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EULOGY 
 
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 ON THE LATE 
 
 ?9 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER, 
 
 I 
 
 PRONOUNCED BEFORE THE 
 
 FACULTY AND STUDENTS OF YALE COLLEGE, 
 
 i 
 
 JANUARY IS, 1853. 
 
 ^ 
 
 By HIRAM KETCHUM, Esq., 
 
 OF NEW YORK. 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. 11. BENHAM 
 
 ^^ 
 
EULOGY 
 
 ON THE LATE 
 
 DANIEL ¥EBSTEE, 
 
 PRONOUNCED BEFORE THE 
 
 FACULTY AND STUDENTS OF YALE COLLEGE, 
 
 JANUARY 18, 1853. 
 
 By HIRAM KETCHUM, Esq., 
 
 OF NEW YORK. 
 
 ^ ■•«» 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 
 PRINTED DY J. 11. BEN HAM, 
 
 1853. 
 

 / / 
 
New Haven, Yale College, Jan. 20, 1853. 
 
 To Hiram Ketchum, Esq., 
 
 Bear Sir, — We have the honor of transmitting to you resolutions unanimously 
 adopted by the students of Yale College, on Wednesday, 19th inst. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the students of Yale College be tendered to 
 Hiram Ketchum, Esq., of New York, for the highly instructive and eloquent 
 eulogy pronounced by him on the 18th inst., on the late Daniel Webster. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of the eulogy be requested for publication. 
 
 On behalf of the Students, 
 
 Charles Brooks, 
 Albert W. Bishop, 
 James M. Gillespie. 
 
 New York, Jan. 22, 1853. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, 
 inclosing the resolutions unanimously adopted by the students of Yale College, 
 one of which requests a copy of my eulogy on the late Daniel Webster, for 
 publication. 
 
 In compliance with this request, I with great pleasure send you a copy of my 
 address, delivered on the 18th inst. 
 
 I wish that this address was more worthy of the subject which it proposes to 
 discuss ; but, such as it is, I hope it may furnish some additional inducements to 
 the perusal and study of Mr. Webster's works. 
 
 Allow me, gentlemen, to improve this opportunity to return my thanks to the 
 Students and the President and Professors of Yale College, for the attention 
 they were pleased to give me in the delivery of the address ; and for yourselves 
 allow me to tender my acknowledgments for the uniform courtesy which I have 
 received from you as a Committee. 
 
 I remain, with true regard. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 HIRAM KETCHUM. 
 
 Messrs. Charles Brooks, 
 
 Albert W. Bishop, and 
 James M. Gillespie. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Gextlemkn of Yale College : — 
 
 I AM fully aware that I am indebted for the honor of appearing be- 
 fore you on this occasion to the fact of my known personal relations 
 with our illustrious countr}man, Daxiel Webster — now, alas ! no 
 more among the living! This knowledge indicates plainly that you 
 desire to know something more of Mr. Webster than an ordinary ac- 
 quaintance, or even a thorough knowledge of his public career would 
 impart. I shall, to the extent of my ability, gratify this natural and 
 very reasonable curiosity. 
 
 I did, indeed, know Mr. Webster somewhat intimately, for the last 
 twenty years of his life. That knowledge, increased by a thorough 
 study of his character and qualifications, inspired me with an ardent 
 desire to see what remained of his life, wholly devoted to the public 
 service of his country. I was satisfied that his profound study, and 
 close application to the subject, had made him better acquainted with 
 the true nature and character of our American Republican institutions, 
 than any man among the living or the dead ; I desired therefore that 
 this knowledge should be used for the benefit of the country. More 
 than all, did I desire, for the sake of the country, and the cause of re- 
 publican liberty, and not alone for the gratification of Mr. Webster 
 himself, that he should be placed in the highest political position under 
 the constitution, where his power and influence might be most effi- 
 ciently exerted in giving such a direction to the administration of the 
 government as should be felt in all future time. To the advancement 
 of this end 1 employed all the influence I possessed to the last hour of 
 his existence, but in common with many others, actuated by similar 
 sentiments, I failed. 
 
 Now nothing remains but that his example and teachings be used 
 to accomplish the great objects of his lite, "the preservation of 
 
(fi) 
 
 the union, the maintenance of the constitution, and the advance- 
 ment of the country to still higher stages of prosperity and re- 
 nown." Earnestly desiring that .Mr. Webster's productions should 
 be read, and his principles inculcated throughout every portion of this 
 country, where can I find more efficient aid to accomplish these ob- 
 jects than among the young gentlemen I have the honor to address. 
 Collected from every part of the Union, representing many of the most 
 respectable families in the land, themselves endeavoring, by the facili- 
 ties and inducements here afforded, to become men of distinction, 
 what six hundred young men in this country are destined to exert a 
 wider influence than the students of Yale College. 
 
 To you however, young gentlemen, let me say, before I proceed 
 further, never permit yourselves to despair of the Republic. It is true, 
 Mr. Webster is dead, and the country deeply mourns his loss ; it also 
 feels the loss of other distinguished men who have been recently re- 
 moved by death ; but let us hope that Providence, in mercy to this 
 land, hitherto highly favored, will supply their places. Why may not 
 that country look to you for such supplies ? You have better oppor- 
 tunities for improvement, more facilities, more thorough instruction to 
 enable you to rise to eminent positions than ever they enjoyed. I 
 entreat you, not only for your own sakes, not only for the honor of 
 your alma mater, but for the sake of your countrj', by the most assidu- 
 ous application, and untiring study, to improve to the uttermost, the 
 opportunities here afforded you. Let every one of you set his mark 
 high, and resolve to reach it. I shall fail of my chief purpose on this 
 occasion if the secret determination is not formed in the mind of more 
 than one young man here to-night, and the secret purpose breathed 
 to Him unto whom all hearts are open, that, by his blessing on earnest 
 endeavors, the place of Daniel Webster shall he filled. 
 
 It is deeply interesting to all of us to know that in the relations of 
 son, and brother, husband, father, friend, and pupil, Mr. Webster 
 earned a title to the highest commendation. 
 
 A gentleman of very high reputation, yet living, informed me that 
 he resided with Mr. Webster in the village where he commenced the 
 practice of law, about ten miles from his father's house — he says " I 
 frequently went with him on Saturday afternoon to visit his parents 
 and sisters. He was, beyond doubt, an afl^ectionate son and brother. 
 His presence ever seemed to light up joy in the family. I saw no 
 other indication than that he was a dutiful, loving and beloved son 
 
(7) 
 
 and brother. His love for his mother was enthusiastic, and that must 
 have been from her mental and moral qualities, and not from her per- 
 sonal beauty. She was darker than Daniel ; she was very motherly 
 and kind. His father was a venerable old man, a man of good, strong 
 sense — Daniel ever seemed to venerate him. Daniel Webster always 
 respected the authority of his parents." I have seen the copy of a 
 letter dated May the 18th, 1802, addressed to a very intimate friend 
 and classmate, in which he enumerated the inducements that drew him 
 towards the study of the law ; he says, " Firstly and principally it is 
 my father's wish. He does not dictate, it is true, but how much short of 
 dictation is the mere wish of a parent whose labors oflife are wasted on 
 favors to his children ? Even the delicacy with which the wish is ex- 
 pressed gives it more effect than it would have in the form of a com- 
 mand." Mr. Webster says in a letter dated May the 3d, 1846, " My 
 father, Ebenezer Webster, born in Kingston, the lower part of the State, 
 in 1739 — the handsomest man I ever saw, except my brother Ezekiel, 
 who appeared to me, and so does he now seem to me, the very finest 
 human form that I ever laid eyes on. I saw him in his coffin — a 
 white forehead, a tinged cheek, a complexion as clear as heavenly 
 light ! But where am I straying ?" 
 
 " The grave has closed upon him, as it has on all my brothers and 
 sisters. We shall soon be all together. But this is melancholy and I 
 leave it. Dear, dear kindred blood, how I love you all !" 
 
 " Of a hot day in July — it must have been one of the last years of 
 Washington's administration — I was making hay with my father just 
 where I now see a remaining elm tree, about the middle of the after- 
 noon. The Hon Abiel Foster, M. C, who lived in Canterbury, six 
 miles off, called at the house, and came into the field to see my father. 
 He was a worthy man, college learned, and had been a minister, 
 but was not a person of any considerable natural powers. My father 
 was his friend and supporter. He talked awhile in the field and went 
 on his way. When he was gone, my father called me to him, and 
 we sat down beneath the elm on a hay-cock. He said, * My son, 
 that is a worthy man — he is a member of Congress — he goes to Phila- 
 delphia and gets six dollars a day while I toil here. It is because he 
 had an education which I never had. If I had had his early educa- 
 tion, I should have been in Philadelphia in his place. I came near 
 
(8) 
 
 it, as it was. But I missed it, and now I must work here.' ' My 
 dear father,' said I, ' you shall not work. Brother and I will work 
 for you, and wear our hands out, and you shall rest ;' and I remember 
 to have cried ; and I cry now, at the recollection. ' My child,' said 
 he, ' it is of no importance to me — I now live but for my children — 
 I could not give your elder brother the advantages of knowlege, but 
 I can do something for you. Exert yourself— improve your opportu- 
 nities — learn— learn — and when I am gone you will not need to go 
 through the hardships which I have undergone, and which have made 
 me an old man before my time." 
 
 I have more than once heard Mr. Webster express the most tender 
 affection for the memory of his mother. He said that when he was 
 a child his health was very delicate ; he was all head, and his parents 
 thought he had the rickets ; his mother took him on horse-back alone 
 down to the sea-side — about fifty miles — for the benefit of his health, 
 finishing the narration with the inquiry, " Where do you find such 
 mothers now ?" 
 
 In a letter to a class-mate, dated December the 8th, 1801, he says, 
 " Returning home after commencement, I found, on consideration, that 
 it would be impossible for my father, under existing circumstances, to 
 continue Ezekiel at college. Drained of all his little income by the 
 expenses of my education thus far, and broken down in his exertions 
 by some family occurrences, I saw he could not afford Ezekiel means 
 to live abroad with ease and independence, and I knew too well the 
 evils of penury to wish him to stay half beggard at college. I thought 
 it therefore my duty to suffer some delay in my profession, for the sake 
 of serving my elder brother, and was making a little interest in some 
 places to the eastward for employment." His engagement atFryeburg 
 was the result of these efforts. 
 
 The eulogy upon his father's log cabin is familiar to you all. It 
 was my good fortune to be present at Saratoga when it was delivered. 
 He concludes this touching description of the former abode of his father 
 and of his elder brothers and sisters, — " if ever I am ashamed of it, 
 or if ever I fail in affection or veneration for him who reared it, and 
 defended it against savage violence and destruction, cherished all the 
 domestic virtues beneath its roof, and through the fire and blood of a 
 seven years revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no 
 sacrifice, to serve his country, and to raise his children to a condition 
 better than his own, may my name and the name of my posterity be 
 blotted from the memory of mankind-" 
 
(9) 
 
 Although it would be easy and most gratifying to me to do so, I 
 need dwell no longer upon the relation of a son and brother. 
 
 Mr. Webster was twice married. The first Mrs. Webster died at 
 the house of an old and intimate friend of her husband and herself, in 
 the city of New York, more than twenty years ago. I was not then 
 personally acquainted with Mr. Webster, nor did I ever see his first 
 wife; but I was intimately acquainted with the distinguished physi- 
 cian and worthy gentleman, since deceased, and his estimable lady, 
 now living, at whose house Mrs. W^ebster was on a visit, accompanied 
 by her husband, during her last illness, and where she died. From 
 them I have learned that Mr. Webster was a tender and afiectionate 
 husband, and that his assiduous care of his wife, and his delicate at- 
 tention to all her wants during her last illness, were not only of the 
 most exemplary but touching character, such as none but a husband 
 of warm affection, and refined sensibility, could have performed. With 
 the present Mrs. Webster, an accomplished and excellent lady, I have 
 long been acquainted, as with the honored wife of my friend. I can 
 personally bear testimony that to her Mr. Webster was all that a faith- 
 ful, devoted and indulgent husband should be. He was fond of her 
 society — whether at home or traveling abroad, in his own country, or 
 in foreign lands, he sought her companionship and never seemed en- 
 tirely contented without it. 
 
 That Mr. Webster was ardently attached to his children, and in- 
 dulgent, perhaps too indulgent, to all their wants, requires no proof; 
 he had to regret, in common with all falhe rs devoted to the public service, 
 and I know he did regret, that necessity compelled him often to be ab- 
 sent from his children, and prevented his giving their education his 
 personal supervision. What his children have lost in this respect, 
 his country gained. 
 
 I conclude this topic of my remarks by this inquiry — what highly 
 distinguished man in this country, or elsewhere, springing from an un- 
 distinguished parentage, ever did so much to elevate his family, and 
 do public honor to his kindred blood as Daniel Webster ? 
 
 He was not content that his works should be given to the world 
 without making it known that whatever honor these works might give 
 him, he desired should be participated by his family. They are con- 
 tained in six volumes. The first is dedicated to the daughters of his 
 brother Ezekiel Webster, from a desire that the name of his brother 
 might be associated with his, so long as anything written or spoken, 
 
 o 
 
(10) 
 
 by him should be regarded or read. The third is dedicated to his 
 dearly beloved wife, Caroline LeRoy Webster. The fourth is dedi- 
 cated to his son Fletcher Webster, Esquire. The last volume is de- 
 dicated to the memory of his deceased children, Julia Webster Apple- 
 ton, and Major Edward Webster. 
 
 The dedications themselves are among the finest efiusions of genius 
 and will embalm the names which are the subjects of them. 
 
 I propose next to speak of the character of Mr. Webster as a pupil 
 and a student in college. For information on this point I am, of 
 course, indebted to others, and I have sought it from the most authen- 
 tic sources. A gentleman of high respectabilit}-, now living, writes 
 me, under date of 8th January, inst., " Mr. Webster and myself were 
 early acquainted. I entered the academy of Exeter, N. H., in July, 
 1796, and there found Daniel Webster, a lad of fourteen, engaged in 
 English studies, grammar, arithmetic, &c., very modest and unassum- . 
 ing but attending closely to his books, and making the most of his time 
 and opportunities ; always prompt at recitations, and manifesting to 
 his instructors that he understood the subject matter of lessons by his 
 persevering industry and stud3%" 
 
 " He did not mingle much with the young lads of his age, gentle, 
 men's sons many of them, who had been favored with greater oppor- 
 tunities for education and refinement, and looked upon him as from 
 the woods, as it were, and rather green, and thought more of their per- 
 sonal appearance and fine broadcloth, than of the improvement of the 
 mind. It was perhaps impossible that he should not, at times, feel a 
 little mortified at the treatment he would naturally meet with, from that 
 class of companions. He left Exeter in the fall of 1796, and prose- 
 cuted his studies and fitted for college, with Dr. Wood, at Boscawen, 
 N. H." 
 
 " I saw no more of Mr. Webster till July, 1798, when I left Exeter 
 and entered the then Freshman Class at Dartmouth College, and 
 found he had entered the same class the year before. From that 
 time our intimacy increased during our college life, and I roomed 
 with him in the Senior year. We corresponded afterwards till we 
 were severally engaged in the business of our profession. I resided 
 in the western part of New Hampshire, and Mr. Webster at Boscawen 
 and Portsmouth, in the eastern part, while he remained in the State. 
 
 " Mr. Webster gave early promise of a great man, and evidence of 
 a very superior intellect. It seemed never to be necessary for him to 
 
(11) 
 
 apply himself so closely and laboriously, to become master of the sub- 
 ject of his researches, during the college studies, as was the case with 
 most of us ; and still he would always appear to have a very correct 
 and comprehensive view of the matter under consideration, and show 
 that, either from reading, or from deep thought, or both, he had ac- 
 quired the necessary and desired results. There was no one more 
 correct and honorable in his feelings and general deportment than 
 Mr. Webster. He was not particularly intimate with many, but in 
 his friendships, professions and college associations, always sincere. 
 His habit and manner of study was such, from his intuitive and com- 
 prehensive talent, that some have supposed he was not a close student. 
 But he held that it was not the man who read the most hours, that 
 was sure to be the most successful scholar." 
 
 An aged clergyman, who was also in college with Mr. Webster, 
 has kindly communicated some facts in relation to his collejie life. 
 From his letter, bearing date the 10th inst., I take the following ex- 
 tracts : — " I do fearlessly say that his whole college life, if you look 
 upon him as a classic scholar, a friend to good order, and a close ap- 
 plicant, is certainly good and worthy to be imitated by any student 
 who is permitted to grace the walls of our New England Colleges. 
 Let me now specify. His habits of study were good — never knew 
 him waste the study hours. He was constant to the recitation, and 
 always well prepared. 
 
 " He u'os peculiarly industrious. In addition to his college studies 
 I fully believe that he read more than any one of his classmates. He 
 read with great rapidity, and remembered all. * * * * 
 In social life he was always pleasant. He always, apparently out of 
 a sense of duty, attended public worship on the Sabbath. He was a 
 strict observer of order, and his mind was too dignified to do other- 
 wise. I should have as soon expected John Wheelock, the President, 
 to have engaged in disorderly conduct as Daniel Webster. His rank 
 was first in the class, so would four-fifths of the class say. 
 
 " I belonged to the same literary society with him, and, conse- 
 quently often witnessed his powers as a debater. I am free to say 
 that he far excelled. I am decided in the opinion that he then gave 
 evidence of his future eminence. 
 
 " He far excelled in writing. He wrote rapidly and retained all 
 
(12) 
 
 that he wrote. I have known him to commence writing a declama- 
 tion after dinner, when he had to speak in the class at two o'clock, 
 and in the midst of his writing the liell would ring ; he would go into 
 the chapel and speak with remarkable ease. One instance may be 
 mentioned when, just as he had done writing, a gale of wind took his 
 paper off the table and carried it out of the window, and the last that 
 was seen of it, it was going over the meeting house. He went into 
 the chapel and spoke the same with his usual ease. I well recollect 
 a poem which Mr. Webster spoke before the class which to me was 
 a curiosity. Every line ended in i o n. 
 
 '• I am aware that it is said he was no scholar. This comes from 
 slanderers, who say " report" and we will report it. It is reported 
 that he tore up and stamped on his Diploma. This is false. It is also 
 reported that it was with difficulty that he obtained his degree. This 
 is also false and proceeded from the tongue of slander. A difficulty 
 arose in the class on account of the appointments for Commencement 
 so that more than half of the class asked a dismission from College. 
 There was a compromise, and those disaffected were excused from 
 speaking. Webster therefore did not speak." 
 
 In reference to his habits of study in college, he once said to Pro- 
 fessor Sanborn, of Hanover, N. H., in answer to the following obser- 
 vation made by the professor : — " Mr. Webster ! it is reported that 
 you were an idle student, devoting more time to recreation than to 
 study." He replied, with great emphasis — " What fools they must be 
 to suppose that man could make anything of himself without study. 
 I have a mind," he added, " to give you a chapter in my early history." 
 He then gave me substantially the same account which has often been 
 published and need not be repeated here. He wished me to understand 
 that he studied more hours and with more intense application than 
 any other member of his class. 
 
 A ffentleman to Avhom I have before referred, who resided with 
 him at BoscaAven soon after he first opened a law office, thus remarks, 
 " He slept in a bed at his office, and more than half the winter, I slept 
 in the same bed with him. He was then a most indefatigable student, 
 at his books untiring. He, I might say, never went to bed before 
 midnight. I know this to be so, lor I was studying my classics at the 
 same time, and occasionally availed myself of /ws knowledge." 
 
(13) 
 
 lam quite satisfied that any person who formed a judgment that Mr. 
 Webster was not a hard student, at any period of his life, must have 
 been led into an error from inferring that he could not study unless his 
 eyes were on a book. I have known, personally, somewhat of his 
 habits in later years of his life, and I may say that I never knew so 
 hard a student. I have sometimes thought that any man who had the 
 power of applying his mind to a subject as closely as Mr. Webster, 
 and holding it as long under contemplation, could accomplish as much. 
 He spared no pains, he withheld no labor in his preparations for great 
 occasions. He follovved out every train of thought connected with 
 the subject under examination, and never advanced his propositions 
 until they had been thoroughly examined. When roused, the mind 
 of Mr. Webster was quick in apprehension — none more so, and with 
 great rapidity he summoned his intellectual resources of ingenuity or 
 acquirement, to the aid of his cause; but he never neglected thorough 
 preparation from a reliance on his quickness of parts, or his genius. 
 Hence his productions are finished productions, and will bear exami- 
 nation. 
 
 His extemporaneous speeches and arguments, and his written pro- 
 ductions were thoroughly prepared in thought before he spoke or wrote, 
 and he wrote with remarkable rapidity, and made very few correc- 
 tions of his first draft. I have in my possession some very able doc- 
 uments prepared by him at a single sitting, and without alterations. 
 When he was first Secretary of State, I happened to be at Washing- 
 ton soon after the appearance of an able letter written by him to the 
 Mexican Minister. I made some inquiry about it, and he said, " I 
 wrote that letter there,^' pointing to his desk, " at a single sitting." 
 I remarked, "I suppose I understand that process, Mr. Webster! you 
 had gone ovco- and prepared the subject in your mind — the processes of 
 thought were retained in your memory, and when you wrote you only 
 copied." He acknowledged that I understood the matter correctly. 
 
 Of all the seasons of the day for intellectual employment, Mr. 
 Webster preferred the morning. Oh ! how he loved the morning ; 
 his spirit ascended to his Creator on the wings of the morning. Had 
 he been a member of this college, he never would have been absent 
 at morning prayer. When he returned from his last excursion through 
 the State of New York, to which I shall have occasion to refer here- 
 after, I went to Albany to meet him. He had made arrangements to 
 deliver a speech to the young men of that place. I left New York 
 
(14) 
 
 the evening previous to the day on which the speech was to be de- 
 livered, and arrived at his hotel at a very early hour in the morning of 
 that day. I found a servant stirring, and sent him to inquire whether 
 Mr. Webster had arisen, and if he had, to present him my card. Very 
 soon I received a summon to come up, ftnd there I found him hard at 
 work, with his papers before him, preparing his speech. " I have 
 been up," said he, " since three o'clock, and I should like to know if 
 you ever read poetry," and he then read the few lines of poetry with 
 which that speech concluded ; the ink being not yet dry with which 
 they were written. 
 
 Will you allow me to read the conclusion of that noble speech, 
 though not exactly in place ? 
 
 " Gentlemen, a patriot President of the United States is the guard- 
 ian, the protector, the friend of every citizen in them. He should be^ 
 and he is, no man's persecutor, no man's enemy, but the supporter 
 and the protector of all and every citizen, so far as such support and 
 protection depend on his faithful execution of the laws. But there is 
 especially one great idea which Washington presents, and which gov- 
 erned him, and which should govern every man in high office, who 
 means to resemble Washington : that is, the duty of preserving the 
 Government itself; of suffering, so far as depends on him, no one 
 branch to interfere with another, and no power to be assumed not 
 belonging to each ; and none abandoned which pertains to each ; but 
 to preserve it and carry it on unharmed for the benefit of the present 
 and future generations. 
 
 " Gentlemen, a wise and prudent shipmaster makes it his first duty 
 to preserve the vessel which carries him, and his passengers, and all 
 that is committed to his charge ; to keep her afloat, to conduct her to 
 her destined port with entire security of property and life ; that is his 
 first object, and that should be the object, and is, of every Chief Magis- 
 trate of the United States, who has a proper appreciation of his duty. 
 His first and highest duty is to preserve the Constitution which bears 
 him, which sustains the Government, without which every thing goes 
 to the bottom ; to preserve that, and keep it, with the utmost of his 
 ability and foresight, off the rocks and shoals, and away from the 
 quick-sands ; to accomplish this great end, he exercises the caution 
 of the experienced navigator. He suffers nothing to betray his watch- 
 fulness, or to draw him aside from the great interest committed to his 
 care ; but is always awake, always solicitous, always anxious for the 
 safety of the ship which is to carry him through the stormy seas. 
 
(15) 
 
 " Though pleased lo see the dolphins play, 
 He minds his compass and his way ; 
 And oft he throws the wary lead. 
 To see what dangers may be hid : 
 At helm he makes his reason sit. 
 His crew of passions all submit. 
 Thus, thus he steers his barque, and sails. 
 On upright keel to meet the gales. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen, a patriot President, acting from the impulses of 
 this high and honorable purpose, may reach what Washington reach- 
 ed. He may contribute to raise high the public prosperity, to help to 
 fill up the measure of his country's glory and renown ; and he may 
 be able to find a rich reward in the thankfulness of the people, 
 
 " And read his history in a nation's eyes." 
 
 This is a description of a patriot President, drawn by a son of New 
 Hampshire — will you not, young gentlemen and fellow-citizens, with 
 me, call upon another son of that same patriotic State, to give us a liv- 
 ing exemplification of this portrait? Allow us, honored sir, respect- 
 fully to remind you that the power which will soon be committed to 
 your hands, is power received from the American people, in trust, under 
 the Constitution of the United States, and that the objects of that Con- 
 stitution are " to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure do- 
 mestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the geiicral 
 welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to the people themselves, 
 and their posterity ;" that political place, however exalted in itself, 
 confers no honor upon its incumbent, but only affords an opportunity 
 to a man of noble aims and patriotic purposes to connect his name 
 with the glory of his native land. 
 
 But to return to the topic under consideration. It is not to be de- 
 nied that Mr. Webster and his friends thought that the government 
 of the college, in the distribution of its literary honors, did him in- 
 justice ; but that gave him no authority to rebel against that govern- 
 ment — nor did he rebel — nor did he cherish ill-will towards that gov- 
 ernment ; but in process of time his assistance was required to pre- 
 serve the very existence of his alma mater, and that assistance was 
 cheerfully rendered by an intellectual effort never surpassed in the 
 highest judicial tribunal of the land. 
 
 Here allow me to mention another trait in the character of Mr. 
 
(16) 
 
 Wt'b^ter. He never indulged feelings of liatrcd or revenge ; he was 
 quick and ready to forgive injuries. This characteristic was exem- 
 plified in numerous instances in his private and his public life. He 
 was a merciful man. To his servants and persons employed by him, 
 no man could be more kind-hearted, considerate and generous. His 
 hospitality was unbounded. In entertaining his guests, no man made 
 himself more affable and agreeable. It would take me hours to relate 
 all the pleasing anecdotes that have come to my knowledge in support 
 of those statements. 
 
 But one consequence resulted from the disposition and habits of Mr. 
 Webster, in these respects. He frequently found himself embarras- 
 sed in his pecuniary aftairs, and unable to meet with promptness his 
 engagements. This, it must be admitted, was an error, and finds 
 no justification in the fact that other great and confessedly patriotic 
 nen in this country and in England have been chargeable with the 
 same error. Mr. Webster never justified business defalcations of any 
 sort, and he never failed to meet a pecuniary engagement of his 
 own when he had the means, but, unf^itunately for him, he did not 
 always possess the means, and then he felt greatly distressed. How 
 keenly he felt the obligation of paying his debts, may be illustrated 
 by two well authenticated facts related of him. When he became 
 convinced that he must die, he directed the superintendent of his farm 
 to take five hundred dollars from his trunk and pay every debt due 
 from him in the neighborhood, and recollecting that he had borrowed 
 three hundred dollars of a friend in Plymouth, for which he had given 
 no evidence of indebtedness, he called for a pen and ink, and being 
 supported on his dying bed, he signed a check for the amount, that 
 being the last time that he ever wrote his name. It was always a 
 remarkable fact that those who most loudly censured Mr. Webster's 
 short comings in the payment of his debts, were never numbered 
 among his creditors, nor those who had suffered pecuniary loss by 
 him. 
 
 In making this confession of the infirmity of our illustrious country- 
 man, for such it was, and, frankly admitting that it was an alloy to 
 some of his most attractive private virtues, with which it was inti- 
 mately connected, allow me to say a word to the men of business in 
 Wall Street, State Street, and elsewhere, who, most commendably, 
 make it a point of honor and conscience, to satisfy, with exact punctu- 
 ality, every pecuniary engagement. Mr. Webster discharged, as far 
 
(17) 
 
 as man could discharge the great debt that he owed to his parents and 
 his kindred blood — he paid twenty shillings on the pound and interest, 
 of the claims of his alma mater for his moral and intellectual culture — he 
 satisfied, to a large extent, the demands of humanity and friendship — 
 he made ample returns to his native State for her early education and 
 support — he repaid the commonwealth of his adoption for honors con- 
 ferred upon him, by contributing to her prosperity and adding to her 
 glory and renown — he answered the calls of patriotism by a life de- 
 voted to the service of his country. Now, my business countrymen, 
 prosperous and honored as you are, I would not have you abate one 
 jot of your punctuality in meeting your pecuniary engagements. I 
 know and admit the necessity of such punctuality ; but let me remind 
 you that this is not the whole duty of man ; there are other obliga- 
 tions in life as urgently imperative on you and me, in the estimation 
 of all good men, and of God himself, as the payment of bills of ex- 
 change and promissory notes, on the third day of grace. While you 
 do the one, neglect not the other, for if you do, you may find, too late, 
 the end of your prosperity in a selfish, •demoralized, corrupted com- 
 munity, and an enslaved country. " Thou canst not serve God and 
 mammon." 
 
 I pass from Mr. Webster's private relations : 
 
 It is universally admitted that Mr. Webster was a man of extra- 
 ordinary intellectual powers ; many well-informed persons believe 
 that in strength and vigor, and comprehensiveness of grasp, the mind 
 of Mr. Webster was never surpassed. Some, professing the highest 
 admiration of his intellectual powers, seem unwilling to go any farther 
 in praise of Mr. Webster. It seems to me that mere intellect, how 
 powerful soever, merits no praise, apart from the uses to which it is 
 applied. Great, but mis-directed intellect, deserves censure rather 
 than praise. A great mind, occupied in mere barren speculations, 
 can hardly command respect. But who knows anything of Mr. 
 Webster's intellect except from its productions ? Let us examine, 
 then, these productions, in reference to the question — whether he is 
 worthy of admiration only as an intellectual prodigy? 
 
 The public speeches, arguments, and State papers of iMr. Webster 
 are before the public and well known. I shall examine some of them 
 in the course of this discussion ; but first let me speak of his intellect- 
 ual exhibitions in the private and domestic circle. Mr. Webster 
 possessed very remarkable powers of conversation. General Cass, 
 
(20) 
 
 he sees the unexampled exhibition of female fortitude and resignation ; 
 he hears the whisperings of youthful impatience ; he sees chilled and 
 shivering childhood, houseless but for a mother's arms, couchless but 
 for a mother's breast, till his blood almost freezes. The mild dignity 
 of Carver and Bradford ; the decisive and soldier-like air and man- 
 ner of Standish ; the devout Brewster ; the enterprising Allerton ; the 
 general thoughtfulness of the whole band ; their conscious joy for 
 dano^ers escaped ; their deep solicitude about dangers to come ; their 
 trust in heaven ; their high religious faith, full of confidence and an- 
 ticipation, are all grouped before him, filling him with reverence and 
 admiration. 
 
 The reader is made intimately acquainted with the difficulties and 
 dangers which these early settlers of New England were compelled 
 to encounter ; he traces the progress of their principles through two 
 centuries, and he beholds their development in the institutions of 
 liberty under which we live, with all their concomitant Ijlessings — 
 nay, he is carried on through the century to come, and beholds the 
 countless millions of these descendants of the pilgrims spreading from 
 the Atlantic to the Pacific, and is made to unite in the welcome. 
 ** Advance then ye future generations ! We would hail you, as you 
 rise in your long succession, to fill the places which we now fill, and 
 to taste the blesssing of existence where we are passing and soon 
 shall have passed, our own human duration. We bid you welcome 
 to this pleasant land of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the 
 healthful skies and the verdant fields of New England. We greet 
 your accession to the great inheritance which we have enjoyed. We 
 welcome you to the blessings of good government and religious liberty. 
 We welcome you to the treasures of science and the delights of learn- 
 in"-. We welcome you to the transcendant sweets of domestic life, 
 to the happiness of kindred, and parents, and children. We welcome 
 you to the immeasurable blessings of rational existence, the immortal 
 hope of Christianity, and the light of everlasting truth." 
 
 On arising from the perusal of this oration, we feel indeed the re- 
 sults of a highly intellectual power, for we have been made to think 
 and to reason, and thus our minds have been strengthened and ex- 
 panded, and our hearts have been animated with the highest and 
 noblest feelings and purposes. 
 
 In further illustration of Mr. Webster's peculiar power in drawing 
 the attention of his hearers to the subject under discussion, to the ex- 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 elusion of every thing else, I would relate two anecdotes. Some 
 years ago a merchant of more than ordinary intelligence and discri- 
 mination, represented a congressional district in the vicinity of New 
 York, in the House of Representatives of the United States. Mr. 
 Clay and Mr. Webster were then members of the House. He re- 
 marked that when Clay made an effort on the floor, it was a common 
 occurrence for members to bestow the highest praises upon his man- 
 ner, his gallant bearing, his extraordinary mental powers, and personal 
 attractions. When Mr. Webster spoke, the manifestation of approval 
 would assume a different form — profound and thoughtful attention 
 would be given while he spoke, and when he was through, expres- 
 sions like these would be heard. — Well ! I think Webster has proved 
 his case — he has put the subject in a new light, and I cannot see how 
 he can be answered. In the one case, admiration was expressed for 
 the man ; in the other, conviction was yielded to the argument. 
 
 Again — a few years ago, a gentleman of the bar, distinguished for 
 his great learning and logical powers, requested me to accompany 
 him to Boston, to hear a speech to be pronounced by Mr. Webster, 
 in Faneuil Hall. It was in the summer season, after a long session 
 of Congress, during the administration of Mr. Van Buren. The 
 occasion was a public dinner given to Mr. Webster. 
 
 VVe heard Mr. Webster's speech ; he was laboring under his au- 
 tumnal attack of catarrh. After he had closed, I said to my friend, 
 " Well ! how did you like him V He answered — " I confess I am a 
 little disappointed, although the speech was a very good one." I re- 
 marked, in reply, that I thought I had heard Mr. Webster to better 
 advantage — " but how long do you think he spoke ?" He said " about 
 three-quarters of an hour." It was an hour and a-half by the watch — 
 I timed the speech. Here then was a great compliment unwittingly 
 paid. I have never known any speaker who had, to the same ex- 
 tent as Mr. Webster, the power of putting the mind of his hearers in 
 close and intimate connection with the subject under discussion. 
 
 In the year 1826 a very extraordinary event occurred in this coun- 
 try. On the anniversary of the National Independence, John Adams 
 and Thomas Jefferson, two distinguished cititzens, both of whom were 
 members of the Committee which prepared and reported the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, both had filled the office of President of the 
 United States, departed this life. The event was one deemed worthy 
 of an extraordinary commemoration throughout the country. Our 
 
(22) 
 
 most distinguished orators became pulilic eulogists of the illustrious 
 deceased. Mr. Webster was requested, by his neighbors in Boston, 
 to perform this office. He willingly complied with that request. His 
 oration is before the world, and its superiority to every other pro- 
 nounced on that occasion, is as manifest as the light. He not only 
 surpassed every other eulogist, but, by a remarkably appropriate and 
 felicitous conception, he made himself a member of the Congress 
 which, on behalf of the American people, issued the Declaration of 
 Independence, and put into the mouth of John Adams, the great de- 
 bater of the Assembly, a speech as remarkable in its way as the ever 
 memorable declaration itself. If any member of that body, or of any 
 other deliberative or popular assembly, during the excitement of the 
 revolutionary struggle made a speech more distinuished for ardent 
 patriotism, and stirring eloquence than this, the record of that speech 
 has not come down to us. 
 
 It would seem that Mr. Webster in this speech labored successfully 
 to exemplify his own just and graphic description of eloquence. 
 
 " True eloquence," said he, " indeed, does not consist in speech. 
 It cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, 
 but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled in 
 every way, but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in 
 the subject and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense expression, 
 the pomp of declamation, all may aspire to it ; they cannot reach it. 
 It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the 
 earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original 
 native force. The graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments 
 and studied contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, when their 
 own lives, and the fates of their wives, their children, and their coun- 
 try hang on the decision of the hour. Then words have lost their 
 power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. Even 
 genius itself feels rebuked and subdued as in the presence of higher 
 qualities. Then patriotism is eloquent ; then self-devotion is eloquent. 
 The clear conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high 
 purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, 
 beaming in the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole 
 man onward, right onward to his object — this, this is eloquence." 
 
 Wherever, on the great national jubilee, the declaration of Inde- 
 pendence is read to warm the patriotism of our countrymen, there 
 should be read the speech of John Adams, prepared by Daniel 
 Webster, in support of that declaration. 
 
(23) 
 
 I pass, for want of time, the orations delivered on Bunker Hill on 
 the occasion of laying the corner stone, and completion of the monu- 
 ment. They will give a renown to that monument far more enduring 
 than the granite of which it is constructed.' For the same reason I 
 cannot stop to dwell upon that noble tribute to his native State, and 
 her patriotic, brave and hardy population, contained in his address to 
 the sons of New Hampshire. Nor can I even enumerate the other 
 speeches made by Mr. Webster in commemorating the landing of the 
 pilgrims, all differing, all eloquent, all fraught with the noblest senti- 
 ments. But I may be permitted to say that no one of her sons has 
 described the natural scenery of New England so graphically, her 
 peculiar institutions and her mental and moral characteristics with 
 such just discrimination, and commended them with so much filial 
 feeling and enthusiasm. His genius has shed its selectest influence 
 over every spot consecrated in the affections of New England. If 
 that genius has imparted any glory, it has been made to illuminate the 
 land of the pilgrims. 
 
 On this point allow me give one extract from a speech made in 
 Faneuil Hall, in 1828, when John Quincy Adams was President of 
 the United States. 
 
 " It cannot have escaped the notice of any gentleman present, that 
 in the course of the controversy, pains have been taken to affect the 
 character and success of the present chief magistrate, by exciting 
 odium towards that part of the country in which he was born and to 
 which he belongs. Sneers, contumely, reproach, every thing that 
 gentlemen could say, and many things which gentlemen could not 
 say, have been uttered against New England. I am sure, sir, every 
 true son of New England must receive such things, when they come 
 from sources which ought to be considered respectable, with a feeling 
 of just indignation ; and when proceeding from elsewhere, with con- 
 tempt. If there be one among ourselves, who can be induced, by any 
 motives, to join in this cry against New England, he disgraces the 
 New England mother who bore him, the New England father who 
 bred and nurtured him, and the New England atmosphere which first 
 supplied respiration to those lungs now so unworthily employed in 
 uttering calumnies against his country. Persons not known till yester- 
 day, and having little chance of being remembered beyond to-morrow, 
 have affected to draw a distinction betvVcen the patriot States and the 
 States of New England ; assigning the last to the present President, 
 
(24) 
 
 and the rest to his rival. I do not wonder, sir, at the indignation and 
 scorn which I perceive the recital of this injustice produces here. 
 Nothing else was to be expected. Fancuil Hall is not a place where 
 one is expected to hear with indifference that New England is 
 not to be counted among the patriot States. The patriot States ! 
 What State was it, sir, that was patriotic, when patriotism cost some- 
 thing ? Where but in New England did the great drama of the 
 Revolution open ? Where, but on the soil of Massachusetts, was the 
 first blood poured out in the cause of liberty and independence ? 
 Where, sooner than here — where, earlier than within the walls which 
 now surround us, was patriotism to be found, when to be patriotic was 
 to endanger houses and homes, and wives and children, and to be 
 ready also to pay for the reputation of patriotism by the sacrifice of 
 blood and of life ?" 
 
 Before I leave this topic, I hope to be pardoned a few plain re- 
 marks. 
 
 If the spirit of my dear departed friend is permitted to take cogni- 
 zance of what occurs here to-night, it will not, I am sure, hear what 
 I have to say with displeasure. If the pilgrim fathers admired, and 
 I know they admired, high intellect, combined with an intelligent, 
 firm, and undying attachment to their principles ; if they had the 
 courage, and they never wanted physical or moral courage to uphold 
 efficiently and zealously one of their own number, possessing in a pre- 
 eminent degree these characteristics, then have their present descend- 
 ants sadly degenerated. Nothing will more astonish posterity than 
 the fact, that the sons of the pilgrims inhabiting New England, and 
 scattered in vast multitudes all over this widely extended country, 
 possessing more intelligence, more power, more wealth, more influ- 
 ence, by far, than any other body or race of men in the Republic, 
 have permitted such a man as Daniel Webster, bone of their bone, 
 and flesh of their flesh, and the greatest living exponent of their in- 
 herited principles — in his own day and generation unsurpassed in 
 patriotism, first in statesmanship, first in experience, and confessedly 
 first in intellect, to pass from the stage of life, at the age of three-score 
 years and ten, without having been first in political position. 
 
 But it would be a signal injustice to the memory of our departed 
 countryman to say that he labored more to promote the honor and re- 
 nown of New England than of the United States of America. His 
 l»atriotism was large and comprehensive enough to embrace the whole 
 
(25) 
 
 country. His puljlic life was spent in the service of the nation. The 
 mottoes — " the country — the whole country, and nothing but the coun- 
 try" — " Union and liberty, now and forever, one and inseparable," 
 expressed the sentiments which uniformly animated him in the dis- 
 charge of his political duties. Nor were his actions inconsistent with 
 those sentiments. 
 
 The story of the American Revolution, as sketched by Webster in 
 his various productions, with the portraits of the principal actors in the 
 drama, as drawn by him, is as interesting as an epic poem. Nor 
 are his praise and admiration withheld from eminent citizens who 
 have served their country, though not of New England ; Washington, 
 Hamilton, Madison, Jay and Marshall have not been postponed in 
 his regards, or his commendation, to any sons of the pilgrims. In- 
 deed at the hands of no man, in his own time, or since, at home, or 
 abroad, has the father of his country — the man of his age — received 
 so large a measure of justice as at the hands of Daniel Webster. It is 
 gratifying to the friends of Mr. Webster to compare his efforts on a 
 subject, worthy of the highest intellectual and moral powers, with 
 those of other distinguished men put forth on the same subject. 
 
 Mr. Webster had the sagacity to see that great as was the reputa- 
 tion of Washington for his deeds in arms, his patriotism, his fortitude, 
 his foresight, his whole conduct as the leader of the revolutionary 
 armies, yet his chief merit was as a civilian. I know that he ad- 
 mired, revered, and almost adored the father of his country for the 
 public ser\'ices performed by him after the peace of '83. When that 
 peace was negotiated, and our independence as one of the nations of 
 the earth acknowledged, then commenced a controversy, as to the 
 formation of a new government, more important in its results than 
 the conflict between the colonies and the crown of Great Britain. 
 This controversy was maintained through a series of years, and, at 
 times, the result was quite as doul)tful, and gave Washington as much 
 anxiety as he ever felt in the darkest hours of the Revolution. In 
 1786, he says : — " No morn ever dawned more favorably than our's 
 did — and no day was ever more clouded than the present. Wisdom 
 and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political 
 machine from the impending storm." Again-*-" How melancholy is 
 the reflection, that in so short a time we should have made such large 
 strides towards fulfilling the prediction of our transatlantic foes ! 
 'Leave them to themselves and their government will soon dissolve.' 
 Will not the wise and good strive to avert this evil ? Or will their 
 supineness suffer ignorance, and the arts of self-interested, designing, 
 
 4 
 
(20) 
 
 disaffected and desperate characters, to involve this country in wretch- 
 edness and contempt." Had these characters succeeded — his predic- 
 tion would have been realized : — " Thirteen sovereignties pulling 
 against each other, and all tugging at the federal head — will soon 
 bring ruin on the whole." But they did not succeed. Washington 
 led the opposing host, and he was again the victor. 
 
 This was the victory that Daniel Webster delighted to celebrate ; 
 the successful combatants in this civil strife were the cherished ob- 
 jects of his admiration and regards ; to them he considered the coun- 
 try, and the friends of liberty every where, under the deepest obliga- 
 tion ; in their praise he was always eloquent. They gave us the 
 Union, and the Constitution, and without Union and the Constitution 
 what would have the Revolution been worth ? It would have been 
 worse than nothing. The result of the war would have been more 
 disastrous than our former condition. 
 
 The history of this country between the peace of '83 down to the 
 close of Washington's administration, was, in the judgment of Mr. 
 Webster, of all others the most interesting and instructive to the 
 American people, and it was his intention to write that history him- 
 self. He had, for some time, meditated this work, and he was fully 
 prepared to perform it, as soon as his official term had expired. 
 
 By the aid of Washington the Constitution was made and adopted — 
 under his administration it was put in successful operation. But this 
 was not enough — nor was it enough that Washington had committed, 
 in the most solemn and affecting manner, the guardianship of the 
 Union to the American people, as the great palladium of their liberty, 
 nor that its beneficent results had outstripped the predictions of its 
 most sanguine advocates. Patriotism had yet a work to perform in 
 defending and preserving it. Opponents of the Constitution were 
 found Avho professed to see defects in it which rendered its preserva- 
 tion not desirable ; and who, unless its provisions could be executed 
 according to their construction of their intent and meaning, were 
 willing to see the United Government abolished. Such men there have 
 been — numerous, active and influential, but they found in Daniel 
 Webster, while he lived, an opponent always able to refute their 
 arguments, demolish tl»eir theories, and defeat their purposes. 
 
 Daniel Webster was the son of a revolutionary soldier — a contempo- 
 rary of Washington — like him, the father of Webster was born a British 
 subject, like him he had periled his life for his king. Like Washington 
 in the maturity of his years, and in the ripeness of his judgment, ap- 
 pealing to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the rectitude of his 
 
(27) 
 
 intentions, he had cast off his allegiance to his king, and taken arms 
 against his government. In the revolutionary war, under the com. 
 mand of Washington, he had often periled his life for his country. 
 His soul was imbued with the principles of Washington, whom he 
 admired above all other men. He believed in God and Washington. 
 Washington was for the Union — and so was the father of Daniel 
 Webster — Washington presided in the Convention that formed the 
 Constitution, and recommended it to the adoption of the American 
 people, and Captain Webster was for it, mind, heart and soul. He 
 hated tyranny ; he loved liberty, he loved his country, and this hatred 
 and these loves he imparted to his children ; they were received into 
 the heart of young Daniel as seed sown in a rich soil, destined to 
 bring forth an abundant harvest. Often during the long winter eve- 
 nings, around the domestic hearth, had the veteran soldier related the 
 story of his perils, his privations, and his sufferings ; often had he 
 dwelt with enthusiasm on the character of his great chief, the leader 
 of the American army. Fancy can hardly forbear to conjecture what 
 was the appearance of the young statesman when he heard his vene- 
 rated father tell of the wars, the old French war, and the " last war," 
 and heard him dilate on the character of Washington. Methinks I 
 hear the quick and strong pulsations of his heart, and see his big eye 
 glowing, his lip curled, and his fist clenched. 
 
 The following apostrophe is taken from a poetical epistle written 
 by Mr. Webster in February, 1601, a little more than a year after 
 the decease of Washington : 
 
 " Ah! Washington, thou once didst guide the helm. 
 And point each danger to our infant realm. 
 Didst show the gulf, where factious tempests sweep, 
 And the big thunders frolic o'er the deep. 
 Through the red wave did lead our barque, nor stood 
 Like Moses, on the other side the flood. 
 But thou art gone — yes gone, and we deplore 
 The man — the Washington we knew before. 
 But when thy spirit mounted to the sky, 
 And scarce beneath thee left a tearless eye. 
 Tell — what Elisha then thy mantle caught. 
 Warmed with thy virtue, with thy wisdom fraught." 
 
 Soon he was taught that the result of the contest was the new 
 Constitution ; that was the conclusion of the whole matter. In that 
 were garnered up all the trophies that valor, patriotism and \visdom 
 had won ; that was to form a more perfect union, and perpetuate the 
 blessings of liberty, and to that Constitution his heart clung as to a 
 cherished object of affection. 
 
I, 28 ) 
 
 With a miiul and heart ijubuod with these opinions ami loolinirj=, 
 Paniol Wobstor givw up to numhocxl. Vajising over, tor the prosout. 
 his aoadiMuio lito, and his brilliant oaroor in tho Honse of Uoproson- 
 tativos. wo tind him in tho Senate of the Vnited States. Hero ho was 
 coinpellod to enoountor the powerful advocates of the doetrine put 
 tbrth bv one of the Soveroijin States of the Vnion, by whioh the au- 
 thosity was ohiinuHl for a State to deoUuv a law of Couixross null and 
 void. This divtrine was advocated on the tloor of the Senate, in a 
 speech distinguished by groat ability ; a speech whioh not oidy at- 
 tacked the Constitutional principles which Mr. Webster had learned 
 in the school of Washington, but assiiiled with bold invective the in- 
 habitants of New England, and esj>ecially of Massachusetts, The 
 speech deniauded an answer — that:u\swer must come from Mr. ^^ eb- 
 ster. The eyes of the whole country wei-o turned to him. He was 
 peculiarly situated: it happened that at the time he had a professional 
 eng-agement in the Supivme Court ot the United Slates, to argue a 
 cause of gi-eat magnitude and importance for the State of New \ork. 
 Ho was acting, too, with a piirty composed of pei-sons drawn from both 
 the old political org^anizations. Their views upon constitutional ques- 
 tions wer>? supposed to ditier. He might defer his professional en- 
 gagement, but how he should be able to speak out with boldness his 
 known views on the great constitutional question under discussion, 
 without giving oftense to some ot' bis political associates, w"as not 
 easilv seen. In this emergency on the mominir of the dav when his 
 reply w^s to be made, he consulted an old tiiend who had tbrmoriy 
 been attached to the Republican party, and made known to him his 
 emKarrassment, staling that if he said anything he must declare his 
 own views which w-er<» well known. This friend, who v^-as Mr. Bell, 
 of New Hamjxshire, encouraged him to pn>ceed in his own way, say- 
 ing it was time the truth should be told. '* Then," said Mr. Webster, 
 " by the Messing of God, it shall be told this day." The speech was 
 made, and we all know ihe r^-sult. Never v\-as the theory of the 
 Con- . more clearly declared, and nothing could be more over- 
 
 whiL . .; :, >aan the argiunent opposed to nuUncation. Nordidhe toilet 
 to repel the attack upon New England, while he feiiled not to render 
 all due honor to the past history, and the distinguished men of the 
 State whose n?prv>sentative made the assault. The political heresy 
 of nuUitication was prv>strated by this single blow — never, I hope, to 
 rise again. The Constitution may be overthrown by open rebellion, 
 but never paralyzed by the eiervise of powers conferred or authorized 
 by itself. Fv r this service Mr. Webster received unmeasured praise 
 
(29) 
 
 from all the free States, and great numbers rif penoos residing in the 
 slave-holding .State.?. 
 
 But time rolled on through twentv years, and another criei* arises ; 
 again the Union is threatened with dissolution. This state of things 
 had been produced by a course of measures in Congress, -n hich Mr. 
 Webster had steadily and resolutely resisted. But resistance was In 
 vain, and the disastrous result Is now seen and felt in angry, and ap- 
 parently irreconcilable sectional strife. What shall be done ? That 
 there was real and imminent danger, the most experienced, able, and 
 patriotic member? of Congress, attached to both political {»rtieg, ad- 
 mitted, and proclaimed. Who shall allay this striie ? Again the 
 eyes of the whole country are turned to Webster with intense anx- 
 iety. He seems Yeluctant to break silence, preferring that the desired 
 result should be brought about by others. He hesitates, because he 
 knows that, this time, it will be necessary that multitudes at the north, 
 who had forgotten their obligations to the Constitution, should be re- 
 buked, and he would fain be excused fit>m administenng that rebuke. 
 But peace comes not, the passions of men become more and more 
 exasperated, and preparations are contemplated for a conflict of arms. 
 Sense of duty will not permit him longer to remain silent, and on the 
 ' 7th of March, 1*50, Mr. Webster made his speech not less celebrated 
 than that in reply to General Hayae. The effect of this speech was 
 fiiTorable upon the country, but it brought upon its author such a 
 storm of indignation as he had never before experienced- Of this 
 production I mean to say nothing in commendatioo. at this time, but 
 of this I am as fully satisfied as I can be, of any fact which none but 
 the Searcher of Hearts can certainly know, that in delirering it Mr. 
 Webster was impelled by the highest sense of duty. What he said 
 was the result of the most profound meditation ; he knew precisely 
 what he uttered ; he imderstood the full import of every proposition 
 advanced, and the whole had the sanction, not only of his judgment, 
 but his conscience. Nor did subsequent reflection, after he had 
 learned all the objections to his coui^e, bring ^"ilh it any regrets. In 
 the legislative action required to pass the Compromise Measures, and 
 give them the force of law, Mr. Webster co-operated with others, and 
 indeed followed the lead of others. Whose individual exertion, where 
 so many distinguished men exerted themselves, was most powerful in 
 bringing about this result, it may be difficult to decide. But, afier 
 the measures became laws, there was yet a work to perform, and in 
 this work Mr. Webster's individual exertions and influence far ex- 
 ceeded those of any other man in the country. Here he stood with- 
 
(30) 
 
 GUI a rival : none could compete with him. This consisted in recon- 
 ciiins the people to the laws which their representatives had passed. 
 To one of these laws resistance was proclaimed — such resistance, it 
 was declared, was not only justified but demanded by the laws of God 
 himselt^ Under these circumstances, it became highly expedient that 
 the law should be upheld by public sentiment — that sentiment re- 
 quir^ii to be enlightened, and reasoned with. Mr. Webster came 
 direcilr before the people, and to them he made his appeals. He 
 found and made occasions to address letters, and prepare other docu- 
 ments designed for publication, which were circulated by the public 
 press of the country. He travelled through the State of Xew \ ork, 
 and addressed the people assembled in large masses, at favorable 
 pointss alons the great highways of the State. Never, on any occa- 
 sions, were Mr. Websters addresses more earnest, and eloquent : 
 never more elaborately prepared. The speeches at Buffalo and 
 Ubany were unsurpassed by any similar efforts of his own. With 
 what admiration, mixed with wonder, do we contemplate our depart- 
 ed friend, on the verse of three score years and ten, imder the pres- 
 sure of disease, standing, for two hours, at Buffalo, in the open air, 
 drenched with rain, arguing, pleading with his assembled countrymen 
 in strains of eloquence never surpassed by Demosthenes. Read that 
 speech at Buffalo, my young friends — it is one of the finest models that 
 you can study. 
 
 I mar as well in this place, speak of the maimer in which Mr. 
 Webster was accustomed to address popular assemblies ; it is well 
 worthy of imi'"'' ". His preparation wr such addresses was as 
 ihoroush and e.-,.. .-:e as for addresses to the Senate, or the Supreme 
 Court of the United States. He never aimed to amuse his auditors ; 
 but he sousht their instruction. His deference and respect for the 
 pcpolar tribunal, seemed as great as that which he uniformly mani- 
 fested for the senators or the Cotirts of law. I remember on one oc- 
 casion to have visited, in company vriih Mr. Webster and others, 
 some manufacturing establishments in the State of New Jersey. 
 When the workmen had a recess for dinner, many of them came, in 
 their working costume, to see him, and Mr. Webster was requested 
 t^ v-Z'-ess them from the balcony of the hotel; he did so for three 
 ___ .rs of an hour, giving utterance, in pure and simple English, to 
 trreat truths, which it concerned them, as men and citizens, to know. 
 What he said was listened to with profound attention, evidently under- 
 giood and tiiliy appreciated. His hearers, to the number of about four 
 hundred, departed with a feeling of self-respect, arising from the &ct, 
 
(31) 
 
 that thej had receired, from a distinguished person, not flatterr, Irjt 
 tlie respect due to them as men and republicans. 
 
 In the year 1837, Mr. Webster vivited the Western States for the 
 purpose of making himself more thoroughly acquainted with the in- 
 habitants of those States and their resources. He was met and 
 greeted on the route by large masses of citizens, and his addresses to 
 them were frequenL It was at this time, when seeing the reports of 
 these addresses, that the renerable John Quincy Adams remarked to 
 a friend, that Webster was doing more good than any man in the 
 country. Indeed it may well be questioned whether any public man, 
 whose desire is to preserve the institutions of the country, can do 
 more good than to make plain, well considered, oral addresses to the 
 people themselve on political subjects. But efforts of this sort can 
 never succeed unless he who makes them deals honestly aud fairly 
 with his subject ; like Mr. Webster he must state facts truly, and 
 reason ingenuously, with an evident desire to arrive at the truth. In 
 speaking of Mr. Webster as a debater, his £reat rival, Calhoun, re- 
 marked to Mr. Bayly, a member of the House of Representatives, 
 from Virginia, that he was remarkable in thi?, that he always stated 
 the argument of his opponent (airly and lx)ldly met it. He had even 
 seen him slate the ari---'" • nt of his opponent more forcibly than his 
 opponent had stated n . .i', and if he could not answer it, he would 
 never undertake to weaken it by his representatiou. Mr. Webster, 
 more than any statesman of his day or generation, may be regarded 
 as a great public instructor.- He instructed bis own profession, he 
 exhorted young men in College — hear him discourse to the students oi 
 South Carolina College : — 
 
 ** Let me say to each of you, ** Cai-pe Ditm^"' art is long, and 
 science profound ; and literature in our day is various and eilensive. 
 But you have youth and health and the means of culture and improve- 
 ment, and can accomplish great objects. With you it is the briffht 
 and breezy mom of life. A long day, I irujit, is before you. Let me 
 advise you to be early in prosecuting the great work, which in that 
 day is to be done. Like the morning of the natural day, let the morn- 
 ing of life begin with devotion to the Great Giver of all good, and let 
 every succeeding hour of that life be filled with acts of duty and friend- 
 ship, and private and public beneficence. The evening of such life 
 will be full of hopes for a better, and all will be cheered and consoled 
 by 
 
 " tint which riioald lecompaaj- old age. 
 
 As honor, k>ve, obedienee, troops of friends. 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 " Young gentlemen, all my good wishes attend you ! May you 
 here sow, with liberal broadcast, the seeds of a future harvest of 
 honor to yourselves, gratification to your friends, and usefulness to 
 your country." 
 
 He instructed his fellow-citizens in their political rights and civil 
 duties — he instructed states and nations in the law which should gov- 
 ern their intercourse with each other ; and through all his instruc- 
 tion, there is an infusion of high-toned morality — Christian morality. 
 Nor in communicating instruction did he overlook the sex, which he 
 honored, as he honored his own mother, to whose maternal tenderness 
 and early teachings, he acknowledged himself chiefly indebted for 
 whatever excellencies were found in his OAvn character, and what- 
 ever eminence among his fellow-men his exertions enabled him to 
 attain. No man knew better than himself, the obligations which 
 American liberty was under to the mothers and wives, and sisters, 
 who sent forth their sons, their husbands, and their brothers to suffer 
 hunger and cold, and nakedness — the privation of every domestic 
 comfort, and meet death itself, in the Revolutionary contest ; regret- 
 ting to part with them, hoping to meet them again, but desiring above 
 all things, that they should acquit themselves like freemen, and willing 
 to see their faces no more for ever, if the cause of Independence and 
 Liberty required the sacrifice of their lives. 
 
 Hear him discourse to the ladies of Richmond, Virginia : — " If we 
 draw within the circle of our contemplation the mothers of a civilized 
 nation, what do we see ? We behold so many artificers working, not 
 on frail and perishable matter, but on the immortal mind, moulding 
 and fashioning beings who are to exist forever. We applaud the artist 
 whose skill and genius present the mimic man upon the canvas ; we 
 admire and celebrate the sculptor who works out the same image in 
 enduring marble ; but how insignificant are these achievements, 
 though the highest and the fairest in all the departments of art, in 
 comparison with the great vocation of human mothers ! They work 
 not upon the canvas that shall fade, or the marble that shall crumble 
 into dust, but upon mind, upon spirit, which is to last forever, and 
 which is to bear, for good or evil, throughout its duration, the impress 
 of a mother's plastic hand." 
 
 Will the ladies present allow me to commend to their perusal and 
 study the whole of this noble address, which treats their sex not as 
 triflers, demanding only from man expressions of admiration for their 
 charms, but as immortal beings who have important duties to perform, 
 and high responsibilities to dischaige. 
 
(33) 
 
 It is fortunate for mankind that the lessons of wisdom inculcated 
 by Mr. Webster are on record ; that this record has been made up 
 under his own supervision. It cannot be obliterated or altered — the 
 world has it ; by that record he will be judged ; and to that judgment 
 i know that Daniel Webster looked forward with calmness and with 
 confidence. However he might be regarded by his contemporaries, 
 he believed that posterity would do him justice. 
 
 I cannot but think that in the colleges and halls of learning of his 
 native land, there ought to be cherished for the memory of Daniel 
 Webster a feeling of gratitude, not entertained for any statesman 
 among the living or the dead. In a country where eloquence is des- 
 tined, through all time, to exert a powerful influence, and the attain- 
 ment of it to be one of the highest objects of ambition, he has, by 
 unwearied study, and the exercise of the most exquisite taste, furnish- 
 ed models of this noble art — models by which coming generations of 
 American citizens will be taught how to think clearly, reason fairly, 
 and clothe thought in the purest and simplest English. It is glory 
 enough for every American that Webster's language is his native 
 tongue. 
 
 The great annual celebration of this time-honored institution, a 
 century hence, will, I doubt not, find her ample halls crowded with 
 the votaries of learning. If then permission should be granted to those 
 among the illustrious dead, whose works had been most carefully 
 preserved here, and whose memory had here been cherished with the 
 fondest admiration, to be present at the scene, clothed in their mortal 
 habiliments, we may well suppose that eager curiosity would first seek 
 out among the vast multitude, Demosthenes, and Cicero, and Web- 
 ster, even before the cry was heard — v/here are Homer, and Virgil, 
 and Milton ? 
 
 But the claims of Mr. Webster to the gratitude of his country rest 
 on other services than those to which I have referred. He was con- 
 nected, for a few years, under two appointments, with the Executive 
 department of the Governments. Here he had an opportunity of 
 showing his administrative ability, and if no other records remained 
 of Mr. Webster's public services, than those to be found in the de- 
 partment of State, there would be sufficient to place him among the 
 most distinguished statesmen of his country, and the most renowned 
 publicists of the world. 
 
 In conducting the foreign relations of the country, he constantly 
 aimed to accomplish two great leading objects : 
 
 1st. The maintenance of peace ; honorable peace with all nations. 
 
 5 
 
(34) 
 
 2d. To cause liis country to bo regarded as one of the great na- 
 tions of the world, and respected, honored and feared as such. 
 
 What he did in furtherance of these objects, is well known, and 
 need not here be specified, especially what he did to establish peace 
 between this country and Great Britain, upon a firm and enduring 
 foundation, by the adjustment of existing controversies, and removing 
 all causes of discord and hostility. The treaty of Washington was 
 negotiated between Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton. By this treaty 
 the north-eastern boundary of the country was fairly and satisfactorily 
 settled ; proper satisfaction and apology were obtained for an aggres- 
 sion on the soil and territory of the United States ; proper and safe 
 stipulations were entered into for the fulfillment of the duty of this 
 Government, and for meeting the earnest desire of the people in sup- 
 pressing the slave trade ; in pursuance of these stipulations, a degree 
 of success in the attainment of that object was reached wholly un- 
 known before ; crimes, disturbing the peace of the two nations, were 
 suppressed ; the safety of the Southern coasting trade was secured ; 
 impressment of seamen was struck out of the list of contested questions 
 among the nations, and finally, and more than all, much was done to 
 add lustre to the American name and character. 
 
 The letter to M. Hulsemann was extensively read abroad, and it 
 made known to the governments and people of Europe, more than any 
 state paper ever issued before had done, the resources and power of 
 the great Republic of the world. Millions were then reminded, and 
 many for the first time learned, that " the power of this republic, at 
 the present moment, is spread over a region, one of the richest and most 
 fertile on the globe, and of an extent in comparison with which the 
 possessions of the House of Hapsburg are but as a patch on the earth's 
 surface. Its population, already twenty-five millions, will exceed that 
 of the Austrian Empire within the period during which it may be 
 hoped that M. Hulsemann may yet remain in the honorable discharge 
 of his duties to his government. Its navigation and commerce are hardly 
 exceeded by the oldest and most commercial nations ; its maritime means, 
 and its mairtime power, may be seen by Austria herself, in all the seas 
 where she has ports, as well as it may be seen also in other quarters of 
 the globe. Life, liberty, property, and all personal rights arc amply se- 
 cured to all citizens and protected by just and stable laws ; and credit, 
 public and private, is as well established as in any government in Con- 
 tinental Europe. And the country, in all its interests andconc erns, 
 partakes most largely in all the improvements and progress which dis- 
 tinguish the age. Certainly the United States may be pardoned, even 
 
(35) 
 
 by those who profess adherence to the principles of absolute govern- 
 ments, if ihey entertain an ardent affection for those popular forms of 
 political organization which have so rapidly advanced their own pros- 
 perity and happiness, and enabled them in so shortaperiodtobringtheir 
 country, and hemisphere to which it belongs, to the notice and respectful 
 regard, not to say admiration, of the civilized world." That masterly 
 document, which may be called official, and which has been trans- 
 lated in many of the languages of Europe, ' Mr. Webster's address 
 on laying the corner stone of the enlarged capitol of the United States,' 
 was prepared for a like purpose as the letter to M. Hulsemann. It 
 may be truly said that the government of the United States, and the 
 true character and tendency of our institutions, were never so well 
 known and so highly honored and respected, throughout the civilized 
 and uncivilized world, as at this moment ; and that Mr. Webster has 
 contributed more largely to this result than any one of his cotempo- 
 raries. This is something to say for the son of a New England farmer, 
 whose eyes first opened upon the light of day amid the snow drifts of 
 New Hampshire, seventy-one years ago this day. 
 
 The practical ability and efficiency of Mr. Webster as an adminis- 
 trative officer can not be fully learned from his official dispatches as 
 Secretary of State ; they can be known by those only whose inter- 
 course with him, officially, made them acquainted with his admirable 
 tact, address, industry and skill in the management of negotiations, 
 and dispatching the business of the State Department. It has been 
 thought by many of Mr. Webster's most intimate and intelligent 
 friends, that his ability as an executive officer of the Government sur- 
 passed his ability as a Senator and oral debater. 
 
 I now proceed to consider another topic. 
 
 The doctrine always avowed by political conventions, of entire and 
 unhesitating belief that the people are capable of self-government, 
 was heartily embraced by Mr. Webster, without any mental reserva- 
 tion. It requires very little sagacity to see that if this proposition is 
 not true, the experiment of Republican Government must fail, and the 
 question is only one of time when this disastrous result shall be made 
 manifest. 
 
 This faith of Mr. Webster's was not one without works ; it was a 
 living, active faith. He believed, too, that a majority of tiie people had 
 a right to govern. No statesman in our country ever did so much to 
 establish principles by which the judgment of a majority should be fully 
 ascertained and fairly expressed. His own habit, as has been shown, 
 was, whenever it was practicable, to appeal directly to the people, in 
 
(36) 
 
 the employment of {Iiir arguments, and by a candid statement of the 
 case. That the people themselves were gratified by this mode of 
 proceeding is shown by the undeniable fact, that no public man in 
 the country, during a long course of years, ever drew audiences to hear 
 him speak, so numerous as those who waited on Mr. Webster. The 
 speeches of no other man were ever published by the press of the 
 coimtry with so much alacrity, and read with so much avidity. He 
 sought, too, to keep the channels open and clear through which the 
 public sentiment ordinarily flowed. That the will of the majority 
 should be obeyed, every republican professes to believe, but how that 
 will shall be ascertained, so as to secure the admitted right of the 
 majority, is a problem of difficult solution, in the practical working of 
 our popular systems. That fraud and intrigue are constantly at work 
 to make that appear to be the sense of the community which never 
 received the approbation of the majority, is well knovv'n. In justifi- 
 cation of such proceedings, the principle, after being long acted upon 
 without avowal, has been unblushingly proclaimed that " all is fair 
 in politics." This principle has received the scorching rebuke of 
 Mr. Webster, as has every other principle, and every practice in our 
 country, designed or calculated to defeat a fair expression of the po- 
 pular will. He has labored, too, more than any other public man, 
 to have that will directed Ijy right principle. The elective fran- 
 chise, as he has shown, rightly viewed, is a trust in the hands of every 
 citizen entitled to exercise it. He may have the power, but he has 
 not the right to exercise this franchise capriciously, to gratify his 
 private whims, or partialities, or antipathies, but he is bound to exer- 
 cise it for the benefit of the whole community. He has endeavored, 
 by the whole force of his talent, to work this principle into the public 
 mind, and call to its support the public conscience, wisely judging 
 that right principle, in morals or in politics, which are a part of morals, 
 is the source of right action. 
 
 In his last speech delivered on the floor of the Senate, he exposed 
 the fallacy of the pernicious doctrine that the representative is bound 
 to sacrifice his own will and judgment, and speak the will of his con- 
 stituents. Who were his own constituents as a Senator ? The peo- 
 pie of Massachusetts — but \}e held to the doctrine that as a senator of 
 the United States, he was entrusted with the interests of the whole 
 people of the United States ; he was under obligations to seek, by all 
 that he did, not the welfare and prosperity of a part only, but of the 
 whole. 
 
 In the State of Rhode Island, an attempt was made, a few years 
 
(37) 
 
 ago, to collect the sense of the people, by an unorganized assembly, 
 without the forms of law, but Mr. Webster showed that the proceed- 
 ing was contrary to American Repulilican usage. That by this usage 
 there must be a regular action of popular power, that such action 
 placed upon Republican liberty the most beautiful face that ever 
 adorned her angel form. All was regular and harmonious in its fea- 
 tures, and gentle in its operation. The stream of public authority, 
 under American liberty, running in this channel, has the strength of 
 the Missouri, while its waters are as transparent as a crystal lake. 
 It is powerful for good. It produces no tumult, no violence and no 
 wrong : 
 
 " Though deep, yet clear — though gentle, yet not dull ; 
 Strong without rage — without o'erflowing, full." 
 
 Yet, after all, what is popular liberty itself, without restraints which 
 the people are willing to impose on themselves. Whence come these 
 restraints, but from intelligence to see their necessity, and moral and 
 religious sentiment to guide that intelligence ? What man has ever 
 more insisted upon the cultivation of the sentiment inspired by morality 
 and religion, as essential to the preservation of liberty, than Mr. 
 Webster ? Almost every page of his voluminous works is radiant 
 with such teachings. 
 
 Nor has his practice been inconsistent with these precepts. He 
 has insisted always upon good faith and just dealing in all the trans- 
 actions between State and State, and nation and nation. 
 
 The just, clear, and profound views of American liberty, entertain- 
 ed by Mr. Webster, and his strenuous and enlightened efforts to guard 
 the foundations of that liberty, and to support and rear yet higher its 
 superstructure, constitute his glory as a statesman. 
 
 It is proper that I should speak of Mr. Webster as a member of the 
 bar. Before he decided to pursue the profession of the law, he de- 
 liberated profoundly on the subject, and he thus concludes a letter to 
 a friend, written when he was twenty years old : — "If I prosecute the 
 profession, I pray God to fortify me against its temptations. To the 
 winds I dismiss those light hopes of eminence which ambition inspired, 
 and vanity fostered. To be ' honest, to be capable, to be faithful ' to 
 my client and to my conscience, I earnestly hope will be my first en- 
 deavor. I believe you, my worthy boy, when you tell me what are 
 your intentions. I have long known and loved the honesty of your 
 heart. But let us not rely too much on ourselves — let us look to some 
 less fallible guide to direct us among the temptations that surround us." 
 
(38) 
 
 Before the Charleston Bar, in 1847, he said — " Let me say, gentle- 
 men, that I love our common profession, and I love all who honor it. 
 I regard it as the ornament, and one of the chief defenses and securi- 
 ties of free institutions. It is indispensable to, and conservative of 
 public liberty. I honor it from the bottom of my heart. If I am any 
 thing, it is the lavi' — that noble profession, that sublime science which 
 we all pursue — that has made me what I am. The law has been my 
 chief stimulus, my controling and abiding hope, nay, I might almost 
 say, my presiding genius and guardian angel." 
 
 I have not the slightest doubt that Mr. Webster is more indebted 
 to the mental training and discipline of the bar, for his eminence as a 
 logician, and a debater, than to any other cause whatever. There is 
 no profession or calling that so thoroughly disciplines the intellectual 
 powers, as the study of the law, and practice in the courts, provided 
 always, that one has the good fortune to meet able opponents, and 
 practices under the eye of a learned and discriminating bench. The 
 man who is to be followed in debate by a keen and watchful opponent, 
 capable of wielding the weapons of logic, ridicule and sarcasm, and an 
 able and learned judge, will be careful what statement of facts he 
 makes, what propositions he lays down, and what arguments he em- 
 ploys. Beyond all doubt, Mr. Webster's friend, Jeremiah Mason, 
 was greatly instrumental in training him for the great intellectual con- 
 tests in which he afterwards engaged. At the bar, too, his powers 
 have been more tasked, his mind more severely exercised, than in any 
 other branch of his pursuits. I have no doubt, that a greater amount of 
 thought was bestowed on his brief, and employed in his argument, in 
 the Dartmouth College case, than was required to negotiate the treaty 
 of Washington, or to make any one of his senatorial efforts, not ex- 
 cepting the reply to General Hayne. 
 
 The cases in law, in which questions of great public interest and 
 importance were discussed by Mr. Webster, and some of which are 
 settled in conformity with his views, are : 
 1st. The Dartmouth College case. 
 
 In this case, the Legislature of New Hampshire passed an act to 
 enlarge and improve the charter of Dartmouth College. The question 
 was, whether that charter could be altered without the consent of the 
 corporators, a question in which all colleges, and charitable institu- 
 tions, endowed by those who founded the same, have a deep interest. 
 All these, Mr. Webster contended, had a common principle of exist- 
 ence, the inviolability of their charters. He succeeded, by one the 
 most learned and logical arguments ever heard in a court of justice, 
 in maintaining their inviolability. 
 
(39) 
 
 2d. The second was the case of Gibbons & Ogden, in which the 
 argument was made in 1824. 
 
 This case came up on an appeal from the highest court of law and 
 equity in the State of New York, which gave an exclusive right to 
 Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton, and their assigns, to navi- 
 gate all the waters within the jurisdiction of the State, was unconsti- 
 tutional and void. Mr. Webster demonstrated this proposition, and 
 the decision of the State of New York, concurred in by all the dis- 
 tinguished members of the judiciary of that State, were overruled, and 
 freedom given to steam navigation in the waters of New York. 
 
 3d. The case of the Girard Will, in which Mr. Webster vindicated 
 the Christian ministry, and demonstrated the necessity of the religious 
 instruction of the young. 
 
 4th. The Rhode Island case. This case fully sets forth, elucidates, 
 and vindicates the principles upon which political organizations are 
 formed, and maintained, according to American republican usage. 
 
 It remains that I should briefly refer to Mr. Webster as an agri- 
 culturist. He loved agriculture — he was a practical as well as a 
 scientific farmer. His public speeches in England, and in this coun- 
 try at agricultural exhibitions, have been extensively published, and 
 are contained in his works. Mr. Webster understood practical agri- 
 culture in all its branches — rotation of crops — manuring — planting and 
 growth of trees — rearing of stock, &c. When absent from one or 
 both of his farms, he corresponded with his overseers as to all the de- 
 tails of farming operations. This correspondence will, no doubt, be 
 published, and will form an interesting and useful addition to his 
 works. He took great pleasure in the pursuits of practical agricul- 
 ture — but a few days before his death, he caused his stock to be driven 
 up and exhibited to him on his lawn, in front of his house. 
 
 I have thus very briefly and imperefectly sketched the character of 
 Mr. Webster in his j)rivate and domestic relations, and also as an 
 orator, debater, statesman, lawyer, and agriculturist ; allow me, in 
 conclusion, once more to refer to his habits of industry. 
 
 I have said that 1 once met him at Albany ; I will give you the his 
 tory of his employments that day, as illustrating his ability to labor, 
 (and this is by no means a singular one,) at that period of his life. 
 He was then sixty-nine years old, and not in the enjoyment of good 
 health. He rose, we have seen, at three o'clock in the morning ; he 
 employed himself until breakfast time in preparing his speech — he 
 then went to breakfast with the Governor of the State — after break- 
 fast he was accompanied by the Governor on a visit to the public in- 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 stitutions of Albany— at eleven o'clock he was waited on by the ladies 
 of ihat plact — al one o'clock he addressed several thousand citizens 
 in the open air, an hour and a half— at the conclusion of his speech 
 he was a«niin waited on by such gentlemen as chose to call — after- 
 wards he dined wiih several hundred of the young men of Albany, 
 where there was the usual amount of public speaking, and he was 
 called upon and addressed the gentlemen present in a speech distin- 
 guished for eloquence. Afterwards a torch-light procession was form- 
 ed, ami accompanied him to the steam-boat, destined for New York — 
 there he took leave of Governor Hunt and other friends, and at ten 
 o'clock at night retired to his state-room. 
 
 Now here was a day of active, and, for a portion of it, severe men- 
 tal exercise, for nineteen hours continuously. Let me ask — " is there 
 a member of the Senior Class present who would not have fainted in 
 such a day of trial ?" Yet I can bear testimony that so far from being 
 exhausted by these labors, Mr. Webster made his appearance on the 
 deck of the steam-boat before sun-rise the next morning, as fresh and 
 clear as I ever saw him. I took leave of him at a very early hour at 
 the Astor House, and again saw him, by appointment, after breakfast. 
 Yet, gentlemen I there are Americans who tell us — I could not write 
 what 1 am about to say, without blotting the manuscript with my tears — 
 there are Americans who tell us that the mind of Daniel Welister has, 
 for years past, been daily besotted by sensual indulgence — that mind 
 which was always active, except during the hours of sleep, working 
 out important conclusions by clear processes of thought — that mind 
 which for thirty years has been laboring, with the power of a steam- 
 engine, for the benefit of the country — and the results are before the 
 world — that mind which, down to the very hour, and in the very article 
 of death, was as clear as the setting sun without a cloud, and as lumin- 
 ous too — that mind which, as I believe, for the very purpose of assert- 
 ing its superiority over the weak and sinking body, in the very em- 
 brace of death, dictated the cry, in a voice as loud and clear as that 
 which I now utter, " I yet live." Yes ! — thine enemies live also — 
 but thy country, that country which thou hast loved, and served, and 
 honored, will guard thy fame — enjov thy repose, illustrious im- 
 mortal ! 
 
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