this certain wonder of all future times. It is enough for me to stand in the ranks, and only to be counted as one of its defenders."
Cf. Curtis'sLife of Webster, Ch. XIX.; Lodge'sWebster, Ch. VII.; Address of Dr. Hudson on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Daniel Webster, June 18, 1882.