t . ^ # \ TNIT-ED STATIS ()1.A-ME1UCA. J y I' I I'LICATK I'n.jii ilic I'lihli,- J.ihiyiy ol'ihu Citv of Ho>i-H,. // ^ / " Xx ^p^l^'^^^^. SEVENTY «ECON I) ANNIVERSARY BIRTHDAY c<-yv CELEBRATED RY A NUMBKR OP HI8 PERSONAL FRiKND.S 3»:ox7»3e:, IS THE CIE^Up of Ifto Ink. JAXtAKV T«, iH54. >. E W YORK: My Daniel Webster," if he had not been struck down before his time by that last enemy, who cannot be resisted by mortal man. When I consider these things, and remember all the past, I am tempted to adopt the language of Fisher Ames, and say, " My heart, penetrated with the recol- lection of the man, grows liquid as I speak, and I could pour it out like water," Rev. Dr. Adams, being called upon, made the follow- ing remarks : Mr. Chairman : I respond to the sentiment uttered by our friend Mr. Ketchum, that the emotions inspired by this occa- sion are of a mixed character. We are «tssembled on the anniversary of that day which gave birth to one whom we loved and honored. It is an occasion for rendering; joyful thanks to the benignant Providence who has hith- erto watched over the fortunes of our native land, I feel disposed, sir, joyfully to congratulate our country on having given birth to so illustrious a man ; a man so sig- nally fitted and prepared, by every quality, to meet those great exigencies through which our country has passed during the continuance of his mortal -life. We congratu- late ourselves, amidst many pleasant memories, that we were permitted to enjoy his personal acquaintance and society ; and standing here, at the head-spring of a 4 34 stream which run^ so far, and swells into so vast a flood, I believe that this anniversary of his birth will hereafter be honored by all forms of most joyful remembrance. But, sir, we all feel that our bereavement is too recent for festive congratulations. For myself, I have hardly yet been able to complete m}^ self-adjustment to the con- viction that he is actually and forever gone. When he fell, it was not like the giant oak, in an open pasture, entirely alone ; rather was it, as when the monarch of the forest falls, carrying to the ground with him the trees that grew up at his side, tearing and breaking the branches which were interlaced with his own, and crush- ing the vines which leaned upon his strength. The oc- casion, therefore, is not one for light-hearted frivolity. We are met as thoughtful men, to remember one who was himself, on grave occasions, grave and thoughtful, and to recall and recount some of the lessons which his great- ness has left us» I said that he was actually and forever gone. I recall that expression. He is still with us. His life is not lost because withdrawn from our vision. It is not with us, with our country, or with the world, as though he had never lived. The true life of Mr. Webster has as yet but just begun. The stars in the firmament exert their strong attraction upon the planet in which we live as much by day, when we do not see them, as by night, when we beliold tlieir brilliancy. The mere accident of death does not subtract fi'om tlie power of good and great men, but rather adds to their inihicnce and to their ganctitv. In the words of Mr. Webster himself, memo- 35 rable, as his words always were, for their felicity,. and as we now interpret them, prophetic of tlieir own applica- tion to himself; " A superior and commanding human in- tellect, a truly great man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a temporary Ilame, burning bright for awliile and then expiring, giving place to returning dark- ness. It is rather a spark of fervent heat, as well as radi- ant light, with power to enkindle the common mass of human mind ; so that when it glimmers in its own decay, and linally goes out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire from the potent con- tact of its own spirit. Bacon died, but the human under- standing, roused by the touch of his miraculous wand, to a perception of the true philosophy, and the just mode of inquiring after truth, has kept on its course success- fully and gloriously. I^ewton died, yet the courses of the spheres are still known, and they yet move on in the orbits which he saw and described for them in the infinity of space." To which we add, Webster dies, but consti- tutional law and government maintain their stability, diffuse their blessings, and advancing ages bear testi- mony to his greatness. The posthumous influence of good and great men has this advantage, that, at death, every thing that is earthly and defective ; every thing that belongs to sect, party or section, drops off, and that which remains is the pure, simple, bright element of goodness. There are fixed stars, in our astronomy we are told, so high that the whole diameter of the earth does not make one discern- able angle to the eye of beholders, though separated 36 from one another by all that breadth of space. It would seem that this is one of the chief designs of Divine Providence, in the gift of men of extraordinary endow- ments — they are held as the common property of the race, and serve to anchor our sympathies in a common patriot- ism and humanity. The sensation which was produced in this country when Webster died, exceeded and tri- umphed over all distinctions of party, section and place. We have not forgotten that some of the most graceful tributes to his memory were uttered by men of opposite political partialities, but who were surpassed by none in honoring the wonderful workmanship of God. These political differences and antagonisms were, for once, pressed into a friendly and beautiful service ; just as you have seen the clouds, which hung around the sun through the whole day, in the hour of his setting, form a mag- nificent pavilion of gold and crimson for his reception, reflecting the glories of that luminary which they could neither hide nor hinder. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, while the representa- tives of law and justice delight ever to speak of him who was the admiration of the forum ; while the representa- tives of commerce, some of whom I see at this table, will not withhold their tribute from him, to whose legis- lation they owe so much for protection and success in their pursuits, may I be permitted to say a single word as to the posthumous influence of the tvritings of Mr. Webster, so happily preserved in a permanent form, and presented to the public under such auspicious circum- stances. 37 These literary productions are of great variety of form and topic. Our friend, the Chairman, was just saying to me how remarkable it was that in that memorable tour through our state, where Mr. Webster so often addressed the people upon the same general subject, there was nothing like repetition in his addresses. In his writings there is nothing like stale monotony or wearisome repe- tition. On great subjects and great occasions, Mr. Web- ster's mind moved on wheels, not on hinges ; and it might surprise one, glancing at the table of contents of his writings, to see what a variety of topic is there intro- duced. They relate to constitutional jurisprudence and to the common matters of agriculture ; to the nicest ques- tions of international law, and to the humblest forms of the mechanic arts. He has celebrated the virtues of our forefathers, and bequeathed sage counsels to our children. The laws of evidence he has explained in the courts of justice ; and the laws, rights and benefits of commerce he has urged on exchange. The lessons of history he has elaborated for associations of the learned, and the laws of trade he has made simple to the humblest capacity. While there is scarcely a topic which came under his notice as a citizen, as a jurist, as a legislator, which has not been illustrated and enriched by his thoughts, one of the most elaborate of all his compositions, (I rejoice that our friend has alluded to it,) one which presents in- disputable signs of the most careful preparation in the adjustment of its thoughts and in the choice of its words, is that argument in which he has expressed his sentiments concerning the Christian ministry, and the religious in- 38 struction of the young. I have often thought of suggest- ing to those who delight at every opportunity to do honor to his name, that a cheap edition of that well studied, compact argument in the case of Mr. Girard's wdll, should be issued for general distribution, embodying, as it does, in a compendious form, his deliberate sentiments con- cerning the most important of all subjects. In making a distinct reference to that production, I wish to couple with it the remark that throughout his voluminous writings you cannot find one word of irreve- rence or disrespect concerning the truth or ordinances of God. His great mind needed God and eternity for the material of his thoughts. You search in vain for a single sentence, the tendency of wdiich could be to foster doubt or to induce a skeptical spirit ; but, on the other hand, in all those productions which constitute his highest fame as a writer and a speaker, some of the most remarkable passages are those in which he has extolled the Christian religion as the great hope, protection, ornament and blessing of man. Another thing to be said of his writings, as a part of English literature, relates to their remarkable purity and simplicity of style. There is an entire absence of all pretense and affectation. There is not a particle about them of what Lord Bacon calls "seeming wise." Their power is not in "great swelling words,'' or an accumu- lation of superlative adjectives ; but in great and simple thoughts. Though some of the paragraphs from his pen, for poe- try of conception and magnificence of expression ; for the 39 march and music of their rhythm, are equal to any thing in all the affluence of the English language ; and thougli, as has been justly observed, he never concealed the care with which he elaborated many of liis sentences, yet the one great characteristic of his language is a pure, strong, transparent simplicity. Common people have a thousand times unconsciously pronounced the liiglicst encomium upon his immortal expositions of law and statesmanship, when they have affirmed, as I have heard them affirm, that it seemed to them that they could have said the same things in precisely the same way — so simple, so easy, so natural did they appear. It is the highest proof of human genius to make that appear easy which is dif- ficult. Your polished, perfect machinery works easily to the eye ; it is your half-finished, crazy mechanism that makes the noise and the clatter. Mr. Webster's familiarity with every-day life aided the development of this great honesty of speech. We all know what contempt he had for what was meretricious and artificial. Nature, in the miracle of the morning, in the glory of the stars, in the vastness of the sea, in the beauty of the woods and fields, in tlie honest faces of animals, dispossessed him of all pretense and affectation, and breathed u23on him the truthfulness of lier own calm and mighty existence. Sir, we shall hear his voice no more. His pen will never move again ; but the service which both have rendered will be immortal. It will be treasured among the crown jewels of English literature. It belongs to all who speak the English tongue. As we, in our boyhood, 40 were accustomed to rehearse those gems of forensic elo- quence with which Chatham charmed the British Senate, or Patrick Henry roused this nation to freedom, so will our children and children's children read and speak the glowing words which Webster uttered on Plj^mouth Rock, on Bunker Hill, in Faneuil Hall, at the National Capi- tol, and in all the various places which were ever graced by his presence. One of the best forms of eulogy that will ever be pronounced upon the writings of Daniel Webster, will be the suffused eye, the heaving chest, the dilating form with which not only the school-boy of future ages and remote territories, but the patriots of foreign climes will repeat his noble apostrophies to truth^ liberty, law and justice ; catching the pathos of his great words and wondering how great and kindly a heart he must have had as the reservoir of all the emotion with which his speech is freighted. His form lives on the canvas, and it will be perpetu- ated in bronze. His noble head will be chiseled in marble. Metropolitan Avealth will be ambitious of rear- ing monuments to his fame on the exchange and in the public square ; but the best monument to his greatness is that which he has reared in his own writings — his strong, earnest, simple, manly, religious, English thoughts, for these are a perfect transcript of himself. 41 Tlie followiiio' letter was received from Gov. Bradisii : '& New York, January 18, 1854. Dear Sirs: I find, at this late hour, that the uncertainty of my being in the city this evening, or, if I should be, that en- gagements, which I can neither postpone nor put aside, will necessarily deprive me of the high gratification I had promised myself in uniting with you, and other personal friends, in the proposed festival in honor of the birthday of Webster. This occasion, could I have participated in it, would have been to me one of deepest interest. It is eminently fitting and proper that this anniversary of the birthday of Webster, the second only since the hand of affection gently laid the green turf upon his fresh grave, should be duly and appropriately noticed by his personal friends. It will be to them an occasion as memorable, as it will be gratifying to all. Each one will bring, to this solemn festival to-night, some hiteresting reminiscence, or offer some appropriate thought, which together will form a living memorial of the departed, and thus tend to perpetuate his image among us. It was a beautiful custom of the ancients, that when they passed the fresh grave of an illustrious deceased, they threw upon it a pebble ; till, at length, a monument to the memory of the departed came to be erected by these humble offerings of affection and regard. In like manner the friends of Webster will come to- gether this evening, not only to mingle their warm sym- pathies and revive the sweet memories of the past, but 5 42 with the offerings of affectionate hearts, to erect an en- during memorial to him whom we loved and have lost — lost, did I say? Webster "still lives." He lives, not only in the hearts of his friends, but in the grateful recollection of his country, and in the admiration of the world. He lives, too, in the noble monuments which his own life has erected ; in the eminent public services he rendered ; the great principles of constitutional liberty and public policy he advocated ; and in the unnumbered blessings which have flowed from these upon his country and the age. It was the fortune of few of his cotemporaries to par- ticipate so largely, and become personally so intimately identified, in those leading events and great measures of the day, which ever shape the course and determine the destiny of nations. Few men, indeed, have lived in any country, in any age, who have made so deep an impres- sion uj)on the times in which they lived, or have left be- hind them more brilliant records, or more enduring monuments of their lives. Few, too, have been in their lifetime more fortunate than Webster, in the just appre- ciation of his merits by his cotemporaries, or in the judg- ment of the world upon his public life. He lived amidst the hourly manifestations of the admiration of his fellows. But, full as was his life of proofs of the high estimation of the world of his talents and public services, yet his death alone disclosed the truth which his life, brilliant and patriotic as it was, had not so fully established, viz., the strong hold he had upon the affections of his country. It had suited llie interested views and personal or party 43 objects of some, while they freely conceded to Mr. Web- ster the admiration of his country, to deny to him its affection. The impression was sought to be made that he was not popular. His death came to disabuse the public mind of this fallacy, and to dissipate to the winds these interested but unfounded pretences. With, per- haps, a single exception, no death of a public man has occurred in our country, which so profoundly moved the heart of the nation, in its lowest depths of feeling, as did that 0^ Webster. As the presence of no one, in his life- time, was, on all occasions, greeted with stronger mani- festations of respect, or warmer expressions of popular favor, so the death of no one has produced profounder or more universal sensations of grief. Both his life and his death, alike, furnish uner/ing proof of the strong hold he had, not only upon the admiration, but upon the gratitude and warm affection of his country, and estab- lish, beyond a question, his high and universal popu- larity. By popularity, I mean that high public favor which is founded upon conceded talents and eminent services ; which follows great and good deeds ; is the basis of public confidence, and true element of personal power : which gives to individual opinion its practical force ; to counsel its character of wisdom, and to personal influence and control, their strength. It is true, that to that ephemeral and evanescent popularity, which is won without merit, and lost without cause ; which a breath may blow up, and a breath destroy ; Webster was as indifferent, as he was a stranger. His manly nature could not stoop to flatter the passions or humor the pre- 44 juclices of the people in order to win their temporary favor. Neither his true regard for them, nor his own self-respect, would permit him to descend so low. He dealt more frankly and more respectfully with them. His appeals were ever to their intelligence, and his ad- dresses to their reason. His aim with them was ever a permanent conviction of truth, rather than the transient favor of an hour. In the accomplishment of his elevated purpose, reason and argument were always the means he employed. These he wielded with unsurpassed effect. This formed the distinguishing characteristic, as it con- stituted the forte of AYebster. He possessed, in a more eminent degree than any man living in his day, the ability of concentrating all the powers of a great mind upon any given subject at any given time ; and whether that sub- ject was a question of interpretation of constitutional law, a principle of public policy, or a point of national interest, the subject, in his hands, became exhausted ; and, leaving no argument unused or unanswered, and no doubt unresolved, he presented it as in the focus of a burning lens, till the truth became so clear and brilliant as to flash conviction upon every mind, and lead the judgment of all captive. In this lay the great secret of the strong hold Webster had upon the admiration and confidence of the country. This, with the distin- guished services he had rendered, the acknowledged purity and self-sacrificing character of his patriotism, and the lustre which his brilliant talents and public life had shed upon the name and character of his country and his kind, constituted the solid basis of the popular 45 sentiment in his favor. His counsel in public allairs had come to be oracular, and was received as the dictate of wis- dom ; his opinions became axioms ; and his striking ex- pressions passed into proverbs. These are all embalmed, in all their truthfulness, simplicity and massiveness, in his own native Saxon, which he loved so well. That noble language will, to all future time, preserve those gems of thought and expression with which he so en- riched it ; history will perpetuate his life ; and the future, as the present, will be forever familiar with his fame. But, while those whom the festival of this evening will bring together, share largely with the whole country in its admiration of the talents, and its gratitude for the public services of the illustrious deceased, and sympathize deeply in the general grief at his loss, there is a point in which both the life and the death of Webster touch them more nearly, and give increased intensity both to their admiration and their grief. It was within this circle of personal, devoted and recognized friends, and in the very place of their assembling this evening, that their distinguished compeer and guest, as he was, from time to time, released from the arduous labors of tli# Senate ; and, for the moment, freed from the cares of state and the oppressive weight of public affairs, was wont to come for needful relaxation and unrestrained social communion. It was here that he was greeted with the cordiality and confidence of true friendship. Here, in the bosom of that confidence, heart met heart, and truth, free from the disguises of caution, mirrored her own image in all its 46 simple and beautiful lineaments. Here the genial nature of Webster, in its gentler moods, released from the con- ventionalities of general intercourse, warmed and luxu- riated, as none but such a nature could, until he created around him a sympathetic atmosphere, redolent of intel- lectual joy and good fellowship. But the charm of this sweet communion is broken. The attractive centre of this circle is removed from its sphere. Webster has passed away. But, even in his departure, he has left an inappreciable record behind him. Great as he was in his life, he was still greater in his death. Brilliant as was that life in its passage, it was still more so in its termination ; and while the former will never cease to excite our admiration, the instruction of the latter should be garnered up among the dearest memorials of his name. But, instead of simply addressing you a note of apolo- gy, I perceive that I am in danger of writing you an essay, and therefore, with deep sympathies in your proposed festival, and its objects. I remain, as always, Dear Sirs, * With great truth, yours, L. BRADISH. To J. PJIESCOTT HALL, SmNEY BROOKS, THOMAS TILESTON, R. M. BLATCHFORD, and A. C. KINGSLAND, Esquires. Committee, 4*c., ^c. 47 The following letter was received from Charles O'Conor, Esq. : Gentlemen : It is with deep regret that I find myself unable to participate in celebrating, at the Astor House, on the 18th instant, the anniversary of Daniel Webster's birth. I regard the occasion as one of deep moment. No true American can be insensible to its dignity and im- pressiveness. On the return of Daniel Webster's natal day, we, his persoual friends, will lay aside our private grief; obliterate, as ftir as possible, all memory of it, and resolve, henceforth, to contemplate him only as the pat- riot statesman whose life reflected honor upon our coun- try, and whose birth has made another sacred day in our national calendar. Daniel Webster was a jurisconsult and an advocate ; most profound in the one department, of matchless skill and eloquence in the other. At any time within a quarter of a century preceding his departure from among us, had it been inquired, at an}^ place inhabited by civilized men, who was the greatest lawyer in America, his name w^ould have been the ready and unhesitating response. He was a lawgiver and an executive minister, exercising in each capacity the highest functions of statesmanship. Had the citizen, who of all his countrymen was least at- tached to his political opinions, been asked who was the most eminent and able statesman in America, the same answer would have been given. If we pass from circum- stances like these, which are in some sense external, and contemplate, in its simple majesty, his personal and in- dividual character, we find the same exalted impress. 48 He was an American of that primitive stock which is the basis and archetype of the American name ; and to the more general inquiry, who was the first man in America — wherever and to whomsoever addressed — the answer, it may be confidently affirmed, would still have been the same — Daniel Webster. The first in his profession, the foremost in capacity for public service, the embodiment of all that was most admirable and excellent in the men- tal and moral constitution of his countrymen — such was Daniel Webster. By the common consent of men during his life, by the universal grief of his country at his death, by the impartial, the eternal voice of history, speaking to all future time, such was, such will be the fame of Daniel Webster. Mere intellectual power may exist, and command only our admiration, without awakening the kindlier emotions ; and it requires a closer view of Daniel Webster to dis- cern the feature which attached to him the alTections of all true Americans. He was fostered in the birth-place of American liberty, and drank, in early manhood, its invigorating inspiration. He was a republican and a patriot by inheritance. By the example of early associations, by the instinctive ten- dencies of a mind incapable of acting otherwise than in harmony with the promptings of conscience and duty, his life was uniformly devoted to the conservation of his country's institutions. As a fond parent would guard, perhaps too tenderly, the steps of a beloved child, he watched over the destinies of this ivpublic with intense anxiety, and willi a single aim. This is proved by irre- sistible evidence. He was the i'riond of liberty, yet he 49 HQver assented to jeopard the peace of these States by- extending its area here, or interfering for its establish- ment elsewhere. He was a believer, most certainly, in political progress ; for he venerated, nay, worshipped, almost to idolatry, our own newly founded constitution — a creation of his own day — yet he evidently regarded political progress, in respect to fundamentals, as having attained its utmost practical advance. The American statesman, in his judgment, found his most proper em- jDloyment in adapting our frame of government, as it is, to the growifig wants and varying exigencies of society. Conservation, not reconstruction, was the brief and emphatic maxim which, according to his views, embodied the sum of patriotic duty. He was imbued, from earliest youth, with the opinion that negro slavery was incom- patible with justice ; yet, when late in life this strong and abiding conception, which had grown with his growth and strengthened with his strength, appeared to him as likely, if rigorously acted upon, to conflict with that duty which he had ever regarded as primary and paramount — the preservation of this republic — the struggle was brief. He felt that the course which his heart dictated was des- tined to weaken personal ties most dearly cherished — to exhibit apparent inconsistency — to cast down his image from many altars, and to drive away hosts of worshippers ; but these considerations were not allowed to prevail. Nothing could have prevailed against the dominant idio- syncrasy — the master passion of "his soul — love for his country as an entirety — love for, devotion to, its con- stitution. 6 50 Herein lay the strong affinity that in life and in death bound together, with links indissoluble, the heart of this illustrious statesman and the heart of his country. I do not- purpose to vindicate his public acts. I do not intend to express a coincidence with all his opinions, or an approval of his course of action, even in the par- ticulars referred to. Neither do I urge a concurrence upon others. We can admire patriotism without assent- ing to tlie precise form of its development. I only mean to say that Daniel Webster's entire being was devoted to his country and her existing institutions. . Naught that seemed to conflict with either could command his rever- ence. He looked upon the constitution of this Union in the original form and stature wherewith it sprang from the victorious battle-field of the Revolution, as heaven's richest gift to man, as an heritage of l:)eatitude to his country, which should remain intact, unaltered and un- alterable. This known characteristic — devoted love of country — exemplified in all the most prominent act'ions of his life, consecrated in sufferings and sacrifices, and sanctified in the unfailing fidelity of his dying hour — brought his whole country weeping to his obsequies. It has inter- woven with his fame for intellectual greatness, the name of patriot. It has won the love and veneration of his countrymen. They will cherish his memory forever. I am, gentlemen, witli great respect, Yotir obedient servant, CH. O'CONOR. To T. l'J?i;SCOTT nAIJ., Ks,|., and others, Committee. 51 The Ibllowiiiu" letter was received IVoni Hon. Cornelmis W. Lawrence. January IStli, 1854. Gentlemen : I regret, exceecliugiy, my inability to meet the friends of Mr. Webster this evening, as 1 was in some sense pledged to do, but indispensable domestic engage- ments forbid me that pleasure. Nothing, in my judgment, can be more appropriate, and, I may add, more just, than for the American people to honor the name and memory of Daniel Webster ; for we all participate in the honor which he has conferred upon his country. When Mr. Webster's great ett'ort was made, in 1830, to prostrate nullification, I deemed it my duty, although as you know, I did not belong to the same political party with him, to unite with other citizens of New York, in conferring public honor upon Mr. Webster for this ser- vice, and I have never seen occasion to regret it ; his political course, from that time to the day of his death, justified the opinion I then formed of his ability and his patriotism. ■ I cannot better express my feelings on hearing that our illustrious countryman was no' longer numbered among the living, than by adopting the sx^ntiments em- "braced in the resolutions passed unanimously hy the Democratic Republican General Committee, which I beg leave to transcribe : ''Resolved, That estimating civil liberty as the first of 52 earthly blessings, and the Constitution of these United States as the ark of its safety for our countrymen, and of its promise to the nations yet lingering in political bond- age, we receive, with emotions of profoundest sorrow, the melancholy announcement that Daniel Webster, who was but yesterday the most eminent citizen of this republic, and of that constitution the most illustrious defender, has ceased to live. ''Resolved, That, as in life, when he stood forth a cham- pion of the constitution and a savior of the Union, we compromised all differences upon minor points of opinion, and yielded to Daniel Webster all that political organi- zation would permit — admiration for his majestic intel- lect — applause for the brilliant display of his genius ; ' gratitude, deep and sincere, for his patriotic services ; so, in this sad and solemn hour, when the separation of his mighty spirit from earth has obliterated forever all party lines from between us, we record the heart-felt expression of our mournful regret for his loss, and pray our brethren in affliction — the friends of freedom throughout the world — to receive and enshrine it with their own." These are the sentiments which I shall always delight to cherish for Daniel Webster. Very respectfully yours, . C. W. LAWRENCE. To J. PRESCOTT HALL, THOMAS TILESTON, Esquires, and others, Committee, fyc. 53 Mr. Ketchum. — Allow me to say that tho judiciary is well and ably represented here, and on tlieir behalf we should be pleased to hear from Judge Duer. Judge Duer, in few words, returned thanks for the toast, and excused himself on the ground of physical in- ability, from extendmg his remarks ; availing himself, however, of the privilege of seniority, he called upon his junior, Mr. Justice Campbell to supply the deficiency. • Judge Campbell. — My senior brother knows very well, Mr. President, that it is not the practice in our court to pronounce judgment in important cases without due deliberation.. He is well advised that such delibe- ration in this case has not been had. "We both of us came here from arduous labors in court during the day, and without preparation. But my very excellent friend, Dr. Adams, made a remark which called forcibly to my mind the recollection of that day when, a quarter of a century ago, I came to this city for the purpose of studying my profession. In the month of October, 1829, when just arrived, I was with the crowd which gathered at the City Hall to hear Mr. Webster in a great cause then on trial before the Circuit Court of the United States. The real parties in interest, though not the parties on the record, were Mr. Astor as plaintiff, and the State of New York as defendant. ■ A large amount of property was involved in the contest — several hundred thousand dollars. The controversy arose out of the confiscation, during the Revolution, of the estate of a portion of the powerful and wealthy family of Philipse. The legal questions, as I now remember them, grew out of the laws of con- 54 veyancing by the old forms of lease and release. It was the first time that I ever saw or heard the great lawyer and statesman. He touched briefly but beautifully upon the history of the ancient and honorable family whose estates, in the changes wrought by a successful Revolu- tion, had passed away from them forever. But it was in the clear, logical and masterly statement of the law of this case, as contended for by him, in which his great power was manifested. So simple, so plain ; and, to me, so clear and logical did his statement appear, that, though unlearned as 1 was in the law, I thought, at least at the time, that I understood the subject perfectly — indeed, it seemed to me that I could have made the argument — affording thus, perhaps, the strongest evidence I could give of his unequaled power. Even now I see, as. I then saw, that great head of his at work, and remember the homely, country illustration given soon after to a friend — that his head seemed to work with the power and effect of a country saw-mill- — literally dividing asunder whatever of obstacle in the way of argument came before him. For hours I stood and listened, and wondered, . " And still the wonder grew That one large head could carry all he knew."' When it was, in after-years, my good fortune to make his personal acquaintance, and to listen-to Inni in private, as well as in public, that wonder never diminished, but continued to grow. The man of our day, in some re- spects most resembling Mr. Webster is perhaps Lord Lyndhurst, at least so it seems to me, from an account I once heard from Mr. Webster, of his mode of speaking, 55 and of its effect upon the House of Lords. He observed that Lord Lyndhurst's power consisted greatly in his masterly statement of his case. He gave an illustration which he witnessed himself, and he showed that his state- ment was so clear, so connected, so logical, that when it was done the argument was complete. There was noth- ing more to be said. " Laudatus a laudato." But, Mr. President, I arose simply to make an, apology, and I have been wandering off toward a speech. Dr. J. W. Francis, upon being requested by the .Presi- dent, spoke as follows : After the eloquence which has l)een displayed here this evening, the copious demonstrations of sorrow which have been exhibited, and the intense interest with which all have listened to the tributes offered to the memory of the illustrious deceased, it appears to me too pre- sumptuous an undertaking to add one word to the melan- choly theme. But, gentlemen-, your call is too emphatic to be disregarded, and the earnestness of your appeal too deeply impressive for me longer to remain silent. I will take the liberty of stating a few facts and circumstances arising out of my acquaintance with Mr. Webster, and the associations which necessarily often brought us to- gether, both in the offices of friendship and as his medical adviser, for fifteen years, during his visits to this city, in his journeys to and from Washington. 56 When I was honored with an mvitation to be present at this meeting of the friends of Mr. Webster, I was de- termined tliat no ordinary obstacle shonld prevent my attendance. I considered the invitation too sacred to be overlooked. In common with yon all, I felt, and still feel how vast is the loss our country suffers by his death ; how wounding to personal friendship is his departure. I am, therefore, here among you this evening to unite in those sympathies which an abiding sorrow creates ; to contemplate the greatness of that beneficent God, who for the honor of our age and the people's benefit, gave to our nation the use of those extraordinary talents and that exalted wisdom, which were so wonderfully mani- fested in the actions and in the words of Daniel Web- ster. I can look upon the summons which has brought us here together in no other light than as a kind of solemn invocation, appropriated to friendship, love, esteem, and admiration of that great man whose magnificent presence and intellectual attributes no longer shed their halo around our board.' Yet, is the impress of his noble con- verse and his lofty patriotism, so indelibly engraven on our memories that, though he be absent in person, his spirit still speaks to our understanding. And in this respect, gentlemen, I think I may safely add, there was that about and in Mr. Webster, of so peculiar a charac- ter, of so emphatic an enunciation, in looks, in manner, in matter, in directness, 'in clearness, in singleness and in power, that no one who ever enjoyed his conversation could possibly forget those qualities. These qualities ever secured to him the profoundest attention of eager 57 listeners, cand doubtless tliey were those which constituted the strong basis of his great oratorical renown. I liave ever had, from my youth, a love and admiration of distinguished cliaracters, and during niyti-avels al)road, as well as in my professional career at liome, have had some opportunities of gratifying this passion. No mortal whom I Imve ever looked upon created in my mind stronger emotions of consideration and regard than did Mr. Webster. That ample and symmetrical form, stamped with the impress of collosal intellectuality, a command- ing front, of the greatest depth, breadth and loftiest phrenological proportions, betokened the nature of that precious material which constituted the cerebral organs and compelled the recognition of his wonderful talents by every individual who, by design or chance, moved within his circle. That matchless eye, revolving within its ample cavernous orbit, could penetrate the inmost soul, and give utterance to volumes in a minute. Add to this that staid philosophy, which added a still stronger conviction to all he said, and rendered all his knowledge so available. Enriched by the profoundest results of sedulous study and patient investigation in all kinds of learning, subjecting all his acquisitions to the crucible of his cogitative faculty, every thing he brouglit forth seemed refined by a rare mental process, and pre- sented itself to his hearers clothed in language no less clear than impressive. There was a hived wisdom in all this. He knew the triumph of oratory was conviction ; he knew that conviction could best be obtained by clear- ness, perspicuity, and the em2:)loyment of that diction 7 58 wliich, by its simplicity, seized upon the faculties of the auditor by the most available avenues of perception. No speaker in the school of American oratory has ever been more remarkable for a style unambitious in phrase- ology, while his lucid statement and logical reasoning secured the great principles for the establishment of which, with patriotic allegialice, he aimed. He under- stood the right adjustment of all the parts of an argu- ment, the temper of the times, and the great object at stake. His whole soul was American ; he discarded all sectional feelings, the Union was his country ; its j^reser- vation the momentum of every pulsation of his heart. If he is to be deemed in anywise a party leader, all will bear witness that his political sentiments were, even in his greatest conflicts, uttered with firmness, exempt from all personal animosity or rancorous reflection. We look in vain for blemishes of this nature, even in his world re- nowned and most responsible effort, his reply to Hayne. On a particular occasion I remarked to Mr. Webster, it was a common observation with the public that his speeches were comprehended with scarcely the labor of reflection, and that he who runs may read. Will you tell me the secret of that effect? I added. " I have al- ways endeavored," he rei^lied, "to familiarize myself with the purest English writers, avoid the introduction of foreign tongues, to say what I had to express in the plainest terms, and never use a word of two syllables when one would answer.'' Notwithstanding all this, we find in Mr. Webster's writings the most harmonious phraseology and the sublimest bursts of eloquence. • 50 As wo meet togetlier to recall the associations of days gone by, I will state that, while in London, in 1816, ] had occasional opportunities of hearing' some of the par- liamentary speakers of those times, and may then, per- haps, have imbibed some notions of oratorical talent. As vivid as yesterday are the peculiar impressions I then received. Tierney, with his open countenance, unosten- tatious and colloquial, yet filled with irony and biting- sarcasm ; who won attention to whatever topic he was summoned. Romilly, in every sense of the word a phi- lanthropist, whose religious convictions and profound humilit}^ added a charm to all he uttered oh the reform of criminal law and the deepest interests of his country, though uttered with feeble accents. That man to whom the integer vitae of Horace might be applied almost be- fore any other mortal ; GtRATTAn, grotesque in manner, often quaint in expression, vehement, impatient, yet challenging respect for services long rendered to patriot- ism, and compelling conviction by argument and disin- terestedness. Ponsonby, the lover of constitutional freedom, of kindliest feelings and honest principles, in- genuous in argument, and governed b}' an unswerving integrity. Horner, who held me chained to every word he uttered, by the courtesy of his diction, the closeness of his reasoning, the intrepidity of his sentiments, and his defiance of all aristocratical manacles. Wilberforce, whose grave aspect, plaintive enunciation, and consci- entious impulse elicited the attention of all who stood within the sound of his voice. Macintosh, the elaborated speaker, of didactic feelings and classical imagerj. Cas- 60 TLEREAGH, tlio prosaic rlietoriciaii, tedious in details, meandering in style, segregated in thought and matter, still pregnant with facts and effective issues. Brougham, the wonder of this age of parliamentary discussion, abounding in every species of knowledge, self-reliant, adventurous, disputatious, argumentative, quick in con- ception, rapid in elocution, with raucous voice and vehe- mence in gesture, bearing all before him ; now with meli- lluous words wanning proselytes to new measures, now in opposition to doubtful expedients, exhausting the bitterest invectives of satire on some unfortunate in- novator. As a reminiscent, I have thus briefly adverted to these prominent individuals and statesmen. But, on the sea of eloquence which I have thus explored with no incuri- ous eye, these gay, well modeled or rapid craft pass from memory the instant I revert to my own illustrious coun- tryman ; who seems to rise like a noble frigate, and tower above all, like the "mast of some tall admiral." No eloquence which I have heard has made so distinct and permanent an impression on my mind as that of Webster. It is seldom that the prestige of intellectual distinction is sustained by an im^oosing presence. We had it in an eminent degree in the instances of Washington, Frank- lin, Jefferson, Chancellor Livingston and Gouverneur Morris ; and Mr. Webster was quite as remarkable for his personal appearance as for his genius. In the street, as well as in the Senate ; in the social circle not less than in the hulls of justice, that majestic brow, that command- 61 ing form, that deep set, piercing eye, and those lips, capable of every grade of expression, from the smile of angelic sweetness -to the sternness of inflexible will, caught every gaze, impressed every heart, and won all minds to admiration. I shall never forget when, with the fame of his Plymouth and Bunker Hill oratory fresh upon him, he entered, one evening, the room where the Cooper Club had assembled, in this city. The natural dignity of carriage, the extraordinary head, the lofty and imposing figure, then in the prime of their strength and individuality, combined to realize an image where " Every God had set his seal To give tlie world assurance of a man." It is not for me to dwell upon the prodigious powers of application which Mr. Webster possessed, nor to en- large upon the vast acquisitions of multifarious Ivuow- ledge which he secured. He aimed at the mastery of whatever he undertook. His labor knew no ab.atement when the occasion demanded it. Hence he became the great exponent of whatever subject fell within the sphere of his investigation. His appreciation of duty to the full discharge of his task was a controlling stimulus to his efforts. His tastes accorded with the broad and manly cast of his genius. He was an ardent lover of nature. Agriculture was liis favorite pursuit, fishing his chosen pastime. You remember, that a few days before his death, he desired that his noble breed of cattle should be driven under his window, that he might behold them once more. The life of an agricultualist would, doubt- less, have been Mr. Webster's choice, had he consulted 62 liis own private wishes. In overseeing the avocations of his farmers, or watching the seed-time and harvest ; in experimenting upon soils and cattle he found an employ- ment at once useful and congenial. He never, perhaps, appeared to more advantage as a man th^n when, re- leased from the cares of state, he engaged in the pursuits so dear to him, at his own beloved Marshlield. Two or three years before his death, a farmer from New Jersey asked permission of a lawyer of this city, at whose office Mr. Webster had an appointment, to be allowed to call and look through the glass door upon the great man whose eloquence had so long filled him with admiration. It was granted. At the specified hour the farmer ap- peared, and gazed timidl}", but with reverence, upon the idol of his imagination. It so happened that the gen- tleman who was to meet Mr. W. was detained ; and the latter, glancing toward the door, and recognizing the farmer b}^ his dress, called him to his side, and began, in his affable way, to inquire about stock, crops, &c., in New Jersey. The farmer was, at first, disconcerted, but soon re-assured by Mr. W.'s kindness, he found himself engaged in a familiar tete-a-tete with the man he had only ventured to hope he might behold through a glass door. To his extreme astonishment, the statesman ex- hibited a thorough knowledge of agriculture ; he im- parted the most valuable practical hints, and made the most desirable suggestions, so that the farmer went home delighted and proud, and set about improving his farm and enriching its resources with so much zeal that the result was most successful. This anecdote illustrates 63 Mr. W.'s beautiful social syiiipatliies aud extraordinary practical knowledge. Let me, gentlemen, occupy a few moments in a some- what professional matter. As a medical man, I would say that, in almost every instance, the departure of our great men is hastened by over-work and imprudent pro- longation of public service. We cannot have forgotten the cases of Pitt and Canning abroad. Our own coun- try, I fear, is destined to furnish many examples of a like nature. It is due to humanity, that men of pre-eminent ability, and who have greatly served the public, should pass a few years in repose and seclusion. Instead of this, they are too often dragged into the arena, forced to exertions beyond their strength, called upon for services inappropriate to their age. No respite is allowed ; no final interval of quiet contemplation, after a long, har- rassed, and faithful .life. Independent of the duty we owe public benefactors, in securing them the solace of a brief retirement before they leave the world, consider the advantage which would accrue from the opportunity thus afforded, to gather up, arrange, explain and illus- trate the events of a crowded life. What a significant and beautiful spectacle is the venerable statesman, with- drawn from the cares of office, reposing on nobly earned laurels, and, for a brief period, living in the sweet con- templation of a useful career and the enjoyment of uni- versal homage ! • But this Godlike privilege, it seems, is to be denied the master spirits of our land. The noble- hearted Clay may have waited for it, but died in the midst of toils. So, too, of Calhoun. Webster was un- 64 able to attain to such as luxury. To die in harness seems to be a ruling principle of action. For some period before the final illness of Webster, even the casual opportunities I had of medical consulta- tion with him, convinced me that his great physical powers were on the decline, and that his massive intellect be- trayed, at times, the results of overwrought powers. That he taxed his strength to its fullest extent, is evinced both by the issues of his brain and the sufterings of his body. It is a fact familiar to yoii all, that during the last years of his life he w^as subjected to moments of great physical weakness. His rule of retiring at an early hour for repose, and rising vvdtli the morning sun, was a fixed law with him ; nevertheless, public cares and duties often broke in upon it. He was at all times moderate in eating, and circumscribed in the use of stimuli. During all my acquaintance witli him, I never observed him to deviate from these cardinal principles of health. He was fond of exercise and tlie open air. It was his mental faculties that absorbed the physical man. His oldest and most intimate friends, Mr. Blatchford and Mr. Ketchum, whom I see before me, can speak on this subject. My friend Dr. Stevens, whom I observe on my left, can ex- plain the ph3^siology and pathology of his instructive case. In Mr. Webster the cerebral power was too great for the ganglionic or sym})athetic system ; hence his cas- ual demonstrations of debility after trying eftbrts, and wdiat is, in popular phraseology, called nervousness. I have repeatedly seen instances of a similar kind. He who has studied tlie phenomena of organic life, the inti- 65 mate dependence of cerebral function on the gastric plexus, and that collapse of the mental forces, arising from the disturbance of their normal relationships in sound health, will comprehend the why and the where- fore of that sinking state which sometimes so suddenly invades the great speaker, and mars the gratification of his captivated auditory. Mr. Webster was apprised of this mutuality ; and how the perplexed brain and dis- satisfied mind involve the digestive apparatus and dis- tress nutrative assimilation. Sometimes he would quote the opinion of my Lord Bacon, " Cheerfubiess pro- motes digestion." It was only within the last year or two of Mr. Webster's life that these painful manifesta- tions of diminished tonicity were occasionally apparent. Let the disciples of philosophy contemplate Lockhart's life of Walter Scott and Madden's Book on the Infirmi- ties of Grenius. It falls not within my province to dwell on the relig- ious opinions of Mr. Webster. Our distinguished guest, the Rev. Dr. Adams, may find that- subject an appro- priate theme. All, however, who were intimate with the great statesman, were aware how deep was his love of nature ; how profound his reverence for the GrOD of nature. His religious belief he has given us in clear and emphatic language, in his elaborate argimient in the case of the Grirard College ; maintaining, with the zeal of a professed disciple of revelation, that Christianity is the law of the land, and the true and incorruptible basis on wliich repose a nation's glory and perpetuity. "Every thing," he observes, " declares it. The massive cathedral 8 66 of the Catholic ; the Episcopalian church, with its lofty spire pointing heavenward ; the plain temple of the Quaker ; the log church of the liardy pioneer of the wil- derness ; the mementoes and memorials around and about us ; the consecrated grave-yards, their tomb-stones and epitaphs, their silent vaults, their mouldering con- tents ; all attest it. ' The dead ly^ove it, as well as the liv- ing.- The generations that are gone before speak to it, and pronounce it from the tomb. We feel it. All, all proclaim that Christianity, general, tolerant Christianity, independent of sects and parties, that Christianity to which the sword and fagot are unknown ; general, tole- rant Christianity, is the law of the land,'' He was more observant of the Sabbath and in attend- ance on public worship than most public characters whom I have known. The last Sunday he ever passed in New York, he listened to the eloquence of Dr. Hawks. The discourse was addressed to the young. In the salu- tations that took place after the church service was over, the Rev'd Doctor expressed regret to his illus- trious auditor that the topic to which he had invited his attention had not been of a more general character. "You could not, sir," replied Mr. Webster, "have called our devotion to a inore important subject. The education of the rising generation in Christian morals and belief is the true foundation of social virtues and national durability." Of the distinguished men of our own state I recall no one who, in comprehensiveness of mind and public spirit, so much resembled Mr. Webster as GtOuverneur Morris. 67 • ^ The coincidence of scntimeu. gifted men is remarkable. Both ^^ fied with the Constitution of the Unitea ^ NEUR Morris as its author, Daniel Webste^v^ illustrious expositor and defender ; they were alike t.^ nent for social endowments, for oratory, for active zeal in all the essential political questions of the day, for public spirit, for intrepid patriotism, for a noble presence and en- larged views. Both were devoted agriculturalists ; what Marshfield was to Webster, Morrisiana was to our distin- guished statesman. When Gouverneur Morris was about dying, he said to his friend, " Sixty-five years ago it pleas- ed the Almighty to call me into existence, here on this spot, in this very room ; and now shall I complain that he is pleased to call me hence T In the last words of Webster you will recognize the same calm self-possession, the same reliance on the Divine benignity, and the same Christian philosophy in the manner in which those two glorious specimens of American manhood resigned their spirits to God. There was also a remarkable coincidence in the last scene of their respective lives. That of Mr. Webster is fresh in your memories. From the nature of his disease, Mr. Morris was aware that his hours were numbered. On the morning of his deatli-he inquired of his near relative, the Hon. Martin S. Wilkins, what kind of a day it was : " A beautiful day,'' answered his nephew. " The air is soft, the sky cloudless, the water like crystal ; you hear every ripple, and even the plash of the steamboat wheels on the river ; it is a beautiful day.'' The dying man seemed to take in this description 68 with that zes1t for nature which accorded with the poetic instinct of his character. Like Webster, his mind re- verted to Gray's Elegy • he looked at the kind relative and repeated his last words, " A beautiful day ; yes, but " who to dumb forgetfulncss a prey, This pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned, Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind." I would not trespass upon your time longer, but the evening appears, by one common and earnest sentiment, to be wholly dedicated to the memory of our revered and illustrious friend, and I therefore comply with the suggestion of those around me, and repeat the reminis- ©ences which, on the first announcement of his death, came vividly upon me, and to which I gave brief ex- pression at the meeting of the New York Historical Society, convened on that solemn occasion. The universality of the sorrow and the praise elicited by the death of Mr. Webster, is his most significant eulogy. It is remembered now, with tears and benedic- tions, that he invariably sacrificed party considerations and personal interests for the good of his country ; that he always marched bravely into the breach which sec- tional animosity made in the holy wall of our Union ; that the details of political aims were instantly forgotten, when any great question was at issue : in a word, that the prominent qualities of Mr. Webster were those of the great statesman and the genuine patriot. Such is the final estimate even of the bitterest speculative oppo- nent of the deceased, and in this glorious recognition of 69 a truly noble character, we find ample reason for the deep and unprecedented feeling which pervades the land. But here we may be permitted to indulge in less general emotions : it is given us to mourn, not only the great Senator and the illustrious Secretary of State, but the scholar, the companion, the historical man of our country, whose writings identify his name forever with our insti- tutions, and whose friendship was among the richest treasures of our society. He was one of us by virtue of the ardent love he bore the records of the past, and the high appreciation he entertained of the dignity of histori- cal learning. It is a sad yet delightful coincidence, that his last great effort was made at the invitation and for the benefit of the New York Historical Society. Daniel Webster was the ideal of an American citizen. The simple and stately grandeur of his style, the strong- basis of good sense, the firmness of purpose, the direct- ness of expression, the unanswerable logic, and, above all, the clear, emphatic statement of his thoughts, are all characteristic of the American mind in its highest de- velopment. The charm of his intellectual power, when genially exerted, was as attractive as Hamilton's, while his practical wisdom resembled that of Franklin. I re- call, with pleasure, a conversation once held with him, with regard to that illustrious sage. No individual throughout our wide domain cherished a deeper reverence for the talents and services of this incomparable man, than did Mr. Webster. In a discussion which arose among some friends, at a social board, Mr. Webster was asked his opinion concerning the political and fiscal in- 70 tegrity of Franklin — a subject which had been agitated with some asperity. " Gentlemen," answered Mr. Web- ster, "the topic is too broad for present discussion. Among all our political men, Franklin stands prominent for astuteness, sagacity, and integrity. Amidst all his negotiations, though the depository of innumerable state transactions, he was never known to betray the slightest secret, or to utter a hint from which a sinister revelation might occur. As to his fiscal integrity, who knew him better than Washington ? And had the slightest blemish rested upon that portion of his character, would that ex- alted man have nominated him as the first President of the Union, and at the same time when he himself was waited upon by authorized delegates to urge him to ac- cept that vast trust ? I want no other demonstration of the incorruptible principles of Franklin than that nomi- nation by Washington." The universality of Mr. Webster's knowledge was re- markable. He rivaled Burke in the instructiveness of his conversation. Who that has ever enjoyed the luxury of listening to his rich fund of incidents, touching the career of our illustrious patriots of Revolutionary re- nown — Otis, John and Samuel Adams, Hancock, Secre- tary Thompson, Patrick Henry, Madison, and others — can ever forget the vivid portraits he presented of those chivalric personages ? What a felicitous example, among many others, have we of that descriptive and anecdotical vein of our de- parted friend, in the composition which he has given us of the speecli ascribed to the elder Adams, as delivered •71 in the Continental Congress, on the subject of the decla- ration of American independence ! Upon agriculture, he would talk by the hour, with a cognizance of details truly surprising in a man who per- formed such incessant duties to the state. Hear him on trees and their properties, and you would infer he had long lived an arboriculturalist. Linn^us would have been enraptured listening to the merits of his old corres- pondent, Bartram, the botanist and traveler, as unfolded by Mr. Webster. His reading in natural history was very extensive, ranging from Theophrastus, on stones, to Audubon, on birds. He gave great credit to Jeffer- son for his researches in this department, made while he was so young a man, and at a period when physical science was so little cultivated in our country. Will the Society pardon me, if I detain them a moment longer? The professional life of the physician has its corroding cares ; but it is not barren of grateful incidents, arising out of its intricate relations with the great and the good, amidst the diversified occurrences of physical sufferings and mental intercommunion. During a period of some fifteen years, my medical intercourse with the illustrious deceased, on his visitations to this city, was to myself a source of genuine gratification and instruc- tion. The wide grasp of his mind and the fullness of his knowledge demonstrated that characteristic which the G-ermans have denominated "the many-sided." How- ever diversified might be the range of conversation, it was stamped with his own individual elaboration, and poured forth with a free and untrammeled utterance that 72 marked a strong reliance on himself, and a conviction becoming the man who aimed so largely at the practical and the ennobling. He was remarkable for his frankness, yet winning and ]3ersuasive ; and, while solicitous of con- vincing, was . wholly free from dogmatic presumption, either in matter or in manner. His dexterity in repartee was felicitous, yet governed by the impulses of a benevo- lent and tolerant disposition. I think I know enough of his inward emotions to affirm that he detested the arti- fices and expedients so interwoven with the cares and aspirations of the life of a mere politician, with the most abiding and cordial hatred. The fates had destined him for the management of state affairs, yet I feel the strong- est conviction that greater joys and deeper gratifications would have flowed in upon his soul, devoted to the sublime pursuits of philosophical and natural science. He may have felt how vast was that fame which might hereafter associate his name with Washington's and Franklin's, yet a stimulus to action, no less potent, if not more so, might have swayed his career as a disciple of the school of Lord Bacon. Universal, indeed, as was his renown, achieved amidst the severer trials of his coun- try, he would, for his own individual solaCe, have pre- ferred Plato, in the groves of Academus, to Solon, en- compassed by the Athenian multitude. I am speaking of the philosophical tendency of his intellect. In casting my eyes around me, I see in this assembly, many individuals who graced the public celebration which took place in this city, in 1831, to honor Mr. Webster, for his successful and important efforts in Congress the 73 preceding season in reference to the Constitntion of the United States. That occasion can never be forgotten by those who in anywise were participators in it. Never before had this great metropolis made such demonstra- tions of its patriotism ; never was a nobler tribute be- stowed on the genius and wisdom of those exalted spirits who framed the Constitution of the general government. New York had furnished its full quota for the triumph. The venerable Kent, who presided at that memorable festival, must have received new life and fresh vigor in the contemplation of those captivating portraits of the founders of the Republic, which the gifted Webster pre- sented w^ith such discriminating judgment and admirable tact. How could it be otherwise with the enlightened and cultivated Chancellor? Many of the individuals, whom Mr. Webster passed in review, Avere of that noble band who had, during a long life, often co-operated with the eminent jurist in laying the foiuidation, and in rear- ing, in his native country, that temple of juridical science, the rays of which were to illumine the paths of its wor- shippers for all after-time. And when, with skill not unlike that of a master chirurgeon, the great orator, dis- membering the gangrenous adhesions of nullification, covertly intended to corrupt the Constitution at its very vitals, and pollute the very channels of its alimentary support, exclaimed, with prodigious force, " New York, that prosperous state, is the greatest link in the chain of the Union, and will ever be, I am sure, the strongest, also,'' could a more sublime manifestation of love of country work upon the feelings of the beholder, than that 9 ' • • 74 ■ grasp of the hand wliicli Mr. Webster received from the eminent ChanceUor, and from his okl associate in his legal labors, Chief Justice Spencer. The scene was worthy of the pencil of our Trumbull. I have often profited largely by those casual intervals of intercourse with Mr. Webster, which the sick room affords to the physician. He endured the annoyances of physical pain with becoming fortitude, and was accom- modating in a remarkable degree to the suggestions for relief which the exigencies of the moment pointed out. "As you please," he would say. His mind was ever heroic, whatever might have been his bodily distress. A slight alleviation of pain was frequently the precursor of higher intellectual activity, and his thoughts seemed to find a freer utterance, and his feelings a warmer tone, than under other circumstances. It was at such times that he abounded most in anecdote. The verses by CowPER, on Alexander Selkirk, were cited by him, on one of these occasions, as among the most admirable of that poet's writings, and the sentiment of the lonely islander dwelt upon with a depth and tenderness of ap- preciation, which showed how honest was his love of nature and independent life. Cowper's verses led to the mention of Defoe. " I annually read Robinson Crusoe, he continued : " ' I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York.' I think. Doctor, I know the book pretty, well by heart," Cowper was resumed. He dwelt with admiration on the merits of the poet, his clearness, power and whole- some ethics. 1 stated to him with what delight and J? 75 satisfaction I had visited the monument erected witliin the church at East Durham, and related the circumstances which made so strong an impression on ni}^ memory during my interview with the aged female sexton, who had attended him in his last illness, and discharged the solemn duties incident to his death. Among other in- quiries, I asked her if the poet was a punctual attendant on church service. "No, sir," she replied, " Mr. Cow- PEii rarely went ; he said he was too wicked to go to church." The life of Cowper, added Mr. Webster, solves the problem in his .case : Mr. Greathead has, in expla- nation of that, given us sufficient reasons : there is a state of contrition which seeks solitude ; the penitent soul shrinks from the public gaze. The reputation of Patrick Henry may possibly not be increased by an anecdote which Mr. Webster gave con- cerning the biographer of the renowned orator, on the authority of Mr. Jefferson himself. Upon the publica- tion of his life of Henry, Mr. Wirt transmitted a copy of it to Mr. Jefferson, and, after a silence of some time, addressed a note to the Ex-President, requesting his opinion of the work. Jefferson, in return, wrote : "I have divided my library into two parts — one for works of fiction, and the other for works of fact ; my mind is not yet decided in which compartment I shall place your volume." Professionally, I may be allowed to say that Mr, Web- ster offered an extraordinary instance of the influence of an enlarged and active mind upon a naturally fine physi- cal organization. His brain may be said to have con- 76 sumecl his body. The constant drafts upon his nervous system, his incessant exercise of the thinking faculty, made gradual but visible inroads upon his vital powers. And yet how serenely triumphed that mind at the close ! How the intellect retained self-possession and clearness to the last ! As love of country guided him while living, so did the consolations of Christianity support him in the hours of death. Never did a great man die with more unaffected courage, grateful submission, and true reliance on God. It is known that the great sculptor, Thorwalsden, seeing Mr. Webster's bust, by our countryman Powers, thought it a copy of some antique of Jovj:, so massive and ponderous, but harmonious, was the astonishing de- velopment of the organs of intelligence ; and I cannot help a feeling of regret that (if what the public papers declare, be trae) that' wonderful cerebral structure should have been disintegrated, through an unhallowed curiosity for experimental research. Carlyle said of him, that he was the only nuui ]ie had ever seen who realized his idea of a statesman. That firm, broad and noble figure stands out, indeed, on the tablet of memory, as does his name on the roll of his country's benefactors. There was a proportion no less grand and harmonious in his career and genius. The uniform self-respect which marked his intercourse with others ; the utter freedom of his most private dis- course from every thing exceptionable ; the sustained dignity of his bearing ; his love of nature, of the ever fresh and enduring old English authors — these, and 77 kindred traits, conform to the enlarged grasp of his mind, and the majestic simplicity of his eloquence. His re- vised and collected discourses are the most valuable lite- rary bequests yet made to the Republic ; his fame is the most precious inheritance of her children, save that of Washington ; and his example should be a new inspira- tion to every citizen who glories in the title of American. The philosophic Priestley, filled witli gratitude to- ward the land of his adoption, in his last moments, in 1804, gave assurance to Mr. Jefferson that he was happy in ha vino- lived so lono- under his excellent administra- tion. I borrow the sentiment, and thank God that I have lived in a period in which I was permitted to enjoy some little intercourse with Daniel Webster. I have trespassed too long on your indulgence, and I cannot but be conscious that it is in vain to attempt to attach praise to one so much above all praise, in his ca- pacities and in his labors ; and, if it were not so, how should I think any declaration of mine could be remem- bered, on a subject which is already illustrated by the genius of our CiCERO^of Edward Everett — who stands towering, in classic, beauty and grandeur, in the waste left by him who was " above all Greek, above all Roman fame."' 78 Dr. Francis was succeeded by Thomas Tileston, Esq., who, at the request of the Chair, spoke as follows : Mr. President and Gentlemen : I rise under the greatest degree of embarrassment, but as we have heard from all the professions around this table, I thought it my duty, as a humble merchant of New York, to say something on this interesting occa- sion ; and, although I cannot say much, or do much to add to the fame of the distinguished statesman wdiose memory we have met to cherish, I must, sir, like the widow of old, cast in my mite ; and mite it will be, and nothing more. I was the early friend of ])x\niel Webster — that friend- ship was cemented by intimacy, and continued for years. I have passed many happy days under his hospitable roof. I have seen him in nearly every position in life ; and I think I knew him and understood him well ; and, at my age, I ought to know something of men and of humanity ; and I hazard little in sa^'ing, that in point of intelligence and capacity, he stood alone and unequaled. In early life I had read much and heard much of dis- tinguished men, of their great acts, of their heroic and noble deeds, of their capacity, and of their talents ; but how often have I been disappointed, when, later in life, I have come in contact with some distinguished man, that in my childhood and my youth, and I may say my maturer years, had impressed himself on my mind as the beau ideal of all that was necessary to form a perfect man. Was that the case, Mr. Chairman, with Daniel Webster? 79 No ! I can say emphatically, no ! — for of all the men I ever knew, and with all those that it has been my good fortune to become acquainted, he was the only man who appeared greater and greater, and more grand and more noble when you came in direct contact with him. He rose in magnitude as you approached him ; and, gentle- men, you can say this of but few other men. I have said, Mr. Chairman, that it had been my good fortune to have spent many happy days at Marshfield, and it was there, surrounded by his family and friends, that Mr. Webster really appeared in " all his glory." He was a great lover of natural history, and like Solo- mon, of old, he spoke of birds, and of fishes, and of trees, and his knowledge of all these branches excelled that of any one with whom 1 have the pleasure of being ac- quainted ; and he never was happier than when he could find some patient and intelligent listeners to hear him discourse on these subjects. Beginning with those splendid oaks that fronted his mansion, he would speak most learnedly of all the trees in New England, and in fact of all that are known in this country or in Europe ; and it would seem that there was not even a plant, or a flower of the field, however humble, that he was not familiar with, and of which he could not say something interesting. Walking out, one morning, (it was in the month of June,) I discovered that the small birds were very nume- rous and more domesticated than usual, and alluding to the circumstance, Mr. Webster said that he took great pleasure in cultivating a good understanding with these 80 annual visitors ; I love their company and their songs ; and even while he was speaking of them, a musket was fired not far from us. Said Mr. Webster " drive that fel- low from my place ; I never allow a gun to be fired on my premises ; I don't want those little creatures dis- turbed ; I watch them with delight, and protect them, and their nests have my constant care and protection, and I never permit any one to disturb them." And, gen- tlemen, it was this paternal care that had induced them to return, year after year ; and it almost appeared to me that they understood they had a friend and protector in Daniel Webster. Mr. Chairman, we all know that Mr. Webster was par- ticularly fond of angling, and I hazard little in saying that his knowledo;e of the finnv tribe exceeded that of any other man in our country. It was really delightful to hear him discourse of their habits, to describe the progress of the female fish when about to deposit the spawn, so that the sun may mature it ; and then describe the constancy of the male fish in watching over it, acting as a guard to keep off intruders, and both apparently with as much care as ever the fondest parents watched over their infant children. Mr. Webster was a man of most untiring industry ; and I will now mention a circumstance in illustration. Tlie morning after I arrived at Marshfield, I was sur- prised to iiear the sound of liis footsteps on the fioor some time before sun-rise, and profiting by his example, I arose myself, and going down stairs, T went to the li- brary, where I found him, at his desk, with a large ]}i\e 81 of letters, which he was engaged in answering. On my entering the room, Mr. Webster remarked that he had been absent a few days, during which time these letters had been accumulating ; and it has been my habit, through life, to devote the morning to my numerous correspon- dents, and it is therefore necessary that I should rise by daylight in the summer-, and at other • seasons long be- fore daylight, otherwise I could never reply to^the letters I 'receive daily. It was this habit of close application ; this constant and devoted attention which has tended to make his name so* pre-eminent. He was always at his post, performing his duty most faithfully, under -every^ emergency and circumstance of life. Mr. Chairman, I have already proceeded further than I intended, bat if I do not weary you I will relate to you one or two little anecdotes that occurred while I was at Marshfield. We started, one morning, on a fishing excursion ; on going out of the bay, the bony fish, as they are termed, were very numerous ; the whole shore was lined with them ; and his men were engaged, with their nets, in taking them, to fertilize the land. We, however, pro- ceeded, a,nd wlien two or three miles from the shore our boat was anchored, and we commenced fishing, and as the fish were plenty, we began to draw them in at a great rate, satisfied that we were doing a good business. Mr. Webster caught none ! he was seeking higher game ! soaring, as was his usual practice, for something beyond his companions ! Just at this time he said, "I've got him,'' and -we all turned to see what it was! all was 10 82 silence! "Be still!" said Mr. Webster. Not a word was spoken. Occasionally the fish was allowed to run with the line, and then he was drawn gently toward the boat. He called his men to him, and ordered them to have their boat-hooks ready to secure him as soon as he should appear on the surface. It was a fine hallibut, weighing, it was judged, at least, two hundred and fifty pounds. All was still as night, and the fish was now visible ; the men, with their hooks, were ready, and just at the moment they were to secure their prize, the line parted, and off went this powerful stranger. And I shall never forget the appearance of Mr. Webster ! If he had discovered that his mansion at Marshfield was on fire he would not have been so much excited. ' ' Oh !" exclaimed he, "was he not a noble fello-w!''* Returning from our fishing excursion, about noon, we noticed on the beach a farmer, with a wagon and horses. As we landed, the man approached Mr. Webster, and taking from his pocket a long leather purse, handed him a half-dollar, saying, "Your men have been very successful to-day in taking bony fish, and I have load- ed my wagon with them, and, it is right that I should pay for them." Mr. Webster was taken by surprise 5 and although he did not want the half-dollar, he disliked to refuse it, fearing it might give offence. The farmer then drove off ; and Mr. Webster, turning to his friends, said that this was the first money that he ever received from his Marshfield estate. One other little anecdote : riding with Mr. Webster, one day, I said, "Mr. Webster, there has been a story 83 going the rounds of the newspapers, to the effect that you received a dollar from two young men to pass them, on your back, from one side of a creek to the other. Now, I want to know whether the story is true or not ; and whether they hailed j^ou, and said, ' Old man, come here, and take us across !' " Mr. Webster replied that the main part of the story was true. " I saw the young men in that predicament, and did take them off, and carry them to the other side, and they did offer me a half-dollar each ; but I did not take it, so that the story is only par- tially true." This, Mr. Chairman, illustrates, in some degree, the character of Daniel Webster — he was ever ready to come to the aid of his fellow men — always ready to be useful in every emergency. In the early part of my speech I alluded to Mr. Web- ster's love of natural history, and I- have endeavored to impart to you the impression he made on my mind at his own fireside ; but, gentlemen, I shall never be able to impart to you the delight that I experienced in listen- ing to him at his own table, where we assembled, from day to day, and I may add, as a part of his own family ; there was no unnecessary restraint, and he would speak and act as he only could speak and act, beyond any other man ; going from theme to theme ; in fact one copious and never-ceasing fountain of knowledge continued to flow, until, mentally, I exclaimed " That no unirispired man ever siioke asjhis man speaketUr There was nothing in the material world that escaped his observation. We were sitting, one evening, under 84 that beautiful elm iu front of his mansion, and he said to me "That it really appears wonderful, and I myself am astonished that I have Hot paid more attention to the science of astronomy — that I have not studied more thoroughly the order and beauty of the heavenly bodies." And while referring to this sublime subject, and admit- ting and regretting that he had not given more attention to it, he went on with the most beautiful discourse, and the knowledge of Newtojst and Herschel, and the more modern writers, appeared as familiar to him as the lessons of his childhood ; and he really seemed to under- stand the subject more thoroughly than any lecturer that I have heard who attempted to explain the phenomena of the heavens. There was an incident that occurred in this very room, that I cannot help relating. Soon after the return of Mr. Webster from Europe, in 1840, a number of gentle- men were dining together, and 1 mention it to show that he was not only .possessed of the history and knowledge of the past, but that the future occupied his thoughts; and that his far-reaching sagacity was as prominent as any other desirable trait of his character. "I have been looking over the maps of California, and informing myself more particularly about that distant country," said Mr. Webster, " and in tracing up the west coast of America, my eye instinctively rests upon a spot, that, sooner or later, must become part and parcel of the United States. Do you know," said he, " that that Ifeau- tiful bay of San Francisco is capable of accommodating the whole nayal power of the world." At that time San 85 Francisco was but little known to us. A niercantile firm at Boston, (Bryant & Sturges,) had established a settlement in the neighborhood, for the purpose of trade, and for slaughtering cattle for the hides and tallow ; but little was thought about that port, and it was not even conjectured that at this time it would be the third com- mercial city in the Union in amount of exports. He then said, "I know not how all this will come about. I cannot see so far as that ; I hope we shall acquire it by purchase, but one of these days we shall have it." How prophetic ! how true! Before closing, I would remark that our country, under the dispensations of Providence, has been signally blessed with great and wise men, and wdiile Heaven has been most bountiful in gifts, if I were called upon to classify the most gifted, I would say Washington, Franklin, Webster. Mr. Ketchum.^ — -We have been struck with nothina- more favorably than the relation Mr, Tileston gave of Mr. Webster's character, as you approach him familiarly. I have often been struck with the same fact, that though very great in fact, yet he was greater as you approached him. Now, I don't know a man who could relate more facts to illustrate that position than Mr. Grinnell, who has been a long and well-tried friend of Mr. Webster. Mr. Grinnell. — I rise, in obedience to this call, but the gentleman at the lower end of the table must not expect a speech in reply. His call is premature. It is 86 true, I have been a long and devoted friend of Mr. "Web- ster, but there are others present who have known him longer and more intimately than myself, and who are, therefore, better qualified to respond to his appeal. If he will allow me, then, to name a substitute, I will ask your attention to a gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Frelinghuysen, whose eye, even now, sparkles at the name of Daniel Webster. Mr. Fred'k T. Frelinghuysen, of Newark, N. J. By a friendly invitation, I have the honor, to-night, of being associated with those who love to cherish the mem- ory of Daniel Webster ; the honor of associating with those who recognize, in the 18th of January, 1782, one of the most propitious days in our nation's history, I had anticipated that, in silence, I should enjoy this communion of kindred spirits. And yet, when thus called upon, I may not remain silent. The great man, the day of whose birth we commemorate, has gone to higher and brighter scenes than those in which we move. The honors we would pay him cannot affect him now. While his mem- ory lives among us, his manly form reposes in its ocean tomb, and his immortal spirit has returned to God, who gave it. Neither is this association tainted by any politi- cal or party purpose. It is a meeting of friends, to pay a tribute of gratitude to our countrj'^'s benefactor. Its disinterestedness constitutes at once the peculiarity and the beauty of the occasion. Were I to attempt to speak of Daniel Webster, I ask, sir, where should I commence, where should I end ? For forty years his biography has 87 been our country's most glorious history. Mr. Ciioate beautifull}^ illustrated this proposition. At a recent presidential convention, being called upon by the audi- ence, he arose and gave a most graphic description of the condition and prospects of the Union. When he closed, a distinguished gentleman, in a speech of some length, intimated that Mr. C. had, by his remarks, at- tempted to electioneer for Mr. Webster. Never will I forget the spirit which animated the eloquent Choate in his reply. He seemed, for a moment, to comprehend all that Mr. Webster was, and all that he had done. He, in effect, said, " What must be the character — what the ability — what the service of that man in relation to whom it may be truly said, one cannot speak of the perpetuity of the Constitution, of the priceless value of the Union, or the future glory of our country, without subjecting himself to the accusation of being his eulogist, and of electioneering for his advancement ?" The thousands present, for the time, seemed, with the speaker, to appreciate how intimately Mr. Webster was identified with the past and the future of our country. As a lawyer, elucidating and illustrating the great fun- damental principles of organic law, I have always been taught to revere Mr. Webster ; and among such lumina- ries as PiNCKNEY, and Wirt", and Mason, no one shed a purer or a brighter light. Indeed, the venerable Mar- shall and the erudite Story did not condescend, when, leaning from the bench, they gathered instruction from his words. As a debater, sir, philosophical in argument, rich in imagination, copious, chaste and plain in language, 88 he was imeqiialed. As a statesman and a patriot, his memory will never die. In turning to his course in the Senate, our attention naturally, at first, adverts to the answer he made to the talented and chivalric Gen. Hayne. No New England man will ever forget that speech. As the noble son of New Hampshire rolled back the imputations which had been cast upon the land of the Pilgrims, and then pronounced that unequaled encomium upon the land of his birth, the men of New England gathered in clusters together, in . a corner of the Senate Chamber, and, as at the close of one of his impassioned paragraphs, he turned upon them his burning eye, it is said they wept like girls ; and well they might. That was the time for tears — for tears of mingled pride and gratitude. The position of New England had, by a champion from her own granite hills, been vindicat- ed to the Union and to the world. But, Mr. President, gigantic as was that intellectual eftbrt, he attained still prouder victories. It is said that the sacrifice of one's self to his country is the , greatest heroism. Twice did he make that sacrifice. That stal- wart man, alone, and almost unfriended, breasted the combined attacks of the press and the politicians of his own party, when he remained^ as has been adverted to this evening, a member of a cabinet which had departed from his own political views, and from the political views of his party ; when he remained a member of that cabinet that he might avert a war, otherwise inevitable, between the two great Christian nations of tlic world, England and America, The treaty of Washington, sir, will ever re- 89 main a monument to his honor and his worth. Who can estimate the amount of treasure, and blood, and death, and anguish he thus saved his country ? A spirit less noble, less patriotic, coukl not have made the sacrifice. Again, sir, he bre^ted not only the attacks of politicians, but he braved the whole fanaticism and thoughtlessness of the North, when he made that memorable speech of •the Tth of March, 1850. May not that be considered his greatest moral act? Hand to hand, and shoulder to shoulder with the immortal Clay, he rolled back that flood which was threatening our Union with dissolution and our country with peril. Yes, sir, even when Boston turned her back, and Faneuil Hall was closed upon him, the undaunted Webster stood, as ever, true to the Con- stitution and to the Union. I might, sir, go on and speak of Daniel Webster in the various aspects of his great character ; I might speak of him in private life, of his power in conversation, or of his power, as the noble Anglo Saxon called it, "to talk ;" for here he was unequaled. I might speak of his simple kindness in the ordinary intercourse of private life. Who ever read those inimitable letters to his trusty farmer, John Taylor, and was not impressed with the ease, power and kindness of his familiar intercourse. I might speak of his deep veneration for the principles of our holy religion, and dwell upon the evidences that he has left of having a personal interest in its free and saving provisions, but these are subjects upon which I forbear to remark. Some of you had the honor of his personal 11 90 friendship, and all of us experience the benefits of his life. But he did not belong to us. New Hampshire may well be proud of her son ; Massachusetts may -boast her citizen ; America may extol her statesman ; but, after all, Daniel Webster neither belongs to New Hampshire, nor to Massachusetts, nor even to this great nation. He was the gift of God to the world, and to the world he be- longed. And he has done as much as any other indi- vidual man to extend human freedom throughout the world ; for, sir, the freedom of the world is identified with the preservation of the American Constitution and the Union of the States. Dr. Adams. — Several allusions have already been made to the care with which Mr. Webster was accustomed, out of respect to his auditors, to prepare for those addresses of which he had due notice. But there were occa- sions when no such opportunity for specific preparation w^as allowed. The " gaudia certaminis'' with which he met them, the promptitude and power with which, at such times, he delivered himself, were a result alike of his native genius and his habits of patient thought and discipline. An instance of this description is now before me. Through the kindness of a friend it was put into my hand today ; and, as it has never been seen by the pub- lic, it will be read with fresh interest. It is an extract from a letter by the Hon. Mr. Wise, of Virginia, describ- 91 inc^ one of the most remurkable specimens of Mr. Web- STEr's impromptu eloquence/'' "On the eve of their departing for Mississippi, the Whigs gave a public dinner to Prentiss and Ward. It was as elite an assembly as I ever saw gathered in the metropolis. The Hon. Hugh L. White, the Cato of the country, presided ; and Clay was there, and Webster, and their peers from both houses of Congress, and the most select of visitors, and the populace. "Many members spoke, when toasted; and many toasted to draw out speakers. Clay utterly failed to charm the assembly ; his wings seemed to be wet, and they flapped and floundered in the dust. Webster rose, and yawned, and gaped a bad apology for not trying to entertain us. After awhile he was called on again, and he responded to the call by punning on the names of senators from Mississippi. That state, he said, had sent a Walker, then a Trotter, and next she was likely to go ofT in a gallopiiig consumption. He sipped his toast, and down he sat again, to the disappointment of every body. The scene was dull, it began to grow late, and Judge White called me to his place of presiding, and retired. Two or tln-eescore guests remained until past twelve ; and at about one o'clock, some one— Gen. Waddy Thompson, of S. C, I think— rose, and said that the speeches of the occasion had been execrable, that no one liad tried to * This letter was written to Rev. Mr. Prentiss, of this city, who is, to the grati- fication of many, now engaged upon the biography of his lamented brother, the late Hon. Mr. Pbestiss, of Mississippi. 92 « touch a chord of feeling, or to clriiw a cork even of wit. He upbraided Webster, especially, with failing to attempt to speak with effect ; and, as a Southern man, appealed to him, Webster, a Northern man, to touch the theme of the Union. Clapping and calls commenced — Webster ! Webster! The Union! the Union! Webster! The Union ! He rose, and began in strains of solemn earnest- ness. As he went on he warmed — he grew taller — his large ox eyes expanded — his complexion grew darker — his heavy arm and hand worked like a tilt-hammer of Vulcan, beating out thoughts for the gods. He rose to the empyreafi, and yet seemed low down, to us, because his thoughts were so large that, though high enough, if small, to be out of sight ^ they compassed us all about with their mighty shadows, and the very clouds of them were luminous with Aurora-like light. He Ijrought forty men to their feet, their hands resting on the dining table ; their eyes gazing at him, and their lips parted, as if they were panting for breath. By-and-by he came to point the speech with its moral, and exclaimed ' And you, Southern brethren ! shall my children be aliens to your children ? Shall your children be aliens to my children !' This he said so touchingly, so appealing to the heart ; so generously tendering love and confidence, that, heavens! what a burst of feeling! The great- tears rolled down many a manly cheek, and • , of Greorgia, exclaimed, ' There, now ! didn't 1 know it? but my people wouldn't believe this. I'll tell them, as soon as I go home.' I shall never forget that night." 93 Mr. KETCiiuM.— Gentlemen, there is a very modest man at this table, who can address yon acceptably. Will yon allow me to call npon Mr. Baestow ? » Mr. Barstow.— Mr. President, 1 certainly have great canse to be modest, and yet the rising, promptly, before snch a company as this, affords no very striking proof of modesty. Having, however, neither classical nor oratori- cal reputation to feel a solicitude for, I can fearlessly throw myself upon the kind indulgence of our friends here, and obey the spontaneous impulses so naturally blended with such an occasion. I have neither the disposition nor the ability to make a speech. The more immediate cause of my being called up at all, I presume, originated in my casually remind- ing our honorable Vice-President, today, of an incident characteristic of Mr. Webster. Mr. Ketchum spoke so approvingly of what I related, that I was tempted to pencil it dow^, for him to incor- porate it in remarks of his own, which he knows so well how to present. As, however, he has not alluded to the circumstance, I must conclude he purposes to draw out as many of us as he can, whether we say much or little, and thus carry out the evening by combining conversa- tional remarks with the more elaborate and elevated addresses. I am not at all accustomed to rising before either a public or a private dinner party to relate an anecdote or a story. I must, therefore, ask the liberty of reading the little paper I had prepared for my IViend, Mr. Ketchum, as follows : 94 During one of the evenings when Mr. Webster was with us, here in New York, in 1837, I had the honor of being one, among some four or live of his friends, who were conversing with him. Late in the evening at his room in the hoteh We were referring, in a free and social manner, to certain steps which we looked upon as best calculated to bring him forward as our candidate for the presidency. Mr. Webster listened, with calm dignity, to our suggestions, and when we paused for some remark from him, he said, with impressive emphasis, "Gentle- men, I cannot but be pleased, and every way gratified with the views you present, (alluding to our opinions relative to public measures,) and I may truly add, that I had rather be surrounded by friends who are not afraid of being in a minority, than to be a dozen presidents r He further remarked, in substance, that he could never countenance any other than an open, and honest, and in- dependent course in the attainment of a?i?/ political end. In a word, I could see in this confidential discussion the same elevated dignity of character so manifest in his senatorial movements before the nation ; and I have again and again referred to this incident to show that there certainly was one great man as pure behind the curtain as he was before the world. And, Mr. President, since I have been called out as one of the more humble contributors to the sociabilities of the evening. I find myself tempted to refer to one other incident, connected with my occasional intercourse with Mr. Webster, illustrating the hindrances to the po- htical advancement of that great man, caused by an 95 overweening subserviency to the doctrine of supposed " availability." A few months before Mr. Webster's great speech at Niblo's Garden, some of his political friends had deter- mined upon calling a nomination meeting at Masonic Hall, the then Whig rallying point. Our worthy Vice-President of the evening, Mr. Ketchum, and myself, were delegates from the Seventh Ward to the Whig-General Committee. Our " General Committee, '' like many similar committees, had among its members some of the " expediency" caste, always back- ward in the public expression of good, honest opinions, until it could be determined how the current of public opinion was setting beyond the Alleghanies. From these very conservative gentlemen came up tlic intimation that the"^ " General Committee" must at once exercise all its puissant influence, and check any such - mdiscreef' out- break of public opinion as it would be- to name for our Chief Magistrate of the nation, a man who, for vast com- prehensiveness of talent was never surpassed. This indication of discouragement, from an organized committee of our own political party, caused much re- gret and solicitude among the more uncompromising portion of Mr. Webster's political friends. We feared it might dampen the courage, even of our good and faith- ful " National Whigs," to have our General Committee pass, and publish in the newspapers, a vote against the measure. My worthy colleague, however, evinced the most un- shaken confidence that we could triumphantly carry out 96 the pure and honest impulses of the people, despite of the counteracting influences of their more temporizing friends. Upon the evening of one of our regular sessions of the Greneral Committee, it was intimated that the expediency of the contemplated public meeting would come up for discussion. The contest came on soon after the opening of our evening proceedings, at our room, in Broadway. Set speeches were made against our Webster move, by gentlemen possessing oratorical and debating powers of a high order. Our friend, Mr. Ketchum, rose in reply, and, although I may perhaps trespass upon the rules of correct taste to eulogize his qualities in his presence, I must, nevertheless, say his efforts of that evening, equal- ed, in power and eloquence, any thing I have ever heard in political debates. " The mighty theme,"' as was once said by a great Irish orator, should, perhaps, receive a part of the credit. Suffice it to say, the combined action of the two carried a most triumphant vote in favor of having our meeting. The great assemblage took place in due course. Le- gions of the people .poured out, in their might, to pay merited honor to the great name of Daniel Webster. We followed up the move with active efforts toward elevating, to the highest office in this world, a man of sueli pre-eminent greatness. Although our ultimate hopes were blighted, no power on earth can take from us the proud satisfiiction of aim- ing right. We were not then, noi- are we now, ''afraid to be in a minority." 97 There was a majesty of character and a power of intel- lect, and an innuence about Mr. Webster, which dema- gogues and partisans by trade, shrink from meeting. With the people he was always popular. "The masses are with us— but the masses are not usually speakers." I will close my remarks, Mr. President, by reminding my brother merchants, now here with us, of a striking illustration of what was the immeasurable value of the great and deeply lamented Webster, to us plain and practical men. It is this : During the presidential can- vass of 1852, our fellow-citizen, George Wood, in a speech, replete with sound sense and genuine wisdom, alluded to the possibility, if not the probability, of our country being entangled in some of the consequences of a general European war, and added, "Let me suppose such a case to arise, and that the very panic created, should throw our business in confusion, threaten a gene- ral bankruptcy, and paralyze all operations, and that you should be collected here as you now are— that in place of the chairman and myself, this platform should be occu- pied by all the present candidates for the presidency, and you had time to hear a speech from some one, and one only, of them— setting forth our real position, the dangers and difficulties we had to apprehend, the best means of avoiding them, or the best mode of encountering them, whom would you call out? Whom would you wish to hear? (Cries of Webster! Webster! I) Is there a man in the country who would not want, in such an exigency, to hear him in preference to any other ? Yet, we ere 12 03 told llic people would not put liim in tl:c appropriate jolace, from -wliicli his opinions should emanate, because, forsooth, he is too great a man. It" is time that this censeless objection should be abandoned." CuAKLES P. KiKKLAXD, Esq., was then called. Mr. KiRKLAND. — I have come here, tonight, but only in the humble capacity of listener, I have been warned, by all that gentlemen have said on this occasion, how perilous to attempt to make a speech without due prepa- tion. That preparation, sir, I have not had an oppor- timit}^ to make. I, therefore, can only say that it de- lights me to be here and unite with you in paying this tribute of respect to this greatest statesman of our coun- try. In my opinion, Mr. Webster's best trait was his uniform devotion to the Constitution, and to the best interests of his country. James S. Thayer, in response to a call from the Chair, next favored the company with a few eloquent remarks, and was followed by Mr. Grixxell. — Mr. President, the gentleman who has just taken his seat has passed a very just and proper eulogium upon Mr. Webster. In the course of his very happy remarks, he made some allusions to matters in which I feel myself somewhat interested. In the first place, as by birth a Xew England man, I feel all that the 99 P-crtlcman said about Massachusetts turning her back upon Mr. Webster ; and yet I do feel that it is due to that gallant state, to say that, if you were to-day to ask its reflecting men whether they believed ^Ir. Webster had done his'duty to the country, their answer would be aye, and their answer ever has been aye. But there were circumstances connected with the state of Massachusetts, and with the combination of parties, which brought about an expression there which was not really and truly the sentiment of the intelligent portion of that enlightened state ; and I feel it my duty to say that when Mr. Web- ster went back to Massachusetts, the soul and heart of Ihat state were with him, though an open demonstration of this feeling, for peculiar causes, was not allowed to appear on the face of affairs. Gentlemen, we arc here, tonight, to speak and think as we feel. Let us carry out the sentiment which the gentleman alluded to, as uttered by him before going to the Baltimore convention. Mr. Webster was at home the day before the convention met in Baltnnorc, sur- rounded by men from every portion of the country, seeking an opportunity to grasp his hand, ia token of their reverence for the great and enlightened statesman of the age. His house was thronged by these men, and ' I may safely say, that the morning before the convention, between the hours of eight and half past ten o'clock, one hundred and fifty people breakfasted at his table. It^ was a proud and animating sight to behold, men from every section of the Union, crowding up to grosp the hand of Daniel WEBSTER-and yet, gentlemen, what was 109 all this for? What was the talc that was told in Balti- more ? Where were these men who came from the North and the South, from the East and tlie West, "to grasp that noble hand? How spoke this cordial enthusiasm then ? Did these warm pressures of the hand fulfill their seeming pledge? Alas! gentlemen, those hands grew palsied when the trial came ; or, rather, like the hands of an automaton, they could only move in obedience to the secret machinery of party. Thus it happened, that while Mr. Webster had the hearts of so many, he had the votes of so few. The iron trammels of party were too strong for this only effectual expression of iheir' ' preference. !Many a man was in that convention who wished the success of Mr. Webster, yet felt compelled to refuse him his support. Gentlemen, permit me, also, to allude to a sentiment from our friend Frelinghuysen, about Mr. Webster's remaining in the cabinet of Mr. Tyler. Tlianks be to Daniel Webster that he possessed the moral courage to stand where he did until he accomplished the important objects he had in view • and yet scarce a party-man in this city but arraigned his motives for remaining there. Mr. Webster staid there by the advice and counsel of true men, who were ready to siidv or svvim with him, W' and who advised him to hold on to liis position until the ends were consummated for which he took it. Gentle- men, that was a trying time for us politicians. I was one at that time, but, thank God, I am so no longer. I pleaded with Mr. Webster myself. I insisted it was his duty to stand there for his country's good ; and it was 101 to his honor that he did stand there, and so will posterity reo-ard it. He consummated a settlement of the qucs- tions which presented themselves at that time ; the chief of which was the North Eastern Boundary Question. This was of vital importance to us commercial men, and its adjustment was our salvation. He remained in the Tyler cabinet, and stood by that interest till it was ac- complished ; and whenever we, of the mercantile class, called upon him to stand by us, he never failed. Gen- tlemen, he did his duty there, and he did his duty after- ward. He did his duty then, and he did it down to the day of his death. Gentlemen, let me say, in conclusion, that it w\as a source of purest happiness to me, that in that convention I had an opportunity to give my vote to Daniel Web- ster— that I feel it as a proud distinction that I, alone, of all the sons of New York, I cast my vote for him— first, last and unchangingly. I believed he had been true to the country, and I determined to be true to him. I revered him as our country's light and guiding star. I sought to raise that star to its crowning attitude— but fate, alas! had decreed for it a sad eclipse. Neverthe- less, gentlemen, I console myself with the thought that he could have gained no additional lustre from the presi- dential chair— that he would have conferred more honor on th3 station than the station could have givento him. 102 '^Ir. GnixxELL was followed by Mr. Curtis, at llic re- quest of the Chair. Mr. George Curtis.— I rise, Mr. President, in obedi- ence to your call, and yet without a particle of that preparation with which he who has been the great theme of this evening's discourse was wont to arm himself on all occasions. Xo one has ever exceeded me in admira- tion of Mr. Webster, ever since I first had an opportunity to know him, now many years ago. I admired him, not only as a man of Herculean grandeur of intellect, not only for his unrivaled powers as a jurist and a statesman, but also for some traits of character less generally known, and usually considered as of minor importance. I was a passionate admirer of him in social life. Perhaps there have been but few men who united, so perfectly as he did, surpassing ability in public with peculiar attraction m private. He was not only the admiration of the world, but was, in a special manner, the joy of his per- sonal friends. The graceful lightness, the jocular cast of his mind, on proper occasions, was quite as remarkable, m my estimation, as was the massiveness of his intellec- tual powers, when duty called for the higher exercise of his talents. lie was not always the sturdy and unbend- ing oak, but sometimes delighted in becoming the flexi- ble vine. The first time I ever had the pleasure to hear him speak was in this house, some sixteen years since, at a dinner given to Messrs. Bell, Graves and Uxder^vood. Mr. Webster was one of the guests. The hour was late. 103 the speeches were excellent, and so numerous withal, that it was not until one o'clock in the morning that the toast was given, intended to call up Ui\ Webster to ad- dress the assembly. lie arose, smiling, and said, " ^^ hy, Mrf Chairman and gentlemen, is it not already to- morrow ? Arc not our physical powers exhausted? Why, sir, I am, myself, as dry as this bottle," seizing one before him, and turning it' up, when perceiving it to bo empty ; he laughingly added, " and the bottle, you see, is quite as dry as I am!" Who, that was present on that occasion, will ever forget the strain of enchanting eloquence in which he addressed the company ? No re- porters were admitted, and so one of his best efforts was lost to all but the hearers. One part of the speech made an impression on my mind toa strong to be ever effaced. It is as vivid now in my memory as it was when it firs't fell upon my ear. It happened to be within the scope of his theme to draw a most touching and life-like pic- ture of an American sojourning in Europe. He went on with his description, step by step, with most consummate skill ; his audience following him with breathless atten- tion, until, at last, his voice falling lower and lower as he spoke, he depicted him slowly sinking under the pressure of disease, mournfully turning his thoughts to- ward his native country, and exclaiming, as death ap- proached, " Moriens reminiscitur A.viros;'' repeating the quotation in tones of pathos that, moved the heart of every auditor. His fund of anecdote seemed, to me, inexhaustible. The exquisite manner in which he related the incidents 104 of his early life, added new charms to what was, in it- self, exceedingly interesting. Passing, naturally, from the scenes of his boyhood, he would often touch upon the first days of his professional career, in New Hamp- shire, and upon his intercourse with the eminent mep, at the bar or upon the bench, who were his seniors, and some of them his preceptors. The many humorous anec- dotes with which he coupled his reminiscences, enchained and enlivened the attention of his hearers for hours. Often have some of those, whose delightful privilege it was to listen to these recitals, lamented that they did not, immediately afterward, put them on paper, in his own inimitable language, with date and circumstance, so that some faint semblance of the charm might be pre- served, when he who gave it powder should no longer be present to weave the magic spell. I desire to bear testimony to the truth of the state- ment made by the gentleman who first addressed us, with respe'ct to the preparation that Mr. Webster, was care- ful to make, whenever he intended to lay his thoughts before the public. I consider it special good fortune to have had the honor, more than once, when he was re- volving a speech upon important topics, to be consulted by liim with regard to matters of practical detail, with which he supposed my course of business had led me to be more familiar than he possibly could be. He did not pretend to be a universal genius. I mean, by this, that he did not profess to have intuitive knowledge upon every subject. Whenever he had occasion for informa- tion cf a peculiar character, or desired to be assured that 105 the views he had formed of the practical operation of any measure were right, he sought the aid of those whose actual experience, he thought, would furnish what he wanted. It was not difficult to put materials into the crucible of his mind, but who else could transmute them into gold, as he did ? Taking me by the arm, one even- ing, and walking aside for a moment, he remarked, " I am the greatest thief in the w^orld. I steal other men's knowledge. I want, just now, some of yours." He then mentioned what it was he wished. So kindly and grace- fully did he approach men for this purpose, that they al- ways rendered him the service he desired with the utmost alacrity. It was certainly a source of pride to me, that he supposed I could sharpen any weapon he proposed to use. I was much struck with the force and truth of the re- mark which fell from the Rev. gentleman we have had the pleasure to hear, that many of the political opponents of Mr. Webster have done themselves honor, and their own sense of justice credit, by the becoming manner in which they received the melancholy intelligence of his death, and the tribute of respect they have paid to his memory. The grajtifying fact shows that political differ- ences, bitter and unscrupulous, as they frequently are, can sometimes be changed into other and better feelings in view of the grave. The foe who, upon the death of an antagonist, fires minute-guns from his hostile batteries, in honor of the departed, elevates himself by the act. Certainly, sir, an eminent person, who is now distin- guished in these United States for the high ofi&ce he holds, ^ 13 106 will, in my judgment, be quite as much distinguished in future history for a touching thought to which he gave beautiful expression upon the fatal event alluded to. " A nation's heart throbs heavily at the portals of Web- ster's tomb." Franklin Pierce never uttered any thing more worthy of lasting remembrance than that eloquent sentence. It would not become me, sir, in the presence of so many of Mr. Webster's personal friends, much more competent to the task than I am, to undertake any ana- lytical examination of the character of his mind. Which of his faculties predominated, in what proportion various qualities were combined, whether he excelled most as a lawyer or as a statesman, or whether he would have been greater still in some other field ; these are inquiries which I must leave to others. Instead of attempting to sepa- rate from each other the brilliant colors of the rainbow, I must be content to admire the transcendent beaut}^ of them all, as seen united in the heavens. Mr. Ketchum. — Mr. President, we have heard much, tonight, of Mr. Websher^^ public character. I feel that if there is any thing to be said by any gentleman in refer- ence to Mr. Webster's private acts, it would be very de- lightful to hear. In that connection I beg leave to state one or two facts. For the last quarter of a century I have taken that excellent and conservative paper, the 'National Intelligencer. I read an obituary notice, several years ago, in one of its numbers, of a young farmer from Marshfield. lOT He had been west, was taken sick, returned to Waslung- ton, and died there. It struck me as singular that a youn»- fanner should have such an obituary ; but I knew the slyle, and saw it was Daniel Websteii's. I made inquiry about it-not from him, for he never spok« of it It was a remarkable trait of Mr. Webster that he never spoke of any act of benevolence on his part. I made inquiry, and found that the young man had come to Washington, where he had the typhus fever and that Daniel Webster sat by his side, night and day, and administered his medicines to him, until he died The young man was so attached to Mr. Webster that he would not take medicine from any other hand. Friends remonstrated with Mr. Webster, "This is a con- tagious disease, and you ought not to expose your life in this way." It is of infinitely more value m the ser- vice of the country. But nothing could deter him. There he sat, through the whole progress of the disease, every moment he could spare from the public service until the young man died, and he closed his eyes ; and then he wrote that obituary. That is only one of the many acts which have come to my knowledge. I have related this single circumstance to call out one of our friends and a friend of Mr. Webster. He is one of us, and meets with us at this table. Indeed, he is our host, Mr. Stetson. 108 Mr. 'Stetson.— While Mr. Barstow was relating the anecdote he introduced, a similar incident occurred to my mind. I thought I would take an opportunity to re- late it, if I said nothing more. Some years ago the presidential contest was approaching, and Mr. Webster was here on a visit, occupying these apartments. 1 felt a deep interest in his welfare, and made it a custom, in my humble way, to suggest whatever occurred to me as having a tendency to promote his interests and advance his prospects. One morning we were standing in the square together. There were a great number of people in the open space, evidently occupied in looking at him, and manifesting a desire to speak to him ; but he showed no indication that he desired to talk with them at all. So we continued to walk up and down quietly, talking about oxen, bulls, &c., for he was accustomed to talk about such things. At last, I said to him, "Now, I would suggest to you, sir, that you permit me to intro- duce you to two or three gentlemen here, and they will introduce you to others, and there will be a hundred gen- tlemen who will gather about and talk with you. They will look in your face, see your eyes, hear your words as ijou utter them, and they will go away with an impres- sion that will last them all their lives. You know what they say of you over the country, how they slander you. Now you have only. to show your face to honest men to rip their prejudices out of them." He walked down the passage a step or two, lifted his stalwart form erect, and observed, "Why, Charles, do you think I would make a pump handle of my arm to be the President of these 109 United States?" I thought him incorrigible, gave it up, and he went into his room. I think I have a right to take this opportunity to speak of one or two matters in connection with Mr. Webster. For seventeen years I have had uncommon facilities for seeing Mr. Webster, and knowing much about him, and I presume I shall not be charged with vanity, when I say that no man spent more hours quietly and socially with him, than I did, while he was in New York. I am not about to give you an illustration of his joyous simplicity of character, his affectionate heart, or the kindness with which, on all occasions, he would administer knowledge, and point out the best method to gather it quickly ; but I want to take this opportmiity to stab one slander, which has already hee7i struck with death, and to give my humble evidence in the case. I wish to testify, from a constant study of him, against that wretched slander, that he was intemperate. I can, before my aoD, say that I never saw hhn intoxicated. Mr. Webster was liable to appear at physical disadvantage. Medical men can illustrate, dispute, or prove what I am about to state as my analysis. For years I had been aware of his growing personal weakness. He alluded to it during two years ; three or four times I have observed a marked influence of the mental over the physical. As Mr. Webster would, in respite of thought, grow vigorous in his manner and action, so would his body cower and grow feeble under mental excitement. In the approach to an action, during the action, it was evident that the mind mastered the body, and at the end, he was, 110 for a time prostrated, liis limbs were then too weak to carry off his body. To illustrate, he asked me, in 1830, to go with him to Saratoga, where he was expected to make a speech. We were several days together. On board the steamer, going up the river, he seemed to be out of spirits and gloomy. He retired early to his state-room, and I went in to see him after he had got into his berth. I said, " How do you feel?" "Not very well," he answered. "Won't you have a little brandy and water ?" "No, no," said he, "I don't wish for any." I, however, went and brought some to him, mixed as I thought it ought to be, and said, "Do take some of this, it will warm you, and make you more comfortable." He drank a little of it, handed me the tumbler, whirled over in his birth, and, in tones, not to be misunderstood, said, " Let me alone, I don't want to be bothered any more." We arrived at Saratoga, and sojourned there several days before the convention took place. We went upon the staging that had been erected. After being there some five or six minutes, the people got up in such numbers that it broke down, and we all tumbled to the ground together. We then looked about us for some method of erecting a new staging, or some- thing else. The substitute was a long, red pedlar wagon, with a top to it, about eight or ten inches wide^ with sloping sides. Mr. President King, of Columbia Col- lege, then connected with "the American," was upon one end of it and I upon the other, between us stood Mr. Webster, without proper support for his toes or Ill heels, for two hours aiul forty mmutes, and there he made a speech. It was a great speech, and he ex- erted himself much to make it. When he had finished, I jumped oir the wagon, and with the assistance of Dr. Barstow, managed to take him down. He was so weak that he put his knee to the step, and fairly crejn into the carriage. When we all got in, he said, " Well, do you think they will say I have drank too much today ?" "I shouldn't be much surprised if they did," I answered, "I could not hold you up as we came along." We went im- mediately to the house, and into the parlor. I said to him, "You had better take a little brandy and water, I know it will bring about a re-action and make you feel chipper." He would not take any, however. Directly the doctor came along, and said he had better take some. Then he took a very little, went and laid down, fell asleep, and, after a brief nap, awoke perfectly refreshed. Shortly after this I went into the common assembly room of the hotel, and, as I passed along the hall, I heard a per- son say " What a fine speech ; but wasn't he .bloody tight." And so it was, that whenever Mr. Webster made a strong iutellectual effort, he was always personally feeble ; while he was as free from alcohol, or any thing of the sort, as an angel in heaven. After he received that mortal wound, in Marshfield. by falling out of his wagon, I was extremely anxious about him. During two or three visits I was with him a good deal, and watched him closely. I observed that he was disposed to become drowsy if he sat by himself a little while. He came on here to make an address be- 112 fore the Historical Society ; and there I heard of respec- table gentlemen 'having stated that he was intoxicated. A fouler slander never was uttered hy mortal man. 1 walked down with Mr. Webster, over that miserably constructed staircase. He walked as straight as an en- gineer could, and as true to a line. He was in a mood by no means as excited as I have seen him, but appa- rently dull and uncomfortable, though expressing him- self clearly enough to me, " I wish I hadn't got to go through this." And, in this mood, he probably inclined his head ; he might have looked as if he was tired or sleepy, and I should not have been surprised if he was ; but he was not drunk, or under the influence of wine or liquor of any kind. I will relate another instance, because I think it my duty to help put down this most base calumny. He was with us, of the New England Society, in 1852. Some of our arrangements had not been as fortunate as common, and we were anxious to get some one to come and speak to us ; at a VQry late moment we made a foray on Mr. Webster. I wrote to him on the subject, and I think Mr. Grinnell did also. We had little success, however. He was engaged with Mr. Bulwer, and wrote to me, peremptorily, that it was not possible for him to come. Circumstances, however, had transpired, which left it in my power to be perfectly frank with Mr. Bulwer ; so he said to Mr. Webster, " If you will go down to New York I will go too, and we will talk of these diplomatic afiViirs on the way.'' Mr. Webster said, " I'll do it," and they both set out for this city. He took the whole journey 113 without sleep, and had passed the previous night in pre- paration, wliieh was hard work for a man nearly seventy . years old, and it was not fair to charge him with being tipsy, after he had been busy, and riding twenty-four hours without sleep, and was so excessively fatigued. He was full of good humor before dinner, as ever I saw him. He went into the dining room with us, and we en- joyed ourselves, and I have no doubt he partook of the enjoyment. By-an,d-by he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke so dense we could hardly see to the end of the room. He sat with his hand over his eyes, perhaps think- ing over what he was about to say. He did not seem to be trying to get up a reputation for being tipsy. He made a speech. Most of us heard it, and it sounded very little like the speech of a drunken man ; yet, on that oc- casion I heard more than twenty persons say that he was intoxicated, when I know that he got up from table as sober as a man could be in the world. Question. — " How was it at Rochester?" Mr. Stetson. — I thank you ; no better illustration is needed. I have said, most emphatically, that I never saw Mr. Webster intoxicated. Yet, I know that at Rochester he was under the influence of drink. He went from this house feeble. He was sick during the journey, and unwell when he went to the festival to make a speech. The gentleman who went from this city with him was too modest, and therefore neglected his duty, which was to sit by Mr. Webster, and be sure that he, alone, gave him to drink. Under the excitement of speaking, he asked for some- 14 114 thing to moisten liis lips, when whiskey was poured into his tumbler, and thence into his stomach ; its effects were instantaneous. On his return, after greeting him, I asked him how he enjoyed his visit, " Admirably ; every- thing went well, except, that some one gave me strong drink while speaking, which excited me very much. I hope that there was no bad intention." He was angry, as well as grieved. I relate these instances, in this simple way, and give my knowledge of Mr. Webster's habits, because I think it a duty I owe to Mr. Webster, and to the gentlemen here. I rekte them that they may tell their friends and neighbors, and teach to the children of this generation that that slander had no foundation in fact. On reflection I will give you an illustration of his good- ness of heart. When he came down from Washington, after the Baltimore Convention, I thought him feeble, and very unwell ; several gentlemen called to see him, who noticed it. After a very serious conversation with him for some time, in relation to his personal matters, and the condition of politics, I left him. Later in the day, as I came around the corner of the entry-way, near his room, he was standing alone. I walked up to him, I put my hand upon his breast, and said to him, "I hope you are all right here." "Yes, sir," he replied, "I am too near God to have a single heart-burning against, a human creature on the earth, but I have a chagrin as profound as my entire nature, and it is, that after having performed my entire duty to my Southern brethren, they had neither the courage nor. kindness to place me on the 115 record in that convention ; I do not say I did not want the nomination, but I woukl rather have had tJieir record than the nomination." I was struck very forcibly with the manner and the feeling with which ho uttered these words, I am not one of those friends of Mr. Webster who feel any deep regret that he was not made a candidate for the presidency. I think there was a Providence in it, and it was all brought about for a good end. Had he have had health, been nominated, elected, in Washington, with the anxiety and the responsibility of the government on his hands, he might have been cut down suddenly, as others had been before him. As it was, he went down to Marshfield, and quietly breathed away his life. I have sometimes, in thinking it over in my mind, for my own comfort, considered how much better it was that he died as he did, than that he should have been made President, and then struck down ; ever}^ body knows that our young men, whatever profession they may fol- low, must of necessity, know something of Mr. Webster's manner and matter, and almost every man would, under the influence of the slanders to which I have referred, have thought, " What a pity it is that he had such habits." IS^ow, sir, the death-bed scene at Marshfield, with other facts now coming to light, will go down to future gene- rations, sanctifying his works ; and when the youth of our country pore over these valuable books, for their gratification and instruction, to strengthen their minds with the words written and spoken by that great man, that death-bed scene and those facts will rise up ; yes, sir, I repeat, as an absolute sanctification of the acts of 116 his life ; rendering them holier, and more durable in their influences. Dr. A. H. Stevens. — Although I had intended to have enjoyed the evening in silence, yet, in relation to one subject that has been alluded to, I rise, not an unwilling witness. Just before Gren. Harrison's inauguration, it was my good fortune to be honored with an invitation from Mr. Webster to become an inmate of his house, in Washington. It resulted in a visit of three weeks, and during this period I was Mr. Webster's companion during much of the day. The last two hours of the night, be- fore retiring to bed, were usually passed "by us together, in social conversation ; but a word of politics was rarely exchanged between us. During all this time I never saw him any more unfitted for conversation, upon any subject, at any period or hour of the day, than any gentleman whom I now see present at this table ; never, for one moment. My friend, Dr. Francis, has stated, what I fully concur in, that Mr. Webster, though a statesman and an orator, was yet made for a still higher position. He was a philosopher. A favorite subject of his contemplation was man and his destiny — how he came here, who placed him here, why he w^as here, and what became of him hereafter. These were oft-recur- ring subjects of his thoughts, when he could dismiss the political matters which were pressing upon his mind. I, therefore, concur, most fully, in what came from Mr. Stetson. I do not regret that he was not made Presi- 117 dent of the United States. He was made for better and higher things. It would have done him no lionor ; and, perhaps, have subtracted from his usefuhiess in the world. Could Mr. Webster have retired from political life some two or three years before his decease, I am full}- per- suaded that he might, and, perhaps, would have left en- during memorials of his labor in the walks of litera- ture and science. There was that in Mr. Webster which I have never seen in an}^ other man — he was, beyond any other man with whom I ever fell into intercourse, above any thing- like envy or malice. A prominent trait of his character was a desire to make every man and even every animal, happy around him • and the tact with which he studied their happiness, showed the warmth of his heart as clear- ly as the highest efforts of his eloquence or statesmanship exhibited the powers of his mind. None but a man of his superior elevation could have devised those thousand and one ways of making a guest happy ; and I appeal to every man who ever enjoyed his hospitality, for the truth of this trait in his character. Not to be egotistical, I will mention one of these thousand ways. If, during the evening hours, we had been talking upon any subject, and had not talked it out when the hour for retiring came, the next morning I would find on my table two or three books upon the subject ; perhaps marked, or opened at the place referring to the subject upon which we had been conversing. We, of the medical. profession, owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Webster. I never saw a man who appreciated 118 the vast amount of learning which should be connected with the profession of medicine, as Mr. Webster did. Whenever he alluded to it, he did so with some regret that his earl}' education had not included some of those studies that belong to a physician, that he might have understood the nomenclature of chemistry, particularly, and gained some knowledge of the structure of man. " I love to talk with gentlemen of your profession," he would often say ; and I have no doubt he would say to a cler- gyman, " I love to talk upon the subject of your pro- fession." Dr. Francis. — Speak of that peculiarity of his brain, doctor : its body-wasting power. ^' Dr. Stevens. — Long antecedent to his death, he labored under the effect of disease, and, if he did aught, subject to criticism, subsequent to tlie injury he met with, it should be set down to that cause. But where will you find, in ancient or ijiodern history, a more sublime death- bed scene than his, or one more worthy of admiration ? The memory of the heart remained entire, although his intellectual powers may have faltered. Vegetables, seen through a microscope, display their beauty ; animals, their coarseness ; so Avith some characters. His was great, even in a minute examination. His intellect exhibited the muscular development of Michael Angelo ; the grace and beauty of Raphael. An elephant, with his .probos- cis, can pick up a })in, or tear up an oak, so Mr. Webster exhibited playfulness and strengtlu- 1 know of no writer or speaker, ancient or modern, whose mind was so clear, 110 and whose tliougiits so unniistakably cxpressecl. Had he written on metaphysics, I believe he wonld have made even that snbject intellfgible to minds of ordinar}^ com- prehension, A distinguishing trait of his character, upon which his friends love to dwell, is his goodness ; his love of hu- manity. He had, indeed, a lofty, spurning indignation for all littleness, but it passed off in a moment. He studiously avoided contact with it. He thought more of the good to be found in the minds of God's creatures, without looking too much into the littleness of things". Grentlemen, there is no beginning and no end, to any thing that may be said of Daniel Webster. My belief is, that the appreciation of his character and of his ma- jestic intellect has but just begun. He was a man not of this century alone ; you may look for half a dozen cen- turies before you will find another. Here there occurred a cessation of the speaking, and, on motion of Mr. Tileston, it was resolved to meet again on the 18th day of January, 1855. The same Committee of Arrangements to be continued, with power to fill vacancies, and add to their number. The company then separated, at half past eleven O'clock. THE END. k I' ) I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 896 573 5 "S