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diff --git a/36843.txt b/36843.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bca6c54 --- /dev/null +++ b/36843.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22301 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1, by Daniel Webster + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1 + +Author: Daniel Webster + +Release Date: July 25, 2011 [EBook #36843] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORKS OF DANIEL WEBSTER *** + + + + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Bryan Ness, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + +THE WORKS OF DANIEL WEBSTER. + +VOLUME I. + +EIGHTH EDITION + + + BOSTON: + LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY. + 1854. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by GEORGE W. +GORDON AND JAMES W. PAIGE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court +of the District of Massachusetts. + + CAMBRIDGE: + STEREOTYPED BY METCALF AND COMPANY, + PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. + PRINTED AT HOUGHTON AND HAYWOOD + + +[Illustration: _Daniel Webster_] + + + + + DEDICATION + OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + TO MY NIECES, + MRS. ALICE BRIDGE WHIPPLE, + AND + MRS. MARY ANN SANBORN: + +Many of the Speeches contained in this volume were delivered and printed +in the lifetime of your father whose fraternal affection led him to +speak of them with approbation. + +His death, which happened when he had only just past the middle period +of life, left you without a father, and me without a brother. + +I dedicate this volume to you, not only for the love I have for +yourselves, but also as a tribute of affection to his memory, and from a +desire that the name of my brother, + + EZEKIEL WEBSTER, + +may be associated with mine, so long as any thing written or spoken by +me shall be regarded or read. + +DANIEL WEBSTER. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + PAGE +BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. + + CHAPTER I. xiii + Former Editions of the Works of Mr. Webster, and Plan of + this Edition.--Parentage and Birth.--First Settlements + in the Interior of New Hampshire.--Establishment of his + Father at Salisbury.--Scanty Opportunities of Early + Education.--First Teachers, and recent Letter to Master + Tappan.--Placed at Exeter Academy.--Anecdotes while + there.--Dartmouth College.--Study of the Law at + Salisbury.--Residence at Fryeburg in Maine, and + Occupations there.--Continuance of the Study of the Law + at Boston, in the Office of Hon. Christopher + Gore.--Admission to the Bar of Suffolk, + Massachusetts.--Commencement of Practice at Boscawen, + New Hampshire.--Removal to Portsmouth.--Contemporaries + in the Profession.--Increasing Practice. + + CHAPTER II. xxxiii + Entrance on Public Life.--State of Parties in + 1812.--Election to Congress.--Extra Session of + 1813.--Foreign Relations of the Country.--Resolutions + relative to the Berlin and Milan Decrees.--Naval + Defence.--Reelected to Congress in 1814.--Peace with + England.--Projects for a National Bank.--Mr. Webster's + Course on that Question.--Battle of New Orleans.--New + Questions arising on the Return of Peace.--Course of + Prominent Men of Different Parties.--Mr. Webster's + Opinions on the Constitutionality of the Tariff + Policy.--The Resolution to restore Specie Payments + moved by Mr. Webster.--Removal to Boston. + + CHAPTER III. xlviii + Professional Character particularly in Reference to + Constitutional Law.--The Dartmouth College Case argued + at Washington in 1818.--Mr. Ticknor's Description of + that Argument.--The Case of Gibbons and Ogden in + 1824.--Mr. Justice Wayne's Allusion to that Case in + 1847.--The Case of Ogden and Saunders in 1827.--The + Case of the Proprietors of the Charles River + Bridge.--The Alabama Bank Case.--The Case relative to + the Boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode + Island.--The Girard Will Case.--The Case of the + Constitution of Rhode Island.--General Remarks on Mr. + Webster's Practice in the Supreme Court of the United + States.--Practice in the State Courts.--The Case of + Goodridge,--and the Case of Knapp. + + CHAPTER IV. lx + The Convention to revise the Constitution of + Massachusetts.--John Adams a Delegate.--Mr. Webster's + Share in its Proceedings.--Speeches on Oaths of Office, + Basis of Senatorial Representation, and Independence of + the Judiciary.--Centennial Anniversary at Plymouth on + the 22d of December, 1820.--Discourse delivered by Mr. + Webster.--Bunker Hill Monument, and Address by Mr. + Webster on the Laying of the Corner-Stone, 17th of + June, 1825.--Discourse on the Completion of the + Monument, 17th of June, 1843.--Simultaneous Decease of + Adams and Jefferson on the 4th of July, 1826.--Eulogy + by Mr. Webster in Faneuil Hall.--Address at the Laying + of the Corner-Stone of the New Wing of the + Capitol.--Remarks on the Patriotic Discourses of Mr. + Webster, and on the Character of his Eloquence in + Efforts of this Class. + + CHAPTER V. lxxii + Election to Congress from Boston.--State of + Parties.--Meeting of the Eighteenth Congress.--Mr. + Webster's Resolution and Speech in favor of the + Greeks.--Argument in the Supreme Court in the Case of + Gibbons and Ogden.--Circumstances under which it was + made.--Speech on the Tariff Law of 1824.--A complete + Revision of the Law for the Punishment of Crimes + against the United States reported by Mr. Webster, and + enacted.--The Election of Mr. Adams as President of the + United States.--Meeting of the Nineteenth Congress, and + State of Parties.--Congress of Panama, and Mr. + Webster's Speech on that Subject.--Election as a + Senator of the United States.--Revision of the Tariff + Law by the Twentieth Congress.--Embarrassments of the + Question.--Mr. Webster's Course and Speech on this + Subject. + + CHAPTER VI. lxxxvii + Election of General Jackson.--Debate on Foot's + Resolution.--Subject of the Resolution, and Objects + of its Mover.--Mr. Hayne's First Speech.--Mr. + Webster's original Participation in the Debate + unpremeditated.--His First Speech.--Reply of Mr. Hayne + with increased Asperity.--Mr. Webster's Great + Speech.--Its Threefold Object.--Description of the + Manner of Mr. Webster in the Delivery of this + Speech, from Mr. March's "Reminiscences of + Congress."--Reception of his Speech throughout the + Country.--The Dinner at New York.--Chancellor + Kent's Remarks.--Final Disposal of Foot's + Resolution.--Report of Mr. Webster's Speech.--Mr. + Healey's Painting. + + CHAPTER VII. ci + General Character of President Jackson's + Administrations.--Speedy Discord among the Parties + which had united for his Elevation.--Mr. Webster's + Relations to the Administration.--Veto of the + Bank.--Rise and Progress of Nullification in South + Carolina.--The Force Bill, and the Reliance of + General Jackson's Administration on Mr. Webster's + Aid.--His Speech in Defence of the Bill, and in + Opposition to Mr. Calhoun's Resolutions.--Mr. + Madison's Letter on Secession.--The Removal of the + Deposits.--Motives for that Measure.--The + Resolution of the Senate disapproving it.--The + President's Protest.--Mr. Webster's Speech on the + Subject of the Protest.--Opinions of Chancellor Kent + and Mr. Tazewell.--The Expunging Resolution.--Mr. + Webster's Protest against it.--Mr. Van Buren's + Election.--The Financial Crisis and the Extra + Session of Congress.--The Government Plan of Finance + supported by Mr. Calhoun and opposed by Mr. + Webster.--Personalities.--Mr. Webster's Visit to + Europe and distinguished Reception.--The + Presidential Canvass of 1840.--Election of General + Harrison. + + CHAPTER VIII. cxix + Critical State of Foreign Affairs on the Accession of + General Harrison.--Mr. Webster appointed to the State + Department.--Death of General Harrison.--Embarrassed + Relations with England.--Formation of Sir Robert + Peel's Ministry, and Appointment of Lord Ashburton as + Special Minister to the United States.--Course + pursued by Mr. Webster in the Negotiations.--The + Northeastern Boundary.--Peculiar Difficulties in + its Settlement happily overcome.--Other Subjects of + Negotiation.--Extradition of Fugitives from + Justice.--Suppression of the Slave-Trade on the + Coast of Africa.--History of that Question.--Affair + of the Caroline.--Impressment.--Other Subjects + connected with the Foreign Relations of the + Government.--Intercourse with China.--Independence + of the Sandwich Islands.--Correspondence with + Mexico.--Sound Duties and the Zoll-Verein.--Importance + of Mr. Webster's Services as Secretary of State. + + CHAPTER IX. cxliii + Mr. Webster resigns his Place in Mr. Tyler's + Cabinet.--Attempts to draw public Attention to the + projected Annexation of Texas.--Supports Mr. Clay's + Nomination for the Presidency.--Causes of the Failure + of that Nomination.--Mr. Webster returns to the Senate + of the United States.--Admission of Texas to the + Union.--The War with Mexico.--Mr. Webster's Course in + Reference to the War.--Death of Major Webster in + Mexico.--Mr. Webster's unfavorable Opinion of the + Mexican Government.--Settlement of the Oregon + Controversy.--Mr. Webster's Agency in effecting the + Adjustment.--Revival of the Sub-Treasury System and + Repeal of the Tariff Law of 1842.--Southern + Tour.--Success of the Mexican War and Acquisition of + the Mexican Provinces.--Efforts in Congress to organize + a Territorial Government for these Provinces.--Great + Exertions of Mr. Webster on the last Night of the + Session.--Nomination of General Taylor, and Course of + Mr. Webster in Reference to it.--A Constitution of + State Government adopted by California prohibiting + Slavery.--Increase of Antislavery Agitation.--Alarming + State of Affairs.--Mr. Webster's Speech for the + Union.--Circumstances under which it was made, and + Motives by which he was influenced.--General Taylor's + Death, and the Accession of Mr. Fillmore to the + Presidency.--Mr. Webster called to the Department of + State. + +SPEECHES DELIVERED ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. + + First Settlement of New England 1 + The Bunker Hill Monument 55 + The Completion of the Bunker Hill Monument 79 + Adams and Jefferson 109 + The Election of 1825 151 + Dinner at Faneuil Hall 161 + The Boston Mechanics' Institution 175 + Public Dinner at New York 191 + The Character of Washington. 217 + National Republican Convention at Worcester 235 + Reception at Buffalo 279 + Reception at Pittsburg 285 + Reception at Bangor 307 + Presentation of a Vase 317 + Reception at New York 337 + Reception at Wheeling 381 + Reception at Madison 395 + Public Dinner in Faneuil Hall 411 + Royal Agricultural Society 433 + The Agriculture of England 441 + + + + +BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE PUBLIC LIFE OF DANIEL WEBSTER. + +BY EDWARD EVERETT. + +[Illustration: _Birth Place of Daniel Webster, Salisbury NH_] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Former Editions of the Works of Mr. Webster, and Plan of this + Edition.--Parentage and Birth.--First Settlements in the + Interior of New Hampshire.--Establishment of his Father at + Salisbury.--Scanty Opportunities of Early Education.--First + Teachers, and recent Letter to Master Tappan.--Placed at Exeter + Academy.--Anecdotes while there.--Dartmouth College.--Study of + the Law at Salisbury.--Residence at Fryeburg in Maine, and + Occupations there.--Continuance of the Study of the Law at Boston, + in the Office of Hon. Christopher Gore.--Admission to the Bar of + Suffolk, Massachusetts.--Commencement of Practice at Boscawen, + New Hampshire.--Removal to Portsmouth.--Contemporaries in the + Profession.--Increasing Practice. + + +The first collection of Mr. Webster's speeches in the Congress of the +United States and on various public occasions was published in Boston, +in one volume octavo, in 1830. This volume was more than once reprinted, +and in 1835 a second volume was published, containing the speeches made +up to that time, and not included in the first collection. Several +impressions of these two volumes were called for by the public. In 1843 +a third volume was prepared, containing a selection from the speeches of +Mr. Webster from the year 1835 till his entrance into the cabinet of +General Harrison. In the year 1848 appeared a fourth volume of +diplomatic papers, containing a portion of Mr. Webster's official +correspondence as Secretary of State. + +The great favor with which these volumes have been received throughout +the country, and the importance of the subjects discussed in the Senate +of the United States after Mr. Webster's return to that body in 1845, +have led his friends to think that a valuable service would be rendered +to the community by bringing together his speeches of a later date than +those contained in the third volume of the former collection, and on +political subjects arising since that time. Few periods of our history +will be entitled to be remembered by events of greater moment, such as +the admission of Texas to the Union, the settlement of the Oregon +controversy, the Mexican war, the acquisition of California and other +Mexican provinces, and the exciting questions which have grown out of +the sudden extension of the territory of the United States. Rarely have +public discussions been carried on with greater earnestness, with more +important consequences visibly at stake, or with greater ability. The +speeches made by Mr. Webster in the Senate, and on public occasions of +various kinds, during the progress of these controversies, are more than +sufficient to fill two new volumes. The opportunity of their collection +has been taken by the enterprising publishers, in compliance with +opinions often expressed by the most respectable individuals, and with a +manifest public demand, to bring out a new edition of Mr. Webster's +speeches in uniform style. Such is the object of the present +publication. The first two volumes contain the speeches delivered by him +on a great variety of public occasions, commencing with his discourse at +Plymouth in December, 1820. Three succeeding volumes embrace the greater +part of the speeches delivered in the Massachusetts Convention and in +the two houses of Congress, beginning with the speech on the Bank of the +United States in 1816. The sixth and last volume contains the legal +arguments and addresses to the jury, the diplomatic papers, and letters +addressed to various persons on important political questions. + +The collection does not embrace the entire series of Mr. Webster's +writings. Such a series would have required a larger number of volumes +than was deemed advisable with reference to the general circulation of +the work. A few juvenile performances have accordingly been omitted, as +not of sufficient importance or maturity to be included in the +collection. Of the earlier speeches in Congress, some were either not +reported at all, or in a manner too imperfect to be preserved without +doing injustice to the author. No attempt has been made to collect from +the contemporaneous newspapers or Congressional registers the short +conversational speeches and remarks made by Mr. Webster, as by other +prominent members of Congress, in the progress of debate, and sometimes +exercising greater influence on the result than the set speeches. Of the +addresses to public meetings it has been found impossible to embrace +more than a selection, without swelling the work to an unreasonable +size. It is believed, however, that the contents of these volumes +furnish a fair specimen of Mr. Webster's opinions and sentiments on all +the subjects treated, and of his manner of discussing them. The +responsibility of deciding what should be omitted and what included has +been left by Mr. Webster to the friends having the charge of the +publication, and his own opinion on details of this kind has rarely been +taken. + +In addition to such introductory notices as were deemed expedient +relative to the occasions and subjects of the various speeches, it has +been thought advisable that the collection should be accompanied with a +Biographical Memoir, presenting a condensed view of Mr. Webster's public +career, with a few observations by way of commentary on the principal +speeches. Many things which might otherwise fitly be said in such an +essay must, it is true, be excluded by that delicacy which qualifies the +eulogy to be awarded even to the most eminent living worth. Much may be +safely omitted, as too well known to need repetition in this community, +though otherwise pertaining to a full survey of Mr. Webster's career. In +preparing the following notice, free use has been made by the writer of +the biographical sketches already before the public. Justice, however, +requires that a specific acknowledgment should be made to an article in +the American Quarterly Review for June, 1831, written, with equal +accuracy and elegance, by Mr. George Ticknor, and containing a +discriminating estimate of the speeches embraced in the first +collection; and also to the highly spirited and vigorous work entitled +"Reminiscences of Congress," by Mr. Charles W. March. To this work the +present sketch is largely indebted for the account of the parentage and +early life of Mr. Webster; as well as for a very graphic description of +the debate on Foot's resolution. + + * * * * * + +The family of Daniel Webster has been established in America from a very +early period. It was of Scottish origin, but passed some time in England +before the final emigration. Thomas Webster, the remotest ancestor who +can be traced, was settled at Hampton, on the coast of New Hampshire, as +early as 1636, sixteen years after the landing at Plymouth, and six +years from the arrival of Governor Winthrop in Massachusetts Bay. The +descent from Thomas Webster to Daniel can be traced in the church and +town records of Hampton, Kingston (now East Kingston), and Salisbury. +These records and the mouldering headstones of village grave-yards are +the herald's office of the fathers of New England. Noah Webster, the +learned author of the American Dictionary of the English Language, was +of a collateral branch of the family. + +Ebenezer Webster, the father of Daniel, is still recollected in Kingston +and Salisbury. His personal appearance was striking. He was erect, of +athletic stature, six feet high, broad and full in the chest. Long +service in the wars had given him a military air and carriage. He +belonged to that intrepid border race, which lined the whole frontier of +the Anglo-American colonies, by turns farmers, huntsmen, and soldiers, +and passing their lives in one long struggle with the hardships of an +infant settlement, on the skirts of a primeval forest. Ebenezer Webster +enlisted early in life as a common soldier, in one of those formidable +companies of rangers, which rendered such important services under Sir +Jeffrey Amherst and Wolfe in the Seven Years' War. He followed the +former distinguished leader in the invasion of Canada, attracted the +attention and gained the good-will of his superior officers by his brave +and faithful conduct, and rose to the rank of a captain before the end +of the war. + +For the first half of the last century the settlements of New Hampshire +had made but little progress into the interior. Every war between France +and Great Britain in Europe was the signal of an irruption of the +Canadian French and their Indian allies into New England. As late as +1755 they sacked villages on the Connecticut River, and John Stark, +while hunting on Baker's River, three years before, was taken a prisoner +and sold as a slave into Canada. One can scarcely believe that it is not +yet a hundred years since occurrences like these took place. The cession +of Canada to England by the treaty of 1763 entirely changed this state +of things. It opened the pathways of the forest and the gates of the +Western hills. The royal governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, +began to make grants of land in the central parts of the State. Colonel +Stevens of Kingston, with some of his neighbors, mostly retired officers +and soldiers, obtained a grant of the town of Salisbury, which was at +first called Stevenstown, from the principal grantee. This town is +situated exactly at the point where the Merrimack River is formed by the +confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipiseogee. Captain Webster was +one of the settlers of the newly granted township, and received an +allotment in its northerly portion. More adventurous than others of the +company, he cut his way deeper into the wilderness, and made the path he +could not find. At this time his nearest civilized neighbors on the +northwest were at Montreal. + +The following allusion of Mr. Webster to his birthplace will be read +with interest. It is from a speech delivered before a great public +assembly at Saratoga, in the year 1840. + + "It did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin; but my elder + brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin, raised amid the + snowdrifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that, when the + smoke first rose from its rude chimney, and curled over the frozen + hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation + between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains + still exist. I make to it an annual visit. I carry my children to it + to teach them the hardships endured by the generations which have + gone before them. I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the + kindred ties, the early affections, and the touching narratives and + incidents, which mingle with all I know of this primitive family + abode. I weep to think that none of those who inhabited it are now + among the living; and if ever I am ashamed of it, or if I ever fail + in affectionate veneration for HIM who reared and defended it + against savage violence and destruction, cherished all the domestic + virtues beneath its roof, and, through the fire and blood of seven + years' revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no + sacrifice, to serve his country, and to raise his children to a + condition better than his own, may my name and the name of my + posterity be blotted for ever from the memory of mankind!" + +Soon after his settlement in Salisbury, the first wife of Ebenezer +Webster having deceased, he married Abigail Eastman, who became the +mother of Ezekiel and Daniel Webster, the only sons of the second +marriage. Like the mothers of so many men of eminence, she was a +woman of more than ordinary intellect, and possessed a force of +character which was felt throughout the humble circle in which she +moved. She was proud of her sons and ambitious that they should excel. +Her anticipations went beyond the narrow sphere in which their lot +seemed to be cast, and the distinction attained by both, and especially +by the younger, may well be traced in part to her early promptings +and judicious guidance. + +About the time of his second marriage, Captain Ebenezer Webster erected +a frame house hard by the log cabin. He dug a well near it and planted +an elm sapling. In this house Daniel Webster was born. It has long since +disappeared, but the spot where it stood is well known, and is covered +by a house since built. The cellar of the log cabin is still visible, +though partly filled with the accumulations of seventy years. "The well +still remains," says Mr. March, "with water as pure, as cool, and as +limpid as when first brought to light, and will remain in all +probability for ages, to refresh hereafter the votaries of genius who +make their pilgrimage hither, to visit the cradle of one of her greatest +sons. The elm that shaded the boy still flourishes in vigorous leaf, and +may have an existence beyond its perishable nature. Like + + 'The witch-elm that guards St. Fillan's spring,' + +it may live in story long after leaf, and branch, and root have +disappeared for ever." + +The interval between the peace of 1763 and the breaking out of the war +of the Revolution was one of excitement and anxiety throughout the +Colonies. The great political questions of the day were not only +discussed in the towns and cities, but in the villages and hamlets. +Captain Webster took a deep interest in those discussions. Like so many +of the officers and soldiers of the former war, he obeyed the first call +to arms in the new struggle. He commanded a company, chiefly composed of +his own townspeople, friends, and kindred, who followed him through the +greater portion of the war. He was at the battle of White Plains, and +was at West Point when the treason of Arnold was discovered. He acted as +a Major under Stark at Bennington, and contributed his share to the +success of that eventful day. + +In the last year of the Revolutionary war, on the 18th of January, 1782, +Daniel Webster was born, in the home which his father had established +on the outskirts of civilization. If the character and situation of +the place, and the circumstances under which he passed the first years +of his life, might seem adverse to the early cultivation of his +extraordinary talent, it still cannot be doubted that they possessed +influences favorable to elevation and strength of character. The +hardships of an infant settlement and border life, the traditions of +a long series of Indian wars, and of two mighty national contests, in +which an honored parent had borne his part, the anecdotes of Fort +William Henry, of Quebec, of Bennington, of West Point, of Wolfe and +Stark and Washington, the great Iliad and Odyssey of American +Independence,--this was the fireside entertainment of the long winter +evenings of the secluded village home. Abroad, the uninviting +landscape, the harsh and craggy outline of the hills broken and relieved +only by the funereal hemlock and the "cloud seeking" pine, the +lowlands traversed in every direction by unbridged streams, the tall, +charred trunks in the cornfields, that told how stern had been the +struggle with the boundless woods, and, at the close of the year, the +dismal scene which presents itself in high latitudes in a thinly +settled region, when + + "the snows descend; and, foul and fierce, + All winter drives along the darkened air";-- + +these are circumstances to leave an abiding impression on the mind of a +thoughtful child, and induce an early maturity of character. + +Mr. March has described an incident of Mr. Webster's earliest youth in a +manner so graphical, that we are tempted to repeat it in his own +words:-- + + "In Mr. Webster's earliest youth an occurrence of such a nature took + place, which affected him deeply at the time, and has dwelt in his + memory ever since. There was a sudden and extraordinary rise in the + Merrimack River, in a spring thaw. A deluge of rain for two whole + days poured down upon the houses. A mass of mingled water and snow + rushed madly from the hills, inundating the fields far and wide. The + highways were broken up, and rendered undistinguishable. There was + no way for neighbors to interchange visits of condolence or + necessity, save by boats, which came up to the very door-steps of + the houses. + + "Many things of value were swept away, even things of bulk. A large + barn, full fifty feet by twenty, crowded with hay and grain, sheep, + chickens, and turkeys, sailed majestically down the river, before + the eyes of the astonished inhabitants; who, no little frightened, + got ready to fly to the mountains, or construct another ark. + + "The roar of waters, as they rushed over precipices, casting the + foam and spray far above, the crashing of the forest-trees as the + storm broke through them, the immense sea everywhere in range of the + eye, the sublimity, even danger, of the scene, made an indelible + impression upon the mind of the youthful observer. + + "Occurrences and scenes like these excite the imaginative faculty, + furnish material for proper thought, call into existence new + emotions, give decision to character, and a purpose to action."--pp. + 7, 8. + +It may well be supposed that Mr. Webster's early opportunities for +education were very scanty. It is indeed correctly remarked by Mr. +Ticknor, in reference to this point, that "in New England, ever since +the first free school was established amidst the woods that covered the +peninsula of Boston in 1636, the schoolmaster has been found on the +border line between savage and civilized life, often indeed with an axe +to open his own path, but always looked up to with respect, and always +carrying with him a valuable and preponderating influence." Still, +however, compared with any thing that would be called a good school in +this region and at the present time, the schools which existed on the +frontier sixty years ago were sadly defective. Many of our district +schools even now are below their reputation. The Swedish Chancellor's +exclamation of wonder at the little wisdom with which the world is +governed, might well be repeated at the little learning and skill with +which the scholastic world in too many parts of our country is still +taught. In Mr. Webster's boyhood it was much worse. Something that was +called a school was kept for two or three months in the winter, +frequently by an itinerant, too often a pretender, claiming only to +teach a little reading, writing, and ciphering, and wholly incompetent +to give any valuable assistance to a clever youth in learning either. + +Such as the village school was, Mr. Webster enjoyed its advantages, if +they could be called by that name. It was, however, of a migratory +character. When it was near his father's residence it was easy to +attend; but it was sometimes in a distant part of the town, and +sometimes in another town. While he was quite young, he was daily sent +two miles and a half or three miles to school in mid-winter and on +foot. If the school-house lay in the same direction with the miller or +the blacksmith, an occasional ride might be hoped for. If the school was +removed to a still greater distance, he was boarded at a neighbor's. +Poor as these opportunities of education were, they were bestowed on Mr. +Webster more liberally than on his brothers. He showed a greater +eagerness for learning; and he was thought of too frail a constitution +for any robust pursuit. An older half-brother good-humoredly said, that +"Dan was sent to school that he might get to know as much as the other +boys." It is probable that the best part of his education was derived +from the judicious and experienced father, and the strong-minded, +affectionate, and ambitious mother. + +Mr. Webster's first master was Thomas Chase. He could read tolerably +well, and wrote a fair hand; but spelling was not his _forte_. His +second master was James Tappan, now living at an advanced age in +Gloucester, Massachusetts. His qualifications as a teacher far exceeded +those of Master Chase. The worthy veteran, now dignified with the title +of Colonel, feels a pride, it may well be supposed, in the fame of his +quondam pupil. He lately addressed a letter to him, recounting some of +the incidents of his own life since he taught school at Salisbury. This +unexpected communication from his aged teacher drew from Mr. Webster the +following answer, in which a handsome gratuity was inclosed, more, +probably, than the old gentleman ever received for a winter's teaching +at "New Salisbury."[1] + + "_Washington, February 26, 1851._ + + "MASTER TAPPAN,--I thank you for your letter, and am rejoiced to + know that you are among the living. I remember you perfectly well as + a teacher of my infant years. I suppose my mother must have taught + me to read very early, as I have never been able to recollect the + time when I could not read the Bible. I think Master Chase was my + earliest schoolmaster, probably when I was three or four years old. + Then came Master Tappan. You boarded at our house, and sometimes, I + think, in the family of Mr. Benjamin Sanborn, our neighbor, the lame + man. Most of those whom you knew in 'New Salisbury' have gone to + their graves. Mr. John Sanborn, the son of Benjamin, is yet living, + and is about your age. Mr. John Colby, who married my oldest + sister, Susannah, is also living. On the 'North Road' is Mr. + Benjamin Hunton, and on the 'South Road' is Mr. Benjamin Pettengil. + I think of none else among the living whom you would probably + remember. + + "You have indeed lived a checkered life. I hope you have been able + to bear prosperity with meekness, and adversity with patience. These + things are all ordered for us far better than we could order them + for ourselves. We may pray for our daily bread; we may pray for the + forgiveness of sins; we may pray to be kept from temptation, and + that the kingdom of God may come, in us, and in all men, and his + will everywhere be done. Beyond this, we hardly know for what good + to supplicate the Divine Mercy. Our Heavenly Father knoweth what we + have need of better than we know ourselves, and we are sure that his + eye and his loving-kindness are upon us and around us every moment. + + "I thank you again my good old schoolmaster, for your kind letter, + which has awakened many sleeping recollections; and, with all good + wishes, I remain your friend and pupil, + + "DANIEL WEBSTER. + + To "MR. JAMES TAPPAN." + +He derived, also, no small benefit from the little social library, +which, chiefly by the exertions of Mr. Thompson (the intelligent lawyer +of the place), the clergyman, and Mr. Webster's father, had been founded +in Salisbury. The attention of the people of New Hampshire had been +called to this mode of promoting general and popular education by Dr. +Belknap. In the patriotic address to the people of New Hampshire, at the +close of his excellent History, he says:-- + + "This (the establishment of social libraries) is the easiest, the + cheapest, and the most effectual mode of diffusing knowledge among + the people. For the sum of six or eight dollars at once, and a small + annual payment besides, a man may be supplied with the means of + literary improvement during his life, and his children may inherit + the blessing."[2] + +From the village library at Salisbury, founded on recommendations like +these, Mr. Webster was able to obtain a moderate supply of good reading. +It is quite worth noticing, that his attention, like that of Franklin, +was in early boyhood attracted to the Spectator. Franklin, as is well +known, studiously formed his style on that of Addison;--and a +considerable resemblance may be traced between them. There is no such +resemblance between Mr. Webster's style and that of Addison, unless it +be the negative merit of freedom from balanced sentences, hard words, +and inversions. It may, no doubt, have been partly owing to his early +familiarity with the Spectator, that he escaped in youth from the +turgidity and pomp of the Johnsonian school, and grew up to the mastery +of that direct and forcible, but not harsh and affected sententiousness, +that masculine simplicity, with which his speeches and writings are so +strongly marked. + +The year before Mr. Webster was born was rendered memorable in New +Hampshire by the foundation of the Academy at Exeter, through the +munificence of the Honorable John Phillips. His original endowment is +estimated by Dr. Belknap at nearly ten thousand pounds, which, in the +comparative scarcity of money in 1781, cannot be considered as less than +three times that amount at the present day. Few events are more likely +to be regarded as eras in the history of that State. In the year 1788, +Dr. Benjamin Abbot, soon afterwards its principal, became connected with +the Academy as an instructor, and from that time it assumed the rank +which it still maintains among the schools of the country. To this +Academy Mr. Webster was taken by his father in May, 1796. He enjoyed the +advantage of only a few months' instruction in this excellent school; +but, short as the period was, his mind appears to have received an +impulse of a most genial and quickening character. Nothing could be more +graceful or honorable to both parties than the tribute paid by Mr. +Webster to his ancient instructor, at the festival at Exeter, in 1838, +in honor of Dr. Abbot's jubilee. While at the Academy, his studies were +aided and his efforts encouraged by a pupil younger than himself, but +who, having enjoyed better advantages of education in boyhood, was now +in the senior class at Exeter, the early celebrated and lamented Joseph +Stevens Buckminster. The following anecdote from Mr. March's work will +not be thought out of place in this connection:-- + + "It may appear somewhat singular that the greatest orator of modern + times should have evinced in his boyhood the strongest antipathy to + public declamation. This fact, however, is established by his own + words, which have recently appeared in print. 'I believe,' says Mr. + Webster, 'I made tolerable progress in most branches which I + attended to while in this school; but there was one thing I could + not do. I could not make a declamation. I could not speak before the + school. The kind and excellent Buckminster sought especially to + persuade me to perform the exercise of declamation, like other boys, + but I could not do it. Many a piece did I commit to memory, and + recite and rehearse in my own room, over and over again; yet when + the day came, when the school collected to hear declamations, when + my name was called, and I saw all eyes turned to my seat, I could + not raise myself from it. Sometimes the instructors frowned, + sometimes they smiled. Mr. Buckminster always pressed and entreated, + most winningly, that I would venture. But I never could command + sufficient resolution.' Such diffidence of its own powers may be + natural to genius, nervously fearful of being unable to reach that + ideal which it proposes as the only full consummation of its wishes. + It is fortunate, however, for the age, fortunate for all ages, that + Mr. Webster by determined will and frequent trial overcame this + moral incapacity, as his great prototype, the Grecian orator, + subdued his physical defect."--pp. 12, 13. + +The effect produced, even at that early period of Mr. Webster's life, on +the mind of a close observer of his mental powers, is strikingly +illustrated by the following anecdote. Mr. Nicholas Emery, afterwards a +distinguished lawyer and judge, and now living in Portland, was +temporarily employed, at that time, as an usher in the Academy. On +entering the Academy, Mr. Webster was placed in the lowest class, which +consisted of half a dozen boys, of no remarkable brightness of +intellect. Mr. Emery was the instructor of this class, among others. At +the end of a month, after morning recitations, "Webster," said Mr. +Emery, "you will pass into the other room and join a higher class"; and +added, "Boys, you will take your final leave of Webster, you will never +see him again." + +After a few months well spent at Exeter, Mr. Webster returned home, and +in February, 1797, was placed by his father under the Rev. Samuel Wood, +the minister of the neighboring town of Boscawen. He lived in Mr. Wood's +family, and for board and instruction the entire charge was one dollar +per week. + +On their way to Mr. Wood's, Mr. Webster's father first opened to his +son, now fifteen years old, the design of sending him to college, the +thought of which had never before entered his mind. The advantages of a +college education were a privilege to which he had never aspired in +his most ambitious dreams. "I remember," says Mr. Webster, in an +autobiographical memorandum of his boyhood, "the very hill which we +were ascending, through deep snows, in a New England sleigh, when my +father made known this purpose to me. I could not speak. How could he, +I thought, with so large a family and in such narrow circumstances, +think of incurring so great an expense for me. A warm glow ran all +over me, and I laid my head on my father's shoulder and wept." + +In truth, a college education was a far different affair fifty years ago +from what it has since become, by the multiplication of collegiate +institutions, and the establishment of public funds in aid of those who +need assistance. It constituted a person at once a member of an +intellectual aristocracy. In many cases it really conferred +qualifications, and in all was supposed to do so, without which +professional and public life could not be entered upon with any hope of +success. In New England, at that time, it was not a common occurrence +that any one attained a respectable position in either of the +professions without this advantage. In selecting the member of the +family who should enjoy this privilege, the choice not unfrequently fell +upon the son whose slender frame and early indications of disease +unfitted him for the laborious life of our New England yeomanry. + +From February till August, 1797, Mr. Webster remained under the +instruction of Mr. Wood, at Boscawen, and completed his preparation for +college. It is hardly necessary to say, that the preparation was +imperfect. There is probably no period in the history of the country at +which the standard of classical literature stood lower than it did at +the close of the last century. The knowledge of Greek and Latin brought +by our forefathers from England had almost run out in the lapse of +nearly two centuries, and the signal revival which has taken place +within the last thirty years had not yet begun. Still, however, when we +hear of a youth of fifteen preparing himself for college by a year's +study of Greek and Latin, we must recollect that the attainments which +may be made in that time by a young man of distinguished talent, at the +period of life when the faculties develop themselves with the greatest +energy, studying night and day, summer and winter, under the master +influence of hope, ambition, and necessity, are not to be measured by +the tardy progress of the thoughtless or languid children of prosperity, +sent to school from the time they are able to go alone, and carried +along by routine and discipline from year to year, in the majority of +cases without strong personal motives to diligence. Besides this, it is +to be considered that the studies which occupy this usually prolonged +novitiate are those which are required for the acquisition of +grammatical and metrical niceties, the elegancies and the luxuries of +scholarship. Short as was his period of preparation, it enabled Mr. +Webster to lay the foundation of a knowledge of the classical writers, +especially the Latin, which was greatly increased in college, and which +has been kept up by constant recurrence to the great models of +antiquity, during the busiest periods of active life. The happiness of +Mr. Webster's occasional citations from the Latin classics is a striking +feature of his oratory. + +Mr. Webster entered college in 1797, and passed the four academic years +in assiduous study. He was not only distinguished for his attention to +the prescribed studies, but devoted himself to general reading, +especially to English history and literature. He took part in the +publication of a little weekly newspaper, furnishing selections from +books and magazines, with an occasional article from his own pen. He +delivered addresses, also, before the college societies, some of which +were published. The winter vacations brought no relaxation. Like those +of so many of the meritorious students at our places of education, they +were employed in teaching school, for the purpose of eking out his own +frugal means and aiding his brother to prepare himself for college. The +attachment between the two brothers was of the most affectionate kind, +and it was by the persuasion of Daniel that the father had been induced +to extend to Ezekiel also the benefits of a college education. + +The genial and companionable spirit of Mr. Webster is still remembered +by his classmates, and by the close of his first college year he had +given proof of powers and aspirations which placed him far above rivalry +among his associates. "It is known," says Mr. Ticknor, "in many ways, +that, by those who were acquainted with him at this period of life, he +was already regarded as a marked man, and that to the more sagacious of +them the honors of his subsequent career have not been unexpected." + +Mr. Webster completed his college course in August, 1801, and +immediately entered the office of Mr. Thompson, the next-door neighbor +of his father, as a student of law. Mr. Thompson was a gentleman of +education and intelligence, and, at a later period, a respectable +member, successively, of the House of Representatives and Senate of the +United States. He maintained a high character till his death. Mr. +Webster remained in his office as a student till, in the words of Mr. +March, "he felt it necessary to go somewhere and do something to earn a +little money." In this emergency, application was made to him to take +charge of an academy at Fryeburg in Maine, upon a salary of about one +dollar _per diem_, being what is now paid for the coarsest kind of +unskilled manual labor. As he was able, besides, to earn enough to pay +for his board and to defray his other expenses by acting as assistant to +the register of deeds for the county, his salary was all saved,--a fund +for his own professional education and to help his brother through +college. + +Mr. Webster's son and one of his friends have lately visited Fryeburg +and examined these records of deeds. They are still preserved in two +huge folio volumes, in Mr. Webster's handwriting, exciting wonder how so +much work could be done in the evening, after days of close confinement +to the business of the school. They looked also at the records of the +trustees of the academy and found in them a most respectful and +affectionate vote of thanks and good-will to Mr. Webster when he took +leave of the employment.[3] + +These humble details need no apology. They relate to trials, hardships, +and efforts which constitute no small part of the discipline by which a +great character is formed. During his residence at Fryeburg, Mr. Webster +borrowed (he was too poor to buy) Blackstone's Commentaries, and read +them for the first time. "Among other mental exercises," says Mr. March, +"he committed to memory Mr. Ames's celebrated speech on the British +treaty." In after life he has been heard to say, that few things moved +him more than the perusal and reperusal of this celebrated speech. + +In September, 1802, Mr. Webster returned to Salisbury, and resumed his +studies under Mr. Thompson, in whose office he remained for eighteen +months. Mr. Thompson, though, as we have said, a person of excellent +character and a good lawyer, yet seems not to have kept pace in his +profession with the progress of improvement. Although Blackstone's +Commentaries had been known in this country for a full generation, Mr. +Thompson still directed the reading of his pupils on the principle of +the hardest book first. Coke's Littleton was still the work with which +his students were broken into the study of the profession. Mr. Webster +has condemned this practice. "A boy of twenty," says he, "with no +previous knowledge of such subjects, cannot understand Coke. It is folly +to set him upon such an author. There are propositions in Coke so +abstract, and distinctions so nice, and doctrines embracing so many +distinctions and qualifications, that it requires an effort not only of +a mature mind, but of a mind both strong and mature, to understand him. +Why disgust and discourage a young man by telling him he must break into +his profession through such a wall as this?" Acting upon these views, +even in his youth, Mr. Webster gave his attention to more intelligible +authors, and to titles of law of greater importance in this country than +the curious learning of tenures, many of which are antiquated, even in +England. He also gave a good deal of time to general reading, and +especially the study of the Latin classics, English history, and the +volumes of Shakespeare. In order to obtain a wider compass of knowledge, +and to learn something of the language not to be gained from the +classics, he read through attentively Puffendorff's Latin History of +England. + +In July, 1804, he took up his residence in Boston. Before entering upon +the practice of his profession, he enjoyed the advantage of pursuing his +legal studies for six or eight months in the office of the Hon. +Christopher Gore. This was a fortunate event for Mr. Webster. Mr. Gore, +afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, was a lawyer of eminence, a +statesman and a civilian, a gentleman of the old school of manners, and +a rare example of distinguished intellectual qualities, united with +practical good sense and judgment. He had passed several years in +England as a commissioner, under Jay's treaty, for liquidating the +claims of citizens of the United States for seizures by British cruisers +in the early wars of the French Revolution. His library, amply +furnished with works of professional and general literature, his large +experience of men and things at home and abroad, and his uncommon +amenity of temper, combined to make the period passed by Mr. Webster in +his office one of the pleasantest in his life. These advantages, it +hardly need be said, were not thrown away. He diligently attended the +sessions of the courts and reported their decisions. He read with care +the leading elementary works of the common and municipal law, with the +best authors on the law of nations, some of them for a second and third +time; diversifying these professional studies with a great amount and +variety of general reading. His chief study, however, was the common +law, and more especially that part of it which relates to the now +unfashionable science of special pleading. He regarded this, not only as +a most refined and ingenious, but a highly instructive and useful branch +of the law. Besides mastering all that could be derived from more +obvious sources, he waded through Saunders's Reports in the original +edition, and abstracted and translated into English from the Latin and +Norman French all the pleadings contained in the two folio volumes. This +manuscript still remains. + +Just as he was about to be admitted to practise in the Suffolk Court of +Common Pleas in Massachusetts, an incident occurred which came near +affecting his career for life. The place of clerk in the Court of Common +Pleas for the county of Hillsborough, in New Hampshire, became vacant. +Of this court Mr. Webster's father had been made one of the judges, in +conformity with a very common practice at that time, of placing on the +side bench of the lower courts men of intelligence and respectability, +though not lawyers. From regard to Judge Webster, the vacant clerkship +was offered by his colleagues to his son. It was what the father had for +some time looked forward to and desired. The fees of the office were +about fifteen hundred dollars _per annum_, which in those days and in +that region was not so much a competence as a fortune. Mr. Webster +himself was disposed to accept the office. It promised an immediate +provision in lieu of a distant and doubtful prospect. It enabled him at +once to bring comfort into his father's family, while to refuse it was +to condemn himself and them to an uncertain and probably harassing +future. He was willing to sacrifice his hopes of professional eminence +to the welfare of those whom he held most dear. But the earnest +dissuasions of Mr. Gore, who saw in this step the certain postponement, +perhaps the final defeat, of all hopes of professional advancement, +prevented his accepting the office. His aged father was, in a personal +interview with his son, if not reconciled to the refusal, at least +induced to bury his regrets in his own bosom. The subject was never +mentioned by him again. In the spring of the same year (1805), Mr. +Webster was admitted to the practice of the law in the Court of Common +Pleas for Suffolk county, Boston. According to the custom of that day, +Mr. Gore accompanied the motion for his admission with a brief speech in +recommendation of the candidate. The remarks of Mr. Gore on this +occasion are well remembered by those present. He dwelt with emphasis on +the remarkable attainments and uncommon promise of his pupil, and closed +with a prediction of his future eminence. + +Immediately on his admission to the bar, Mr. Webster went to Amherst, in +New Hampshire, where his father's court was in session; from that place +he went home with his father. He had intended to establish himself at +Portsmouth, which, as the largest town and the seat of the foreign +commerce of the State, opened the widest field for practice. But filial +duty kept him nearer home. His father was now infirm from the advance of +years, and had no other son at home. Under these circumstances Mr. +Webster opened an office at Boscawen, not far from his father's +residence, and commenced the practice of the law in this retired spot. +Judge Webster lived but a year after his son's entrance upon the +practice of his profession; long enough, however, to hear his first +argument in court, and to be gratified with the confident predictions of +his future success. + +In May, 1807, Mr. Webster was admitted as an attorney and counsellor of +the Superior Court in New Hampshire, and in September of that year, +relinquishing his office in Boscawen to his brother Ezekiel, he removed +to Portsmouth, in conformity with his original intention. Here he +remained in the practice of his profession for nine successive years. +They were years of assiduous labor, and of unremitted devotion to the +study and practice of the law. He was associated with several persons +of great eminence, citizens of New Hampshire or of Massachusetts +occasionally practising at the Portsmouth bar. Among the latter were +Samuel Dexter and Joseph Story; of the residents of New Hampshire, +Jeremiah Mason was the most distinguished. Often opposed to each other +as lawyers, a strong personal friendship grew up between them, which +ended only with the death of Mr. Mason. Mr. Webster's eulogy on Mr. +Mason will be found in one of the volumes of this collection, and will +descend to posterity an enduring monument of both. Had a more active +temperament led Mr. Mason to embark earlier and continue longer in +public life, he would have achieved a distinction shared by few of his +contemporaries. Mr. Webster, in the lapse of time, was called to perform +the same melancholy office for Judge Story. + +During the greater part of Mr. Webster's practice of the law in New +Hampshire, Jeremiah Smith was Chief Justice of the State, a learned and +excellent judge, whose biography has been written by the Rev. John H. +Morison, and will well repay perusal. Judge Smith was an early and warm +friend of Judge Webster, and this friendship descended to the son, and +glowed in his breast with fervor till he went to his grave. + +Although dividing with Mr. Mason the best of the business of Portsmouth, +and indeed of all the eastern portion of the State, Mr. Webster's +practice was mostly on the circuit. He followed the Superior Court +through the principal counties of the State, and was retained in nearly +every important cause. It is mentioned by Mr. March, as a somewhat +singular fact in his professional life, that, with the exception of the +occasions on which he has been associated with the Attorney-General of +the United States for the time being, he has hardly appeared ten times +as junior counsel. Within the sphere in which he was placed, he may be +said to have risen at once to the head of his profession; not, however, +like Erskine and some other celebrated British lawyers, by one and the +same bound, at once to fame and fortune. The American bar holds forth no +such golden prizes, certainly not in the smaller States. Mr. Webster's +practice in New Hampshire, though probably as good as that of any of his +contemporaries, was never lucrative. Clients were not very rich, nor the +concerns litigated such as would carry heavy fees. Although exclusively +devoted to his profession, it afforded him no more than a bare +livelihood. + +But the time for which he practised at the New Hampshire bar was +probably not lost with reference to his future professional and +political eminence. His own standard of legal attainment was high. He +was associated with professional brethren fully competent to put his +powers to their best proof, and to prevent him from settling down in +early life into an easy routine of ordinary professional practice. It +was no disadvantage, under these circumstances, (except in reference to +immediate pecuniary benefit,) to enjoy some portion of that leisure for +general reading, which is almost wholly denied to the lawyer of +commanding talents, who steps immediately into full practice in a large +city. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [1] Fifty dollars. The knowledge of this fact is derived from the + "Gloucester News," to which it was no doubt communicated by + Master Tappan. + + [2] Belknap's History of New Hampshire, Vol. III. p. 328. + + [3] The old school-house was burned down many years ago. The spot on + which it stood belongs to Mr. Robert J. Bradley, who has + inherited from his father a devoted friendship for Mr. Webster, + and who would never suffer any other building to be erected on + the spot, and says that none shall be during his life. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Entrance on Public Life.--State of Parties in 1812.--Election to + Congress.--Extra Session of 1813.--Foreign Relations of the + Country.--Resolutions relative to the Berlin and Milan + Decrees.--Naval Defence.--Reelected to Congress in 1814.--Peace with + England.--Projects for a National Bank.--Mr. Webster's Course on + that Question.--Battle of New Orleans.--New Questions arising on the + Return of Peace.--Course of Prominent Men of Different Parties.--Mr. + Webster's Opinions on the Constitutionality of the Tariff + Policy.--The Resolution to restore Specie Payments moved by Mr. + Webster.--Removal to Boston. + + +Mr. Webster had hitherto taken less interest in politics than has been +usual with the young men of talent, at least with the young lawyers, of +America. In fact, at the time to which the preceding narrative refers, +the politics of the country were in such a state, that there was scarce +any course which could be pursued with entire satisfaction by a +patriotic young man sagacious enough to penetrate behind mere party +names, and to view public questions in their true light. Party spirit +ran high; errors had been committed by ardent men on both sides; and +extreme opinions had been advanced on most questions, which no wise and +well-informed person at the present day would probably be willing to +espouse. The United States, although not actually drawn to any great +depth into the vortex of the French Revolution, were powerfully affected +by it. The deadly struggle of the two great European belligerents, in +which the neutral rights of this country were grossly violated by both, +gave a complexion to our domestic politics. A change of administration, +mainly resulting from difference of opinion in respect to our foreign +relations, had taken place in 1801. If we may consider President +Jefferson's inaugural address as the indication of the principles on +which he intended to conduct his administration, it was his purpose to +take a new departure, and to disregard the former party divisions. "We +have," said he, in that eloquent state paper, "called by different names +brethren of the same principle. We are all republicans, we are all +federalists." + +At the time these significant expressions were uttered, Mr. Webster, at +the age of nineteen, was just leaving college and preparing to embark on +the voyage of life. A sentiment so liberal was not only in accordance +with the generous temper of youth, but highly congenial with the spirit +of enlarged patriotism which has ever guided his public course. There is +certainly no individual who has filled a prominent place in our +political history who has shown himself more devoted to principle and +less to party. While no man has clung with greater tenacity to the +friendships which spring from agreement in political opinion (the _idem +sentire de republica_), no man has been less disposed to find in these +associations an instrument of monopoly or exclusion in favor of +individuals, interests, or sections of the country. + +But however catholic may have been the intentions and wishes of Mr. +Jefferson, events both at home and abroad were too strong for him, and +defeated that policy of blending the great parties into one, which has +always been a favorite, perhaps we must add, a visionary project, with +statesmen of elevated and generous characters. The aggressions of the +belligerents on our neutral commerce still continued, and, by the joint +effect of the Berlin and Milan Decrees and the Orders in Council, it was +all but swept from the ocean. In this state of things two courses were +open to the United States, as a growing neutral power: one, that of +prompt resistance to the aggressive policy of the belligerents; the +other, that which was called "the restrictive system," which consisted +in an embargo on our own vessels, with a view to withdraw them from the +grasp of foreign cruisers, and in laws inhibiting commercial intercourse +with England and France. There was a division of opinion in the cabinet +of Mr. Jefferson and in the country at large. The latter policy was +finally adopted. It fell in with the general views of Mr. Jefferson +against committing the country to the risks of foreign war. His +administration was also strongly pledged to retrenchment and economy, in +the pursuit of which a portion of our little navy had been brought to +the hammer, and a species of shore defence substituted, which can now be +thought of only with mortification and astonishment. + +Although the discipline of party was sufficiently strong to cause this +system of measures to be adopted and pursued for years, it was never +cordially approved by the people of the United States of any party. +Leading Republicans both at the South and at the North denounced it. +With Mr. Jefferson's retirement from office it fell rapidly into +disrepute. It continued, however, to form the basis of our party +divisions till the war of 1812. In these divisions, as has been +intimated, both parties were in a false position; the one supporting and +forcing upon the country a system of measures not cordially approved, +even by themselves; the other, a powerless minority, zealously opposing +those measures, but liable for that reason to be thought backward in +asserting the neutral rights of the country. A few men of well-balanced +minds, true patriotism, and sound statesmanship, in all sections of the +country, were able to unite fidelity to their party associations with a +comprehensive view to the good of the country. Among these, mature +beyond his years, was Mr. Webster. As early as 1806 he had, in a public +oration, presented an impartial view of the foreign relations of the +country in reference to both belligerents, of the importance of our +commercial interests and the duty of protecting them. "Nothing is +plainer," said he, "than this: if we will have commerce, we must protect +it. This country is commercial as well as agricultural. Indissoluble +bonds connect him who ploughs the land with him who ploughs the sea. +Nature has placed us in a situation favorable to commercial pursuits, +and no government can alter the destination. Habits confirmed by two +centuries are not to be changed. An immense portion of our property is +on the waves. Sixty or eighty thousand of our most useful citizens are +there, and are entitled to such protection from the government as their +case requires." + +At length the foreign belligerents themselves perceived the folly and +injustice of their measures. In the strife which should inflict the +greatest injury on the other, they had paralyzed the commerce of the +world and embittered the minds of all the neutral powers. The Berlin and +Milan Decrees were revoked, but in a manner so unsatisfactory as in a +great degree to impair the pacific tendency of the measure. The Orders +in Council were also rescinded in the summer of 1812. War, however, +justly provoked by each and both of the parties, had meantime been +declared by Congress against England, and active hostilities had been +commenced on the frontier. At the elections next ensuing, Mr. Webster +was brought forward as a candidate for Congress of the Federal party of +that day, and, having been chosen in the month of November, 1812, he +took his seat at the first session of the Thirteenth Congress, which was +an extra session called in May, 1813. Although his course of life +hitherto had been in what may be called a provincial sphere, and he had +never been a member even of the legislature of his native State, a +presentiment of his ability seems to have gone before him to Washington. +He was, in the organization of the House, placed by Mr. Clay, its +Speaker, upon the Committee of Foreign Affairs, a select committee at +that time, and of necessity the leading committee in a state of war. + +There were many men of uncommon ability in the Thirteenth Congress. +Rarely has so much talent been found at any one time in the House of +Representatives. It contained Clay, Calhoun, Lowndes, Pickering, Gaston, +Forsyth, in the front rank; Macon, Benson, J. W. Taylor, Oakley, +Grundy, Grosvenor, W. R. King, Kent of Maryland, C. J. Ingersoll of +Pennsylvania, Pitkin of Connecticut, and others of scarcely inferior +note. Although among the youngest and least experienced members of the +body, Mr. Webster rose, from the first, to a position of undisputed +equality with the most distinguished. The times were critical. The +immediate business to be attended to was the financial and military +conduct of the war, a subject of difficulty and importance. The +position of Mr. Webster was not such as to require or permit him to take +a lead; but it was his steady aim, without the sacrifice of his +principles, to pursue such a course as would tend most effectually to +extricate the country from the embarrassments of her present position, +and to lead to peace upon honorable terms. + +As the repeal of the Orders in Council was nearly simultaneous with the +declaration of war, the delay of a few weeks might have led to an +amicable adjustment. Whatever regret on the score of humanity this +circumstance may now inspire, the war must be looked upon, in reviewing +the past, as a great chapter in the progress of the country, which could +not be passed over. When we reflect on the influence of the conflict, in +its general results, upon the national character; its importance as a +demonstration to the belligerent powers of the world that the rights of +neutrals must be respected; and more especially, when we consider the +position among the nations of the earth which the United States have +been enabled to take, in consequence of the capacity for naval +achievement which the war displayed, we shall readily acknowledge it to +be a part of that great training, by which the country was prepared to +take the station which she now occupies. + +Mr. Webster was not a member of Congress when war was declared, nor in +any other public station. He was too deeply read in the law of nations, +and regarded that august code with too much respect, not to contemplate +with indignation its infraction by both the belligerents. With respect +to the Orders in Council, the highest judicial magistrate in England +(Lord Chief Justice Campbell) has lately admitted that they were +contrary to the law of nations.[4] As little doubt can exist that the +French decrees were equally at variance with the public law. But however +strong his convictions of this truth, Mr. Webster's sagacity and +practical sense pointed out the inadequacy, and what may be called the +political irrelevancy, of the restrictive system, as a measure of +defence or retaliation. He could not but feel that it was a policy which +tended at once to cripple the national resources, and abase the public +sentiment, with an effect upon the foreign powers doubtful and at best +indirect. In the state of the military resources of the country at that +time, he discerned, in common with many independent men of all parties, +that less was to be hoped from the attempted conquest of foreign +territory, than from a gallant assault upon the fancied supremacy of the +enemy at sea. It is unnecessary to state, that the whole course of the +war confirmed the justice of these views. They furnish the key to Mr. +Webster's course in the Thirteenth Congress. + +Early in the session, he moved a series of resolutions of inquiry, +relative to the repeal of the Berlin and Milan Decrees. The object of +these resolutions was to elicit a communication on this subject from the +executive, which would unfold the proximate causes of the war, as far as +they were to be sought in those famous Decrees, and in the Orders in +Council. On the 10th of June, 1813, Mr. Webster delivered his maiden +speech on these resolutions. No full report of this speech has been +preserved. It is known only from extremely imperfect sketches, contained +in the contemporaneous newspaper accounts of the proceedings of +Congress, from the recollection of those who heard it, and from general +tradition. It was a calm and statesmanlike exposition of the objects of +the resolutions; and was listened to with profound attention by the +House. It was marked by all the characteristics of Mr. Webster's +maturest parliamentary efforts,--moderation of tone, precision of +statement, force of reasoning, absence of ambitious rhetoric and +high-flown language, occasional bursts of true eloquence, and, pervading +the whole, a genuine and fervid patriotism. We have reason to believe +that its effect upon the House is accurately described in the following +extract from Mr. March's work. + + "The speech took the House by surprise, not so much from its + eloquence as from the vast amount of historical knowledge and + illustrative ability displayed in it. How a person, untrained to + forensic contests and unused to public affairs, could exhibit so + much parliamentary tact, such nice appreciation of the difficulties + of a difficult question, and such quiet facility in surmounting + them, puzzled the mind. The age and inexperience of the speaker had + prepared the House for no such display, and astonishment for a time + subdued the expression of its admiration. + + "'No member before,' says a person then in the House, 'ever riveted + the attention of the House so closely, in his first speech. Members + left their seats, where they could not see the speaker face to face, + and sat down, or stood on the floor, fronting him. All listened + attentively and silently, during the whole speech; and when it was + over, many went up and warmly congratulated the orator; among whom + were some, not the most niggard of their compliments, who most + dissented from the views he had expressed.' + + "Chief Justice Marshall, writing to a friend some time after this + speech, says: 'At the time when this speech was delivered, I did not + know Mr. Webster, but I was so much struck with it, that I did not + hesitate then to state, that Mr. Webster was a very able man, and + would become one of the very first statesmen in America, and perhaps + the very first.'"--pp. 35, 36.[5] + +The resolutions moved by Mr. Webster prevailed by a large majority, and +drew forth from Mr. Monroe, then Secretary of State, an elaborate and +instructive report upon the subject to which they referred. + +We have already observed, that, as early as 1806, Mr. Webster had +expressed himself in favor of the protection of our commerce against the +aggressions of both the belligerents. Some years later, before the war +was declared, but when it was visibly impending, he had put forth some +vigorous articles to the same effect. In an oration delivered in 1812, +he had said: "A navy sufficient for the defence of our coasts and +harbors, for the convoy of important branches of our trade, and +sufficient also to give our enemies to understand, when they injure us, +that they too are vulnerable, and that we have the power of retaliation +as well as of defence, seems to be the plain, necessary, indispensable +policy of the nation. It is the dictate of nature and common sense, that +means of defence shall have relation to the danger." In accordance with +these views, first announced by Mr. Webster a considerable time before +Hull, Decatur, and Bainbridge had broken the spell of British naval +supremacy, he used the following language in his speech on encouraging +enlistments in 1814:-- + + "The humble aid which it would be in my power to render to measures + of government shall be given cheerfully, if government will pursue + measures which I can conscientiously support. If even now, failing + in an honest and sincere attempt to procure an honorable peace, it + will return to measures of defence and protection, such as reason + and common sense and the public opinion all call for, my vote shall + not be withholden from the means. Give up your futile projects of + invasion. Extinguish the fires which blaze on your inland frontiers. + Establish perfect safety and defence there by adequate force. Let + every man that sleeps on your soil sleep in security. Stop the blood + that flows from the veins of unarmed yeomanry, and women and + children. Give to the living time to bury and lament their dead, in + the quietness of private sorrow. Having performed this work of + beneficence and mercy on your inland border, turn and look with the + eye of justice and compassion on your vast population along the + coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your embargo. Take measures for + that end before another sun sets upon you. With all the war of the + enemy on your commerce, if you would cease to make war upon it + yourselves, you would still have some commerce. That commerce would + give you some revenue. Apply that revenue to the augmentation of + your navy. That navy in turn will protect your commerce. Let it no + longer be said, that not one ship of force, built by your hands + since the war, yet floats upon the ocean. Turn the current of your + efforts into the channel which national sentiment has already worn + broad and deep to receive it. A naval force competent to defend your + coasts against considerable armaments, to convoy your trade, and + perhaps raise the blockade of your rivers, is not a chimera. It may + be realized. If then the war must continue, go to the ocean. If you + are seriously contending for maritime rights, go to the theatre + where alone those rights can be defended. Thither every indication + of your fortune points you. There the united wishes and exertions of + the nation will go with you. Even our party divisions, acrimonious + as they are, cease at the water's edge. They are lost in attachment + to the national character, on the element where that character is + made respectable. In protecting naval interests by naval means, you + will arm yourselves with the whole power of national sentiment, and + may command the whole abundance of the national resources. In time + you may be able to redress injuries in the place where they may be + offered; and, if need be, to accompany your own flag throughout the + world with the protection of your own cannon." + +The principal subjects on which Mr. Webster addressed the House during +the Thirteenth Congress were his own resolutions, the increase of the +navy, the repeal of the embargo, and an appeal from the decision of the +chair on a motion for the previous question. His speeches on those +questions raised him to the front rank of debaters. He manifested upon +his entrance into public life that variety of knowledge, familiarity +with the history and traditions of the government, and self-possession +on the floor, which in most cases are acquired by time and long +experience. They gained for him the reputation indicated by the +well-known remark of Mr. Lowndes, that "the North had not his equal, nor +the South his superior." It was not the least conspicuous of the +strongly marked qualities of his character as a public man, disclosed at +this early period, and uniformly preserved throughout his career, that, +at a time when party spirit went to great lengths, he never permitted +himself to be infected with its contagion. His opinions were firmly +maintained and boldly expressed; but without bitterness toward those who +differed from him. He cultivated friendly relations on both sides of the +House, and gained the personal respect even of those with whom he most +differed. + +In August, 1814, Mr. Webster was reelected to Congress. The treaty +of Ghent, as is well known, was signed in December, 1814, and the +prospect of peace, universally welcomed by the country, opened on +the Thirteenth Congress toward the close of its third session. +Earlier in the season a project for a Bank of the United States was +introduced into the House of Representatives on the recommendation of +Mr. Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury. The charter of the first +incorporated bank of the United States had expired in 1811. No general +complaints of mismanagement or abuse had been raised against this +institution; but the opinions entertained by what has been called the +"Virginia School" of politicians, against the constitutionality of a +national bank, prevented the renewal of the charter. The want of +such an institution was severely felt in the war of 1812, although it +is probable that the amount of assistance which it could have afforded +the financial operations of the government was greatly overrated. Be +this as it may, both the Treasury Department and Congress were now +strongly disposed to create a bank. Its capital was to consist of +forty-five millions of the public stocks and five millions of specie, +and it was to be under obligation to lend the government thirty +millions of dollars on demand. To enable it to exist under these +conditions, it was relieved from the necessity of redeeming its notes +in specie. In other words, it was an arrangement for the issue of an +irredeemable paper currency. It was opposed mainly on this ground by +Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Webster, Mr. Lowndes, and others of the ablest men on +both sides of the House, as a project not only unsound in its +principles, but sure to increase the derangement of the currency already +existing. The speech of Mr. Webster against the bill will be found in +one of these volumes, and it will be generally admitted to display a +mastery of the somewhat difficult subjects of banking and finance, +rarely to be found in the debates in Congress. The project was +supported as an administration measure, but the leading members from +South Carolina and their friends united with the regular opposition +against it, and it was lost by the casting vote of the Speaker, Mr. +Cheves. It was revived by reconsideration, on motion of Mr. Webster, +and such amendments introduced that it passed the House by a large +majority. It was carried through the Senate in this amended form +with difficulty, but it was negatived by Mr. Madison, being one of +the two cases in which he exercised the veto power during his eight +years' administration. + +On the 8th of January of the year 1815, the victory at New Orleans was +gained by General Jackson. No occurrence on land, in the course of the +war, was of equal immediate interest, or destined to have so abiding an +influence on the future. Besides averting the indescribable calamity of +the sack of a populous and flourishing city, it showed the immense +military power of the volunteer force of the country, when commanded +with energy and skill. The praises of General Jackson were on every +tongue throughout the land, and Congress responded to the grateful +feelings of the country. A vote of thanks was unanimously passed by the +Senate and House of Representatives. + +In the interval between the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses +(March-December, 1815), Mr. Webster was busily engaged at home in the +practice of the law. He had begun at this time to consider the +expediency of removing his residence to a wider professional field. +Though receiving a full share of the best business of New Hampshire, it +ceased to yield an adequate support for his increasing family, and still +more failed to afford any thing like the just reward of his legal +attainment and labors. The destruction of his house, furniture, library, +and many important manuscript collections, in "the great fire" at +Portsmouth, in December, 1813, had entailed upon him the loss of the +entire fruits of his professional industry up to that time, and made it +necessary for him to look around him for the means of a considerably +increased income. He hesitated between Albany and Boston; and, in +consequence of this indecision, the execution of his purpose was for the +present postponed. + +The Fourteenth Congress assembled in December, 1815. An order of things +in a great degree new presented itself. After a momentary pause, the +country rose with an elastic bound from the pressure of the war. Old +party dissensions had lost much of their interest. The condition of +Europe had undergone a great change. The power of the French emperor was +annihilated; and with the return of general peace, all occasions for +belligerent encroachments on neutral rights had ceased. Two thirds of +our domestic feuds had turned on foreign questions, and there was a +spontaneous feeling throughout the country in favor of healing the +wounds which these feuds had inflicted upon its social and political +harmony. Nor was this all. New relations and interests had arisen. The +public debt had been swelled by the war expenditure to a large amount, +and its interest was to be paid. Domestic manufactures had, in some of +the States, grown up into importance through the operation of the +restrictive system and the war, and asked for protection. The West began +to fill up with unexampled rapidity, and required new facilities of +communication with the Atlantic coast. The navy had fought itself into +favor, and the war with Algiers, in 1816, forbade its reduction below +the recent war establishment. The necessity of a system of coast +defences had made itself felt. With all these loud calls for increased +expenditure, the public finances were embarrassed and the currency was +in extreme disorder. In a word, there were new and great wants and +interests at home and abroad, throwing former topics of dissension into +the shade, and calling for the highest efforts of statesmanship and a +patriotism embracing the whole country. + +Among those who responded with the greatest cordiality and promptness to +the new demand were the distinguished statesmen of the preceding +Congress, and conspicuous among them Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Lowndes, +and Cheves. It will excite some surprise at the present day, in +consideration of the political history of the last thirty years, to find +how little difference as to leading measures existed in 1816 between +these distinguished statesmen. No line of general party difference +separated the members of the first Congress after the peace. The great +measures brought forward were a national bank, internal improvement, and +a protective tariff. On these various subjects members divided, not in +accordance with any party organization, but from individual convictions, +supposed sectional interests, and general public grounds. On the two +first-named subjects no systematic difference of views disclosed itself +between the great Northern and Southern leaders; on the third alone +there was diversity of opinion. In the Northern States considerable +advances had been made in manufacturing industry, in different places, +especially at Waltham (Mass.); but a great manufacturing interest had +not yet grown up. The strength of this interest as yet lay mainly in +Pennsylvania. Navigation and foreign trade were the leading pursuits of +the North; and these interests, it was feared, would suffer from the +attempt to build up manufactures by a protective tariff. It is +accordingly a well-known fact, which may teach all to entertain +opinions on public questions with some distrust of their own judgment, +that the tariff of 1816, containing the _minimum_ duty on coarse cotton +fabrics, the corner-stone of the protective system, was supported by Mr. +Calhoun and a few other Southern members, and carried by their influence +against the opposition of the New England members generally, including +Mr. Webster. It has been stated, that, during the pendency of this law +before Congress, he denied the constitutionality of a tariff for +protection. This statement is inaccurate; although, had it been true, it +would have placed him only in the same relation to the question with Mr. +Calhoun and other Southern members, who at that time admitted the +principle of protection, but lived to reject it as the grossest and most +pernicious constitutional heresy. It would have shown only that, in a +long political career, he had, on the first discussion of a new +question, expressed an opinion which, in the lapse of time and under a +change of circumstances, he had seen occasion to alter. This is no +ground of just reproach. It has happened to every public man in every +free country, who has been of importance enough to have his early +opinions remembered. It has happened to a large portion of the prominent +men at the South, in reference to almost every great question agitated +within the last generation. The bank, internal improvements, a navy, the +Colonization Society, the annexation of Texas, the power of Congress +over the territories, this very question of the tariff, the doctrine of +State rights generally, are subjects on which many prominent statesmen +of the South, living or recently deceased, have in the course of their +career entertained opposite views. + +But it is not true that Mr. Webster in 1816 denied the constitutionality +of a tariff for protection. In 1820, in discussing the subject in +Faneuil Hall, he argued that, if the right of laying duties for +protection were derived from the revenue power, it was of necessity +incidental; and on that assumption, as the incident cannot go beyond +that to which it is incidental, duties avowedly for protection, and not +having any reference to revenue, could not be constitutionally laid. The +hypothetical form of the statement shows a degree of indecision; while +the proposition itself is not to be gainsaid. At a later period, and +after it had been confidently stated, and satisfactorily shown by Mr. +Madison, that the Federal Convention intended, under the provision for +regulating commerce, to clothe Congress with the power of laying duties +for the protection of manufactures; and after Congress had, by repeated +laws, passed against the wishes of the navigating and strictly +commercial interests, practically settled this constitutional question, +and turned a vast amount of the capital of the country into the channel +of manufactures; Mr. Webster considered a moderate degree of protection +(such as would keep the home market steady under the occasional gluts in +the foreign market, and shield the domestic manufacturer from the +wholesale frauds of foreign importation) as the established policy of +the United States; and he accordingly supported it. It is unnecessary to +state, that this course has been pursued with the approbation of his +constituents, and to the manifest good of the country. No change has +taken place in Mr. Webster's opinions on the subject of protection which +has not been generally shared and sanctioned by the intelligence of the +manufacturing States. There are strong indications, even, that in the +Southern States the superiority of the home market over the foreign is +beginning to be felt. + +Mr. Webster took an active and efficient part, at the first session of +the Fourteenth Congress, in the debates on the charter of the Bank of +the United States, which passed Congress in April, 1816. While the bill +was before the House, he moved and carried several amendments similar to +those which he had caused to be introduced into the bill of the former +year. He exerted himself in vain, however, against the participation of +the government in its management, and, in common with several +independent members usually supporting the administration, he voted +against it on its passage. Among the amendments to the bill, of which +Mr. Webster procured the adoption, was one which required _deposits_, as +well as the _notes_ of the bank, to be paid on demand in specie. + +But the great service rendered by Mr. Webster to the currency of the +country in the Fourteenth Congress was in procuring the adoption of the +specie resolution, in virtue of which, from and after the 20th of +February, 1817, all debts due to the treasury were required to be paid +in the legal currency of the country (gold or silver), in treasury +notes, or the notes of the Bank of the United States, or in notes of +banks which are payable and paid on demand in the same legal currency. +This service can hardly be appreciated at the present day by those too +young to recollect the state of things existing in this respect during +the war and after its close. This resolution passed the two houses, and +was approved by the President on the 30th of April, 1816. It completely +accomplished its object; and that object was to restore to a sound basis +the currency of the country, and to give the people a uniform +circulating medium. Of this they were destitute at the close of the war. +All the banks, except those of the New England States, had suspended +specie payments; but their depreciated bills were permitted by general +consent, and within certain limits, to circulate as money. They were +received of each other by the different banks; they passed from hand to +hand; and even the public revenue was collected at par in this degraded +paper. The rate of depreciation was different in different States, and +with different banks in the same States, according as greater or less +advantage had been taken of the suspension of the specie obligation. + +What was not less harassing than this diversity was the uncertainty +everywhere prevailing, how far the reputed rate of depreciation in any +particular case might represent justly the real condition of a bank or +set of banks. In other words, men were obliged to make and receive +payments in a currency of which, at the time, the value was not +certainly known to them, and which might vary as it was passing +through their hands. The enormous injustice suffered by the citizens +of different States, in being obliged to pay their dues at the +custom-houses in as many different currencies as there were States, +varying at least twenty-five per cent. between Boston and Richmond, +need not be pointed out. For all these mischiefs the resolution of Mr. +Webster afforded a remedy as efficient as simple; and what chiefly +moves our astonishment at the present day is, that a measure of this +kind, demanded by the first principles of finance, overlooked by the +executive and its leading friends in Congress, should be left to be +brought forward by one of its youngest members, and he not belonging to +the supporters of the administration. But commanding talent and +profound knowledge of the subjects to be treated vindicate to +themselves a position in public bodies, which official relations can +neither confer nor take away. It would not be easy to name a political +measure, in the history of the government, which has accomplished its +design with greater simplicity and directness; and that design one of +paramount importance to the country, and coming home to the business +of every individual. + +In all the other public measures brought forward in this Congress for +meeting the new conditions of the country, Mr. Webster bore an active +part, but they furnish no topic requiring illustration. At the close of +the first session, in August, 1816, he executed the project to which we +have already alluded of removing to a wider professional field. After +some hesitation he decided on Boston, in which and its vicinity he has +ever since made his home. He had established friendly relations here at +an early period of life. In no part of the Union was his national +reputation more cordially recognized than in the metropolis of New +England. He took at once the place in his profession which belonged to +his commanding talent and legal eminence, and was welcomed into every +circle of social life. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [4] Lives of the Chancellors, Vol. VII. p. 218; see also p. 301. + + [5] The friend to whom the letter referred to by Mr. March was + written, was Mr. Justice Story, who adds: "Such praise from such + a man ought to be very gratifying. Consider that he is now + seventy-five years old, and that he speaks of his recollections + of some eighteen years ago with a freshness which shows how + deeply your reasoning impressed itself upon his mind. Keep this + _in memoriam rei_." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Professional Character particularly in Reference to Constitutional + Law.--The Dartmouth College Case argued at Washington in 1818.--Mr. + Ticknor's Description of that Argument.--The Case of Gibbons and + Ogden in 1824.--Mr. Justice Wayne's Allusion to that Case in + 1847.--The Case of Ogden and Saunders in 1827.--The Case of the + Proprietors of the Charles River Bridge.--The Alabama Bank + Case.--The Case relative to the Boundary between Massachusetts and + Rhode Island.--The Girard Will Case.--The Case of the Constitution + of Rhode Island.--General Remarks on Mr. Webster's Practice in the + Supreme Court of the United States.--Practice in the State + Courts.--The Case of Goodridge,--and the Case of Knapp. + + +With Mr. Webster's removal to Boston commenced a period of five or +six years' retirement from active political life, during which time, +with a single exception which will be hereafter alluded to, he +filled no public office, and devoted himself exclusively to the duties +of his profession. It was accordingly within this period that his +reputation as a lawyer was fixed and established. The promise of his +youth, and the expectations of those who had known him as a student, +were more than fulfilled. He took a position as a counsellor and an +advocate, above which no one has ever risen in the country. A large +share of the best business of New England passed into his hands; and the +veterans of the Boston bar admitted him to an entire equality of +standing, repute, and influence. + +Besides the reputation which he acquired in the ordinary routine of +practice, Mr. Webster, shortly after his removal to Boston, took the +lead in establishing what might almost be called a new school of +constitutional law. It fell to his lot to perform a prominent part in +unfolding a most important class of constitutional doctrines, which, +either because occasion had not drawn them forth, or the jurists of a +former period had failed to deduce and apply them, had not yet grown +into a system. It was reserved for Mr. Webster to distinguish himself +before most, if not all, of his contemporaries, in this branch of his +profession. It may be mentioned as a somewhat curious coincidence, that +the case in which he made his first great effort in this direction arose +in his native State, and concerned the College in which he had been +educated. + +In the months of June and December, 1816, the legislature of New +Hampshire passed acts altering the charter of Dartmouth College (of +which the name was changed to Dartmouth University), enlarging the +number of the trustees, and generally reorganizing the corporation. +These acts, although passed without the consent and against the protest +of the Trustees of the College, went into operation. The newly created +body took possession of the corporate property, and assumed the +administration of the institution. The old board were all named as +members of the new corporation, but declined acting as such, and brought +an action against the treasurer of the new board for the books of +record, the original charter, the common seal, and other corporate +property of the College. + +The action was commenced in the Court of Common Pleas for Grafton +County, in February, 1817, and carried immediately to the Superior +Court, in May of the same year. The general issue was pleaded by the +defendants and joined by the plaintiffs. The case turned upon the point, +whether the acts of the legislature above referred to were binding upon +the corporation without their assent, and not repugnant to the +Constitution of the United States. It was first argued by Messrs. +Jeremiah Mason and Jeremiah Smith for the plaintiffs, and by the +Attorney-General of New Hampshire for the defendants; and subsequently +by Messrs. Mason, Smith, and Webster for the plaintiffs, and the +Attorney-General and Mr. L Bartlett for the defendants. At the November +term it was decided by the Superior Court of New Hampshire, in an +opinion delivered by Chief Justice Richardson, that the acts of the New +Hampshire legislature were valid and constitutional. In giving his +opinion on the case, the Chief Justice said: "The cause has been argued +on both sides with uncommon learning and ability, and we have witnessed +a display of talents and eloquence upon this occasion in the highest +degree honorable to the profession of the law in this State."[6] + +The case thus decided in the Superior Court of New Hampshire in favor of +the validity of the State laws, was carried by writ of error to the +Supreme Court of the United States, where, on the 10th of March, 1818, +it came on for argument before all the judges, Mr. Webster and Mr. +(afterwards Judge) Hopkinson for the plaintiffs, and Mr. J. Holmes of +Maine and the Attorney-General, Wirt, for the defendants in error. This +was perhaps the first occasion in this country on which a question +precisely of this kind had come up, and it is stated that, when one of +the court had run his eye cursorily over the record, he said that he did +not see how any thing important could be urged by the plaintiffs in +error. + +It devolved upon Mr. Webster, as junior counsel, to open the case, and +it is scarcely necessary to say to any one who has read the report of +his argument, that, if such an impression as that just alluded to +existed in the mind of any of the court, it must have been immediately +dispelled. The ground was broadly taken, that the acts in question were +not only against common right and the constitution of New Hampshire, but +also, and this was the leading principle, against the provision of the +Constitution of the United States which forbids the individual States +from passing laws that impair the obligation of contracts. Under the +first head, the entire English law relative to educational foundations +was unfolded by Mr. Webster, and it was shown that colleges, unless +otherwise specifically constituted by their charters, were private +eleemosynary corporations, over whose property, members, and franchises +the crown has no control, except by due process of law, for acts +inconsistent with their charters. The whole learning of the subject was +brought to bear with overwhelming weight on this point. + +The second main point required to be less elaborately argued; namely, +that such a charter is a contract which it is not competent for a State +to annul. The argument throughout was pursued with a closeness and vigor +which have been rarely witnessed in our courts. The topics were beyond +the usual range of forensic investigation in this country. The +constitutional principles sought to be applied were of commanding +importance. Great public expectation was awakened by the novelty and +magnitude of the case. The personal connection of Mr. Webster with +Dartmouth College as the place of his education gave a fervor to his +manner, which added, no doubt, to the effect of the reasoning. On this +point Mr. Ticknor expresses himself as follows:-- + + "Mr. Webster's argument is given in this volume [the first + collection of his works], that is, we have there the technical + outline; the dry skeleton of it. But those who heard him when it was + originally delivered still wonder how such dry bones could ever + have lived with the power they there witnessed and felt. He + opened his cause, as he always does, with perfect simplicity in + the general statement of its facts, and then went on to unfold + the topics of his argument in a lucid order, which made each + position sustain every other. The logic and the law were rendered + irresistible. But as he advanced, his heart warmed to the subject + and the occasion. Thoughts and feelings that had grown old with + his best affections rose unbidden to his lips. He remembered that + the institution he was defending was the one where his own youth + had been nurtured; and the moral tenderness and beauty this gave to + the grandeur of his thoughts, the sort of religious sensibility + it imparted to his urgent appeals and demands for the stern + fulfilment of what law and justice required, wrought up the whole + audience to an extraordinary state of excitement. Many betrayed + strong agitation, many were dissolved in tears. Prominent among them + was that eminent lawyer and statesman, Robert Goodloe Harper, who + came to him when he resumed his seat, evincing emotions of the + highest gratification. When he ceased to speak, there was a + perceptible interval before any one was willing to break the + silence; and when that vast crowd separated, not one person of the + whole number doubted that the man who had that day so moved, + astonished, and controlled them, had vindicated for himself a + place at the side of the first jurists of the country."[7] + +The opinion of the court, unanimous; with the exception of Justice +Duvall, was pronounced by Chief Justice Marshall in the term for +1819, declaring the acts of the legislature of New Hampshire to be +unconstitutional and invalid, and reversing the opinion of the court +below. By this opinion the law of the land in reference to collegiate +charters was firmly established. Henceforward our colleges and +universities and their trustees, unless provision to the contrary is +made in their acts of incorporation, stand upon the broad basis of +common right and justice; holding in like manner as individuals their +property and franchises by a firm legal tenure, and not subject to +control or interference on the part of the local legislatures on the +vague ground that public institutions are at the mercy of the +government. That such is the recognized law of the land is owing in +no small degree to the ability with which the Dartmouth College case +was argued by Mr. Webster. The battle fought and the victory gained in +this case were sought and gained for every college and university, for +every academy and school, in the United States, endowed with property +or possessed of chartered rights. It ought to be mentioned, to the +credit of the State of New Hampshire, that she readily acquiesced in the +decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and made no attempt +to sustain her recent legislation. + +This celebrated cause, argued with such success before the highest +tribunal in the country, established Mr. Webster's position in the +profession. It placed him at once with Emmett and Pinkney and Wirt, in +the front rank of the American bar, and, though considerably the +youngest of this illustrious group, on an equality with the most +distinguished of them. He was henceforward retained in almost every +considerable cause argued at Washington. No counsel in the United States +has probably been engaged in a larger portion of the business brought +before that tribunal. While Mr. Webster as a politician and a statesman +has performed an amount of intellectual labor, as is abundantly shown in +these volumes, sufficient to form the sole occupation of an active life, +there is no doubt that his arguments to the court and his addresses to +the jury in important suits at law would, if they had been reported like +his political speeches, have filled a much greater space. + +It would exceed the limits of this sketch to allude in detail to all +the cases argued by Mr. Webster in the Supreme Court of the United +States; still less would it be practicable to trace him through his +labors in the State courts. We can barely mention a few of the more +considerable causes. The case of Gibbons and Ogden, in 1824, is one of +great celebrity. In this case the grant by the State of New York to +the assignees of Fulton, of an exclusive right to navigate the +rivers, harbors, and bays of New York by steam, was called in question, +and was decided to be unconstitutional, after having been maintained by +all the tribunals of that great and respectable State. The decision of +this great case turned upon the principle, that the grant of such a +monopoly of the right to enter a portion of the navigable waters of +the Union was an encroachment, by the State, upon the power "to +regulate commerce,"----a power reserved by the Constitution to Congress, +and in its nature exclusive. The cause was argued by Messrs. Webster +and Wirt for the plaintiffs, and by Messrs. Oakley and Emmett for the +defendants in error,--an array of talent worthy the magnitude of the +interests at stake. The decision of the court was against the monopoly. +Few cases in the annals of federal jurisprudence are of equal +importance; none, perhaps, was ever argued with greater ability. In the +course of his discussion, Mr. Webster said, with great felicity of +illustration, that, by the establishment of the Constitution, the +commerce of this whole country had become a _unit_, a form of +expression used with approbation by Chief Justice Marshall in +delivering the opinion of the court. + +A very distinguished compliment was paid to Mr. Webster's argument in +this case, a quarter of a century after its delivery, by Mr. Justice +Wayne of the Supreme Court of the United States. On the occasion of Mr. +Webster's visit to the South, in the spring of 1847, he was received +with public honors, among other places, at Savannah. He was there +addressed by Judge Wayne on behalf of his fellow-citizens. In the course +of his remarks on that occasion, Judge Wayne alluded to Mr. Webster's +line of argument in this case in the following manner:-- + + "From one of your constitutional suggestions, every man in the land + has been more or less benefited. We allude to it with the greater + pleasure, because it was in a controversy begun by a Georgian in + behalf of the constitutional rights of the citizen. When the late + Mr. Thomas Gibbons determined to put to hazard a large part of his + fortune in testing the constitutionality of the laws of New York + limiting the navigation of the waters of that State to steamers + belonging to a company, his own interest was not so much concerned + as the right of every citizen to use a coasting license upon the + waters of the United States, in whatever way their vessels might be + propelled. It was a sound view of the law, but not broad enough for + the occasion. It is not unlikely that the case would have been + decided upon it, if you had not insisted that it should be put upon + the broader constitutional ground of commerce and navigation. The + court felt the application and force of your reasoning, and it made + a decision releasing every creek, and river, lake, bay, and harbor + in our country from the interference of monopolies, which had + already provoked unfriendly legislation between some of the States, + and which would have been as little favorable to the interest of + Fulton, as they were unworthy his genius." + +The case of Ogden and Saunders, in 1827, brought in question the +right of a State to pass an insolvent law. It was of course a case +of high constitutional law, belonging to the same general class with +those just mentioned, and relating to the limit of the powers of the +several States, in reference to matters confided by the Constitution to +the general government. This cause was argued by Mr. Clay and Mr. David +B. Ogden of New York for the plaintiffs, and by Mr. Webster and Mr. +Henry Wheaton for the defendants in error. In his argument in this +case, Mr. Webster maintained the entire unconstitutionality of State +bankrupt laws. This was a step in advance of the doctrines laid down +by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Sturges and +Crowninshield, nor did the court on the present occasion incline to go +further than they had done in that case. They were divided in opinion, +but a majority of the judges held, that, although it was not competent +to a State to pass a law discharging a debtor from the obligation of +payment, they might pass a law to discharge him from imprisonment on +personal execution. The Chief Justice and Judge Story were the +minority of the court, and the opinion of the Chief Justice sustained +the principle of Mr. Webster's argument, which is, in fact, usually +regarded as not falling below his most successful forensic efforts. The +manner in which he meets the argument in favor of a prospective State +insolvent law, namely, that such a law cannot impair the obligation of a +contract because it is a part of the contract, may be quoted as a +specimen of the acutest dialectics brought in aid of the broadest views +of constitutional law. + +In the year 1836, Mr. Webster argued at Washington the great cause of +the proprietors of Charles River Bridge. This well-remembered case was a +suit in chancery commenced in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, where +the bill was dismissed by a decree _pro forma_, the members of that +court being equally divided in opinion. A writ of error was taken to the +Supreme Court of the United States, on the ground that the rights of the +proprietors of Charles River Bridge under their charter had been +violated by the legislature, in authorizing the erection of Warren +Bridge. The cause was argued at Washington, in 1836, and, having been +then held under advisement by the court for a year, was, upon difference +of opinion among the judges, ordered to be again argued, which was done +in 1837. This was another of the great constitutional cases argued by +Mr. Webster before the Supreme Court of the United States. The abstract +principles of the case were perhaps as clear as in those to which we +have alluded; but there were practical difficulties, no doubt, in their +application to restrain the right of a legislature to grant an act of +incorporation, in the usual form, for the construction of a new bridge, +on the ground of interference with some prior similar franchise. The +opinion of the court, adverse to the complainants, was delivered by +Chief Justice Taney. Mr. Justice McLean was clearly of opinion that the +merits of the case were with the complainants, but that the Supreme +Court of the United States had no jurisdiction over it. Mr. Justice +Story dissented from the majority, and sustained the doctrines advanced +by Mr. Webster in a very learned and powerfully reasoned opinion. + +In 1839 the constitutional rights of the Bank of the United States (so +called), which was incorporated by the State of Pennsylvania after the +termination of the Congressional charter, were drawn in question by a +case from the State of Alabama, in which the right of a corporation or a +citizen in one State to perform any legal act in another was asserted by +Mr. Webster, and his argument was sustained by the court. Not long +afterwards the controversy between Massachusetts and Rhode Island +relative to their boundary, a controversy running back to the earliest +periods of their colonial history, was brought before the Supreme Court, +at Washington, and argued by Mr. Webster for the Commonwealth of +Massachusetts. + +In 1844 the important case relative to the validity of Mr. Girard's +bequest of the greater part of his estate to the city of Philadelphia, +for the foundation of a college for orphans, was argued by Mr. Webster +before the Supreme Court, at Washington, for the heirs at law. One of +the grounds on which the bequest was impeached by them was, the +exclusion by the will of all ecclesiastics, missionaries, or ministers, +of whatever sect, from all offices in the college, and even from +admission within the premises as visitors. So impressive was Mr. +Webster's argument upon the importance of making provision for religious +instruction in all institutions for education, that a meeting of the +citizens of Washington belonging to different religious denominations +was held, at which a resolution was passed expressing the opinion +entertained by the meeting of the great value of Mr. Webster's argument, +"in demonstrating the vital importance of Christianity to the success of +our free institutions, and that the general diffusion of that argument +among the people of the United States is a matter of deep public +interest." A committee of eight gentlemen of the different denominations +of Christians in the city was appointed to wait upon Mr. Webster, and +request him to prepare for the press the report of that portion of his +argument in which this important topic is treated. + +In the month of January, 1848, the great Rhode Island case was brought +before the Supreme Court of the United States, and argued by Mr. +Webster for the chartered government of the State, and against the +insurrectionary government, to which an abortive attempt had been +made to give the form of a constitution, by a pretended act of the +popular will. The true principles of popular and constitutional +government are explored with unsurpassed sagacity in this argument. Some +copies of the report of it in a pamphlet form reached Europe during +the memorable year of 1848, when the Continent was convulsed with +revolutionary struggles from one end to the other. It was there +regarded as a most seasonable and instructive commentary on the nature +of constitutional obligations, and of the rights of the people to modify +their institutions of government. + +A large portion of the causes argued by Mr. Webster belong to the +province of constitutional law, and have their origin in that partition +of powers which exists between the State governments and the government +of the United States, each clothed with sovereignty in its appropriate +sphere, each subject to limitations resulting from its relations to the +other, each possessing its legislative bodies, its judicial tribunals, +its executive authorities, and consequently armed with the means of +asserting its rights, and both combined into one great political system. +In such a system it cannot but happen that questions of conflicting +jurisdiction should arise. When we consider that the powers of these two +orders of government are defined in written constitutions of recent +date, and that all the direct precedents of administration must of +necessity, at the oldest, be still more recent, we cannot but wonder at +the small number of disputed cases which have arisen, and at the +sagacity, forethought, and practical wisdom of the founders of our +government, who made such admirable provision for the harmonious +operation of the system. + +Still, however, it was impossible that the class of cases provided for +by the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States +should not present themselves, and no small portion of Mr. Webster's +forensic life has been devoted to their investigation. It is unnecessary +to state that they are questions of an elevated character. They often +involve the validity of the legislative acts and judicial decisions of +governments substantially independent, as they may in fact the +constitutionality of the acts of Congress itself. No court in England +will allow any thing, not even a treaty with a foreign government, or +the most undoubted principles of the law of nations, to be pleaded +against an act of Parliament. The Supreme Court of the United States +entertains the question not only of the constitutionality of the acts of +the legislatures of States possessing most of the attributes of +sovereignty, but also of the constitutionality of the acts of the +national legislature, which possesses those attributes of sovereignty +which are denied to the States. These circumstances give great dignity +to its deliberations, and tend materially to elevate the character of a +constitutional lawyer in the United States.[8] Professional training in +England has not been deemed the best school of statesmanship; but it +will be readily perceived, that in this country a great class of +questions, and those of the highest importance, belong alike to the +senate and the court. Every one must feel that, in the case of Mr. +Webster, the lawyer and the statesman have contributed materially to +form each other. + +Before quite quitting this subject, it may be proper to allude to Mr. +Webster's professional labors of another class, in the ordinary State +tribunals. Employed as counsel in all the most important cases during a +long professional life, it is hardly necessary to say, that his +investigations have extended to every department of the law, and that +his speeches to the jury and arguments to the court have evinced a +mastery of the learning and a control of the logic belonging to it, +which are in most cases to be attained only by the exclusive study and +practice of a life. The jurist and the advocate are so mingled in Mr. +Webster's professional character, that it is not easy to say which +predominates. His fervid spirit and glowing imagination place at his +control all the resources of an overwhelming rhetoric, and make him +all-powerful with a jury; while the ablest court is guided by his severe +logic, and instructed by the choice which he lays before them of the +most appropriate learning of the cases which he argues. It happens, +unfortunately, that forensic efforts of this kind are rarely reported at +length. A brief sketch of an important law argument finds a place in the +history of the case, but distinguished counsel rarely have time or +bestow the labor required to reproduce in writing an elaborate address +either to court or jury. There is probably no species of intellectual +labor of the highest order, which perishes for want of a contemporary +record to the same extent as that which is daily exerted in the courts +of law. + +The present collection contains two speeches addressed to the jury by +Mr. Webster in criminal trials. One was delivered in the case of +Goodridge, and in defence of the persons whom he accused of having +robbed him on the highway. This cause was tried in 1817, shortly after +the establishment of Mr. Webster at Boston. Rarely has a case, in itself +of no greater importance, produced a stronger impression of the ability +of the counsel. The cross-examination of Goodridge, who pretended to +have been robbed, and who had previously been considered a person of +some degree of respectability, is still remembered at the bar of +Massachusetts as terrific beyond example, and the speech to the jury in +which his artfully contrived tale was stripped of its disguises may be +studied as a model of this species of exposition. + +Mr. Webster's speech to the jury in the memorable case of John F. Knapp +is of a higher interest. The great importance of this case, as well on +account of the legal principles involved, as of the depth of the tragedy +in real life with which it was connected, has given it a painful +celebrity. A detailed history of the case and of the trial, from the pen +of the late ingenious and learned Mr. Merrill, will be found prefixed to +Mr. Webster's speech, as contained in the fifth volume of this +collection. The record of the _causes celebres_ of no country or age +will furnish either a more thrilling narrative, or a forensic effort of +greater ability. A passage on the power of conscience will arrest the +attention of the reader. There is nothing in the language superior to +it. It was unquestionably owing to the legal skill and moral courage +with which the case was conducted by Mr. Webster, that one of the +foulest crimes ever committed was brought to condign punishment; and the +nicest refinements of the law of evidence were made the means of working +out the most important practical results. But it is time to return to +the chronological series of events. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [6] 1 New Hampshire Reports, p. 113. + + [7] American Review, Vol. IX. p. 434. + + [8] "Crescit enim cum amplitudine rerum vis ingenii, nec quisquam + claram et inlustrem orationem efficere potest, nisi qui causam + parem invenit." The dialogue _De Oratoribus_, Sec. 37, usually + printed with the works of Tacitus. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + The Convention to revise the Constitution of Massachusetts.--John + Adams a Delegate.--Mr. Webster's Share in its Proceedings.--Speeches + on Oaths of Office, Basis of Senatorial Representation, and + Independence of the Judiciary.--Centennial Anniversary at Plymouth + on the 22d of December, 1820.--Discourse delivered by Mr. + Webster.--Bunker Hill Monument, and Address by Mr. Webster on the + Laying of the Corner-Stone, 17th of June, 1825.--Discourse on the + Completion of the Monument, 17th of June, 1843.--Simultaneous + Decease of Adams and Jefferson on the 4th of July, 1826.--Eulogy by + Mr. Webster in Faneuil Hall.--Address at the Laying of the + Corner-Stone of the New Wing of the Capitol.--Remarks on the + Patriotic Discourses of Mr. Webster, and on the Character of his + Eloquence in Efforts of this Class. + + +In 1820, on the separation of Maine, a convention became necessary in +Massachusetts to readjust the Senate; and the occasion was deemed a +favorable one for a general revision of the constitution. The various +towns in the Commonwealth were authorized by law to choose as many +delegates as they were entitled to elect members to the House of +Representatives; and a body was constituted containing much of the +talent, political experience, and weight of character of the State. Mr. +Webster was chosen one of the delegates from Boston; and, with the +exception of a few days' service, two or three years afterwards, in the +Massachusetts House of Representatives;[9] this is the only occasion on +which he ever filled any political office under the State government +either of Massachusetts or New Hampshire. + +The venerable John Adams, second President of the United States, was a +delegate to this convention from Quincy. He was the author of the +original draft of the State constitution in 1780, and although his +advanced age (he was now eighty-six years old) made it impossible for +him to take an active part in the proceedings of the convention, he +received the honor of a unanimous election as president. He declined the +appointment; and Chief Justice Parker was chosen in his place. + +The convention of 1820 was no doubt as respectable a political body as +ever assembled in Massachusetts; and it is no more than justice to Mr. +Webster to say, that, although he had been but a few years a citizen of +the Commonwealth, and was personally a stranger to most of his +associates, he was among the most efficient members of the body. He was +named chairman of the committee to whom the important subject of oaths +and qualifications for office was referred, and of the special committee +on that chapter of the constitution which relates to the "University at +Cambridge." Besides taking a leading part in the discussion of most of +the important subjects which were agitated in the convention, he was the +authority most deferred to on questions of order, and in that way +exercised a steady and powerful influence over the general course of its +proceedings. It is believed that on this occasion the practice of +considering business in committee of the whole body was for the first +time adopted in Massachusetts; that mode of procedure never having +obtained in the legislature of the State. The dignified and efficient +manner in which the duties of the chair were performed by Mr. Webster, +whenever he was called to occupy it, was matter of general remark. It +has often been a subject of regret with those who witnessed the uncommon +aptitude evinced by him on these, as on similar occasions at Washington, +for the discharge of the duties of presiding officer of a deliberative +assembly, that he was never, during his Congressional career, called to +the important office of Speaker of the House of Representatives. +Considering the relation of the House to the political condition of the +country, there is no position under the government which bears more +directly upon the general character of the public counsels. The place +has occasionally, both in former times and recently, been filled with +great ability; but it has more frequently happened that speakers have +been chosen from considerations of political expediency, and without +regard to personal qualifications and fitness for the office. The +effect has been highly prejudicial to the tone of the House, and its +consequent estimation in the country. It has frequently happened that +the decisions of the Speaker, as such, have commanded no respect. An +appeal has been taken from them almost as a matter of course. The state +of things is very different in the body most nearly resembling the +houses of Congress. Such a thing as an appeal from the decision of the +Speaker on a point of order is hardly known in the British House of +Commons, and the disposition of all parties to acquiesce in, if not to +support, the decisions of the chair, is one of the characteristic +features of that assembly. + +The proceedings of the Massachusetts convention were ably reported, from +day to day, in the Boston Daily Advertiser; but a contemporary report +usually implies much abridgment of the speeches. Much that was said by +Mr. Webster, as by other prominent speakers, appeared but in a condensed +form; and it is believed, that, even when reported at greatest length +and with most care, it was without the advantage of personal revision by +the speakers. The third volume of the present collection contains Mr. +Webster's remarks on those provisions of the constitution which related +to oaths of office and formed a kind of religious test, which Mr. +Webster was disposed to abolish; a speech upon the basis of senatorial +representation; and another upon the independence of the judiciary. + +In the speech on the basis of the Senate, Mr. Webster defended the +principle, which was incorporated into the original constitution, and +is recognized by the liberal writers of greatest authority on +government, that due regard should be had to property in establishing +a basis of representation. He showed the connection between the +security of republican liberty and this principle. He first called +attention in this country to the fact, that this important principle was +originally developed in Harrington's Oceana, a work much studied by +our Revolutionary fathers. The practical consequence which Mr. Webster +deduced from the principle was, that constitutional and legal +provision ought to be made to produce the utmost possible diffusion +and equality of property. + +It is a melancholy instance of the injustice of party, that these views +of Mr. Webster, which contain the philosophy of constitutional +republicanism as distinct from a mere democracy of numbers, have, even +down to the present day, served as the basis of a charge against him of +anti-popular principles. Having observed in the speech referred to, +"that it would seem to be the part of political wisdom to found +government on property, and to establish such a distribution of property +by the laws which regulate its transmission and alienation, as to +interest the great majority of society in the protection of the +government," the former part of this sentence has often been quoted as a +substantive rule in favor of a moneyed aristocracy, and the latter +uncandidly suppressed. It is hardly necessary to observe, that the point +at issue was the constitution of the senatorial districts on the basis +of the valuation; and that it was never proposed by Mr. Webster, or by +any body else, to apply the principle to individuals. The poor man in +the rich senatorial district possessed as much political power as his +wealthy neighbor. The principle, in fact, is but another form of that +which gave the first impulse to the American Revolution, namely, that +representation and taxation ought to go hand in hand. + +While the Massachusetts convention was in session, Mr. Webster appeared +before the public in another department of intellectual effort, and with +the most distinguished success. It is hazardous for a person of great +professional eminence to venture out of his sphere; perhaps the +experiment has never before been so triumphantly made. In 1820, Mr. +Webster was invited by the Pilgrim Society at Plymouth to deliver a +discourse on the great anniversary of New England, the ever-memorable +22d of December. Several circumstances contributed on this occasion to +the interest of the day. The peaceful surrender by Massachusetts of a +portion of her territory, greatly exceeding in magnitude that which she +retained, in order to form the new State of Maine, was a pleasing +exemplification of that prosperous multiplication of independent +commonwealths within the limits of the Union, which forms one of the +most distinctive features in our history. It was as much an alienation +of territory from the local jurisdiction of Massachusetts, as if it had +been ceded to Great Britain, and yet the alienation was cordially made. +At this very time a controversy existed between the United States and +England, relative to the conflicting title of the two governments to a +very small portion, and that the least valuable part, of the same +territory, which, after the aggravations and irritations of forty years +of controversy, was in 1842 adjusted by Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton, +at a moment when war seemed all but inevitable. In any other country or +age of the world, Maine could have been severed from Massachusetts only +by a bloody revolution. Their amicable separation by mutual consent, +although neither the first nor the second similar event in the United +States, was still an occurrence which carried back the reflections of +thoughtful men to the cradle of New England. + +These reflections gathered interest from the convention then in session. +It was impossible not to feel with unusual force the contrast between +the circumstances under which the first simple compact of government, +the germ of the American constitutions, was drawn up on board the +Mayflower, and those under which the assembled experience, wisdom, and +patriotism of the State were now engaged in reorganizing the government. +Several of the topics which presented themselves to Mr. Webster's mind, +and were discussed by him at Plymouth, had entered into the debates of +the convention a few days before. Still more, the close of the second +century from the landing of the Fathers, with all its mighty series of +events in the social, political, and moral world, gave the highest +interest to the occasion. Six New England generations were to pass in +review. It was an anniversary which could be celebrated nowhere else as +it could be at Plymouth. It was such an anniversary, with its store of +traditions, comparisons, and anticipations, as none then living could +witness again. The Pilgrim Society gave utterance to the unanimous +feeling of the community, in calling upon Mr. Webster to speak for the +whole people of New England, at home and abroad, on this great +occasion. + +The discourse delivered by him in pursuance of their invitation, in some +respects the most remarkable of his performances, begins the series of +his works contained in the present collection. The felicity and spirit +with which its descriptive portions are executed; the affecting tribute +which it pays to the memory of the Pilgrims; the moving picture of their +sufferings on both sides of the water; the masterly exposition and +analysis of those institutions to which the prosperity of New England +under Providence is owing; the eloquent inculcation of those great +principles of republicanism on which our American commonwealths are +founded; the instructive survey of the past, the sublime anticipations +of the future of America,--have long since given this discourse a +classical celebrity. Several of its soul-stirring passages have become +as household words throughout the country. They are among the most +favorite of the extracts contained in the school-books. An entire +generation of young men have derived from this noble performance some of +their first lessons in the true principles of American republicanism. It +obtained at once a wide circulation throughout the country, and gave to +Mr. Webster a position among the popular writers and speakers of the +United States scarcely below that which he had already attained as a +lawyer and a statesman. It is doubtful whether any extra-professional +literary effort by a public man has attained equal celebrity. + +In the course of a few years, when the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill +Monument was to be laid, on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, the +general expectation again pointed to Mr. Webster as the orator of the +day. This, too, was a great national and patriotic anniversary. For the +first time, and after the lapse of a half-century, the commencement of +the war of the American Revolution was to be publicly celebrated under +novel, significant, and highly affecting circumstances. Fifty years had +extinguished all the unkindly associations of the day, and raised it +from the narrow sphere of local history to a high place in the annals of +the world. A great confederacy had sprung from the blood of Bunker Hill. +This was too important an event in the history of the world to be +surrendered to hostile and party feeling. No friend of representative +government in England had reason to deplore the foundation of the +American republics. No one can doubt that the development of the +representative principle in this country has contributed greatly to +promote the cause of Parliamentary reform in Great Britain. Other +considerations gave great interest to the festival of the 17th of June, +1825. Fifty years of national life, fortune, and experience, not +exhibiting in their detail an unvarying series of prosperity, (for it +was fifty years in the history, not of angels, but of men,) but +assuredly not surpassed in the grand aggregate by any half-century in +the annals of the world, were now brought to a close. Vast as the +contrast was in the condition of the country at the beginning and close +of the period, there were still living venerable men who had acted +prominent and efficient parts in the opening scenes of the drama. Men +who had shared the perils of 1775 shared the triumph of the jubilee. +More than a hundred of the heroes of the battle were among the joyous +participators in this great festival. Not the least affecting incident +of the celebration was the presence of Lafayette, who had hastened from +his more than royal progress through the Union to take a part in the +ceremonial. + +It is unnecessary to say, that on such an occasion, with all these +circumstances addressed to the imaginations and the thoughts of men, in +the presence of a vast multitude of the intelligent population of +Massachusetts and the other New England States, with no inconsiderable +attendance of kindred and descendants from every part of the Union, an +address from such an orator as Mr. Webster, on such a platform, on such +a theme, in the flower of his age and the maturity of his faculties, +discoursing upon an occasion of transcendent interest, and kindling with +the enthusiasm of the day and the spot, may well be regarded as an +intellectual treat of the highest order. Happy the eyes that saw that +most glorious gathering! Happy the ears that heard the heart-stirring +strain! + +Scarcely inferior in interest was the anniversary celebration, when the +Bunker Hill Monument was finally completed, in 1843, and Mr. Webster +again consented to address the immense multitude which the ceremonial +could not fail to bring together. In addition to all the other sources +of public interest belonging to the occasion, the completion itself of +the structure was one to which the community attached great importance. +It had been an object steadily pursued, under circumstances of +considerable discouragement, by a large number of liberal and patriotic +individuals, for nearly a quarter of a century. The great work was now +finished; and the most important event in the history of New England was +henceforward commemorated by a monument destined, in all human +probability, to last as long as any work erected by the hands of man. +The thrill of admiration which ran through the assembled thousands, +when, at the commencement of his discourse on that occasion, Mr. Webster +apostrophized the monument itself as the mute orator of the day, has +been spoken of by those who had the good fortune to be present as an +emotion beyond the power of language to describe. The gesture, the look, +the tone of the speaker, as he turned to the majestic shaft, seemed to +invest it with a mysterious life; and men held their breath as if a +solemn voice was about to come down from its towering summit. This +address does not appear to have had the advantage possessed by those of +Plymouth in 1820, and of Bunker Hill in 1825, in having been written out +for the press by Mr. Webster. It seems to have been prepared for +publication from the reporter's notes, with some hasty revision, +perhaps, by the author. + +On the 4th of July, 1826, occurred the extraordinary coincidence of the +deaths of Adams and Jefferson, within a few hours of each other, on the +fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; an event with +which they were both so closely connected, as members of the committee +by which the ever-memorable state paper was prepared and brought into +the Continental Congress. The public mind was already predisposed for +patriotic emotions and sentiments of every kind by many conspiring +causes. The recency of the Revolutionary contest, sufficiently +illustrated by the fact that many of those engaged in it were still +alive and had been the subjects of liberal provision by Congress; the +complete, though temporary, fusion of parties, producing for a few years +a political lull, never witnessed to the same extent before or since; +the close of the half-century from the commencement of the Revolutionary +War, and the commemoration of its early conflicts on many of the spots +where they occurred; the foundation of the Bunker Hill Monument, and of +a similar work on a smaller scale at Concord; the visit of Lafayette; +abroad, the varying scenes of the Greek revolution and the popular +movement in many other parts of Europe,--united in exciting the public +mind in this country. They kindled to new fervor the susceptible and +impulsive American temperament. The simultaneous decease of the +illustrious patriarchs of the Revolution, under these circumstances of +coincidence, fell upon a community already prepared to be deeply +affected. It touched a tender chord, which vibrated from one end of the +Union to the other. The affecting event was noticed throughout the +country. Cities and States vied with each other in demonstrations of +respect for the memory of the departed. The heart of the country poured +itself forth in one general utterance of reverential feeling. Nowhere +was the wonderful event noticed with greater earnestness and solemnity +of public sentiment than in Boston. Faneuil Hall was shrouded in black. +Perhaps for the first time since its erection an organ was placed in the +gallery, and a sublime funeral service was performed. It is unnecessary +to dwell upon the effect of preparations like these upon an intelligent +audience, assembled under highly wrought feeling. They produced a tone +of mind in unison with the magnificent effort of thought which was to +follow. + +It has, perhaps, never been the fortune of an orator to treat a subject +in all respects so extraordinary as that which called forth the eulogy +on Adams and Jefferson; a subject in which the characters commemorated, +the field of action, the magnitude of the events, and the peculiar +personal relations, were so important and unusual. Certainly it is not +extravagant to add, that no similar effort of oratory was ever more +completely successful. The speech ascribed to John Adams in the +Continental Congress, on the subject of declaring the independence of +the Colonies,--a speech of which the topics of course present themselves +on the most superficial consideration of the subject, but of which a few +hints only of what was actually said are supplied by the letters and +diaries of Mr. Adams,--is not excelled by any thing of the kind in our +language. Few things have taken so strong a hold of the public mind. It +thrills and delights alike the student of history, who recognizes it at +once as the creation of the orator, and the common reader, who takes it +to be the composition, not of Mr. Webster, but of Mr. Adams. From the +time the eulogy was delivered to the present day, the inquiry has been +often made and repeated, sometimes even in letters addressed to Mr. +Webster himself, whether this exquisite appeal is his or Mr. Adams's. An +answer to a letter of this kind will be found appended to the eulogy in +the present edition. + +These discourses, with the exception of the second Bunker Hill +Address, were delivered within about five years of each other; the +first on the 22d of December, 1820, the last on the 2d of August, 1826. +With the exception named, Mr. Webster has excused himself from the +delivery of public addresses of this class, though continually invited +from almost every part of the country and upon occasions of every kind. +Within the last twelvemonth, however, he has yielded himself to the +peculiar and urgent condition of public affairs, and has addressed his +fellow-citizens on several occasions not immediately connected with +senatorial or professional duty, and with the power and felicity +which mark his earlier efforts. The most remarkable of these recent +addresses is his speech delivered at Washington on the 4th of July, +1851, at the ceremonial of the laying of the corner-stone of the +addition to the Capitol. This ceremonial, itself of no ordinary +interest, and the aspect of public affairs under which it was performed, +gave a peculiar fervor and solemnity to Mr. Webster's treatment of the +subject. Never, perhaps, were the principles to which the great day is +consecrated unfolded in a few paragraphs with greater precision and +comprehensiveness; or the auspicious influence of these principles on +the progress of the country more happily set forth. The contrast +between the United States of 1793, when the corner-stone of the original +Capitol was laid by President Washington, and the United States of 1851, +when this enlargement became necessary, is brought out with great skill +and discrimination. The appeal to the Southern States, whether the +government under which the Union has grown and prospered is a +blessing or a curse to the country, is a burst of the highest +eloquence. The allusion and apostrophe to Washington will be rehearsed +by the generous youth of America as long as the English language is +spoken on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. + +This great oration, perhaps not premeditated so carefully, as far as the +mere language is concerned, as those of an earlier date with which we +have classed it, is not inferior to either of them in the essentials of +patriotic eloquence. It belongs, in common with them, to a species of +oratory neither forensic, nor parliamentary, nor academical; and which +might perhaps conveniently enough be described by the epithet which we +have just applied to it,--the patriotic. These addresses are strongly +discriminated from the forensic and the parliamentary class of speeches, +in being from the nature of the case more elaborately prepared. The +public taste in a highly cultivated community would not admit, in a +performance of this kind, those marks of extemporaneous execution, +which it not only tolerates, but admires, in the unpremeditated efforts +of the senate and the bar. The latter shines to greatest advantage in +happy impromptu strokes, whether of illustration or argument; the former +admits, and therefore demands, the graceful finish of a mature +preparation.[10] + +It is not, indeed, to be supposed, that an orator like Mr. Webster is +slavishly tied down, on any occasion, to his manuscript notes, or to a +_memoriter_ repetition of their contents. It may be presumed that in +many cases the noblest and the boldest flights, the last and warmest +tints thrown upon the canvas, in discourses of this kind, were the +unpremeditated inspiration of the moment of delivery. The opposite view +would be absurd, because it would imply that the mind, under the high +excitement of delivery, was less fertile and creative than in the repose +of the closet. A speaker could not, if he attempted it, anticipate in +his study the earnestness and fervor of spirit induced by actual contact +with the audience; he could not by any possibility forestall the +sympathetic influence upon his imagination and intellect of the +listening and applauding throng. However severe the method required by +the nature of the occasion, or dictated by his own taste, a speaker like +Mr. Webster will not often confine himself "to pouring out fervors a +week old." + +The orator who would do justice to a great theme or a great occasion +must thoroughly study and understand the subject; he must accurately, +and if possible minutely, digest in writing beforehand the substance, +and even the form, of his address; otherwise, though he may speak ably, +he will be apt not to make in all respects an able speech. He must +entirely possess himself beforehand of the main things which he wishes +to say, and then throw himself upon the excitement of the moment and the +sympathy of the audience. In those portions of his discourse which are +didactic or narrative, he will not be likely to wander, in any +direction, far from his notes; although even in those portions new +facts, illustrations, and suggestions will be apt to spring up before +him as he proceeds. But when the topic rises, when the mind kindles from +within, and the strain becomes loftier, or bolder, or more pathetic, +when the sacred fountain of tears is ready to overflow, and audience and +speaker are moved by one kindred sympathetic passion, then the +thick-coming fancies cannot be kept down, the storehouse of the memory +is unlocked, images start up from the slumber of years, and all that the +orator has seen, read, heard, or felt returns in distinct shape and +vivid colors. The cold and premeditated text will no longer suffice for +the glowing thought. The stately, balanced phrase gives place to some +abrupt, graphic expression, that rushes unbidden to his lips. The +unforeseen incident or locality furnishes an apt and speaking image; and +the discourse instinctively transposes itself into a higher key. + +Many illustrations of these remarks may be found in the following +volumes. We may refer particularly to the address to the survivors of +the Revolution and the apostrophe to Warren in the first discourse on +Bunker Hill. These were topics too obvious and essential, in an address +on laying the corner-stone of the monument, to have been omitted in the +orator's notes prepared beforehand. But no one will think that the +entire apostrophe to Warren, as it stands in the reported speech, was +elaborated in the closet and committed to memory. In fact there is a +slight grammatical inaccuracy, caused by passing from the third person +to the second in the same sentence, which is at once the natural +consequence and the proof of an unpremeditated expansion or elevation of +the preconceived idea. We see the process. When the sentence commenced, +"But, ah! him!" it was evidently in the mind of the orator to close it +by saying, "How shall I speak of him?" But in the progress of the +sentence, forgetful, unconscious, of the grammatical form, but melting +with the thought, beholding, as he stood upon the spot where the hero +fell, his beloved and beautiful image rising from the ground, he can no +longer speak of him. Willing subject of his own witchery, he clothes his +conception with sensible forms, and speaks _to_ the glorious being whom +he has called back to life. He no longer attempts to discourse of Warren +to the audience, but passing, after a few intervening clauses, from the +third person to the second, he exclaims, "How shall I struggle with the +emotions that stifle the utterance of _thy_ name! Our poor work may +perish, but thine shall endure! This monument may moulder away; the +solid ground it rests upon may sink down to a level with the sea; but +thy memory shall not fail!" + + +FOOTNOTES + + [9] Mr. Webster makes the following playful allusion to this + circumstance in a speech at a public dinner in Syracuse (New + York), in the month of May of the present year:-- + + "It has so happened that all the public services which I have + rendered in the world, in my day and generation, have been + connected with the general government. I think I ought to make + an exception. I was ten days a member of the Massachusetts + legislature, and I turned my thoughts to the search for some + good object in which I could be useful in that position; and, + after much reflection, I introduced a bill which, with the + general consent of both houses of the Massachusetts legislature, + passed into a law, and is now a law of the State, which enacts + that no man in the State shall catch trout in any other manner + than in the old way, with an ordinary hook and line." + + [10] The leading ideas in this and the following paragraph may be found + in a review of Mr. Webster's Speeches, in the North American + Review, Vol. XLI. p. 241, written by the author of this Memoir. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + Election to Congress from Boston.--State of Parties.--Meeting of the + Eighteenth Congress.--Mr. Webster's Resolution and Speech in favor + of the Greeks.--Argument in the Supreme Court in the Case of Gibbons + and Ogden.--Circumstances under which it was made.--Speech on the + Tariff Law of 1824.--A complete Revision of the Law for the + Punishment of Crimes against the United States reported by Mr. + Webster, and enacted.--The Election of Mr. Adams as President of the + United States.--Meeting of the Nineteenth Congress, and State of + Parties.--Congress of Panama, and Mr. Webster's Speech on that + Subject.--Election as a Senator of the United States.--Revision of + the Tariff Law by the Twentieth Congress.--Embarrassments of the + Question.--Mr. Webster's Course and Speech on this Subject. + + +In the autumn of 1822, Mr. Webster consented to be a candidate for +Congress for the city (then town) of Boston, and was chosen by a very +large majority over his opponent, Mr. Jesse Putnam. The former party +distinctions, as has been already observed, had nearly lost their +significance in Massachusetts, as in some other parts of the country. +As a necessary, or at least a natural consequence of this state of +things, four candidates had already been brought forward for the +Presidential election of November, 1824; namely, Mr. John Quincy Adams +of Massachusetts, Mr. Clay of Kentucky, General Jackson of Tennessee, +and Mr. Crawford of Georgia. Mr. Calhoun of South Carolina and Mr. +Lowndes of the same State had also both been nominated by their +friends at an early period of the canvass; but the latter was soon +removed by death, and Mr. Calhoun withdrew his pretensions in favor of +General Jackson. All the candidates named had either originally belonged +to the old Democratic party (or Republican party as it was then more +usually called), or had for many years attached themselves to it; but +no one of them was supported on that ground. Mr. Crawford alone had +attempted to avail himself of the ancient party machinery, so far as to +accept a nomination by a Congressional caucus of his friends. They +formed, however, but a minority of the Republican members of Congress, +and the signal failure of the nomination contributed to the final +abandonment of that mode of procedure. No Presidential candidate has +since been nominated by a Congressional caucus. In the canvass of +1824, it was the main effort of the friends of all the candidates, by +holding out the prospect of a liberal basis of administration, to draw +to themselves as many as possible of the old Federal party. In +Massachusetts, and generally in New England, the fusion of parties was +complete, and Mr. Adams received their united support. In the Middle +States the union was less perfect, and the votes of a large proportion +of the old Federal party were given to General Jackson and Mr. +Crawford. + +The Congressional elections in Massachusetts are held a year in advance. +It was not till December, 1823, that Mr. Webster took his seat as a +member of the Eighteenth Congress. It has rarely happened to an +individual, by engaging in public life, to make an equal sacrifice of +personal interest. Born to an inheritance of poverty, struggling through +youth and early manhood against all the difficulties of straitened means +and a narrow sphere, he had risen above them all, and was now in an +advantageous position, at the height of his reputation, receiving as +great a professional income as any lawyer in the United States, and +rapidly laying the foundation of an ample independence. All this was to +be put at risk for the hazardous uncertainties, and the scarcely less +hazardous certainties, of public life. It was not till after repeated +refusals of a nomination to both houses of Congress, that Mr. Webster +was at last called upon, in a manner which seemed to him imperative, to +make the great sacrifice. In fact, it may truly be said, that, to an +individual of his commanding talent and familiarity with political +affairs, and consequent ability to take a lead in the public business, +the question whether he shall do so is hardly submitted to his option. +It is one of the great privileges of second-rate men, that they are +permitted in some degree to follow the bent of their inclinations. It +was the main inducement of Mr. Webster in returning to political life, +that the cessation of the coarse conflicts of party warfare seemed to +hold out some hope that statesmanship of a higher order, an impartial +study of the great interests of the country, and a policy aiming to +promote the development of its vast natural resources, might be called +into action. + +Although the domestic politics of the United States were in a condition +of repose, the politics of Europe at this time were disturbed and +anxious. Revolutions had within a few years broken out in Naples, +Piedmont, and Spain; while in Greece a highly interesting struggle was +in progress, between the Christian population of that country and the +government of their Ottoman oppressors. At an early period of this +contest, it had attracted much notice in the United States. A +correspondence had been opened between an accredited committee of the +Grecian patriots sitting at Paris, with the celebrated Koray at their +head, and friends of the cause of Greece in this country;[11] and a +formal appeal had been made to the people of the United States, by the +Messenian Senate of Kalamata, the first revolutionary congress which +assembled in Greece. President Monroe, both in his annual message of +December, 1822, and in that of 1823, had expressed respect and sympathy +for their cause. The attention of Congress being thus called to the +subject, Mr. Webster thought it a favorable opportunity to speak an +emphatic word, from a quarter whence it would be respected, in favor of +those principles of rational liberty and enlightened progress which were +seeking to extend themselves in Europe. As the great strength of the +Grecian patriots was to be derived, not from the aid of the governments +of Christendom, but from the public opinion and the sympathy of the +civilized world, he felt that they had a peculiar right to expect some +demonstration of friendly feeling from the only powerful republican +state. He was also evidently willing to embrace the opportunity of +entering an American protest against the doctrines which had been +promulgated in the manifestoes of the recent congresses of the European +sovereigns. + +Till the administration of Mr. Jefferson, it had been the custom of +the two houses to return answers to the annual messages of the +President. These answers furnished Congress with the means of +responding to the executive suggestions. As much time was often +consumed in debating these answers, (a consumption of time not +directly leading to any legislative result,) and as differences in +opinion between Congress and the executive, if they existed, were thus +prematurely developed, it was thought a matter of convenience, when Mr. +Jefferson came into power, to depart from the usage. But though +attended with evils, it had its advantages. The opportunity of general +political debate, under a government like ours, if not furnished, +will be taken. The constituencies look to their representatives to +discuss public questions. It will perhaps be found, on comparing +the proceedings of Congress at the present day with what they were +fifty years ago, that, although the general debate on the answer to +the President's message has been retrenched, there is in the course +of the session quite as much discussion of topics incidentally +brought in, and often to the serious obstruction of the public +business, at the advanced stages of the session. + +Whatever may be thought of this as a general principle, President +Monroe, as we have seen, having in two successive annual messages called +the attention of Congress to this subject, Mr. Webster, by way of +response to these allusions, at an early period of the session offered +the following resolution in the House of Representatives:-- + + "_Resolved_, That provision ought to be made by law for defraying + the expense incident to the appointment of an agent or commissioner + to Greece, whenever the President shall deem it expedient to make + such appointment." + +His speech in support of this resolution was delivered on the 19th of +January, 1824, in the presence of an immense audience, brought together +by the interesting nature of the subject and by the fame of the speaker, +now returned, after six years' absence, to the field where he had +gathered early laurels, and to which he had now come back with greatly +augmented reputation. The public expectation was highly excited; and it +is but little to say, that it was entirely fulfilled. The speech was +conceived and executed with rare felicity; and was as remarkable for +what it did not, as for what it did contain. To a subject on which it +was almost impossible to avoid a certain strain of classical sentiment, +Mr. Webster brought a chastened taste and a severe logic. He indulged in +no _ad captandum_ reference to the topics which lay most obviously in +his way. A single allusion to Greece, as the mistress of the world in +letters and arts, found an appropriate place in the exordium. But he +neither rhapsodized about the ancients, nor denounced the Turks, nor +overflowed with Americanism. He treated, in a statesmanlike manner, what +he justly called "the great political question of the age," the question +"between absolute and regulated governments," and the duty of the United +States on fitting occasions to let their voice be heard on this +question. He concisely reviewed the doctrines of the Continental +sovereigns, as set forth in what has been called "the Holy Alliance," +and in the manifestoes of several successive congresses. He pointed out +the inconsistency of these principles with those of self-government and +national independence, and the duty of the United States to declare +their sentiments in support of the latter. He showed that such a +declaration was inconsistent with no principle of public law, and +forbidden by no prudential consideration. He briefly sketched the +history of the Greek revolution; and having shown that his proposal was +a pacific measure, both as regards the Turkish government and the +European allies, he took leave of the subject with a few manly words of +sympathy for the Greeks. + +He was supported by several leading members of the House,--by Mr. Clay, +Mr. Stevenson of Virginia, afterwards Speaker of the House and Minister +to England, and by General Houston of Tennessee; but the subject lay too +far beyond the ordinary range of legislation; it gained no strength from +the calculations of any of the Presidential candidates; it enlisted none +of the great local interests of the country; and it was not of a nature +to be pushed against opposition or indifference. It was probably with +little or no expectation of carrying it, that the resolution was moved +by Mr. Webster. His object was gained in the opportunity of expressing +himself upon the great political question of the day. His words of +encouragement were soon read in every capital and at every court of +Europe, and in every Continental language; they were received with +grateful emotion in Greece. At home the speech fully sustained Mr. +Webster's reputation, not merely for parliamentary talent, but for an +acquaintance with general politics, which few public men in the United +States give themselves the trouble to acquire,--even among those who are +selected to represent the country abroad. In a letter from Mr. Jeremiah +Mason, a person whose judgment on a matter of this kind was entitled to +as much respect as that of any man in the community, this speech is +pronounced "the best sample of parliamentary eloquence and statesmanlike +reasoning which our country can show." + +It was during this session, that Mr. Webster made his great argument +in the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Gibbons and +Ogden, to which we have already alluded. It must increase the +admiration with which this great constitutional effort is read, to +know that the case came on in court a week or ten days earlier than Mr. +Webster expected, and that it was late in the afternoon, after a +severe debate in the House of Representatives on some of the details +of the tariff bill, that he received the intimation that he must be +ready to go into court and argue the cause the next morning. At this +time his brief was not drawn out; and the statement of the argument, +the selecting of the authorities, and the final digest of his +materials, whether of reasoning or fact, were to be the work of the +few intervening hours. It is superfluous to say that there was no long +space for rest or sleep; though it seems hardly credible that the only +specific premeditation of such an argument before such a tribunal +should have been in the stolen watches of one night. + +In the course of this session Mr. Webster, besides taking a leading +part in the discussion of the details of the tariff law of 1824, made +a carefully prepared speech, in reply to Mr. Clay, on some of the +principles upon which he had supported it. His exposition of the +popular errors on the subject of the balance of trade may be referred +to as a very happy specimen of philosophical reasoning applied to +commercial questions. Mr. Webster did not contest the constitutional +right of Congress to lay duties for the protection of manufactures. +He opposed the bill on grounds of expediency, drawn from the condition +of the country at the time, and from the unfriendly bearing of some of +its provisions on the navigating interests. He was the representative +of the principal commercial city of New England. The great majority of +his constituents were opposed to the bill; one member only from +Massachusetts voted in its favor. The last sentence of the speech +shows the general view which he took of the provisions of the act as a +whole: "There are some parts of this bill which I highly approve; there +are others in which I should acquiesce; but those to which I have now +stated my objections appear to me so destitute of all justice, so +burdensome and so dangerous to that interest which has steadily +enriched, gallantly defended, and proudly distinguished us, that nothing +can prevail upon me to give it my support." This sentence sufficiently +shows with how little justice it was asserted, in 1828, that Mr. +Webster had, in 1824, declared an uncompromising hostility to all +legislative provision for the encouragement and protection of +manufactures. + +No subject of great popular interest came up for debate in the second +session of the Eighteenth Congress, but the attention of Mr. Webster, as +chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was assiduously devoted to a +subject of great practical importance; brought forward entirely without +ostentation or display, but inferior in interest to scarce any act of +legislation since the first organization of the government. We refer to +the act of the 3d of March, 1825, "more effectually to provide for the +punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other +purposes." This chapter in the legislation of the United States had been +comparatively overlooked. The original act of the 30th of April, 1790, +"for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States," +deserves, in common with much of the legislation of the First Congress, +the praise of great sagacity and foresight in anticipating the wants and +the operation of the new system of government. Still, however, there was +a class of cases, arising out of the complex nature of our system, and +the twofold jurisdiction existing in the United States, which, being +entirely novel in the history of other governments, was scarcely to be +provided for in advance. The analysis of the English constitution here +failed the able men upon whom it devolved to put the new system of +government in operation. It is to be wondered at, not that some things +were overlooked, but that so many were provided for. + +Of the cases left thus unprovided for, more perhaps were to be found in +the judiciary department than in any other. Many crimes committed on +shipboard, beyond the jurisdiction of any State, or in places within the +Union excepted from State jurisdiction, were unprovided for. Statutes +had been enacted from time to time to supply these deficiencies; but the +subject does not appear at any time to have attracted the special +attention of any one whose professional knowledge and weight of +character qualified him to propose a remedy. It was at length taken up +by Mr. Webster, in the second session of the Eighteenth Congress. It +fell appropriately within the sphere of the Committee on the Judiciary, +of which he was chairman; and his own extensive practice in the courts +both of the United States and of the separate States had made him well +acquainted with the defects of the existing laws. He accordingly drew +up what finally passed the two houses, as the sixty-fifth chapter of the +laws of the second session of the Eighteenth Congress, and procured the +assent of the Committee on the Judiciary to report it to the House. Some +amendments of no great moment were made to it on its passage, partly on +the motion of Mr. Webster himself; and partly on the suggestion of other +members of the House. As it finally passed, in twenty-six sections, it +covered all the cases which had occurred in the thirty-five years which +had elapsed since the law of 1790 was enacted; and it amounted to a +brief, but comprehensive, code of the criminal jurisprudence of the +United States, as distinct from that of the separate States. + +It was Mr. Webster's object in this statute, not to enact theoretical +reforms, but to remedy practical evils; to make provision for crimes +which, for want of jurisdiction, had hitherto gone unpunished. It was +objected to the bill, on its passage through the House, that it created +a considerable number of capital offences. But these were already, in +every case, capital offences either at common law or by the criminal law +of the States, whenever the State tribunals were competent to take +cognizance of them. It was the effect of Mr. Webster's act, not to +create new offences, but to bring within the reach of a proper tribunal +crimes recognized as such by all the codes of law, but which had +hitherto escaped with impunity between separate jurisdictions. The bill +was received with great favor by the House. Mr. Buchanan said that he +highly approved its general features. "It was a disgrace," he added, "to +our system of laws, that no provision had ever been made for the +punishment of the crimes which it embraced, when committed in places +within the jurisdiction of the United States." An eloquent argument was +made by Mr. Livingston of Louisiana in favor of substituting lower +penalties for capital punishment, but he failed to satisfy the House of +the expediency of so great a revolution in our criminal jurisprudence. +Some slight modifications of the bill were conceded to the sensitiveness +of those who apprehended encroachment on State jurisdiction; but it +passed substantially in the form in which it was reported by Mr. +Webster. Twenty-seven years' experience have shown it to be one of the +most valuable laws in the statute-book. + +At this session of Congress the election of a President of the United +States devolved upon the House of Representatives, in default of a +popular choice. The votes of the electoral colleges were ninety-nine for +General Jackson, eighty-four for Mr. Adams, forty-one for Mr. Crawford, +and thirty-seven for Mr. Clay. This was the second time since the +adoption of the Constitution, in 1789, that such an event had occurred. +The other case was in 1801, and under the Constitution in its original +form, which required the electoral colleges to vote for two persons, +without designating which of the two was to be President, and which +Vice-President, the choice between the two to be decided by plurality. +The Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, having +received each an equal number of votes, it devolved upon the House of +Representatives to designate one of them as President. The Constitution +was immediately amended so as to require the candidates for the two +offices to be designated as such in the electoral colleges; so that +precisely such a case as that of 1801 can never recur. In 1824, however, +no person having received a majority of all the votes, it became +necessary for the House to choose a President from among the three +candidates having the highest number. On these occasions the House +votes, not _per capita_, but by States, the delegation of each State +choosing its teller. Mr. Webster was appointed teller for the +Massachusetts delegation. The number of States was twenty-four, and the +tellers were seated in parties of twelve at two tables. Mr. Webster was +appointed by the tellers at one of the tables to announce the result of +the balloting; Mr. Randolph was appointed to the same service at the +other table. The result was declared to be, for Mr. Adams thirteen +votes, for General Jackson seven, and for Mr. Crawford four. The votes +of most of the States were matters of confident calculation beforehand; +those of Maryland and New York were in some degree doubtful. The former +was supposed to depend upon the decision of Mr. Warfield; the latter on +that of General Van Rensselaer. Mr. Webster possessed the political +confidence of both these gentlemen; and is believed to have exerted a +decisive influence in leading them to vote for Mr. Adams. + +Mr. Webster had been elected to the Nineteenth Congress in the +autumn of 1824, by a vote of four thousand nine hundred and ninety out +of five thousand votes cast, the nearest approach to unanimity in a +Congressional election, perhaps, that ever took place. The session +which began in December, 1825, was of course the first session under +Mr. Adams's administration. The brief armistice in party warfare +which existed under Mr. Monroe was over. The friends of General Jackson +_en masse_, most of the friends of Mr. Crawford, and a portion of those +of Mr. Clay, joined in a violent opposition to the new administration. +It would be impossible in this place to unfold the griefs, the +interests, the projects, the jealousies, and the mutual struggles, of +the leaders and the factions, who, with no community of political +principle, entered into this warfare. The absence of any well-defined +division of parties, like that which had formerly existed, gave wide +scope to personal intrigue and sectional preference. Although, +estimated in reference to individual suffrages, Mr. Adams had +received a popular majority; and although he was selected from the +three highest candidates by an absolute majority of the States +voting in the House of Representatives, and by a very large plurality +over both his competitors, yet, as General Jackson had received a +small plurality of votes in the electoral colleges (but a little +more, however, than a third part of the entire electoral vote), he +stood before the masses as a candidate wrongfully deprived of the place +to which he was designated by the popular choice. Great sensibility +was evinced at this defeat of the "Will of the People"; and none +seemed to feel the wrong more than a portion of the friends of that +one of the three candidates who had received the smallest vote, but +whom there had been, nevertheless, a confident hope of electing in the +House. The prejudice against Mr. Adams arising from this source +derived strength from the widely circulated calumny of a corrupt +understanding between him and Mr. Clay. The bare suspicion of an +arrangement between party leaders to help each other into office, +however groundless in point of fact, and however disproved by all the +testimony which could be brought to bear on a negative proposition, was +sufficient seriously to affect the popularity of both parties. + +Great talent, the amplest civil experience, and the purest patriotism +are an inadequate basis of strength for an administration. If the +capricious and ill-defined element of what is called popularity is +wanting, all else is of little avail. Mr. Adams's administration was +conducted with the highest ability; it was incorruptible; it was +frugal; it was tolerant of opponents to its own injury. With the +exception of half a dozen editors of newspapers warmly opposed to the +administration, from whom the trifling privilege of printing the +laws was withdrawn, no one was removed from office for political +opinion. But the administration was unpopular, and was doomed from its +formation. It was supported by very able men in both houses of +Congress, and of these Mr. Webster was by all acknowledgment the chief. +But it failed to command the confidence of a numerical majority of the +people. + +The leading measure of the first session of the Nineteenth Congress was +the Congress of Panama. Mr. Adams had announced in his message at the +commencement of the session, that an invitation to the congress had been +accepted, and that "ministers on the part of the United States would be +commissioned to attend its deliberations." In announcing this purpose, +it is probable that the President regarded himself as within the +ordinary limits of executive discretion. The power of nominating +ambassadors and other public ministers is given by the Constitution to +the President alone. No laws for the establishment of any particular +missions have ever been passed, nor has any control been exercised over +them by Congress beyond determining the salaries of the ministers of +different ranks, and making the annual appropriations for their payment. +The executive is manifestly the sole depositary of the knowledge of the +foreign relations of the country which is necessary to determine what +missions ought to be established. Notwithstanding these obvious +considerations and constitutional principles, the novel and anomalous +character of the proposed Congress afforded a temptation to the +opposition too strong to be resisted. The President's announcement +formed the great point of attack during the first session of the new +Congress. The confirmation of the ministers was vigorously resisted in +the Senate, and the resolution declaring the expediency of making the +requisite appropriations as strenuously opposed in the House. The +mischiefs likely to result from the public discussion of the measure +showed the wisdom of those constitutional provisions on which the +President had acted. The opposition, in denying that the executive +control of foreign relations is exclusive, showed at any rate that it +ought to be, at least as far as it is made so by the Constitution. After +a lapse of twenty-six years, we can scarcely believe that any doubt +should have existed, on the part of men of judgment and discretion, that +sound policy required that the United States should be present at such a +general conference of the American powers; if for no other reason, to +observe their movements. But all the motives for such a course could not +be avowed, and of those that could, a part of the force was weakened by +the avowal. The influence of the United States was impaired in order +that the administration might be distressed. + +The subject was discussed with great ability in both houses. The greater +portion of the senatorial debate was with closed doors. Mr. Webster's +speech in the House is far the ablest of those published. It raised the +question from the wretched level of party politics to the elevation of +real statesmanship. It discussed the constitutional question with a +clearness and power which make us wonder that it was ever raised; and it +unfolded the true nature of the proposed congress, as viewed in the +light of the public law. A very important topic of the speech was an +explanation of the declaration of President Monroe, in his annual +message of 1823, against the interposition of the governments of Europe +for the purpose of enabling Spain to resubjugate her former colonial +possessions on this continent. Mr. Webster pointed out the circumstances +which warranted at the time the opinion that such interposition might be +attempted; and he stated the important fact, not before known, that the +purpose on the part of the United States to resist it was deliberately +and unanimously formed by Mr. Monroe's cabinet, consisting at that time +of Messrs. Adams, Crawford, Calhoun, Southard, and Wirt. The principles +assumed in the debate on the Panama mission by the friends of Messrs. +Crawford and Calhoun were greatly at variance with the spirit and +tendency of the declaration, as they were with what has more recently +been regarded as the true Democratic doctrine in reference to the +relations of the United States to her sister republics on this +continent. + +The speech on the Panama question was the most considerable effort made +by Mr. Webster in the Nineteenth Congress. In the interval of the two +sessions, in November, 1826, he was reelected with but a show of +opposition. The eulogy upon Adams and Jefferson, of which we have +already spoken, was delivered in the month of August of this year. In +the month of June, 1827, Mr. Webster was elected to the Senate of the +United States by a large majority of the votes of the two houses of the +legislature of Massachusetts, the Hon. Mr. Mills of Northampton, who had +filled that station with great ability, having declined being a +candidate for reelection in consequence of ill health. + +The principal measure which occupied the attention of the two houses +during the first session of the Twentieth Congress was the revision of +the tariff. This measure had its origin in the distressed condition of +the woollen interest, which found itself deprived (partly by the effect +of the repeal of the duty on wool imported into Great Britain) of that +measure of protection which the tariff law of 1824 was designed to +afford. An unsuccessful attempt had been made at the last session of +Congress, to pass a law exclusively for the relief of the woollen +manufacturers; but no law having in view the protection of any one great +interest is likely to be enacted by Congress, however called for by the +particular circumstances of the case. At the present session an entire +revision of the tariff was attempted. Political considerations +unfortunately could not be excluded from the arrangements of the bill. A +majority of the two houses was in favor of protection; but in a country +so extensive as the United States, and embracing such a variety of +interests, there were different views among the friends of the policy as +to the articles to be protected and the amount of protection. This +diversity of opinions and supposed diversity of interests enabled those +wholly opposed to the principle and policy of protection, by uniting +their votes on questions of detail with members who represented local +interests, to render the bill objectionable in many parts to several of +its friends, and to reduce them to the alternative of either voting +against it, or tolerating more or less which they deemed inexpedient, +and even highly injurious. Hence it received the name of the "Bill of +Abominations." + +The political motives alluded to caused the bill to be made as +acceptable as possible to Pennsylvania and the other Middle States, and +as unfavorable as possible to the leading interests of New England. The +depression of the woollen manufactures had originally caused the +revision of the tariff at this session. A heavy duty on the raw material +was one of the features of the bill. But this was represented as due to +the agricultural interest. The East, although it had now become +eminently a manufacturing region, was still the seat of an active +commerce, and largely concerned in the fisheries. The duty on molasses, +a great article of consumption with the mariners and fishermen of the +East, both in its natural form and that of cheap spirits, was doubled; +but this, it was said, was required for the benefit of the grain-growers +of the Middle States. Other provisions of this kind were introduced into +the bill, in all cases with the assistance of the votes of its +opponents, given in such a way as to render the bill as unpalatable as +possible to the Northeastern manufacturers. Mr. Webster addressed the +Senate, while the bill was before that body, exposing the objectionable +features to which we have alluded. Believing, however, that the great +article of woollens required the protection given it by the bill, and +regarding the general system of protection as the established policy of +the country and of the government, and feeling that the capital which +had been invited into manufactures by former acts of legislation was now +entitled to be sustained against the glut of foreign markets, fraudulent +invoices, and the competition of foreign labor working at starvation +wages, he gave his vote for the bill, and has ever since supported the +policy of moderate protection. He has been accused of inconsistency in +this respect; and by none more earnestly than by the friends of Mr. +Calhoun, who was one of those influential statesmen of the South by +whom, in the Fourteenth Congress, the foundation of a protective tariff +was laid on the corner-stone of the square-yard duty on domestic cotton +fabrics. But he has been sustained by the great majority of his +constituents and of the people of the Northern, Middle, and Northwestern +States; and should the prospects of success be fulfilled with which +manufactures have been attempted at the South, there is little doubt +that she will at length perceive that her own interest would be promoted +by upholding the same policy. + +When the speech of Mr. Webster of 1824, in which he assigned his reasons +for voting against the tariff law of that year, is carefully compared +with his speech of 1828, just referred to, it will be found that there +is no other diversity than that which was induced by the change in the +state of the country itself in reference to its manufacturing interests, +and by the course pursued in reference to the details of the bill by +those opposed to protection _in toto_. It is the best proof of this, +that, in the former edition of Mr. Webster's works, the two speeches +were, for more easy comparison, placed side by side. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [11] See North American Review, Vol. XVII. p. 414. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Election of General Jackson.--Debate on Foot's Resolution.--Subject + of the Resolution, and Objects of its Mover.--Mr. Hayne's First + Speech.--Mr. Webster's original Participation in the Debate + unpremeditated.--His First Speech.--Reply of Mr. Hayne with + increased Asperity.--Mr. Webster's Great Speech.--Its Threefold + Object.--Description of the Manner of Mr. Webster in the Delivery + of this Speech, from Mr. March's "Reminiscences of + Congress."--Reception of his Speech throughout the Country.--The + Dinner at New York.--Chancellor Kent's Remarks.--Final Disposal + of Foot's Resolution.--Report of Mr. Webster's Speech.--Mr. + Healey's Painting. + + +In the interval between the two sessions of the Twentieth Congress, the +Presidential election was decided. Mr. Adams and General Jackson were +the opposing candidates; and the latter was chosen by a large popular +majority. This result was brought about by the active cooeperation with +General Jackson's original supporters of the friends of Mr. Calhoun, and +many of the friends of the other candidates of 1824. This cooeperation +implied the combination of the most discordant materials, which did not, +however, prevent its members during the canvass from heaping the +bitterest reproaches upon Mr. Adams's administration for receiving the +support of Mr. Clay. That there was no cordiality among the component +elements of the party by which General Jackson was elevated to the chair +was soon quite apparent. + +The first session of the Twenty-first Congress, that of 1829-30, is +rendered memorable in the history of Mr. Webster, as well as in the +parliamentary history of the country, by what has been called the debate +on Foot's resolution, in which Mr. Webster delivered the speech which is +usually regarded as his ablest, and which may probably with truth be +pronounced the most celebrated speech ever delivered in Congress. The +great importance of this effort will no doubt be considered as a +sufficient reason for relating somewhat in detail the circumstances +under which it was made. + +The debate arose in the following manner. + +On the 29th of December, 1829, Mr. Foot, one of the Senators from +Connecticut, moved the following resolution:-- + + "_Resolved_, That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to + inquire and report the quantity of public lands remaining unsold + within each State and Territory, and whether it be expedient to + limit for a certain period the sales of the public lands to such + lands only as have heretofore been offered for sale, and are now + subject to entry at the _minimum_ price. And, also, whether the + office of Surveyor-General, and some of the land offices, may not be + abolished without detriment to the public interest." + +There is no reason to believe that, in bringing forward this resolution, +Mr. Foot acted in concert with any other member of the Senate. When it +came up for consideration the next day, the mover stated that he had +been induced to offer the resolution from having at the last session +examined the report of the Commissioner of the Land Office, from which +it appeared that the quantity of land remaining unsold at the _minimum_ +price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre exceeded seventy-two +millions of acres; while it appeared from the commissioner's report at +this session, that the annual demand was not likely to exceed a million +of acres at present, although of course it might be expected somewhat to +increase with the growth of the population. + +This resolution, though one of inquiry only, was resisted. It was +represented by Mr. Benton of Missouri as a resolution to inquire into +the expediency of committing a great injury upon the new States of the +West. Mr. Holmes of Maine supported the resolution, as one of inquiry +into an important subject. Mr. Foot disclaimed every purpose unfriendly +to the West, and at the close of the conversation (in which Mr. Webster +took no part), it was agreed that the consideration of the resolution +should be postponed to the 11th of January, and made the special order +of the day for that day. In this manner, it often happens that a +resolution of inquiry on a business question of no urgent importance, +intended to have no political bearing, and brought forward without +concert with others by an individual, becomes by delay the theme of +impassioned debates for weeks and months, to the serious obstruction of +the real business of Congress. In the present case, it must be admitted +that the loss of the public time thus occasioned was amply made up, by +the importance of the speech which has given celebrity to the debate. + +The consideration of Mr. Foot's resolution was not resumed till +Wednesday, the 13th of January, when it was opposed by several Western +gentlemen. It was next taken up on Monday, the 18th, when Mr. Benton of +Missouri spoke at length against it. On Tuesday, the 19th, Mr. Holmes of +Maine replied at no great length to Mr. Benton. Other members took some +part in the debate, and then Mr. Hayne of South Carolina commenced a +speech, which occupied the rest of the day. Mr. Hayne was one of the +younger members of the Senate. He came forward in his native State in +1814, when hardly of age, with great _eclat_, filled in rapid succession +responsible offices, and came to the Senate of the United States in +1823, with a reputation already brilliant, and rapidly increasing. He +was active and diligent in business, fluent, graceful, and persuasive as +a debater; of a sanguine and self-relying temper; shrinking from no +antagonist, and disposed to take the part of a champion. + +Mr. Webster, up to this time, had not participated in the debate, which +had in fact been rather a pointless affair, and was dragging its slow +length through the Senate, no one knew exactly to what purpose. It had +as yet assumed no character in which it invited or required his +attention. He was much engaged at the time in the Supreme Court of the +United States. The important case of John Jacob Astor and the State of +New York, in which he was of counsel, was to come on for argument on the +20th of January; and on that day the argument of the case was in fact +commenced.[12] Leaving the court-room when the court adjourned on +Tuesday, the 19th, Mr. Webster came into the Senate in season to hear +the greater part of Mr. Hayne's speech; and it was suggested to him by +several friends, and among others by Mr. Bell of New Hampshire, Mr. +Chambers of Maryland, and his colleague, Mr. Silsbee, that an immediate +answer to Mr. Hayne was due from him. The line of discussion pursued by +the Senator from South Carolina was such as to require, if not to +provoke, an immediate answer from the North. Mr. Webster accordingly +rose when Mr. Hayne took his seat, but gave way to a motion for +adjournment from Mr. Benton. These circumstances will sufficiently show +how entirely without premeditation, and with what preoccupation by other +trains of thought, Mr. Webster was led into this great intellectual +conflict. + +He appeared in the Senate the next morning, Wednesday, January 20th, +and Mr. Foot's resolution, being called up, was modified, on the +suggestion of Messrs. Sprague of Maine and Woodbury of New Hampshire, by +adding the following clause:-- + + "Or whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten the sales + and extend more rapidly the surveys of the public lands." + +Mr. Webster immediately proceeded with the debate. No elaborate +preparation, of course, could have been made by him, as the speech +of Mr. Hayne, to which his reply was mainly directed, was delivered +the day before. He vindicated the government, under its successive +administrations, from the general charge of having managed the public +lands in a spirit of hostility to the Western States. He particularly +defended New England against the accusation of hostility to the West. +A passage in this part of his speech, contrasting Ohio as she was in +1794 with the Ohio of 1830, will compare advantageously with any thing +in these volumes. In speaking of the settlement of the West, Mr. Webster +introduced with just commendation the honored name of Nathan Dane, as +the author of the Ordinance of 1787, for the organization and +government of the territory northwest of the Ohio. He maintained that +every measure of legislation beneficial to the West had been carried +in Congress by the aid of New England votes, and he closed by an +allusion to his own course as uniformly friendly to that part of the +Union. Mr. Benton followed Mr. Webster, and commenced a speech in +reply. + +The next day, Thursday, the 21st, the subject again came up, and it was +now evident that the debate had put on a new character. Its real +interest and importance were felt to be commencing. Mr. Chambers +expressed the hope that the Senate would consent to postpone the further +consideration of the resolution till the next Monday, as Mr. Webster, +who had engaged in the discussion and wished to be present when it +should be resumed, had pressing engagements out of the house, and could +not conveniently give his attendance in the Senate before Monday.[13] +Mr. Hayne said "he saw the gentleman from Massachusetts in his seat, and +presumed he could make an arrangement which would enable him to be +present here, during the discussion to-day. He was unwilling that this +subject should be postponed before he had an opportunity of replying to +some of the observations which had fallen from that gentleman yesterday. +He would not deny that some things had fallen from him which rankled[14] +here (touching his breast), from which he would desire at once to +relieve himself. The gentleman had discharged his fire in the presence +of the Senate. He hoped he would now afford him an opportunity of +returning the shot." + +The manner in which this was said was not such as to soften the +harshness of the sentiment. It will be difficult, in reverting to Mr. +Webster's speech, to find either in its substance or spirit any adequate +grounds for the feeling manifested by Mr. Hayne. Nor would it probably +be easy in the history of Congress to find another case in which a +similar act of accommodation in the way of postponing a subject has been +refused, at least on such a ground. Mr. Webster, in reply to Mr. Hayne's +remark, that he wished without delay to return his shot, said, "Let the +discussion proceed; I am ready now to receive the gentleman's fire." + +Mr. Benton then addressed the Senate for about an hour, in conclusion of +the speech which he had commenced the day before. At the close of Mr. +Benton's argument, Mr. Bell of New Hampshire moved that the further +consideration of the subject should be postponed till Monday, but the +motion was negatived. Mr. Hayne then took the floor, and spoke for about +an hour in reply to Mr. Webster's remarks of the preceding day. Before +he had concluded his argument, the Senate adjourned till Monday. On that +day, January the 25th, he spoke for two hours and a half, and completed +his speech. Mr. Webster immediately rose to reply, but the day was far +advanced, and he yielded to a motion for adjournment. + +The second speech of Mr. Hayne, to which Mr. Webster was now called +upon to reply, was still more strongly characterized than the first +with severity, not to say bitterness, towards the Eastern States. The +tone toward Mr. Webster personally was not courteous. It bordered on +the offensive. It was difficult not to find in both of the speeches of +the Senator from South Carolina the indication of a preconceived +purpose to hold up New England, and Mr. Webster as her most +distinguished representative, to public odium. In his second speech, Mr. +Hayne reaffirmed and urged those constitutional opinions which are +usually known as the doctrines of Nullification; that is to say, the +assumed right of a State, when she deems herself oppressed by an +unconstitutional act of Congress, to declare by State ordinance the +act of Congress null and void, and discharge the citizens of the State +from the duty of obedience. + +Such being the character of Mr. Hayne's speech, Mr. Webster had three +objects to accomplish in his answer. The first was to repel the +personalities toward himself, which formed one of the most prominent +features of Mr. Hayne's speech. This object was accomplished by a few +retaliatory strokes, in which the severest sarcasm was so mingled with +unaffected good humor and manly expostulation, as to carry captive the +sympathy of the audience. The vindication of the Eastern States +generally, and of Massachusetts in particular, was the second object, +and was pursued in a still higher strain. When it was finished, no one +probably regretted more keenly than the accomplished antagonist the easy +credence which he had lent to the purveyors of forgotten scandal, some +of whom were present, and felt grateful for their obscurity. + +The third and far the more important object with Mr. Webster was the +constitutional argument, in which he asserted the character of our +political system as a government established by the people of the United +States, in contradistinction to a compact between the separate States; +and exposed the fallacy of attempting to turn the natural right of +revolution against the government into a right reserved under the +Constitution to overturn the government itself. + +Several chapters of the interesting work of Mr. March, already referred +to,[15] are devoted to the subject of this debate; and we have thought +that we could in no way convey to the reader so just and distinct an +impression of the effect of Mr. Webster's speech at the time of its +delivery, as by borrowing largely from his animated pages. + + * * * * * + +"It was on Tuesday, January the 26th, 1830,--a day to be hereafter for +ever memorable in Senatorial annals,--that the Senate resumed the +consideration of Foot's resolution. There never was before, in the city, +an occasion of so much excitement. To witness this great intellectual +contest, multitudes of strangers had for two or three days previous been +rushing into the city, and the hotels overflowed. As early as 9 o'clock +of this morning, crowds poured into the Capitol, in hot haste; at 12 +o'clock, the hour of meeting, the Senate-chamber--its galleries, floor, +and even lobbies--was filled to its utmost capacity. The very stairways +were dark with men, who clung to one another, like bees in a swarm. + +"The House of Representatives was early deserted. An adjournment would +have hardly made it emptier. The Speaker, it is true, retained his +chair, but no business of moment was, or could be, attended to. Members +all rushed in to hear Mr. Webster, and no call of the House or other +parliamentary proceedings could compel them back. The floor of the +Senate was so densely crowded, that persons once in could not get out, +nor change their position; in the rear of the Vice-Presidential +chair, the crowd was particularly intense. Dixon H. Lewis, then a +Representative from Alabama, became wedged in here. From his enormous +size, it was impossible for him to move without displacing a vast +portion of the multitude. Unfortunately, too, for him, he was jammed +in directly behind the chair of the Vice-President, where he could +not see, and hardly hear, the speaker. By slow and laborious effort, +pausing occasionally to breathe, he gained one of the windows, which, +constructed of painted glass, flank the chair of the Vice-President on +either side. Here he paused, unable to make more headway. But +determined to see Mr. Webster as he spoke, with his knife he made a +large hole in one of the panes of the glass; which is still visible as +he made it. Many were so placed as not to be able to see the speaker +at all. + +"The courtesy of Senators accorded to the fairer sex room on the +floor--the most gallant of them, their own seats. The gay bonnets and +brilliant dresses threw a varied and picturesque beauty over the scene, +softening and embellishing it. + +"Seldom, if ever, has speaker in this or any other country had more +powerful incentives to exertion; a subject, the determination of which +involved the most important interests, and even duration, of the +republic; competitors, unequalled in reputation, ability, or position; a +name to make still more glorious, or lose for ever; and an audience, +comprising not only persons of this country most eminent in intellectual +greatness, but representatives of other nations, where the art of +eloquence had flourished for ages. All the soldier seeks in opportunity +was here. + +"Mr. Webster perceived, and felt equal to, the destinies of the moment. +The very greatness of the hazard exhilarated him. His spirits rose with +the occasion. He awaited the time of onset with a stern and impatient +joy. He felt like the war-horse of the Scriptures, who 'paweth in the +valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: who goeth on to meet the armed +men,--who saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha! and who smelleth the battle +afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting.' + +"A confidence in his own resources, springing from no vain estimate of +his power, but the legitimate offspring of previous severe mental +discipline, sustained and excited him. He had gauged his opponents, his +subject, and _himself_. + +"He was, too, at this period, in the very prime of manhood. He had +reached middle age,--an era in the life of man when the faculties, +physical or intellectual, may be supposed to attain their fullest +organization and most perfect development. Whatever there was in him of +intellectual energy and vitality, the occasion, his full life, and high +ambition might well bring forth. + +"He never rose on an ordinary occasion to address an ordinary audience +more self-possessed. There was no tremulousness in his voice nor manner; +nothing hurried, nothing simulated. The calmness of superior strength +was visible everywhere; in countenance, voice, and bearing. A +deep-seated conviction of the extraordinary character of the emergency, +and of his ability to control it, seemed to possess him wholly. If an +observer, more than ordinarily keen-sighted, detected at times something +like exultation in his eye, he presumed it sprang from the excitement of +the moment, and the anticipation of victory. + +"The anxiety to hear the speech was so intense, irrepressible, and +universal, that no sooner had the Vice-President assumed the chair, than +a motion was made, and unanimously carried, to postpone the ordinary +preliminaries of Senatorial action, and to take up immediately the +consideration of the resolution. + +"Mr. Webster rose and addressed the Senate. His exordium is known by +heart everywhere: 'Mr. President, when the mariner has been tossed, for +many days, in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails +himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, +to take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have driven him +from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float +farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we +departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are. I +ask for the reading of the resolution before the Senate.' + +"There wanted no more to enchain the attention. There was a spontaneous, +though silent, expression of eager approbation, as the orator concluded +these opening remarks. And while the clerk read the resolution, many +attempted the impossibility of getting nearer the speaker. Every head +was inclined closer towards him, every ear turned in the direction of +his voice, and that deep, sudden, mysterious silence followed, which +always attends fulness of emotion. From the sea of upturned faces before +him, the orator beheld his thoughts reflected as from a mirror. The +varying countenance, the suffused eye, the earnest smile, the +ever-attentive look, assured him of his audience's entire sympathy. If +among his hearers there were those who affected at first an indifference +to his glowing thoughts and fervent periods, the difficult mask was soon +laid aside, and profound, undisguised, devoted attention followed. In +the earlier part of his speech, one of his principal opponents seemed +deeply engrossed in the careful perusal of a newspaper he held before +his face; but this, on nearer approach, proved to be _upside down_. In +truth, all, sooner or later, voluntarily, or in spite of themselves, +were wholly carried away by the eloquence of the orator. + + * * * * * + +"Those who had doubted Mr. Webster's ability to cope with and overcome +his opponents were fully satisfied of their error before he had +proceeded far in his speech. Their fears soon took another direction. +When they heard his sentences of powerful thought, towering in +accumulative grandeur, one above the other, as if the orator strove, +Titan-like, to reach the very heavens themselves, they were giddy with +an apprehension that he would break down in his flight. They dared not +believe that genius, learning, and intellectual endowment however +uncommon, that was simply mortal, could sustain itself long in a career +seemingly so perilous. They feared an Icarian fall. + + * * * * * + +"What New England heart was there but throbbed with vehement, +tumultuous, irrepressible emotion, as he dwelt upon New England +sufferings, New England struggles, and New England triumphs during the +war of the Revolution? There was scarcely a dry eye in the Senate; all +hearts were overcome; grave judges and men grown old in dignified life +turned aside their heads, to conceal the evidences of their emotion. + +"In one corner of the gallery was clustered a group of Massachusetts +men. They had hung from the first moment upon the words of the speaker, +with feelings variously but always warmly excited, deepening in +intensity as he proceeded. At first, while the orator was going through +his exordium, they held their breath and hid their faces, mindful of the +savage attack upon him and New England, and the fearful odds against +him, her champion;--as he went deeper into his speech, they felt easier; +when he turned Hayne's flank on Banquo's ghost, they breathed freer and +deeper. But now, as he alluded to Massachusetts, their feelings were +strained to the highest tension; and when the orator, concluding his +encomium of the land of their birth, turned, intentionally or otherwise, +his burning eye full upon them, _they shed tears like girls_! + +"No one who was not present can understand the excitement of the scene. +No one who was, can give an adequate description of it. No word-painting +can convey the deep, intense enthusiasm, the reverential attention, of +that vast assembly, nor limner transfer to canvas their earnest, eager, +awe-struck countenances. Though language were as subtile and flexible as +thought, it still would be impossible to represent the full idea of the +scene. There is something intangible in an emotion, which cannot be +transferred. The nicer shades of feeling elude pursuit. Every +description, therefore, of the occasion, seems to the narrator himself +most tame, spiritless, unjust. + +"Much of the instantaneous effect of the speech arose, of course, from +the orator's delivery,--the tones of his voice, his countenance, and +manner. These die mostly with the occasion that calls them forth; the +impression is lost in the attempt at transmission from one mind to +another. They can only be described in general terms. 'Of the +effectiveness of Mr. Webster's manner in many parts,' says Mr. Everett, +'it would be in vain to attempt to give any one not present the faintest +idea. It has been my fortune to hear some of the ablest speeches of the +greatest living orators on both sides of the water, but I must confess I +never heard any thing which so completely realized my conception of what +Demosthenes was when he delivered the Oration for the Crown.' + + * * * * * + +"The variety of incident during the speech, and the rapid fluctuation of +passions, kept the audience in continual expectation and ceaseless +agitation. There was no chord of the heart the orator did not strike, as +with a master-hand. The speech was a complete drama of comic and +pathetic scenes; one varied excitement; laughter and tears gaining +alternate victory. + +"A great portion of the speech is strictly argumentative; an exposition +of constitutional law. But grave as such portion necessarily is, +severely logical, abounding in no fancy or episode, it engrossed +throughout the undivided attention of every intelligent hearer. +Abstractions, under the glowing genius of the orator, acquired a beauty, +a vitality, a power to thrill the blood and enkindle the affections, +awakening into earnest activity many a dormant faculty. His ponderous +syllables had an energy, a vehemence of meaning in them, that +fascinated, while they startled. His thoughts in their statuesque beauty +merely would have gained all critical judgment; but he realized the +antique fable, and warmed the marble into life. There was a sense of +power in his language,--of power withheld and suggestive of still +greater power,--that subdued, as by a spell of mystery, the hearts of +all. For power, whether intellectual or physical, produces in its +earnest development a feeling closely allied to awe. It was never more +felt than on this occasion. It had entire mastery. The sex which is +said to love it best, and abuse it most, seemed as much or more carried +away than the sterner one. Many who had entered the hall with light, gay +thoughts, anticipating at most a pleasurable excitement, soon became +deeply interested in the speaker and his subject; surrendered him their +entire heart; and when the speech was over, and they left the hall, it +was with sadder, perhaps, but surely with far more elevated and +ennobling emotions. + +"The exulting rush of feeling with which he went through the peroration +threw a glow over his countenance, like inspiration. Eye, brow, each +feature, every line of the face, seemed touched, as with a celestial +fire. + +"The swell and roll of his voice struck upon the ears of the spellbound +audience, in deep and melodious cadence, as waves upon the shore of the +'far-resounding' sea. The Miltonic grandeur of his words was the fit +expression of his thought, and raised his hearers up to his theme. +His voice, exerted to its utmost power, penetrated every recess or +corner of the Senate,--penetrated even the ante-rooms and stairways, as +he pronounced in deepest tones of pathos these words of solemn +significance: 'When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last +time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and +dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, +discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, +it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering +glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known +and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms +and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or +polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto, no such +miserable interrogatory as, "What is all this worth?" nor those other +words of delusion and folly, "Liberty first and Union afterwards"; +but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing +on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, +and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear +to every American heart,--LIBERTY AND UNION, NOW AND FOR EVER, ONE +AND INSEPARABLE!' + + * * * * * + +"The speech was over, but the tones of the orator still lingered upon +the ear, and the audience, unconscious of the close, retained their +positions. The agitated countenance, the heaving breast, the suffused +eye, attested the continued influence of the spell upon them. Hands +that, in the excitement of the moment, had sought each other, still +remained closed in an unconscious grasp. Eye still turned to eye, to +receive and repay mutual sympathy; and everywhere around seemed +forgetfulness of all but the orator's presence and words."--pp. +132-148. + + * * * * * + +After having spoken about three hours on the 26th of January, Mr. +Webster gave way for an adjournment. He resumed and concluded the speech +on the following day. During most of the time that he was speaking, Mr. +Hayne occupied himself in taking notes, and rose to reply at the +conclusion of Mr. Webster's argument. An adjournment was proposed by one +of Mr. Hayne's friends, but he wisely determined to terminate all that +he intended to say on the subject upon the spot. He accordingly +addressed the Senate for about half an hour upon the constitutional +question which formed the most important portion of Mr. Webster's +speech. These remarks of Mr. Hayne were, in the newspaper report, +expanded into an elaborate argument, which occupies nineteen pages in +the register of Congressional debates. When Mr. Hayne sat down, Mr. +Webster, in turn, rose to make a brief rejoinder. "The gentleman," said +he, "has in vain attempted to reconstruct his shattered argument"; and +this formidable exordium was followed up by a brief restatement of his +own argument, which, for condensation, precision, and force, may be +referred to as a specimen of parliamentary logic never surpassed. The +art of reasoning on moral questions can go no further. + +Thus terminated the day's great work. In the evening the Senatorial +champions met at a friend's house, and exchanged those courteous +salutations which mitigate the asperity of political collision, and +prevent the conflicts of party from embittering social life. + +The sensation produced by the great debate on those who heard it was but +the earnest of its effect on the country at large. The length of Mr. +Webster's speech did not prevent its being copied into the leading +newspapers throughout the country. It was the universal theme of +conversation. Letters of acknowledgment and congratulation from the most +distinguished individuals, from politicians retired from active life, +from entire strangers, from persons not sympathizing with all Mr. +Webster's views, from distant parts of the Union, were addressed to him +by every mail. Immense editions of the speech in a pamphlet form were +called for. A proposal was made to the friends of Mr. Hayne to unite in +the publication of a joint edition of the two speeches for general +circulation throughout the country, but this offer was declined. Mr. +Webster's friends in Boston published a pamphlet edition of the +speeches of Mr. Hayne and Mr. Webster. It is no exaggeration to say, +that throughout the country Mr. Webster's speech was regarded, not only +as a brilliant and successful personal defence and a triumphant +vindication of New England, but as a complete overthrow of the dangerous +constitutional heresies which had menaced the stability of the Union. + +In this light it was looked upon by a large number of the most +distinguished citizens of New York, who took occasion to offer Mr. +Webster the compliment of a public dinner the following winter. +Circumstances delayed the execution of their purpose till some time had +elapsed from the delivery of the speech, but the recollection of it was +vivid, and it was referred to by Chancellor Kent, the president of the +day, as the service especially demanding the grateful recognition of the +country. After alluding to the debate on Foot's resolution and to the +character of Mr. Webster's speech, the venerable Chancellor added:-- + + "The consequences of that discussion have been extremely beneficial. + It turned the attention of the public to the great doctrines of + national rights and national union. Constitutional law ceased to + remain wrapped up in the breasts, and taught only by the responses, + of the living oracles of the law. Socrates was said to have drawn + down philosophy from the skies, and scattered it among the schools. + It may with equal truth be said that constitutional law, by means of + those senatorial discussions and the master genius that guided them, + was rescued from the archives of our tribunals and the libraries of + our lawyers, and placed under the eye and submitted to the judgment + of the American people. _Their verdict is with us, and from it there + lies no appeal._"[16] + +With respect to Mr. Foot's resolution it may be observed, that it +continued before the Senate a long time, a standing subject of +discussion. One half at least of the members of the Senate took part in +the debate, which daily assumed a wider range and wandered farther from +the starting-point. Many speeches were made which, under other +circumstances, would have attracted notice, but the interest of the +controversy expired with the great effort of the 26th and 27th of +January. At length, on the 21st of May, a motion for indefinite +postponement, submitted by Mr. Webster at the close of his first +speech, prevailed, and thus the whole discussion ended. + +It may be worthy of remark, that Mr. Webster's speech was taken in +short-hand by Mr. Gales, the veteran editor of the National +Intelligencer, a stenographer of great experience and skill. It was +written out in common hand by a member of his family, and sent to Mr. +Webster for correction. It remained in his hands for that purpose a part +of one day, and then went to the press. + +A young and gifted American artist,[17] whose talents had been largely +put in requisition by King Louis Philippe to adorn the walls of +Versailles, conceived a few years ago the happy idea of a grand +historical picture of this debate. On a canvas of the largest size he +has nobly delineated the person of the principal individual in the act +of replying to Mr. Hayne, with those of his colleagues in the Senate. +The passages and galleries of the Senate-Chamber are filled with +attentive listeners of both sexes. Above a hundred accurate studies from +life give authenticity to a work in which posterity will find the +sensible presentment of this great intellectual effort. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [12] This case is known as that of Carver's Lessees against John Jacob + Astor, and is reported in 4 Peters, I. + + [13] Mr. Chambers referred to the case in court just mentioned, in + which Mr. Webster was engaged, and in which the argument had + already begun. + + [14] Mr. Hayne subsequently disclaimed having used this word. + + [15] Reminiscences of Congress. + + [16] Chancellor Kent's remarks are given entire in the introduction to + Mr. Webster's Speech at the New York Dinner, Vol. I. p. 194. + + [17] Mr. Geo. P. A. Healey. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + General Character of President Jackson's Administrations.--Speedy + Discord among the Parties which had united for his Elevation.--Mr. + Webster's Relations to the Administration.--Veto of the Bank.--Rise + and Progress of Nullification in South Carolina.--The Force Bill, + and the Reliance of General Jackson's Administration on Mr. + Webster's Aid.--His Speech in Defence of the Bill, and in + Opposition to Mr. Calhoun's Resolutions.--Mr. Madison's Letter on + Secession.--The Removal of the Deposits.--Motives for that + Measure.--The Resolution of the Senate disapproving it.--The + President's Protest.--Mr. Webster's Speech on the Subject of the + Protest.--Opinions of Chancellor Kent and Mr. Tazewell.--The + Expunging Resolution.--Mr. Webster's Protest against it.--Mr. + Van Buren's Election.--The Financial Crisis and the Extra Session + of Congress.--The Government Plan of Finance supported by Mr. + Calhoun and opposed by Mr. Webster.--Personalities.--Mr. Webster's + Visit to Europe and distinguished Reception.--The Presidential + Canvass of 1840.--Election of General Harrison. + + +It would require a volume of ample dimensions to relate the history of +Mr. Webster's Senatorial career from this time till the accession of +General Harrison to the Presidency, in 1841. In this interval the +government was administered for two successive terms by General Jackson, +and for a single term by Mr. Van Buren. It was a period filled with +incidents of great importance in various departments of the government, +often of a startling character at the time, and not less frequently +exerting a permanent influence on the condition of the country. It may +be stated as the general characteristic of the political tendencies of +this period, that there was a decided weakening of respect for +constitutional restraint. Vague ideas of executive discretion prevailed +on the one hand in the interpretation of the Constitution, and of +popular sovereignty on the other, as represented by a President elevated +to office by overwhelming majorities of the people. The expulsion of the +Indian tribes from the Southern States, in violation of the faith of +treaties and in open disregard of the opinion of the Supreme Court of +the United States as to their obligation; the claim of a right on the +part of a State to nullify an act of the general government; the +violation of the charter of the bank, and the Presidential veto of the +act of Congress rechartering it; the deposit of the public money in the +selected State banks with a view to its safe keeping and for the greater +encouragement of trade by the loan of the public funds; the explosion +of this system, and the adoption of one directly opposed to it, which +rejected wholly the aid of the banks and denied the right of the +government to employ the public funds for any but fiscal purposes; the +executive menaces of war against France; the unsuccessful attempt of Mr. +Van Buren's administration to carry on the government upon General +Jackson's system; the panic of 1837, succeeded by the general uprising +of the country and the universal demand for a change of men and +measures,--these are the leading incidents in the chronicle of the +period in question. Most of the events referred to are discussed in the +following volumes. On some of them Mr. Webster put forth all his power. +The questions pertaining to the construction of the Constitution, to the +bank, to the veto power, to the currency, to the constitutionality of +the tariff, to the right of removal from office, and to the finances, +were discussed in almost every conceivable form, and with every variety +of argument and illustration. + +It has already been observed, that General Jackson was brought into +power by a somewhat ill-compacted alliance between his original friends +and a portion of the friends of the other candidates of 1824. As far as +Mr. Calhoun and his followers were concerned, the cordiality of the +union was gone before the inauguration of the new President. There was +not only on the list of the cabinet to be appointed no adequate +representative of the Vice-President, but his rival candidate for the +succession (Mr. Van Buren) was placed at the head of the administration. +There is reason to suppose that General Jackson, who, though his policy +tended greatly to impair the strength of the Union, was in feeling a +warm Unionist, witnessed with no dissatisfaction the result of the great +constitutional debate and its influence upon the country. + +But the effect of this debate on the friendly relations of Mr. +Webster with the administration was in some degree neutralized by the +incidents of the second session of the Twenty-first Congress. Mr. Van +Buren had retreated before the embarrassments of the position in which +he found himself in the Department of State, and had accepted the +mission to England. The instructions which he had given to Mr. +McLane in 1829, in reference to the adjustment of the question +relative to the colonial trade, were deemed highly objectionable by a +majority of the Senate, as bringing the relations of our domestic +parties to the notice of a foreign government, and founding upon a +change of administration an argument for the concession of what was +deemed and called "a boon" by the British government. In order to +mark the spirit of these instructions with the disapprobation of the +Senate, the nomination of Mr. Van Buren as Minister to England was +negatived by a majority of that body. While the subject was under +discussion, Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and Mr. Calhoun took the same view +of this delicate question. It will be found treated in the speech of Mr. +Webster of the 24th of January, 1832, with all the gravity, temper, and +moderation which its importance demanded. + +In the Twenty-second Congress (the second of General Jackson's +administration) the bank question became prominent. General Jackson had +in his first message called the attention of Congress to the subject of +the bank. No doubt of its constitutionality was then intimated by him. +In the course of a year or two an attempt was made, on the part of the +executive, to control the appointment of the officers of one of the +Eastern branches. This attempt was resisted by the bank, and from that +time forward a state of warfare, at first partially disguised, but +finally open and flagrant, existed between the government and the +directors of the institution. In the first session of the Twenty-second +Congress (1831-32), a bill was introduced by Mr. Dallas, and passed the +two houses, to renew the charter of the bank. This measure was supported +by Mr. Webster, on the ground of the importance of a national bank to +the fiscal operations of the government, and to the currency, exchange, +and general business of the country. No specific complaints of +mismanagement had then been made, nor were any abuses alleged to exist. +The bank was, almost without exception, popular at that time with the +business interests of the country, and particularly at the South and +West. Its credit in England was solid; its bills and drafts on London +took the place of specie for remittances to India and China. Its +convenience and usefulness were recognized in the report of the +Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. McLane), at the same time that its +constitutionality was questioned and its existence threatened by the +President. So completely, however, was the policy of General Jackson's +administration the impulse of his own feelings and individual +impressions, and so imperfectly had these been disclosed on the present +occasion, that the fate of the bill for rechartering the bank was a +matter of uncertainty on the part both of adherents and opponents. Many +persons on both sides of the two houses were taken by surprise by the +veto. When the same question was to be decided by General Washington, he +took the opinion in writing of every member of the Cabinet. + +But events of a different complexion soon occurred, and gave a new +direction to the thoughts of men throughout the country. The opposition +of South Carolina to the protective policy had been pushed to a point of +excitement at which it was beyond the control of party leaders. +Although, as we have seen, that policy had in 1816 been established by +the aid of distinguished statesmen of South Carolina, who saw in the +success of American cotton manufactures a new market for the staple of +the South, in which it would take the place of the cotton of India, the +protective policy at a later period had come to be generally considered +unconstitutional at the South. A change of opinion somewhat similar had +taken place in New England, which had been originally opposed to this +policy, as adverse to the commercial and navigating interests. +Experience gradually showed that such was not the case. The enactment of +the law of 1824 was considered as establishing the general principle of +protection as the policy of the country. It was known to be the policy +of the great central States. The capital of the North was to some extent +forced into new channels. Some branches of manufactures flourished, as +skill was acquired and improvements in machinery made. The coarse cotton +fabrics which had enjoyed the protection of the _minimum_ duty +prospered, manufacturing villages grew up, the price of the fabric fell, +and as competition increased the tariff did little more than protect the +domestic manufacturer from fraudulent invoices and the fluctuation of +foreign markets. Thus all parties were benefited, not excepting the +South, which gained a new customer for her staple. These changes in the +condition of things led Mr. Webster, as we have remarked in a former +chapter, to modify his course on the tariff question. + +Unfortunately, no manufactures had been established at the South. The +vast quantities of new and fertile land opened in the west of Georgia, +in Alabama, and Mississippi, injured the value of the old and partly +exhausted lands of the Atlantic States. Labor was drawn off to found +plantations in the new States, and the injurious consequences were +ascribed to the tariff. Considerations of a political nature had +entirely changed the tolerant feeling which, up to a certain period, had +been shown by one class of Southern politicians toward the protective +policy. With the exception of Louisiana, and one or two votes in +Virginia, the whole South was united against the tariff. South Carolina +had suffered most by the inability of her worn lands to sustain the +competition with the lands of the Yazoo and the Red River, and to her +the most active opposition, under the lead of Mr. Calhoun, was confined. +The modern doctrine of nullification was broached by her accomplished +statesmen, and an unsuccessful attempt made to deduce it from the +Virginia resolutions of 1798. Mr. Madison, in a letter addressed to the +writer of these pages,[18] in August, 1830, firmly resisted this +attempt; and, as a theory, the whole doctrine of nullification was +overthrown by Mr. Webster, in his speech of the 26th of January, 1830. +But public sentiment had gone too far in South Carolina to be checked; +party leaders were too deeply committed to retreat; and at the close of +1832 the ordinance of nullification was adopted by a State convention. + +This decisive act roused the hero of New Orleans from the vigilant +repose with which he had watched the coming storm. Confidential orders +to hold themselves in readiness for active service were sent in every +direction to the officers of the army and the navy. Prudent and resolute +men were quietly stationed at the proper posts. Arms and munitions in +abundance were held in readiness, and a chain of expresses in advance of +the mail was established from the Capitol to Charleston. These +preparations made, the Presidential proclamation of the 11th of +December, 1832, was issued. It was written by Mr. Edward Livingston, +then Secretary of State, from notes furnished by General Jackson +himself; but there is not an idea of importance in it which may not be +found in Mr. Webster's speech on Foot's resolution. + +The proclamation of the President was met by the counter-proclamation of +Governor Hayne; and the State of South Carolina proceeded to pass laws +for carrying the ordinance of nullification into effect, and for putting +the State into a condition to carry on war with the general government. +In this posture of affairs the President of the United States laid the +matter before Congress, in his message of the 16th of January, 1833, and +the bill "further to provide for the collection of duties on imports" +was introduced into the Senate, in pursuance of his recommendations. Mr. +Calhoun was at this time a member of that body, having been chosen to +succeed Governor Hayne, and having of course resigned the office of +Vice-President. Thus called, for the first time, to sustain in person +before the Senate and the country the policy of nullification, which had +been adopted by South Carolina mainly under his influence, and which was +now threatening the Union, it hardly need be said that he exerted all +his ability, and put forth all his resources, in defence of the doctrine +which had brought his State to the verge of revolution. It is but +justice to add, that he met the occasion with equal courage and vigor. +The bill "to make further provision for the collection of the revenue," +or "Force Bill," as it was called, was reported by Mr. Wilkins from the +Committee on the Judiciary on the 21st of January, and on the following +day Mr. Calhoun moved a series of resolutions, affirming the right of a +State to annul, as far as her citizens are concerned, any act of +Congress which she may deem oppressive and unconstitutional. On the 15th +and 16th of February, he spoke at length in opposition to the bill, and +in development and support of his resolutions. On this occasion the +doctrine of nullification was sustained by him with far greater ability +than it had been by General Hayne, and in a speech which we believe is +regarded as Mr. Calhoun's most powerful effort. In closing his speech, +Mr. Calhoun challenged the opponents of his doctrines to disprove them, +and warned them, in the concluding sentence, that the principles they +might advance would be subjected to the revision of posterity.[19] + +Mr. Webster, before Mr. Calhoun had resumed his seat, or he had risen +from his own, accepted the challenge, and commenced his reply. He began +to speak as he was rising, and continued to address the Senate with +great force and effect, for about two hours. The Senate then took a +recess, and after it came together Mr. Webster spoke again, from five +o'clock till eight in the evening. The speech was more purely a +constitutional argument than that of the 26th of January, 1830. It was +mainly devoted to an examination of Mr. Calhoun's resolutions; to a +review of the adoption and ratification of the Constitution of the +United States, by way of elucidating the question whether the system +provided by the Constitution is a government of the people or a compact +between the States; and to a discussion of the constitutionality of the +tariff. It was less various and discursive in its matter than the speech +on Foot's resolution, but more condensed and systematic. Inferior, +perhaps, in interest for a mixed audience, from the absence of personal +allusions, which at all times give the greatest piquancy to debate, a +severe judgment might pronounce it a finer piece of parliamentary logic. +Nor must it be inferred from this description that it was destitute of +present interest. The Senate-chamber was thronged to its utmost +capacity, both before and after the recess, although the streets of +Washington, owing to the state of the weather at the time, were nearly +impassable. + +The opinion entertained of this speech by the individual who, of all the +people of America, was the best qualified to estimate its value, may be +seen from the following letter of Mr. Madison, which has never before +been published. + + "_Montpellier, March 15th, 1833._ + + "MY DEAR SIR:--I return my thanks for the copy of your late very + powerful speech in the Senate of the United States. It crushes + 'nullification,' and must hasten an abandonment of 'secession.' But + this dodges the blow, by confounding the claim to secede at will + with the right of seceding from intolerable oppression. The former + answers itself, being a violation without cause of a faith solemnly + pledged. The latter is another name only for revolution, about which + there is no theoretic controversy. Its double aspect, nevertheless, + with the countenance received from certain quarters, is giving it a + popular currency here, which may influence the approaching elections + both for Congress and for the State legislature. It has gained some + advantage also by mixing itself with the question, whether the + Constitution of the United States was formed by the people or by the + States, now under a theoretic discussion by animated partisans. + + "It is fortunate when disputed theories can be decided by + undisputed facts, and here the undisputed fact is, that the + Constitution was made by the people, but as embodied into the + several States who were parties to it, and therefore made by the + States in their highest authoritative capacity. They might, by the + same authority and by the same process, have converted the + confederacy into a mere league or treaty, or continued it with + enlarged or abridged powers; or have embodied the people of their + respective States into one people, nation, or sovereignty; or, as + they did, by a mixed form, make them one people, nation, or + sovereignty for certain purposes, and not so for others. + + "The Constitution of the United States, being established by a + competent authority, by that of the sovereign people of the several + States who were parties to it, it remains only to inquire what the + Constitution is; and here it speaks for itself. It organizes a + government into the usual legislative, executive, and judiciary + departments; invests it with specified powers, leaving others to the + parties to the Constitution. It makes the government like other + governments to operate directly on the people; places at its command + the needful physical means of executing its powers; and finally + proclaims its supremacy, and that of the laws made in pursuance of + it, over the constitutions and laws of the States, the powers of the + government being exercised, as in other elective and responsible + governments, under the control of its constituents, the people and + the legislatures of the States, and subject to the revolutionary + rights of the people, in extreme cases. + + "Such is the Constitution of the United States _de jure_ and _de + facto_, and the name, whatever it be, that may be given to it can + make it nothing more or less than what it is. + + "Pardon this hasty effusion, which, whether precisely according or + not with your ideas, presents, I am aware, none that will be new to + you. + + "With great esteem and cordial salutations, + + "JAMES MADISON." + + To "MR. WEBSTER." + +It may be observed, in reference to the closing remark in the above +important letter, that the view which it presents of the nature of the +government established by the Constitution is precisely that taken by +Mr. Webster in the various speeches in which the subject is discussed by +him. + +The President of the United States felt the importance of Mr. Webster's +aid in the great constitutional struggle of the session. There were +men of great ability enlisted in support of his administration, +Messrs Forsyth, Grundy, Dallas, Rives, and others, but no one competent +to assume the post of antagonist to the great Southern leader. The +general political position of Mr. Webster made it in no degree his duty +to sustain the administration in any party measure, but the reverse. +But his whole course as a public man, and all his principles, +forbade him to act from party motives in a great crisis of the +country's fortunes. The administration was now engaged in a fearful +struggle for the preservation of the Union, and the integrity of the +Constitution. The doctrines of the proclamation were the doctrines of +his speech on Foot's resolution almost to the words. He would have been +unjust to his most cherished principles and his views of public duty +had he not come to the rescue, not of the administration, but of the +country, in this hour of her peril. His aid was personally solicited +in the great debate on the "Force Bill" by a member of the Cabinet, but +it was not granted till the bill had undergone important amendments +suggested by him, when it was given cordially, without stint and +without condition.[20] + +In the recess of Congress in the year 1833, Mr. Webster made a short +journey to the Middle States and the West. He was everywhere the object +of the most distinguished and respectful attentions. Public receptions +took place at Buffalo and Pittsburg, where, under the auspices of +committees of the highest respectability, he addressed immense +assemblages convened without distinction of party. Invitations to +similar meetings reached him from many quarters, which he was obliged by +want of leisure to decline. + +The friendly relations into which Mr. Webster had been drawn with the +President, and the enthusiastic welcome given to the President on his +tour to the East, in the summer of 1833, awakened jealousy in certain +quarters. It was believed at the time, by well-informed persons, that +among the motives which actuated some persons in General Jackson's +confidence, in fanning his hostility to the Bank of the United States, +was that of bringing forward a question of great interest both to the +public and the President, on which he would be sure to encounter Mr. +Webster's opposition. + +Such a subject was the removal of the deposits of the public moneys from +the Bank of the United States, a measure productive of more immediate +distress to the community and a larger train of evil consequences than +perhaps any similar measure in our political history. It was finally +determined upon while the President was on his Northern tour, in the +summer of 1833, receiving in every part of New England those warm +demonstrations of respect which his patriotic course in the great +nullification struggle had inspired. It is proper to state, that up to +this period, in the judgment of more than one committee of Congress +appointed to investigate its affairs, in the opinion of both houses of +Congress, who in 1832 had passed a bill to renew the charter, and of the +House of Representatives, which had resolved that the deposits were safe +in its custody, the affairs of the bank had been conducted with +prudence, integrity, and remarkable skill. It was not the least evil +consequence of the warfare waged upon the bank, that it was finally +drawn into a position (though not till its Congressional charter +expired, and it accepted very unwisely a charter as a State institution) +in which, in its desperate struggle to sustain itself, it finally +forfeited the confidence of its friends and the public, and made a +deplorable and shameful shipwreck at once of its interests and honor, +involving hundreds, at home and abroad, in its own deserved ruin. + +The second administration of General Jackson, which commenced in March, +1833, was principally employed in carrying on this war against the bank, +and in the effort to build up the league of the associated banks into an +efficient fiscal agent of the government. The dangerous crisis of +affairs in South Carolina had, for the time, passed. The passage of the +"Force Bill" had vindicated the authority of the Constitution as the +supreme law of the land, and had armed the President with the needed +powers to maintain it. On the other hand, the Compromise Bill of Mr. +Clay, providing for the gradual reduction of all duties to one uniform +rate of twenty per cent., was accepted by Mr. Calhoun and his friends as +a practical concession, and furnished them the opportunity of making +what they deemed a not discreditable retreat from the attitude of +military resistance in which they had placed the State. Regarding this +bill in the light of a concession to unconstitutional menace, as tending +to the eventual prostration of all the interests which had grown up +under the system so long pursued by the government, Mr. Webster felt +himself compelled to withhold from it his support. He rejoiced, however, +in the concurrence of events which had averted the dread appeal to arms +that seemed at one time unavoidable. + +It would occupy an unreasonable space to dwell upon every public measure +before Congress at this session; but there is one which cannot with +propriety be passed over, as it drew forth from Mr. Webster an argument +not inferior to his speech on the "Force Bill." A resolution, originally +moved by Mr. Clay, expressing disapprobation of the removal of the +deposits from the bank, was, after material amendments, adopted by the +Senate. This resolution led to a formal protest from the President, +communicated to the Senate on the 15th of April, 1834. Looking upon the +resolution referred to as one of expediency, it is probable that Mr. +Webster did not warmly favor, though, with Mr. Calhoun, he concurred in, +its passage. The protest of the President, however, placed the subject +on new ground. Mr. Webster considered it as an encroachment on the +constitutional rights of the Senate, and as a denial to that body of the +freedom of action which the executive claimed so earnestly for itself. +He accordingly addressed the Senate on the 7th of May, in a speech of +the highest ability, in which the doctrines of the protest were +subjected to the severest scrutiny, and the constitutional rights and +duties of the Senate asserted with a force and spirit worthy of the +important position occupied by that body in the frame of the government. +This speech will be ever memorable for that sublime passage on the +extent of the power of England, which will be quoted with admiration +wherever our language is spoken and while England retains her place in +the family of nations. + +This speech was received throughout the country with the highest favor; +by the most distinguished jurists and statesmen as well as by the mass +of the people. Chancellor Kent's language of praise passes the limits of +moderation. "You never," said he, "equalled this effort. It surpasses +every thing in logic, in simplicity and beauty and energy of diction, in +clearness, in rebuke, in sarcasm, in patriotic and glowing feeling, in +just and profound constitutional views, in critical severity, and +matchless strength. It is worth millions to our liberties." Not less +decided was the approbation of a gentleman of great sagacity and +experience as a statesman, Governor Tazewell of Virginia. In writing to +Mr. Tyler he uses this language: "Tell Webster from me that I have read +his speech in the National Intelligencer with more pleasure than any I +have lately seen. If the approbation of one who has not been used to +coincide with him in opinion can be grateful to him, he has mine _in +extenso_. I agree with him perfectly, and thank him cordially for his +many excellent illustrations of what I always thought. If it is +published in a pamphlet form, beg him to send me one. I will have it +bound in good Russia leather, and leave it as a special legacy to my +children."[21] + +At the same session of Congress, Mr. Webster spoke frequently on the +presentation of memorials, which were poured in upon him from every part +of the country, in reference to the existing distress. These speeches +were of necessity made, in almost every case, with little or no +preparation, but many of them contain expositions of the operation of +the financial experiment instituted by General Jackson, which will +retain a permanent value in our political history. Some of them are +marked by bursts of the highest eloquence. The entire subject of the +currency was also treated with great ability by Mr. Webster, in a report +made at this session of Congress from the committee of the Senate on +finance, of which he was chairman. Few documents more skilfully digested +or powerfully reasoned have proceeded from his pen. + +The same topics substantially occupied the attention of the Senate at +the Twenty-fourth as at the Twenty-third Congress. The principal +subjects discussed pertained to the currency. The specie circular and +the distribution of the surplus revenue were among the prominent +measures. A motion made in the Senate to expunge from its records +the resolution of March, 1834, by which the Senate expressed its +disapprobation of the removal of the deposits, drew forth from Mr. +Webster, on behalf of himself and his colleague, a protest against +that measure, of singular earnestness and power. Committed to writing, +and read with unusual solemnity, it produced upon the Senate an effect +which is still remembered and spoken of. Every word in it is weighed +as in a balance. + +The administration of General Jackson was drawing to a close; Mr. Van +Buren had been chosen to succeed him in November, 1836. In the month of +February following, upon an invitation from a large committee of +merchants, professional men, and citizens generally of New York, given +some months previous, Mr. Webster attended one of those great public +meetings which he has been so often called to address. His speech on +this occasion, delivered in Niblo's Saloon on the 15th of March, 1837, +is one of the most important in this collection. It embraced a +comprehensive review of the entire course of General Jackson's policy, +and closed with a prediction of the impending catastrophe. After the +adjournment of Congress, Mr. Webster made a hasty tour to the West, in +the course of which he addressed large public meetings at Wheeling in +Virginia, at Madison in Indiana, and at other places. The coincidence of +passing events with all his anticipations of the certain effects of the +administration policy gave peculiar force to these addresses. It is to +be regretted that these speeches appear from inadequate reports; of some +of the speeches made by him on this tour, no notes were taken. + +Such was the financial embarrassment induced by the explosion of the +system of the late administration, that President Van Buren's first +official act was a proclamation for an extra session of Congress, to be +held in September, 1837. At this session the new government plan of +finance, usually called "the Sub-treasury system," was brought forward. +It was the opinion of Mr. Webster, that the rigid enforcement by the +government of a system of specie payments in all its public receipts and +expenditures was an actual impossibility, in the present state of things +in this country and the other commercial countries of the civilized +world. The attempt to reject altogether the aid of convertible paper, of +bills of exchange, of drafts, and other substitutes for the use and +transportation of the precious metals, must fail in practice in a +commercial country, where the great mass of the business affairs of the +community are transacted with their aid. If the attempt could be forced +through, it would be like an attempt on the part of the government to +make use of the ancient modes of travel and conveyance, while every +citizen in his private affairs enjoyed the benefit of steam navigation +and railways. Mr. Webster accordingly opposed the sub-treasury project +from its inception; and it failed to become a law at the extra session +of Congress in 1837. + +Somewhat to the surprise of the country generally, it received the +support of Mr. Calhoun. In common with most of his friends, he had +sustained the Bank of the United States, and denounced the financial +policy of General Jackson at every stage. But at the extra session of +Congress he expressed opinions favorable to the sub-treasury, and +followed them up in a remarkable letter to his constituents, published +after the adjournment. At the winter session of 1837-38 he defended the +government plan in an elaborate speech. This speech drew from Mr. +Webster a very able reply. He had, earlier in the session, delivered his +sentiments in opposition to the government measure, and Mr. Calhoun, in +his speech of the 15th of February, 1838, had animadverted upon them, +and represented the sub-treasury system as little more than an attempt +to carry out the joint resolution of the 30th of April, 1816, which, as +we have seen above, was introduced by Mr. Webster, and was the immediate +means of restoring specie payments after the war. + +This reference, as well as the whole tenor of Mr. Calhoun's remarks, +called upon Mr. Webster for a rejoinder, which was made by him on the +12th of March. It is the most elaborate and effective of Mr. Webster's +speeches on the subject of the currency.[22] The constitutional right of +the general government to employ a convertible paper in its fiscal +transactions, and to make use of banks in the custody and transmission +of its funds, is argued in this speech with much ability, from the +necessity of the case, from the contemporaneous expositions of the +Constitution, from the practice of the government under every +administration, from the expressed views and opinions of every President +of the United States, including General Jackson, and from the +often-declared opinions of all the leading statesmen of the country, not +excepting Mr. Calhoun himself, whose course in this respect was reviewed +by Mr. Webster somewhat at length, and in such a way as unavoidably to +suggest the idea of inconsistency, although no such charge was made. + +To some portions of this speech Mr. Calhoun replied a few weeks +afterwards, and sought to ward off the comments upon his own course in +reference to this class of questions, by some severe strictures on that +of Mr. Webster. This drew from him a prompt and spirited rejoinder. The +following passage may be extracted as a specimen:-- + + "But, Sir, before attempting that, he [Mr. Calhoun] has something + else to say. He had prepared, it seems, to draw comparisons himself. + He had intended to say something, if time had allowed, upon our + respective opinions and conduct in regard to the war. If time had + allowed! Sir, time does allow, time must allow. A general remark of + that kind ought not to be, cannot be, left to produce its effect, + when that effect is obviously intended to be unfavorable. Why did + the gentleman allude to my votes or my opinions respecting the war + at all, unless he had something to say? Does he wish to leave an + undefined impression that something was done, or something said, by + me, not now capable of defence or justification? something not + reconcilable with true patriotism? He means that, or nothing. And + now, Sir, let him bring the matter forth; let him take the + responsibility of the accusation; let him state his facts. I am here + to answer; I am here, this day, to answer. Now is the time, and now + the hour. I think we read, Sir, that one of the good spirits would + not bring against the Arch-enemy of mankind a railing accusation; + and what is railing but general reproach, an imputation without + fact, time, or circumstance? Sir, I call for particulars. The + gentleman knows my whole conduct well; indeed, the journals show it + all, from the moment I came into Congress till the peace. If I have + done, then, Sir, any thing unpatriotic, any thing which, as far as + love to country goes, will not bear comparison with his or any man's + conduct, let it now be stated. Give me the fact, the time, the + manner. He speaks of the war; that which we call the late war, + though it is now twenty-five years since it terminated. He would + leave an impression that I opposed it. How? I was not in Congress + when war was declared, nor in public life anywhere. I was pursuing + my profession, keeping company with judges and jurors, and + plaintiffs and defendants. If I had been in Congress, and had + enjoyed the benefit of hearing the honorable gentleman's speeches, + for aught I can say, I might have concurred with him. But I was not + in public life. I never had been for a single hour; and was in no + situation, therefore, to oppose or to support the declaration of + war. I am speaking to the fact, Sir; and if the gentleman has any + fact, let us know it. + + "Well, Sir, I came into Congress during the war. I found it waged, + and raging. And what did I do here to oppose it? Look to the + journals. Let the honorable gentleman tax his memory. Bring up any + thing, if there be any thing to bring up, not showing error of + opinion, but showing want of loyalty or fidelity to the country. I + did not agree to all that was proposed, nor did the honorable + member. I did not approve of every measure, nor did he. The war had + been preceded by the restrictive system and the embargo. As a + private individual, I certainly did not think well of these + measures. It appeared to me that the embargo annoyed ourselves as + much as our enemies, while it destroyed the business and cramped the + spirits of the people. In this opinion I may have been right or + wrong, but the gentleman was himself of the same opinion. He told us + the other day, as a proof of his independence of party on great + questions, that he differed with his friends on the subject of the + embargo. He was decidedly and unalterably opposed to it. It + furnishes in his judgment, therefore, no imputation either on my + patriotism, or on the soundness of my political opinions, that I was + opposed to it also. I mean opposed in opinion; for I was not in + Congress, and had nothing to do with the act creating the embargo. + And as to opposition to measures for carrying on the war, after I + came into Congress, I again say, let the gentleman specify; let him + lay his finger on any thing calling for an answer, and he shall have + an answer. + + "Mr. President, you were yourself in the House during a considerable + part of this time. The honorable gentleman may make a witness of + you. He may make a witness of any body else. He may be his own + witness. Give us but some fact, some charge, something capable in + itself either of being proved or disproved. Prove any thing, state + any thing, not consistent with honorable and patriotic conduct, and + I am ready to answer it. Sir, I am glad this subject has been + alluded to in a manner which justifies me in taking public notice of + it; because I am well aware that, for ten years past, infinite pains + has been taken to find something, in the range of these topics, + which might create prejudice against me in the country. The journals + have all been pored over, and the reports ransacked, and scraps of + paragraphs and half-sentences have been collected, fraudulently put + together, and then made to flare out as if there had been some + discovery. But all this failed. The next resort was to supposed + correspondence. My letters were sought for, to learn if, in the + confidence of private friendship, I had ever said any thing which an + enemy could make use of. With this view, the vicinity of my former + residence has been searched, as with a lighted candle. New Hampshire + has been explored from the mouth of the Merrimack to the White + Hills. In one instance, a gentleman had left the State, gone five + hundred miles off, and died. His papers were examined; a letter was + found, and, I have understood, it was brought to Washington; a + conclave was held to consider it, and the result was, that, if there + was nothing else against Mr. Webster, the matter had better be let + alone. Sir, I hope to make every body of that opinion who brings + against me a charge of want of patriotism. Errors of opinion can be + found, doubtless, on many subjects; but as conduct flows from the + feelings which animate the heart, I know that no act of my life has + had its origin in the want of ardent love of country." + +This is the only occasion during the long political lives of these +distinguished statesmen, begun nearly at the same time, and continued +through a Congressional career which brought them of necessity much in +contact with each other, in which there was any approach to personality +in their keen encounters. In fact, of all the highly eminent public men +of the day, they are the individuals who have made the least use of the +favorite weapon of ordinary politicians, personality toward opponents. +On the decease of Mr. Calhoun at Washington, in the spring of 1850, +their uninterrupted friendly relations were alluded to by Mr. Webster in +cordial and affecting terms. He regarded Mr. Calhoun as decidedly the +ablest of the public men to whom he had been opposed in the course of +his political life. + +These kindly feelings on Mr. Webster's part were fully reciprocated by +Mr. Calhoun. He is known to have declared on his death-bed, that, of all +the public men of the day, there was no one whose political course had +been more strongly marked by a strict regard to truth and honor than Mr. +Webster's. + +In the spring of 1839, Mr. Webster crossed the Atlantic for the first +time in his life, making a hasty tour through England, Scotland, and +France. His attention was particularly drawn to the agriculture of +England and Scotland; to the great subjects of currency and exchange; to +the condition of the laboring classes; and to the practical effect on +the politics of Europe of the system of the Continental alliance. No +traveller from this country has probably ever been received with equal +attention in the highest quarters in England. Courtesies usually paid +only to ambassadors and foreign ministers were extended to him. His +table was covered with invitations to the seats of the nobility and +gentry; and his company was eagerly sought at the public entertainments +which took place while he was in the country. Among the distinguished +individuals with whom he contracted intimate relations of friendship, +the late Lord Ashburton may be particularly mentioned. A mutual regard +of more than usual warmth arose between them. This circumstance was well +understood in the higher circles of English society, and when, two years +later, a change of administration in both countries brought the parties +to which they were respectively attached into power, the friendly +relations well known to exist between them were no doubt among the +motives which led to the appointment of Lord Ashburton as special +minister to the United States. + +Toward that great political change which was consummated in 1840, by +which General Harrison was raised to the Presidency, no individual +probably in the country had contributed more largely than Mr. Webster; +and this by powerful appeals to the reason of the people. His speeches +had been for years a public armory, from which weapons both of attack +and defence were furnished to his political friends throughout the +Union. The financial policy of the two preceding administrations was the +chief cause of the general discontent which prevailed; and it is doing +no injustice to the other eminent leaders of opposition in the several +States to say, that by none of them had the vices of this system from +the first been so laboriously and effectively exposed as by Mr. Webster. +During the canvass of 1840, the most strenuous ever witnessed in the +United States, he gave himself up for months to what may literally be +called the arduous labor of the field. These volumes exhibit the proof, +that not only in Massachusetts, but in distant places, from Albany to +Richmond, his voice of encouragement and exhortation was heard. + +The event corresponded to the effort, and General Harrison was +triumphantly elected. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [18] North American Review, Vol. XXXI. p. 537. + + [19] This passage does not appear in the report preserved in the volume + containing his Select Speeches. + + [20] It is not wholly unworthy of remark in this place, as illustrating + the dependence on Mr. Webster's aid which was felt at the White + House, that, on the day of his reply to Mr. Calhoun, the + President's carriage was sent to Mr. Webster's lodgings, as was + supposed with a message borne by the President's private + secretary. Happening to be still at the door when Mr. Webster + was about to go to the Capitol, it conveyed him to the + Senate-chamber. + + [21] March's Reminiscences of Congress, pp. 291, 292. + + [22] Not long after the publication of this speech, the present Lord + Overstone, then Mr. S. Jones Lloyd, one of the highest + authorities upon financial subjects in England, was examined + upon the subject of banks and currency before a committee of the + House of Commons. He produced a copy of the speech of Mr. + Webster before the committee, and pronounced it one of the + ablest and most satisfactory discussions of these subjects which + he had seen. In writing afterwards to Mr. Webster, he spoke of + him as a master who had instructed him on these subjects. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII.[23] + + Critical State of Foreign Affairs on the Accession of General + Harrison.--Mr. Webster appointed to the State Department.--Death + of General Harrison.--Embarrassed Relations with England.--Formation + of Sir Robert Peel's Ministry, and Appointment of Lord Ashburton + as Special Minister to the United States.--Course pursued by Mr. + Webster in the Negotiations.--The Northeastern Boundary.--Peculiar + Difficulties in its Settlement happily overcome.--Other Subjects + of Negotiation.--Extradition of Fugitives from Justice.--Suppression + of the Slave-Trade on the Coast of Africa.--History of that + Question.--Affair of the Caroline.--Impressment.--Other Subjects + connected with the Foreign Relations of the Government.--Intercourse + with China.--Independence of the Sandwich Islands.--Correspondence + with Mexico.--Sound Duties and the Zoll-Verein.--Importance of + Mr. Webster's Services as Secretary of State. + + +The condition of affairs in the United States, on the accession of +President Harrison to office, in the spring of 1841, was difficult and +critical, especially as far as the foreign relations of the country were +concerned. Ancient and modern controversies existed with England, which +seemed to defy adjustment. The great question of the northeastern +boundary had been the subject of negotiation almost ever since the peace +of 1783. Every effort to settle it had but increased the difficulties +with which it was beset, by exhausting the expedients of diplomacy. The +Oregon question was rapidly assuming a formidable aspect, as emigrants +began to move into the country in dispute. Not less serious was the +state of affairs on the southwestern frontier, where, although a +collision with Mexico might not in itself be an event to be viewed with +great anxiety, it was probable, as things then stood, that it would have +brought a war with Great Britain in its train. + +To the uneasiness necessarily growing out of these boundary questions, +no little bitterness was added by more recent occurrences. The +interruption of our vessels on the coast of Africa was a frequently +recurring source of irritation. Great cause of complaint was sometimes +given by boarding officers, acting on frivolous pretences or in a +vexatious manner. At other times the public feeling in the United +States was excited by the exaggerations and misstatements of unworthy +American citizens, who abused the flag of the country to cover a +detestable traffic, which is made a capital felony by its laws. The +affair of the "Caroline," followed by the arrest of McLeod, created a +degree of discontent on both sides, which discussion had done nothing to +remove, but much to exasperate. A crisis had arisen, which the Minister +of the United States in London[24] deemed so serious, as to make it his +duty to communicate with the commander of the American squadron in the +Mediterranean.[25] + +Such was the state of things when General Harrison acceded to the +Presidency, after perhaps the most strenuously contested election ever +known, and by a larger popular vote than had ever before been given in +the United States. As soon as the result was known, the President elect +addressed a letter to Mr. Webster, offering him any place he might +choose in his Cabinet, and asking his advice as to the other members of +which it should be composed. The wants and wishes of the country in +reference to currency and finance having brought about the political +revolution which placed General Harrison in the chair, he was rather +desirous that the Department of the Treasury should be assumed by Mr. +Webster, who had studied those subjects profoundly, and whose opinions +were in full concurrence with his own. Averse to the daily drudgery of +the Treasury, Mr. Webster gave his preference to the Department of +State, without concealing from himself that it might be the post of +greater care and responsibility. In this anticipation he was not +disappointed. Although the whole of the danger did not at once appear, +it was evident from the outset that the moment was extremely critical. +Still, however, the circumstances under which General Harrison was +elected were such as to give to his administration a moral power and a +freedom of action, as to pre-existing controversies, favorable to their +settlement on honorable terms. + +But the death of the new President, when just entering upon the +discharge of his duties, changed the state of affairs in this +respect. The great national party which had called him to the helm +was struck with astonishment. No rallying-point presented itself. A +position of things existed, not overlooked, indeed, by the sagacious men +who framed the Constitution, but which, from its very nature, can +never enter practically into the calculations of the enthusiastic +multitudes by which, in times of difficulty and excitement, a favorite +candidate is borne to the chair. How much of the control which it +would otherwise have possessed over public opinion could be retained +by an administration thus unexpectedly deprived of its head, was a +question which time alone could settle. Happily, as far as our +foreign relations were concerned, a character had been assumed by the +administration, from the very formation of General Harrison's +Cabinet, which was steadily maintained, till the adjustment of the +most difficult points in controversy was effected by the treaty of +Washington. President Harrison, as is well known, lived but one +month after his inauguration, but all the members of his Cabinet +remained in office under Mr. Tyler, who succeeded to the Presidency. +With him, of course, rested the general authority of regulating and +directing the negotiations with foreign powers, in which the +government might be engaged. But the active management of these +negotiations was in the hands of the Secretary of State, and it is +believed that no difference of views in regard to important matters +arose between him and Mr. Tyler. For the result of the principal +negotiation, Mr. Tyler manifested great anxiety; and Mr. Webster has +not failed, in public or private, to bear witness to the intelligent and +earnest attention which was bestowed by him on the proceedings, +through all their stages, and to express his sense of the confidence +reposed in himself by the head of the administration, from the +beginning to the end of the transactions. + +If the position of things was difficult here, it was not less so on the +other side of the Atlantic; indeed, many of the causes of embarrassment +were common to the two countries. There, as here, the correspondence, +whether conducted at Washington or London, had of late years done +nothing toward an amicable settlement of the great questions at issue. +It had degenerated into an exercise of diplomatic logic, with the +effect, in England as well as in America, of strengthening each party in +the belief of its own rights, and of working up the public mind to a +reluctant feeling that the time was at hand when those rights must be +maintained by force. That the British and American governments, during a +considerable part of the administrations of General Jackson and Mr. Van +Buren, should, with the fate of the reference to the King of the +Netherlands before their eyes, have exerted themselves with melancholy +ingenuity in arranging the impossible details of another convention of +exploration and arbitration, shows of itself that neither party had any +real hope of actually settling the controversy, but that both were +willing to unite in a decent pretext for procrastination. + +The report of Mr. Featherstonhaugh, erroneously believed, in England, to +rest upon the results of actual exploration, had been sanctioned by the +ministry, and seemed to extinguish the last hope that England would +agree to any terms of settlement which the United States would deem +reasonable. The danger of collision on the frontier became daily more +imminent, and troops to the amount of seventeen regiments had been +poured into the British Provinces. The arrest of McLeod, as we have +already observed, had brought matters to a point at which the public +sensibility of England would not have allowed a minister to blink the +question. Lord Palmerston is known to have written to Mr. Fox, that the +arrest of McLeod, under the authority of the State of New York, was +universally regarded in England as a direct affront to the British +government, and that such was the excitement caused by it, that, if +McLeod should be condemned and executed, it would not be in the power +either of ministers or opposition, or of the leading men of both +parties, to prevent immediate war. + +While this was the state of affairs with reference to the immediate +relations of the two countries, Lord Palmerston was urging France into a +cooeperation with the four other leading powers of Europe in the adoption +of a policy, by the negotiation of the quintuple treaty, which would +have left the United States in a position of dangerous insulation on the +subject of the great maritime question of the day. + +At this juncture, a change of administration occurred in England, +subsequent but by a few months to that which had taken place in the +government of the United States. Lord Melbourne's government gave way to +that of Sir Robert Peel in the summer of 1841; it remained to be seen +with what influence on the relations of the two countries. Some +circumstances occurred to put at risk the tendency toward an +accommodation, which might naturally be hoped for from a change of +administration nearly simultaneous on both sides of the water. A note of +a very uncompromising character, on the subject of the search of +American vessels on the coast of Africa, had been addressed to Mr. +Stevenson by Lord Palmerston on the 27th of August, 1841, a day only +before the expiration of Lord Melbourne's ministry. To this note Mr. +Stevenson replied in the same strain. The answer of Lord Aberdeen, who +had succeeded Lord Palmerston as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, +bears date the 10th of October, 1841, and an elaborate rejoinder was +returned by Mr. Stevenson on the very day of his departure from London. +Lord Aberdeen's reply to this note was of necessity addressed to Mr. +Everett, who had succeeded Mr. Stevenson. It was dated on the 20th of +December, the day on which the quintuple treaty was signed at London by +the representatives of the five powers, and it contained an announcement +of that fact. + +Happily, however, affairs were already taking a turn auspicious of +better results. From his first entrance on office as Secretary of State, +Mr. Webster, long familiar with the perplexed history of the negotiation +relative to the boundary, had perceived the necessity of taking a "new +departure." The negotiation had broken down under its own weight. It was +like one of those lawsuits which, to the opprobrium of tribunals, +descend from age to age; a disease of the body politic not merely +chronic, but hereditary. Early in the summer of 1841, Mr. Webster had +intimated to Mr. Fox, the British Minister at Washington, that the +American government was prepared to consider, and, if practicable, +adopt, a conventional line, as the only mode of cutting the Gordian knot +of the controversy. This overture was, of course, conveyed to London. +Though not leading to any result on the part of the ministry just going +out of office, it was embraced by their successors in the same wise and +conciliatory spirit in which it had been made. On the 26th of December, +1841, a note was addressed by Lord Aberdeen to Mr. Everett, inviting him +to an interview on the following day, when he communicated the purpose +of the British government to send a special mission to the United +States, Lord Ashburton being the person selected as minister, and +furnished with full powers to settle every question in controversy. + +This step on the part of the British government was as bold as it was +wise. It met the difficulty in the face. It justly assumed the existence +of a corresponding spirit of conciliation on the part of the United +States, and of a desire to bring matters to a practical result. It was +bold, because it was the last expedient for an amicable adjustment, and +because its failure must necessarily lead to very serious and immediate +consequences. + +In his choice of a minister, Lord Aberdeen was not less fortunate than +he had been wise in proposing the measure. Lord Ashburton was above the +reach of the motives which influence politicians of an ordinary stamp, +and unencumbered by the habits of routine which belong to men regularly +trained in a career. He possessed a weight of character at home which +made him independent of the vulgar resorts of popularity. He was +animated by a kindly feeling, and bound by kindly associations to this +country. There was certainly no public man in England who united in an +equal degree the confidence of his own government and country with those +claims to the good-will of the opposite party, which were scarcely less +essential to success. The relations of personal friendship contracted by +Mr. Webster with Lord Ashburton in 1839 have already been alluded to, as +influencing the selection. They decided Lord Ashburton in accepting the +appointment. The writer was informed by Lord Ashburton himself, that he +should have despaired of bringing matters to a settlement advantageous +to both countries, but for his reliance on the upright and honorable +character of the American Secretary. + +With the appointment of Lord Ashburton, the discussion of the main +questions in controversy between the two countries, as far as it had +been carried on in London, was transferred to Washington. But as an +earnest of the conciliatory spirit which bore sway in the British +counsels, Lord Aberdeen had announced to Mr. Everett, in the interval +which elapsed between Lord Ashburton's appointment and his arrival at +his place of destination, that the Queen's government admitted the wrong +done by the detention of the "Tigris" and "Seamew" in the African +waters, and was prepared to indemnify their owners for the losses +sustained. + +Notwithstanding the favorable circumstances under which the mission of +Lord Ashburton was instituted, the great difficulties to be overcome +soon disclosed themselves. The points in dispute in reference to the +boundary had for years been the subject of discussion, more or less, +throughout the country, but especially in Massachusetts and Maine (the +States having an immediate territorial interest in its decision), and, +above all, in the last-named State. Parties differing on all other great +questions emulated each other in the zeal with which they asserted the +American side of this dispute. So strong and unanimous was the feeling, +that, when the award of the King of the Netherlands arrived, the firm +purpose of General Jackson to accept it was subdued. The writer of these +pages was informed by the late Mr. Forsyth, while Secretary of State, +that, when the award reached this country, General Jackson regarded it +as definitive, and was disposed, without consulting the Senate, to issue +his proclamation announcing it as such; and that he was driven from this +course by the representations of his friends in Maine, that it would +change the politics of the State. He was accustomed to add, in reference +to the inconveniences caused by the rejection of the award, and the +still more serious evils to be anticipated, that "it was somewhat +singular that the only occasion of importance in his life in which he +had allowed himself to be overruled by his friends, was one of all +others in which he ought to have adhered to his own opinions." + +From the diplomatic papers contained in the sixth volume of the present +edition of Mr. Webster's works it appears that the first step taken by +Mr. Webster, after receiving the directions of the President in +reference to the negotiation, was to invite the cooeperation of +Massachusetts and Maine, the territory in dispute being the property +of the two States, and under the jurisdiction of the latter. The extent +of the treaty-making power of the United States, in a matter of such +delicacy as the cession of territory claimed by a State to be within +its limits, belongs to the more difficult class of constitutional +doctrines. We have just seen both the theory and practice of General +Jackson on this point. The administration of Mr. Tyler took for +granted that the full consent of Massachusetts and Maine was necessary +to any adjustment of this great dispute on the principle of mutual +cession and equivalents, or any other principle than that of the +ascertainment of the true, original line of boundary by agreement, +mutual commission, or arbitration. Communications were accordingly +addressed to the governors of the two States. Massachusetts had +anticipated the necessity of the measure, and made provision for the +appointment of commissioners. The legislature of Maine was promptly +convened for the same purpose by the late Governor Fairfield. Four +parties were thus in presence at Washington for the management of the +negotiation: the United States and Great Britain, Massachusetts and +Maine. Recollecting that the question to be settled was one which +had defied all the arts of diplomacy for half a century, it seemed to +a distant, and especially a European observer, as if the last +experiment, exceeding every former step in its necessary complication, +was destined to a failure proportionably signal and ignominious. The +course pursued by the American Secretary, in making the result of +the negotiation relative to the boundary contingent upon the approval +of the State commissioners, was regarded in Europe as decidedly +ominous of its failure. + +It undoubtedly required a high degree of political courage thus to put +the absolute control of the subject, to a certain extent, out of the +hands of the national government; but it was a courage fully warranted +by the event. It is now evident that this mode of procedure was the only +one which could have been adopted with any hope of success. Though +complicated in appearance, it was in reality the simplest mode in which +the cooeperation of the States could have been secured. The commissions +were, upon the whole, happily constituted; they were framed in each +State without reference to party views. By their presence in Washington, +it was in the power of the Secretary of State to avail himself, at every +difficult conjuncture, of their counsel. Limited in number, they yet +represented the public opinion of the two States, as fully as it could +have been done by the entire body of their legislatures; while it is +quite evident that any attempt to refer to large deliberative bodies at +home the discussion of the separate points which arose in the +negotiation, would have been physically impossible and politically +absurd. The commissioners were, on the part of Maine, Messrs. Edward +Kavanagh, Edward Kent, William P. Preble, and John Otis; and on the part +of Massachusetts, Messrs. Abbott Lawrence, John Mills, and Charles +Allen. + +While we name with honor the gentlemen forming the commissions, a +tribute of respect is also due to the patriotism of the States +immediately concerned, and especially of Maine. To devolve on any +individuals, however high in the public regard, a power of transferring, +without ratification or appeal, a portion of the territory of the State, +for such consideration as those individuals might judge to be adequate, +was a measure to be expected only in a case of clear necessity and high +confidence. Mr. Webster is known to have regarded this with the utmost +concern and anxiety, as the turning-point of the whole attempt. His +letter to Governor Fairfield states the case with equal strength and +fairness, and puts the course there recommended in striking contrast +with that of proceeding to agree to another arbitration, as had been +offered by the preceding administration, and assented to by England. The +fate of the negotiation might be considered as involved in the success +of this appeal to the chief magistrate of Maine, and through him to his +constituents. It is said that, when Mr. Webster heard that the +legislature of Maine had adopted the resolutions for the commission, he +went to President Tyler and said, with evident satisfaction and some +animation, "_The crisis is past!_" + +A considerable portion, though not the whole, of the official +correspondence between the Secretary of State and the other parties to +the negotiation is contained in the sixth volume of this collection. The +documents published exhibit full proof of the ability with which the +argument was conducted. They probably furnish but an inadequate specimen +of the judgment, tact, and moral power required to conduct such a +negotiation to a successful result. National, State, and individual +susceptibilities were to be respected and soothed; adverse interests, +real or imaginary, to be consulted; the ordeal of the Senate to be +passed through, after every other difficulty had been overcome; and all +this in an atmosphere as little favorable to such an operation as can +well be imagined. What neither Mr. Monroe in the "era of good feelings," +nor the ability and experience of Messrs. Adams, Clay, and Gallatin, nor +General Jackson's overwhelming popularity, had been able to bring about, +was effected under the administration of Mr. Tyler, though that +administration seemed already crumbling for want of harmony between some +of the members and the head, and between that head and the party which +had brought him into power. No higher tribute can be paid to the ability +and temper which were brought to the work. + +It was, however, in truth, an adjustment equally honorable and +advantageous to all parties. There is not an individual of common sense +or common conscience in Maine or Massachusetts, in the United States or +Great Britain, who would now wish it disturbed. It took from Maine a +tract of land northwest of the St. John, which the people of Maine +believed to belong to them under the treaty of 1783. But it is not +enough that we think ourselves right; the other party thinks the same; +and when there is no common tribunal which both acknowledge, there must +be compromise. The tract of land in question, for any purpose of +cultivation or settlement, was without value; and had it been otherwise, +it would not have been worth the cost of a naval armament or one +military expedition, to say nothing of the abomination of shedding blood +on such an issue. But the disputed title to the worthless tract of +morass, heath, and rock, covered with snow or fog throughout a great +part of the year, was not ceded gratuitously. We obtained the navigation +of the St. John, the natural outlet of the whole country, without which +the territory watered by it would have been of comparatively little +value; we obtained a good natural boundary as far as the course of the +river was followed; and we established the line which we claimed at the +head of the Connecticut, on Lake Champlain, and on the upper lakes; +territorial objects of considerable interest. Great Britain had equal +reason to be satisfied with the result. For her the territory northwest +of the St. John, worthless to us, had a geographical and political +value; it gave her a convenient connection between her provinces, which +was all she desired. Both sides gained the only object which really was +of importance to either, a settlement by creditable means of a wearisome +national controversy; an honorable escape from the scourge and curse of +war. + +Both governments appear to have been fortunate in the constitution of +the joint commission to survey, run, and mark the long line of +boundary. Mr. Albert Smith, of Maine, was appointed commissioner on +the part of the United States, with Major James D. Graham, of the United +States Topographical Engineers as head of a scientific corps, and +Mr. Edward Webster[26] as his secretary. On the part of Great +Britain, Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. B. Estcourt, of her Majesty's +service, was appointed commissioner, with Captain W. H. Robinson, of +the Royal Engineers, as principal astronomer, and J. Scott, Esq., as +secretary. Other professional gentlemen were also employed on both +sides. Great harmony characterized all the proceedings and results of +the commission. The lines were accurately run, and that part of them +not designated by rivers was marked all the way by substantial cast-iron +monuments, with suitable inscriptions, at every mile, and at most of +the principal angles; and wherever the lines extended through +forests, the trees were cut down and cleared to the width of thirty +feet. All the islands in the St. John were also designated with iron +monuments, with inscriptions indicating the government to which they +belonged; and upon that and all other streams forming portions of the +boundary, monuments were erected at the junction of every branch with +the main river. + +But it is time to advert to the other great and difficult questions +included in this adjustment. The extradition of fugitives from +justice is regarded by Grotius and other respectable authorities as +the duty of states, by the law of nations. Other authorities reject +this doctrine;[27] and if it be the law of nations, it requires for +its execution so much administrative machinery as to be of no +practical value without treaty stipulations. The treaty of 1794 with +Great Britain (Jay's treaty) made provision for a mutual extradition +of fugitives, in cases of murder and forgery; and the case of Jonathan +Robbins, memorable for the argument of Chief Justice Marshall in +defence of his surrender, gave a political notoriety to that feature of +the treaty not favorable to its renewal in subsequent negotiations. +This treaty stipulation expired by its own limitation in 1806. + +Besides the convenience of such an understanding on the part of the two +great commercial countries, from which language, personal appearance, +and manners render mutual escape so easy, the condition of the frontier +of the United States and Canada was such as to make this provision all +but necessary for the preservation of the peace of the two countries. An +extensive secret organization existed in the border States, the object +of which was, under the delusive name of "sympathy," to foment and aid +rebellion in the British Provinces. Although an agreement for mutual +extradition of necessity left untouched a great deal of political +agitation unfriendly to border peace, murder and arson were, of course, +within its provisions. It appears from the testimony of the parties best +informed on the subject, that the happiest consequences flowed from this +article of the treaty of Washington. No more was heard of border forays, +"Hunters' Lodges," "Associations for the Liberty of Canada," or +violences offered or retaliated across the line. The mild, but certain +influence of law imposed a restraint, which even costly and formidable +military means had not been found entirely adequate to produce. + +The stipulations for extradition in the treaty of Washington appear to +have served as a model for those since entered into between the most +considerable European powers. A convention for the same purpose was +concluded between England and France on the 13th of February, 1843, and +other similar compacts have still more recently been negotiated. Between +the United States and Great Britain the operation of this part of the +treaty has, in all ordinary cases, been entirely satisfactory. Persons +charged with the crimes to which its provisions extend have been +mutually surrendered; and the cause of public justice, and in many cases +important private interests, have been materially served on both sides +of the water. + +Not inferior in importance and delicacy to the other subjects provided +for by the treaty was that which concerned the measures for the +suppression of "the slave-trade" on the coast of Africa. In order to +understand the difficulties with which Mr. Webster had to contend on +this subject, a brief history of the question must be given. The law of +nations, as understood and expounded by the most respectable authorities +and tribunals, European and American, recognizes the right of search of +neutral vessels in time of war, by the public ships of the belligerents. +It recognizes no right of search in time of peace. It makes no +distinction between a right of visitation and a right of search. To +compel a trading-vessel, against the will of her commander, to come to +and be boarded, for any purpose whatsoever, is an exercise of the right +of search which the law of nations concedes to belligerents for certain +purposes. To do this in time of peace, under whatever name it may be +excused or justified, is to perform an act of mere power, for which the +law of nations affords no warrant. The moral quality of the action, and +the estimate formed of it, will of course depend upon circumstances, +motives, and manner. If an armed ship board a vessel under reasonable +suspicion that she is a pirate, and when there is no other convenient +mode of ascertaining that point, there would be no cause of blame, +although the suspicion turned out to be groundless. + +The British government, for the praiseworthy purpose of putting a stop +to the traffic in slaves, has at different times entered into +conventions with several of the states of Europe authorizing a mutual +right of search of the trading-vessels of each contracting party by the +armed cruisers of the other party. These treaties give no right to +search the vessels of nations not parties to them. But if an armed ship +of either party should search a vessel of a third power under a +reasonable suspicion that she belonged to the other contracting party, +and was pursuing the slave-trade in contravention of the treaty, this +act of power, performed by mistake, and with requisite moderation and +circumspection in the manner, would not be just ground of offence. It +would, however, authorize a reasonable expectation of indemnification on +behalf of the private individuals who might suffer by the detention, as +in other cases of injury inflicted on innocent persons by public +functionaries acting with good intentions, but at their peril. + +The government of the United States, both in its executive and +legislative branches, has at almost all times manifested an extreme +repugnance to enter into conventions for a mutual right of search. It +has not yielded to any other power in its aversion to the slave-trade, +which it was the first government to denounce as piracy. The reluctance +in question grew principally out of the injuries inflicted upon the +American commerce, and still more out of the personal outrages in the +impressment of American seamen, which took place during the wars of +Napoleon, and incidentally to the belligerent right of search and the +enforcement of the Orders in Council and the Berlin and Milan Decrees. +Besides a wholesale confiscation of American property, hundreds of +American seamen were impressed into the ships of war of Great Britain. +So deeply had the public sensibility been wounded on both points, that +any extension of the right of search by the consent of the United States +was for a long time nearly hopeless. + +But this feeling, strong and general as it was, yielded at last to the +detestation of the slave-trade. Toward the close of the second +administration of Mr. Monroe the executive had been induced, acting +under the sanction of resolutions of the two houses of Congress, to +agree to a convention with Great Britain for a mutual right of search of +vessels suspected of being engaged in the traffic. This convention was +negotiated in London by Mr. Rush on the part of the United States, Mr. +Canning being the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. + +In defining the limits within which this right should be exercised, the +coasts of America were included. The Senate were of opinion that such a +provision might be regarded as an admission that the slave-trade was +carried on between the coasts of Africa and the United States, contrary +to the known fact, and to the reproach either of the will or power of +the United States to enforce their laws, by which it was declared to be +piracy. It also placed the whole coast of the Union under the +_surveillance_ of the cruisers of a foreign power. The Senate, +accordingly, ratified the treaty, with an amendment exempting the coasts +of the United States from the operation of the article. They also +introduced other amendments of less importance. + +On the return of the treaty to London thus amended, Mr. Canning gave way +to a feeling of dissatisfaction at the course pursued by the Senate, not +so much on account of any decided objection to the amendment in itself +considered, as to the claim of the Senate to introduce any change into a +treaty negotiated according to instructions. Under the influence of this +feeling, Mr. Canning refused to ratify the treaty as amended, and no +further attempt was at that time made to renew the negotiation. + +It will probably be admitted on all hands, at the present day, that Mr. +Canning's scruple was without foundation. The treaty had been +negotiated by this accomplished statesman, under the full knowledge that +the Constitution of the United States reserves this power to the Senate. +That it should be exercised was, therefore, no more matter of complaint, +than that the treaty should be referred at all to the ratification of +the Senate. The course pursued by Mr. Canning was greatly to be +regretted, as it postponed the amicable adjustment of this matter for +eighteen years, not without risk of serious misunderstanding in the +interval. + +Attempts were made on the part of England, during the ministry of Lord +Melbourne, to renew the negotiation with the United States, but without +success. Conventions between France and England, for a mutual right of +search within certain limits, were concluded in 1831 and 1833, under the +ministry of the Duc de Broglie, without awakening the public sensibility +in the former country. As these treaties multiplied, the activity of the +English cruisers increased. After the treaty with Portugal, in 1838, the +vessels of that country, which, with those of Spain, were most largely +engaged in the traffic, began to assume the flag of the United States as +a protection; and in many cases, also, although the property of vessels +and cargo had, by collusive transfers on the African coast, become +Spanish or Portuguese, the vessels had been built and fitted out in the +United States, and too often, it may be feared, with American capital. +Vessels of this description were provided with two sets of papers, to be +used as occasion might require. + +Had nothing further been done by British cruisers than to board and +search these vessels, whether before or after a transfer of this kind, +no complaint would probably have been made by the government of the +United States. But, as many American vessels were engaged in lawful +commerce on the coast of Africa, it frequently happened that they were +boarded by British cruisers, not always under the command of discreet +officers. Some voyages were broken up, officers and men occasionally +ill-treated, and vessels sent to the United States or Sierra Leone for +adjudication. + +In 1840 an agreement was made between the officers in command of the +British and American squadrons respectively, sanctioning a reciprocal +right of search on the coast of Africa. It will be found among the +papers pertaining to this subject, in the sixth volume of this +collection. It was a well-meant, but unauthorized step, and was +promptly disavowed by the administration of Mr. Van Buren. Its +operation, while it lasted, was but to increase the existing +difficulty. Reports of the interruptions experienced by our commerce +in the African waters began greatly to multiply; and there was a +strong interest on the part of those surreptitiously engaged in the +traffic to give them currency. A deep feeling began to be manifested +in the country; and the correspondence between the American Minister in +London and Lord Palmerston, in the last days of the Melbourne ministry, +was such as to show that the controversy had reached a critical point. +Such was the state of the question when Mr. Webster entered the +Department of State. + +The controversy was transmitted, as we have seen, to the new +administrations on both sides of the water, but soon assumed a somewhat +modified character. The quintuple treaty, as it was called, was +concluded at London, on the 20th of December, 1841, by England, France, +Austria, Prussia, and Russia; and information of that fact, as we have +seen above, was given by Lord Aberdeen to Mr. Everett the same day. A +strong desire was intimated that the United States would join this +association of the great powers, but no formal invitation for that +purpose was addressed to them. But the recent occurrences on the coast +of Africa, and the tone of the correspondence above alluded to, had +increased the standing repugnance of the United States to the +recognition of a right of search in time of peace. + +In the mean time, the same complaints, sometimes just, sometimes +exaggerated, sometimes groundless, had reached France from the coast of +Africa, and a strong feeling against the right of search was produced in +that country. The incidents connected with the adjustment of the Syrian +question, in 1840, had greatly irritated the French ministry and people, +and the present was deemed a favorable moment for retaliation. On the +assembling of the Chambers, an amendment was moved by M. Lefebvre to the +address in reply to the king's speech in the following terms: "We have +also the confidence, that, in granting its concurrence to the +suppression of a criminal traffic, your government will know how to +preserve from every attack the interest of our commerce and the +independence of our flag." This amendment was adopted by the unanimous +vote of the Chambers. + +This was well understood to be a blow aimed at the quintuple treaty. It +was the most formidable parliamentary check ever encountered by M. +Guizot's administration. It excited profound sensation throughout +Europe. It compelled the French ministry to make the painful sacrifice +of a convention negotiated agreeably to instructions, and not differing +in principle from those of 1831 and 1833, which were consequently +liable to be involved in its fate. The ratification of the quintuple +treaty was felt to be out of the question. Although it soon appeared +that the king was determined to sustain M. Guizot, it was by no means +apparent in what manner his administration was to be rescued from +the present embarrassment. + +The public feeling in France was considerably heightened by various +documents which appeared at this juncture, in connection with the +controversy between the United States and Great Britain. The President's +message and its accompanying papers reached Europe about the period of +the opening of the session. A very sew days after the adoption of M. +Lefebvre's amendment, a pamphlet, written by General Cass, was published +in Paris, and, being soon after translated into French and widely +circulated, contributed to strengthen the current of public feeling. A +more elaborate essay was, in the course of the season, published by Mr. +Wheaton, the Minister of the United States at Berlin, in which the +theory of a right of search in time of peace was vigorously assailed. + +The preceding sketch of the history of the question will show the +difficulty of the position in reference to this most important interest, +at the time Lord Ashburton's mission was instituted. With what practical +good sense and high statesmanship the controversy was terminated is well +known to the country. It is unnecessary here to retrace the steps of the +correspondence, to comment on the eighth article of the treaty of +Washington, or to analyze the parliamentary and diplomatic discussions +to which in the following year it gave rise. It is enough to say, that, +under circumstances of some embarrassment to the Department of State, a +course of procedure was happily devised by Mr. Webster, and incorporated +into the treaty, which, leaving untouched the metaphysics of the +question, furnished a satisfactory practical solution of the +difficulty. Circumstances having made a restatement expedient of the +principles maintained by the United States on this most important +subject, a letter was addressed by Mr. Webster to Mr. Everett, on the +28th of March, 1843, to be read to the British Secretary of State for +Foreign Affairs, in which the law of nations applicable to the subject +was expounded by the American Secretary with a clearness and power which +will render any further discussion of the subject, under its present +aspects, entirely superfluous. Nor will it be thought out of place to +acknowledge the fairness, good temper, and ability with which the +doctrine and practice of the English government were sustained by the +Earl of Aberdeen. + +The wisdom with which the eighth article of the treaty was drawn up was +soon seen in its consequences. Its effect was decisive. It put a stop to +all discontent at home in reference to the interruption of our lawful +commerce on the coast of Africa. Abroad, it raised the jealousy already +existing in France on this subject to the point of uncontrollable +repugnance. The ratification of the quintuple treaty had long been +abandoned. It was soon evident that the conventions of 1831 and 1833 +must be given up. In the course of the year 1844, the Duc de Broglie, +the honorable and accomplished minister by whom they had been +negotiated, accepted a special mission to London, for the purpose of +coming to some satisfactory arrangement by way of substitute, and a +convention was soon concluded with the British government on precisely +the same principles with those of the treaty of Washington. + +It may be hoped that the important suggestion of Mr. Webster will be +borne in mind, in any future discussions of this and other maritime +questions, that the policy of the United States is not that of a feeble +naval power interested in exaggerating the doctrine of neutral +inviolability. A respect for every independent flag is a common interest +of all civilized states, powerful or weak; but the rank of the United +States among naval powers, and their position as the great maritime +power on the western coasts of the Atlantic and the eastern coasts of +the Pacific, may lead them to doubt the expediency of pressing too far +the views they have hitherto held, and moderate their anxiety to +construe with extreme strictness the rights which the law of nations +concedes to public vessels. + +The three subjects on which we have dwelt, namely, the northeastern +boundary, the extradition of fugitives, and the suppression of the +slave-trade, were the only ones which required to be provided for by +treaty stipulation. Other subjects, scarcely less important and fully as +difficult were happily disposed of in the correspondence of the +plenipotentiaries. These were the affair of the "Caroline," that of the +"Creole," and the question of impressment. Our limits do not permit us +to dwell at length on these topics; but we shall be pardoned for one or +two reflections. + +So urgent is the pressure on the public mind of the successive events +which demand attention each as it presents itself, that the formidable +difficulties growing out of the destruction of the "Caroline" and the +arrest of McLeod are already fading from recollection. They formed, in +reality, a crisis of a most serious and delicate character. A glance at +the correspondence of the two governments at Washington and London +sufficiently shows this to be the case. The violation of the territory +of the United States in the destruction of the "Caroline," however +unwarrantable the conduct of the "sympathizers" which provoked it, +became, from the moment the British government assumed the +responsibility of the act, an incident of the gravest character. On the +other hand, the inability of the government of the United States to +extricate McLeod from the risks of a capital trial in a State court, +although the government of England demanded his liberation on the ground +that he was acting under the legal orders of his superior, presented a +difficulty in the working of our system equally novel and important. +Other cases had arisen in which important constitutional principles had +failed to take effect, for want of the requisite legislative provisions. +It is believed that this was the first time in which a difficulty of +this kind had presented itself in our foreign relations. A more +threatening one can scarcely be imagined. In addition to the +embarrassment occasioned by the refusal of the executive and judiciary +of New York to yield to the representations of the general government, +the violent interference of the mob presented new difficulties of the +most deplorable character. If McLeod had been executed, it is not too +much to say, that war would at once have ensued. His acquittal averted +this impending danger. The conciliatory spirit cannot be too warmly +commended with which, on the one hand, the proper reparation was made by +Lord Ashburton for the violation of the American territory, and, on the +other hand, Congress, by the passage of an appropriate law, provided an +effectual legislative remedy for any future similar case. They show with +what simplicity and ease the greatest evils may be averted, and the most +desirable ends achieved, by statesmen and governments animated by a +sincere desire to promote the welfare of those who have placed power in +their hands, not for selfish, party purposes, but for the public good. + +There is, perhaps, no one of the papers written by Mr. Webster as +Secretary of State, in which so much force of statement and power of +argument are displayed as in the letter on "impressment." To incorporate +a stipulation on this subject into a treaty was, regarding the +antecedents of the question, impracticable. But the reply of Lord +Ashburton to Mr. Webster's announcement of the American principle must +be considered as acquiescence on the part of his government. It may be +doubted whether this odious and essentially illegal practice will ever +again be systematically resorted to, even in England.[28] Considering +the advance made by public sentiment an all questions connected with +personal liberty, "a hot-press on the Thames" would hardly stand the +ordeal of an investigation in Parliament at the present day. It is +certain that the right of impressing seamen from American vessels could +never be practically asserted in a future war with any other effect than +that of adding the United States to the parties in the contest. No +refinements in the doctrine of natural allegiance, although their +theoretical soundness might equal their subtilty, would be of the least +avail here. To force seamen from the deck of a peaceful neutral vessel, +pursuing a lawful commerce, and compel them to serve for an indefinite +and hopeless period on board a foreign man-of-war, is an act of power +and violence to which no nation will submit that is able to resist it. +In the case of the United States and Great Britain, that community of +language and resemblance in general appearance which may have been +considered as palliating the most deplorable results of the exercise of +this power, in reality constitute the strongest reason for its +abandonment. The unquestionable danger that, with the best intentions, +the boarding officer may mistake an American for an Englishman; the +certainty that a reckless lieutenant, unmindful of consequences, but +bent upon recruiting his ship on a remote foreign station, will pretend +to believe that he is seizing the subjects of his own government, +whatever may be the evidence to the contrary, are reasons of themselves +for denying on the threshold the existence of a right exposed to such +inevitable and intolerable abuse. + +These and other views of the subject are presented in Mr. Webster's +letter to Lord Ashburton of the 8th of August, 1842, with a strength of +reasoning and force of illustration not often equalled in a state paper. +That letter was spoken of, in the hearing of the writer of this memoir, +by one whose name, if it could be mentioned with propriety, would give +the highest authority to the remark, as a composition not surpassed by +any thing in the language. The principles laid down in it may be +considered as incorporated into the public law of the United States, and +will have their influence beyond our own territorial limits and beyond +our own time. + +Some disappointment was probably felt, when the treaty of Washington was +published, that a settlement of the Oregon question was not included +among its provisions. It need not be said that a subject of such +magnitude did not escape the attention of the negotiators. It was, +however, speedily inferred by Mr. Webster, from the purport of his +informal conferences with Lord Ashburton on this point, that an +arrangement of this question was not then practicable, and that to +attempt it would be to put the entire negotiation to great risk of +failure. On the other hand, it was not less certain that, by closing up +the other matters in controversy, the best preparation was made for +bringing the Oregon dispute to an amicable issue, whenever circumstances +should favor that undertaking. Considerable firmness was no doubt +required to act upon this policy, and to forego the attempt, at least, +to settle a question rapidly growing into the most formidable magnitude. +It is unnecessary to say how completely the course adopted has been +justified by the event. + + * * * * * + +We have in the preceding remarks confined ourselves to the topics +connected with the treaty of Washington. But other subjects of great +importance connected with the foreign affairs of the country engaged the +attention of Mr. Webster as Secretary of State. + +The first of these pertained to our controversies with Mexico, and was +treated in a letter to M. de Bocanegra, the Mexican Secretary of State +and Foreign Relations. The great and unexpected changes which have taken +place in that quarter since the date of this correspondence will not +impair the interest with which it will be read. It throws important +light on the earlier stages of our controversy with that ill-advised and +infatuated government. Among the papers in this part of the volume are +those which relate to the Santa Fe prisoners and Captain Jones's attack +on Monterey. + +Under the head of "Relations with Spain" will be found a correspondence +of great interest between the Chevalier d'Argaiz, the representative of +that government, and Mr. Webster, on the subject of the "Amistad." The +pertinacity with which this matter was pursued by Spain, after its +adjudication by the Supreme Court of the United States, furnishes an +instructive commentary upon the sincerity of that government in its +measures for the abolition of the slave-trade. The entire merits of this +important and extraordinary case are condensed in Mr. Webster's letters +of the 1st of September, 1841, and 21st of June, 1842. + +Of still greater interest are the institution of the mission to China, +and the steps which led to the establishment of the independence of the +Sandwich Islands. The sixth volume of this collection contains the +instructions given to Mr. Cushing as commissioner to China, and the +correspondence between Mr. Webster and Messrs. Richards and Haalilio on +behalf of the Sandwich Islands. At any period less crowded with +important events the opening of diplomatic relations with China, and the +conclusion of a treaty of commerce with that power, would have been +deemed occurrences of unusual importance. It certainly reflects great +credit on the administration, that it acted with such promptitude and +efficiency in seizing this opportunity of multiplying avenues of +commercial intercourse. Nor is less praise due to the energy and skill +of the negotiator,[29] to whom this novel and important undertaking was +confided, and who was able to embark from China, on his return homeward, +in six months after his arrival, having in the mean time satisfactorily +concluded the treaty. + +The application of the representatives of the Sandwich Islands to the +government of the United States, and the countenance extended to them at +Washington, exercised a most salutary and seasonable influence over the +destiny of those islands. The British government was promptly made aware +of the course pursued by the United States, and was no doubt led, in a +considerable degree, by this circumstance, to promise the Hawaiian +delegates, on the part of England, to respect the independent neutrality +of their government. In the mean time, the British admiral on that +station had taken provisional possession of them on behalf of his +government, in anticipation of a similar movement which was expected on +the part of France. If intelligence of this occurrence had been received +in London before the promise above alluded to was given by Lord Aberdeen +to Messrs. Richards and Haalilio, it is not impossible that Great +Britain might have felt herself warranted in retaining the protectorate +of the Hawaiian Islands as an offset for the occupation of Tahiti by the +French. As it was, the temporary arrangement of the British admiral was +disavowed, and the government restored to the native chief. + +Among the papers contained in the sixth volume will be found a +correspondence between Mr. Webster and the Portuguese Minister, on the +subject of duties on Portuguese wines, and a report of great importance +on the Sound duties and the Zoll-Verein, topics to which the recent +changes in the Germanic system will henceforward impart a greatly +increased importance. + +This brief enumeration will of itself sufficiently show the extensive +range of the subjects to which the attention of Mr. Webster was called, +during the two years for which he filled the Department of State. + +The published correspondence probably forms but a small portion of the +official labors of the Department of State for the period during which +it was filled by Mr. Webster. They constitute, nevertheless, the most +important part of the documentary record of a period of official +service, brief, indeed, but as beneficial to the country as any of which +the memory is preserved in her annals. The administration of General +Harrison found the United States, in the spring of 1841, on the verge of +a war, not with a feeble Spanish province, scarcely capable of a +respectable resistance, but with the most powerful government on earth. +The conduct of our foreign relations was intrusted to Mr. Webster, as +Secretary of State, and in the two years during which he filled that +office controversies of fifty years' standing were terminated, new +causes of quarrel that sprung up like hydra's heads were settled, and +peace was preserved upon honorable terms. The British government, fresh +from the conquest of China, perhaps never felt itself stronger than in +the year 1842, and a full share of credit is due to the spirit of +conciliation which swayed its counsels. Much is due to the wise and +amiable minister who was despatched from England on the holy errand of +peace; much to the patriotism of the Senate of the United States, who +confirmed the treaty of Washington by a larger majority than ever before +sustained a measure of this kind which divided public opinion; but the +first meed of praise is unquestionably due to the American negotiator. +Let the just measure of that praise be estimated, by reflecting what +would have been our condition during the last few years, if, instead of, +or in addition to, the war with Mexico, we had been involved in a war +with Great Britain. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [23] This chapter is republished, with but slight modifications, from + the volume of Mr. Webster's Diplomatic and Official Papers which + appeared in 1848, to which it served as the Introduction. + + [24] Mr. Stevenson. + + [25] Senate Papers, Twenty-seventh Congress, First Session, No. 33. + + [26] Younger son of Mr. Webster, who died in Mexico, in 1848, being a + major in the regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. + + [27] The authorities are given in Story's Commentaries Vol. III. pp. + 675, 676; Conflict of Laws, pp. 520, 522; and in Kent's + Commentaries, Vol. I. pp. 36, 37. + + [28] The following passage from a letter of Robert Walsh, Esq., to the + editors of the National Intelligencer, dated Paris, 28th + October, 1842, furnishes confirmation of the remark in the + text:-- + + "The former journal [The Times], of the 18th instant, + acknowledges that Mr. Webster 'has not exaggerated the + hardships and evils which the practice of impressment + occasioned in the last war.' It ratifies his ideas of the + probable aggravation of them, if the practice should be ever + renewed; it would even dispense with press-warrants at home, as + adverse to the general principles of British liberty and law: + it advises some general measure for the entire abolition of + arbitrary impressment both at home and abroad, and it expresses + its belief of a very strong probability, that, in the event + of a war, no instructions for the impressment of British + seamen found in American merchant-vessels will be issued to her + Majesty's cruisers. The Standard chimes with the great oracle, + and concludes in this strain: 'We may infer that, whatever + may be the plan hereafter for managing our navy, impressment + will never again be resorted to; this is beyond a doubt: _the + practice complained of by Mr. Webster will be abandoned_.'" + + [29] Mr. Cushing. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Mr. Webster resigns his Place in Mr. Tyler's Cabinet.--Attempts to + draw public Attention to the projected Annexation of + Texas.--Supports Mr. Clay's Nomination for the Presidency.--Causes + of the Failure of that Nomination.--Mr. Webster returns to the + Senate of the United States.--Admission of Texas to the Union.--The + War with Mexico.--Mr. Webster's Course in Reference to the + War.--Death of Major Webster in Mexico.--Mr. Webster's unfavorable + Opinion of the Mexican Government.--Settlement of the Oregon + Controversy.--Mr. Webster's Agency in effecting the + Adjustment.--Revival of the Sub-Treasury System and Repeal of the + Tariff Law of 1842.--Southern Tour.--Success of the Mexican War and + Acquisition of the Mexican Provinces.--Efforts in Congress to + organize a Territorial Government for these Provinces.--Great + Exertions of Mr. Webster on the last Night of the + Session.--Nomination of General Taylor, and Course of Mr. Webster in + Reference to it.--A Constitution of State Government adopted by + California prohibiting Slavery.--Increase of Antislavery + Agitation.--Alarming State of Affairs.--Mr. Webster's Speech for the + Union.--Circumstances under which it was made, and Motives by which + he was influenced.--General Taylor's Death, and the Accession of Mr. + Fillmore to the Presidency.--Mr. Webster called to the Department of + State. + + +Mr. Webster remained in the Department of State but a little over two +years. His last act was the preparation of the instructions of Mr. +Cushing, who had been appointed Commissioner to China. Difficulties had +occurred the summer before, between President Tyler and some of the +members of his Cabinet, and all of those gentlemen, with the exception +of Mr. Webster, tendered their resignations, which were accepted. Hard +thoughts were entertained of Mr. Webster in some quarters for continuing +to hold his seat after the resignation of his colleagues. President +Tyler, however, had in no degree withdrawn his confidence from Mr. +Webster in reference to the foreign affairs of the country, nor +interfered with the administration of his department, and Mr. Webster +conceived that the interests involved in his remaining at his post were +far too important to be sacrificed to punctilio. His own sense of duty +in this respect was confirmed by the unanimous counsel of the +Massachusetts delegation in Congress, and by judicious friends in all +parts of the country. In fact, it will be remembered that when +difficulties sprung up between Mr. Tyler and the Whig party in Congress, +in 1842, the Whig press generally throughout the country called upon the +members of the Cabinet appointed by General Harrison to retain their +places till they should be removed by Mr. Tyler. + +Mr. Webster remained in private life during the residue of President +Tyler's administration, occupied as usual with professional pursuits, +and enjoying in the appropriate seasons the retirement of his farm. He +endeavored by private communications to arouse the feeling of the North +to the projects which he perceived to be in agitation for the annexation +of Texas but the danger was regarded at that time as too remote to be +contended against. A short time only elapsed before the fulfilment of +his anticipations was forced upon the country, with fearful urgency, and +a train of consequences of which it will be left to a late posterity to +witness the full development. Between the years 1843 and 1845 the +fortunes of the United States were subjected to an influence, for good +or for evil, not to be exhausted for centuries. + +The nomination of Mr. Clay to the Presidency in 1844 was cordially +supported by Mr. Webster. He took the field, as in the summer of 1840 in +favor of General Harrison. The proofs of the untiring zeal with which he +entered into the canvass, and of the great power and fertility with +which he discussed the various topics of the day, will be seen in the +second volume of the present collection. It has, however, been found +impossible to insert more than a selection of the speeches made by him +during the campaign. Others not inferior in merit and interest were made +by him in the course of the summer and autumn of 1844. + +It is well known that the result of this election was decisive of the +question of the annexation of Texas. The opinions expressed by Mr. Van +Buren against the immediate consummation of that project had prevented +his receiving the nomination of the Baltimore Convention. Mr. Clay was +pledged against the measure, and Mr. Polk was selected as its sure +friend. If in 1844 the friends of Mr. Van Buren, instead of giving in +their adhesion to the Baltimore nomination (which was in fact turning +the scale in favor of Texas), had been prepared, as in 1848, to support +a separate nomination, or even if the few thousand votes cast by the +"Liberty party" against Mr. Clay had been given in his favor, he would +have been chosen President of the United States, to the indefinite +postponement of the annexation of Texas and the Mexican war, with all +their consequences. But in great things as in small, men throw away the +substance while they grasp at the shadow. + +At the first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress (1845-46), Mr. Webster +took his seat as the successor of Mr. Choate in the Senate of the United +States. The question of the admission of Texas was decided at the very +commencement of the session. It was opposed by Mr. Webster. To all the +other objections to the measure in his mind was added that of +unconstitutionality. The annexation was now brought about simply by a +joint resolution of the two houses, after it had been found impossible +to effect it by treaty, the only form known to the Constitution by which +a compact can be entered into with a foreign power. Mr. Jefferson was of +opinion in 1803, that even a treaty with France was not sufficient for +the annexation of Louisiana, but that an amendment of the Constitution +was necessary for that purpose. In 1845 the executive and a majority of +Congress, having failed to carry the ratification of a treaty of +annexation by the constitutional majority, scrupled not to accomplish +their purpose by a joint resolution of the two houses; and this measure +was effected under the lead of statesmen who claim to construe the +Constitution with literal strictness. Events like these furnish a +painful illustration of the frailty of constitutional restraints as a +barrier against the consummation of the favorite measures of a dominant +party. + +The great event of the administration of President Polk was the war with +Mexico. The time has not yet arrived when the counsels under which this +war was brought about can be fully unfolded. On the 2d of December, +1845, in his first annual message, having communicated to Congress the +acceptance by Texas of the terms of annexation offered by the joint +resolution, President Polk thus expressed himself:-- + + "This accession to our territory has been a bloodless achievement. + No arm of force has been raised to produce the result. The sword has + had no part in the victory. We have not sought to extend our + territorial possessions by conquest, or our republican institutions + over a reluctant people. It was the deliberate homage of each people + to the great principle of our federative Union." + +The proffered annexation of Texas had been declined both by General +Jackson and Mr. Van Buren, on the ground that, unless made with the +consent of Mexico, it would involve a war with that power. That this +would be the effect was not less certain on the 2d of December, 1845, +when Congress were congratulated on the "bloodless" acquisition, than it +was when, on the 13th of January following, General Taylor was +instructed to occupy the left bank of the Rio del Norte. In fact, in the +very message in which President Polk remarks to Congress "that the sword +had had no part in the victory," he gives them also the significant +information, that, upon the earnest appeal both of the Congress and +convention of Texas, he had ordered "an efficient military force to take +a position between the Nueces and the Del Norte." + +This force, however efficient in proportion to its numbers and in virtue +of the gallantry and skill of its commander, was found to be inadequate +to sustain the brunt of the Mexican arms. Rapid movements on the part of +Generals Ampudia and Arista, commanding on the frontier, seriously +endangered the safety of General Taylor's force, and it became necessary +for Congress to strengthen it by prompt reinforcements. In this way the +war was commenced. No formal declaration had taken place, nor had it +been in the power of Congress to make known its will on the subject, +till an absolute necessity arose of reinforcing General Taylor, and the +subject had ceased to be one for legislative discretion. + +Under these circumstances it was of course impossible for Mr. Webster to +approve the war. It had been brought on by the executive will, and +without the concurrence of Congress till Congress had ceased to have an +option, and its well-known ulterior objects were such as he could not +but contemplate with equal disapprobation and alarm. Still, however, in +common with the body of his political friends, in and out of Congress, +he abstained from all factious opposition, and all measures calculated +to embarrass the government. The supplies were voted for by him, but he +never ceased to urge upon the President to pursue a magnanimous policy +toward the distracted and misgoverned country with which we had been +brought in collision. Nor did his opinions of the character of the war +lead him to discourage the inclination of his younger son, Mr. Edward +Webster, to accept a commission in the regiment of Massachusetts +Volunteers. This young gentleman had evinced an energy beyond his years, +and practical talent of a high order, as a member of the commission for +marking the boundary line between Maine and the British Provinces under +the treaty of Washington. His friends looked forward with confidence to +his running a brilliant military career. These hopes, like those which +accompanied so many other gallant and patriotic spirits to the scene of +action, were destined to be early blasted. Major Webster fell a victim +to the labors and exposures of the service, and to the climate of the +country, under the walls of Mexico. + +To avoid all misconception, it may be proper to state that Mr. Webster +has at all times entertained an unfavorable opinion of the various +administrations by which Mexico, almost ever since her revolution, has +been successively misgoverned. He has felt constrained to regard the +greater part of them as military factions, bent more upon supplanting +each other than upon promoting the welfare of their country. He was +fully aware of the justice of many of the complaints of citizens of the +United States for wrongs inflicted and justice withheld. Both while in +the executive government himself, and as a member of Congress, he had +uniformly expressed himself in terms of severe condemnation of the +conduct of the Mexican government in withholding or delaying redress; +and he foresaw and foretold that, in obstinately refusing to recognize +the independence of Texas, she was laying up for herself a store of +consequences the most humiliating and disastrous. Nothing but the most +deplorable infatuation could have led the government of Mexico to +suppose, that, after the independence of Texas had been recognized by +the United States, Great Britain, France, and Belgium, it would be +possible for a power as feeble as that of Mexico to reduce the +rebellious province to submission. If any confirmation of these +statements is needed, it may be found in Mr. Webster's letter to Mr. de +Bocanegra, in the sixth volume of this collection. + +The settlement of the controversy with England relative to the boundary +of Oregon was effected in the first year of Mr. Polk's administration. +The foundations for this adjustment had long been laid; in fact, as long +ago as the administration of Mr. Monroe, the United States had offered +to England the obvious basis of the extension of the forty-ninth degree +of latitude to the Pacific. Great Britain allowed herself to be +influenced by the Hudson's Bay Company so far, as to insist upon +following the course of the Columbia down to the sea. She even took the +extravagant ground that, although the United States, by the Louisiana +and Florida treaties, combined the Spanish and the French titles with +that of actual contiguity and prior discovery of the Columbia River, +they had no exclusive title to any portion of the territory, but that it +was all subject to her own joint and rival claim. This unreasonable +pretension brought the two countries to the verge of war. The Baltimore +Convention, in the year 1844, set up a claim, equally unreasonable, to +the whole of the territory. President Polk in his inaugural message, +quoting the words of the resolution of the Baltimore Convention, +pronounced our title to the territory to be "clear and unquestionable." + +The assertion of these opposite extremes of pretension happily resulted +in the final adjustment on the forty-ninth degree. Mr. Webster had +uniformly been of opinion that this was the fair basis of settlement. +Had he supposed that an arrangement could have been effected on this +basis with Lord Ashburton, he would gladly have included it in the +treaty of Washington. After Mr. Webster's retirement from the Department +of State, it is stated by President Polk that Mr. Upshur instructed Mr. +Everett to offer that line to the British government; but the +negotiation had in the mean time, by the appointment of Mr. Pakenham, +been transferred to Washington. The offer of the forty-ninth degree of +latitude was renewed to Mr. Pakenham, but accompanied with conditions +which led him to decline it, and to express the hope that the United +States would make "some further proposal for the settlement of the +Oregon question more consistent with fairness and equity, and with the +reasonable expectations of the British government." The offer thus +injudiciously rejected was withdrawn by the administration. In this +dangerous juncture of affairs, the following incidents occurred, which +we give in the words of the "London Examiner": + + "In reply to a question put to him in reference to the present war + establishments of this country, and the propriety of applying the + principle of arbitration in the settlement of disputes arising among + nations, Mr. McGregor, one of the candidates for the representation + of Glasgow, took occasion to narrate the following very important + and remarkable anecdote in connection with our recent, but now + happily terminated differences with the United States on the Oregon + question. At the time our ambassador at Washington, the Hon. Mr. + Pakenham, refused to negotiate on the forty-ninth parallel of north + latitude as the basis of a treaty, and when by that refusal the + danger of a rupture between Great Britain and America became really + imminent, Mr. Daniel Webster, formerly Secretary of State to the + American government, wrote a letter to Mr. McGregor, in which he + strongly deprecated Mr. Pakenham's conduct, which, if persisted in + and adopted at home, would, to a certainty, embroil the two + countries, and suggested an equitable compromise, taking the + forty-ninth parallel as the basis of an adjustment. Mr. McGregor + agreeing entirely with Mr. Webster in the propriety of a mutual + giving and taking to avoid a rupture, and the more especially as the + whole territory in dispute was not worth L20,000 to either power, + while the preparations alone for a war would cost a great deal more + before the parties could come into actual conflict, communicated the + contents of Mr. Webster's letter to Lord John Russell, who at the + time was living in the neighborhood of Edinburgh, and, in reply, + received a letter from Lord John, in which he stated his entire + accordance with the proposal recommended by Mr. Webster, and + approved of by Mr. McGregor, and requested the latter, as he (Lord + John) was not in a position to do it himself, to intimate his + opinion to Lord Aberdeen. Mr. McGregor, through Lord Canning, + Under-Secretary for the Foreign Department, did so, and the result + was, that the first packet that left England carried out to America + the proposal, in accordance with the communication already referred + to, on which the treaty of Oregon was happily concluded. Mr. + McGregor may, therefore, be very justly said to have been the + instrument of preserving the peace of the world; and for that alone, + even if he had no other services to appeal to, he has justly earned + the applause and admiration, not of his own countrymen only, but of + all men who desire to promote the best interests of the human + race." + +Without wishing to detract in any degree from the praise due to Mr. +McGregor for his judicious and liberal conduct on this occasion, the +credit of the main result is exclusively due to his American +correspondent. A powerful influence was ascribed also to an able article +in the Edinburgh Review for April, 1845, in which the reasonableness of +this basis of settlement was set forth with great ability. + +The first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress was signalized by the +revival of the sub-treasury system, and the overthrow of the tariff of +1842. At a moment when the public finances were, in reference to the +means of collection, custody, and transfer, in a sound and healthy +condition, the administration deemed it expedient to subject the country +and the treasury to the hazard and inconvenience of a change. Mr. +Webster spoke with equal earnestness and power against the renewal of +experiments which had already proved so disastrous; but the bill was +carried by a party vote. The same success attended the President's +recommendation of an entire change in the revenue system, by which, +instead of specific duties, _ad valorem_ duties were to be assessed on +the foreign valuation. Various other changes were made in the tariff +established in 1842, equally tending to depress our own manufactures, +and to give a preference to foreign over native labor, and this even in +cases where no benefit could be expected to accrue to the treasury from +the change. Mr. Webster made a truly Herculean effort against the +government project, in his speech of the 25th and 26th of July, 1846, +but the decree had gone forth. The scale was turned by the Senators from +the new State of Texas, which had been brought into the Union by the +votes of members of Congress whose constituents had the deepest interest +in sustaining the tariff of 1842. + +In the spring of 1847, after the adjournment of Congress, Mr. Webster +undertook a tour to the South. His object was to pass by the way of the +Atlantic States to New Orleans, and to ascend the Mississippi. He had +never seen that part of the Union, and promised himself equal +gratification and instruction from an opportunity, however brief, of +personal inspection. He was ever of opinion that higher motives than +those of curiosity and recreation should lead the citizens of different +parts of the country to the interchange of visits of this kind. That +they had become so much less frequent than they were in former years he +regarded as one of the inauspicious features of the times. He was +accompanied on this excursion by his family. They passed hastily through +Virginia and North Carolina to South Carolina. At Charleston he was +received with the most distinguished attention and cordiality. He was +welcomed on his arrival by an assemblage of the most respectable +citizens. Entertainments were given him by the New England Society of +Charleston and by the Charleston Bar. At these festivals the sentiments +and speeches were of the most cordial description. Similar hospitalities +and honors were paid him at Columbia, Augusta, and Savannah. No trace of +sectional or party feeling detracted from the warmth of his reception. +His visit was everywhere regarded as an interesting public event. +Unhappily, his health failed him on his arrival at Savannah; and the +advance of the season made it impossible for him to execute the original +project of a journey to New Orleans. He was compelled to hasten back to +the North. + +Meantime events of higher importance were in progress. Success crowned +our arms in the Mexican war. The military skill, gallantry, and +indomitable resolution of the great captains to whom the chief command +of the war had been committed, (though not by the first choice of the +administration,) aided by the spirit and discipline of the troops, +achieved the conquest of Mexico. Peace was dictated to her from +Washington, and a treaty concluded, by which extensive portions of her +territory, comprising the province of New Mexico and a considerable part +of California, were ceded to the United States. Mr. Webster, foreseeing +that these cessions would prove a Pandora's box of discord and strife +between the different sections of the Union, voted against the +ratification of the treaty. He was sustained in this course by some +Southern Whig Senators, but the constitutional majority deemed any +treaty better than the continuation of the war. + +With the restoration of peace, the question what should be done with the +territories presented itself with alarming prominence. Formidable under +any circumstances, it became doubly so in consequence of the discovery +of gold in California, and the prodigious rush to that quarter of +adventurers from every part of the world. Population flocked into and +took possession of the country, its ancient political organization, +feeble at best, was subverted, and the immediate action of Congress was +necessary to prevent a state of anarchy. The House of Representatives +passed a bill providing for the organization of a territorial government +for the provinces newly acquired from Mexico, with the antislavery +proviso, borrowed from the Ordinance of 1787. This bill failed to pass +the Senate, and nothing was done at the first session of the Thirtieth +Congress to meet the existing emergency in California. + +At the second session, bills were introduced into the Senate for +erecting California and New Mexico into States; the question of slavery +to be left to the people of the States respectively. These bills, +however, did not pass the Senate. A few days before the close of the +session, Mr. Walker of Wisconsin moved an amendment to the general +appropriation bill for the support of government, providing for the +extension of the revenue laws of the United States over California and +New Mexico; to extend the provisions of the Constitution of the United +States to these territories, together with all the laws applicable to +them; and granting authority to the President to appoint the officers +necessary to carry these provisions into effect. This amendment +prevailed in the Senate, but was further amended in the House, by adding +to it the "Wilmot Proviso." The Senate refused to accede to this +amendment of their amendment, and the two houses were brought to the +verge of a disagreement, which would have prevented the passage of the +general appropriation bill, and stopped the wheels of government. The +debates in the Senate were of the most impassioned kind, and were +protracted till five o'clock of Sunday morning, the 4th of March; when +the Senate, on the suggestion of Mr. Webster, disagreed to the amendment +of the House relative to California, and at the same time receded from +their own amendment, and thus passed the general appropriation bill, as +it originally came from the House. All provision for the territories was +necessarily sacrificed by this course; but a bill which had previously +passed the House, extending the revenue laws of the United States to +California, was passed by the Senate, and rescued the people of +California from an entire destitution of government on behalf of the +United States. The Senate on this occasion was, for the first time since +the adoption of the Constitution, on the verge of disorganization; and +it was felt throughout the day and night, that it was saved from falling +into that condition mainly by the parliamentary tact and personal +influence of Mr. Webster. This tribute was paid to Mr. Webster's arduous +exertions on that occasion by a member of Congress warmly opposed to +him. + +Not the least important consequence of the Mexican war was the political +revolution in the United States of which it was the cause. When the +policy of invading and conquering Mexico was determined upon, it was +probably regarded by the administration as a measure calculated to +strengthen their party. Opponents were likely to expose themselves to +odium by disapproving the war. The commanding generals were both Whigs, +and one of them had been named as a candidate for the Presidency. It was +probably thought that, if they succeeded, the glory would accrue to the +administration; if they failed, the discredit would fall upon +themselves. + +If anticipations like these were formed, they were signally +disappointed. A series of the most brilliant triumphs crowned the arms +both of General Taylor and General Scott. Those of General Taylor were +first in time; and as they had been preceded by doubts, anxieties, and, +in the case of Buena Vista, by rumors of disaster, they took the +stronger hold of the public mind. The nomination for the Presidency was +not reserved for the Whig convention. It was in effect made at Palto +Alto and Monterey, and was confirmed at Buena Vista. It was a movement +of the people to which resistance was in vain. + +Statesmen and civilians, however, might well pause for a moment. The +late experience of the country, under a President elected in consequence +of military popularity, was not favorable to a repetition of the +experiment; and General Taylor was wholly unknown in political life. At +the Whig convention in Philadelphia other distinguished Whigs, General +Scott, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Webster, had divided the votes with General +Taylor. He was, however, selected by a great majority as the candidate +of the party. Mr. Webster took the view of this nomination which might +have been expected from a veteran statesman and a civilian of forty +years' experience in the service of the country. He had, in common with +the whole Whig party, in General Jackson's case, opposed the nomination +of a military chieftain. How many Whigs who hailed General Taylor's +nomination with enthusiasm had as good reasons for so doing as Mr. +Webster had for the moderation and reserve with which he spoke of it in +his Marshfield speech? Few persons, at the present day, will find in +that speech any thing, with respect to General Taylor's nomination, from +which a candid and impartial judgment would dissent; and it is well +known, that, in the progress of the canvass, that nomination found no +firmer supporter than Mr. Webster. On his accession to the Presidency, +General Taylor found Mr. Webster disposed and prepared to give his +administration a cordial and efficient support. + +In the summer and autumn of 1849 events of the utmost importance +occurred in California. The people of that region, left almost entirely +without a government by Congress, met in convention to form a +constitution; and although nearly half of the members who were +new-comers were from the Southern States, they unanimously agreed to the +prohibition of slavery. The constitution prepared by the convention was +accepted by the people, and with it they applied for admission to the +Union. General Riley, who had been appointed by the President to command +the forces in that territory, was instructed to facilitate, as far as it +was in his power, the assembling of a convention; and the course pursued +by the convention and the people in the formation of the constitution +was understood to be in all respects approved by President Taylor. + +Other occurrences, however, had in the mean time taken place, which +materially increased the difficulties attending the territorial +question. The subject of slavery had for fifteen or twenty years been +agitated with steadily increasing warmth, and for the latter portion of +the period with growing violence. On the acquisition of the Mexican +provinces, the representatives of the non-slaveholding States generally +deemed it their duty to introduce into the acts passed for their +government a restriction analogous to the antislavery proviso of the +Ordinance of 1787. A motion to this effect having been made by Mr. +Wilmot of Pennsylvania, by way of amendment to one of the appropriation +bills passed during the war, the restriction has obtained the name of +the "Wilmot Proviso." This motion in the House of Representatives was +extensively seconded by the press, by popular assemblies, and by +legislative resolutions throughout the non-slaveholding States, and +caused a considerable increase of antislavery agitation. + +The South, of course, took an interest in the question not inferior +to that of the North. The extension of the United States on the +southwestern frontier has long been a cardinal point in the policy of +most Southern statesmen. The application of an antislavery proviso to +territories acquired by conquest in that quarter came into direct +conflict with this policy. Meetings were accordingly held at +Washington during the first session of the Thirtieth Congress, +attended by a majority of the members from the slaveholding States, +to take into consideration the measures proper to be adopted. At one +of these meetings a sub-committee was appointed, of which Mr. Calhoun +was chairman, to prepare an address "of the Southern delegates to their +constituents." At a subsequent meeting a substitute for this address +was submitted by Mr. Berrien of Georgia, under the title of an address +"to the people of the United States." The original paper was, +however, adopted in preference, and received the signatures of +forty-eight of the members of Congress from the slaveholding States. Of +these all but two were of the Democratic party.[30] + +These proceedings contributed materially to increase the discontents +existing at the South. Nor was the progress of excitement less rapid at +the North. The nomination of General Taylor by the Whig convention, +accompanied by the refusal of that convention to countenance the Wilmot +Proviso, led to the organization of the Free Soil party in the +non-slaveholding States. In the summer of 1848, a convention of +delegates of this party assembled at Buffalo in New York, at which an +antislavery platform was adopted, and Mr. Van Buren was nominated as a +candidate for the Presidency. + +These occurrences and the state of feeling which they created, or +indicated, appeared to Mr. Webster to constitute a crisis in the +condition of the country of a most formidable description. Opinion +at the North and South had, in his judgment, either reached, or was +rapidly reaching, a point at which the cooeperation of the two +sections of the country in carrying on the government as coequal +members of the Federal Union would cease to be practicable. The +constitutional opinions and the views on the subject of slavery set +forth in Mr. Calhoun's address he deemed to be such as could never be +acquiesced in by the non-slaveholding States. On the other hand, the +organization of a party on the basis of antislavery agitation at the +North appeared to him equally menacing to the Union. The professions +of attachment to the Union and the Constitution made on both sides, +and often, no doubt, in entire good faith, did but increase the +danger, by their tendency to produce misapprehension and self-deception +as to the really irreconcilable nature of the opposite extremes of +opinion. + +It was his profound and anxious sense of the dangers of the Union, in +this crisis of affairs, which reconciled Mr. Webster to the nomination +of General Taylor. He saw in his position as a citizen of a Southern +State and a slaveholder the basis of support to his administration from +that quarter of the Union; while his connection with the Whig party, the +known moderation of his views, with his declared sentiments on the +subject of the Presidential veto, were a sufficient ground for the +confidence of the North. In fact, in the existing state of things, it +was soon apparent that there was no other candidate of either party so +well calculated to allay sectional differences, and guide the vessel of +state over the stormy sea of excitement and agitation. + +But whatever reliance might justly have been placed upon the character +and disposition of General Taylor, the prospect of affairs was +sufficiently dark and inauspicious. Thoughtful persons looked forward to +a struggle on the territorial question, at the first session of the +Thirty-first Congress, which would convulse the country. In this state +of things the event which we have already alluded to took place, and +California presented herself for admission as a State, with a +constitution prohibiting slavery. As California was the only portion of +the Mexican territory in reference to which the question was of +practical importance, Mr. Webster derived from this unexpected and +seasonable occurrence a gleam of hope. It removed a topic of controversy +in reference to which it had seemed hopeless to propose any terms of +compromise; and it opened, as it were providentially, the door for an +understanding on other points, on the basis of carrying into execution +existing compacts and constitutional provisions on the one hand, and not +strenuously insisting, on the other hand, upon applying the antislavery +proviso where, as in Utah and New Mexico, he was persuaded it could be +of no practical importance. + +On these principles, and with this object in view, Mr. Webster made his +great speech of the 7th of March, 1850. + +It would be too much to expect, in reference to a subject of so much +difficulty, and one on which the public mind has been so greatly +excited, that a speech of this description should find universal favor +in any part of the country. It is believed, however, that by the +majority of patriotic and reflecting citizens in every part of the +United States, while on single topics there may be differences of +opinion, it has been regarded as holding out a practical basis for the +adjustment of controversies, which had already gone far to dissolve the +Union, and could not be much longer pursued without producing that +result. If those who have most strongly expressed their dissent from the +doctrines of the speech (we do not, of course, allude to the mere clamor +of political or personal enemies) will pause from the work of +denunciation, and make the attempt themselves to lay down _a practicable +platform_ on which this great controversy can in fact be settled, and +the union of the States perpetuated, they will not find it so hard to +censure what is done by others as to do better themselves. It is quite +easy to construct a Southern platform or a Northern platform; the +difficulty is to find a basis on which South and North will be able and +_willing_ to stand together. Of all those who have condemned the views +of Mr. Webster, who has gone further than he, in the speech of the 7th +of March, 1850, to furnish such a basis? Or rather, we may ask, who of +those that have been loudest in condemnation of his course has taken a +single step towards effecting this paramount object? + +Mr. Webster's thoughts are known to have been earnestly and profoundly +employed on this subject from the commencement of the session. He saw +beforehand the difficulties and the dangers incident to the step which +he adopted, but he believed that, unless some such step was taken in the +North, the separation of the States was inevitable. The known state of +opinion of leading members of Congress led him to look for little +support from them. He opened the matter to some of his political +friends, but they did not encourage him in the course he felt bound to +pursue. He found that he could not expect the cooeperation of the members +of Congress from his own State, nor that of many of the members from the +other Northern States. He gave up all attempt to rally beforehand a +party which would sustain him. His own description of his feelings at +the time was, "that he had made up his mind to embark alone on what he +was aware would prove a stormy sea, because, in that case, should final +disaster ensue, there would be but one life lost." But he believed that +the step which he was about to take would be sanctioned by the mass of +the people, and in that reliance he went forward. + +While the compromise measures were still undecided before Congress, +about midsummer of 1850, President Taylor was removed from his high +office by death. In the reorganization of the executive occasioned by +this event, Mr. Webster, to the general satisfaction of the country, was +placed by President Fillmore at the head of the administration. +Subsequent events are too recent to need to be described. The +correspondence with the Austrian Charge d'Affaires is the worthy +complement, after an interval of a quarter of a century, to the profound +discussion of international politics contained in the speech of January, +1824, on the revolution in Greece, and that of 1826, on the Congress of +Panama. We have before us a translation of this correspondence furtively +published in Germany, and circulated throughout the Austrian empire. The +fervid appeals to the patriotism of the people, with which Mr. Webster +has electrified the Union on various occasions during the last nine +months, have contributed materially to the great work of sectional +conciliation; and his last noble effort, on laying the corner-stone of +the Capitol, will be read with admiration as long as the Capitol itself +shall last. + + * * * * * + +Such, in a brief and imperfect narrative, is the public life of Mr. +Webster, extending over a period of forty years, marked by the +occurrence of events of great importance. It has been the aim of the +writer to prevent the pen of the biographer from being too much +influenced by the partiality of the friend. Should he seem to the +candid not wholly to have escaped that error, (which, however, he +trusts will not be the case,) he ventures to hope that it will be +forgiven to an intimacy which commenced in the youth of one of the +parties and the boyhood of the other, and which has subsisted for +nearly half a century. It will be admitted, he thinks, by every one, +that this career, however inadequately delineated, has been one of +singular eminence and brilliancy. Entering upon public life at the +close of the first epoch in the political history of the United +States under the present Constitution, Mr. Webster has stood below +none of the distinguished men who have impressed their character on the +second. + +There is a class of public questions in reference to which the opinions +of most men are greatly influenced by prejudices founded in natural +temperament, early association, and real or supposed local interest. As +far as such questions are concerned, it is too much to hope that, in +times of high party excitement, full justice will be done to prominent +statesmen by those of their contemporaries who differ from them. We +greatly err, however, if candid men of all parties, and in all parts of +the country, do not accord to Mr. Webster the praise of having formed to +himself a large and generous view of the character of an American +statesman, and of having adopted the loftiest standard of public +conduct. They will agree that he has conceived, in all its importance, +the position of the country as a member of the great family of nations, +and as the leading republican government. In reference to domestic +politics it will be as generally conceded, that, reposing less than most +public men on a party basis, it has been the main object of his life to +confirm and perpetuate the great work of the constitutional fathers of +the last generation. + +By their wisdom and patriotic forethought we are blessed with a system +in which the several States are brought into a union so admirably +composed and balanced,--both complicated and kept distinct with such +skill,--as to seem less a work of human prudence than of Providential +interposition.[31] Mr. Webster has at all times been fully aware of the +evils of anarchy, discord, and civil war at home, and of utter national +insignificance abroad, from which the formation of the Union saved us. +He has been not less sensible to the obstacles to be overcome the perils +to be encountered, and the sufferings to be borne, before this wonderful +framework of government could be established. And he has been firmly +persuaded that, if once destroyed, it can never be reconstructed. With +these views, his political life has been consecrated to the maintenance +in all their strength of the principles on which the Constitution +rests, and to the support of the system of government created by it. + +The key to his whole political course is the belief that, when the Union +is dissolved, the internal peace, the vigorous growth, and the +prosperity of the States, and the welfare of their inhabitants, are +blighted for ever, and that, while the Union endures, all else of trial +and calamity which can befall a nation may be remedied or borne. So +believing, he has pursued a course which has earned for him an honored +name among those who have discharged the duty of good citizens with the +most distinguished ability, zeal, and benefit to the country. In the +relations of civilized life, there is no higher service which man can +render to man, than thus to preserve a wise constitution of government +in healthful action. Nor does the most eloquent of the statesmen of +antiquity content himself with pronouncing this the highest human merit. +In that admirable treatise on the Republic, of which some precious +chapters have been restored to us after having been lost for ages, he +does not hesitate to affirm, that there is nothing in which human virtue +approaches nearer the divine, than in establishing and preserving +states: "neque enim ulla res est, in qua propius ad deorum numen virtus +accedat humana, quam civitates aut condere novas aut conservare jam +conditas."[32] + + +FOOTNOTES + + [30] In compiling this narrative much use has been made of the third + volume of the work entitled "The Statesman's Manual," a most + useful work of reference. + + [31] This idea is beautifully expressed in the following passage of a + late letter from Mr. Webster, in reply to an invitation from the + citizens of Macon, Georgia:-- + + "The States are united, not consolidated; + + 'Not, chaos-like, together crashed and bruised, + But, like the world, harmoniously confused, + Where order in variety we see; + And where, though all things differ, all agree.'" + + [32] M. Tulli Ciceronis de Re Publica quae supersunt, edente Angelo + Maio. Lib. I. Sec. 7. + + + + +FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + +The first public anniversary celebration of the landing of the Pilgrims +at Plymouth took place under the auspices of the "Old Colony Club," +of whose formation an account may be found in the interesting little +work of William S. Russell, Esq., entitled "Guide to Plymouth and +Recollections of the Pilgrims." + +This club was formed for general purposes of social intercourse, in +1769; but its members determined, by a vote passed on Monday the 18th of +December of that year, "to keep" Friday, the 22d, in commemoration of +the landing of the fathers. A particular account of the simple +festivities of this first public celebration of the landing of the +Pilgrims will be found at page 220 of Mr. Russell's work. + +The following year, the anniversary was celebrated much in the same +manner as in 1769, with the addition of a short address, pronounced +"with modest and decent firmness, by a member of the club, Edward +Winslow, Jr., Esq.," being the first address ever delivered on this +occasion. + +In 1771, it was suggested by Rev. Chandler Robbins, pastor of the First +Church at Plymouth, in a letter addressed to the club, "whether it would +not be agreeable, for the entertainment and instruction of the rising +generation on these anniversaries, to have a sermon in public, some part +of the day, peculiarly adapted to the occasion." This recommendation +prevailed, and an appropriate discourse was delivered the following year +by the Rev. Dr. Robbins. + +In 1773 the Old Colony Club was dissolved, in consequence of the +conflicting opinions of its members on the great political questions +then agitated. Notwithstanding this event, the anniversary celebrations +of the 22d of December continued without interruption till 1780, when +they were suspended. After an interval of fourteen years, a public +discourse was again delivered by the Rev. Dr. Robbins. Private +celebrations took place the four following years, and from that time +till the year 1819, with one or two exceptions, the day was annually +commemorated, and public addresses were delivered by distinguished +clergymen and laymen of Massachusetts. + +In 1820 the "Pilgrim Society" was formed by the citizens of Plymouth and +the descendants of the Pilgrims in other places, desirous of uniting "to +commemorate the landing, and to honor the memory of the intrepid men who +first set foot on Plymouth rock." The foundation of this society gave a +new impulse to the anniversary celebrations of this great event. The +Hon. Daniel Webster was requested to deliver the public address on the +22d of December of that year, and the following discourse was pronounced +by him on the ever-memorable occasion. Great public expectation was +awakened by the fame of the orator; an immense concourse assembled at +Plymouth to unite in the celebration; and it may be safely anticipated, +that some portion of the powerful effect of the following address on the +minds of those who were so fortunate as to hear it, will be perpetuated +by the press to the latest posterity. + +From 1820 to the present day, with occasional interruptions, the 22d of +December has been celebrated by the Pilgrim Society. A list of all those +by whom anniversary discourses have been delivered since the first +organization of the Old Colony Club, in 1769, may be found in Mr. +Russell's work. + +Nor has the notice of the day been confined to New England. Public +celebrations of the landing of the Pilgrims have been frequent in other +parts of the country, particularly in New York. The New England Society +of that city has rarely permitted the day to pass without appropriate +honors. Similar societies have been formed at Philadelphia, Charleston, +S. C., and Cincinnati, and the day has been publicly commemorated in +several other parts of the country. + + + + +FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.[33] + + +Let us rejoice that we behold this day. Let us be thankful that we have +lived to see the bright and happy breaking of the auspicious morn, which +commences the third century of the history of New England. Auspicious, +indeed,--bringing a happiness beyond the common allotment of Providence +to men,--full of present joy, and gilding with bright beams the prospect +of futurity, is the dawn that awakens us to the commemoration of the +landing of the Pilgrims. + +Living at an epoch which naturally marks the progress of the history of +our native land, we have come hither to celebrate the great event with +which that history commenced. For ever honored be this, the place of our +fathers' refuge! For ever remembered the day which saw them, weary and +distressed, broken in every thing but spirit, poor in all but faith and +courage, at last secure from the dangers of wintry seas, and impressing +this shore with the first footsteps of civilized man! + +It is a noble faculty of our nature which enables us to connect our +thoughts, our sympathies, and our happiness with what is distant in +place or time; and, looking before and after, to hold communion at once +with our ancestors and our posterity. Human and mortal although we are, +we are nevertheless not mere insulated beings, without relation to the +past or the future. Neither the point of time, nor the spot of earth, in +which we physically live, bounds our rational and intellectual +enjoyments. We live in the past by a knowledge of its history; and in +the future by hope and anticipation. By ascending to an association with +our ancestors; by contemplating their example and studying their +character; by partaking their sentiments, and imbibing their spirit; by +accompanying them in their toils, by sympathizing in their sufferings, +and rejoicing in their successes and their triumphs; we seem to belong +to their age, and to mingle our own existence with theirs. We become +their contemporaries, live the lives which they lived, endure what they +endured, and partake in the rewards which they enjoyed. And in like +manner, by running along the line of future time, by contemplating the +probable fortunes of those who are coming after us, by attempting +something which may promote their happiness, and leave some not +dishonorable memorial of ourselves for their regard, when we shall sleep +with the fathers, we protract our own earthly being, and seem to crowd +whatever is future, as well as all that is past, into the narrow compass +of our earthly existence. As it is not a vain and false, but an exalted +and religious imagination, which leads us to raise our thoughts from the +orb, which, amidst this universe of worlds, the Creator has given us to +inhabit, and to send them with something of the feeling which nature +prompts, and teaches to be proper among children of the same Eternal +Parent, to the contemplation of the myriads of fellow-beings, with which +his goodness has peopled the infinite of space; so neither is it false +or vain to consider ourselves as interested and connected with our whole +race, through all time; allied to our ancestors; allied to our +posterity; closely compacted on all sides with others; ourselves being +but links in the great chain of being, which begins with the origin of +our race, runs onward through its successive generations, binding +together the past, the present, and the future, and terminating at last, +with the consummation of all things earthly, at the throne of God. + +There may be, and there often is, indeed, a regard for ancestry, which +nourishes only a weak pride; as there is also a care for posterity, +which only disguises an habitual avarice, or hides the workings of a low +and grovelling vanity. But there is also a moral and philosophical +respect for our ancestors, which elevates the character and improves the +heart. Next to the sense of religious duty and moral feeling, I hardly +know what should bear with stronger obligation on a liberal and +enlightened mind, than a consciousness of alliance with excellence which +is departed; and a consciousness, too, that in its acts and conduct, +and even in its sentiments and thoughts, it may be actively operating on +the happiness of those who come after it. Poetry is found to have few +stronger conceptions, by which it would affect or overwhelm the mind, +than those in which it presents the moving and speaking image of the +departed dead to the senses of the living. This belongs to poetry, only +because it is congenial to our nature. Poetry is, in this respect, but +the handmaid of true philosophy and morality; it deals with us as human +beings, naturally reverencing those whose visible connection with this +state of existence is severed, and who may yet exercise we know not what +sympathy with ourselves; and when it carries us forward, also, and shows +us the long continued result of all the good we do, in the prosperity of +those who follow us, till it bears us from ourselves, and absorbs us in +an intense interest for what shall happen to the generations after us, +it speaks only in the language of our nature, and affects us with +sentiments which belong to us as human beings. + +Standing in this relation to our ancestors and our posterity, we are +assembled on this memorable spot, to perform the duties which that +relation and the present occasion impose upon us. We have come to this +Rock, to record here our homage for our Pilgrim Fathers; our sympathy in +their sufferings; our gratitude for their labors; our admiration of +their virtues; our veneration for their piety; and our attachment to +those principles of civil and religious liberty, which they encountered +the dangers of the ocean, the storms of heaven, the violence of savages, +disease, exile, and famine, to enjoy and to establish. And we would +leave here, also, for the generations which are rising up rapidly to +fill our places, some proof that we have endeavored to transmit the +great inheritance unimpaired; that in our estimate of public principles +and private virtue, in our veneration of religion and piety, in our +devotion to civil and religious liberty, in our regard for whatever +advances human knowledge or improves human happiness, we are not +altogether unworthy of our origin. + +There is a local feeling connected with this occasion, too strong to be +resisted; a sort of _genius of the place_, which inspires and awes us. +We feel that we are on the spot where the first scene of our history was +laid; where the hearths and altars of New England were first placed; +where Christianity, and civilization, and letters made their first +lodgement in a vast extent of country, covered with a wilderness, and +peopled by roving barbarians. We are here, at the season of the year at +which the event took place. The imagination irresistibly and rapidly +draws around us the principal features and the leading characters in the +original scene. We cast our eyes abroad on the ocean, and we see where +the little bark, with the interesting group upon its deck, made its slow +progress to the shore. We look around us, and behold the hills and +promontories where the anxious eyes of our fathers first saw the places +of habitation and of rest. We feel the cold which benumbed, and listen +to the winds which pierced them. Beneath us is the Rock,[34] on which +New England received the feet of the Pilgrims. We seem even to behold +them, as they struggle with the elements, and, with toilsome efforts, +gain the shore. We listen to the chiefs in council; we see the +unexampled exhibition of female fortitude and resignation; we hear the +whisperings of youthful impatience, and we see, what a painter of our +own has also represented by his pencil,[35] chilled and shivering +childhood, houseless, but for a mother's arms, couchless, but for a +mother's breast, till our own blood almost freezes. The mild dignity of +CARVER and of BRADFORD; the decisive and soldierlike air and manner of +STANDISH; the devout BREWSTER; the enterprising ALLERTON;[36] the +general firmness and thoughtfulness of the whole band; their conscious +joy for dangers escaped; their deep solicitude about dangers to come; +their trust in Heaven; their high religious faith, full of confidence +and anticipation; all of these seem to belong to this place, and to be +present upon this occasion, to fill us with reverence and admiration. + +The settlement of New England by the colony which landed here[37] on the +twenty-second[38] of December, sixteen hundred and twenty, although not +the first European establishment in what now constitutes the United +States, was yet so peculiar in its causes and character, and has been +followed and must still be followed by such consequences, as to give it +a high claim to lasting commemoration. On these causes and consequences, +more than on its immediately attendant circumstances, its importance, as +an historical event, depends. Great actions and striking occurrences, +having excited a temporary admiration, often pass away and are +forgotten, because they leave no lasting results, affecting the +prosperity and happiness of communities. Such is frequently the fortune +of the most brilliant military achievements. Of the ten thousand battles +which have been fought, of all the fields fertilized with carnage, of +the banners which have been bathed in blood, of the warriors who have +hoped that they had risen from the field of conquest to a glory as +bright and as durable as the stars, how few that continue long to +interest mankind! The victory of yesterday is reversed by the defeat of +to-day; the star of military glory, rising like a meteor, like a meteor +has fallen; disgrace and disaster hang on the heels of conquest and +renown; victor and vanquished presently pass away to oblivion, and the +world goes on in its course, with the loss only of so many lives and so +much treasure. + +But if this be frequently, or generally, the fortune of military +achievements, it is not always so. There are enterprises, military as +well as civil, which sometimes check the current of events, give a new +turn to human affairs, and transmit their consequences through ages. We +see their importance in their results, and call them great, because +great things follow. There have been battles which have fixed the fate +of nations. These come down to us in history with a solid and permanent +interest, not created by a display of glittering armor, the rush of +adverse battalions, the sinking and rising of pennons, the flight, the +pursuit, and the victory; but by their effect in advancing or retarding +human knowledge, in overthrowing or establishing despotism, in extending +or destroying human happiness. When the traveller pauses on the plain of +Marathon, what are the emotions which most strongly agitate his breast? +What is that glorious recollection, which thrills through his frame, and +suffuses his eyes? Not, I imagine, that Grecian skill and Grecian valor +were here most signally displayed; but that Greece herself was saved. It +is because to this spot, and to the event which has rendered it +immortal, he refers all the succeeding glories of the republic. It is +because, if that day had gone otherwise, Greece had perished. It is +because he perceives that her philosophers and orators, her poets and +painters, her sculptors and architects, her governments and free +institutions, point backward to Marathon, and that their future +existence seems to have been suspended on the contingency, whether the +Persian or the Grecian banner should wave victorious in the beams of +that day's setting sun. And, as his imagination kindles at the +retrospect, he is transported back to the interesting moment; he counts +the fearful odds of the contending hosts; his interest for the result +overwhelms him; he trembles, as if it were still uncertain, and seems to +doubt whether he may consider Socrates and Plato, Demosthenes, +Sophocles, and Phidias, as secure, yet, to himself and to the world. + +"If we conquer," said the Athenian commander on the approach of that +decisive day, "if we conquer, we shall make Athens the greatest city of +Greece."[39] A prophecy, how well fulfilled! "If God prosper us," might +have been the more appropriate language of our fathers, when they landed +upon this Rock, "if God prosper us, we shall here begin a work which +shall last for ages; we shall plant here a new society, in the +principles of the fullest liberty and the purest religion; we shall +subdue this wilderness which is before us; we shall fill this region of +the great continent, which stretches almost from pole to pole, with +civilization and Christianity; the temples of the true God shall rise, +where now ascends the smoke of idolatrous sacrifice; fields and gardens, +the flowers of summer, and the waving and golden harvest of autumn, +shall spread over a thousand hills, and stretch along a thousand +valleys, never yet, since the creation, reclaimed to the use of +civilized man. We shall whiten this coast with the canvas of a +prosperous commerce; we shall stud the long and winding shore with a +hundred cities. That which we sow in weakness shall be raised in +strength. From our sincere, but houseless worship, there shall spring +splendid temples to record God's goodness; from the simplicity of our +social union, there shall arise wise and politic constitutions of +government, full of the liberty which we ourselves bring and breathe; +from our zeal for learning, institutions shall spring which shall +scatter the light of knowledge throughout the land, and, in time, paying +back where they have borrowed, shall contribute their part to the great +aggregate of human knowledge; and our descendants, through all +generations, shall look back to this spot, and to this hour, with +unabated affection and regard." + + * * * * * + +A brief remembrance of the causes which led to the settlement of +this place; some account of the peculiarities and characteristic +qualities of that settlement, as distinguished from other instances +of colonization; a short notice of the progress of New England in the +great interests of society, during the century which is now elapsed; +with a few observations on the principles upon which society and +government are established in this country; comprise all that can be +attempted, and much more than can be satisfactorily performed, on the +present occasion. + + * * * * * + +Of the motives which influenced the first settlers to a voluntary exile, +induced them to relinquish their native country, and to seek an asylum +in this then unexplored wilderness, the first and principal, no doubt, +were connected with religion. They sought to enjoy a higher degree of +religious freedom, and what they esteemed a purer form of religious +worship, than was allowed to their choice, or presented to their +imitation, in the Old World. The love of religious liberty is a stronger +sentiment, when fully excited, than an attachment to civil or political +freedom. That freedom which the conscience demands, and which men feel +bound by their hope of salvation to contend for, can hardly fail to be +attained. Conscience, in the cause of religion and the worship of the +Deity, prepares the mind to act and to suffer beyond almost all other +causes. It sometimes gives an impulse so irresistible, that no fetters +of power or of opinion can withstand it. History instructs us that this +love of religious liberty, a compound sentiment in the breast of man, +made up of the clearest sense of right and the highest conviction of +duty, is able to look the sternest despotism in the face, and, with +means apparently most inadequate, to shake principalities and powers. +There is a boldness, a spirit of daring, in religious reformers, not to +be measured by the general rules which control men's purposes and +actions. If the hand of power be laid upon it, this only seems to +augment its force and its elasticity, and to cause its action to be more +formidable and violent. Human invention has devised nothing, human power +has compassed nothing, that can forcibly restrain it, when it breaks +forth. Nothing can stop it, but to give way to it; nothing can check it, +but indulgence. It loses its power only when it has gained its object. +The principle of toleration, to which the world has come so slowly, is +at once the most just and the most wise of all principles. Even when +religious feeling takes a character of extravagance and enthusiasm, and +seems to threaten the order of society and shake the columns of the +social edifice, its principal danger is in its restraint. If it be +allowed indulgence and expansion, like the elemental fires, it only +agitates, and perhaps purifies, the atmosphere; while its efforts to +throw off restraint would burst the world asunder. + +It is certain, that, although many of them were republicans in +principle, we have no evidence that our New England ancestors would have +emigrated, as they did, from their own native country, would have become +wanderers in Europe, and finally would have undertaken the establishment +of a colony here, merely from their dislike of the political systems of +Europe. They fled not so much from the civil government, as from the +hierarchy, and the laws which enforced conformity to the church +establishment. Mr. Robinson had left England as early as 1608, on +account of the persecutions for nonconformity, and had retired to +Holland. He left England, from no disappointed ambition in affairs of +state, from no regrets at the want of preferment in the church, nor from +any motive of distinction or of gain. Uniformity in matters of religion +was pressed with such extreme rigor, that a voluntary exile seemed the +most eligible mode of escaping from the penalties of noncompliance. The +accession of Elizabeth had, it is true, quenched the fires of +Smithfield, and put an end to the easy acquisition of the crown of +martyrdom. Her long reign had established the Reformation, but +toleration was a virtue beyond her conception, and beyond the age. She +left no example of it to her successor; and he was not of a character +which rendered it probable that a sentiment either so wise or so liberal +would originate with him. At the present period it seems incredible, +that the learned, accomplished, unassuming, and inoffensive Robinson +should neither be tolerated in his peaceable mode of worship in his own +country, nor suffered quietly to depart from it. Yet such was the fact. +He left his country by stealth, that he might elsewhere enjoy those +rights which ought to belong to men in all countries. The departure of +the Pilgrims for Holland is deeply interesting, from its circumstances, +and also as it marks the character of the times, independently of its +connection with names now incorporated with the history of empire. The +embarkation was intended to be made in such a manner, that it might +escape the notice of the officers of government. Great pains had been +taken to secure boats, which should come undiscovered to the shore, and +receive the fugitives; and frequent disappointments had been experienced +in this respect. + +At length the appointed time came, bringing with it unusual severity of +cold and rain. An unfrequented and barren heath, on the shores of +Lincolnshire, was the selected spot, where the feet of the Pilgrims were +to tread, for the last time, the land of their fathers. The vessel which +was to receive them did not come until the next day, and in the mean +time the little band was collected, and men and women and children and +baggage were crowded together, in melancholy and distressed confusion. +The sea was rough, and the women and children were already sick, from +their passage down the river to the place of embarkation on the sea. At +length the wished-for boat silently and fearfully approaches the shore, +and men and women and children, shaking with fear and with cold, as many +as the small vessel could bear, venture off on a dangerous sea. +Immediately the advance of horses is heard from behind, armed men +appear, and those not yet embarked are seized, and taken into custody. +In the hurry of the moment, the first parties had been sent on board +without any attempt to keep members of the same family together, and on +account of the appearance of the horsemen, the boat never returned for +the residue. Those who had got away, and those who had not, were in +equal distress. A storm, of great violence, and long duration, arose at +sea, which not only protracted the voyage, rendered distressing by the +want of all those accommodations which the interruption of the +embarkation had occasioned, but also forced the vessel out of her +course, and menaced immediate shipwreck; while those on shore, when they +were dismissed from the custody of the officers of justice, having no +longer homes or houses to retire to, and their friends and protectors +being already gone, became objects of necessary charity, as well as of +deep commiseration. + +As this scene passes before us, we can hardly forbear asking, whether +this be a band of malefactors and felons flying from justice. What are +their crimes, that they hide themselves in darkness? To what punishment +are they exposed, that, to avoid it, men, and women, and children, thus +encounter the surf of the North Sea, and the terrors of a night storm? +What induces this armed pursuit, and this arrest of fugitives, of all +ages and both sexes? Truth does not allow us to answer these inquiries +in a manner that does credit to the wisdom or the justice of the times. +This was not the flight of guilt, but of virtue. It was an humble and +peaceable religion, flying from causeless oppression. It was conscience, +attempting to escape from the arbitrary rule of the Stuarts. It was +Robinson and Brewster, leading off their little band from their native +soil, at first to find shelter on the shore of the neighboring +continent, but ultimately to come hither; and having surmounted all +difficulties and braved a thousand dangers, to find here a place of +refuge and of rest. Thanks be to God, that this spot was honored as the +asylum of religious liberty! May its standard, reared here, remain for +ever! May it rise up as high as heaven, till its banner shall fan the +air of both continents, and wave as a glorious ensign of peace and +security to the nations! + + * * * * * + +The peculiar character, condition, and circumstances of the colonies +which introduced civilization and an English race into New England, +afford a most interesting and extensive topic of discussion. On these, +much of our subsequent character and fortune has depended. Their +influence has essentially affected our whole history, through the two +centuries which have elapsed; and as they have become intimately +connected with government, laws, and property, as well as with our +opinions on the subjects of religion and civil liberty, that influence +is likely to continue to be felt through the centuries which shall +succeed. Emigration from one region to another, and the emission of +colonies to people countries more or less distant from the residence of +the parent stock, are common incidents in the history of mankind; but it +has not often, perhaps never, happened, that the establishment of +colonies should be attempted under circumstances, however beset with +present difficulties and dangers, yet so favorable to ultimate success, +and so conducive to magnificent results, as those which attended the +first settlements on this part of the American continent. In other +instances, emigration has proceeded from a less exalted purpose, in +periods of less general intelligence, or more without plan and by +accident; or under circumstances, physical and moral, less favorable to +the expectation of laying a foundation for great public prosperity and +future empire. + +A great resemblance exists, obviously, between all the English colonies +established within the present limits of the United States; but the +occasion attracts our attention more immediately to those which took +possession of New England, and the peculiarities of these furnish a +strong contrast with most other instances of colonization. + +Among the ancient nations, the Greeks, no doubt, sent forth from their +territories the greatest number of colonies. So numerous, indeed, were +they, and so great the extent of space over which they were spread, that +the parent country fondly and naturally persuaded herself, that by means +of them she had laid a sure foundation for the universal civilization of +the world. These establishments, from obvious causes, were most numerous +in places most contiguous; yet they were found on the coasts of France, +on the shores of the Euxine Sea, in Africa, and even, as is alleged, on +the borders of India. These emigrations appear to have been sometimes +voluntary and sometimes compulsory; arising from the spontaneous +enterprise of individuals, or the order and regulation of government. It +was a common opinion with ancient writers, that they were undertaken in +religious obedience to the commands of oracles, and it is probable that +impressions of this sort might have had more or less influence; but it +is probable, also, that on these occasions the oracles did not speak a +language dissonant from the views and purposes of the state. + +Political science among the Greeks seems never to have extended to the +comprehension of a system, which should be adequate to the government of +a great nation upon principles of liberty. They were accustomed only to +the contemplation of small republics, and were led to consider an +augmented population as incompatible with free institutions. The desire +of a remedy for this supposed evil, and the wish to establish marts for +trade, led the governments often to undertake the establishment of +colonies as an affair of state expediency. Colonization and commerce, +indeed, would naturally become objects of interest to an ingenious and +enterprising people, inhabiting a territory closely circumscribed in its +limits, and in no small part mountainous and sterile; while the islands +of the adjacent seas, and the promontories and coasts of the neighboring +continents, by their mere proximity, strongly solicited the excited +spirit of emigration. Such was this proximity, in many instances, that +the new settlements appeared rather to be the mere extension of +population over contiguous territory, than the establishment of distant +colonies. In proportion as they were near to the parent state, they +would be under its authority, and partake of its fortunes. The colony at +Marseilles might perceive lightly, or not at all, the sway of Phocis; +while the islands in the AEgean Sea could hardly attain to independence +of their Athenian origin. Many of these establishments took place at an +early age; and if there were defects in the governments of the parent +states, the colonists did not possess philosophy or experience +sufficient to correct such evils in their own institutions, even if they +had not been, by other causes, deprived of the power. An immediate +necessity, connected with the support of life, was the main and direct +inducement to these undertakings, and there could hardly exist more than +the hope of a successful imitation of institutions with which they were +already acquainted, and of holding an equality with their neighbors in +the course of improvement. The laws and customs, both political and +municipal, as well as the religious worship of the parent city, were +transferred to the colony; and the parent city herself, with all such of +her colonies as were not too far remote for frequent intercourse and +common sentiments, would appear like a family of cities, more or less +dependent, and more or less connected. We know how imperfect this system +was, as a system of general politics, and what scope it gave to those +mutual dissensions and conflicts which proved so fatal to Greece. + +But it is more pertinent to our present purpose to observe, that nothing +existed in the character of Grecian emigrations, or in the spirit and +intelligence of the emigrants, likely to give a new and important +direction to human affairs, or a new impulse to the human mind. Their +motives were not high enough, their views were not sufficiently large +and prospective. They went not forth, like our ancestors, to erect +systems of more perfect civil liberty, or to enjoy a higher degree of +religious freedom. Above all, there was nothing in the religion and +learning of the age, that could either inspire high purposes, or give +the ability to execute them. Whatever restraints on civil liberty, or +whatever abuses in religious worship, existed at the time of our +fathers' emigration, yet even then all was light in the moral and mental +world, in comparison with its condition in most periods of the ancient +states. The settlement of a new continent, in an age of progressive +knowledge and improvement, could not but do more than merely enlarge the +natural boundaries of the habitable world. It could not but do much more +even than extend commerce and increase wealth among the human race. We +see how this event has acted, how it must have acted, and wonder only +why it did not act sooner, in the production of moral effects, on the +state of human knowledge, the general tone of human sentiments, and the +prospects of human happiness. It gave to civilized man not only a new +continent to be inhabited and cultivated, and new seas to be explored; +but it gave him also a new range for his thoughts, new objects for +curiosity, and new excitements to knowledge and improvement. + +Roman colonization resembled, far less than that of the Greeks, the +original settlements of this country. Power and dominion were the +objects of Rome, even in her colonial establishments. Her whole exterior +aspect was for centuries hostile and terrific She grasped at dominion, +from India to Britain, and her measures of colonization partook of the +character of her general system. Her policy was military, because +her objects were power, ascendency, and subjugation. Detachments of +emigrants from Rome incorporated themselves with, and governed, the +original inhabitants of conquered countries. She sent citizens where +she had first sent soldiers; her law followed her sword. Her colonies +were a sort of military establishment; so many advanced posts in the +career of her dominion. A governor from Rome ruled the new colony with +absolute sway, and often with unbounded rapacity. In Sicily, in Gaul, +in Spain, and in Asia, the power of Rome prevailed, not nominally +only, but really and effectually. Those who immediately exercised it +were Roman; the tone and tendency of its administration, Roman. Rome +herself continued to be the heart and centre of the great system which +she had established. Extortion and rapacity, finding a wide and often +rich field of action in the provinces, looked nevertheless to the +banks of the Tiber, as the scene in which their ill-gotten treasures +should be displayed; or, if a spirit of more honest acquisition +prevailed, the object, nevertheless, was ultimate enjoyment in Rome +itself. If our own history and our own times did not sufficiently +expose the inherent and incurable evils of provincial government, we +might see them portrayed, to our amazement, in the desolated and +ruined provinces of the Roman empire. We might hear them, in a voice +that terrifies us, in those strains of complaint and accusation, +which the advocates of the provinces poured forth in the Roman +Forum:--"Quas res luxuries in flagitiis, crudelitas in suppliciis, +avaritia in rapinis, superbia in contumeliis, efficere potuisset, eas +omnes sese pertulisse." + +As was to be expected, the Roman Provinces partook of the fortunes, +as well as of the sentiments and general character, of the seat of +empire. They lived together with her, they flourished with her, and fell +with her. The branches were lopped away even before the vast and +venerable trunk itself fell prostrate to the earth. Nothing had +proceeded from her which could support itself; and bear up the name +of its origin, when her own sustaining arm should be enfeebled or +withdrawn. It was not given to Rome to see, either at her zenith or +in her decline, a child of her own, distant, indeed, and independent of +her control, yet speaking her language and inheriting her blood, +springing forward to a competition with her own power, and a comparison +with her own great renown. She saw not a vast region of the earth +peopled from her stock, full of states and political communities, +improving upon the models of her institutions, and breathing in fuller +measure the spirit which she had breathed in the best periods of her +existence; enjoying and extending her arts and her literature; +rising rapidly from political childhood to manly strength and +independence; her offspring, yet now her equal; unconnected with the +causes which might affect the duration of her own power and greatness; +of common origin, but not linked to a common fate; giving ample +pledge, that her name should not be forgotten, that her language +should not cease to be used among men; that whatsoever she had done +for human knowledge and human happiness should be treasured up and +preserved; that the record of her existence and her achievements +should not be obscured, although, in the inscrutable purposes of +Providence, it might be her destiny to fall from opulence and +splendor; although the time might come, when darkness should settle +on all her hills; when foreign or domestic violence should overturn +her altars and her temples; when ignorance and despotism should fill +the places where Laws, and Arts, and Liberty had flourished; when the +feet of barbarism should trample on the tombs of her consuls, and the +walls of her senate-house and forum echo only to the voice of savage +triumph. She saw not this glorious vision, to inspire and fortify her +against the possible decay or downfall of her power. Happy are they +who in our day may behold it, if they shall contemplate it with the +sentiments which it ought to inspire! + +The New England Colonies differ quite as widely from the Asiatic +establishments of the modern European nations, as from the models of the +ancient states. The sole object of those establishments was originally +trade; although we have seen, in one of them, the anomaly of a mere +trading company attaining a political character, disbursing revenues, +and maintaining armies and fortresses, until it has extended its control +over seventy millions of people. Differing from these, and still more +from the New England and North American Colonies, are the European +settlements in the West India Islands. It is not strange, that, when +men's minds were turned to the settlement of America, different objects +should be proposed by those who emigrated to the different regions of so +vast a country. Climate, soil, and condition were not all equally +favorable to all pursuits. In the West Indies, the purpose of those who +went thither was to engage in that species of agriculture, suited to the +soil and climate, which seems to bear more resemblance to commerce, than +to the hard and plain tillage of New England. The great staples of these +countries, being partly an agricultural and partly a manufactured +product, and not being of the necessaries of life, become the object of +calculation, with respect to a profitable investment of capital, like +any other enterprise of trade or manufacture. The more especially, as, +requiring, by necessity or habit, slave labor for their production, the +capital necessary to carry on the work of this production is very +considerable. The West Indies are resorted to, therefore, rather for the +investment of capital, than for the purpose of sustaining life by +personal labor. Such as possess a considerable amount of capital, or +such as choose to adventure in commercial speculations without capital, +can alone be fitted to be emigrants to the islands. The agriculture of +these regions, as before observed, is a sort of commerce; and it is a +species of employment in which labor seems to form as inconsiderable +ingredient in the productive causes, since the portion of white labor is +exceedingly small, and slave labor is rather more like profit on stock +or capital, than _labor_ properly so called. The individual who +undertakes an establishment of this kind takes into the account the cost +of the necessary number of slaves, in the same manner as he calculates +the cost of the land. The uncertainty, too, of this species of +employment, affords another ground of resemblance to commerce. Although +gainful on the whole, and in a series of years, it is often very +disastrous for a single year, and, as the capital is not readily +invested in other pursuits, bad crops or bad markets not only affect the +profits, but the capital itself. Hence the sudden depressions which take +place in the value of such estates. + +But the great and leading observation, relative to these establishments, +remains to be made. It is, that the owners of the soil and of the +capital seldom consider themselves _at home_ in the colony. A very great +portion of the soil itself is usually owned in the mother country; a +still greater is mortgaged for capital obtained there; and, in general, +those who are to derive an interest from the products look to the parent +country as the place for enjoyment of their wealth. The population is +therefore constantly fluctuating. Nobody comes but to return. A constant +succession of owners, agents, and factors takes place. Whatsoever the +soil, forced by the unmitigated toil of slavery, can yield, is sent home +to defray rents, and interest, and agencies, or to give the means of +living in a better society. In such a state, it is evident that no +spirit of permanent improvement is likely to spring up. Profits will not +be invested with a distant view of benefiting posterity. Roads and +canals will hardly be built; schools will not be founded; colleges will +not be endowed. There will be few fixtures in society; no principles of +utility or of elegance, planted now, with the hope of being developed +and expanded hereafter. Profit, immediate profit, must be the principal +active spring in the social system. There may be many particular +exceptions to these general remarks, but the outline of the whole is +such as is here drawn. + +Another most important consequence of such a state of things is, that no +idea of independence of the parent country is likely to arise; unless, +indeed, it should spring up in a form that would threaten universal +desolation. The inhabitants have no strong attachment to the place which +they inhabit. The hope of a great portion of them is to leave it; and +their great desire, to leave it soon. However useful they may be to the +parent state, how much soever they may add to the conveniences and +luxuries of life, these colonies are not favored spots for the expansion +of the human mind, for the progress of permanent improvement, or for +sowing the seeds of future independent empire. + +Different, indeed, most widely different, from all these instances of +emigration and plantation, were the condition, the purposes, and the +prospects of our fathers, when they established their infant colony upon +this spot. They came hither to a land from which they were never to +return. Hither they had brought, and here they were to fix, their hopes, +their attachments, and their objects in life. Some natural tears they +shed, as they left the pleasant abodes of their fathers, and some +emotions they suppressed, when the white cliffs of their native country, +now seen for the last time, grew dim to their sight. They were acting, +however, upon a resolution not to be daunted. With whatever stifled +regrets, with whatever occasional hesitation, with whatever appalling +apprehensions, which might sometimes arise with force to shake the +firmest purpose, they had yet committed themselves to Heaven and the +elements; and a thousand leagues of water soon interposed to separate +them for ever from the region which gave them birth. A new existence +awaited them here; and when they saw these shores, rough, cold, +barbarous, and barren, as then they were, they beheld their country. +That mixed and strong feeling, which we call love of country, and which +is, in general, never extinguished in the heart of man, grasped and +embraced its proper object here. Whatever constitutes _country_, except +the earth and the sun, all the moral causes of affection and attachment +which operate upon the heart, they had brought with them to their new +abode. Here were now their families and friends, their homes, and their +property. Before they reached the shore, they had established the +elements of a social system,[40] and at a much earlier period had +settled their forms of religions worship. At the moment of their +landing, therefore, they possessed institutions of government, and +institutions of religion: and friends and families, and social and +religious institutions, framed by consent, founded on choice and +preference, how nearly do these fill up our whole idea of country! The +morning that beamed on the first night of their repose saw the Pilgrims +already _at home_ in their country. There were political institutions, +and civil liberty, and religious worship. Poetry has fancied nothing, in +the wanderings of heroes, so distinct and characteristic. Here was man, +indeed, unprotected, and unprovided for, on the shore of a rude and +fearful wilderness; but it was politic, intelligent, and educated man. +Every thing was civilized but the physical world. Institutions, +containing in substance all that ages had done for human government, +were organized in a forest Cultivated mind was to act on uncultivated +nature; and, more than all, a government and a country were to commence, +with the very first foundations laid under the divine light of the +Christian religion. Happy auspices of a happy futurity! Who would wish +that his country's existence had otherwise begun? Who would desire the +power of going back to the ages of fable? Who would wish for an origin +obscured in the darkness of antiquity? Who would wish for other +emblazoning of his country's heraldry, or other ornaments of her +genealogy, than to be able to say, that her first existence was with +intelligence, her first breath the inspiration of liberty, her first +principle the truth of divine religion? + +Local attachments and sympathies would ere long spring up in the breasts +of our ancestors, endearing to them the place of their refuge. Whatever +natural objects are associated with interesting scenes and high efforts +obtain a hold on human feeling, and demand from the heart a sort of +recognition and regard. This Rock soon became hallowed in the esteem of +the Pilgrims,[41] and these hills grateful to their sight. Neither they +nor their children were again to till the soil of England, nor again to +traverse the seas which surround her.[42] But here was a new sea, now +open to their enterprise, and a new soil, which had not failed to +respond gratefully to their laborious industry, and which was already +assuming a robe of verdure. Hardly had they provided shelter for the +living, ere they were summoned to erect sepulchres for the dead. The +ground had become sacred, by inclosing the remains of some of their +companions and connections. A parent, a child, a husband, or a wife, had +gone the way of all flesh, and mingled with the dust of New England. We +naturally look with strong emotions to the spot, though it be a +wilderness, where the ashes of those we have loved repose. Where the +heart has laid down what it loved most, there it is desirous of laying +itself down. No sculptured marble, no enduring monument, no honorable +inscription, no ever-burning taper that would drive away the darkness of +the tomb, can soften our sense of the reality of death, and hallow to +our feelings the ground which is to cover us, like the consciousness +that we shall sleep, dust to dust, with the objects of our affections. + +In a short time other causes sprung up to bind the Pilgrims with new +cords to their chosen land. Children were born, and the hopes of future +generations arose, in the spot of their new habitation. The second +generation found this the land of their nativity, and saw that they were +bound to its fortunes. They beheld their fathers' graves around them, +and while they read the memorials of their toils and labors, they +rejoiced in the inheritance which they found bequeathed to them. + +Under the influence of these causes, it was to be expected, that an +interest and a feeling should arise here, entirely different from the +interest and feeling of mere Englishmen; and all the subsequent history +of the Colonies proves this to have actually and gradually taken place. +With a general acknowledgment of the supremacy of the British crown, +there was, from the first a repugnance to an entire submission to the +control of British legislation. The Colonies stood upon their charters, +which, as they contended, exempted them from the ordinary power of the +British Parliament, and authorized them to conduct their own concerns by +their own counsels. They utterly resisted the notion that they were to +be ruled by the mere authority of the government at home, and would not +endure even that their own charter governments should be established on +the other side of the Atlantic. It was not a controlling or protecting +board in England, but a government of their own, and existing +immediately within their limits, which could satisfy their wishes. It +was easy to foresee, what we know also to have happened, that the first +great cause of collision and jealousy would be, under the notion of +political economy then and still prevalent in Europe, an attempt on the +part of the mother country to monopolize the trade of the Colonies. +Whoever has looked deeply into the causes which produced our Revolution +has found, if I mistake not, the original principle far back in this +claim, on the part of England, to monopolize our trade, and a continued +effort on the part of the Colonies to resist or evade that monopoly; if, +indeed, it be not still more just and philosophical to go farther back, +and to consider it decided, that an independent government must arise +here, the moment it was ascertained that an English colony, such as +landed in this place, could sustain itself against the dangers which +surrounded it, and, with other similar establishments, overspread the +land with an English population. Accidental causes retarded at times, +and at times accelerated, the progress of the controversy. The Colonies +wanted strength, and time gave it to them. They required measures of +strong and palpable injustice, on the part of the mother country, to +justify resistance; the early part of the late king's reign furnished +them. They needed spirits of high order, of great daring, of long +foresight, and of commanding power, to seize the favoring occasion to +strike a blow, which should sever, for all time, the tic of colonial +dependence; and these spirits were found, in all the extent which that +or any crisis could demand, in Otis, Adams, Hancock, and the other +immediate authors of our independence. + +Still, it is true that, for a century, causes had been in operation +tending to prepare things for this great result. In the year 1660 the +English Act of Navigation was passed; the first and grand object of +which seems to have been, to secure to England the whole trade with her +plantations.[43] It was provided by that act, that none but English +ships should transport American produce over the ocean, and that the +principal articles of that produce should be allowed to be sold only in +the markets of the mother country. Three years afterwards another law +was passed, which enacted, that such commodities as the Colonies might +wish to purchase should be bought only in the markets of the mother +country. Severe rules were prescribed to enforce the provisions of these +laws, and heavy penalties imposed on all who should violate them. In the +subsequent years of the same reign, other statutes were enacted to +reenforce these statutes, and other rules prescribed to secure a +compliance with these rules. In this manner was the trade to and from +the Colonies restricted, almost to the exclusive advantage of the parent +country. But laws, which rendered the interest of a whole people +subordinate to that of another people, were not likely to execute +themselves; nor was it easy to find many on the spot, who could be +depended upon for carrying them into execution. In fact, these laws were +more or less evaded or resisted, in all the Colonies. To enforce them +was the constant endeavor of the government at home; to prevent or elude +their operation, the perpetual object here. "The laws of navigation," +says a living British writer, "were nowhere so openly disobeyed and +contemned as in New England." "The people of Massachusetts Bay," he +adds, "were from the first disposed to act as if independent of the +mother country, and having a governor and magistrates of their own +choice, it was difficult to enforce any regulation which came from the +English Parliament, adverse to their interests." To provide more +effectually for the execution of these laws, we know that courts of +admiralty were afterwards established by the crown, with power to try +revenue causes, as questions of admiralty, upon the construction given +by the crown lawyers to an act of Parliament; a great departure from the +ordinary principles of English jurisprudence, but which has been +maintained, nevertheless, by the force of habit and precedent, and is +adopted in our own existing systems of government. + +"There lie," says another English writer, whose connection with the +Board of Trade has enabled him to ascertain many facts connected with +Colonial history, "There lie among the documents in the board of trade +and state-paper office, the most satisfactory proofs, from the epoch of +the English Revolution in 1688, throughout every reign, and during every +administration, of the settled purpose of the Colonies to acquire direct +independence and positive sovereignty." Perhaps this may be stated +somewhat too strongly; but it cannot be denied, that, from the very +nature of the establishments here, and from the general character of the +measures respecting their concerns early adopted and steadily pursued by +the English government, a division of the empire was the natural and +necessary result to which every thing tended.[44] + +I have dwelt on this topic, because it seems to me, that the peculiar +original character of the New England Colonies, and certain causes +coeval with their existence, have had a strong and decided influence on +all their subsequent history, and especially on the great event of the +Revolution. Whoever would write our history, and would understand and +explain early transactions, should comprehend the nature and force of +the feeling which I have endeavored to describe. As a son, leaving the +house of his father for his own, finds, by the order of nature, and the +very law of his being, nearer and dearer objects around which his +affections circle, while his attachment to the parental roof becomes +moderated, by degrees, to a composed regard and an affectionate +remembrance; so our ancestors, leaving their native land, not without +some violence to the feelings of nature and affection, yet, in time, +found here a new circle of engagements, interests, and affections; a +feeling, which more and more encroached upon the old, till an undivided +sentiment, _that this was their country_, occupied the heart; and +patriotism, shutting out from its embraces the parent realm, became +_local_ to America. + + * * * * * + +Some retrospect of the century which has now elapsed is among the +duties of the occasion. It must, however, necessarily be imperfect, to +be compressed within the limits of a single discourse. I shall content +myself; therefore, with taking notice of a few of the leading and most +important occurrences which have distinguished the period. + +When the first century closed, the progress of the country appeared to +have been considerable; notwithstanding that, in comparison with its +subsequent advancement, it now seems otherwise. A broad and lasting +foundation had been laid; excellent institutions had been established; +many of the prejudices of former times had been removed; a more liberal +and catholic spirit on subjects of religious concern had begun to extend +itself; and many things conspired to give promise of increasing future +prosperity. Great men had arisen in public life, and the liberal +professions. The Mathers, father and son, were then sinking low in the +western horizon; Leverett, the learned, the accomplished, the excellent +Leverett, was about to withdraw his brilliant and useful light. In +Pemberton great hopes had been suddenly extinguished, but Prince and +Colman were in our sky; and along the east had began to flash the +crepuscular light of a great luminary which was about to appear, and +which was to stamp the age with his own name, as the age of Franklin. + +The bloody Indian wars, which harassed the people for a part of the +first century; the restrictions on the trade of the Colonies, added to +the discouragements inherently belonging to all forms of colonial +government; the distance from Europe, and the small hope of immediate +profit to adventurers, are among the causes which had contributed to +retard the progress of population. Perhaps it may be added, also, that +during the period of the civil wars in England, and the reign of +Cromwell, many persons, whose religious opinions and religious temper +might, under other circumstances, have induced them to join the New +England colonists, found reasons to remain in England; either on account +of active occupation in the scenes which were passing, or of an +anticipation of the enjoyment, in their own country, of a form of +government, civil and religious, accommodated to their views and +principles. The violent measures, too, pursued against the Colonies in +the reign of Charles the Second, the mockery of a trial, and the +forfeiture of the charters, were serious evils. And during the open +violences of the short reign of James the Second, and the tyranny of +Andros, as the venerable historian of Connecticut observes, "All the +motives to great actions, to industry, economy, enterprise, wealth, and +population, were in a manner annihilated. A general inactivity and +languishment pervaded the public body. Liberty, property, and every +thing which ought to be dear to men, every day grew more and more +insecure." + +With the Revolution in England, a better prospect had opened on this +country, as well as on that. The joy had been as great at that event, +and far more universal, in New than in Old England. A new charter had +been granted to Massachusetts, which, although it did not confirm to her +inhabitants all their former privileges, yet relieved them from great +evils and embarrassments, and promised future security. More than all, +perhaps, the Revolution in England had done good to the general cause of +liberty and justice. A blow had been struck in favor of the rights and +liberties, not of England alone, but of descendants and kinsmen of +England all over the world. Great political truths had been established. +The champions of liberty had been successful in a fearful and perilous +conflict. Somers, and Cavendish, and Jekyl, and Howard, had triumphed in +one of the most noble causes ever undertaken by men. A revolution had +been made upon principle. A monarch had been dethroned for violating the +original compact between king and people. The rights of the people to +partake in the government, and to limit the monarch by fundamental rules +of government, had been maintained; and however unjust the government of +England might afterwards be towards other governments or towards her +colonies, she had ceased to be governed herself by the arbitrary maxims +of the Stuarts. + +New England had submitted to the violence of James the Second not longer +than Old England. Not only was it reserved to Massachusetts, that on her +soil should be acted the first scene of that great revolutionary drama, +which was to take place near a century afterwards, but the English +Revolution itself, as far as the Colonies were concerned, commenced in +Boston. The seizure and imprisonment of Andros, in April, 1689, were +acts of direct and forcible resistance to the authority of James the +Second. The pulse of liberty beat as high in the extremities as at the +heart. The vigorous feeling of the Colony burst out before it was known +how the parent country would finally conduct herself. The king's +representative, Sir Edmund Andros, was a prisoner in the castle at +Boston, before it was or could be known that the king himself had ceased +to exercise his full dominion on the English throne. + +Before it was known here whether the invasion of the Prince of Orange +would or could prove successful, as soon as it was known that it had +been undertaken, the people of Massachusetts, at the imminent hazard of +their lives and fortunes, had accomplished the Revolution as far as +respected themselves. It is probable that, reasoning on general +principles and the known attachment of the English people to their +constitution and liberties, and their deep and fixed dislike of the +king's religion and politics, the people of New England expected a +catastrophe fatal to the power of the reigning prince. Yet it was +neither certain enough, nor near enough, to come to their aid against +the authority of the crown, in that crisis which had arrived, and in +which they trusted to put themselves, relying on God and their own +courage. There were spirits in Massachusetts congenial with the spirits +of the distinguished friends of the Revolution in England. There were +those who were fit to associate with the boldest asserters of civil +liberty; and Mather himself, then in England, was not unworthy to be +ranked with those sons of the Church, whose firmness and spirit in +resisting kingly encroachments in matters of religion, entitled them to +the gratitude of their own and succeeding ages. + +The second century opened upon New England under circumstances which +evinced that much had already been accomplished, and that still better +prospects and brighter hopes were before her. She had laid, deep and +strong, the foundations of her society. Her religious principles were +firm, and her moral habits exemplary. Her public schools had began to +diffuse widely the elements of knowledge; and the College, under the +excellent and acceptable administration of Leverett, had been raised to +a high degree of credit and usefulness. + +The commercial character of the country, notwithstanding all +discouragements, had begun to display itself, and _five hundred +vessels_, then belonging to Massachusetts, placed her, in relation to +commerce, thus early at the head of the Colonies. An author who wrote +very near the close of the first century says:--"New England is almost +deserving that _noble name_, so mightily hath it increased; and from a +small settlement at first, is now become a _very populous_ and +_flourishing_ government. The _capital city_, Boston, is a place of +_great wealth and trade_; and by much the largest of any in the English +empire of America; and not exceeded but by few cities, perhaps two or +three, in all the American world." + +But if our ancestors at the close of the first century could look back +with joy, and even admiration, at the progress of the country, what +emotions must we not feel, when, from the point on which we stand, we +also look back and run along the events of the century which has now +closed! The country which then, as we have seen, was thought deserving +of a "noble name,"--which then had "mightily increased," and become +"very populous,"--what was it, in comparison with what our eyes behold +it? At that period, a very great proportion of its inhabitants lived in +the eastern section of Massachusetts proper, and in Plymouth Colony. In +Connecticut, there were towns along the coast, some of them respectable, +but in the interior all was a wilderness beyond Hartford. On Connecticut +River, settlements had proceeded as far up as Deerfield, and Fort Dummer +had been built near where is now the south line of New Hampshire. In New +Hampshire no settlement was then begun thirty miles from the mouth of +Piscataqua River, and in what is now Maine, the inhabitants were +confined to the coast. The aggregate of the whole population of New +England did not exceed one hundred and sixty thousand. Its present +amount (1820) is probably one million seven hundred thousand. Instead of +being confined to its former limits, her population has rolled backward, +and filled up the spaces included within her actual local boundaries. +Not this only, but it has overflowed those boundaries, and the waves of +emigration have pressed farther and farther toward the West. The +Alleghany has not checked it; the banks of the Ohio have been covered +with it. New England farms, houses, villages, and churches spread over +and adorn the immense extent from the Ohio to Lake Erie, and stretch +along from the Alleghany onwards, beyond the Miamis, and toward the +Falls of St. Anthony. Two thousand miles westward from the rock where +their fathers landed, may now be found the sons of the Pilgrims, +cultivating smiling fields, rearing towns and villages, and cherishing, +we trust, the patrimonial blessings of wise institutions, of liberty, +and religion. The world has seen nothing like this. Regions large enough +to be empires, and which, half a century ago, were known only as remote +and unexplored wildernesses, are now teeming with population, and +prosperous in all the great concerns of life; in good governments, the +means of subsistence, and social happiness. It may be safely asserted, +that there are now more than a million of people, descendants of New +England ancestry, living, free and happy, in regions which scarce sixty +years ago were tracts of unpenetrated forest. Nor do rivers, or +mountains, or seas resist the progress of industry and enterprise. Ere +long, the sons of the Pilgrims will be on the shores of the Pacific.[45] +The imagination hardly keeps pace with the progress of population, +improvement, and civilization. + +It is now five-and-forty years since the growth and rising glory of +America were portrayed in the English Parliament, with inimitable +beauty, by the most consummate orator of modern times. Going back +somewhat more than half a century, and describing our progress as +foreseen from that point by his amiable friend Lord Bathurst, then +living, he spoke of the wonderful progress which America had made during +the period of a single human life. There is no American heart, I +imagine, that does not glow, both with conscious, patriotic pride, and +admiration for one of the happiest efforts of eloquence, so often as the +vision of "that little speck, scarce visible in the mass of national +interest, a small seminal principle, rather than a formed body," and the +progress of its astonishing development and growth, are recalled to the +recollection. But a stronger feeling might be produced, if we were able +to take up this prophetic description where he left it, and, placing +ourselves at the point of time in which he was speaking, to set forth +with equal felicity the subsequent progress of the country. There is yet +among the living a most distinguished and venerable name, a descendant +of the Pilgrims; one who has been attended through life by a great and +fortunate genius; a man illustrious by his own great merits, and favored +of Heaven in the long continuation of his years.[46] The time when the +English orator was thus speaking of America preceded but by a few days +the actual opening of the revolutionary drama at Lexington. He to whom I +have alluded, then at the age of forty, was among the most zealous and +able defenders of the violated rights of his country. He seemed already +to have filled a full measure of public service, and attained an +honorable fame. The moment was full of difficulty and danger, and big +with events of immeasurable importance. The country was on the very +brink of a civil war, of which no man could foretell the duration or the +result. Something more than a courageous hope, or characteristic ardor, +would have been necessary to impress the glorious prospect on his +belief, if, at that moment, before the sound of the first shock of +actual war had reached his ears, some attendant spirit had opened to him +the vision of the future;--if it had said to him, "The blow is struck, +and America is severed from England for ever!"--if it had informed him, +that he himself, during the next annual revolution of the sun, should +put his own hand to the great instrument of independence, and write his +name where all nations should behold it and all time should not efface +it; that ere long he himself should maintain the interests and represent +the sovereignty of his new-born country in the proudest courts of +Europe; that he should one day exercise her supreme magistracy; that he +should yet live to behold ten millions of fellow-citizens paying him the +homage of their deepest gratitude and kindest affections; that he should +see distinguished talent and high public trust resting where his name +rested; that he should even see with his own unclouded eyes the close of +the second century of New England, who had begun life almost with its +commencement, and lived through nearly half the whole history of his +country; and that on the morning of this auspicious day he should be +found in the political councils of his native State, revising, by the +light of experience, that system of government which forty years before +he had assisted to frame and establish; and, great and happy as he +should then behold his country, there should be nothing in prospect to +cloud the scene, nothing to check the ardor of that confident and +patriotic hope which should glow in his bosom to the end of his long +protracted and happy life. + +It would far exceed the limits of this discourse even to mention the +principal events in the civil and political history of New England +during the century; the more so, as for the last half of the period that +history has, most happily, been closely interwoven with the general +history of the United States. New England bore an honorable part in the +wars which took place between England and France. The capture of +Louisburg gave her a character for military achievement; and in the war +which terminated with the peace of 1763, her exertions on the frontiers +were of most essential service, as well to the mother country as to all +the Colonies. + +In New England the war of the Revolution commenced. I address those who +remember the memorable 19th of April, 1775; who shortly after saw the +burning spires of Charlestown; who beheld the deeds of Prescott, and +heard the voice of Putnam amidst the storm of war, and saw the generous +Warren fall, the first distinguished victim in the cause of liberty. It +would be superfluous to say, that no portion of the country did more +than the States of New England to bring the Revolutionary struggle to a +successful issue. It is scarcely less to her credit, that she saw early +the necessity of a closer union of the States, and gave an efficient and +indispensable aid to the establishment and organization of the federal +government. + +Perhaps we might safely say, that a new spirit and a new excitement +began to exist here about the middle of the last century. To whatever +causes it may be imputed, there seems then to have commenced a more +rapid improvement. The Colonies had attracted more of the attention of +the mother country, and some renown in arms had been acquired. Lord +Chatham was the first English minister who attached high importance to +these possessions of the crown, and who foresaw any thing of their +future growth and extension. His opinion was, that the great rival of +England was chiefly to be feared as a maritime and commercial power, and +to drive her out of North America and deprive her of her West Indian +possessions was a leading object in his policy. He dwelt often on the +fisheries, as nurseries for British seamen, and the colonial trade, as +furnishing them employment. The war, conducted by him with so much +vigor, terminated in a peace, by which Canada was ceded to England. The +effect of this was immediately visible in the New England Colonies; for, +the fear of Indian hostilities on the frontiers being now happily +removed, settlements went on with an activity before that time +altogether unprecedented, and public affairs wore a new and encouraging +aspect. Shortly after this fortunate termination of the French war, the +interesting topics connected with the taxation of America by the British +Parliament began to be discussed, and the attention and all the +faculties of the people drawn towards them. There is perhaps no portion +of our history more full of interest than the period from 1760 to the +actual commencement of the war. The progress of opinion in this period, +though less known, is not less important than the progress of arms +afterwards. Nothing deserves more consideration than those events and +discussions which affected the public sentiment and settled the +revolution in men's minds, before hostilities openly broke out. + +Internal improvement followed the establishment and prosperous +commencement of the present government. More has been done for roads, +canals, and other public works, within the last thirty years, than in +all our former history. In the first of these particulars, few countries +excel the New England States. The astonishing increase of their +navigation and trade is known to every one, and now belongs to the +history of our national wealth. + +We may flatter ourselves, too, that literature and taste have not been +stationary, and that some advancement has been made in the elegant, as +well as in the useful arts. + + * * * * * + +The nature and constitution of society and government in this country +are interesting topics, to which I would devote what remains of the +time allowed to this occasion. Of our system of government the first +thing to be said is, that it is really and practically a free system. +It originates entirely with the people, and rests on no other foundation +than their assent. To judge of its actual operation, it is not enough +to look merely at the form of its construction. The practical character +of government depends often on a variety of considerations, besides the +abstract frame of its constitutional organization. Among these are the +condition and tenure of property; the laws regulating its alienation +and descent; the presence or absence of a military power; an armed +or unarmed yeomanry; the spirit of the age, and the degree of +general intelligence. In these respects it cannot be denied that the +circumstances of this country are most favorable to the hope of +maintaining the government of a great nation on principles entirely +popular. In the absence of military power, the nature of government +must essentially depend on the manner in which property is holden and +distributed. There is a natural influence belonging to property, whether +it exists in many hands or few; and it is on the rights of property that +both despotism and unrestrained popular violence ordinarily commence +their attacks. Our ancestors began their system of government here +under a condition of comparative equality in regard to wealth, and +their early laws were of a nature to favor and continue this equality. + +A republican form of government rests not more on political +constitutions, than on those laws which regulate the descent and +transmission of property. Governments like ours could not have been +maintained, where property was holden according to the principles of the +feudal system; nor, on the other hand, could the feudal constitution +possibly exist with us. Our New England ancestors brought hither no +great capitals from Europe; and if they had, there was nothing +productive in which they could have been invested. They left behind them +the whole feudal policy of the other continent. They broke away at once +from the system of military service established in the Dark Ages, and +which continues, down even to the present time, more or less to affect +the condition of property all over Europe. They came to a new country. +There were, as yet, no lands yielding rent, and no tenants rendering +service. The whole soil was unreclaimed from barbarism. They were +themselves, either from their original condition, or from the necessity +of their common interest, nearly on a general level in respect to +property. Their situation demanded a parcelling out and division of the +lands, and it may be fairly said, that this necessary act _fixed the +future frame and form of their government_. The character of their +political institutions was determined by the fundamental laws respecting +property. The laws rendered estates divisible among sons and daughters. +The right of primogeniture, at first limited and curtailed, was +afterwards abolished. The property was all freehold. The entailment of +estates, long trusts, and the other processes for fettering and tying up +inheritances, were not applicable to the condition of society, and +seldom made use of. On the contrary, alienation of the land was every +way facilitated, even to the subjecting of it to every species of debt. +The establishment of public registries, and the simplicity of our forms +of conveyance, have greatly facilitated the change of real estate from +one proprietor to another. The consequence of all these causes has been, +a great subdivision of the soil, and a great equality of condition; the +true basis, most certainly, of a popular government. "If the people," +says Harrington, "hold three parts in four of the territory, it is plain +there can neither be any single person nor nobility able to dispute the +government with them; in this case, therefore, _except force be +interposed_, they govern themselves." + +The history of other nations may teach us how favorable to public +liberty are the division of the soil into small freeholds, and a system +of laws, of which the tendency is, without violence or injustice, to +produce and to preserve a degree of equality of property. It has been +estimated, if I mistake not, that about the time of Henry the Seventh +four fifths of the land in England was holden by the great barons and +ecclesiastics. The effects of a growing commerce soon afterwards began +to break in on this state of things, and before the Revolution, in 1688, +a vast change had been wrought. It may be thought probable, that, for +the last half-century, the process of subdivision in England has been +retarded, if not reversed; that the great weight of taxation has +compelled many of the lesser freeholders to dispose of their estates, +and to seek employment in the army and navy, in the professions of civil +life, in commerce, or in the colonies. The effect of this on the British +constitution cannot but be most unfavorable. A few large estates grow +larger; but the number of those who have no estates also increases; and +there may be danger, lest the inequality of property become so great, +that those who possess it may be dispossessed by force; in other words, +that the government may be overturned. + +A most interesting experiment of the effect of a subdivision of property +on government is now making in France. It is understood, that the law +regulating the transmission of property in that country, now divides it, +real and personal, among all the children equally, both sons and +daughters; and that there is, also, a very great restraint on the power +of making dispositions of property by will. It has been supposed, that +the effects of this might probably be, in time, to break up the soil +into such small subdivisions, that the proprietors would be too poor to +resist the encroachments of executive power. I think far otherwise. What +is lost in individual wealth will be more than gained in numbers, in +intelligence, and in a sympathy of sentiment. If, indeed, only one or a +few landholders were to resist the crown, like the barons of England, +they must, of course, be great and powerful landholders, with multitudes +of retainers, to promise success. But if the proprietors of a given +extent of territory are summoned to resistance, there is no reason to +believe that such resistance would be less forcible, or less successful, +because the number of such proprietors happened to be great. Each would +perceive his own importance, and his own interest, and would feel that +natural elevation of character which the consciousness of property +inspires. A common sentiment would unite all, and numbers would not only +add strength, but excite enthusiasm. It is true, that France possesses a +vast military force, under the direction of an hereditary executive +government; and military power, it is possible, may overthrow any +government. It is in vain, however, in this period of the world, to look +for security against military power to the arm of the great landholders. +That notion is derived from a state of things long since past; a state +in which a feudal baron, with his retainers, might stand against the +sovereign and his retainers, himself but the greatest baron. But at +present, what could the richest landholder do, against one regiment of +disciplined troops? Other securities, therefore, against the prevalence +of military power must be provided. Happily for us, we are not so +situated as that any purpose of national defence requires, ordinarily +and constantly, such a military force as might seriously endanger our +liberties. + +In respect, however, to the recent law of succession in France, to which +I have alluded, I would, presumptously perhaps, hazard a conjecture, +that, if the government do not change the law, the law in half a century +will change the government; and that this change will be, not in favor +of the power of the crown, as some European writers have supposed, but +against it. Those writers only reason upon what they think correct +general principles, in relation to this subject. They acknowledge a want +of experience. Here we have had that experience; and we know that a +multitude of small proprietors, acting with intelligence, and that +enthusiasm which a common cause inspires, constitute not only a +formidable, but an invincible power.[47] + +The true principle of a free and popular government would seem to be, so +to construct it as to give to all, or at least to a very great majority, +an interest in its preservation; to found it, as other things are +founded, on men's interest. The stability of government demands that +those who desire its continuance should be more powerful than those who +desire its dissolution. This power, of course, is not always to be +measured by mere numbers. Education, wealth, talents, are all parts and +elements of the general aggregate of power; but numbers, nevertheless, +constitute ordinarily the most important consideration, unless, indeed, +there be _a military force_ in the hands of the few, by which they can +control the many. In this country we have actually existing systems of +government, in the maintenance of which, it should seem, a great +majority, both in numbers and in other means of power and influence, +must see their interest. But this state of things is not brought about +solely by written political constitutions, or the mere manner of +organizing the government; but also by the laws which regulate the +descent and transmission of property. The freest government, if it could +exist, would not be long acceptable, if the tendency of the laws were to +create a rapid accumulation of property in few hands, and to render the +great mass of the population dependent and penniless. In such a case, +the popular power would be likely to break in upon the rights of +property, or else the influence of property to limit and control the +exercise of popular power. Universal suffrage, for example, could not +long exist in a community where there was great inequality of property. +The holders of estates would be obliged, in such case, in some way to +restrain the right of suffrage, or else such right of suffrage would, +before long, divide the property. In the nature of things, those who +have not property, and see their neighbors possess much more than they +think them to need, cannot be favorable to laws made for the protection +of property. When this class becomes numerous, it grows clamorous. It +looks on property as its prey and plunder, and is naturally ready, at +all times, for violence and revolution. + +It would seem, then, to be the part of political wisdom to found +government on property; and to establish such distribution of property, +by the laws which regulate its transmission and alienation, as to +interest the great majority of society in the support of the government. +This is, I imagine, the true theory and the actual practice of our +republican institutions. With property divided as we have it, no other +government than that of a republic could be maintained, even were we +foolish enough to desire it. There is reason, therefore, to expect a +long continuance of our system. Party and passion, doubtless, may +prevail at times, and much temporary mischief be done. Even modes and +forms may be changed, and perhaps for the worse. But a great revolution +in regard to property must take place, before our governments can be +moved from their republican basis, unless they be violently struck off +by military power. The people possess the property, more emphatically +than it could ever be said of the people of any other country, and they +can have no interest to overturn a government which protects that +property by equal laws. + +Let it not be supposed, that this state of things possesses too strong +tendencies towards the production of a dead and uninteresting level in +society. Such tendencies are sufficiently counteracted by the infinite +diversities in the characters and fortunes of individuals. Talent, +activity, industry, and enterprise tend at all times to produce +inequality and distinction; and there is room still for the accumulation +of wealth, with its great advantages, to all reasonable and useful +extent. It has been often urged against the state of society in America, +that it furnishes no class of men of fortune and leisure. This may be +partly true, but it is not entirely so, and the evil, if it be one, +would affect rather the progress of taste and literature, than the +general prosperity of the people. But the promotion of taste and +literature cannot be primary objects of political institutions; and if +they could, it might be doubted whether, in the long course of things, +as much is not gained by a wide diffusion of general knowledge, as is +lost by diminishing the number of those who are enabled by fortune and +leisure to devote themselves exclusively to scientific and literary +pursuits. However this may be, it is to be considered that it is the +spirit of our system to be equal and general, and if there be particular +disadvantages incident to this, they are far more than counterbalanced +by the benefits which weigh against them. The important concerns of +society are generally conducted, in all countries, by the men of +business and practical ability; and even in matters of taste and +literature, the advantages of mere leisure are liable to be overrated. +If there exist adequate means of education and a love of letters be +excited, that love will find its way to the object of its desire, +through the crowd and pressure of the most busy society. + +Connected with this division of property, and the consequent +participation of the great mass of people in its possession and +enjoyments, is the system of representation, which is admirably +accommodated to our condition, better understood among us, and more +familiarly and extensively practised, in the higher and in the lower +departments of government, than it has been by any other people. Great +facility has been given to this in New England by the early division +of the country into townships or small districts, in which all +concerns of local police are regulated, and in which representatives +to the legislature are elected. Nothing can exceed the utility of +these little bodies. They are so many councils or parliaments, in +which common interests are discussed, and useful knowledge acquired +and communicated. + +The division of governments into departments, and the division, again, +of the legislative department into two chambers, are essential +provisions in our system. This last, although not new in itself, yet +seems to be new in its application to governments wholly popular. The +Grecian republics, it is plain, knew nothing of it; and in Rome, the +check and balance of legislative power, such as it was, lay between the +people and the senate. Indeed, few things are more difficult than to +ascertain accurately the true nature and construction of the Roman +commonwealth. The relative power of the senate and the people, of the +consuls and the tribunes, appears not to have been at all times the +same, nor at any time accurately defined or strictly observed. Cicero, +indeed, describes to us an admirable arrangement of political power, and +a balance of the constitution, in that beautiful passage, in which he +compares the democracies of Greece with the Roman commonwealth. "O morem +preclarum, disciplinamque, quam a majoribus accepimus, si quidem +teneremus! sed nescio quo pacto jam de manibus elabitur. Nullam enim +illi nostri sapientissimi et sanctissimi viri vim concionis esse +voluerunt, quae scisseret plebs, aut quae populus juberet; summota +concione, distributis partibus, tributim et centuriatim descriptis +ordinibus, classibus, aetatibus, auditis auctoribus, re multos dies +promulgata et cognita, juberi vetarique voluerunt. Graecorum autem totae +respublicae sedentis concionis temeritate administrantur."[48] + +But at what time this wise system existed in this perfection at Rome, no +proofs remain to show. Her constitution, originally framed for a +monarchy, never seemed to be adjusted in its several parts after the +expulsion of the kings. Liberty there was, but it was a disputatious, an +uncertain, an ill-secured liberty. The patrician and plebeian orders, +instead of being matched and joined, each in its just place and +proportion, to sustain the fabric of the state, were rather like hostile +powers, in perpetual conflict. With us, an attempt has been made, and so +far not without success, to divide representation into chambers, and, by +difference of age, character, qualification, or mode of election, to +establish salutary checks, in governments altogether elective. + +Having detained you so long with these observations, I must yet advert +to another most interesting topic,--the Free Schools. In this +particular, New England may be allowed to claim, I think, a merit of a +peculiar character. She early adopted, and has constantly maintained the +principle, that it is the undoubted right and the bounden duty of +government to provide for the instruction of all youth. That which is +elsewhere left to chance or to charity, we secure by law.[49] For the +purpose of public instruction, we hold every man subject to taxation in +proportion to his property, and we look not to the question, whether he +himself have, or have not, children to be benefited by the education for +which he pays. We regard it as a wise and liberal system of police, by +which property, and life, and the peace of society are secured. We seek +to prevent in some measure the extension of the penal code, by inspiring +a salutary and conservative principle of virtue and of knowledge in an +early age. We strive to excite a feeling of respectability, and a sense +of character, by enlarging the capacity and increasing the sphere of +intellectual enjoyment. By general instruction, we seek, as far as +possible, to purify the whole moral atmosphere; to keep good sentiments +uppermost, and to turn the strong current of feeling and opinion, as +well as the censures of the law and the denunciations of religion, +against immorality and crime. We hope for a security beyond the law, and +above the law, in the prevalence of an enlightened and well-principled +moral sentiment. We hope to continue and prolong the time, when, in the +villages and farm-houses of New England, there may be undisturbed sleep +within unbarred doors. And knowing that our government rests directly on +the public will, in order that we may preserve it we endeavor to give a +safe and proper direction to that public will. We do not, indeed, expect +all men to be philosophers or statesmen; but we confidently trust, and +our expectation of the duration of our system of government rests on +that trust, that, by the diffusion of general knowledge and good and +virtuous sentiments, the political fabric may be secure, as well against +open violence and overthrow, as against the slow, but sure, undermining +of licentiousness. + +We know that, at the present time, an attempt is making in the English +Parliament to provide by law for the education of the poor, and that a +gentleman of distinguished character (Mr. Brougham) has taken the lead +in presenting a plan to government for carrying that purpose into +effect. And yet, although the representatives of the three kingdoms +listened to him with astonishment as well as delight, we hear no +principles with which we ourselves have not been familiar from youth; we +see nothing in the plan but an approach towards that system which has +been established in New England for more than a century and a half. It +is said that in England not more than _one child in fifteen_ possesses +the means of being taught to read and write; in Wales, _one in twenty_; +in France, until lately, when some improvement was made, not more than +_one in thirty-five_. Now, it is hardly too strong to say, that in New +England _every child possesses_ such means. It would be difficult to +find an instance to the contrary, unless where it should be owing to the +negligence of the parent; and, in truth, the means are actually used and +enjoyed by nearly every one. A youth of fifteen, of either sex, who +cannot both read and write, is very seldom to be found. Who can make +this comparison, or contemplate this spectacle, without delight and a +feeling of just pride? Does any history show property more beneficently +applied? Did any government ever subject the property of those who have +estates to a burden, for a purpose more favorable to the poor, or more +useful to the whole community? + +A conviction of the importance of public instruction was one of the +earliest sentiments of our ancestors. No lawgiver of ancient or modern +times has expressed more just opinions, or adopted wiser measures, than +the early records of the Colony of Plymouth show to have prevailed here. +Assembled on this very spot, a hundred and fifty-three years ago, the +legislature of this Colony declared, "Forasmuch as the maintenance of +good literature doth much tend to the advancement of the weal and +flourishing state of societies and republics, this Court doth therefore +order, that in whatever township in this government, consisting of fifty +families or upwards, any meet man shall be obtained to teach a grammar +school, such township shall allow at least twelve pounds, to be raised +by rate on all the inhabitants." + +Having provided that all youth should be instructed in the elements of +learning by the institution of free schools, our ancestors had yet +another duty to perform. Men were to be educated for the professions and +the public. For this purpose they founded the University, and with +incredible zeal and perseverance they cherished and supported it, +through all trials and discouragements.[50] On the subject of the +University, it is not possible for a son of New England to think without +pleasure, or to speak without emotion. Nothing confers more honor on the +State where it is established, or more utility on the country at large. +A respectable university is an establishment which must be the work of +time. If pecuniary means were not wanting, no new institution could +possess character and respectability at once. We owe deep obligation to +our ancestors, who began, almost on the moment of their arrival, the +work of building up this institution. + +Although established in a different government, the Colony of Plymouth +manifested warm friendship for Harvard College. At an early period, its +government took measures to promote a general subscription throughout +all the towns in this Colony, in aid of its small funds. Other colleges +were subsequently founded and endowed, in other places, as the ability +of the people allowed; and we may flatter ourselves, that the means of +education at present enjoyed in New England are not only adequate to the +diffusion of the elements of knowledge among all classes, but sufficient +also for respectable attainments in literature and the sciences. + +Lastly, our ancestors established their system of government on morality +and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be +trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any +government be secure which is not supported by moral habits. Living +under the heavenly light of revelation, they hoped to find all the +social dispositions, all the duties which men owe to each other and to +society, enforced and performed. Whatever makes men good Christians, +makes them good citizens. Our fathers came here to enjoy their religion +free and unmolested; and, at the end of two centuries, there is nothing +upon which we can pronounce more confidently, nothing of which we can +express a more deep and earnest conviction, than of the inestimable +importance of that religion to man, both in regard to this life and that +which is to come. + +If the blessings of our political and social condition have not been too +highly estimated, we cannot well overrate the responsibility and duty +which they impose upon us. We hold these institutions of government, +religion, and learning, to be transmitted, as well as enjoyed. We are in +the line of conveyance, through which whatever has been obtained by the +spirit and efforts of our ancestors is to be communicated to our +children. + +We are bound to maintain public liberty, and, by the example of our own +systems, to convince the world that order and law, religion and +morality, the rights of conscience, the rights of persons, and the +rights of property, may all be preserved and secured, in the most +perfect manner, by a government entirely and purely elective. If we fail +in this, our disaster will be signal, and will furnish an argument, +stronger than has yet been found, in support of those opinions which +maintain that government can rest safely on nothing but power and +coercion. As far as experience may show errors in our establishments, we +are bound to correct them; and if any practices exist contrary to the +principles of justice and humanity within the reach of our laws or our +influence, we are inexcusable if we do not exert ourselves to restrain +and abolish them. + +I deem it my duty on this occasion to suggest, that the land is not yet +wholly free from the contamination of a traffic, at which every feeling +of humanity must for ever revolt,--I mean the African slave-trade.[51] +Neither public sentiment, nor the law, has hitherto been able entirely +to put an end to this odious and abominable trade. At the moment when +God in his mercy has blessed the Christian world with a universal peace, +there is reason to fear, that, to the disgrace of the Christian name and +character, new efforts are making for the extension of this trade by +subjects and citizens of Christian states, in whose hearts there dwell +no sentiments of humanity or of justice, and over whom neither the fear +of God nor the fear of man exercises a control. In the sight of our law, +the African slave-trader is a pirate and a felon; and in the sight of +Heaven, an offender far beyond the ordinary depth of human guilt. There +is no brighter page of our history, than that which records the measures +which have been adopted by the government at an early day, and at +different times since, for the suppression of this traffic; and I would +call on all the true sons of New England to cooeperate with the laws of +man, and the justice of Heaven. If there be, within the extent of our +knowledge or influence, any participation in this traffic, let us pledge +ourselves here, upon the rock of Plymouth, to extirpate and destroy it. +It is not fit that the land of the Pilgrims should bear the shame +longer. I hear the sound of the hammer, I see the smoke of the furnaces +where manacles and fetters are still forged for human limbs. I see the +visages of those who by stealth and at midnight labor in this work of +hell, foul and dark, as may become the artificers of such instruments of +misery and torture. Let that spot be purified, or let it cease to be of +New England. Let it be purified, or let it be set aside from the +Christian world; let it be put out of the circle of human sympathies and +human regards, and let civilized man henceforth have no communion with +it. + +I would invoke those who fill the seats of justice, and all who minister +at her altar, that they execute the wholesome and necessary severity of +the law. I invoke the ministers of our religion, that they proclaim its +denunciation of these crimes, and add its solemn sanctions to the +authority of human laws. If the pulpit be silent whenever or wherever +there may be a sinner bloody with this guilt within the hearing of its +voice, the pulpit is false to its trust. I call on the fair merchant, +who has reaped his harvest upon the seas, that he assist in scourging +from those seas the worst pirates that ever infested them. That ocean, +which seems to wave with a gentle magnificence to waft the burden of an +honest commerce, and to roll along its treasures with a conscious +pride,--that ocean, which hardy industry regards, even when the winds +have ruffled its surface, as a field of grateful toil,--what is it to +the victim of this oppression, when he is brought to its shores, and +looks forth upon it, for the first time, loaded with chains, and +bleeding with stripes? What is it to him but a wide-spread prospect of +suffering, anguish, and death? Nor do the skies smile longer, nor is the +air longer fragrant to him. The sun is cast down from heaven. An inhuman +and accursed traffic has cut him off in his manhood, or in his youth, +from every enjoyment belonging to his being, and every blessing which +his Creator intended for him. + +The Christian communities send forth their emissaries of religion and +letters, who stop, here and there, along the coast of the vast continent +of Africa, and with painful and tedious efforts make some almost +imperceptible progress in the communication of knowledge, and in the +general improvement of the natives who are immediately about them. Not +thus slow and imperceptible is the transmission of the vices and bad +passions which the subjects of Christian states carry to the land. The +slave-trade having touched the coast, its influence and its evils +spread, like a pestilence, over the whole continent, making savage wars +more savage and more frequent, and adding new and fierce passions to the +contests of barbarians. + +I pursue this topic no further, except again to say, that all +Christendom, being now blessed with peace, is bound by every thing which +belongs to its character, and to the character of the present age, to +put a stop to this inhuman and disgraceful traffic. + +We are bound, not only to maintain the general principles of public +liberty, but to support also those existing forms of government which +have so well secured its enjoyment, and so highly promoted the public +prosperity. It is now more than thirty years that these States have been +united under the Federal Constitution, and whatever fortune may await +them hereafter, it is impossible that this period of their history +should not be regarded as distinguished by signal prosperity and +success. They must be sanguine indeed, who can hope for benefit from +change. Whatever division of the public judgment may have existed in +relation to particular measures of the government, all must agree, one +should think, in the opinion, that in its general course it has been +eminently productive of public happiness. Its most ardent friends could +not well have hoped from it more than it has accomplished; and those who +disbelieved or doubted ought to feel less concern about predictions +which the event has not verified, than pleasure in the good which has +been obtained. Whoever shall hereafter write this part of our history, +although he may see occasional errors or defects, will be able to record +no great failure in the ends and objects of government. Still less will +he be able to record any series of lawless and despotic acts, or any +successful usurpation. His page will contain no exhibition of provinces +depopulated, of civil authority habitually trampled down by military +power, or of a community crushed by the burden of taxation. He will +speak, rather, of public liberty protected, and public happiness +advanced; of increased revenue, and population augmented beyond all +example; of the growth of commerce, manufactures, and the arts; and of +that happy condition, in which the restraint and coercion of government +are almost invisible and imperceptible, and its influence felt only in +the benefits which it confers. We can entertain no better wish for our +country, than that this government may be preserved; nor have a clearer +duty than to maintain and support it in the full exercise of all its +just constitutional powers. + +The cause of science and literature also imposes upon us an important +and delicate trust. The wealth and population of the country are now so +far advanced, as to authorize the expectation of a correct literature +and a well formed taste, as well as respectable progress in the abstruse +sciences. The country has risen from a state of colonial subjection; it +has established an independent government, and is now in the undisturbed +enjoyment of peace and political security. The elements of knowledge are +universally diffused, and the reading portion of the community is large. +Let us hope that the present may be an auspicious era of literature. If, +almost on the day of their landing, our ancestors founded schools and +endowed colleges, what obligations do not rest upon us, living under +circumstances so much more favorable both for providing and for using +the means of education? Literature becomes free institutions. It is the +graceful ornament of civil liberty, and a happy restraint on the +asperities which political controversies sometimes occasion. Just taste +is not only an embellishment of society, but it rises almost to the rank +of the virtues, and diffuses positive good throughout the whole extent +of its influence. There is a connection between right feeling and right +principles, and truth in taste is allied with truth in morality. With +nothing in our past history to discourage us, and with something in our +present condition and prospects to animate us, let us hope, that, as it +is our fortune to live in an age when we may behold a wonderful +advancement of the country in all its other great interests, we may see +also equal progress and success attend the cause of letters. + +Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our +fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian +religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They +sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, +and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, +political, or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments, and extend this +influence still more widely; in the full conviction, that that is the +happiest society which partakes in the highest degree of the mild and +peaceful spirit of Christianity. + +The hours of this day are rapidly flying, and this occasion will soon be +passed. Neither we nor our children can expect to behold its return. +They are in the distant regions of futurity, they exist only in the +all-creating power of God, who shall stand here a hundred years hence, +to trace, through us, their descent from the Pilgrims, and to survey, as +we have now surveyed, the progress of their country, during the lapse of +a century. We would anticipate their concurrence with us in our +sentiments of deep regard for our common ancestors. We would anticipate +and partake the pleasure with which they will then recount the steps of +New England's advancement. On the morning of that day, although it will +not disturb us in our repose, the voice of acclamation and gratitude, +commencing on the Rock of Plymouth, shall be transmitted through +millions of the sons of the Pilgrims, till it lose itself in the murmurs +of the Pacific seas. + +We would leave for the consideration of those who shall then occupy our +places, some proof that we hold the blessings transmitted from our +fathers in just estimation; some proof of our attachment to the cause of +good government, and of civil and religious liberty; some proof of a +sincere and ardent desire to promote every thing which may enlarge the +understandings and improve the hearts of men. And when, from the long +distance of a hundred years, they shall look back upon us, they shall +know, at least, that we possessed affections, which, running backward +and warming with gratitude for what our ancestors have done for our +happiness, run forward also to our posterity, and meet them with cordial +salutation, ere yet they have arrived on the shore of being. + +Advance, then, ye future generations! We would hail you, as you rise in +your long succession, to fill the places which we now fill, and to taste +the blessings of existence where we are passing, and soon shall have +passed, our own human duration. We bid you welcome to this pleasant land +of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the healthful skies and the +verdant fields of New England. We greet your accession to the great +inheritance which we have enjoyed. We welcome you to the blessings of +good government and religious liberty. We welcome you to the treasures +of science and the delights of learning. We welcome you to the +transcendent sweets of domestic life, to the happiness of kindred, and +parents, and children. We welcome you to the immeasurable blessings of +rational existence, the immortal hope of Christianity, and the light of +everlasting truth! + + +FOOTNOTES + + [33] A Discourse delivered at Plymouth, on the 22d of December, 1820. + + [34] An interesting account of the Rock may be found in Dr. Thacher's + History of the Town of Plymouth, pp. 29, 198, 199. + + [35] See Note A, at the end of the Discourse. + + [36] For notices of Carver, Bradford, Standish, Brewster, and Allerton, + see Young's Chronicles of Plymouth and Massachusetts; Morton's + Memorial, p. 126; Belknap's American Biography, Vol. II.; + Hutchinson's History, Vol. II., App., pp. 456 _et seq._; + Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society; Winthrop's + Journal; and Thacher's History. + + [37] For the original name of what is now _Plymouth_, see Lives of + American Governors, p. 38, note, a work prepared with great care + by J. B. Moore, Esq. + + [38] The _twenty-first_ is now acknowledged to be the true anniversary. + See the Report of the Pilgrim Society on the subject. + + [39] Herodot. VI. Sec. 109. + + [40] For the compact to which reference is made in the text, signed on + board the Mayflower, see Hutchinson's History, Vol. II., + Appendix, No. I. For an eloquent description of the manner in + which the first Christian Sabbath was passed on board the + Mayflower, at Plymouth, see Barnes's Discourse at Worcester. + + [41] The names of the passengers in the Mayflower, with some account of + them, may be found in the New England Genealogical Register, + Vol. I. p. 47, and a narration of some of the incidents of the + voyage, Vol. II. p. 188. For an account of Mrs. White the mother + of the first child born in New England, see Baylies's History of + Plymouth, Vol. II. p. 18, and for a notice of her son Peregrine, + see Moore's Lives of American Governors, Vol. I. p. 31, note. + + [42] See the admirable letter written on board the Arbella, in + Hutchinson's History, Vol. I., Appendix, No. I. + + [43] In reference to the British policy respecting Colonial + manufactures, see Representations of the Board of Trade to the + House of Lords, 23d Jan., 1734; also, 8th June, 1749. For an + able vindication of the British Colonial policy, see "Political + Essays concerning the Present State of the British Empire." + London, 1772. + + [44] Many interesting papers, illustrating the early history of the + Colony, may be found in Hutchinson's "Collection of Original + Papers relating to the History of the Colony of Massachusetts + Bay." + + [45] In reference to the fulfilment of this prediction, see Mr. + Webster's Address at the Celebration of the New England Society + of New York, on the 23d of December, 1850. + + [46] John Adams, second President of the United States. + + [47] See Note B, at the end of the Discourse. + + [48] Oratio pro Flacco, Sec. 7. + + [49] The first free school established by law in the Plymouth Colony + was in 1670-72. One of the early teachers in Boston taught + school more than _seventy_ years. See Cotton Mather's "Funeral + Sermon upon Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, the ancient and honorable + Master of the Free School in Boston." + + For the impression made upon the mind of an intelligent + foreigner by the general attention to popular education, as + characteristic of the American polity, see Mackay's Western + World, Vol. III. p. 225 _et seq._ Also, Edinburgh Review, No. + 186. + + [50] By a law of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, passed as early as + 1647, it was ordered, that, "when any town shall increase to the + number of one hundred families or householders, they shall set + up a grammar school, the master thereof being able to instruct + youth so far as they may be fitted for the University." + + [51] In reference to the opposition of the Colonies to the slave-trade, + see a representation of the Board of Trade to the House of + Lords, 23d January, 1733-4. + + + + +NOTES. + + +NOTE A. Page 8. + +The allusion in the Discourse is to the large historical painting of the +Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, executed by Henry Sargent, Esq., of +Boston, and, with great liberality, presented by him to the Pilgrim +Society. It appeared in their hall (of which it forms the chief +ornament) for the first time at the celebration of 1824. It represents +the principal personages of the company at the moment of landing, with +the Indian Samoset, who approaches them with a friendly welcome. A very +competent judge, himself a distinguished artist, the late venerable +Colonel Trumbull, has pronounced that this painting has great merit. An +interesting account of it will be found in Dr. Thacher's History of +Plymouth, pp. 249 and 257. + +An historical painting, by Robert N. Weir, Esq., of the largest size, +representing the embarkation of the Pilgrims from Delft-Haven, in +Holland, and executed by order of Congress, fills one of the panels of +the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. The moment chosen by the +artist for the action of the picture is that in which the venerable +pastor Robinson, with tears, and benedictions, and prayers to Heaven, +dismisses the beloved members of his little flock to the perils and the +hopes of their great enterprise. The characters of the personages +introduced are indicated with discrimination and power, and the +accessories of the work marked with much taste and skill. It is a +painting of distinguished historical interest and of great artistic +merit. + +The "Landing of the Pilgrims" has also been made the subject of a very +interesting painting by Mr. Flagg, intended to represent the deep +religious feeling which so strikingly characterized the first settlers +of New England. With this object in view, the central figure is that of +Elder Brewster. It is a picture of cabinet size, and is in possession of +a gentleman of New Haven, descended from Elder Brewster, and of that +name. + + +NOTE B. Page 38. + +As the opinion of contemporaneous thinkers on this important subject +cannot fail to interest the general reader, it is deemed proper to +insert here the following extract from a letter, written in 1849, to +show how powerfully the truths uttered in 1820, in the spirit of +prophecy, as it were, impressed themselves upon certain minds, and how +closely the verification of the prediction has been watched. + + * * * * * + +"I do not remember any political prophecy, founded on the spirit of a +wide and far-reaching statesmanship, that has been so remarkably +fulfilled as the one made by Mr. Webster, in his Discourse delivered at +Plymouth in 1820, on the effect which the laws of succession to property +in France, then in operation, would be likely to produce on the forms +and working of the French government. But to understand what he said, +and what he foresaw, I must explain a little what had been the course of +legislation in France on which his predictions were founded. + +"Before the Revolution of 1789, there had been a great accumulation +of the landed property of the country, and, indeed, of all its +property,--by means of laws of entail, _majorats_, and other legal +contrivances,--in the hands of the privileged classes; chiefly in +those of the nobility and the clergy. The injury and injustice done by +long continued legislation in this direction were obviously great; and +it was not, perhaps, unnatural, that the opposite course to that which +had brought on the mischief should be deemed the best one to cure it. +At any rate, such was the course taken. + +"In 1791 a law was passed, preventing any man from having any interest +beyond the period of his own life in any of his property, real, +personal, or mixed, and distributing all his possessions for him, +immediately after his death, among his children, in equal shares, or if +he left no children, then among his next of kin, on the same principle. +This law, with a slight modification, made under the influence of +Robespierre, was in force till 1800. But the period was entirely +revolutionary, and probably quite as much property changed hands from +violence and the consequences of violence, during the nine years it +continued, as was transmitted by the laws that directly controlled its +succession. + +"With the coming in of Bonaparte, however, there was established a new +order of things, which has continued, with little modification, ever +since, and has had its full share in working out the great changes in +French society which we now witness. A few experiments were first made, +and then the great Civil Code, often called the _Code Napoleon_, was +adopted. This was in 1804. By this remarkable code, which is still in +force, a man, if he has but one child, can give away by his last will, +as he pleases, half of his property,--the law insuring the other half to +the child; if he has two children, then he can so give away only one +third,--the law requiring the other two thirds to be given equally to +the two children; if three, then only one fourth, under similar +conditions; but if he has a greater number, it restricts the rights of +the parent more and more, and makes it more and more difficult for him +to distribute his property according to his own judgment; the +restrictions embarrassing him even in his lifetime. + +"The consequences of such laws are, from their nature, very slowly +developed. When Mr. Webster spoke in 1820, the French code had been in +operation sixteen years, and similar principles had prevailed for nearly +a generation. But still its wide results were not even suspected. Those +who had treated the subject at all supposed that the tendency was to +break up the great estates in France, and make the larger number of the +holders of small estates more accessible to the influence of the +government, then a limited monarchy, and so render it stronger and more +despotic. + +"Mr. Webster held a different opinion. He said, 'In respect, however, to +the recent law of succession in France, to which I have alluded, _I +would, presumptuously perhaps, hazard a conjecture, that, if the +government do not change the law, the law in half a century will change +the government; and that this change will be, not in favor of the power +of the crown, as some European writers have supposed, but against it_. +Those writers only reason upon what they think correct general +principles, in relation to this subject. They acknowledge a want of +experience. Here we have had that experience; and we know that a +multitude of small proprietors, acting with intelligence, and that +enthusiasm which a common cause inspires, constitute not only a +formidable, but an invincible power.' + +"In less than six years after Mr. Webster uttered this remarkable +prediction, the king of France himself, at the opening of the +Legislative Chambers, thus strangely echoed it:--'Legislation ought to +provide, by successive improvements, for all the wants of society. The +progressive partitioning of landed estates, essentially contrary to the +spirit of a monarchical government, would enfeeble the guaranties which +the charter has given to my throne and to my subjects. Measures will be +proposed to you, gentlemen, to establish the consistency which ought to +exist between the political law and the civil law, and to preserve the +patrimony of families, without restricting the liberty of disposing of +one's property. The preservation of families is connected with, and +affords a guaranty to, political stability, which is the first want of +states, and which is especially that of France, after so many +vicissitudes.' + +"Still, the results to which such subdivision and comminution of +property tended were not foreseen even in France. The Revolution of 1830 +came, and revealed a part of them; for that revolution was made by the +influence of men possessing very moderate estates, who believed that the +guaranties of a government like that of the elder branch of the +Bourbons were not sufficient for their safety. But when the revolution +was made, and the younger branch of the Bourbons reigned instead of the +elder, the laws for the descent of property continued to be the same, +and the subdivision went on as if it were an admitted benefit to +society. + +"In consequence of this, in 1844 it was found that there were in France +at least five millions and a half of families, or about twenty-seven +millions of souls, who were proprietary families, and that of these +about four millions of families had each less than nine English acres to +the family on the average. Of course, a vast majority of these +twenty-seven millions of persons, though they might be interested in +some small portion of the soil, were really poor, and multitudes of them +were dependent. + +"Now, therefore, the results began to appear in a practical form. One +third of all the rental of France was discovered to be absolutely +mortgaged, and another third was swallowed up by other encumbrances, +leaving but one third free for the use and benefit of its owners. In +other words, a great proportion of the people of France were embarrassed +and poor, and a great proportion of the remainder were fast becoming +so. + +"Such a state of things produced, of course, a wide-spread social +uneasiness. Part of this uneasiness was directed against the existing +government; another and more formidable portion was directed against +_all_ government, and against the very institution of property. The +convulsion of 1848 followed; France is still unsettled; and Mr. +Webster's prophecy seems still to be in the course of a portentous +fulfilment." + + * * * * * + +In the London Quarterly Review for 1846 there is an interesting +discussion on so much of the matter as relates to the subdivision of +real estate for agricultural purposes in France, as far as it had then +advanced, and from which many of the facts here alluded to are taken. + + + + +THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + +As early as 1776, some steps were taken toward the commemoration of the +battle of Bunker Hill and the fall of General Warren, who was buried +upon the hill the day after the action. The Massachusetts Lodge of +Masons, over which he presided, applied to the provisional government of +Massachusetts, for permission to take up his remains and to bury them +with the usual solemnities. The council granted this request, on +condition that it should be carried into effect in such a manner that +the government of _the Colony_ might have an opportunity to erect a +monument to his memory. A funeral procession was had, and a Eulogy on +General Warren was delivered by Perez Morton, but no measures were taken +toward building a monument. + +A resolution was adopted by the Congress of the United States on the 8th +of April, 1777, directing that monuments should be erected to the memory +of General Warren, in Boston, and of General Mercer, at Fredericksburg; +but this resolution has remained to the present time unexecuted. + +On the 11th of November, 1794, a committee was appointed by King +Solomon's Lodge, at Charlestown,[52] to take measures for the erection +of a monument to the memory of General Joseph Warren at the expense of +the Lodge. This resolution was promptly carried into effect. The land +for this purpose was presented to the Lodge by the Hon. James Russell, +of Charlestown, and it was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on the +2d of December, 1794. It was a wooden pillar of the Tuscan order, +eighteen feet in height, raised on a pedestal eight feet square, and of +an elevation of ten feet from the ground. The pillar was surmounted by a +gilt urn. An appropriate inscription was placed on the south side of the +pedestal. + +In February, 1818, a committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts was +appointed to consider the expediency of building a monument of American +marble to the memory of General Warren, but this proposal was not +carried into effect. + +As the half-century from the date of the battle drew toward a close, a +stronger feeling of the duty of commemorating it began to be awakened in +the community. Among those who from the first manifested the greatest +interest in the subject, was the late William Tudor, Esq. He expressed +the wish, in a letter still preserved, to see upon the battle-ground +"the noblest monument in the world," and he was so ardent and +persevering in urging the project, that it has been stated that he first +conceived the idea of it. The steps taken in execution of the project, +from the earliest private conferences among the gentlemen first engaged +in it to its final completion, are accurately sketched by Mr. Richard +Frothingham, Jr., in his valuable History of the Siege of Boston. All +the material facts contained in this note are derived from his chapter +on the Bunker Hill Monument. After giving an account of the organization +of the society, the measures adopted for the collection of funds, and +the deliberations on the form of the monument, Mr. Frothingham proceeds +as follows: + + "It was at this stage of the enterprise that the directors proposed + to lay the corner-stone of the monument, and ground was broken (June + 7th) for this purpose. As a mark of respect to the liberality and + patriotism of King Solomon's Lodge, they invited the Grand Master of + the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts to perform the ceremony. They also + invited General Lafayette to accompany the President of the + Association, Hon. Daniel Webster, and assist in it. + + "This celebration was unequalled in magnificence by any thing of the + kind that had been seen in New England. The morning proved + propitious. The air was cool, the sky was clear, and timely showers + the previous day had brightened the vesture of nature into its + loveliest hue. Delighted thousands flocked into Boston to bear a + part in the proceedings, or to witness the spectacle. At about ten + o'clock a procession moved from the State House towards Bunker Hill. + The military, in their fine uniforms, formed the van. About two + hundred veterans of the Revolution, of whom forty were survivors of + the battle, rode in barouches next to the escort. These venerable + men, the relics of a past generation, with emaciated frames, + tottering limbs, and trembling voices, constituted a touching + spectacle. Some wore, as honorable decorations, their old fighting + equipments, and some bore the scars of still more honorable wounds. + Glistening eyes constituted their answer to the enthusiastic cheers + of the grateful multitudes who lined their pathway and cheered their + progress. To this patriot band succeeded the Bunker Hill Monument + Association. Then the Masonic fraternity, in their splendid regalia, + thousands in number. Then Lafayette, continually welcomed by tokens + of love and gratitude, and the invited guests. Then a long array of + societies, with their various badges and banners. It was a splendid + procession, and of such length that the front nearly reached + Charlestown Bridge ere the rear had left Boston Common. It proceeded + to Breed's Hill, where the Grand Master of the Freemasons, the + President of the Monument Association, and General Lafayette, + performed the ceremony of laying the corner-stone, in the presence + of a vast concourse of people." + +The procession then moved to a spacious amphitheatre on the northern +declivity of the hill, when the following address was delivered by Mr. +Webster, in the presence of as great a multitude as was ever perhaps +assembled within the sound of a human voice. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [52] General Warren, at the time of his decease, was Grand Master of + the Masonic Lodges in America. + + + + +THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT.[53] + + +This uncounted multitude before me and around me proves the feeling +which the occasion has excited. These thousands of human faces, glowing +with sympathy and joy, and from the impulses of a common gratitude +turned reverently to heaven in this spacious temple of the firmament, +proclaim that the day, the place, and the purpose of our assembling have +made a deep impression on our hearts. + +If, indeed, there be any thing in local association fit to affect the +mind of man, we need not strive to repress the emotions which agitate us +here. We are among the sepulchres of our fathers. We are on ground, +distinguished by their valor, their constancy, and the shedding of their +blood. We are here, not to fix an uncertain date in our annals, nor to +draw into notice an obscure and unknown spot. If our humble purpose had +never been conceived, if we ourselves had never been born, the 17th of +June, 1775, would have been a day on which all subsequent history would +have poured its light, and the eminence where we stand a point of +attraction to the eyes of successive generations. But we are Americans. +We live in what may be called the early age of this great continent; and +we know that our posterity, through all time, are here to enjoy and +suffer the allotments of humanity. We see before us a probable train of +great events; we know that our own fortunes have been happily cast; and +it is natural, therefore, that we should be moved by the contemplation +of occurrences which have guided our destiny before many of us were +born, and settled the condition in which we should pass that portion of +our existence which God allows to men on earth. + +We do not read even of the discovery of this continent, without feeling +something of a personal interest in the event; without being reminded +how much it has affected our own fortunes and our own existence. It +would be still more unnatural for us, therefore, than for others, to +contemplate with unaffected minds that interesting, I may say that most +touching and pathetic scene, when the great discoverer of America stood +on the deck of his shattered bark, the shades of night falling on the +sea, yet no man sleeping; tossed on the billows of an unknown ocean, yet +the stronger billows of alternate hope and despair tossing his own +troubled thoughts; extending forward his harassed frame, straining +westward his anxious and eager eyes, till Heaven at last granted him a +moment of rapture and ecstasy, in blessing his vision with the sight of +the unknown world. + +Nearer to our times, more closely connected with our fates, and +therefore still more interesting to our feelings and affections, is the +settlement of our own country by colonists from England. We cherish +every memorial of these worthy ancestors; we celebrate their patience +and fortitude; we admire their daring enterprise; we teach our children +to venerate their piety; and we are justly proud of being descended from +men who have set the world an example of founding civil institutions on +the great and united principles of human freedom and human knowledge. To +us, their children, the story of their labors and sufferings can never +be without its interest. We shall not stand unmoved on the shore of +Plymouth, while the sea continues to wash it; nor will our brethren in +another early and ancient Colony forget the place of its first +establishment, till their river shall cease to flow by it.[54] No vigor +of youth, no maturity of manhood, will lead the nation to forget the +spots where its infancy was cradled and defended. + +But the great event in the history of the continent, which we are now +met here to commemorate, that prodigy of modern times, at once the +wonder and the blessing of the world, is the American Revolution. In a +day of extraordinary prosperity and happiness, of high national honor, +distinction, and power, we are brought together, in this place, by our +love of country, by our admiration of exalted character, by our +gratitude for signal services and patriotic devotion. + + * * * * * + +The Society whose organ I am[55] was formed for the purpose of rearing +some honorable and durable monument to the memory of the early friends +of American Independence. They have thought, that for this object no +time could be more propitious than the present prosperous and peaceful +period; that no place could claim preference over this memorable spot; +and that no day could be more auspicious to the undertaking, than the +anniversary of the battle which was here fought. The foundation of that +monument we have now laid. With solemnities suited to the occasion, with +prayers to Almighty God for his blessing and in the midst of this cloud +of witnesses, we have begun the work. We trust it will be prosecuted, +and that, springing from a broad foundation, rising high in massive +solidity and unadorned grandeur, it may remain as long as Heaven permits +the works of man to last, a fit emblem, both of the events in memory of +which it is raised, and of the gratitude of those who have reared it. + +We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions is most safely +deposited in the universal remembrance of mankind. We know, that if we +could cause this structure to ascend, not only till it reached the +skies, but till it pierced them, its broad surfaces could still contain +but part of that which, in an age of knowledge, hath already been spread +over the earth, and which history charges itself with making known to +all future times. We know that no inscription on entablatures less broad +than the earth itself can carry information of the events we commemorate +where it has not already gone; and that no structure, which shall not +outlive the duration of letters and knowledge among men, can prolong the +memorial. But our object is, by this edifice, to show our own deep sense +of the value and importance of the achievements of our ancestors; and, +by presenting this work of gratitude to the eye, to keep alive similar +sentiments, and to foster a constant regard for the principles of the +Revolution. Human beings are composed, not of reason only, but of +imagination also, and sentiment; and that is neither wasted nor +misapplied which is appropriated to the purpose of giving right +direction to sentiments, and opening proper springs of feeling in the +heart. Let it not be supposed that our object is to perpetuate national +hostility, or even to cherish a mere military spirit. It is higher, +purer, nobler. We consecrate our work to the spirit of national +independence, and we wish that the light of peace may rest upon it for +ever. We rear a memorial of our conviction of that unmeasured benefit +which has been conferred on our own land, and of the happy influences +which have been produced, by the same events, on the general interests +of mankind. We come, as Americans, to mark a spot which must for ever be +dear to us and our posterity. We wish that whosoever, in all coming +time, shall turn his eye hither, may behold that the place is not +undistinguished where the first great battle of the Revolution was +fought. We wish that this structure may proclaim the magnitude and +importance of that event to every class and every age. We wish that +infancy may learn the purpose of its erection from maternal lips, and +that weary and withered age may behold it, and be solaced by the +recollections which it suggests. We wish that labor may look up here, +and be proud, in the midst of its toil. We wish that, in those days of +disaster, which, as they come upon all nations, must be expected to come +upon us also, desponding patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be +assured that the foundations of our national power are still strong. We +wish that this column, rising towards heaven among the pointed spires of +so many temples dedicated to God, may contribute also to produce, in all +minds, a pious feeling of dependence and gratitude. We wish, finally, +that the last object to the sight of him who leaves his native shore, +and the first to gladden his who revisits it, may be something which +shall remind him of the liberty and the glory of his country. Let it +rise! let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest +light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play on its +summit. + + * * * * * + +We live in a most extraordinary age. Events so various and so important +that they might crowd and distinguish centuries, are, in our times, +compressed within the compass of a single life. When has it happened +that history has had so much to record, in the same term of years, as +since the 17th of June, 1775? Our own Revolution, which, under other +circumstances, might itself have been expected to occasion a war of half +a century, has been achieved; twenty-four sovereign and independent +States erected; and a general government established over them, so safe, +so wise, so free, so practical, that we might well wonder its +establishment should have been accomplished so soon, were it not far the +greater wonder that it should have been established at all. Two or three +millions of people have been augmented to twelve, the great forests of +the West prostrated beneath the arm of successful industry, and the +dwellers on the banks of the Ohio and the Mississippi become the +fellow-citizens and neighbors of those who cultivate the hills of New +England.[56] We have a commerce, that leaves no sea unexplored; navies, +which take no law from superior force; revenues, adequate to all the +exigencies of government, almost without taxation; and peace with all +nations, founded on equal rights and mutual respect. + +Europe, within the same period, has been agitated by a mighty +revolution, which, while it has been felt in the individual condition +and happiness of almost every man, has shaken to the centre her +political fabric, and dashed against one another thrones which had stood +tranquil for ages. On this, our continent, our own example has been +followed, and colonies have sprung up to be nations. Unaccustomed sounds +of liberty and free government have reached us from beyond the track of +the sun; and at this moment the dominion of European power in this +continent, from the place where we stand to the south pole, is +annihilated for ever.[57] + +In the mean time, both in Europe and America, such has been the general +progress of knowledge, such the improvement in legislation, in +commerce, in the arts, in letters, and, above all, in liberal ideas and +the general spirit of the age, that the whole world seems changed. + +Yet, notwithstanding that this is but a faint abstract of the things +which have happened since the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, we are +but fifty years removed from it; and we now stand here to enjoy all +the blessings of our own condition, and to look abroad on the +brightened prospects of the world, while we still have among us some +of those who were active agents in the scenes of 1775, and who are now +here, from every quarter of New England, to visit once more, and +under circumstances so affecting, I had almost said so overwhelming, +this renowned theatre of their courage and patriotism. + + * * * * * + +VENERABLE MEN! you have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven +has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this +joyous day. You are now where you stood fifty years ago, this very hour, +with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder, in the +strife for your country. Behold, how altered! The same heavens are +indeed over your heads; the same ocean rolls at your feet; but all else +how changed! You hear now no roar of hostile cannon, you see no mixed +volumes of smoke and flame rising from burning Charlestown. The ground +strowed with the dead and the dying; the impetuous charge; the steady +and successful repulse; the loud call to repeated assault; the summoning +of all that is manly to repeated resistance; a thousand bosoms freely +and fearlessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may be in +war and death;--all these you have witnessed, but you witness them no +more. All is peace. The heights of yonder metropolis, its towers and +roofs, which you then saw filled with wives and children and countrymen +in distress and terror, and looking with unutterable emotions for the +issue of the combat, have presented you to-day with the sight of its +whole happy population, come out to welcome and greet you with a +universal jubilee. Yonder proud ships, by a felicity of position +appropriately lying at the foot of this mount, and seeming fondly to +cling around it, are not means of annoyance to you, but your country's +own means of distinction and defence.[58] All is peace; and God has +granted you this sight of your country's happiness, ere you slumber in +the grave. He has allowed you to behold and to partake the reward of +your patriotic toils; and he has allowed us, your sons and countrymen, +to meet you here, and in the name of the present generation, in the name +of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you! + +But, alas! you are not all here! Time and the sword have thinned your +ranks. Prescott, Putnam, Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge! our eyes +seek for you in vain amid this broken band. You are gathered to your +fathers, and live only to your country in her grateful remembrance and +your own bright example. But let us not too much grieve, that you have +met the common fate of men. You lived at least long enough to know that +your work had been nobly and successfully accomplished. You lived to see +your country's independence established, and to sheathe your swords from +war. On the light of Liberty you saw arise the light of Peace, like + + "another morn, + Risen on mid-noon"; + +and the sky on which you closed your eyes was cloudless. + +But ah! Him! the first great martyr in this great cause! Him! the +premature victim of his own self-devoting heart! Him! the head of our +civil councils, and the destined leader of our military bands, whom +nothing brought hither but the unquenchable fire of his own spirit! Him! +cut off by Providence in the hour of overwhelming anxiety and thick +gloom; falling ere he saw the star of his country rise; pouring out his +generous blood like water, before he knew whether it would fertilize a +land of freedom or of bondage!--how shall I struggle with the emotions +that stifle the utterance of thy name![59] Our poor work may perish; but +thine shall endure! This monument may moulder away; the solid ground it +rests upon may sink down to a level with the sea; but thy memory shall +not fail! Wheresoever among men a heart shall be found that beats to the +transports of patriotism and liberty, its aspirations shall be to claim +kindred with thy spirit! + +But the scene amidst which we stand does not permit us to confine our +thoughts or our sympathies to those fearless spirits who hazarded or +lost their lives on this consecrated spot. We have the happiness to +rejoice here in the presence of a most worthy representation of the +survivors of the whole Revolutionary army. + +VETERANS! you are the remnant of many a well-fought field. You bring +with you marks of honor from Trenton and Monmouth, from Yorktown, +Camden, Bennington, and Saratoga. VETERANS OF HALF A CENTURY! when in +your youthful days you put every thing at hazard in your country's +cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as youth is, still your +fondest hopes did not stretch onward to an hour like this! At a period +to which you could not reasonably have expected to arrive, at a moment +of national prosperity such as you could never have foreseen, you are +now met here to enjoy the fellowship of old soldiers, and to receive the +overflowings of a universal gratitude. + +But your agitated countenances and your heaving breasts inform me that +even this is not an unmixed joy. I perceive that a tumult of contending +feelings rushes upon you. The images of the dead, as well as the persons +of the living, present themselves before you. The scene overwhelms you, +and I turn from it. May the Father of all mercies smile upon your +declining years, and bless them! And when you shall here have exchanged +your embraces, when you shall once more have pressed the hands which +have been so often extended to give succor in adversity, or grasped in +the exultation of victory, then look abroad upon this lovely land which +your young valor defended, and mark the happiness with which it is +filled; yea, look abroad upon the whole earth, and see what a name you +have contributed to give to your country, and what a praise you have +added to freedom, and then rejoice in the sympathy and gratitude which +beam upon your last days from the improved condition of mankind! + + * * * * * + +The occasion does not require of me any particular account of the battle +of the 17th of June, 1775, nor any detailed narrative of the events +which immediately preceded it. These are familiarly known to all. In the +progress of the great and interesting controversy, Massachusetts and +the town of Boston had become early and marked objects of the +displeasure of the British Parliament. This had been manifested in +the act for altering the government of the Province, and in that for +shutting up the port of Boston. Nothing sheds more honor on our +early history, and nothing better shows how little the feelings and +sentiments of the Colonies were known or regarded in England, than the +impression which these measures everywhere produced in America. It had +been anticipated, that while the Colonies in general would be terrified +by the severity of the punishment inflicted on Massachusetts, the +other seaports would be governed by a mere spirit of gain; and that, +as Boston was now cut off from all commerce, the unexpected advantage +which this blow on her was calculated to confer on other towns would be +greedily enjoyed. How miserably such reasoners deceived themselves! +How little they knew of the depth, and the strength, and the +intenseness of that feeling of resistance to illegal acts of power, +which possessed the whole American people! Everywhere the unworthy boon +was rejected with scorn. The fortunate occasion was seized, everywhere, +to show to the whole world that the Colonies were swayed by no local +interest, no partial interest, no selfish interest. The temptation to +profit by the punishment of Boston was strongest to our neighbors of +Salem. Yet Salem was precisely the place where this miserable proffer +was spurned, in a tone of the most lofty self-respect and the most +indignant patriotism. "We are deeply affected," said its inhabitants, +"with the sense of our public calamities; but the miseries that are +now rapidly hastening on our brethren in the capital of the Province +greatly excite our commiseration. By shutting up the port of Boston, +some imagine that the course of trade might be turned hither and to +our benefit; but we must be dead to every idea of justice, lost to +all feelings of humanity, could we indulge a thought to seize on wealth +and raise our fortunes on the ruin of our suffering neighbors." These +noble sentiments were not confined to our immediate vicinity. In that +day of general affection and brotherhood, the blow given to Boston +smote on every patriotic heart from one end of the country to the +other. Virginia and the Carolinas, as well as Connecticut and New +Hampshire, felt and proclaimed the cause to be their own. The +Continental Congress, then holding its first session in Philadelphia, +expressed its sympathy for the suffering inhabitants of Boston, and +addresses were received from all quarters, assuring them that the +cause was a common one, and should be met by common efforts and +common sacrifices. The Congress of Massachusetts responded to these +assurances; and in an address to the Congress at Philadelphia, +bearing the official signature, perhaps among the last, of the immortal +Warren, notwithstanding the severity of its suffering and the magnitude +of the dangers which threatened it, it was declared, that this Colony +"is ready, at all times, to spend and to be spent in the cause of +America." + +But the hour drew nigh which was to put professions to the proof, and to +determine whether the authors of these mutual pledges were ready to seal +them in blood. The tidings of Lexington and Concord had no sooner +spread, than it was universally felt that the time was at last come for +action. A spirit pervaded all ranks, not transient, not boisterous, but +deep, solemn, determined, + + "totamque infusa per artus + Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet." + +War, on their own soil and at their own doors; was, indeed, a strange +work to the yeomanry of New England; but their consciences were +convinced of its necessity, their country called them to it, and they +did not withhold themselves from the perilous trial. The ordinary +occupations of life were abandoned; the plough was staid in the +unfinished furrow; wives gave up their husbands, and mothers gave up +their sons, to the battles of a civil war. Death might come, in honor, +on the field; it might come, in disgrace, on the scaffold. For either +and for both they were prepared. The sentiment of Quincy was full in +their hearts. "Blandishments," said that distinguished son of genius and +patriotism, "will not fascinate us, nor will threats of a halter +intimidate; for, under God, we are determined that, wheresoever, +whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our exit, we will +die free men." + +The 17th of June saw the four New England Colonies standing here, side +by side, to triumph or to fall together; and there was with them from +that moment to the end of the war, what I hope will remain with them for +ever, one cause, one country, one heart. + +The battle of Bunker Hill was attended with the most important effects +beyond its immediate results as a military engagement. It created at +once a state of open, public war. There could now be no longer a +question of proceeding against individuals, as guilty of treason or +rebellion. That fearful crisis was past. The appeal lay to the sword, +and the only question was, whether the spirit and the resources of the +people would hold out, till the object should be accomplished. Nor were +its general consequences confined to our own country. The previous +proceedings of the Colonies, their appeals, resolutions, and addresses, +had made their cause known to Europe. Without boasting, we may say, that +in no age or country has the public cause been maintained with more +force of argument, more power of illustration, or more of that +persuasion which excited feeling and elevated principle can alone +bestow, than the Revolutionary state papers exhibit. These papers will +for ever deserve to be studied, not only for the spirit which they +breathe, but for the ability with which they were written. + +To this able vindication of their cause, the Colonies had now added a +practical and severe proof of their own true devotion to it, and given +evidence also of the power which they could bring to its support. All +now saw, that if America fell, she would not fall without a struggle. +Men felt sympathy and regard, as well as surprise, when they beheld +these infant states, remote, unknown, unaided, encounter the power of +England, and, in the first considerable battle, leave more of their +enemies dead on the field, in proportion to the number of combatants, +than had been recently known to fall in the wars of Europe. + +Information of these events, circulating throughout the world, at length +reached the ears of one who now hears me.[60] He has not forgotten the +emotion which the fame of Bunker Hill, and the name of Warren, excited +in his youthful breast. + + * * * * * + +SIR, we are assembled to commemorate the establishment of great public +principles of liberty, and to do honor to the distinguished dead. The +occasion is too severe for eulogy of the living. But, Sir, your +interesting relation to this country, the peculiar circumstances which +surround you and surround us, call on me to express the happiness which +we derive from your presence and aid in this solemn commemoration. + +Fortunate, fortunate man! with what measure of devotion will you not +thank God for the circumstances of your extraordinary life! You are +connected with both hemispheres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit +to ordain, that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted, +through you, from the New World to the Old; and we, who are now here to +perform this duty of patriotism, have all of us long ago received it in +charge from our fathers to cherish your name and your virtues. You will +account it an instance of your good fortune, Sir, that you crossed the +seas to visit us at a time which enables you to be present at this +solemnity. You now behold the field, the renown of which reached you in +the heart of France, and caused a thrill in your ardent bosom. You see +the lines of the little redoubt thrown up by the incredible diligence of +Prescott; defended, to the last extremity, by his lion-hearted valor; +and within which the corner-stone of our monument has now taken its +position. You see where Warren fell, and where Parker, Gardner, +McCleary, Moore, and other early patriots, fell with him. Those who +survived that day, and whose lives have been prolonged to the present +hour, are now around you. Some of them you have known in the trying +scenes of the war. Behold! they now stretch forth their feeble arms to +embrace you. Behold! they raise their trembling voices to invoke the +blessing of God on you and yours for ever. + +Sir, you have assisted us in laying the foundation of this structure. +You have heard us rehearse, with our feeble commendation, the names of +departed patriots. Monuments and eulogy belong to the dead. We give them +this day to Warren and his associates. On other occasions they have been +given to your more immediate companions in arms, to Washington, to +Greene, to Gates, to Sullivan, and to Lincoln. We have become reluctant +to grant these, our highest and last honors, further. We would gladly +hold them yet back from the little remnant of that immortal band. _Serus +in coelum redeas._ Illustrious as are your merits, yet far, O, very far +distant be the day, when any inscription shall bear your name, or any +tongue pronounce its eulogy! + + * * * * * + +The leading reflection to which this occasion seems to invite us, +respects the great changes which have happened in the fifty years since +the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. And it peculiarly marks the +character of the present age, that, in looking at these changes, and in +estimating their effect on our condition, we are obliged to consider, +not what has been done in our own country only, but in others also. In +these interesting times, while nations are making separate and +individual advances in improvement, they make, too, a common progress; +like vessels on a common tide, propelled by the gales at different +rates, according to their several structure and management, but all +moved forward by one mighty current, strong enough to bear onward +whatever does not sink beneath it. + +A chief distinction of the present day is a community of opinions and +knowledge amongst men in different nations, existing in a degree +heretofore unknown. Knowledge has, in our time, triumphed, and is +triumphing, over distance, over difference of languages, over diversity +of habits, over prejudice, and over bigotry. The civilized and Christian +world is fast learning the great lesson, that difference of nation does +not imply necessary hostility, and that all contact need not be war. The +whole world is becoming a common field for intellect to act in. Energy +of mind, genius, power, wheresoever it exists, may speak out in any +tongue, and the _world_ will hear it. A great chord of sentiment and +feeling runs through two continents, and vibrates over both. Every +breeze wafts intelligence from country to country; every wave rolls it; +all give it forth, and all in turn receive it. There is a vast commerce +of ideas; there are marts and exchanges for intellectual discoveries, +and a wonderful fellowship of those individual intelligences which make +up the mind and opinion of the age. Mind is the great lever of all +things; human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately +answered; and the diffusion of knowledge, so astonishing in the last +half-century, has rendered innumerable minds, variously gifted by +nature, competent to be competitors or fellow-workers on the theatre of +intellectual operation. + +From these causes important improvements have taken place in the +personal condition of individuals. Generally speaking, mankind are not +only better fed and better clothed, but they are able also to enjoy more +leisure; they possess more refinement and more self-respect. A superior +tone of education, manners, and habits prevails. This remark, most true +in its application to our own country, is also partly true when applied +elsewhere. It is proved by the vastly augmented consumption of those +articles of manufacture and of commerce which contribute to the comforts +and the decencies of life; an augmentation which has far outrun the +progress of population. And while the unexampled and almost incredible +use of machinery would seem to supply the place of labor, labor still +finds its occupation and its reward; so wisely has Providence adjusted +men's wants and desires to their condition and their capacity. + +Any adequate survey, however, of the progress made during the last +half-century in the polite and the mechanic arts, in machinery and +manufactures, in commerce and agriculture, in letters and in science, +would require volumes. I must abstain wholly from these subjects, and +turn for a moment to the contemplation of what has been done on the +great question of politics and government. This is the master topic of +the age; and during the whole fifty years it has intensely occupied the +thoughts of men. The nature of civil government, its ends and uses, have +been canvassed and investigated; ancient opinions attacked and defended; +new ideas recommended and resisted, by whatever power the mind of man +could bring to the controversy. From the closet and the public halls the +debate has been transferred to the field; and the world has been shaken +by wars of unexampled magnitude, and the greatest variety of fortune. A +day of peace has at length succeeded; and now that the strife has +subsided, and the smoke cleared away, we may begin to see what has +actually been done, permanently changing the state and condition of +human society. And, without dwelling on particular circumstances, it is +most apparent, that, from the before-mentioned causes of augmented +knowledge and improved individual condition, a real, substantial, and +important change has taken place, and is taking place, highly favorable, +on the whole, to human liberty and human happiness. + +The great wheel of political revolution began to move in America. Here +its rotation was guarded, regular, and safe. Transferred to the other +continent, from unfortunate but natural causes, it received an irregular +and violent impulse; it whirled along with a fearful celerity; till at +length, like the chariot-wheels in the races of antiquity, it took fire +from the rapidity of its own motion, and blazed onward, spreading +conflagration and terror around. + +We learn from the result of this experiment, how fortunate was our own +condition, and how admirably the character of our people was calculated +for setting the great example of popular governments. The possession of +power did not turn the heads of the American people, for they had long +been in the habit of exercising a great degree of self-control. Although +the paramount authority of the parent state existed over them, yet a +large field of legislation had always been open to our Colonial +assemblies. They were accustomed to representative bodies and the forms +of free government; they understood the doctrine of the division of +power among different branches, and the necessity of checks on each. The +character of our countrymen, moreover, was sober, moral, and religious; +and there was little in the change to shock their feelings of justice +and humanity, or even to disturb an honest prejudice. We had no domestic +throne to overturn, no privileged orders to cast down, no violent +changes of property to encounter. In the American Revolution, no man +sought or wished for more than to defend and enjoy his own. None hoped +for plunder or for spoil. Rapacity was unknown to it; the axe was not +among the instruments of its accomplishment; and we all know that it +could not have lived a single day under any well-founded imputation of +possessing a tendency adverse to the Christian religion. + +It need not surprise us, that, under circumstances less auspicious, +political revolutions elsewhere, even when well intended, have +terminated differently. It is, indeed, a great achievement, it is the +master-work of the world, to establish governments entirely popular on +lasting foundations; nor is it easy, indeed, to introduce the popular +principle at all into governments to which it has been altogether a +stranger. It cannot be doubted, however, that Europe has come out of the +contest, in which she has been so long engaged, with greatly superior +knowledge, and, in many respects, in a highly improved condition. +Whatever benefit has been acquired is likely to be retained, for it +consists mainly in the acquisition of more enlightened ideas. And +although kingdoms and provinces may be wrested from the hands that hold +them, in the same manner they were obtained; although ordinary and +vulgar power may, in human affairs, be lost as it has been won; yet it +is the glorious prerogative of the empire of knowledge, that what it +gains it never loses. On the contrary, it increases by the multiple of +its own power; all its ends become means; all its attainments, helps to +new conquests. Its whole abundant harvest is but so much seed wheat, and +nothing has limited, and nothing can limit, the amount of ultimate +product. + +Under the influence of this rapidly increasing knowledge, the people +have begun, in all forms of government, to think, and to reason, on +affairs of state. Regarding government as an institution for the public +good, they demand a knowledge of its operations, and a participation in +its exercise. A call for the representative system, wherever it is not +enjoyed, and where there is already intelligence enough to estimate its +value, is perseveringly made. Where men may speak out, they demand it; +where the bayonet is at their throats, they pray for it. + +When Louis the Fourteenth said, "I am the state," he expressed the +essence of the doctrine of unlimited power. By the rules of that system, +the people are disconnected from the state; they are its subjects; it is +their lord. These ideas, founded in the love of power, and long +supported by the excess and the abuse of it, are yielding, in our age, +to other opinions; and the civilized world seems at last to be +proceeding to the conviction of that fundamental and manifest truth, +that the powers of government are but a trust, and that they cannot be +lawfully exercised but for the good of the community. As knowledge is +more and more extended, this conviction becomes more and more general. +Knowledge, in truth, is the great sun in the firmament. Life and power +are scattered with all its beams. The prayer of the Grecian champion, +when enveloped in unnatural clouds and darkness, is the appropriate +political supplication for the people of every country not yet blessed +with free institutions:-- + + "Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore, + Give me TO SEE,--and Ajax asks no more." + +We may hope that the growing influence of enlightened sentiment will +promote the permanent peace of the world. Wars to maintain family +alliances, to uphold or to cast down dynasties, and to regulate +successions to thrones, which have occupied so much room in the history +of modern times, if not less likely to happen at all, will be less +likely to become general and involve many nations, as the great +principle shall be more and more established, that the interest of the +world is peace, and its first great statute, that every nation possesses +the power of establishing a government for itself. But public opinion +has attained also an influence over governments which do not admit the +popular principle into their organization. A necessary respect for the +judgment of the world operates, in some measure, as a control over the +most unlimited forms of authority. It is owing, perhaps, to this truth, +that the interesting struggle of the Greeks has been suffered to go on +so long, without a direct interference, either to wrest that country +from its present masters, or to execute the system of pacification by +force, and, with united strength, lay the neck of Christian and +civilized Greek at the foot of the barbarian Turk. Let us thank God that +we live in an age when something has influence besides the bayonet, and +when the sternest authority does not venture to encounter the scorching +power of public reproach. Any attempt of the kind I have mentioned +should be met by one universal burst of indignation; the air of the +civilized world ought to be made too warm to be comfortably breathed by +any one who would hazard it. + +It is, indeed, a touching reflection, that, while, in the fulness of our +country's happiness, we rear this monument to her honor, we look for +instruction in our undertaking to a country which is now in fearful +contest, not for works of art or memorials of glory, but for her own +existence. Let her be assured, that she is not forgotten in the world; +that her efforts are applauded, and that constant prayers ascend for her +success. And let us cherish a confident hope for her final triumph. If +the true spark of religious and civil liberty be kindled, it will burn. +Human agency cannot extinguish it. Like the earth's central fire, it may +be smothered for a time; the ocean may overwhelm it; mountains may press +it down; but its inherent and unconquerable force will heave both the +ocean and the land, and at some time or other, in some place or other, +the volcano will break out and flame up to heaven. + +Among the great events of the half-century, we must reckon, certainly, +the revolution of South America; and we are not likely to overrate the +importance of that revolution, either to the people of the country +itself or to the rest of the world. The late Spanish colonies, now +independent states, under circumstances less favorable, doubtless, than +attended our own revolution, have yet successfully commenced their +national existence. They have accomplished the great object of +establishing their independence; they are known and acknowledged in the +world; and although in regard to their systems of government, their +sentiments on religious toleration, and their provisions for public +instruction, they may have yet much to learn, it must be admitted that +they have risen to the condition of settled and established states more +rapidly than could have been reasonably anticipated. They already +furnish an exhilarating example of the difference between free +governments and despotic misrule. Their commerce, at this moment, +creates a new activity in all the great marts of the world. They show +themselves able, by an exchange of commodities, to bear a useful part in +the intercourse of nations. + + A new spirit of enterprise and industry begins to prevail; all the +great interests of society receive a salutary impulse; and the progress +of information not only testifies to an improved condition, but itself +constitutes the highest and most essential improvement. + +When the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, the existence of South +America was scarcely felt in the civilized world. The thirteen little +Colonies of North America habitually called themselves the "Continent." +Borne down by colonial subjugation, monopoly, and bigotry, these vast +regions of the South were hardly visible above the horizon. But in our +day there has been, as it were, a new creation. The southern hemisphere +emerges from the sea. Its lofty mountains begin to lift themselves into +the light of heaven; its broad and fertile plains stretch out, in +beauty, to the eye of civilized man, and at the mighty bidding of the +voice of political liberty the waters of darkness retire. + + * * * * * + +And, now, let us indulge an honest exultation in the conviction of the +benefit which the example of our country has produced, and is likely to +produce, on human freedom and human happiness. Let us endeavor to +comprehend in all its magnitude, and to feel in all its importance, the +part assigned to us in the great drama of human affairs. We are placed +at the head of the system of representative and popular governments. +Thus far our example shows that such governments are compatible, not +only with respectability and power, but with repose, with peace, with +security of personal rights, with good laws, and a just administration. + +We are not propagandists. Wherever other systems are preferred, either +as being thought better in themselves, or as better suited to existing +condition, we leave the preference to be enjoyed. Our history hitherto +proves, however, that the popular form is practicable, and that with +wisdom and knowledge men may govern themselves; and the duty incumbent +on us is, to preserve the consistency of this cheering example, and take +care that nothing may weaken its authority with the world. If, in our +case, the representative system ultimately fail, popular governments +must be pronounced impossible. No combination of circumstances more +favorable to the experiment can ever be expected to occur. The last +hopes of mankind, therefore, rest with us; and if it should be +proclaimed, that our example had become an argument against the +experiment, the knell of popular liberty would be sounded throughout the +earth. + +These are excitements to duty; but they are not suggestions of doubt. +Our history and our condition, all that is gone before us, and all that +surrounds us, authorize the belief, that popular governments, though +subject to occasional variations, in form perhaps not always for the +better, may yet, in their general character, be as durable and permanent +as other systems. We know, indeed, that in our country any other is +impossible. The _principle_ of free governments adheres to the American +soil. It is bedded in it, immovable as its mountains. + +And let the sacred obligations which have devolved on this generation, +and on us, sink deep into our hearts. Those who established our liberty +and our government are daily dropping from among us. The great trust now +descends to new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that which is presented +to us, as our appropriate object. We can win no laurels in a war for +independence. Earlier and worthier hands have gathered them all. Nor are +there places for us by the side of Solon, and Alfred, and other founders +of states. Our fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a +great duty of defence and preservation; and there is opened to us, also, +a noble pursuit, to which the spirit of the times strongly invites us. +Our proper business is improvement. Let our age be the age of +improvement. In a day of peace, let us advance the arts of peace and the +works of peace. Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its +powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and +see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform +something worthy to be remembered. Let us cultivate a true spirit of +union and harmony. In pursuing the great objects which our condition +points out to us, let us act under a settled conviction, and an habitual +feeling, that these twenty-four States are one country. Let our +conceptions be enlarged to the circle of our duties. Let us extend our +ideas over the whole of the vast field in which we are called to act. +Let our object be, OUR COUNTRY, OUR WHOLE COUNTRY, AND NOTHING BUT OUR +COUNTRY. And, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a +vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of Wisdom, +of Peace, and of Liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration +for ever! + + +FOOTNOTES + + [53] An Address delivered at the Laying of the Corner-stone of the + Bunker Hill Monument at Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the 17th + of June, 1825. + + [54] An interesting account of the voyage of the early emigrants to the + Maryland Colony, and of its settlement, is given in the official + report of Father White, written probably within the first month + after the landing at St. Mary's. The original Latin manuscript + is still preserved among the archives of the Jesuits, at Rome. + The "Ark" and the "Dove" are remembered with scarcely less + interest by the descendants of the sister Colony, than is the + "Mayflower" in New England, which, thirteen years earlier, at + the same season of the year, bore thither the Pilgrim Fathers. + + [55] Mr. Webster was at this time President of the Bunker Hill Monument + Association, chosen on the decease of Governor John Brooks, the + first President. + + [56] That which was spoken of figuratively in 1825 has, in the lapse of + a quarter of a century, by the introduction of railroads and + telegraphic lines, become a reality. It is an interesting + circumstance, that the first railroad on the Western Continent + was constructed for the purpose of accelerating the erection of + this monument. + + [57] See President Monroe's Message to Congress in 1823, and Mr. + Webster's speech on the Panama mission, in 1828. + + [58] It is necessary to inform those only who are unacquainted with the + localities, that the United States Navy Yard at Charlestown is + situated at the base of Bunker Hill. + + [59] See the North American Review, Vol. XLI. p. 242. + + [60] Among the earliest of the arrangements for the celebration of the + 17th of June, 1825, was the invitation to General Lafayette to + be present; and he had so timed his progress through the other + States as to return to Massachusetts in season for the great + occasion. + + + + +THE COMPLETION OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE.* + + +In the introductory note to the preceding Address, a brief account is +given of the origin and progress of the measures adopted for the +erection of the Bunker Hill Monument, down to the time of laying the +corner-stone, compiled from Mr. Frothingham's History of the Siege of +Boston. The same valuable work (pp. 345-352) relates the obstacles +which presented themselves to the rapid execution of the design, and +the means by which they were overcome. In this narrative, Mr. +Frothingham has done justice to the efforts and exertions of the +successive boards of direction and officers of the Association, to the +skill and disinterestedness of the architect, to the liberality of +distinguished individuals, to the public spirit of the Massachusetts +Charitable Mechanic Association, in promoting a renewed subscription, +and to the patriotic zeal of the ladies of Boston and the vicinity, +in holding a most successful fair. As it would be difficult farther +to condense the information contained in this interesting summary, we +must refer the reader to Mr. Frothingham's work for an adequate account +of the causes which delayed the completion of the monument for nearly +seventeen years, and of the resources and exertions by which the +desired end was finally attained. The last stone was raised to its +place on the morning of the 23d of July, 1842. + +It was determined by the directors of the Association, that the +completion of the work should be celebrated in a manner not less +imposing than that in which the laying of the corner-stone had been +celebrated, seventeen years before. The cooeperation of Mr. Webster was +again invited, and, notwithstanding the pressure of his engagements as +Secretary of State at Washington, was again patriotically yielded. Many +circumstances conspired to increase the interest of the occasion. The +completion of the monument had been long delayed, but in the interval +the subject had been kept much before the public mind. Mr. Webster's +address on the 17th of June, 1825, had obtained the widest circulation +throughout the country; passages from it had passed into household words +throughout the Union. Wherever they were repeated, they made the Bunker +Hill Monument a familiar thought with the people. Meantime, Boston and +Charlestown had doubled their population, and the multiplication of +railroads in every direction enabled a person, in almost any part of New +England, to reach the metropolis in a day. The President of the United +States and his Cabinet had accepted invitations to be present; +delegations of the descendants of New England were present from the +remotest parts of the Union; one hundred and eight surviving veterans of +the Revolution, among whom were some who were in the battle of Bunker +Hill, imparted a touching interest to the scene. + +Every thing conspired to promote the success of the ceremonial. The day +was uncommonly fine; cool for the season, and clear. A large volunteer +force from various parts of the country had assembled for the occasion, +and formed a brilliant escort to an immense procession, as it moved from +Boston to the battle-ground on the hill. The bank which slopes down from +the obelisk on the eastern side of Monument Square was covered with +seats, rising in the form of an amphitheatre, under the open sky. These +had been prepared for ladies, who had assembled in great numbers, +awaiting the arrival of the procession. When it arrived, it was received +into a large open area in front of these seats. Mr. Webster was +stationed upon an elevated platform, in front of the audience and of the +monument towering in the background. According to Mr. Frothingham's +estimate, a hundred thousand persons were gathered about the spot, and +nearly half that number are supposed to have been within the reach of +the orator's voice. The ground rises slightly between the platform and +the Monument Square, so that the whole of this immense concourse, +compactly crowded together, breathless with attention, swayed by one +sentiment of admiration and delight, was within the full view of the +speaker. The position and the occasion were the height of the moral +sublime. "When, after saying, 'It is not from my lips, it could not be +from any human lips, that that strain of eloquence is this day to flow +most competent to move and excite the vast multitude around me,--the +powerful speaker stands motionless before us,' he paused, and pointed in +silent admiration to the sublime structure, the audience burst into long +and loud applause. It was some moments before the speaker could go on +with the address." + + + + +THE COMPLETION OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT.[61] + + +A duty has been performed. A work of gratitude and patriotism is +completed. This structure, having its foundations in soil which drank +deep of early Revolutionary blood, has at length reached its destined +height, and now lifts its summit to the skies. + +We have assembled to celebrate the accomplishment of this undertaking, +and to indulge afresh in the recollection of the great event which it is +designed to commemorate. Eighteen years, more than half the ordinary +duration of a generation of mankind, have elapsed since the cornerstone +of this monument was laid. The hopes of its projectors rested on +voluntary contributions, private munificence, and the general favor of +the public. These hopes have not been disappointed. Donations have been +made by individuals, in some cases of large amount, and smaller sums +have been contributed by thousands. All who regard the object itself as +important, and its accomplishment, therefore, as a good attained, will +entertain sincere respect and gratitude for the unwearied efforts of the +successive presidents, boards of directors, and committees of the +Association which has had the general control of the work. The +architect, equally entitled to our thanks and commendation, will find +other reward, also, for his labor and skill, in the beauty and elegance +of the obelisk itself, and the distinction which, as a work of art, it +confers upon him. + +At a period when the prospects of further progress in the undertaking +were gloomy and discouraging, the Mechanic Association, by a most +praiseworthy and vigorous effort, raised new funds for carrying it +forward, and saw them applied with fidelity, economy, and skill. It is a +grateful duty to make public acknowledgments of such timely and +efficient aid. + +The last effort and the last contribution were from a different source. +Garlands of grace and elegance were destined to crown a work which had +its commencement in manly patriotism. The winning power of the sex +addressed itself to the public, and all that was needed to carry the +monument to its proposed height, and to give to it its finish, was +promptly supplied. The mothers and the daughters of the land contributed +thus, most successfully, to whatever there is of beauty in the monument +itself, or whatever of utility and public benefit and gratification +there is in its completion. + +Of those with whom the plan originated of erecting on this spot a +monument worthy of the event to be commemorated, many are now present; +but others, alas! have themselves become subjects of monumental +inscription. William Tudor, an accomplished scholar, a distinguished +writer, a most amiable man, allied both by birth and sentiment to the +patriots of the Revolution, died while on public service abroad, and now +lies buried in a foreign land.[62] William Sullivan, a name fragrant of +Revolutionary merit, and of public service and public virtue, who +himself partook in a high degree of the respect and confidence of the +community, and yet was always most loved where best known, has also been +gathered to his fathers.[63] And last, George Blake, a lawyer of +learning and eloquence, a man of wit and of talent, of social qualities +the most agreeable and fascinating, and of gifts which enabled him to +exercise large sway over public assemblies, has closed his human +career.[63] I know that in the crowds before me there are those from +whose eyes tears will flow at the mention of these names. But such +mention is due to their general character, their public and private +virtues, and especially, on this occasion, to the spirit and zeal with +which they entered into the undertaking which is now completed. + +I have spoken only of those who are no longer numbered with the living. +But a long life, now drawing towards its close, always distinguished by +acts of public spirit, humanity, and charity, forming a character which +has already become historical, and sanctified by public regard and the +affection of friends, may confer even on the living the proper immunity +of the dead, and be the fit subject of honorable mention and warm +commendation. Of the early projectors of the design of this monument, +one of the most prominent, the most zealous, and the most efficient, is +Thomas H. Perkins. It was beneath his ever-hospitable roof that those +whom I have mentioned, and others yet living and now present, having +assembled for the purpose, adopted the first step towards erecting a +monument on Bunker Hill. Long may he remain, with unimpaired faculties, +in the wide field of his usefulness! His charities have distilled, like +the dews of heaven; he has fed the hungry, and clothed the naked; he has +given sight to the blind; and for such virtues there is a reward on +high, of which all human memorials, all language of brass and stone, are +but humble types and attempted imitations. + +Time and nature have had their course, in diminishing the number of +those whom we met here on the 17th of June, 1825. Most of the +Revolutionary characters then present have since deceased; and Lafayette +sleeps in his native land. Yet the name and blood of Warren are with us; +the kindred of Putnam are also here; and near me, universally beloved +for his character and his virtues, and now venerable for his years, sits +the son of the noble-hearted and daring Prescott.[64] Gideon Foster of +Danvers, Enos Reynolds of Boxford, Phineas Johnson, Robert Andrews, +Elijah Dresser, Josiah Cleaveland, Jesse Smith, Philip Bagley, Needham +Maynard, Roger Plaisted, Joseph Stephens, Nehemiah Porter, and James +Harvey, who bore arms for their country either at Concord and Lexington, +on the 19th of April, or on Bunker Hill, all now far advanced in age, +have come here to-day, to look once more on the field where their valor +was proved, and to receive a hearty outpouring of our respect. + +They have long outlived the troubles and dangers of the Revolution; +they have outlived the evils arising from the want of a united and +efficient government; they have outlived the menace of imminent +dangers to the public liberty; they have outlived nearly all their +contemporaries; but they have not outlived, they cannot outlive, the +affectionate gratitude of their country. Heaven has not allotted to this +generation an opportunity of rendering high services, and manifesting +strong personal devotion, such as they rendered and manifested, and +in such a cause as that which roused the patriotic fires of their +youthful breasts, and nerved the strength of their arms. But we may +praise what we cannot equal, and celebrate actions which we were not +born to perform. _Pulchrum est benefacere reipublicae, etiam bene +dicere haud absurdum est._ + +The Bunker Hill Monument is finished. Here it stands. Fortunate in the +high natural eminence on which it is placed, higher, infinitely higher +in its objects and purpose, it rises over the land and over the sea; +and, visible, at their homes, to three hundred thousand of the people of +Massachusetts, it stands a memorial of the last, and a monitor to the +present and to all succeeding generations. I have spoken of the +loftiness of its purpose. If it had been without any other design than +the creation of a work of art, the granite of which it is composed would +have slept in its native bed. It has a purpose, and that purpose gives +it its character. That purpose enrobes it with dignity and moral +grandeur. That well-known purpose it is which causes us to look up to it +with a feeling of awe. It is itself the orator of this occasion. It is +not from my lips, it could not be from any human lips, that that strain +of eloquence is this day to flow most competent to move and excite the +vast multitudes around me. The powerful speaker stands motionless before +us. It is a plain shaft. It bears no inscriptions, fronting to the +rising sun, from which the future antiquary shall wipe the dust. Nor +does the rising sun cause tones of music to issue from its summit. But +at the rising of the sun, and at the setting of the sun; in the blaze of +noonday, and beneath the milder effulgence of lunar light; it looks, it +speaks, it acts, to the full comprehension of every American mind, and +the awakening of glowing enthusiasm in every American heart. Its silent, +but awful utterance; its deep pathos, as it brings to our contemplation +the 17th of June, 1775, and the consequences which have resulted to us, +to our country, and to the world, from the events of that day, and which +we know must continue to rain influence on the destinies of mankind to +the end of time; the elevation with which it raises us high above the +ordinary feelings of life, surpass all that the study of the closet, or +even the inspiration of genius, can produce. To-day it speaks to us. Its +future auditories will be the successive generations of men, as they +rise up before it and gather around it. Its speech will be of patriotism +and courage; of civil and religious liberty; of free government; of the +moral improvement and elevation of mankind; and of the immortal memory +of those who, with heroic devotion, have sacrificed their lives for +their country.[65] + +In the older world, numerous fabrics still exist, reared by human hands, +but whose object has been lost in the darkness of ages. They are now +monuments of nothing but the labor and skill which constructed them. + +The mighty pyramid itself, half buried in the sands of Africa, has +nothing to bring down and report to us, but the power of kings and +the servitude of the people. If it had any purpose beyond that of a +mausoleum, such purpose has perished from history and from tradition. If +asked for its moral object, its admonition, its sentiment, its +instruction to mankind, or any high end in its erection, it is +silent; silent as the millions which lie in the dust at its base, +and in the catacombs which surround it. Without a just moral object, +therefore, made known to man, though raised against the skies, it +excites only conviction of power, mixed with strange wonder. But if the +civilization of the present race of men, founded, as it is, in solid +science, the true knowledge of nature, and vast discoveries in art, +and which is elevated and purified by moral sentiment and by the +truths of Christianity, be not destined to destruction before the final +termination of human existence on earth, the object and purpose of +this edifice will be known till that hour shall come. And even if +civilization should be subverted, and the truths of the Christian +religion obscured by a new deluge of barbarism, the memory of Bunker +Hill and the American Revolution will still be elements and parts of the +knowledge which shall be possessed by the last man to whom the light of +civilization and Christianity shall be extended. + +This celebration is honored by the presence of the chief executive +magistrate of the Union. An occasion so national in its object and +character, and so much connected with that Revolution from which the +government sprang at the head of which he is placed, may well receive +from him this mark of attention and respect. Well acquainted with +Yorktown, the scene of the last great military struggle of the +Revolution, his eye now surveys the field of Bunker Hill, the theatre of +the first of those important conflicts. He sees where Warren fell, where +Putnam, and Prescott, and Stark, and Knowlton, and Brooks fought. He +beholds the spot where a thousand trained soldiers of England were +smitten to the earth, in the first effort of revolutionary war, by the +arm of a bold and determined yeomanry, contending for liberty and their +country. And while all assembled here entertain towards him sincere +personal good wishes and the high respect due to his elevated office and +station, it is not to be doubted that he enters, with true American +feeling, into the patriotic enthusiasm kindled by the occasion which +animates the multitudes that surround him. + +His Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealth, the Governor of Rhode +Island, and the other distinguished public men whom we have the honor to +receive as visitors and guests to-day, will cordially unite in a +celebration connected with the great event of the Revolutionary war. + +No name in the history of 1775 and 1776 is more distinguished than that +borne by an ex-president of the United States, whom we expected to see +here, but whose ill health prevents his attendance. Whenever popular +rights were to be asserted, an Adams was present; and when the time came +for the formal Declaration of Independence, it was the voice of an Adams +that shook the halls of Congress. We wish we could have welcomed to us +this day the inheritor of Revolutionary blood, and the just and worthy +representative of high Revolutionary names, merit, and services. + +Banners and badges, processions and flags, announce to us, that amidst +this uncounted throng are thousands of natives of New England now +residents in other States. Welcome, ye kindred names, with kindred +blood! From the broad savannas of the South, from the newer regions of +the West, from amidst the hundreds of thousands of men of Eastern origin +who cultivate the rich valley of the Genesee or live along the chain of +the Lakes, from the mountains of Pennsylvania, and from the thronged +cities of the coast, welcome, welcome! Wherever else you may be +strangers, here you are all at home. You assemble at this shrine of +liberty, near the family altars at which your earliest devotions were +paid to Heaven; near to the temples of worship first entered by you, and +near to the schools and colleges in which your education was received. +You come hither with a glorious ancestry of liberty. You bring names +which are on the rolls of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. You come, +some of you, once more to be embraced by an aged Revolutionary father, +or to receive another, perhaps a last, blessing, bestowed in love and +tears, by a mother, yet surviving to witness and to enjoy your +prosperity and happiness. + +But if family associations and the recollections of the past bring you +hither with greater alacrity, and mingle with your greeting much of +local attachment and private affection, greeting also be given, free and +hearty greeting, to every American citizen who treads this sacred soil +with patriotic feeling, and respires with pleasure in an atmosphere +perfumed with the recollections of 1775! This occasion is respectable, +nay, it is grand, it is sublime, by the nationality of its sentiment. +Among the seventeen millions of happy people who form the American +community, there is not one who has not an interest in this monument, as +there is not one that has not a deep and abiding interest in that which +it commemorates. + +Woe betide the man who brings to this day's worship feeling less than +wholly American! Woe betide the man who can stand here with the fires of +local resentments burning, or the purpose of fomenting local jealousies +and the strifes of local interests festering and rankling in his heart. +Union, established in justice, in patriotism, and the most plain and +obvious common interest,--union, founded on the same love of liberty, +cemented by blood shed in the same common cause,--union has been the +source of all our glory and greatness thus far, and is the ground of all +our highest hopes. This column stands on Union. I know not that it might +not keep its position, if the American Union, in the mad conflict of +human passions, and in the strife of parties and factions, should be +broken up and destroyed. I know not that it would totter and fall to the +earth, and mingle its fragments with the fragments of Liberty and the +Constitution, when State should be separated from State, and faction and +dismemberment obliterate for ever all the hopes of the founders of our +republic, and the great inheritance of their children. It might stand. +But who, from beneath the weight of mortification and shame that would +oppress him, could look up to behold it? Whose eyeballs would not be +seared by such a spectacle? For my part, should I live to such a time, I +shall avert my eyes from it for ever. + +It is not as a mere military encounter of hostile armies, that the +battle of Bunker Hill presents its principal claim to attention. Yet, +even as a mere battle, there were circumstances attending it +extraordinary in character, and entitling it to peculiar distinction. It +was fought on this eminence; in the neighborhood of yonder city; in the +presence of many more spectators than there were combatants in the +conflict. Men, women, and children, from every commanding position, were +gazing at the battle, and looking for its results with all the eagerness +natural to those who knew that the issue was fraught with the deepest +consequences to themselves, personally, as well as to their country. +Yet, on the 16th of June, 1775, there was nothing around this hill but +verdure and culture. There was, indeed, the note of awful preparation in +Boston. There was the Provincial army at Cambridge, with its right flank +resting on Dorchester, and its left on Chelsea. But here all was peace. +Tranquillity reigned around. On the 17th every thing was changed. On +this eminence had arisen, in the night, a redoubt, built by Prescott, +and in which he held command. Perceived by the enemy at dawn, it was +immediately cannonaded from the floating batteries in the river, and +from the opposite shore. And then ensued the hurried movement in Boston, +and soon the troops of Britain embarked in the attempt to dislodge the +Colonists. In an hour every thing indicated an immediate and bloody +conflict. Love of liberty on one side, proud defiance of rebellion on +the other; hopes and fears, and courage and daring, on both sides, +animated the hearts of the combatants as they hung on the edge of +battle. + +I suppose it would be difficult, in a military point of view, to ascribe +to the leaders on either side any just motive for the engagement which +followed. On the one hand, it could not have been very important to the +Americans to attempt to hem the British within the town, by advancing +one single post a quarter of a mile; while, on the other hand, if the +British found it essential to dislodge the American troops, they had it +in their power at no expense of life. By moving up their ships and +batteries, they could have completely cut off all communication with the +mainland over the Neck, and the forces in the redoubt would have been +reduced to a state of famine in forty-eight hours. + +But that was not the day for any such consideration on either side! Both +parties were anxious to try the strength of their arms. The pride of +England would not permit the rebels, as she termed them, to defy her to +the teeth; and, without for a moment calculating the cost, the British +general determined to destroy the fort immediately. On the other side, +Prescott and his gallant followers longed and thirsted for a decisive +trial of strength and of courage. They wished a battle, and wished it at +once. And this is the true secret of the movements on this hill. + +I will not attempt to describe that battle. The cannonading; the landing +of the British; their advance; the coolness with which the charge was +met; the repulse; the second attack; the second repulse; the burning of +Charlestown; and, finally, the closing assault, and the slow retreat of +the Americans,--the history of all these is familiar. + +But the consequences of the battle of Bunker Hill were greater than +those of any ordinary conflict, although between armies of far greater +force, and terminating with more immediate advantage on the one side or +the other. It was the first great battle of the Revolution; and not only +the first blow, but the blow which determined the contest. It did not, +indeed, put an end to the war, but in the then existing hostile state of +feeling, the difficulties could only be referred to the arbitration of +the sword. And one thing is certain; that after the New England troops +had shown themselves able to face and repulse the regulars, it was +decided that peace never could be established, but upon the basis of the +independence of the Colonies. When the sun of that day went down, the +event of Independence was no longer doubtful. In a few days Washington +heard of the battle, and he inquired if the militia had stood the fire +of the regulars. When told that they had not only stood that fire, but +reserved their own till the enemy was within eight rods, and then +poured it in with tremendous effect, "Then," exclaimed he, "the +liberties of the country are safe!" + +The consequences of this battle were just of the same importance as the +Revolution itself. + +If there was nothing of value in the principles of the American +Revolution, then there is nothing valuable in the battle of Bunker Hill +and its consequences. But if the Revolution was an era in the history of +man favorable to human happiness, if it was an event which marked the +progress of man all over the world from despotism to liberty, then this +monument is not raised without cause. Then the battle of Bunker Hill is +not an event undeserving celebrations, commemorations, and rejoicings, +now and in all coming times. + +What, then, is the true and peculiar principle of the American +Revolution, and of the systems of government which it has confirmed and +established? The truth is, that the American Revolution was not caused +by the instantaneous discovery of principles of government before +unheard of, or the practical adoption of political ideas such as had +never before entered into the minds of men. It was but the full +development of principles of government, forms of society, and political +sentiments, the origin of all which lay back two centuries in English +and American history. + +The discovery of America, its colonization by the nations of Europe, +the history and progress of the colonies, from their establishment to +the time when the principal of them threw off their allegiance to the +respective states by which they had been planted, and founded +governments of their own, constitute one of the most interesting +portions of the annals of man. These events occupied three hundred +years; during which period civilization and knowledge made steady +progress in the Old World; so that Europe, at the commencement of +the nineteenth century, had become greatly changed from that Europe +which began the colonization of America at the close of the fifteenth, +or the commencement of the sixteenth. And what is most material to my +present purpose is, that in the progress of the first of these +centuries, that is to say, from the discovery of America to the +settlements of Virginia and Massachusetts, political and religious +events took place, which most materially affected the state of +society and the sentiments of mankind, especially in England and in +parts of Continental Europe. After a few feeble and unsuccessful +efforts by England, under Henry the Seventh, to plant colonies in +America, no designs of that kind were prosecuted for a long period, +either by the English government or any of its subjects. Without +inquiring into the causes of this delay, its consequences are +sufficiently clear and striking. England, in this lapse of a century, +unknown to herself, but under the providence of God and the influence of +events, was fitting herself for the work of colonizing North America, +on such principles and by such men, as should spread the English +name and English blood, in time, over a great portion of the Western +hemisphere. The commercial spirit was greatly fostered by several laws +passed in the reign of Henry the Seventh; and in the same reign +encouragement was given to arts and manufactures in the eastern +counties, and some not unimportant modifications of the feudal system +took place, by allowing the breaking of entails. These and other +measures, and other occurrences, were making way for a new class of +society to emerge, and show itself, in a military and feudal age; a +middle class, between the barons or great landholders and the retainers +of the crown, on the one side, and the tenants of the crown and barons, +and agricultural and other laborers, on the other side. With the rise +and growth of this new class of society, not only did commerce and the +arts increase, but better education, a greater degree of knowledge, +juster notions of the true ends of government, and sentiments +favorable to civil liberty, began to spread abroad, and become more +and more common. But the plants springing from these seeds were of slow +growth. The character of English society had indeed begun to undergo a +change; but changes of national character are ordinarily the work of +time. Operative causes were, however, evidently in existence, and sure +to produce, ultimately, their proper effect. From the accession of +Henry the Seventh to the breaking out of the civil wars, England +enjoyed much greater exemption from war, foreign and domestic, than for +a long period before, and during the controversy between the houses of +York and Lancaster. These years of peace were favorable to commerce +and the arts. Commerce and the arts augmented general and individual +knowledge; and knowledge is the only fountain, both of the love and the +principles of human liberty. + +Other powerful causes soon came into active play. The Reformation of +Luther broke out, kindling up the minds of men afresh, leading to new +habits of thought, and awakening in individuals energies before unknown +even to themselves. The religious controversies of this period changed +society, as well as religion; indeed, it would be easy to prove, if this +occasion were proper for it, that they changed society to a considerable +extent, where they did not change the religion of the state. They +changed man himself; in his modes of thought, his consciousness of his +own powers, and his desire of intellectual attainment. The spirit of +commercial and foreign adventure, therefore, on the one hand, which had +gained so much strength and influence since the time of the discovery of +America, and, on the other, the assertion and maintenance of religious +liberty, having their source indeed in the Reformation, but continued, +diversified, and constantly strengthened by the subsequent divisions of +sentiment and opinion among the Reformers themselves, and this love of +religious liberty drawing after it or bringing along with it, as it +always does, an ardent devotion to the principle of civil liberty also, +were the powerful influences under which character was formed and men +trained, for the great work of introducing English civilization, English +law, and what is more than all, Anglo-Saxon blood, into the wilderness +of North America. Raleigh and his companions may be considered as the +creatures, principally, of the first of these causes. High-spirited, +full of the love of personal adventure, excited, too, in some degree, by +the hopes of sudden riches from the discovery of mines of the precious +metals, and not unwilling to diversify the labors of settling a colony +with occasional cruising against the Spaniards in the West Indian seas, +they crossed and recrossed the ocean, with a frequency which surprises +us, when we consider the state of navigation, and which evinces a most +daring spirit. + +The other cause peopled New England. The Mayflower sought our shores +under no high-wrought spirit of commercial adventure, no love of gold, +no mixture of purpose warlike or hostile to any human being. Like the +dove from the ark, she had put forth only to find rest. Solemn +supplications on the shore of the sea, in Holland, had invoked for her, +at her departure, the blessings of Providence. The stars which guided +her were the unobscured constellations of civil and religious liberty. +Her deck was the altar of the living God. Fervent prayers on bended +knees, mingled, morning and evening, with the voices of ocean, and the +sighing of the wind in her shrouds. Every prosperous breeze, which, +gently swelling her sails, helped the Pilgrims onward in their course, +awoke new anthems of praise; and when the elements were wrought into +fury, neither the tempest, tossing their fragile bark like a feather, +nor the darkness and howling of the midnight storm, ever disturbed, in +man or woman, the firm and settled purpose of their souls, to undergo +all, and to do all, that the meekest patience, the boldest resolution, +and the highest trust in God could enable human beings to suffer or to +perform. + +Some differences may, doubtless, be traced at this day between the +descendants of the early colonists of Virginia and those of New England, +owing to the different influences and different circumstances under +which the respective settlements were made; but only enough to create a +pleasing variety in the midst of a general family resemblance. + + "Facies, non omnibus una, + Nec diversa tamen, qualem docet esse sororum." + +But the habits, sentiments, and objects of both soon became modified by +local causes, growing out of their condition in the New World; and as +this condition was essentially alike in both, and as both at once +adopted the same general rules and principles of English jurisprudence, +and became accustomed to the authority of representative bodies, these +differences gradually diminished. They disappeared by the progress of +time, and the influence of intercourse. The necessity of some degree of +union and cooeperation to defend themselves against the savage tribes, +tended to excite in them mutual respect and regard. They fought together +in the wars against France. The great and common cause of the Revolution +bound them to one another by new links of brotherhood; and at length the +present constitution of government united them happily and gloriously, +to form the great republic of the world, and bound up their interests +and fortunes, till the whole earth sees that there is now for them, in +present possession as well as in future hope, but "One Country, One +Constitution, and One Destiny." + +The colonization of the tropical region, and the whole of the southern +parts of the continent, by Spain and Portugal, was conducted on other +principles, under the influence of other motives, and followed by far +different consequences. From the time of its discovery, the Spanish +government pushed forward its settlements in America, not only with +vigor, but with eagerness; so that long before the first permanent +English settlement had been accomplished in what is now the United +States, Spain had conquered Mexico, Peru, and Chili, and stretched her +power over nearly all the territory she ever acquired on this continent. +The rapidity of these conquests is to be ascribed in a great degree to +the eagerness, not to say the rapacity, of those numerous bands of +adventurers, who were stimulated by individual interests and private +hopes to subdue immense regions, and take possession of them in the name +of the crown of Spain. The mines of gold and silver were the incitements +to these efforts, and accordingly settlements were generally made, and +Spanish authority established immediately on the subjugation of +territory, that the native population might be set to work by their new +Spanish masters in the mines. From these facts, the love of gold--gold, +not produced by industry, nor accumulated by commerce, but gold dug from +its native bed in the bowels of the earth, and that earth ravished from +its rightful possessors by every possible degree of enormity, cruelty, +and crime--was long the governing passion in Spanish wars and Spanish +settlements in America. Even Columbus himself did not wholly escape the +influence of this base motive. In his early voyages we find him passing +from island to island, inquiring everywhere for gold; as if God had +opened the New World to the knowledge of the Old, only to gratify a +passion equally senseless and sordid, and to offer up millions of an +unoffending race of men to the destruction of the sword, sharpened both +by cruelty and rapacity. And yet Columbus was far above his age and +country. Enthusiastic, indeed, but sober, religious, and magnanimous; +born to great things and capable of high sentiments, as his noble +discourse before Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as the whole history of +his life, shows. Probably he sacrificed much to the known sentiments of +others, and addressed to his followers motives likely to influence them. +At the same time, it is evident that he himself looked upon the world +which he discovered as a world of wealth, all ready to be seized and +enjoyed. + +The conquerors and the European settlers of Spanish America were mainly +military commanders and common soldiers. The monarchy of Spain was not +transferred to this hemisphere, but it acted in it, as it acted at home, +through its ordinary means, and its true representative, military force. +The robbery and destruction of the native race was the achievement of +standing armies, in the right of the king, and by his authority, +fighting in his name, for the aggrandizement of his power and the +extension of his prerogatives, with military ideas under arbitrary +maxims,--a portion of that dreadful instrumentality by which a perfect +despotism governs a people. As there was no liberty in Spain, how could +liberty be transmitted to Spanish colonies? + +The colonists of English America were of the people, and a people +already free. They were of the middle, industrious, and already +prosperous class, the inhabitants of commercial and manufacturing +cities, among whom liberty first revived and respired, after a sleep of +a thousand years in the bosom of the Dark Ages. Spain descended on the +New World in the armed and terrible image of her monarchy and her +soldiery; England approached it in the winning and popular garb of +personal rights, public protection, and civil freedom. England +transplanted liberty to America; Spain transplanted power. England, +through the agency of private companies and the efforts of individuals, +colonized this part of North America by industrious individuals, making +their own way in the wilderness, defending themselves against the +savages, recognizing their right to the soil, and with a general honest +purpose of introducing knowledge as well as Christianity among them. +Spain stooped on South America, like a vulture on its prey. Every thing +was force. Territories were acquired by fire and sword. Cities were +destroyed by fire and sword. Hundreds of thousands of human beings fell +by fire and sword. Even conversion to Christianity was attempted by fire +and sword. + +Behold, then, fellow-citizens, the difference resulting from the +operation of the two principles! Here, to-day, on the summit of Bunker +Hill, and at the foot of this monument, behold the difference! I would +that the fifty thousand voices present could proclaim it with a shout +which should be heard over the globe. Our inheritance was of liberty, +secured and regulated by law, and enlightened by religion and +knowledge; that of South America was of power, stern, unrelenting, +tyrannical, military power. And now look to the consequences of the two +principles on the general and aggregate happiness of the human race. +Behold the results, in all the regions conquered by Cortez and Pizarro, +and the contrasted results here. I suppose the territory of the United +States may amount to one eighth, or one tenth, of that colonized by +Spain on this continent; and yet in all that vast region there are but +between one and two millions of people of European color and European +blood, while in the United States there are fourteen millions who +rejoice in their descent from the people of the more northern part of +Europe. + +But we may follow the difference in the original principle of +colonization, and in its character and objects, still further. We +must look to moral and intellectual results; we must consider +consequences, not only as they show themselves in hastening or +retarding the increase of population and the supply of physical wants, +but in their civilization, improvement, and happiness. We must inquire +what progress has been made in the true science of liberty, in the +knowledge of the great principles of self-government, and in the +progress of man, as a social, moral, and religious being. + +I would not willingly say any thing on this occasion discourteous to the +new governments founded on the demolition of the power of the Spanish +monarchy. They are yet on their trial, and I hope for a favorable +result. But truth, sacred truth, and fidelity to the cause of civil +liberty, compel me to say, that hitherto they have discovered quite too +much of the spirit of that monarchy from which they separated +themselves. Quite too frequent resort is made to military force; and +quite too much of the substance of the people is consumed in maintaining +armies, not for defence against foreign aggression, but for enforcing +obedience to domestic authority. Standing armies are the oppressive +instruments for governing the people, in the hands of hereditary and +arbitrary monarchs. A military republic, a government founded on mock +elections, and supported only by the sword, is a movement indeed, but a +retrograde and disastrous movement, from the regular and old-fashioned +monarchical systems. If men would enjoy the blessings of republican +government, they must govern themselves by reason, by mutual counsel +and consultation, by a sense and feeling of general interest, and by the +acquiescence of the minority in the will of the majority, properly +expressed; and, above all, the military must be kept, according to the +language of our Bill of Rights, in strict subordination to the civil +authority. Wherever this lesson is not both learned and practised, there +can be no political freedom. Absurd, preposterous is it, a scoff and a +satire on free forms of constitutional liberty, for frames of government +to be prescribed by military leaders, and the right of suffrage to be +exercised at the point of the sword. + +Making all allowance for situation and climate, it cannot be doubted by +intelligent minds, that the difference now existing between North and +South America is justly attributable, in a great degree, to political +institutions in the Old World and in the New. And how broad that +difference is! Suppose an assembly, in one of the valleys or on the side +of one of the mountains of the southern half of the hemisphere, to be +held, this day, in the neighborhood of a large city;--what would be the +scene presented? Yonder is a volcano, flaming and smoking, but shedding +no light, moral or intellectual. At its foot is the mine, sometimes +yielding, perhaps, large gains to capital, but in which labor is +destined to eternal and unrequited toil, and followed only by penury and +beggary. The city is filled with armed men; not a free people, armed and +coming forth voluntarily to rejoice in a public festivity, but hireling +troops, supported by forced loans, excessive impositions on commerce, or +taxes wrung from a half-fed and a half-clothed population. For the great +there are palaces covered with gold; for the poor there are hovels of +the meanest sort. There is an ecclesiastical hierarchy, enjoying the +wealth of princes; but there are no means of education for the people. +Do public improvements favor intercourse between place and place? So far +from this, the traveller cannot pass from town to town, without danger, +every mile, of robbery and assassination. I would not overcharge or +exaggerate this picture; but its principal features are all too truly +sketched. + +And how does it contrast with the scene now actually before us? Look +round upon these fields; they are verdant and beautiful, well +cultivated, and at this moment loaded with the riches of the early +harvest. The hands which till them are those of the free owners of the +soil, enjoying equal rights, and protected by law from oppression and +tyranny. Look to the thousand vessels in our sight, filling the harbor, +or covering the neighboring sea. They are the vehicles of a profitable +commerce, carried on by men who know that the profits of their hardy +enterprise, when they make them, are their own; and this commerce is +encouraged and regulated by wise laws, and defended, when need be, by +the valor and patriotism of the country. Look to that fair city, the +abode of so much diffused wealth, so much general happiness and comfort, +so much personal independence, and so much general knowledge, and not +undistinguished, I may be permitted to add, for hospitality and social +refinement. She fears no forced contributions, no siege or sacking from +military leaders of rival factions. The hundred temples in which her +citizens worship God are in no danger of sacrilege. The regular +administration of the laws encounters no obstacle. The long processions +of children and youth, which you see this day, issuing by thousands from +her free schools, prove the care and anxiety with which a popular +government provides for the education and morals of the people. +Everywhere there is order; everywhere there is security. Everywhere the +law reaches to the highest and reaches to the lowest, to protect all in +their rights, and to restrain all from wrong; and over all hovers +liberty; that liberty for which our fathers fought and fell on this very +spot, with her eye ever watchful, and her eagle wing ever wide +outspread. + +The colonies of Spain, from their origin to their end, were subject to +the sovereign authority of the mother country. Their government, as well +as their commerce, was a strict home monopoly. If we add to this the +established usage of filling important posts in the administration of +the colonies exclusively by natives of Old Spain, thus cutting off for +ever all hopes of honorable preferment from every man born in the +Western hemisphere, causes enough rise up before us at once to account +fully for the subsequent history and character of these provinces. The +viceroys and provincial governors of Spain were never at home in their +governments in America. They did not feel that they were of the people +whom they governed. Their official character and employment have a good +deal of resemblance to those of the proconsuls of Rome, in Asia, +Sicily, and Gaul; but obviously no resemblance to those of Carver and +Winthrop, and very little to those of the governors of Virginia after +that Colony had established a popular House of Burgesses. + +The English colonists in America, generally speaking, were men who +were seeking new homes in a new world. They brought with them their +families and all that was most dear to them. This was especially the +case with the colonists of Plymouth and Massachusetts. Many of them +were educated men, and all possessed their full share, according to +their social condition, of the knowledge and attainments of that +age. The distinctive characteristic of their settlement is the +introduction of the civilization of Europe into a wilderness, without +bringing with it the political institutions of Europe. The arts, +sciences, and literature of England came over with the settlers. That +great portion of the common law which regulates the social and +personal relations and conduct of men, came also. The jury came; the +_habeas corpus_ came; the testamentary power came; and the law of +inheritance and descent came also, except that part of it which +recognizes the rights of primogeniture, which either did not come at +all, or soon gave way to the rule of equal partition of estates among +children. But the monarchy did not come, nor the aristocracy, nor the +church, as an estate of the realm. Political institutions were to be +framed anew, such as should be adapted to the state of things. But it +could not be doubtful what should be the nature and character of +these institutions. A general social equality prevailed among the +settlers, and an equality of political rights seemed the natural, if +not the necessary consequence. After forty years of revolution, +violence, and war, the people of France have placed at the head of the +fundamental instrument of their government, as the great boon +obtained by all their sufferings and sacrifices, the declaration that +all Frenchmen are equal before the law. What France has reached only +by the expenditure of so much blood and treasure, and the perpetration +of so much crime, the English colonists obtained by simply changing +their place, carrying with them the intellectual and moral culture of +Europe, and the personal and social relations to which they were +accustomed, but leaving behind their political institutions. It has +been said with much vivacity, that the felicity of the American +colonists consisted in their escape from the past. This is true so far +as respects political establishments, but no further. They brought +with them a full portion of all the riches of the past, in science, in +art, in morals, religion, and literature. The Bible came with them. +And it is not to be doubted, that to the free and universal reading of +the Bible, in that age, men were much indebted for right views of civil +liberty. The Bible is a book of faith, and a book of doctrine, and a +book of morals, and a book of religion, of especial revelation from +God; but it is also a book which teaches man his own individual +responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow-man. + +Bacon and Locke, and Shakspeare and Milton, also came with the +colonists. It was the object of the first settlers to form new political +systems, but all that belonged to cultivated man, to family, to +neighborhood, to social relations, accompanied them. In the Doric phrase +of one of our own historians, "they came to settle on bare creation"; +but their settlement in the wilderness, nevertheless, was not a +lodgement of nomadic tribes, a mere resting-place of roaming savages. It +was the beginning of a permanent community, the fixed residence of +cultivated men. Not only was English literature read, but English, good +English, was spoken and written, before the axe had made way to let in +the sun upon the habitations and fields of Plymouth and Massachusetts. +And whatever may be said to the contrary, a correct use of the English +language is, at this day, more general throughout the United States, +than it is throughout England herself. + +But another grand characteristic is, that, in the English colonies, +political affairs were left to be managed by the colonists themselves. +This is another fact wholly distinguishing them in character, as it has +distinguished them in fortune, from the colonists of Spain. Here lies +the foundation of that experience in self-government, which has +preserved order, and security, and regularity, amidst the play of +popular institutions. Home government was the secret of the prosperity +of the North American settlements. The more distinguished of the New +England colonists, with a most remarkable sagacity and a long-sighted +reach into futurity, refused to come to America unless they could bring +with them charters providing for the administration of their affairs in +this country.[66] They saw from the first the evils of being governed in +the New World by a power fixed in the Old. Acknowledging the general +superiority of the crown, they still insisted on the right of passing +local laws, and of local administration. And history teaches us the +justice and the value of this determination in the example of Virginia. +The early attempts to settle that Colony failed, sometimes with the most +melancholy and fatal consequences, from want of knowledge, care, and +attention on the part of those who had the charge of their affairs in +England; and it was only after the issuing of the third charter, that +its prosperity fairly commenced. The cause was, that by that third +charter the people of Virginia, for by this time they deserve to be so +called, were allowed to constitute and establish the first popular +representative assembly which ever convened on this continent, the +Virginia House of Burgesses. + +The great elements, then, of the American system of government, +originally introduced by the colonists, and which were early in +operation, and ready to be developed, more and more, as the progress of +events should justify or demand, were,-- + +Escape from the existing political systems of Europe, including its +religious hierarchies, but the continued possession and enjoyment of its +science and arts, its literature, and its manners; + +Home government, or the power of making in the colony the municipal laws +which were to govern it; + +Equality of rights; + +Representative assemblies, or forms of government founded on popular +elections. + + * * * * * + +Few topics are more inviting, or more fit for philosophical discussion, +than the effect on the happiness of mankind of institutions founded upon +these principles; or, in other words, the influence of the New World +upon the Old. + +Her obligations to Europe for science and art, laws, literature, and +manners, America acknowledges as she ought, with respect and gratitude. +The people of the United States, descendants of the English stock, +grateful for the treasures of knowledge derived from their English +ancestors, admit also, with thanks and filial regard, that among those +ancestors, under the culture of Hampden and Sydney and other assiduous +friends, that seed of popular liberty first germinated, which on our +soil has shot up to its full height, until its branches overshadow all +the land. + +But America has not failed to make returns. If she has not wholly +cancelled the obligation, or equalled it by others of like weight, she +has, at least, made respectable advances towards repaying the debt. And +she admits, that, standing in the midst of civilized nations, and in a +civilized age, a nation among nations, there is a high part which she is +expected to act, for the general advancement of human interests and +human welfare. + +American mines have filled the mints of Europe with the precious metals. +The productions of the American soil and climate have poured out their +abundance of luxuries for the tables of the rich, and of necessaries for +the sustenance of the poor. Birds and animals of beauty and value have +been added to the European stocks; and transplantations from the +unequalled riches of our forests have mingled themselves profusely with +the elms, and ashes, and Druidical oaks of England. + +America has made contributions to Europe far more important. Who can +estimate the amount, or the value, of the augmentation of the commerce +of the world that has resulted from America? Who can imagine to himself +what would now be the shock to the Eastern Continent, if the Atlantic +were no longer traversable, or if there were no longer American +productions, or American markets? + +But America exercises influences, or holds out examples, for the +consideration of the Old World, of a much higher, because they are of a +moral and political character. + +America has furnished to Europe proof of the fact, that popular +institutions, founded on equality and the principle of representation, +are capable of maintaining governments, able to secure the rights of +person, property, and reputation. + +America has proved that it is practicable to elevate the mass of +mankind,--that portion which in Europe is called the laboring, or lower +class,--to raise them to self-respect, to make them competent to act a +part in the great right and great duty of self-government; and she has +proved that this may be done by education and the diffusion of +knowledge. She holds out an example, a thousand times more encouraging +than ever was presented before, to those nine tenths of the human race +who are born without hereditary fortune or hereditary rank. + +America has furnished to the world the character of Washington! And if +our American institutions had done nothing else, that alone would have +entitled them to the respect of mankind. + +Washington! "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of +his countrymen!" Washington is all our own! The enthusiastic veneration +and regard in which the people of the United States hold him prove them +to be worthy of such a countryman; while his reputation abroad reflects +the highest honor on his country. I would cheerfully put the question +to-day to the intelligence of Europe and the world, what character of +the century, upon the whole, stands out in the relief of history, most +pure, most respectable, most sublime; and I doubt not, that, by a +suffrage approaching to unanimity, the answer would be Washington! + +The structure now standing before us, by its uprightness, its solidity, +its durability, is no unfit emblem of his character. His public virtues +and public principles were as firm as the earth on which it stands; his +personal motives, as pure as the serene heaven in which its summit is +lost. But, indeed, though a fit, it is an inadequate emblem. Towering +high above the column which our hands have builded, beheld, not by the +inhabitants of a single city or a single State, but by all the families +of man, ascends the colossal grandeur of the character and life of +Washington. In all the constituents of the one, in all the acts of the +other, in all its titles to immortal love, admiration, and renown, it is +an American production. It is the embodiment and vindication of our +Transatlantic liberty. Born upon our soil, of parents also born upon it; +never for a moment having had sight of the Old World; instructed, +according to the modes of his time, only in the spare, plain, but +wholesome elementary knowledge which our institutions provide for the +children of the people; growing up beneath and penetrated by the genuine +influences of American society; living from infancy to manhood and age +amidst our expanding, but not luxurious civilization; partaking in our +great destiny of labor, our long contest with unreclaimed nature and +uncivilized man, our agony of glory, the war of Independence, our great +victory of peace, the formation of the Union, and the establishment of +the Constitution; he is all, all our own! Washington is ours. That +crowded and glorious life, + + "Where multitudes of virtues passed along, + Each pressing foremost, in the mighty throng + Ambitious to be seen, then making room + For greater multitudes that were to come,"-- + +that life was the life of an American citizen. + +I claim him for America. In all the perils, in every darkened moment of +the state, in the midst of the reproaches of enemies and the misgiving +of friends, I turn to that transcendent name for courage and for +consolation. To him who denies or doubts whether our fervid liberty can +be combined with law, with order, with the security of property, with +the pursuits and advancement of happiness; to him who denies that our +forms of government are capable of producing exaltation of soul, and the +passion of true glory; to him who denies that we have contributed any +thing to the stock of great lessons and great examples;--to all these I +reply by pointing to Washington! + + * * * * * + +And now, friends and fellow-citizens, it is time to bring this discourse +to a close. + +We have indulged in gratifying recollections of the past, in the +prosperity and pleasures of the present, and in high hopes for the +future. But let us remember that we have duties and obligations to +perform, corresponding to the blessings which we enjoy. Let us remember +the trust, the sacred trust, attaching to the rich inheritance which we +have received from our fathers. Let us feel our personal responsibility, +to the full extent of our power and influence, for the preservation of +the principles of civil and religious liberty. And let us remember that +it is only religion, and morals, and knowledge, that can make men +respectable and happy, under any form of government. Let us hold fast +the great truth, that communities are responsible, as well as +individuals; that no government is respectable, which is not just; that +without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public +principle, fidelity, and honor, no mere forms of government, no +machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society. In our day and +generation let us seek to raise and improve the moral sentiment, so +that we may look, not for a degraded, but for an elevated and improved +future. And when both we and our children shall have been consigned to +the house appointed for all living, may love of country and pride of +country glow with equal fervor among those to whom our names and our +blood shall have descended! And then, when honored and decrepit age +shall lean against the base of this monument, and troops of ingenuous +youth shall be gathered round it, and when the one shall speak to the +other of its objects, the purposes of its construction, and the great +and glorious events with which it is connected, there shall rise from +every youthful breast the ejaculation, "Thank God, I--I also--AM AN +AMERICAN!" + + +FOOTNOTES + + [61] An Address delivered on Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June, 1843. + + [62] William Tudor died at Rio de Janeiro, as Charge d'Affaires of the + United States, in 1830. + + [63] William Sullivan died in Boston in 1839, George Blake in 1841, + both gentlemen of great political and legal eminence. + + [64] William Prescott (since deceased, in 1844), son of Colonel William + Prescott, who commanded on the 17th of June, 1775, and father of + William H. Prescott, the historian. + + [65] See the Note at the end of the Address. + + [66] See the "Records of the Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New + England," as published in the third volume of the Transactions + of the American Antiquarian Society, pp. 47-50. + + + + +NOTE. + + +Page 87. + +The following description of the Bunker Hill Monument and Square is from +Mr. Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, pp. 355, 356. + + "Monument Square is four hundred and seventeen feet from north to + south, and four hundred feet from east to west, and contains nearly + six acres. It embraces the whole site of the redoubt, and a part of + the site of the breastwork. According to the most accurate plan of + the town and the battle (Page's), the monument stands where the + southwest angle of the redoubt was, and the whole of the redoubt was + between the monument and the street that bounds it on the west. The + small mound in the northeast corner of the square is supposed to be + the remains of the breastwork. Warren fell about two hundred feet + west of the monument. An iron fence incloses the square, and another + surrounds the monument. The square has entrances on each of its + sides, and at each of its corners, and is surrounded by a walk and + rows of trees. + + "The obelisk is thirty feet in diameter at the base, about fifteen + feet at the top of the truncated part, and was designed to be two + hundred and twenty feet high; but the mortar and the seams between + the stones make the precise height two hundred and twenty-one feet. + Within the shaft is a hollow cone, with a spiral stairway winding + round it to its summit, which enters a circular chamber at the top. + There are ninety courses of stone in the shaft,--six of them below + the ground, and eighty-four above the ground. The capstone, or apex, + is a single stone, four feet square at the base, and three feet six + inches in height, weighing two and a half tons." + + + + +ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + +Since the decease of General Washington, on the 14th of December, 1799, +the public mind has never been so powerfully affected in this part of +the country by any similar event, as by the death of John Adams, on the +4th of July, 1826. The news reached Boston in the evening of that day. +The decease of this venerable fellow-citizen must at all times have +appealed with much force to the patriotic sympathies of the people of +Massachusetts. It acquired a singular interest from the year and the day +on which it took place;--the 4th of July of the year completing the half +century from that ever memorable era in the history of this country and +the world, the Declaration of Independence; a measure in which Mr. Adams +himself had taken so distinguished a part. The emotions of the public +were greatly increased by the indications given by Mr. Adams in his last +hours, that he was fully aware that the day was the anniversary of +Independence, and by his dying allusion to the supposed fact that his +colleague, Jefferson, survived him. When, in the course of a few days, +the news arrived from Virginia, that he also had departed this life, on +the same day and a few hours before Mr. Adams, the sensibility of the +community, as of the country at large, was touched beyond all example. +The occurrence was justly deemed without a parallel in history. The +various circumstances of association and coincidence which marked the +characters and careers of these great men, and especially those of their +simultaneous decease on the 4th of July, were dwelt upon with melancholy +but untiring interest. The circles of private life, the press, public +bodies, and the pulpit, were for some time almost engrossed with the +topic; and solemn rites of commemoration were performed throughout the +country. + +An early day was appointed for this purpose by the City Council of +Boston. The whole community manifested its sympathy in the extraordinary +event; and on the 2d of August, 1826, at the request of the municipal +authorities, and in the presence of an immense audience, the following +Discourse was delivered in Faneuil Hall. + + + + +ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.[67] + + +This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first time, fellow-citizens, +badges of mourning shroud the columns and overhang the arches of this +hall. These walls, which were consecrated, so long ago, to the cause of +American liberty, which witnessed her infant struggles, and rung with +the shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim, now, that distinguished +friends and champions of that great cause have fallen. It is right that +it should be thus. The tears which flow, and the honors that are paid, +when the founders of the republic die, give hope that the republic +itself may be immortal. It is fit that, by public assembly and solemn +observance, by anthem and by eulogy, we commemorate the services of +national benefactors, extol their virtues, and render thanks to God for +eminent blessings, early given and long continued, through their agency, +to our favored country. + +ADAMS and JEFFERSON are no more; and we are assembled, fellow-citizens, +the aged, the middle-aged, and the young, by the spontaneous impulse of +all, under the authority of the municipal government, with the +presence of the chief magistrate of the Commonwealth, and others its +official representatives, the University, and the learned societies, +to bear our part in those manifestations of respect and gratitude which +pervade the whole land. ADAMS and JEFFERSON are no more. On our +fiftieth anniversary, the great day of national jubilee, in the very +hour of public rejoicing, in the midst of echoing and reechoing voices +of thanksgiving, while their own names were on all tongues, they took +their flight together to the world of spirits. + +If it be true that no one can safely be pronounced happy while he lives, +if that event which terminates life can alone crown its honors and its +glory, what felicity is here! The great epic of their lives, how happily +concluded! Poetry itself has hardly terminated illustrious lives, and +finished the career of earthly renown, by such a consummation. If we had +the power, we could not wish to reverse this dispensation of the Divine +Providence. The great objects of life were accomplished, the drama was +ready to be closed. It has closed; our patriots have fallen; but so +fallen, at such age, with such coincidence, on such a day, that we +cannot rationally lament that that end has come, which we knew could not +be long deferred. + +Neither of these great men, fellow-citizens, could have died, at any +time, without leaving an immense void in our American society. They +have been so intimately, and for so long a time, blended with the +history of the country, and especially so united, in our thoughts +and recollections, with the events of the Revolution, that the death of +either would have touched the chords of public sympathy. We should have +felt that one great link, connecting us with former times, was broken; +that we had lost something more, as it were, of the presence of the +Revolution itself, and of the act of independence, and were driven +on, by another great remove from the days of our country's early +distinction, to meet posterity, and to mix with the future. Like the +mariner, whom the currents of the ocean and the winds carry along, +till he sees the stars which have directed his course and lighted his +pathless way descend, one by one, beneath the rising horizon, we +should have felt that the stream of time had borne us onward till +another great luminary, whose light had cheered us and whose guidance +we had followed, had sunk away from our sight. + +But the concurrence of their death on the anniversary of Independence +has naturally awakened stronger emotions. Both had been Presidents, both +had lived to great age, both were early patriots, and both were +distinguished and ever honored by their immediate agency in the act of +independence. It cannot but seem striking and extraordinary, that these +two should live to see the fiftieth year from the date of that act; that +they should complete that year; and that then, on the day which had fast +linked for ever their own fame with their country's glory, the heavens +should open to receive them both at once. As their lives themselves were +the gifts of Providence, who is not willing to recognize in their happy +termination, as well as in their long continuance, proofs that our +country and its benefactors are objects of His care? + +ADAMS and JEFFERSON, I have said, are no more. As human beings, indeed, +they are no more. They are no more, as in 1776, bold and fearless +advocates of independence; no more, as at subsequent periods, the head +of the government; no more, as we have recently seen them, aged and +venerable objects of admiration and regard. They are no more. They +are dead. But how little is there of the great and good which can die! +To their country they yet live, and live for ever. They live in all +that perpetuates the remembrance of men on earth; in the recorded proofs +of their own great actions, in the offspring of their intellect, in +the deep-engraved lines of public gratitude, and in the respect and +homage of mankind. They live in their example; and they live, +emphatically, and will live, in the influence which their lives and +efforts, their principles and opinions, now exercise, and will continue +to exercise, on the affairs of men, not only in their own country, +but throughout the civilized world. A superior and commanding human +intellect, a truly great man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, +is not a temporary flame, burning brightly for a while, and then +giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent +heat, as well as radiant light, with power to enkindle the common +mass of human mind; so that when it glimmers in its own decay, and +finally goes out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all +light, all on fire, from the potent contact of its own spirit. Bacon +died; but the human understanding, 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 successfully and +gloriously. Newton died; yet the courses of the spheres are still +known, and they yet move on by the laws which he discovered, and in +the orbits which he saw, and described for them, in the infinity of +space. + +No two men now live, fellow-citizens, perhaps it may be doubted whether +any two men have ever lived in one age, who, more than those we now +commemorate, have impressed on mankind their own sentiments in regard to +politics and government, infused their own opinions more deeply into +the opinions of others, or given a more lasting direction to the current +of human thought. Their work doth not perish with them. The tree which +they assisted to plant will flourish, although they water it and protect +it no longer; for it has struck its roots deep, it has sent them to the +very centre; no storm, not of force to burst the orb, can overturn it; +its branches spread wide; they stretch their protecting arms broader and +broader, and its top is destined to reach the heavens. We are not +deceived. There is no delusion here. No age will come in which the +American Revolution will appear less than it is, one of the greatest +events in human history. No age will come in which it shall cease to be +seen and felt, on either continent, that a mighty step, a great advance, +not only in American affairs, but in human affairs, was made on the 4th +of July, 1776. And no age will come, we trust, so ignorant or so unjust +as not to see and acknowledge the efficient agency of those we now honor +in producing that momentous event. + +We are not assembled, therefore, fellow-citizens, as men overwhelmed +with calamity by the sudden disruption of the ties of friendship or +affection, or as in despair for the republic by the untimely blighting +of its hopes. Death has not surprised us by an unseasonable blow. We +have, indeed, seen the tomb close, but it has closed only over mature +years, over long-protracted public service, over the weakness of age, +and over life itself only when the ends of living had been fulfilled. +These suns, as they rose slowly and steadily, amidst clouds and storms, +in their ascendant, so they have not rushed from their meridian to sink +suddenly in the west. Like the mildness, the serenity, the continuing +benignity of a summer's day, they have gone down with slow-descending, +grateful, long-lingering light; and now that they are beyond the visible +margin of the world, good omens cheer us from "the bright track of their +fiery car"! + +There were many points of similarity in the lives and fortunes of these +great men. They belonged to the same profession, and had pursued its +studies and its practice, for unequal lengths of time indeed, but with +diligence and effect. Both were learned and able lawyers. They were +natives and inhabitants, respectively, of those two of the Colonies +which at the Revolution were the largest and most powerful, and which +naturally had a lead in the political affairs of the times. When the +Colonies became in some degree united, by the assembling of a general +Congress, they were brought to act together in its deliberations, not +indeed at the same time, but both at early periods. Each had already +manifested his attachment to the cause of the country, as well as his +ability to maintain it, by printed addresses, public speeches, extensive +correspondence, and whatever other mode could be adopted for the purpose +of exposing the encroachments of the British Parliament, and animating +the people to a manly resistance. Both were not only decided, but early, +friends of Independence. While others yet doubted, they were resolved; +where others hesitated, they pressed forward. They were both members of +the committee for preparing the Declaration of Independence, and they +constituted the sub-committee appointed by the other members to make the +draft. They left their seats in Congress, being called to other public +employments, at periods not remote from each other, although one of them +returned to it afterwards for a short time. Neither of them was of the +assembly of great men which formed the present Constitution, and neither +was at any time a member of Congress under its provisions. Both have +been public ministers abroad, both Vice-Presidents and both Presidents +of the United States. These coincidences are now singularly crowned and +completed. They have died together; and they died on the anniversary of +liberty. + +When many of us were last in this place, fellow-citizens, it was on the +day of that anniversary. We were met to enjoy the festivities belonging +to the occasion, and to manifest our grateful homage to our political +fathers. We did not, we could not here, forget our venerable neighbor of +Quincy. We knew that we were standing, at a time of high and palmy +prosperity, where he had stood in the hour of utmost peril; that we saw +nothing but liberty and security, where he had met the frown of power; +that we were enjoying every thing, where he had hazarded every thing; +and just and sincere plaudits rose to his name, from the crowds which +filled this area, and hung over these galleries. He whose grateful duty +it was to speak to us,[68] on that day, of the virtues of our fathers, +had, indeed, admonished us that time and years were about to level his +venerable frame with the dust. But he bade us hope that "the sound of a +nation's joy, rushing from our cities, ringing from our valleys, echoing +from our hills, might yet break the silence of his aged ear; that the +rising blessings of grateful millions might yet visit with glad light +his decaying vision." Alas! that vision was then closing for ever. Alas! +the silence which was then settling on that aged ear was an everlasting +silence! For, lo! in the very moment of our festivities, his freed +spirit ascended to God who gave it! Human aid and human solace terminate +at the grave; or we would gladly have borne him upward, on a nation's +outspread hands; we would have accompanied him, and with the blessings +of millions and the prayers of millions, commended him to the Divine +favor. + +While still indulging our thoughts, on the coincidence of the death of +this venerable man with the anniversary of Independence, we learn that +Jefferson, too, has fallen; and that these aged patriots, these +illustrious fellow-laborers, have left our world together. May not such +events raise the suggestion that they are not undesigned, and that +Heaven does so order things, as sometimes to attract strongly the +attention and excite the thoughts of men? The occurrence has added new +interest to our anniversary, and will be remembered in all time to +come. + + * * * * * + +The occasion, fellow-citizens, requires some account of the lives and +services of JOHN ADAMS and THOMAS JEFFERSON. This duty must necessarily +be performed with great brevity, and in the discharge of it I shall be +obliged to confine myself, principally, to those parts of their history +and character which belonged to them as public men. + +JOHN ADAMS was born at Quincy, then part of the ancient town of +Braintree, on the 19th day of October (old style), 1735. He was a +descendant of the Puritans, his ancestors having early emigrated +from England, and settled in Massachusetts. Discovering in childhood +a strong love of reading and of knowledge, together with marks of +great strength and activity of mind, proper care was taken by his +worthy father to provide for his education. He pursued his youthful +studies in Braintree, under Mr. Marsh, a teacher whose fortune it +was that Josiah Quincy, Jr., as well as the subject of these remarks, +should receive from him his instruction in the rudiments of classical +literature. Having been admitted, in 1751, a member of Harvard +College, Mr. Adams was graduated, in course, in 1755; and on the +catalogue of that institution, his name, at the time of his death, was +second among the living Alumni, being preceded only by that of the +venerable Holyoke. With what degree of reputation he left the +University is not now precisely known. We know only that he was +distinguished in a class which numbered Locke and Hemmenway among its +members. Choosing the law for his profession, he commenced and +prosecuted its studies at Worcester, under the direction of Samuel +Putnam, a gentleman whom he has himself described as an acute man, an +able and learned lawyer, and as being in large professional practice at +that time. In 1758 he was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the +practice of the law in Braintree. He is understood to have made his +first considerable effort, or to have attained his first signal +success, at Plymouth, on one of those occasions which furnish the +earliest opportunity for distinction to many young men of the +profession, a jury trial, and a criminal cause. His business +naturally grew with his reputation, and his residence in the vicinity +afforded the opportunity, as his growing eminence gave the power, of +entering on a larger field of practice in the capital. In 1766 he +removed his residence to Boston, still continuing his attendance on +the neighboring circuits, and not unfrequently called to remote parts +of the Province. In 1770 his professional firmness was brought to a +test of some severity, on the application of the British officers and +soldiers to undertake their defence, on the trial of the indictments +found against them on account of the transactions of the memorable +5th of March. He seems to have thought, on this occasion, that a man can +no more abandon the proper duties of his profession, than he can +abandon other duties. The event proved, that, as he judged well for +his own reputation, so, too, he judged well for the interest and +permanent fame of his country. The result of that trial proved, that, +notwithstanding the high degree of excitement then existing in +consequence of the measures of the British government, a jury of +Massachusetts would not deprive the most reckless enemies, even the +officers of that standing army quartered among them, which they so +perfectly abhorred, of any part of that protection which the law, in +its mildest and most indulgent interpretation, affords to persons +accused of crimes. + +Without following Mr. Adams's professional course further suffice it to +say, that on the first establishment of the judicial tribunals under +the authority of the State, in 1776, he received an offer of the high +and responsible station of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of +Massachusetts. But he was destined for another and a different +career. From early life the bent of his mind was toward politics; a +propensity which the state of the times, if it did not create, +doubtless very much strengthened. Public subjects must have occupied +the thoughts and filled up the conversation in the circles in which +he then moved; and the interesting questions at that time just +arising could not but seize on a mind like his, ardent, sanguine, and +patriotic. A letter, fortunately preserved, written by him at +Worcester, so early as the 12th of October, 1755, is a proof of very +comprehensive views, and uncommon depth of reflection, in a young +man not yet quite twenty. In this letter he predicted the transfer of +power, and the establishment of a new seat of empire in America; he +predicted, also, the increase of population in the Colonies; and +anticipated their naval distinction, and foretold that all Europe +combined could not subdue them. All this is said, not on a public +occasion or for effect, but in the style of sober and friendly +correspondence, as the result of his own thoughts. "I sometimes retire," +said he, at the close of the letter, "and, laying things together, form +some reflections pleasing to myself. The produce of one of these +reveries you have read above."[69] This prognostication so early in +his own life, so early in the history of the country, of independence, +of vast increase of numbers, of naval force, of such augmented +power as might defy all Europe, is remarkable. It is more remarkable +that its author should live to see fulfilled to the letter what could +have seemed to others, at the time, but the extravagance of youthful +fancy. His earliest political feelings were thus strongly American, +and from this ardent attachment to his native soil he never departed. + +While still living at Quincy, and at the age of twenty-four, Mr. Adams +was present, in this town, at the argument before the Supreme Court +respecting _Writs of Assistance_, and heard the celebrated and +patriotic speech of JAMES OTIS. Unquestionably, that was a masterly +performance. No flighty declamation about liberty, no superficial +discussion of popular topics, it was a learned, penetrating, convincing, +constitutional argument, expressed in a strain of high and resolute +patriotism. He grasped the question then pending between England and +her Colonies with the strength of a lion; and if he sometimes +sported, it was only because the lion himself is sometimes playful. +Its success appears to have been as great as its merits, and its +impression was widely felt. Mr. Adams himself seems never to have lost +the feeling it produced, and to have entertained constantly the +fullest conviction of its important effects. "I do say," he observes, +"in the most solemn manner, that Mr. Otis's Oration against Writs of +Assistance breathed into this nation the breath of life."[70] + +In 1765 Mr. Adams laid before the public, anonymously, a series of +essays, afterwards collected in a volume in London, under the title of A +Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law.[71] The object of this work +was to show that our New England ancestors, in consenting to exile +themselves from their native land, were actuated mainly by the desire of +delivering themselves from the power of the hierarchy, and from the +monarchical and aristocratical systems of the other continent; and to +make this truth bear with effect on the politics of the times. Its tone +is uncommonly bold and animated for that period. He calls on the people, +not only to defend, but to study and understand, their rights and +privileges; urges earnestly the necessity of diffusing general +knowledge; invokes the clergy and the bar, the colleges and academies, +and all others who have the ability and the means to expose the +insidious designs of arbitrary power, to resist its approaches, and to +be persuaded that there is a settled design on foot to enslave all +America. "Be it remembered," says the author, "that liberty must, at all +hazards, be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. +But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the +expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. +And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the +people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, +as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them +understandings and a desire to know. But, besides this, they have a +right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right, to that +most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean of the characters and +conduct of their rulers. Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and +trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is +insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right +to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to +constitute abler and better agents, attorneys, and trustees." + +The citizens of this town conferred on Mr. Adams his first political +distinction, and clothed him with his first political trust, by electing +him one of their representatives, in 1770. Before this time he had +become extensively known throughout the Province, as well by the part he +had acted in relation to public affairs, as by the exercise of his +professional ability. He was among those who took the deepest interest +in the controversy with England, and whether in or out of the +legislature, his time and talents were alike devoted to the cause. In +the years 1773 and 1774 he was chosen a Councillor by the members of the +General Court, but rejected by Governor Hutchinson in the former of +those years, and by Governor Gage in the latter. + +The time was now at hand, however, when the affairs of the Colonies +urgently demanded united counsels throughout the country. An open +rupture with the parent state appeared inevitable, and it was but the +dictate of prudence that those who were united by a common interest +and a common danger should protect that interest and guard against +that danger by united efforts. A general Congress of Delegates from +all the Colonies having been proposed and agreed to, the House of +Representatives, on the 17th of June, 1774, elected James Bowdoin, +Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, +delegates from Massachusetts. This appointment was made at Salem, +where the General Court had been convened by Governor Gage, in the +last hour of the existence of a House of Representatives under the +Provincial Charter. While engaged in this important business, the +Governor, having been informed of what was passing, sent his secretary +with a message dissolving the General Court. The secretary, finding +the door locked, directed the messenger to go in and inform the Speaker +that the secretary was at the door with a message from the Governor. The +messenger returned, and informed the secretary that the orders of +the House were that the doors should be kept fast; whereupon the +secretary soon after read upon the stairs a proclamation dissolving +the General Court. Thus terminated, for ever, the actual exercise of +the political power of England in or over Massachusetts. The four +last-named delegates accepted their appointments, and took their +seats in Congress the first day of its meeting, the 5th of September, +1774, in Philadelphia. + +The proceedings of the first Congress are well known, and have been +universally admired. It is in vain that we would look for superior +proofs of wisdom, talent, and patriotism. Lord Chatham said, that, for +himself, he must declare that he had studied and admired the free states +of antiquity, the master states of the world, but that for solidity of +reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, no body of men +could stand in preference to this Congress. It is hardly inferior praise +to say, that no production of that great man himself can be pronounced +superior to several of the papers published as the proceedings of this +most able, most firm, most patriotic assembly. There is, indeed, nothing +superior to them in the range of political disquisition. They not only +embrace, illustrate, and enforce every thing which political philosophy, +the love of liberty, and the spirit of free inquiry had antecedently +produced, but they add new and striking views of their own, and apply +the whole, with irresistible force, in support of the cause which had +drawn them together. + +Mr. Adams was a constant attendant on the deliberations of this body, +and bore an active part in its important measures. He was of the +committee to state the rights of the Colonies, and of that also which +reported the Address to the King. + +As it was in the Continental Congress, fellow-citizens, that those whose +deaths have given rise to this occasion were first brought together, and +called upon to unite their industry and their ability in the service of +the country, let us now turn to the other of these distinguished men, +and take a brief notice of his life up to the period when he appeared +within the walls of Congress. + +THOMAS JEFFERSON, descended from ancestors who had been settled in +Virginia for some generations, was born near the spot on which he died, +in the county of Albemarle, on the 2d of April (old style), 1743. His +youthful studies were pursued in the neighborhood of his father's +residence until he was removed to the College of William and Mary, the +highest honors of which he in due time received. Having left the College +with reputation, he applied himself to the study of the law under the +tuition of George Wythe, one of the highest judicial names of which that +State can boast. At an early age he was elected a member of the +legislature, in which he had no sooner appeared than he distinguished +himself by knowledge, capacity, and promptitude. + +Mr. Jefferson appears to have been imbued with an early love of letters +and science, and to have cherished a strong disposition to pursue these +objects. To the physical sciences, especially, and to ancient classic +literature, he is understood to have had a warm attachment, and never +entirely to have lost sight of them in the midst of the busiest +occupations. But the times were times for action, rather than for +contemplation. The country was to be defended, and to be saved, before +it could be enjoyed. Philosophic leisure and literary pursuits, and even +the objects of professional attention, were all necessarily postponed to +the urgent calls of the public service. The exigency of the country made +the same demand on Mr. Jefferson that it made on others who had the +ability and the disposition to serve it; and he obeyed the call; +thinking and feeling in this respect with the great Roman orator: "Quis +enim est tam cupidus in perspicienda cognoscendaque rerum natura, ut, si +ei tractanti contemplantique res cognitione dignissimas subito sit +allatum periculum discrimenque patriae, cui subvenire opitularique +possit, non illa omnia relinquat atque abjiciat, etiam si dinumerare se +stellas, aut metiri mundi magnitudinem posse arbitretur?"[72] + +Entering with all his heart into the cause of liberty, his ability, +patriotism, and power with the pen naturally drew upon him a large +participation in the most important concerns. Wherever he was, there was +found a soul devoted to the cause, power to defend and maintain it, and +willingness to incur all its hazards. In 1774 he published a Summary +View of the Rights of British America, a valuable production among those +intended to show the dangers which threatened the liberties of the +country, and to encourage the people in their defence. In June, 1775, he +was elected a member of the Continental Congress, as successor to Peyton +Randolph, who had resigned his place on account of ill health, and took +his seat in that body on the 21st of the same month. + +And now, fellow-citizens, without pursuing the biography of these +illustrious men further, for the present, let us turn our attention to +the most prominent act of their lives, their participation in the +DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. + +Preparatory to the introduction of that important measure, a committee, +at the head of which was Mr. Adams, had reported a resolution, which +Congress adopted on the 10th of May, recommending, in substance, to all +the Colonies which had not already established governments suited to the +exigencies of their affairs, _to adopt such government as would, in the +opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the +happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and America in +general_. + +This significant vote was soon followed by the direct proposition which +Richard Henry Lee had the honor to submit to Congress, by resolution, on +the 7th day of June. The published journal does not expressly state it, +but there is no doubt, I suppose, that this resolution was in the same +words, when originally submitted by Mr. Lee, as when finally passed. +Having been discussed on Saturday, the 8th, and Monday, the 10th of +June, this resolution was on the last mentioned day postponed for +further consideration to the first day of July; and at the same time it +was voted, that a committee be appointed to prepare a Declaration to the +effect of the resolution. This committee was elected by ballot, on the +following day, and consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin +Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. + +It is usual, when committees are elected by ballot, that their members +should be arranged in order, according to the number of votes which each +has received. Mr. Jefferson, therefore, had received the highest, and +Mr. Adams the next highest number of votes. The difference is said to +have been but of a single vote. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, standing +thus at the head of the committee, were requested by the other members +to act as a sub-committee to prepare the draft; and Mr. Jefferson drew +up the paper. The original draft, as brought by him from his study, and +submitted to the other members of the committee, with interlineations in +the handwriting of Dr. Franklin, and others in that of Mr. Adams, was in +Mr. Jefferson's possession at the time of his death.[73] The merit of +this paper is Mr. Jefferson's. Some changes were made in it at the +suggestion of other members of the committee, and others by Congress +while it was under discussion. But none of them altered the tone, the +frame, the arrangement, or the general character of the instrument. As a +composition, the Declaration is Mr. Jefferson's. It is the production of +his mind, and the high honor of it belongs to him, clearly and +absolutely. + +It has sometimes been said, as if it were a derogation from the merits +of this paper, that it contains nothing new; that it only states grounds +of proceeding, and presses topics of argument, which had often been +stated and pressed before. But it was not the object of the Declaration +to produce any thing new. It was not to invent reasons for independence, +but to state those which governed the Congress. For great and sufficient +causes, it was proposed to declare independence; and the proper business +of the paper to be drawn was to set forth those causes, and justify the +authors of the measure, in any event of fortune, to the country and to +posterity. The cause of American independence, moreover, was now to be +presented to the world in such manner, if it might so be, as to engage +its sympathy, to command its respect, to attract its admiration; and in +an assembly of most able and distinguished men, THOMAS JEFFERSON had the +high honor of being the selected advocate of this cause. To say that he +performed his great work well, would be doing him injustice. To say that +he did excellently well, admirably well, would be inadequate and halting +praise. Let us rather say, that he so discharged the duty assigned him, +that all Americans may well rejoice that the work of drawing the +title-deed of their liberties devolved upon him. + +With all its merits, there are those who have thought that there was one +thing in the Declaration to be regretted; and that is, the asperity and +apparent anger with which it speaks of the person of the king; the +industrious ability with which it accumulates and charges upon him all +the injuries which the Colonies had suffered from the mother country. +Possibly some degree of injustice, now or hereafter, at home or abroad, +may be done to the character of Mr. Jefferson, if this part of the +Declaration be not placed in its proper light. Anger or resentment, +certainly much less personal reproach and invective, could not properly +find place in a composition of such high dignity, and of such lofty and +permanent character. + +A single reflection on the original ground of dispute between England +and the Colonies is sufficient to remove any unfavorable impression in +this respect. + +The inhabitants of all the Colonies, while Colonies, admitted themselves +bound by their allegiance to the king; but they disclaimed altogether +the authority of Parliament; holding themselves, in this respect, to +resemble the condition of Scotland and Ireland before the respective +unions of those kingdoms with England, when they acknowledged allegiance +to the same king, but had each its separate legislature. The tie, +therefore, which our Revolution was to break did not subsist between us +and the British Parliament, or between us and the British government in +the aggregate, but directly between us and the king himself. The +Colonies had never admitted themselves subject to Parliament. That was +precisely the point of the original controversy. They had uniformly +denied that Parliament had authority to make laws for them. There was, +therefore, no subjection to Parliament to be thrown off.[74] But +allegiance to the king did exist, and had been uniformly acknowledged; +and down to 1775 the most solemn assurances had been given that it was +not intended to break that allegiance, or to throw it off. Therefore, as +the direct object and only effect of the Declaration, according to the +principles on which the controversy had been maintained on our part, +were to sever the tie of allegiance which bound us to the king, it was +properly and necessarily founded on acts of the crown itself, as its +justifying causes. Parliament is not so much as mentioned in the whole +instrument. When odious and oppressive acts are referred to, it is done +by charging the king with confederating with others "in pretended acts +of legislation"; the object being constantly to hold the king himself +directly responsible for those measures which were the grounds of +separation. Even the precedent of the English Revolution was not +overlooked, and in this case, as well as in that, occasion was found to +say that the king had _abdicated_ the government. Consistency with the +principles upon which resistance began, and with all the previous state +papers issued by Congress, required that the Declaration should be +bottomed on the misgovernment of the king; and therefore it was properly +framed with that aim and to that end. The king was known, indeed, to +have acted, as in other cases, by his ministers, and with his +Parliament; but as our ancestors had never admitted themselves subject +either to ministers or to Parliament, there were no reasons to be given +for now refusing obedience to their authority. This clear and obvious +necessity of founding the Declaration on the misconduct of the king +himself, gives to that instrument its personal application, and its +character of direct and pointed accusation. + +The Declaration having been reported to Congress by the committee, the +resolution itself was taken up and debated on the first day of July, and +again on the second, on which last day it was agreed to and adopted, in +these words:-- + +"_Resolved_, That these united Colonies are, and of right ought to be, +free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance +to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and +the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." + +Having thus passed the main resolution, Congress proceeded to consider +the reported draught of the Declaration. It was discussed on the second, +and third, and FOURTH days of the month, in committee of the whole; and +on the last of those days, being reported from that committee, it +received the final approbation and sanction of Congress. It was ordered, +at the same time, that copies be sent to the several States, and that it +be proclaimed at the head of the army. The Declaration thus published +did not bear the names of the members, for as yet it had not been signed +by them. It was authenticated, like other papers of the Congress, by the +signatures of the President and Secretary. On the 19th of July, as +appears by the secret journal, Congress "_Resolved_, That the +Declaration, passed on the fourth, be fairly engrossed on parchment, +with the title and style of 'THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA'; and that the same, when engrossed be signed +by every member of Congress." And on the SECOND DAY OF AUGUST following, +"the Declaration, being engrossed and compared at the table, was signed +by the members." So that it happens, fellow-citizens, that we pay these +honors to their memory on the anniversary of that day (2d of August) on +which these great men actually signed their names to the Declaration. +The Declaration was thus made, that is, it passed and was adopted as an +act of Congress, on the fourth of July; it was then signed, and +certified by the President and Secretary, like other acts. The FOURTH OF +JULY, therefore, is the ANNIVERSARY OF THE DECLARATION. But the +signatures of the members present were made to it, being then engrossed +on parchment, on the second day of August. Absent members afterwards +signed, as they came in; and indeed it bears the names of some who were +not chosen members of Congress until after the fourth of July. The +interest belonging to the subject will be sufficient, I hope, to +justify these details.[75] + +The Congress of the Revolution, fellow-citizens, sat with closed doors, +and no report of its debates was ever made. The discussion, therefore, +which accompanied this great measure, has never been preserved, except +in memory and by tradition. But it is, I believe, doing no injustice to +others to say, that the general opinion was, and uniformly has been, +that in debate, on the side of independence, JOHN ADAMS had no equal. +The great author of the Declaration himself has expressed that opinion +uniformly and strongly. "JOHN ADAMS," said he, in the hearing of him who +has now the honor to address you, "JOHN ADAMS was our colossus on the +floor. Not graceful, not elegant, not always fluent, in his public +addresses, he yet came out with a power, both of thought and of +expression, which moved us from our seats." + +For the part which he was here to perform, Mr. Adams doubtless was +eminently fitted. He possessed a bold spirit, which disregarded danger, +and a sanguine reliance on the goodness of the cause, and the virtues of +the people, which led him to overlook all obstacles. His character, too, +had been formed in troubled times. He had been rocked in the early +storms of the controversy, and had acquired a decision and a hardihood +proportioned to the severity of the discipline which he had undergone. + +He not only loved the American cause devoutly, but had studied and +understood it. It was all familiar to him. He had tried his powers on +the questions which it involved, often and in various ways; and had +brought to their consideration whatever of argument or illustration the +history of his own country, the history of England, or the stores of +ancient or of legal learning could furnish. Every grievance enumerated +in the long catalogue of the Declaration had been the subject of his +discussion, and the object of his remonstrance and reprobation. From +1760, the Colonies, the rights of the Colonies, the liberties of the +Colonies, and the wrongs inflicted on the Colonies, had engaged his +constant attention; and it has surprised those who have had the +opportunity of witnessing it, with what full remembrance and with what +prompt recollection he could refer, in his extreme old age, to every act +of Parliament affecting the Colonies, distinguishing and stating their +respective titles, sections, and provisions; and to all the Colonial +memorials, remonstrances, and petitions, with whatever else belonged to +the intimate and exact history of the times from that year to 1775. It +was, in his own judgment, between these years that the American people +came to a full understanding and thorough knowledge of their rights, and +to a fixed resolution of maintaining them; and bearing himself an active +part in all important transactions, the controversy with England being +then in effect the business of his life, facts, dates, and particulars +made an impression which was never effaced. He was prepared, therefore, +by education and discipline, as well as by natural talent and natural +temperament, for the part which he was now to act. + +The eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general character, and formed, +indeed, a part of it. It was bold, manly, and energetic; and such the +crisis required. When public bodies are to be addressed on momentous +occasions, when great interests are at stake, and strong passions +excited, nothing is valuable in speech farther than as it is connected +with high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness, force, and +earnestness are the qualities which produce conviction. True eloquence, +indeed, does not consist in speech. It cannot be brought from far. Labor +and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and +phrases may be marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass it. It +must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected +passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire to +it; they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the +outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of +volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces +taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances of +speech, shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and the fate of +their wives, their children, and their country, hang on the decision of +the hour. Then words have lost their power, rhetoric is vain, and all +elaborate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked +and subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is +eloquent; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, +outrunning the deductions of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, +the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, +informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward +to his object,--this, this is eloquence; or rather it is something +greater and higher than all eloquence, it is action, noble, sublime, +godlike action. + +In July, 1776, the controversy had passed the stage of argument. An +appeal had been made to force, and opposing armies were in the field. +Congress, then, was to decide whether the tie which had so long bound us +to the parent state was to be severed at once, and severed for ever. All +the Colonies had signified their resolution to abide by this decision, +and the people looked for it with the most intense anxiety. And surely, +fellow-citizens, never, never were men called to a more important +political deliberation. If we contemplate it from the point where they +then stood, no question could be more full of interest; if we look at it +now, and judge of its importance by its effects, it appears of still +greater magnitude. + +Let us, then, bring before us the assembly, which was about to decide a +question thus big with the fate of empire. Let us open their doors and +look in upon their deliberations. Let us survey the anxious and +care-worn countenances, let us hear the firm-toned voices, of this band +of patriots. + +HANCOCK presides over the solemn sitting; and one of those not yet +prepared to pronounce for absolute independence is on the floor, and is +urging his reasons for dissenting from the declaration. + +"Let us pause! This step, once taken, cannot be retraced. This +resolution, once passed, will cut off all hope of reconciliation. If +success attend the arms of England, we shall then be no longer Colonies, +with charters and with privileges; these will all be forfeited by this +act; and we shall be in the condition of other conquered people, at the +mercy of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run the +hazard; but are we ready to carry the country to that length? Is success +so probable as to justify it? Where is the military, where the naval +power by which we are to resist the whole strength of the arm of +England, for she will exert that strength to the utmost? Can we rely on +the constancy and perseverance of the people? or will they not act as +the people of other countries have acted, and, wearied with a long war, +submit, in the end, to a worse oppression? While we stand on our old +ground, and insist on redress of grievances, we know we are right, and +are not answerable for consequences. Nothing, then, can be imputed to +us. But if we now change our object, carry our pretensions farther, and +set up for absolute independence, we shall lose the sympathy of mankind. +We shall no longer be defending what we possess, but struggling for +something which we never did possess, and which we have solemnly and +uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursuing, from the very outset of +the troubles. Abandoning thus our old ground, of resistance only to +arbitrary acts of oppression, the nations will believe the whole to have +been mere pretence, and they will look on us, not as injured, but as +ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsibility. It will be on +us, if, relinquishing the ground on which we have stood so long, and +stood so safely, we now proclaim independence, and carry on the war for +that object, while these cities burn, these pleasant fields whiten and +bleach with the bones of their owners, and these streams run blood. It +will be upon us, it will be upon us, if, failing to maintain this +unseasonable and ill-judged declaration, a sterner despotism, maintained +by military power, shall be established over our posterity, when we +ourselves, given up by an exhausted, a harassed, a misled people, shall +have expiated our rashness and atoned for our presumption on the +scaffold." + +It was for Mr. Adams to reply to arguments like these. We know his +opinions, and we know his character. He would commence with his +accustomed directness and earnestness. + +"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my +heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the beginning we aimed +not at independence. But there's a Divinity which shapes our ends. The +injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own +interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence +is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is +ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration? Is any man so weak as +now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either +safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own life and +his own honor? Are not you, Sir, who sit in that chair, is not he, our +venerable colleague near you, are you not both already the proscribed +and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance? Cut off from all +hope of royal clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power +of England remains, but outlaws? If we postpone independence, do we mean +to carry on, or to give up, the war? Do we mean to submit to the +measures of Parliament, Boston Port Bill and all? Do we mean to submit, +and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to powder, and our country +and its rights trodden down in the dust? I know we do not mean to +submit. We never shall submit. Do we intend to violate that most solemn +obligation ever entered into by men, that plighting, before God, of our +sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him forth to incur the dangers +of war, as well as the political hazards of the times, we promised to +adhere to him, in every extremity, with our fortunes and our lives? I +know there is not a man here, who would not rather see a general +conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one +jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, +having, twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, that George +Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or to be raised, +for defence of American liberty,[76] may my right hand forget her +cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or +waver in the support I give him. + +"The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war +must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence? That +measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The +nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we +acknowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I +maintain that England herself will sooner treat for peace with us on the +footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to +acknowledge that her whole conduct towards us has been a course of +injustice and oppression. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting +to that course of things which now predestinates our independence, than +by yielding the points in controversy to her rebellious subjects. The +former she would regard as the result of fortune; the latter she would +feel as her own deep disgrace. Why, then, why then, Sir, do we not as +soon as possible change this from a civil to a national war? And since +we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all +the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? + +"If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause +will raise up armies; the cause will create navies. The people, the +people, if we are true to them, will carry us, and will carry +themselves, gloriously, through this struggle. I care not how fickle +other people have been found. I know the people of these Colonies, and I +know that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their +hearts and cannot be eradicated. Every Colony, indeed, has expressed its +willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the Declaration +will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and +bloody war for the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, +for chartered immunities, held under a British king, set before them the +glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them +anew the breath of life. Read this Declaration at the head of the army; +every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, +to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the +pulpit; religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will +cling round it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to +the public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who heard the +first roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers +and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of +Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. + +"Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see clearly, +through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may not +live to the time when this Declaration shall be made good. We may die; +die colonists; die slaves; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the +scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my +country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be +ready at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But +while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a +country, and that a free country. + +"But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that this +Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but +it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the +thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as the +sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we +are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it +with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On +its annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of +subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of +gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My +judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I +have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now +ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I begun, that live or +die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living +sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, +Independence, _now_, and INDEPENDENCE FOR EVER."[77] + +And so that day shall be honored, illustrious prophet and patriot! so +that day shall be honored, and as often as it returns, thy renown shall +come along with it, and the glory of thy life, like the day of thy +death, shall not fail from the remembrance of men. + + * * * * * + +It would be unjust, fellow-citizens, on this occasion, while we +express our veneration for him who is the immediate subject of these +remarks, were we to omit a most respectful, affectionate, and +grateful mention of those other great men, his colleagues, who stood +with him, and with the same spirit, the same devotion, took part in +the interesting transaction. HANCOCK, the proscribed HANCOCK, exiled +from his home by a military governor, cut off by proclamation from the +mercy of the crown,--Heaven reserved for him the distinguished honor +of putting this great question to the vote, and of writing his own +name first, and most conspicuously, on that parchment which spoke +defiance to the power of the crown of England. There, too, is the +name of that other proscribed patriot, SAMUEL ADAMS, a man who +hungered and thirsted for the independence of his country; who +thought the Declaration halted and lingered, being himself not only +ready, but eager, for it, long before it was proposed; a man of the +deepest sagacity, the dearest foresight, and the profoundest judgment +in men. And there is GERRY, himself among the earliest and the +foremost of the patriots, found, when the battle of Lexington summoned +them to common counsels, by the side of WARREN; a man who lived to +serve his country at home and abroad, and to die in the second place +in the government. There, too, is the inflexible, the upright, the +Spartan character, ROBERT TREAT PAINE. He also lived to serve his +country through the struggle, and then withdrew from her councils, +only that he might give his labors and his life to his native State, +in another relation. These names, fellow-citizens, are the treasures +of the Commonwealth; and they are treasures which grow brighter by +time. + + * * * * * + +It is now necessary to resume the narrative, and to finish with great +brevity the notice of the lives of those whose virtues and services we +have met to commemorate. + +Mr. Adams remained in Congress from its first meeting till November, +1777, when he was appointed Minister to France. He proceeded on that +service in the February following, embarking in the frigate Boston, from +the shore of his native town, at the foot of Mount Wollaston. The year +following, he was appointed commissioner to treat of peace with England. +Returning to the United States, he was a delegate from Braintree in the +Convention for framing the Constitution of this Commonwealth, in +1780.[78] At the latter end of the same year, he again went abroad in +the diplomatic service of the country, and was employed at various +courts, and occupied with various negotiations, until 1788. The +particulars of these interesting and important services this occasion +does not allow time to relate. In 1782 he concluded our first treaty +with Holland. His negotiations with that republic, his efforts to +persuade the States-General to recognize our independence, his incessant +and indefatigable exertions to represent the American cause favorably on +the Continent, and to counteract the designs of its enemies, open and +secret, and his successful undertaking to obtain loans, on the credit of +a nation yet new and unknown, are among his most arduous, most useful, +most honorable services. It was his fortune to bear a part in the +negotiation for peace with England, and in something more than six +years from the Declaration which he had so strenuously supported, he had +the satisfaction of seeing the minister plenipotentiary of the crown +subscribe his name to the instrument which declared that his "Britannic +Majesty acknowledged the United States to be free, sovereign, and +independent." In these important transactions, Mr. Adams's conduct +received the marked approbation of Congress and of the country. + +While abroad, in 1787, he published his Defence of the American +Constitutions; a work of merit and ability, though composed with haste, +on the spur of a particular occasion, in the midst of other occupations, +and under circumstances not admitting of careful revision. The immediate +object of the work was to counteract the weight of opinions advanced by +several popular European writers of that day, M. Turgot, the Abbe de +Mably, and Dr. Price, at a time when the people of the United States +were employed in forming and revising their systems of government. + +Returning to the United States in 1788, he found the new government +about going into operation, and was himself elected the first +Vice-President, a situation which he filled with reputation for eight +years, at the expiration of which he was raised to the Presidential +chair, as immediate successor to the immortal Washington. In this high +station he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, after a memorable controversy +between their respective friends, in 1801; and from that period his +manner of life has been known to all who hear me. He has lived, for +five-and-twenty years, with every enjoyment that could render old age +happy. Not inattentive to the occurrences of the times, political cares +have yet not materially, or for any long time, disturbed his repose. In +1820 he acted as elector of President and Vice-President, and in the +same year we saw him, then at the age of eighty-five, a member of the +Convention of this Commonwealth called to revise the Constitution. Forty +years before, he had been one of those who formed that Constitution; and +he had now the pleasure of witnessing that there was little which the +people desired to change.[79] Possessing all his faculties to the end +of his long life, with an unabated love of reading and contemplation, in +the centre of interesting circles of friendship and affection, he was +blessed in his retirement with whatever of repose and felicity the +condition of man allows. He had, also, other enjoyments. He saw around +him that prosperity and general happiness which had been the object of +his public cares and labors. No man ever beheld more clearly, and for a +longer time, the great and beneficial effects of the services rendered +by himself to his country. That liberty which he so early defended, that +independence of which he was so able an advocate and supporter, he saw, +we trust, firmly and securely established. The population of the country +thickened around him faster, and extended wider, than his own sanguine +predictions had anticipated; and the wealth, respectability, and power +of the nation sprang up to a magnitude which it is quite impossible he +could have expected to witness in his day. He lived also to behold those +principles of civil freedom which had been developed, established, and +practically applied in America, attract attention, command respect, and +awaken imitation, in other regions of the globe; and well might, and +well did, he exclaim, "Where will the consequences of the American +Revolution end?" + +If any thing yet remain to fill this cup of happiness, let it be added, +that he lived to see a great and intelligent people bestow the highest +honor in their gift where he had bestowed his own kindest parental +affections and lodged his fondest hopes. Thus honored in life, thus +happy at death, he saw the JUBILEE, and he died; and with the last +prayers which trembled on his lips was the fervent supplication for his +country, "Independence for ever!"[80] + + * * * * * + +Mr. Jefferson, having been occupied in the years 1778 and 1779 in the +important service of revising the laws of Virginia, was elected Governor +of that State, as successor to Patrick Henry, and held the situation +when the State was invaded by the British arms. In 1781 he published his +Notes on Virginia, a work which attracted attention in Europe as well as +America, dispelled many misconceptions respecting this continent, and +gave its author a place among men distinguished for science. In +November, 1783, he again took his seat in the Continental Congress, but +in the May following was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary, to act +abroad, in the negotiation of commercial treaties, with Dr. Franklin and +Mr. Adams. He proceeded to France in execution of this mission, +embarking at Boston; and that was the only occasion on which he ever +visited this place. In 1785 he was appointed Minister to France, the +duties of which situation he continued to perform until October, 1789, +when he obtained leave to retire, just on the eve of that tremendous +revolution which has so much agitated the world in our times. Mr. +Jefferson's discharge of his diplomatic duties was marked by great +ability, diligence, and patriotism; and while he resided at Paris, in +one of the most interesting periods, his character for intelligence, his +love of knowledge and of the society of learned men, distinguished him +in the highest circles of the French capital. No court in Europe had at +that time in Paris a representative commanding or enjoying higher +regard, for political knowledge or for general attainments, than the +minister of this then infant republic. Immediately on his return to his +native country, at the organization of the government under the present +Constitution, his talents and experience recommended him to President +Washington for the first office in his gift. He was placed at the head +of the Department of State. In this situation, also, he manifested +conspicuous ability. His correspondence with the ministers of other +powers residing here, and his instructions to our own diplomatic agents +abroad, are among our ablest state papers. A thorough knowledge of the +laws and usages of nations, perfect acquaintance with the immediate +subject before him, great felicity, and still greater facility, in +writing, show themselves in whatever effort his official situation +called on him to make. It is believed by competent judges, that the +diplomatic intercourse of the government of the United States, from the +first meeting of the Continental Congress in 1774 to the present time, +taken together, would not suffer, in respect to the talent with which it +has been conducted, by comparison with any thing which other and older +governments can produce; and to the attainment of this respectability +and distinction Mr. Jefferson has contributed his full part. + +On the retirement of General Washington from the Presidency, and the +election of Mr. Adams to that office in 1797, he was chosen +Vice-President. While presiding in this capacity over the deliberations +of the Senate, he compiled and published a Manual of Parliamentary +Practice, a work of more labor and more merit than is indicated by its +size. It is now received as the general standard by which proceedings +are regulated, not only in both Houses of Congress, but in most of the +other legislative bodies in the country. In 1801 he was elected +President, in opposition to Mr. Adams, and reelected in 1805, by a vote +approaching towards unanimity. + +From the time of his final retirement from public life, in 1808, Mr. +Jefferson lived as became a wise man. Surrounded by affectionate +friends, his ardor in the pursuit of knowledge undiminished, with +uncommon health and unbroken spirits, he was able to enjoy largely the +rational pleasures of life, and to partake in that public prosperity +which he had so much contributed to produce. His kindness and +hospitality, the charm of his conversation, the ease of his manners, the +extent of his acquirements, and, especially, the full store of +Revolutionary incidents which he had treasured in his memory, and which +he knew when and how to dispense, rendered his abode in a high degree +attractive to his admiring countrymen, while his high public and +scientific character drew towards him every intelligent and educated +traveller from abroad. Both Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson had the pleasure +of knowing that the respect which they so largely received was not paid +to their official stations. They were not men made great by office; but +great men, on whom the country for its own benefit had conferred office. +There was that in them which office did not give, and which the +relinquishment of office did not, and could not, take away. In their +retirement, in the midst of their fellow-citizens, themselves private +citizens, they enjoyed as high regard and esteem as when filling the +most important places of public trust. + +There remained to Mr. Jefferson yet one other work of patriotism and +beneficence, the establishment of a university in his native State. To +this object he devoted years of incessant and anxious attention, and by +the enlightened liberality of the Legislature of Virginia, and the +cooeperation of other able and zealous friends, he lived to see it +accomplished. May all success attend this infant seminary; and may +those who enjoy its advantages, as often as their eyes shall rest on the +neighboring height, recollect what they owe to their disinterested and +indefatigable benefactor; and may letters honor him who thus labored in +the cause of letters![81] + +Thus useful, and thus respected, passed the old age of Thomas Jefferson. +But time was on its ever-ceaseless wing, and was now bringing the last +hour of this illustrious man. He saw its approach with undisturbed +serenity. He counted the moments as they passed, and beheld that his +last sands were falling. That day, too, was at hand which he had helped +to make immortal. One wish, one hope, if it were not presumptuous, beat +in his fainting breast. Could it be so, might it please God, he would +desire once more to see the sun, once more to look abroad on the scene +around him, on the great day of liberty. Heaven, in its mercy, fulfilled +that prayer. He saw that sun, he enjoyed its sacred light, he thanked +God for this mercy, and bowed his aged head to the grave. "Felix, non +vitae tantum claritate, sed etiam opportunitate mortis." + +The last public labor of Mr. Jefferson naturally suggests the expression +of the high praise which is due, both to him and to Mr. Adams, for their +uniform and zealous attachment to learning, and to the cause of general +knowledge. Of the advantages of learning, indeed, and of literary +accomplishments, their own characters were striking recommendations and +illustrations. They were scholars, ripe and good scholars; widely +acquainted with ancient, as well as modern literature, and not +altogether uninstructed in the deeper sciences. Their acquirements, +doubtless, were different, and so were the particular objects of their +literary pursuits; as their tastes and characters, in these respects, +differed like those of other men. Being, also, men of busy lives, with +great objects requiring action constantly before them, their attainments +in letters did not become showy or obtrusive. Yet I would hazard the +opinion, that, if we could now ascertain all the causes which gave them +eminence and distinction in the midst of the great men with whom they +acted, we should find not among the least their early acquisitions in +literature, the resources which it furnished, the promptitude and +facility which it communicated, and the wide field it opened for analogy +and illustration; giving them thus, on every subject, a larger view and +a broader range, as well for discussion as for the government of their +own conduct. + +Literature sometimes disgusts, and pretension to it much oftener +disgusts, by appearing to hang loosely on the character, like something +foreign or extraneous, not a part, but an ill-adjusted appendage; or by +seeming to overload and weigh it down by its unsightly bulk, like the +productions of bad taste in architecture, where there is massy and +cumbrous ornament without strength or solidity of column. This has +exposed learning, and especially classical learning, to reproach. Men +have seen that it might exist without mental superiority, without vigor, +without good taste, and without utility. But in such cases classical +learning has only not inspired natural talent; or, at most, it has but +made original feebleness of intellect, and natural bluntness of +perception, something more conspicuous. The question, after all, if it +be a question, is, whether literature, ancient as well as modern, does +not assist a good understanding, improve natural good taste, add +polished armor to native strength, and render its possessor, not only +more capable of deriving private happiness from contemplation and +reflection, but more accomplished also for action in the affairs of +life, and especially for public action. Those whose memories we now +honor were learned men; but their learning was kept in its proper place, +and made subservient to the uses and objects of life. They were +scholars, not common nor superficial; but their scholarship was so in +keeping with their character, so blended and inwrought, that careless +observers, or bad judges, not seeing an ostentatious display of it, +might infer that it did not exist; forgetting, or not knowing, that +classical learning in men who act in conspicuous public stations, +perform duties which exercise the faculty of writing, or address +popular, deliberative, or judicial bodies, is often felt where it is +little seen, and sometimes felt more effectually because it is not seen +at all. + +But the cause of knowledge, in a more enlarged sense, the cause of +general knowledge and of popular education, had no warmer friends, nor +more powerful advocates, than Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson. On this +foundation they knew the whole republican system rested; and this great +and all-important truth they strove to impress, by all the means in +their power. In the early publication already referred to, Mr. Adams +expresses the strong and just sentiment, that the education of the poor +is more important, even to the rich themselves, than all their own +riches. On this great truth, indeed, is founded that unrivalled, that +invaluable political and moral institution, our own blessing and the +glory of our fathers, the New England system of free schools. + +As the promotion of knowledge had been the object of their regard +through life, so these great men made it the subject of their +testamentary bounty. Mr. Jefferson is understood to have bequeathed his +library to the University of Virginia, and that of Mr. Adams is bestowed +on the inhabitants of Quincy. + +Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, fellow-citizens, were successively +Presidents of the United States. The comparative merits of their +respective administrations for a long time agitated and divided public +opinion. They were rivals, each supported by numerous and powerful +portions of the people, for the highest office. This contest, partly +the cause and partly the consequence of the long existence of two great +political parties in the country, is now part of the history of our +government. We may naturally regret that any thing should have +occurred to create difference and discord between those who had +acted harmoniously and efficiently in the great concerns of the +Revolution. But this is not the time, nor this the occasion, for +entering into the grounds of that difference, or for attempting to +discuss the merits of the questions which it involves. As practical +questions, they were canvassed when the measures which they regarded +were acted on and adopted; and as belonging to history, the time has +not come for their consideration. + +It is, perhaps, not wonderful, that, when the Constitution of the United +States first went into operation, different opinions should be +entertained as to the extent of the powers conferred by it. Here was a +natural source of diversity of sentiment. It is still less wonderful, +that that event, nearly contemporary with our government under the +present Constitution, which so entirely shocked all Europe, and +disturbed our relations with her leading powers, should be thought, by +different men, to have different bearings on our own prosperity; and +that the early measures adopted by the government of the United States, +in consequence of this new state of things, should be seen in opposite +lights. It is for the future historian, when what now remains of +prejudice and misconception shall have passed away, to state these +different opinions, and pronounce impartial judgment. In the mean time, +all good men rejoice, and well may rejoice, that the sharpest +differences sprung out of measures which, whether right or wrong, have +ceased with the exigencies that gave them birth, and have left no +permanent effect, either on the Constitution or on the general +prosperity of the country. This remark, I am aware, may be supposed to +have its exception in one measure, the alteration of the Constitution as +to the mode of choosing President; but it is true in its general +application. Thus the course of policy pursued towards France in 1798, +on the one hand, and the measures of commercial restriction commenced in +1807, on the other, both subjects of warm and severe opposition, have +passed away and left nothing behind them. They were temporary, and +whether wise or unwise, their consequences were limited to their +respective occasions. It is equally clear, at the same time, and it is +equally gratifying, that those measures of both administrations which +were of durable importance, and which drew after them momentous and long +remaining consequences, have received general approbation. Such was the +organization, or rather the creation, of the navy, in the administration +of Mr. Adams; such the acquisition of Louisiana, in that of Mr. +Jefferson. The country, it may safely be added, is not likely to be +willing either to approve, or to reprobate, indiscriminately, and in the +aggregate, all the measures of either, or of any, administration. The +dictate of reason and of justice is, that, holding each one his own +sentiments on the points of difference, we imitate the great men +themselves in the forbearance and moderation which they have cherished, +and in the mutual respect and kindness which they have been so much +inclined to feel and to reciprocate. + +No men, fellow-citizens, ever served their country with more entire +exemption from every imputation of selfish and mercenary motives, than +those to whose memory we are paying these proofs of respect. A +suspicion of any disposition to enrich themselves, or to profit by their +public employments, never rested on either. No sordid motive approached +them. The inheritance which they have left to their children is of their +character and their fame. + +Fellow-citizens, I will detain you no longer by this faint and feeble +tribute to the memory of the illustrious dead. Even in other hands, +adequate justice could not be done to them, within the limits of this +occasion. Their highest, their best praise, is your deep conviction of +their merits, your affectionate gratitude for their labors and their +services. It is not my voice, it is this cessation of ordinary pursuits, +this arresting of all attention, these solemn ceremonies, and this +crowded house, which speak their eulogy. Their fame, indeed, is safe. +That is now treasured up beyond the reach of accident. Although no +sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear +record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the +land they honored. Marble columns may, indeed, moulder into dust, time +may erase all impress from the crumbling stone, but their fame remains; +for with AMERICAN LIBERTY it rose, and with AMERICAN LIBERTY ONLY Can it +perish. It was the last swelling peal of yonder choir, "THEIR BODIES ARE +BURIED IN PEACE, BUT THEIR NAME LIVETH EVERMORE." I catch that solemn +song, I echo that lofty strain of funeral triumph, "THEIR NAME LIVETH +EVERMORE." + + * * * * * + +Of the illustrious signers of the Declaration of Independence there now +remains only CHARLES CARROLL. He seems an aged oak, standing alone on +the plain, which time has spared a little longer after all its +contemporaries have been levelled with the dust. Venerable object! we +delight to gather round its trunk, while yet it stands, and to dwell +beneath its shadow. Sole survivor of an assembly of as great men as the +world has witnessed, in a transaction one of the most important that +history records, what thoughts, what interesting reflections, must fill +his elevated and devout soul! If he dwell on the past, how touching its +recollections; if he survey the present, how happy, how joyous, how full +of the fruition of that hope, which his ardent patriotism indulged; if +he glance at the future, how does the prospect of his country's +advancement almost bewilder his weakened conception Fortunate, +distinguished patriot! Interesting relic of the past! Let him know that, +while we honor the dead, we do not forget the living; and that there is +not a heart here which does not fervently pray, that Heaven may keep him +yet back from the society of his companions. + + * * * * * + +And now, fellow-citizens, let us not retire from this occasion without a +deep and solemn conviction of the duties which have devolved upon us. +This lovely land, this glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the +dear purchase of our fathers, are ours; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, +ours to transmit. Generations past and generations to come hold us +responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers, from behind, admonish +us, with their anxious paternal voices; posterity calls out to us, from +the bosom of the future; the world turns hither its solicitous eyes; +all, all conjure us to act wisely, and faithfully, in the relation which +we sustain. We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us; but by +virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of every good +principle and every good habit, we may hope to enjoy the blessing, +through our day, and to leave it unimpaired to our children. Let us feel +deeply how much of what we are and of what we possess we owe to this +liberty, and to these institutions of government. Nature has, indeed, +given us a soil which yields bounteously to the hand of industry, the +mighty and fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies over our heads +shed health and vigor. But what are lands, and seas, and skies, to +civilized man, without society, without knowledge, without morals, +without religious culture; and how can these be enjoyed, in all their +extent and all their excellence, but under the protection of wise +institutions and a free government? Fellow-citizens, there is not one of +us, there is not one of us here present, who does not, at this moment, +and at every moment, experience, in his own condition, and in the +condition of those most near and dear to him, the influence and the +benefits of this liberty and these institutions. Let us then acknowledge +the blessing, let us feel it deeply and powerfully, let us cherish a +strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain and perpetuate it. The +blood of our fathers, let it not have been shed in vain; the great hope +of posterity, let it not be blasted. + +The striking attitude, too, in which we stand to the world around us, a +topic to which, I fear, I advert too often, and dwell on too long, +cannot be altogether omitted here. Neither individuals nor nations can +perform their part well, until they understand and feel its importance, +and comprehend and justly appreciate all the duties belonging to it. +It is not to inflate national vanity, nor to swell a light and empty +feeling of self-importance, but it is that we may judge justly of our +situation, and of our own duties, that I earnestly urge upon you this +consideration of our position and our character among the nations of +the earth. It cannot be denied, but by those who would dispute +against the sun, that with America, and in America, a new era commences +in human affairs. This era is distinguished by free representative +governments, by entire religious liberty, by improved systems of +national intercourse, by a newly awakened and an unconquerable spirit of +free inquiry, and by a diffusion of knowledge through the community, +such as has been before altogether unknown and unheard of. America, +America, our country, fellow-citizens, our own dear and native land, is +inseparably connected, fast bound up, in fortune and by fate, with +these great interests. If they fall, we fall with them; if they stand, +it will be because we have maintained them. Let us contemplate, then, +this connection, which binds the prosperity of others to our own; and +let us manfully discharge all the duties which it imposes. If we cherish +the virtues and the principles of our fathers, Heaven will assist us to +carry on the work of human liberty and human happiness. Auspicious +omens cheer us. Great examples are before us. Our own firmament now +shines brightly upon our path. WASHINGTON is in the clear, upper sky. +These other stars have now joined the American constellation; they +circle round their centre, and the heavens beam with new light. +Beneath this illumination let us walk the course of life, and at its +close devoutly commend our beloved country, the common parent of us all, +to the Divine Benignity. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [67] A Discourse in Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John + Adams and Thomas Jefferson, delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, + on the 2d of August, 1826. + + [68] Hon. Josiah Quincy. + + [69] Extract of a letter written by John Adams to Nathan Webb, dated at + Worcester, Massachusetts, October 12, 1755. + + "Soon after the Reformation, a few people came over into this + New World, for conscience' sake. Perhaps this apparently trivial + incident may transfer the great seat of empire into America. It + looks likely to me; for, if we can remove the turbulent Gallics, + our people, according to the exactest computations, will, in + another century, become more numerous than England itself. + Should this be the case, since we have, I may say, all the naval + stores of the nation in our hands, it will be easy to obtain a + mastery of the seas; and then the united force of all Europe + will not be able to subdue us. The only way to keep us from + setting up for ourselves is to disunite us. + + "Be not surprised that I am turned politician. This whole town + is immersed in politics. The interests of nations, and all the + dira of war, make the subject of every conversation. I sit and + hear, and after having been led through a maze of sage + observations, I sometimes retire, and, laying things together, + form some reflections pleasing to myself. The produce of one of + these reveries you have read above." + + [70] Nearly all that was known of this celebrated argument, at the time + the present Discourse was delivered, was derived from the + recollections of John Adams, as preserved in Minot's History of + Massachusetts, Vol. II. p. 91. See Life and Works of John Adams, + Vol. II. p. 124, published in the course of the past year + (1850), in the Appendix to which, p. 521, will be found a paper + hitherto unpublished, containing notes of the argument of Otis, + "which seem to be the foundation of the sketch published by + Minot." Tudor's Life of James Otis, p. 61. + + [71] See Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. II. p. 150, Vol. III. p. + 447, and North American Review, Vol. LXXI. p. 430. + + [72] Cicero de Officiis, Lib. I. Sec. 43. + + [73] A fac-simile of this ever-memorable state paper, as drafted by Mr. + Jefferson, with the interlineations alluded to in the text, is + contained in Mr. Jefferson's Writings, Vol. I. p. 146. See, + also, in reference to the history of the Declaration, the Life + and Works of John Adams Vol. II. p. 512 _et seq._ + + [74] This question, of the power of Parliament over the Colonies, was + discussed with singular ability, by Governor Hutchinson on the + one side, and the House of Representatives of Massachusetts on + the other, in 1773. The argument of the House is in the form of + an answer to the Governor's Message, and was reported by Mr. + Samuel Adams, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Bowers, Mr. Hobson, + Mr. Foster, Mr. Phillips, and Mr. Thayer. As the power of the + Parliament had been acknowledged, so far at least as to affect + us by laws of trade, it was not easy to settle the line of + distinction. It was thought, however, to be very clear, that the + charters of the Colonies had exempted them from the general + legislation of the British Parliament. See Massachusetts State + Papers, p. 351. The important assistance rendered by John Adams + in the preparation of the answer of the House to the Message of + the Governor may be learned from the Life and Works of John + Adams, Vol. II. p. 311 _et seq._ + + [75] The official copy of the Declaration, as engrossed and signed by + the members of Congress, is framed and preserved in the Hall + over the Patent-Office at Washington. + + [76] See Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. II. p. 417 _et seq._ + + [77] On the authorship of this speech, see Note at the end of the + Discourse. + + [78] In this Convention he served as chairman of the committee for + preparing the draft of a Constitution. + + [79] Upon the organization of this body, 15th November, 1820, John + Adams was elected its President; an office which the infirmities + of age compelled him to decline. For the interesting proceedings + of the Convention on this occasion, the address of Chief Justice + Parker, and the reply of Mr. Adams, see Journal of Debates and + Proceedings in the Convention of Delegates chosen to revise the + Constitution of Massachusetts, p. 8 _et seq._ + + [80] For an account of Mr. Webster's last interview with Mr. Adams, see + March's Reminiscences of Congress, p. 62. + + [81] Mr. Jefferson himself considered his services in establishing the + University of Virginia as among the most important rendered by + him to the country. In Mr. Wirt's Eulogy, it is stated that a + private memorandum was found among his papers, containing the + following inscription to be placed on his monument:--"Here was + buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of + Independence, of the Statutes of Virginia for Religious Freedom, + and Father of the University of Virginia." Eulogies on Adams and + Jefferson, p. 426. + + + + +NOTE. + + +Page 136. + +The question has often been asked, whether the anonymous speech against +the Declaration of Independence, and the speech in support of it +ascribed to John Adams in the preceding Discourse, are a portion of the +debates which actually took place in 1776 in the Continental Congress. +Not only has this inquiry been propounded in the public papers, but +several letters on the subject have been addressed to Mr. Webster and +his friends. For this reason, it may be proper to state, that those +speeches were composed by Mr. Webster, after the manner of the ancient +historians, as embodying in an impressive form the arguments relied upon +by the friends and opponents of the measure, respectively. They of +course represent the speeches that were actually made on both sides, but +no report of the debates of this period has been preserved, and the +orator on the present occasion had no aid in framing these addresses, +but what was furnished by general tradition and the known line of +argument pursued by the speakers and writers of that day for and against +the measure of Independence. The first sentence of the speech ascribed +to Mr. Adams was of course suggested by the parting scene with Jonathan +Sewall, as described by Mr. Adams himself, in the Preface to the Letters +of Novanglus and Massachusettensis. + +So much interest has been taken in this subject, that it has been +thought proper, by way of settling the question in the most authentic +manner, to give publicity to the following answer, written by Mr. +Webster to one of the letters of inquiry above alluded to. + + "_Washington, 22 January, 1846._ + + "DEAR SIR:-- + + "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the + 18th instant. Its contents hardly surprise me, as I have received + very many similar communications. + + "Your inquiry is easily answered. The Congress of the Revolution sat + with closed doors. Its proceedings were made known to the public, + from time to time, by printing its journal; but the debates were not + published. So far as I know, there is not existing, in print or + manuscript, the speech, or any part or fragment of the speech, + delivered by Mr. Adams on the question of the Declaration of + Independence. We only know from the testimony of his auditors, that + he spoke with remarkable ability and characteristic earnestness. + + "The day after the Declaration was made, Mr. Adams, in writing to a + friend,[82] declared the event to be one that 'ought to be + commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion + to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, + with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, + from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, + for evermore.' + + "And on the day of his death, hearing the noise of bells and cannon, + he asked the occasion. On being reminded that it was 'Independent + day,' he replied, 'Independence for ever!' These expressions were + introduced into the speech _supposed_ to have been made by him. For + the rest, I must be answerable. The speech was written by me, in my + house in Boston, the day before the delivery of the Discourse in + Faneuil Hall; a poor substitute, I am sure it would appear to be, if + we could now see the speech actually made by Mr. Adams on that + transcendently important occasion. + + "I am, respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + + "DANIEL WEBSTER." + + +FOOTNOTES + + [82] See Letters of John Adams to his Wife, Vol. I. p. 128, note. + + + + +THE ELECTION OF 1825. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + +It has already been observed in the Introductory Memoir, that, from the +return of peace in 1815, a tendency manifested itself in many parts of +the country toward a dissolution of the old parties. The overwrought +feelings of the people demanded repose. The subject-matter of several +of the points of party dissension had expired with the war. New +questions of great public interest, traversing the old party lines, had +sprung up. General Jackson, in a letter addressed to Mr. Monroe, in +1817, on the subject of the formation of his cabinet, had advised him +to discard the former party divisions. In the progress of his eight +years' administration, it was every day more and more apparent, that +the old party influences had spent their force. It became at last +impossible to recognize their continued existence. + +With the approach of the national election in the autumn of 1824, at +which four candidates were supported for the office of President, no +thoughts were entertained in any quarter of recommending either of them +as a candidate to be supported or opposed by one or the other of the +ancient parties. If there was any seeming departure from this principle, +it must have been to some quite limited extent, and for supposed +advantage in narrow localities. In the Union at large, no such attempt +was made. The several candidates were sustained on broad national +grounds. + +This was eminently the case in Massachusetts, where a very large +majority of the people, assuming the name of National Republicans, and +without reference to former divisions, were united in the support of +their fellow-citizen, John Quincy Adams. At the State elections next +succeeding his accession to the Presidency, in the spring of 1825, the +candidates for the offices of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, who, at +the last contested election, had been brought forward by the Democratic +party, were almost unanimously supported, and a union ticket for +Senators was nominated in most of the counties of the State. Such was +the case in Suffolk County; and at a meeting held in Faneuil Hall, +without distinction of party, to ratify these nominations, the following +remarks were made by Mr. Webster. + + + + +THE ELECTION OF 1825.[83] + + +Mr. Webster said, he was quite unaccustomed to appear in that place; +having on no occasion addressed his fellow-citizens there, either to +recommend or to oppose the support of any candidates for public office. +He had long been of opinion, that to preserve the distinction and the +hostility of political parties was not consistent with the highest +degree of public good. At the same time, he did not find fault with the +conduct, nor question the motives, of those who thought otherwise. But, +entertaining this opinion, he had habitually abstained from attending on +those occasions on which the merits of public men, and of candidates for +office, were discussed, necessarily with more or less reference to party +attachment and party organization. + +The present was an occasion of a different kind. The sentiment which had +called this meeting together was one of union and conciliation; a +sentiment so congenial to his own feelings, and to his opinion of the +public interest, that he could not resist the inclination to be present, +and to express his entire and hearty concurrence. + +He should forbear, he said, from all remarks upon the particular names +which had been recommended by the committee. They had been selected, he +must presume, fairly, and with due consideration, by those who were +appointed for that purpose. In cases of this sort, every one cannot +expect to find every thing precisely as he might wish it; but those who +concurred in the general sentiment which dictated the selection would +naturally allow that sentiment to prevail as far as possible over +particular objections. + +On the general question he would make a few remarks, begging the +indulgence of the meeting if he should say any thing which might with +more propriety proceed from others. + +He hardly conceived how well disposed and intelligent minds could differ +as to the question, whether party contest and party strife, organized, +systematic, and continued, were of themselves desirable ingredients in +the composition of society. Difference of opinion on political subjects, +honorable competition, and emulous rivalry, may indeed be useful. But +these are very different things from organized and systematic party +combinations. He admitted, it was true, that party associations were +sometimes unavoidable, and perhaps necessary to the accomplishment of +other ends and purposes. But this did not prove that, of themselves, +they were good; or that they should be continued and preserved for their +own sake, when there had ceased to be any object to be effected by +them. + +But there were those who supposed, that, whether political party +distinctions were or were not useful, it was impossible to abolish them. +Now he thought, on the contrary, that, under present circumstances, it +was quite impossible to continue them. New parties, indeed, might arise, +growing out of new events or new questions; but as to those old parties +which had sprung from controversies now no longer pending, or from +feelings which time and other causes had now changed, or greatly +allayed, he did not believe that they could long remain. Efforts, +indeed, made to that end, with zeal and perseverance, might delay their +extinction, but, he thought, could not prevent it. There was nothing to +keep alive these distinctions in the interests and objects which now +engaged society. New questions and new objects arise, having no +connection with the subjects of past controversies, and present interest +overcomes or absorbs the recollection of former controversies. Those who +are united on these existing questions and present interests will not be +disposed to weaken their efforts to promote them, by angry reflections +on past differences. If there were nothing _in things_ to divide about, +he thought the people not likely to maintain systematic controversies +about _men_. They have no interest in so doing. Associations formed to +support _principles_ may be called _parties_; but if they have no bond +of union but adherence to particular _men_, they become _factions_. + +The people, in his opinion, were at present grateful to all parties for +whatever of good they had accomplished, and indulgent to all for +whatever of error they had committed; and, with these feelings, were now +mainly intent on the great objects which affected their present +interests. There might be exceptions to this remark; he was afraid there +were; but, nevertheless, such appeared to him to be the general feeling +in the country. It was natural that some prejudices should remain longer +than their causes, as the waves lash the shore for a time after the +storm has subsided; but the tendency of the elements was to repose. +Monopolies of all sorts were getting out of fashion; they were yielding +to liberal ideas, and to the obvious justice and expediency of fair +competition. + +An administration of the general government, which had been in general +highly satisfactory to the country, had now closed.[84] He was not aware +that it could with propriety be said, that that administration had been +either supported or opposed by any party associations or on any party +principles. Certain it was, that, as far as there had been any organized +opposition to the administration, it had had nothing to do with former +parties. A new administration had now commenced, and he need hardly say +that the most liberal and conciliatory principles had been avowed in the +Inaugural Address of the newly elected President. It could not be +doubted that his administration would conform to those principles. Thus +far, he believed, its course had given general satisfaction. After what +they all had seen in relation to the gentleman holding the highest +appointment in the executive department under the President, he would +take this opportunity to say, that, having been a member of the House of +Representatives for six years, during the greater part of which time Mr. +Clay had presided in that House, he was most happy in being able, in a +manner less formal and more explicit than by concurring in the usual +vote of thanks, to express his own opinion of his liberality, +independence, and honorable feeling. And he would take this occasion +also to add, if his opinion could be of any value in such a case, that +he thought nothing more unfounded than that that gentleman owed his +present situation to any unworthy compromise or arrangement whatever. +He owed it to his talent, to his prominent standing in the community, to +his course of public service, not now a short one, and to the high +estimation in which he stands with that part of the country to which he +belongs. + +Remarks, Mr. Webster proceeded to say, had been made from the chair, +very kind and partial, as to the manner in which he had discharged +the duties which he owed to his constituents in the House of +Representatives. He wished to say, that if he had been able to render +any, the humblest services, either to the public or his constituents, +in that place, it was owing wholly to the liberal manner in which his +efforts there had been received. + +Having alluded to the Inaugural Address, he did not mean in the +slightest degree to detract from its merits, when he now said, that, in +his opinion, if either of the other candidates had succeeded in the +election, he also would have adopted a liberal course of policy. He had +no reason to believe that the sentiments of either of those gentlemen +were, in this respect, narrow or contracted. He fully believed the +contrary, in regard to both of them; but if they had been otherwise, he +thought still that expediency or necessity would have controlled their +inclinations. + +I forbear, said Mr. Webster, from pursuing these remarks farther. I +repeat, that I do not complain of those who have hitherto thought, or +who still think, that party organization is necessary to the public +good. I do not question their motives; and I wish to be tolerant even to +those who think that toleration ought not to be indulged. + +It is said, Sir, that prosperity sometimes hardens the heart. +Perhaps, also, it may sometimes have a contrary effect, and elevate +and liberalize the feelings. If this can ever be the result of such +a cause, there is certainly in the present condition of the country +enough to inspire the most grateful and the kindest feelings. We have a +common stock both of happiness and of distinction, of which we are +all entitled, as citizens of the country, to partake. We may all +rejoice in the general prosperity, in the peace and security which +we enjoy, and in the brilliant success which has thus far attended our +republican institutions. These are circumstances which may well excite +in us all a noble pride. Our civil and political institutions, while +they answer for us all the great ends designed by them, furnish at +the same time an example to others, and diffuse blessings beyond our +own limits. In whatever part of the globe men are found contending for +political liberty, they look to the United States with a feeling of +brotherhood, and put forth a claim of kindred. The South American +states, especially, exhibit a most interesting spectacle. Let the +great men who formed our constitutions of government, who still +survive, and let the children of those who have gone to their graves, +console themselves with the reflection, that, whether they have risen or +fallen in the little contests of party, they have not only established +the liberty and happiness of their own native land, but have +conferred blessings beyond their own country, and beyond their own +thoughts, on millions of men and on successions of generations. Under +the influence of these institutions, received and adopted in principle +from our example, the whole southern continent has shaken off its +colonial subjection. A new world, filled with fresh and interesting +nations, has risen to our sight. America seems again discovered; not to +geography, but to commerce, to social intercourse, to intelligence, to +civilization, and to liberty. Fifty years ago, some of those who now +hear me, and the fathers of many others, listened in this place to +those mighty leaders, Otis and Adams. When they then uttered the +spirit-stirring sounds of Independence and Liberty, there was not a foot +of land on the continent, inhabited by civilized man, that did not +acknowledge the dominion of European power. Thank God, at this moment, +from this place to the south pole, and from sea to sea, there is hardly +a foot of land that does. + +And, Sir, when these states, thus newly disenthralled and emancipated, +assume the tone and bear the port of independence, what language and +what ideas do we find associated with their newly acquired liberty? They +speak, Sir, of constitutions, of declarations of rights, of the liberty +of the press, of a congress, and of representative government. Where, +Sir, did they learn these? And when they have applied to their great +leader, and the founder of their states, the language of praise and +commendation till they have exhausted it, when unsatisfied gratitude can +express itself no otherwise, do they not call him their WASHINGTON? Sir, +the Spirit of Continental Independence, the Genius of American Liberty, +which in earlier times tried her infant voice in the halls and on the +hills of New England, utters it now, with power that seems to wake the +dead, on the plains of Mexico, and along the sides of the Andes. + + "Her path, where'er the goddess roves, + Glory pursues, and generous shame, + The unconquerable mind, and Freedom's holy flame." + +There is one other point of view, Sir, in regard to which I will say a +few words, though perhaps at some hazard of misinterpretation. + +In the wonderful spirit of improvement and enterprise which animates the +country, we may be assured that each quarter will naturally exert its +power in favor of objects in which it is interested. This is natural and +unavoidable. Each portion, therefore, will use its best means. If the +West feels a strong interest in clearing the navigation of its mighty +streams, and opening roads through its vast forests, if the South is +equally zealous to push the production and augment the prices of its +great staples, it is reasonable to expect that these objects will be +pursued by the best means which offer themselves. And it may therefore +well deserve consideration, whether the commercial and navigating and +manufacturing interests of the North do not call on us to aid and +support them, by united counsels and united efforts. But I abstain from +enlarging on this topic. Let me rather say, that in regard to the whole +country a new era has arisen. In a time of peace, the proper pursuits of +peace engage society with a degree of enterprise and an intenseness of +application heretofore unknown. New objects are opening, and new +resources developed, on every side. We tread on a broader theatre; and +if, instead of acting our parts according to the novelty and importance +of the scene, we waste our strength in mutual crimination and +recrimination concerning the past, we shall resemble those navigators, +who, having escaped from some crooked and narrow river to the sea, now +that the whole ocean is before them, should, nevertheless, occupy +themselves with the differences which happened as they passed along +among the rocks and the shallows, instead of opening their eyes to the +wide horizon around them, spreading their sail to the propitious gale +that woos it, raising their quadrant to the sun, and grasping the helm +with the conscious hand of a master. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [83] Speech delivered at a Meeting of Citizens of Boston, held in + Fatima Hall on the Evening of April 3d, 1825, preparatory to the + General Election in Massachusetts. + + [84] That of President Monroe, which commenced on the 4th of March, + 1817, and continued for two terms, till the 4th of March, 1825. + + + + +DINNER AT FANEUIL HALL. + + At a public dinner given him on the 5th of June, 1828, by the + citizens of Boston (Hon. T. H. Perkins in the chair), as a mark of + respect for his services as Senator of the United States, and late + their Representative in Congress, after the annunciation of the + following toast, "Our distinguished guest,--worthy the noblest + homage which freemen can give or a freeman receive, the homage of + their hearts," Mr. Webster rose and spoke as follows:-- + + +MR. CHAIRMAN,--The honor conferred by this occasion, as well as the +manner in which the meeting has been pleased to receive the toast which +has now been proposed to them from the chair, requires from me a most +respectful acknowledgment and a few words of honest and sincere thanks. +I should, indeed, be lost to all just feeling, or guilty of a weak and +puerile affectation, if I should fail to manifest the emotions which are +excited by these testimonials of regard, from those among whom I live, +who see me oftenest, and know me best. If the approbation of good men be +an object fit to be pursued, it is fit to be enjoyed; if it be, as it +doubtless is, one of the most stirring and invigorating motives which +operate upon the mind, it is also among the richest rewards which +console and gratify the heart. + +I confess myself particularly touched and affected, Mr. President and +Gentlemen, by the kind feeling which you manifest towards me as your +fellow-citizen, your neighbor, and your friend. Respect and confidence, +in these relations of life, lie at the foundation of all valuable +character; they are as essential to solid and permanent reputation as to +durable and social happiness. I assure you, Sir, with the utmost +sincerity, that there is nothing which could flow from human approbation +and applause, no distinction, however high or alluring, no object of +ambition, which could possibly be brought within the horizon of my view, +that would tempt me, in any degree, justly to forfeit the attachment of +my private friends, or surrender my hold, as a citizen and a neighbor, +on the confidence of the community in which I live; a community to which +I owe so much, in the bosom of which I have enjoyed so much, and where I +still hope to remain, in the interchange of mutual good wishes and the +exercise of mutual good offices, for the residue of life. + +The commendation bestowed by the meeting upon my attempts at public +service, I am conscious, is measured rather by their own kindness, than +by any other standard. Of those attempts, no one can think more humbly +than I do. The affairs of the general government, foreign and domestic, +are vast and various and complicated. They require from those who would +aspire to take a leading part in them an amount, a variety, and an +accuracy of information, which, even if the adequate capacity were not +wanting, are not easily attained by one whose attention is of necessity +mainly devoted to the duties of an active and laborious profession. For +this as well as many other reasons, I am conscious of having discharged +my public duties in a manner no way entitling them to the degree of +favor which has now been manifested. + +And this manifestation of favor and regard is the more especially to be +referred to the candor and kindness of the meeting, on this occasion, +since it is well known, that in a recent instance, and in regard to an +important measure, I have felt it my duty to give a vote, in respect to +the expediency and propriety of which considerable difference of opinion +exists between persons equally entitled to my regard and confidence.[85] +The candid interpretation which has been given to that vote by those who +disapproved it, and the assembling together here, for the purposes of +this occasion, of those who felt pain, as well as those who felt +pleasure, at the success of the measure for which the vote was given, +afford ample proof, how far unsuspected uprightness of intention and the +exercise of an independent judgment may be respected, even by those who +differ from the results to which that exercise of judgment has arrived. +There is no class of the community for whose interests I have ever +cherished a more sincere regard, than that on whose pursuits some parts +of the measure alluded to bear with great severity. They are satisfied, +I hope, that, in supporting a measure in any degree injurious to them, I +must have been governed by other paramount reasons, satisfactory to my +own conscience; and that the blow inflicted on their interests was felt +by me almost as painfully and heavily as it could be by those on whom it +immediately fell. I am not now about to enter into the reason of that +vote, or to explain the necessity under which I found myself placed, by +a most strange and unprecedented manner of legislation, of taking the +evil of a public measure for the sake of its good; the good and the bad +provisions relating to different subjects, having not the slightest +connection with each other, yet yoked together, and kept together, for +reasons and purposes which I need not state, as they have been boldly +avowed, and are now before the public. + +It was my misfortune, Sir, on that occasion, to differ from my most +estimable and worthy colleague;[86] and yet probably our difference was +not so broad as it might seem. We both saw in the measure something to +approve, and something to disapprove. If it could have been left to us +to mould and to frame it according to our opinions of what the good of +the country required, there would have been no diversity of judgment +between us, as to what should have been retained and what rejected. The +only difference was, when the measure had assumed its final shape, +whether the good it contained so far preponderated over its acknowledged +evil, as to justify the reception and support of the whole together. On +a point of this sort, and under circumstances such as those in which we +were placed, it is not strange that different minds should incline +different ways. It gives me great pleasure to bear testimony to the +constancy, the intelligence, and the conscious fidelity with which my +colleague discharged his public duty in reference to this subject. I am +happy also to have the opportunity of saying, that, if the bill had been +presented to me in the form it was when it received a negative vote +from the distinguished gentleman[87] who represents this Congressional +District, my own opinion of it would have entirely concurred with his, +and I should have voted in the same manner. + +The meeting will indulge me with one further remark, before parting from +this subject. It is only the suggestion, that in the place I occupied I +was one of the representatives of the whole Commonwealth. I was not at +liberty to look exclusively to the interests of the district in which I +live, and which I have heretofore had the high honor of representing. I +was to extend my view from Barnstable to Berkshire; to comprehend in it +a proper regard for all interests, and a proper respect for all +opinions. Looking to the aggregate of all the interests of the +Commonwealth, and regarding the general current of opinion, so far as +that was properly to be respected, I saw, at least I thought I saw, my +duty to lie in the path which I pursued. The measure is adopted. Its +consequences, for good or evil, must be left to the results of +experience. In the mean time, I refer the propriety of the vote which I +gave, with entire submission, and with the utmost cheerfulness also, to +the judgment of the good people of the Commonwealth. + +On some other subjects, Mr. President, I had the good fortune to act in +perfect unison with my colleague, and with every representative of the +State. On one, especially, the success of which, I am sure, must have +gratified every one who hears me. I could not, Sir, have met this +assembly, I could not have raised my voice in Faneuil Hall,--you would +have awed me down; if you had not, the portraits of patriots which adorn +these walls would have frowned me into silence,--if I had refused either +my vote or my voice to the cause of the officers and soldiers of the +Revolutionary army. That measure, mixed up of justice, and charity, and +mercy, is at last accomplished. The survivors of those who fought our +Revolutionary battles, under an engagement to see the contest through, +are at length provided for, not sumptuously, not extravagantly, but in a +manner to place them, in their old age, beyond the reach of absolute +want. Solace, also, has been administered to their feelings, as well as +to their necessities. They are not left to count their scars, or to +experience the pain of wounds, inflicted half a century ago, in their +country's service, without some token, that they are yet held in +grateful remembrance. A gratifying proof of respect for the services of +their youth and manhood quickens the pulsations of patriotism in veteran +bosoms; and as they may now live beyond the reach of absolute want, so +they will have the pleasure of closing life, when that time for closing +it shall come which must come to all, with the happy consciousness of +meritorious services, gratefully recompensed. + +Another subject, now becoming exceedingly interesting, was, in various +forms, presented to Congress at the last session; and in regard to +which, I believe, there is, substantially, a general union of opinion +among the members from this Commonwealth; I mean what is commonly called +Internal Improvements. The great and growing importance of this subject +may, I hope, justify a few remarks relative to it on the present +occasion. + +It was evident to all persons of much observation, at the close of the +late war, that the condition and prospects of the United States had +become essentially changed, in regard to sundry great interests of the +country. Almost from the formation of the government, till near the +commencement of that war, the United States had occupied a position of +singular and extraordinary advantage. They had been at peace, while the +powers of Europe had been at war. The harvest of neutrality had been to +them rich and ample; and they had reaped it with skill and diligence. +Their agriculture and commerce had both sensibly felt the benefit +arising from the existing state of the world. Bread was raised for those +whose hands were otherwise employed than in the cultivation of the +field, and the seas were navigated, for account of such as, being +belligerents, could not safely navigate them for themselves. These +opportunities for useful employment were all seized and enjoyed, by the +enterprise of the country; and a high degree of prosperity was the +natural result. + +But with general peace a new state of things arose. The European states +at once turned their own attention to the pursuits proper for their new +situation, and sought to extend their own agricultural, manufacturing, +and commercial interests. It was evident, that thenceforward, instead of +our enjoying the advantages peculiar to neutrality in times of war, a +general competition would spring up, and nothing was to be expected +without a struggle. Other nations would now raise their own bread, and +as far as possible transport their own commodities; and the export trade +and the carrying trade of this country were, therefore, certain to +become the subjects of new and powerful competition, if not to receive +sudden and violent checks. It seemed reasonable, therefore, in this +state of things, to turn our thoughts inwards; to search out the +hitherto unexplored resources of our own country; to find, if we could, +new diversifications of industry and new subjects for the application of +labor at home. It was fit to consider how far home productions could +properly be made to furnish activity to home supply; and since the +country stretched over so many parallels of latitude and longitude, +abounding, of course, in the natural productions proper to each, it was +of the highest importance to inquire what means existed of establishing +free and cheap intercourse between those distant parts, thereby bringing +the raw material, abounding in one, under the action of the productive +labor which was found in another. Roads and canals, therefore, were seen +to be of the first consequence. And then the interesting question arose, +how far it was constitutionally lawful, and how far expedient, for the +general government to give aid and succor to the business of making +roads and canals, in conjunction with the enterprise of individuals or +of states. I am among those who have held the opinion, that, if any +object of that kind be of general and national importance, it is within +the scope of the powers of the government; though I admit it to be a +power which should be exercised with very great care and discretion. +Congress has power to _regulate_ commerce, both internal and external; +and whatever might have been thought to be the literal interpretation of +these terms, we know the construction to have been, from the very first +assembling of Congress, and by the very men who framed the Constitution, +that the regulation of commerce comprehended such measures as were +necessary for its support, its improvement, its advancement, and +justified the expenditure of money for such purposes as the construction +of piers, beacons, and light-houses, and the clearing out of harbors. +Instances of this sort, in the application of the general revenues, have +been frequent, from the commencement of the government. As the same +power, precisely, exists in relation to internal as to external trade, +it was not easy to see why like expenditures might not be justified, +when made on internal objects. The vast regions of the West are +penetrated by rivers, to which those of Europe are but as rills and +brooks. But the navigation of these noble streams, washing, as they do, +the margin of one third of the States of the Union, is obstructed by +obstacles, capable of being removed, and yet not likely to be removed, +but by the power of the general government. Was this a justifiable +object of expenditure from the national treasury? Without hesitation, I +have thought it was. A vast chain of lakes, if it be not more proper to +call them a succession of inland seas, stretches into the deep interior +of this northern part of the continent, as if kindly placed there by +Providence to break the continuity of the land, and afford the easier +and reader intercourse of water conveyance. But these vast lakes +required, also, harbors, and light-houses, and breakwaters. And were +these lawful objects of national legislation? To me, certainly, they +have appeared to be such, as clearly as if they were on the Atlantic +border. + +In most of the new States of the West, the United States are yet +proprietors of vast bodies of land. Through some of these States, and +sometimes through these same public lands, the local authorities have +prepared to carry expensive canals, for the general benefit of the +country. Some of these undertakings have been attended with great +expense, and have subjected the States, whose enterprising spirit has +begun and carried them on, to large debts and heavy taxation. The lands +of the United States, being exempted from all taxation, of course bear +no part of this burden. Looking to the United States, therefore, as a +great landed proprietor, essentially benefited by these improvements, I +have felt no difficulty in voting for the appropriation of parts of +these lands, as a reasonable contribution by the United States to these +general objects. + +Most of the subjects to which I have referred are much less local, in +their influence and importance, than they might seem. The breakwater in +the Delaware, useful to Philadelphia, is useful also to all the +ship-owners in the United States, and indeed to all interested in +commerce, especially that great branch, the coastwise commerce. If the +mouths of the Southern rivers be deepened and improved, the neighboring +cities are benefited, but so also are the ships which visit them; and if +the Mississippi and Ohio be rendered more safe for navigation, the great +markets of consumption along their shores are the more readily and +cheaply approached by the products of the factories and fisheries of New +England. + +It is my opinion, Mr. President, that the present government of the +United States cannot be maintained but by administering it on principles +as wide and broad as the country over which it extends. I mean, of +course, no extension of the powers which it confers; but I speak of the +spirit with which those powers should be exercised. If there be any +doubts, whether so many republics, covering so vast a territory, can be +long held together under this Constitution, there is no doubt in my +judgment of the impossibility of so holding them together by any narrow, +local, or selfish system of legislation. To render the Constitution +perpetual (which God grant it may be), it is necessary that its benefits +should be practically felt by all parts of the country, and all +interests in the country. The East and the West, the North and the +South, must all see their own welfare protected and advanced by it. +While the eastern frontier is defended by fortifications, its harbors +improved, and commerce protected by a naval force, it is right and just +that the region beyond the Alleghanies should receive fair consideration +and equal attention, in any object of public improvement, interesting to +itself, and within the proper power of the government. These, Sir, are +in brief the general views by which I have been governed on questions of +this kind; and I trust they are such as this meeting does not +disapprove. + +I would not trespass further upon your attention, if I did not feel it +my duty to say a few words on the condition of public affairs under +another aspect. We are on the eve of a new election of President; and +the manner in which the existing administration is attacked might lead a +stranger to suppose that the chief magistrate had committed some +flagrant offence against the country, had threatened to overturn its +liberties, or establish a military usurpation. On a former occasion I +have in this place expressed my opinion of the principle upon which the +opposition to the administration is founded, without any reference +whatever to the person who stands as its apparent head, and who is +intended by it to be placed in the chief executive chair. I think that +principle exceedingly dangerous and alarming, inasmuch as it does not +profess to found opposition to the government on the measures of +government, but to rest it on other causes, and those mostly personal. +There is a combination or association of persons holding the most +opposite opinions, both on the constitutional powers of the government +and on the leading measures of public concern, and uniting in little, or +in nothing, except the will to dislodge power from the hands in which +the country has placed it. There has been no leading measure of the +government, with perhaps a single exception, which has not been +strenuously maintained by many, or by some, of those who all cooeperate, +nevertheless, in pursuit of the object which I have mentioned. This is +but one of many proofs that the opposition does not rest on the +principle of disapprobation of the measures of government. Many other +evidences of the same truth might be adduced easily. A remarkable one +is, that, while one ground of objection to the administration is urged +in one place, its precise opposite is pressed in another. Pennsylvania +and South Carolina, for example, are not treated with the same reasons +for a change of administration; but with flatly contradictory reasons. +In one, the administration is represented as bent on a particular system +oppressive to that State, and which must ultimately ruin it; and for +that reason there ought to be a change. In the other, that system, +instead of being ruinous, is represented as salutary, as necessary, as +indispensable. But the administration is declared to be but half in +earnest in supporting it, and for that reason there ought to be a +change. + +Reflecting men have always supposed, that, if there were a weak point in +the Federal Constitution, it was in the provision for the exercise of +the executive power. And this, perhaps, may be considered as rendered +more delicate and difficult, by the great augmentation of the number of +the States. We must expect that there will often be, as there was on the +last election, several candidates for the Presidency. All but one, of +course, must be disappointed; and if the friends of all such, however +otherwise divided, are immediately to unite, and to make common cause +against him who is elected, little is ever to be expected but +embarrassment and confusion. The love of office will ere long triumph +over the love of country, and party and faction usurp the place of +wisdom and patriotism. If the contest for the executive power is thus to +be renewed every four years; if it is to be conducted as the present has +been conducted; and if every election is to be immediately followed, as +the last was followed, by a prompt union of all whose friends are not +chosen against him who is, there is, in my judgment, danger, much +danger, that this great experiment of confederated government may fail, +and that even those of us who are not among the youngest may behold its +catastrophe. + +It cannot have escaped the notice of any gentleman present, that, in the +course of the controversy, pains have been taken to affect the character +and the success of the present chief magistrate, by exciting odium +towards that part of the country in which he was born and to which he +belongs. Sneers, contumely, reproach, every thing that gentlemen could +say, and many things which gentlemen could not say, have been uttered +against New England. I am sure, Sir, every true son of New England must +receive such things, when they come from sources which ought to be +considered respectable, with a feeling of just indignation; and when +proceeding from elsewhere, with contempt. If there be one among +ourselves who can be induced, by any motives, to join in this cry +against New England, he disgraces the New England mother who bore him, +the New England father who bred and nurtured him, and the New England +atmosphere which first supplied respiration to those lungs, now so +unworthily employed in uttering calumnies against his country. Persons +not known till yesterday, and having little chance of being remembered +beyond to-morrow, have affected to draw a distinction between the +patriot States and the States of New England; assigning the last to the +present President, and the rest to his rival. I do not wonder, Sir, at +the indignation and scorn which I perceive the recital of this injustice +produces here. Nothing else was to be expected. Faneuil Hall is not a +place where one is expected to hear with indifference that New England +is not to be counted among the patriot States. The patriot States! What +State was it, Sir, that was patriotic when patriotism cost something? +Where but in New England did the great drama of the Revolution open? +Where, but on the soil of Massachusetts, was the first blood poured out +in the cause of liberty and independence? Where, sooner than here, where +earlier than within the walls which now surround us, was patriotism +found, when to be patriotic was to endanger houses and homes, and wives +and children, and to be ready also to pay for the reputation of +patriotism by the sacrifice of blood and of life? + +Not farther to refer to her Revolutionary merits, it may be truly said +that New England did her part, and more than her part, in the +establishment of the present government, and in giving effect to the +measures and the policy of the first President. Where, Sir, did the +measures of Washington find the most active friends and the firmest +support? Where are the general principles of his policy most widely +spread, and most deeply seated? If, in subsequent periods, different +opinions have been held by different portions of her people, New England +has, nevertheless, been always obedient to the laws, even when she most +severely felt their pressure, and most conscientiously doubted or +disbelieved their propriety. Every great and permanent institution of +the country, intended for defence or for improvement, has met her +support. And if we look to recent measures, on subjects highly +interesting to the community, and especially some portions of it, we see +proofs of the same steady and liberal policy. It may be said with entire +truth, and it ought to be said, and ought to be known, that no one +measure for internal improvement has been carried through Congress, or +could have been carried, but by the aid of New England votes. It is for +those most deeply interested in subjects of that sort to consider in +season, how far the continuance of the same aid is necessary for the +further prosecution of the same objects. From the interference of the +general government in making roads and canals, New England has as little +to hope or expect as any part of the country. She has hitherto supported +them upon principle, and from a sincere disposition to extend the +blessings and the beneficence of the government. And, Sir, I confidently +believe that those most concerned in the success of these measures feel +towards her respect and friendship. They feel that she has acted fairly +and liberally, wholly uninfluenced by selfish or sinister motives. +Those, therefore, who have seen, or thought they saw, an object to be +attained by exciting dislike and odium towards New England, are not +likely to find quite so favorable an audience as they have expected. It +will not go for quite so much as wished, to the disadvantage of the +President, that he is a native of Massachusetts. Nothing is wanting but +that we ourselves should entertain a proper feeling on this subject, +and act with a just regard to our own rights and our own duties. If I +could collect around me the whole population of New England, or if I +could cause my voice to be heard over all her green hills, or along +every one of her pleasant streams, in the exercise of true filial +affection, I would say to her, in the language of the great master of +the maxims of life and conduct, + + "This above all,--to thine own self be true, + And it must follow, as the night the day, + Thou canst not then be false to any man." + +Mr. President,--I have delayed you too long. I beg to repeat my +thanks for the kindness which has been manifested towards me by my +fellow-citizens, and to conclude by reciprocating their good wishes:-- + +The City of Boston. Prosperity to all her interests, and happiness to +all her citizens. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [85] The subject referred to is the tariff law of 1828. For a fuller + statement of the considerations which influenced the vote of Mr. + Webster on that subject, see his speech, in a subsequent volume + of this collection, delivered in the Senate of the United States + on the 9th of May, 1828. + + [86] Hon. Nathaniel Silsbee. + + [87] Hon. Benjamin Gorham. + + + + +THE BOSTON MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.[88] + + I appear before you, Gentlemen, for the performance of a duty which + is in so great a degree foreign from my habitual studies and + pursuits, that it may be presumptuous in me to hope for a creditable + execution of the task. But I have not allowed considerations of this + kind to weigh against a strong and ardent desire to signify my + approbation of the objects, and my conviction of the utility, of + this institution; and to manifest my prompt attention to whatever + others may suppose to be in my power to promote its respectability + and to further its designs. + + +The constitution of the association declares its precise object to be, +"Mutual Instruction in the Sciences, as connected with the Mechanic +Arts." + +The distinct purpose is to connect science more and more with art; to +teach the established, and invent new, modes of combining skill with +strength; to bring the power of the human understanding in aid of the +physical powers of the human frame; to facilitate the cooeperation of the +mind with the hand; to promote convenience, lighten labor, and mitigate +toil, by stretching the dominion of mind farther and farther over the +elements of nature, and by making those elements themselves submit to +human rule, follow human bidding, and work together for human +happiness. + +The visible and tangible creation into which we are introduced at our +birth, is not, in all its parts, fixed and stationary. Motion or change +of place, regular or occasional, belongs to all or most of the things +which are around us. Animal life everywhere moves; the earth itself has +its motion, and its complexities of motion; the ocean heaves and +subsides; rivers run, lingering or rushing, to the sea; and the air +which we breathe moves and acts with mighty power. Motion, thus +pertaining to the physical objects which surround us, is the exhaustless +fountain whence philosophy draws the means by which, in various degrees +and endless forms, natural agencies and the tendencies of inert matter +are brought to the succor and assistance of human strength. It is the +object of mechanical contrivance to modify motion, to produce it in new +forms, to direct it to new purposes, to multiply its uses, by its means +to do better that which human strength could do without its aid, and to +perform that, also, which such strength, unassisted by art, could not +perform. + +Motion itself is but the result of force; or, in other words, force is +defined to be whatever tends to produce motion. The operation of forces, +therefore, on bodies, is the broad field which is open for that +philosophical examination, the results of which it is the business of +mechanical contrivance to apply. The leading forces or sources of motion +are, as is well known, the power of animals, gravity, heat, the winds, +and water. There are various others of less power, or of more difficult +application. Mechanical philosophy, therefore, may be said to be that +science which instructs us in the knowledge of natural moving powers, +animate or inanimate; in the manner of modifying those powers, and of +increasing the intensity of some of them by artificial means, such as +heat and electricity; and in applying the varieties of force and motion, +thus derived from natural agencies, to the arts of life. This is the +object of mechanical philosophy. None can doubt, certainly, the high +importance of this sort of knowledge, or fail to see how suitable it is +to the elevated rank and the dignity of reasoning beings. Man's grand +distinction is his intellect, his mental capacity. It is this which +renders him highly and peculiarly responsible to his Creator. It is on +account of this, that the rule over other animals is established in his +hands; and it is this, mainly, which enables him to exercise dominion +over the powers of nature, and to subdue them to himself. + +But it is true, also, that his own animal organization gives him +superiority, and is among the most wonderful of the works of God on +earth. It contributes to cause, as well as prove, his elevated rank in +creation. His port is erect, his face toward heaven, and he is +furnished with limbs which are not absolutely necessary to his support +or locomotion, and which are at once powerful, flexible, capable of +innumerable modes and varieties of action, and terminated by an +instrument of wonderful, heavenly workmanship,--the human hand. This +marvellous physical conformation gives man the power of acting with +great effect upon external objects, in pursuance of the suggestions +of his understanding, and of applying the results of his reasoning power +to his own purposes. Without this particular formation, he would not +be man, with whatever sagacity he might have been endowed. No +bounteous grant of intellect, were it the pleasure of Heaven to make +such grant, could raise any of the brute creation to an equality with +the human race. Were it bestowed on the leviathan, he must remain, +nevertheless, in the element where alone he could maintain his +physical existence. He would still be but the inelegant, misshapen +inhabitant of the ocean, "wallowing unwieldy, enormous in his gait." +Were the elephant made to possess it, it would but teach him the +deformity of his own structure, the unsightliness of his frame, +though "the hugest of things," his disability to act on external +matter, and the degrading nature of his own physical wants, which +lead him to the deserts, and give him for his favorite home the torrid +plains of the tropics. It was placing the king of Babylon sufficiently +out of the rank of human beings, though he carried all his reasoning +faculties with him, when he was sent away to eat grass like an ox. And +this may properly suggest to our consideration, what is undeniably +true, that there is hardly a greater blessing conferred on man than his +natural wants. If he had wanted no more than the beasts, who can say +how much more than they he would have attained? Does he associate, +does he cultivate, does he build, does he navigate? The original impulse +to all these lies in his wants. It proceeds from the necessities of +his condition, and from the efforts of unsatisfied desire. Every want, +not of a low kind, physical as well as moral, which the human breast +feels, and which brutes do not feel and cannot feel, raises man by so +much in the scale of existence, and is a clear proof and a direct +instance of the favor of God towards his so much favored human +offspring. If man had been so made as to desire nothing, he would +have wanted almost every thing worth possessing. + +But doubtless the reasoning faculty, the mind, is the leading and +characteristic attribute of the human race. By the exercise of this, +man arrives at the knowledge of the properties of natural bodies. This +is science, properly and emphatically so called. It is the science +of pure mathematics; and in the high branches of this science lies the +true sublime of human acquisition. If any attainment deserve that +epithet, it is the knowledge, which, from the mensuration of the +minutest dust of the balance, proceeds on the rising scale of +material bodies, everywhere weighing, everywhere measuring, everywhere +detecting and explaining the laws of force and motion, penetrating +into the secret principles which hold the universe of God together, +and balancing world against world, and system against system. When we +seek to accompany those who pursue studies at once so high, so vast, +and so exact; when we arrive at the discoveries of Newton, which pour +in day on the works of God, as if a second _fiat_ for light had gone +forth from his own mouth; when, further, we attempt to follow those +who set out where Newton paused, making his goal their starting-place, +and, proceeding with demonstration upon demonstration, and discovery +upon discovery, bring new worlds and new systems of worlds within the +limits of the known universe, failing to learn all only because all is +infinite; however we say of man, in admiration of his physical +structure, that "in form and moving he is express and admirable," it +is here, and here without irreverence, we may exclaim, "In apprehension +how like a god!" The study of the pure mathematics will of course +not be extensively pursued in an institution, which, like this, has a +direct practical tendency and aim. But it is still to be remembered, +that pure mathematics lie at the foundation of mechanical philosophy, +and that it is ignorance only which can speak or think of that sublime +science as useless research or barren speculation. + +It has already been said, that the general and well-known agents usually +regarded as the principal sources of mechanical powers are gravity, +acting on solid bodies, the fall of water, which is but gravity acting +on fluids, air, heat, and animal strength. For the useful direction and +application of the first four of these, that is, of all of them which +belong to inanimate nature, some intermediate apparatus or contrivance +becomes necessary; and this apparatus, whatever its form, is a machine. +A machine is an invention for the application of motion, either by +changing the direction of the moving power, or by rendering a body in +motion capable of communicating a motion greater or less than its own to +other bodies, or by enabling it to overcome a power of greater intensity +or force than its own. And it is usually said that every machine, +however apparently complex, is capable of being resolved into some one +or more of those single machines, of which, according to one mode of +description, there are six, and according to another, three, called the +mechanical powers. But because machinery, or all mechanical contrivance, +is thus capable of resolution into a few elementary forms, it is not to +be inferred that science, or art, or both together, though pressed with +the utmost force of human genius, and cultivated by the last degree of +human assiduity, will ever exhaust the combinations into which these +elementary forms may be thrown. An indefinite, though not an infinite, +reach of invention may be expected; but indefinite, also, if not +infinite, are the possible combinations of elementary principles. The +field, then, is vast and unbounded. We know not to what yet unthought of +heights the power of man over the agencies of nature may be carried. We +only know that the last half-century has witnessed an amazingly +accelerated progress in useful discoveries, and that, at the present +moment, science and art are acting together with a new companionship, +and with the most happy and striking results. The history of mechanical +philosophy is, of itself, a very interesting subject, and will doubtless +be treated in this place fully and methodically, by stated lecturers. + +It is a part of the history of man, which, like that of his domestic +habits and daily occupations, has been too seldom the subject of +research; having been thrust aside by the more dazzling topics of war +and political revolutions. We are not often conducted by historians +within the houses or huts of our ancestors, as they were centuries ago, +and made acquainted with their domestic utensils and domestic +arrangements. We see too little both of the conveniences and +inconveniences of their daily and ordinary life. There are, indeed, rich +materials for interesting details on these particulars to be collected +from the labors of Goguet and Beckmann, Henry and Turner; but still, a +thorough and well-written history of those inventions in the mechanic +arts which are now commonly known is a _desideratum_ in literature. + +Human sagacity, stimulated by human wants, seizes first on the nearest +natural assistant. The power of his own arm is an early lesson among the +studies of primitive man. This is animal strength; and from this he +rises to the conception of employing, for his own use, the strength of +other animals. A stone, impelled by the power of his arm, he finds will +produce a greater effect than the arm itself; this is a species of +mechanical power. The effect results from a combination of the moving +force with the gravity of a heavy body. The limb of a tree is a rude, +but powerful instrument; it is a lever. And the mechanical powers being +all discovered, like other natural qualities, by induction (I use the +word as Bacon used it) or experience, and not by any reasoning _a +priori_, their progress has kept pace with the general civilization and +education of nations. The history of mechanical philosophy, while it +strongly illustrates in its general results the force of the human mind, +exhibits in its details most interesting pictures of ingenuity +struggling with the conception of new combinations, and of deep, +intense, and powerful thought, stretched to its utmost to find out or +deduce the general principle from the indications of particular facts. +We are now so far advanced beyond the age when the principal leading, +important mathematical discoveries were made, and they have become so +much matter of common knowledge, that it is not easy to feel their +importance, or be justly sensible what an epoch in the history of +science each constituted. The half-frantic exultation of Archimedes, +when he had solved the problem respecting the crown of Hiero, was on an +occasion and for a cause certainly well allowing very high joy. And so +also was the duplication of the cube. + +The altar of Apollo, at Athens, was a square block, or cube, and to +double it, required the duplication of the cube. This was a process +involving an unascertained mathematical principle. It was quite natural, +therefore, that it should be a traditional story, that, by way of +atoning for some affront to that god, the oracle commanded the Athenians +to _double his altar_; an injunction, we know, which occupied the keen +sagacity of the Greek geometricians for more than half a century, before +they were able to obey it. It is to the great honor, however, of this +inimitable people, the Greeks, a people whose genius seems to have been +equally fitted for the investigations of science and the works of +imagination, that the immortal Euclid, centuries before our era, +composed his Elements of Geometry; a work which, for two thousand years, +has been, and still continues to be, a text-book for instruction in that +science. + +A history of mechanical philosophy, however, would not begin with +Greece. There is a wonder beyond Greece. Higher up in the annals of +mankind, nearer, far nearer, to the origin of our race, out of all reach +of letters, beyond the sources of tradition, beyond all history, except +what remains in the monuments of her own art, stands Egypt, the mother +of nations! Egypt! Thebes! the Labyrinth! the Pyramids! Who shall +explain the mysteries which these names suggest? The Pyramids! Who can +inform us whether it was by mere numbers, and patience, and labor, aided +perhaps by the simple lever, or if not, by what forgotten combination of +powers, by what now unknown machines, mass was thus aggregated to mass, +and quarry piled on quarry, till solid granite seemed to cover the earth +and reach the skies? + +The ancients discovered many things, but they left many things also to +be discovered; and this, as a general truth, is what our posterity a +thousand years hence will be able to say, doubtless, when we and our +generation shall be recorded also among the ancients. For, indeed, God +seems to have proposed his material universe as a standing, perpetual +study to his intelligent creatures; where, ever learning, they can yet +never learn all; and if that material universe shall last till man shall +have discovered all that is now unknown, but which by the progressive +improvement of his faculties he is capable of knowing, it will remain +through a duration beyond human measurement, and beyond human +comprehension. + +The ancients knew nothing of our present system of arithmetical +notation; nothing of algebra, and, of course, nothing of the important +application of algebra to geometry. They had not learned the use of +logarithms, and were ignorant of fluxions. They had not attained to any +just mode for the mensuration of the earth; a matter of great moment to +astronomy, navigation, and other branches of useful knowledge. It is +scarcely necessary to add, that they were ignorant of the great results +which have followed the development of the principle of gravitation. + +In the useful and practical arts, many inventions and contrivances, to +the production of which the degree of knowledge possessed by the +ancients would appear to us to have been adequate, and which seem quite +obvious, are yet of late origin. The application of water, for example, +to turn a mill, is a thing not known to have been accomplished at all in +Greece, and is not supposed to have been attempted at Rome till in or +near the age of Augustus. The production of the same effect by wind is a +still later invention. It dates only in the seventh century of our era. +The propulsion of the saw by any other power than that of the arm is +treated as a novelty in England, so late as in the middle of the +sixteenth century. The Bishop of Ely, at that time ambassador from the +queen of England to the Pope, says, "he saw, at Lyons, a sawmill driven +with an upright wheel, and the water that maketh it go is gathered whole +into a narrow trough, which delivereth the same water to the wheels. +This wheel hath a piece of timber put to the axletree end, like the +handle of a _broch_ (a hand-organ), and fastened to the end of the saw, +which being turned with the force of water, hoisteth up and down the +saw, that it continually eateth in, and the handle of the same is kept +in a rigall of wood, from swerving. Also the timber lieth, as it were, +upon a ladder, which is brought by little and little to the saw with +another vice."[89] From this description of the primitive power-saw, it +would seem that it was probably fast only at one end, and that the broch +and rigall performed the part of the arm in the common use of the +handsaw. + +It must always have been a very considerable object for men to possess +or obtain the power of raising water otherwise than by mere manual +labor. Yet nothing like the common suction-pump has been found among +rude nations. It has arrived at its present state only by slow and +cautious steps of improvement; and, indeed, in that present state, +however obvious and unattractive, it is something of an abstruse and +refined invention. It was unknown in China, until Europeans visited the +"Celestial Empire"; and is still unknown in other parts of Asia, beyond +the pale of European settlements or the reach of European communication. +The Greeks and Romans are supposed to have been ignorant of it, in the +early times of their history; and it is usually said to have come from +Alexandria, where physical science was much cultivated by the Greek +philosophers, under the patronage of the Ptolemies. + +These few and scattered historical notices, Gentlemen, of important +inventions, have been introduced only for the purpose of suggesting that +there is much which is both curious and instructive in the history of +mechanics; and that many things which to us, in our state of knowledge, +seem so obvious as that we should think they would at once force +themselves on men's adoption, have, nevertheless, been accomplished +slowly and by painful efforts. + +But if the history of the progress of the mechanical arts be +interesting, still more so, doubtless, would be the exhibition of their +present state, and a full display of the extent to which they are now +carried. This field is much too wide to be entered on this occasion. The +briefest outline even would exceed its limits; and the whole subject +will regularly fall to hands much more able to sustain it. The slightest +glance, however, must convince us that mechanical power and mechanical +skill, as they are now exhibited in Europe and America, mark an epoch in +human history worthy of all admiration. Machinery is made to perform +what has formerly been the toil of human hands, to an extent that +astonishes the most sanguine, with a degree of power to which no number +of human arms is equal, and with such precision and exactness as almost +to suggest the notion of reason and intelligence in the machines +themselves. Every natural agent is put unrelentingly to the task. The +winds work, the waters work, the elasticity of metals works; gravity is +solicited into a thousand new forms of action; levers are multiplied +upon levers; wheels revolve on the peripheries of other wheels; the saw +and the plane are tortured into an accommodation to new uses, and, last +of all, with inimitable power, and "with whirlwind sound," comes the +potent agency of steam. In comparison with the past, what centuries of +improvement has this single agent comprised, in the short compass of +fifty years! Everywhere practicable, everywhere efficient, it has an arm +a thousand times stronger than that of Hercules, and to which human +ingenuity is capable of fitting a thousand times as many hands as +belonged to Briareus. Steam is found in triumphant operation on the +seas; and under the influence of its strong propulsion, the gallant +ship, + + "Against the wind, against the tide, + Still _steadies_, with an upright keel." + +It is on the rivers, and the boatman may repose on his oars; it is on +highways, and begins to exert itself along the courses of land +conveyance; it is at the bottom of mines, a thousand feet below the +earth's surface; it is in the mill, and in the workshops of the trades. +It rows, it pumps, it excavates, it carries, it draws, it lifts, it +hammers, it spins, it weaves, it prints. It seems to say to men, at +least to the class of artisans, "Leave off your manual labor, give over +your bodily toil; bestow but your skill and reason to the directing of +my power, and I will bear the toil,--with no muscle to grow weary, no +nerve to relax, no breast to feel faintness." What further improvements +may still be made in the use of this astonishing power, it is impossible +to know, and it were vain to conjecture. What we do know is, that it has +most essentially altered the face of affairs, and that no visible limit +yet appears, beyond which its progress is seen to be impossible. If its +power were now to be annihilated, if we were to miss it on the water and +in the mills, it would seem as if we were going back to rude ages. + +This society, then, Gentlemen, is instituted for the purpose of further +and further applying science to the arts, at a time when there is much +of science to be applied. Philosophy and the mathematics have attained +to high degrees, and still stretch their wings like the eagle. +Chemistry, at the same time, acting in another direction, has made +equally important discoveries, capable of a direct application to the +purposes of life. Here, again, within so short a period as the lives of +some of us, almost all that is known has been learned. And while there +is this aggregate of science, already vast, but still rapidly +increasing, offering itself to the ingenuity of mechanical contrivance, +there is a corresponding demand for every work and invention of art, +produced by the wants of a rich, an enterprising, and an elegant age. +Associations like this, therefore, have materials to work upon, ends to +work for, and encouragement to work. + +It may not be improper to suggest, that not only are the general +circumstances of the age favorable to such institutions as this, but +that there seems a high degree of propriety that one or more should be +established here, in the metropolis of New England. In no other part of +the country is there so great a concentration of mechanical operations. +Events have given to New England the lead in the great business of +domestic manufactures. Her thickened population, her energetic free +labor, her abundant falls of water, and various other causes, have led +her citizens to engage, with great boldness, in extensive manufactures. +The success of their establishments depends, of course, in no small +degree, upon the perfection to which machinery may be carried. +Improvement in this, therefore, instead of being left to chance or +accident, is justly regarded as a fit subject of assiduous study. The +attention of our community is also, at the present moment, strongly +attracted towards the construction of canals, railways, dry docks, and +other important public works. Civil engineering is becoming a +profession, offering honorable support and creditable distinction to +such as may qualify themselves to discharge its duties. Another +interesting fact is before us. New taste and a new excitement are +evidently springing up in our vicinity in regard to an art, which, as it +unites in a singular degree utility and beauty, affords inviting +encouragements to genius and skill. I mean Architecture. Architecture is +military, naval, sacred, civil, or domestic. Naval architecture, +certainly, is of the highest importance to a commercial and navigating +people to say nothing of its intimate and essential connection with the +means of national defence. This science should not be regarded as having +already reached its utmost perfection. It seems to have been for some +time in a course of rapid advancement. The building, the rigging, the +navigating of ships, have, within the knowledge of every one, been +subjects of great improvement within the last fifteen years. And where, +rather than in New England, may still further improvements be looked +for? Where is ship-building either a greater business, or pursued with +more skill and eagerness? + +In civil, sacred, and domestic architecture, present appearances +authorize the strongest hopes of improvement. These hopes rest, among +other things, on unambiguous indications of the growing prevalence of a +just taste. The principles of architecture are founded in nature, or +good sense, as much as the principles of epic poetry. This art +constitutes a beautiful medium between what belongs to mere fancy and +what belongs entirely to the exact sciences. In its forms and +modifications it admits of infinite variation, giving broad room for +invention and genius; while, in its general principles, it is founded +on that which long experience and the concurrent judgment of ages have +ascertained to be generally pleasing. Certain relations of parts to +parts have been satisfactory to all the cultivated generations of men. +These relations constitute what is called _proportion_, and this is the +great basis of architectural art. This established proportion is not to +be _followed_ merely because it is ancient, but because its use, and the +pleasure which it has been found capable of giving to the mind, through +the eye, in ancient times, and modern times, and all civilized times, +prove that its principles are well founded and just; in the same manner +that the Iliad is proved, by the consent of all ages, to be a good +poem. + +Architecture, I have said, is an art that unites in a singular manner +the useful and the beautiful. It is not to be inferred from this that +every thing in architecture is beautiful, or is to be so esteemed, in +exact proportion to its apparent utility. No more is meant, than that +nothing which evidently thwarts utility can or ought to be accounted +beautiful; because, in every work of art, the design is to be regarded, +and what defeats that design cannot be considered as well done. The +French rhetoricians have a maxim, that, in literary composition, +"nothing is beautiful which is not true." They do not intend to say, +that strict and literal truth is alone beautiful in poetry or oratory; +but they mean, that that which grossly offends against probability is +not in good taste in either. The same relation subsists between beauty +and utility in architecture as between truth and imagination in poetry. +Utility is not to be obviously sacrificed to beauty, in the one case; +truth and probability are not to be outraged for the cause of fiction +and fancy, in the other. In the severer styles of architecture, beauty +and utility approach so as to be almost identical. Where utility is more +especially the main design, the proportions which produce it raise the +sense or feeling of beauty, by a sort of reflection or deduction of the +mind. It is said that ancient Rome had perhaps no finer specimens of the +classic Doric than the sewers which ran under her streets, and which +were of course always to be covered from human observation: so true is +it, that cultivated taste is always pleased with justness of proportion; +and that design, seen to be accomplished, gives pleasure. The discovery +and fast-increasing use of a noble material, found in vast abundance +nearer to our city than the Pentelican quarries to Athens, may well +awaken, as they do, new attention to architectural improvement. If this +material be not entirely well suited to the elegant Ionic or the rich +Corinthian, it is yet fitted, beyond marble, beyond perhaps almost any +other material, for the Doric, of which the appropriate character is +strength, and for the Gothic, of which the appropriate character is +grandeur. + +It is not more than justice, perhaps, to our ancestors, to call the +Gothic the English classic architecture; for in England, probably, are +its most distinguished specimens. As its leading characteristic is +grandeur, its main use would seem to be sacred. It had its origin, +indeed, in ecclesiastical architecture. Its evident design was to +surpass the ancient orders by the size of the structure and its far +greater heights; to excite perceptions of beauty by the branching +traceries and the gorgeous tabernacles within; and to inspire religious +awe and reverence by the lofty pointed arches, the flying buttresses, +the spires, and the pinnacles, springing from beneath, and stretching +upwards towards the heavens with the prayers of the worshippers. +Architectural beauty having always a direct reference to utility, +edifices, whether civil or sacred, must of course undergo different +changes, in different places, on account of climate, and in different +ages, on account of the different states of other arts or different +notions of convenience. The hypethral temple, for example, or temple +without a roof, is not to be thought of in our latitude; and the use of +glass, a thing not now to be dispensed with, is also to be accommodated, +as well as it may be, to the architectural structure. These necessary +variations, and many more admissible ones, give room for improvements to +an indefinite extent, without departing from the principles of true +taste. May we not hope, then, to see our own city celebrated as the city +of architectural excellence? May we not hope to see our native granite +reposing in the ever-during strength of the Doric, or springing up in +the grand and lofty Gothic, in forms which beauty and utility, the eye +and the judgment, taste and devotion, shall unite to approve and to +admire? But while we regard sacred and civil architecture as highly +important, let us not forget that other branch, so essential to personal +comfort and happiness,--domestic architecture or common house-building. +In ancient times, in all governments, and under despotic governments in +all times, the convenience or gratification of the monarch, the +government, or the public has been allowed too often to put aside +considerations of personal and individual happiness. With us, different +ideas happily prevail. With us, it is not the public, or the government, +in its corporate character, that is the only object of regard. The +public happiness is to be the aggregate of the happiness of individuals. +Our system begins with the individual man. It begins with him when he +leaves the cradle; and it proposes to instruct him in knowledge and in +morals, to prepare him for his state of manhood; on his arrival at that +state, to invest him with political rights, to protect him in his +property and pursuits, and in his family and social connections; and +thus to enable him to enjoy, as an individual moral and rational being, +what belongs to a moral and rational being. For the same reason, the +arts are to be promoted for their general utility, as they affect the +personal happiness and well-being of the individuals who compose the +community. It would be adverse to the whole spirit of our system, that +we should have gorgeous and expensive public buildings, if individuals +were at the same time to live in houses of mud. Our public edifices are +to be reared by the surplus of wealth and the savings of labor, after +the necessities and comforts of individuals are provided for; and not, +like the Pyramids, by the unremitted toil of thousands of half-starved +slaves. Domestic architecture, therefore, as connected with individual +comfort and happiness, is to hold a first place in the esteem of our +artists. Let our citizens have houses cheap, but comfortable; not gaudy, +but in good taste; not judged by the portion of earth they cover, but by +their symmetry, their fitness for use, and their durability. + +Without further reference to particular arts with which the objects of +this society have a close connection, it may yet be added, generally, +that this is a period of great activity, of industry, of enterprise in +the various walks of life. It is a period, too, of growing wealth and +increasing prosperity. It is a time when men are fast multiplying, but +when means are increasing still faster than men. An auspicious moment, +then, it is, full of motive and encouragement, for the vigorous +prosecution of those inquiries which have for their object the discovery +of farther and farther means of uniting the results of scientific +research to the arts and business of life. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [88] Introductory Lecture, read at this Opening of the Course for the + Season, on the 12th of November, 1828. + + [89] See Beckmann's Inventions, Vol. I. p. 373, where the passage is + quoted from the Miscellaneous State Papers. + + + + +PUBLIC DINNER AT NEW YORK. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + +In February, 1831, several distinguished gentlemen of the city cf New +York, in behalf of themselves and a large number of other citizens, +invited Mr. Webster to a public dinner, as a mark of their respect for +the value and success of his efforts, in the preceding session of +Congress, in defence of the Constitution of the United States. His +speech in reply to Mr. Hayne (contained in a subsequent volume of this +collection), which, by that time, had been circulated and read through +the country to a greater extent than any speech ever before delivered in +Congress, was the particular effort which led to this invitation. + +The dinner took place at the City Hotel, on the 10th of March, and was +attended by a very large assembly. + +Chancellor Kent presided, and, in proposing to the company the health of +their guest, made the following remarks:-- + + "New England has been long fruitful in great men, the necessary + consequence of the admirable discipline of her institutions--and we + are this day honored with the presence of one of those cherished + objects of her attachment and pride, who has an undoubted and + peculiar title to our regard. It is a plain truth, that he who + defends the constitution of his country by his wisdom in council is + entitled to share her gratitude with those who protect it by valor + in the field. Peace has its victories as well as war. We all + recollect a late memorable occasion, when the exalted talents and + enlightened patriotism of the gentleman to whom I have alluded were + exerted in the support of our national Union and the sound + interpretation of its charter. + + "If there be any one political precept preeminent above all others + and acknowledged by all, it is that which dictates the absolute + necessity of a union of the States under one government, and that + government clothed with those attributes and powers with which the + existing Constitution has invested it. We are indebted, under + Providence, to the operation and influence of the powers of that + Constitution for our national honor abroad and for unexampled + prosperity at home. Its future stability depends upon the firm + support and due exercise of its legitimate powers in all their + branches. A tendency to disunion, to anarchy among the members + rather than to tyranny in the head, has been heretofore the + melancholy fate of all the federal governments of ancient and + modern Europe. Our Union and national Constitution were formed, as + we have hitherto been led to believe, under better auspices and with + improved wisdom. But there was a deadly principle of disease + inherent in the system. The assumption by any member of the Union of + the right to question and resist, or annul, as its own judgment + should dictate, either the laws of Congress, or the treaties, or the + decisions of the federal courts, or the mandates of the executive + power, duly made and promulgated as the Constitution prescribes, was + a most dangerous assumption of power, leading to collision and the + destruction of the system. And if, contrary to all our expectations, + we should hereafter fail in the grand experiment of a confederate + government extending over some of the fairest portions of this + continent, and destined to act, at the same time, with efficiency + and harmony, we should most grievously disappoint the hopes of + mankind, and blast for ever the fruits of the Revolution. + + "But, happily for us, the refutation of such dangerous pretensions, + on the occasion referred to, was signal and complete. The false + images and delusive theories which had perplexed the thoughts and + disturbed the judgments of men, were then dissipated in like manner + as spectres disappear at the rising of the sun. The inestimable + value of the Union, and the true principles of the Constitution, + were explained by clear and accurate reasonings, and enforced by + pathetic and eloquent illustrations. The result was the more + auspicious, as the heretical doctrines which were then fairly + reasoned down had been advanced by a very respectable portion of the + Union, and urged on the floor of the Senate by the polished mind, + manly zeal, and honored name of a distinguished member from the + South. + + "The consequences of that discussion have been extremely beneficial. + It turned the attention of the public to the great doctrines of + national rights and national union. Constitutional law ceased to + remain wrapped up in the breasts, and taught only by the responses, + of the living oracles of the law. Socrates was said to have drawn + down philosophy from the skies, and scattered it among the schools. + It may with equal truth be said that constitutional law, by means of + those senatorial discussions and the master genius that guided them, + was rescued from the archives of our tribunals and the libraries of + lawyers, and placed under the eye, and submitted to the judgment, of + the American people. _Their verdict is with us, and from it their + lies no appeal._" + +As soon as the immense cheering and acclamations with which this address +and toast were received had subsided, Mr. Webster rose and addressed the +company as follows. + + + + +PUBLIC DINNER AT NEW YORK. + + +I owe the honor of this occasion, Gentlemen, to your patriotic and +affectionate attachment to the Constitution of our country. For an +effort, well intended, however otherwise of unpretending character, made +in the discharge of public duty, and designed to maintain the +Constitution and vindicate its just powers, you have been pleased to +tender me this token of your respect. It would be idle affectation to +deny that it gives me singular gratification. Every public man must +naturally desire the approbation of his fellow-citizens; and though it +may be supposed that I should be anxious, in the first place, not to +disappoint the expectations of those whose immediate representative I +am, it is not possible but that I should feel, nevertheless, the high +value of such a mark of esteem as is here offered. But, Gentlemen, I am +conscious that the main purpose of this occasion is higher than mere +manifestation of personal regard. It is to evince your devotion to the +Constitution, your sense of its transcendent value, and your just alarm +at whatever threatens to weaken its proper authority, or endanger its +existence. + +Gentlemen, this could hardly be otherwise. It would be strange, indeed, +if the members of this vast commercial community should not be first and +foremost to rally for the Constitution, whenever opinions and doctrines +are advanced hostile to its principles. Where sooner than here, where +louder than here, may we expect a patriotic voice to be raised, when the +union of the States is threatened? In this great emporium, at this +central point of the united commerce of the United States, of all +places, we may expect the warmest, the most determined and universal +feeling of attachment to the national government. Gentlemen, no one can +estimate more highly than I do the natural advantages of your city. No +one entertains a higher opinion than myself, also, of that spirit of +wise and liberal policy, which has actuated the government of your own +great State in the accomplishment of high objects, important to the +growth and prosperity both of the State and the city. But all these +local advantages, and all this enlightened state policy, could never +have made your city what it now is, without the aid and protection of a +general government, extending over all the States, and establishing for +all a common and uniform system of commercial regulation. Without +national character, without public credit, without systematic finance, +without uniformity of commercial laws, all other advantages possessed by +this city would have decayed and perished, like unripe fruit. A general +government was, for years before it was instituted, the great object of +desire to the inhabitants of this city. New York, at a very early day, +was conscious of her local advantages for commerce; she saw her destiny, +and was eager to embrace it; but nothing else than a general government +could make free her path before her, and set her forward on her +brilliant career. She early saw all this, and to the accomplishment of +this great and indispensable object she bent every faculty, and exerted +every effort. She was not mistaken. She formed no false judgment. At the +moment of the adoption of the Constitution, New York was the capital of +one State, and contained thirty-two or three thousand people. It now +contains more than two hundred thousand people, and is justly regarded +as the commercial capital, not only of all the United States, but of the +whole continent also, from the pole to the South Sea. Every page of her +history, for the last forty years, bears high and irresistible testimony +to the benefits and blessings of the general government. Her astonishing +growth is referred to, and quoted, all the world over, as one of the +most striking proofs of the effects of our Federal Union. To suppose her +now to be easy and indifferent, when notions are advanced tending to its +dissolution, would be to suppose her equally forgetful of the past and +blind to the present, alike ignorant of her own history and her own +interest, metamorphosed, from all that she has been, into a being tired +of its prosperity, sick of its own growth and greatness, and infatuated +for its own destruction. Every blow aimed at the union of the States +strikes on the tenderest nerve of her interest and her happiness. To +bring the Union into debate is to bring her own future prosperity into +debate also. To speak of arresting the laws of the Union, of interposing +State power in matters of commerce and revenue, of weakening the full +and just authority of the general government, would be, in regard to +this city, but another mode of speaking of commercial ruin, of abandoned +wharfs, of vacated houses, of diminished and dispersing population, of +bankrupt merchants, of mechanics without employment, and laborers +without bread. The growth of this city and the Constitution of the +United States are coevals and contemporaries. They began together, they +have flourished together, and if rashness and folly destroy one, the +other will follow it to the tomb. + +Gentlemen, it is true, indeed, that the growth of this city is +extraordinary, and almost unexampled. It is now, I believe, sixteen or +seventeen years since I first saw it. Within that comparatively short +period, it has added to its number three times the whole amount of its +population when the Constitution was adopted. Of all things having power +to check this prosperity, of all things potent to blight and blast it, +of all things capable of compelling this city to recede as fast as she +has advanced, a disturbed government, an enfeebled public authority, a +broken or a weakened union of the States, would be most efficacious. +This would be cause efficient enough. Every thing else, in the common +fortune of communities, she may hope to resist or to prevent; but this +would be fatal as the arrow of death. + +Gentlemen, you have personal recollections and associations, connected +with the establishment and adoption of the Constitution, which are +necessarily called up on an occasion like this. It is impossible to +forget the prominent agency exercised by eminent citizens of your own, +in regard to that great measure. Those great men are now recorded among +the illustrious dead; but they have left names never to be forgotten, +and never to be remembered without respect and veneration. Least of all +can they be forgotten by you, when assembled here for the purpose of +signifying your attachment to the Constitution, and your sense of its +inestimable importance to the happiness of the people. + +I should do violence to my own feelings, Gentlemen, I think I should +offend yours, if I omitted respectful mention of distinguished names yet +fresh in your recollections. How can I stand here, to speak of the +Constitution of the United States, of the wisdom of its provisions, of +the difficulties attending its adoption, of the evils from which it +rescued the country, and of the prosperity and power to which it has +raised it, and yet pay no tribute to those who were highly instrumental +in accomplishing the work? While we are here to rejoice that it yet +stands firm and strong, while we congratulate one another that we live +under its benign influence, and cherish hopes of its long duration, we +cannot forget who they were that, in the day of our national infancy, in +the times of despondency and despair, mainly assisted to work out our +deliverance. I should feel that I was unfaithful to the strong +recollections which the occasion presses upon us, that I was not true to +gratitude, not true to patriotism, not true to the living or the dead, +not true to your feelings or my own, if I should forbear to make mention +of ALEXANDER HAMILTON. + +Coming from the military service of the country yet a youth, but with +knowledge and maturity, even in civil affairs, far beyond his years, +he made this city the place of his adoption; and he gave the whole +powers of his mind to the contemplation of the weak and distracted +condition of the country. Daily increasing in acquaintance and +confidence with the people of New York, he saw, what they also saw, +the absolute necessity of some closer bond of union for the States. +This was the great object of desire. He never appears to have lost +sight of it, but was found in the lead whenever any thing was to be +attempted for its accomplishment One experiment after another, as is +well known, was tried, and all failed. The States were urgently called +on to confer such further powers on the old Congress as would enable +it to redeem the public faith, or to adopt, themselves, some general +and common principle of commercial regulation. But the States had not +agreed, and were not likely to agree. In this posture of affairs, so +full of public difficulty and public distress, commissioners from five +or six of the States met, on the request of Virginia, at Annapolis, in +September, 1786. The precise object of their appointment was to take +into consideration the trade of the United States; to examine the +relative situations and trade of the several States; and to consider +how far a uniform system of commercial regulations was necessary to +their common interest and permanent harmony. Mr. Hamilton was one of +these commissioners; and I have understood, though I cannot assert the +fact, that their report was drawn by him. His associate from this +State was the venerable Judge Benson, who has lived long, and still +lives, to see the happy results of the counsels which originated in this +meeting. Of its members, he and Mr. Madison are, I believe, now the +only survivors. These commissioners recommended, what took place the +next year, a general Convention of all the States, to take into serious +deliberation the condition of the country, and devise such provisions +as should render the constitution of the federal government adequate +to the exigencies of the Union. I need not remind you, that of this +Convention Mr. Hamilton was an active and efficient member. The +Constitution was framed, and submitted to the country. And then +another great work was to be undertaken. The Constitution would +naturally find, and did find, enemies and opposers. Objections to it +were numerous, and powerful, and spirited. They were to be answered; and +they were effectually answered. The writers of the numbers of the +Federalist, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Jay, so greatly +distinguished themselves in their discussions of the Constitution, +that those numbers are generally received as important commentaries +on the text, and accurate expositions, in general, of its objects and +purposes. Those papers were all written and published in this city. Mr. +Hamilton was elected one of the distinguished delegation from the city +to the State Convention at Poughkeepsie, called to ratify the new +Constitution. Its debates are published. Mr. Hamilton appears to have +exerted, on this occasion, to the utmost, every power and faculty of +his mind. + +The whole question was likely to depend on the decision of New York. He +felt the full importance of the crisis; and the reports of his speeches, +imperfect as they probably are, are yet lasting monuments to his genius +and patriotism. He saw at last his hopes fulfilled; he saw the +Constitution adopted, and the government under it established and +organized. The discerning eye of Washington immediately called him to +that post, which was far the most important in the administration of the +new system. He was made Secretary of the Treasury; and how he fulfilled +the duties of such a place, at such a time, the whole country perceived +with delight and the whole world saw with admiration. He smote the rock +of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. +He touched the dead corpse of the Public Credit, and it sprung upon its +feet. The fabled birth of Minerva, from the brain of Jove, was hardly +more sudden or more perfect than the financial system of the United +States, as it burst forth from the conceptions of ALEXANDER HAMILTON. + +Your recollections, Gentlemen, your respect, and your affections, all +conspire to bring before you, at such a time as this, another great +man, now too numbered with the dead. I mean the pure, the disinterested, +the patriotic JOHN JAY. His character is a brilliant jewel in the +sacred treasures of national reputation. Leaving his profession at an +early period, yet not before he had singularly distinguished himself in +it, his whole life, from the commencement of the Revolution until his +final retirement, was a life of public service. A member of the first +Congress, he was the author of that political paper which is generally +acknowledged to stand first among the incomparable productions of that +body;[90] productions which called forth that decisive strain of +commendation from the great Lord Chatham, in which he pronounced them +not inferior to the finest productions of the master states of the +world. Mr. Jay had been abroad, and he had also been long intrusted +with the difficult duties of our foreign correspondence at home. He had +seen and felt, in the fullest measure and to the greatest possible +extent, the difficulty of conducting our foreign affairs honorably and +usefully, without a stronger and more perfect domestic union. Though +not a member of the Convention which framed the Constitution, he was +yet present while it was in session, and looked anxiously for its +result. By the choice of this city, he had a seat in the State +Convention, and took an active and zealous part for the adoption of +the Constitution. On the organization of the new government, he was +selected by Washington to be the first Chief Justice of the Supreme +Court of the United States; and surely the high and most responsible +duties of that station could not have been trusted to abler or safer +hands. It is the duty of that tribunal, one of equal importance and +delicacy, to decide constitutional questions, occasionally arising +on State laws. The general learning and ability, and especially the +prudence, the mildness, and the firmness of his character, eminently +fitted Mr. Jay to be the head of such a court. When the spotless +ermine of the judicial robe fell on John Jay, it touched nothing +less spotless than itself. + +These eminent men, Gentlemen, the contemporaries of some of you, known +to most, and revered by all, were so conspicuous in the framing and +adopting of the Constitution, and called so early to important stations +under it, that a tribute, better, indeed, than I have given, or am able +to give, seemed due to them from us, on this occasion. + +There was yet another, of whom mention is to be made. In the +Revolutionary history of the country, the name of CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON +became early prominent. He was a member of that Congress which declared +Independence; and a member, too, of the committee which drew and +reported the immortal Declaration. At the period of the adoption of the +Constitution, he was its firm friend and able advocate. He was a member +of the State Convention, being one of that list of distinguished and +gifted men who represented this city in that body; and he threw the +whole weight of his talents and influence into the doubtful scale of the +Constitution. + +Gentlemen, as connected with the Constitution, you have also local +recollections which must bind it still closer to your attachment and +affection. It commenced its being and its blessings here. It was in this +city, in the midst of friends, anxious, hopeful, and devoted, that the +new government started in its course. To us, Gentlemen, who are younger, +it has come down by tradition; but some around me are old enough to have +witnessed, and did witness, the interesting scene of the first +inauguration. They remember what voices of gratified patriotism, what +shouts of enthusiastic hope, what acclamations rent the air, how many +eyes were suffused with tears of joy, how cordially each man pressed the +hand of him who was next to him, when, standing in the open air, in the +centre of the city, in the view of assembled thousands, the first +President of the United States was heard solemnly to pronounce the words +of his official oath, repeating them from the lips of Chancellor +Livingston. You then thought, Gentlemen, that the great work of the +Revolution was accomplished. You then felt that you had a government; +that the United States were then, indeed, united. Every benignant star +seemed to shed its selectest influence on that auspicious hour. Here +were heroes of the Revolution; here were sages of the Convention; here +were minds, disciplined and schooled in all the various fortunes of the +country, acting now in several relations, but all cooeperating to the +same great end, the successful administration of the new and untried +Constitution. And he,--how shall I speak of him?--he was at the head, +who was already first in war, who was already first in the hearts of his +countrymen, and who was now shown also, by the unanimous suffrage of the +country, to be first in peace. + +Gentlemen, how gloriously have the hopes then indulged been fulfilled! +Whose expectation was then so sanguine, I may almost ask, whose +imagination then so extravagant, as to run forward, and contemplate +as probable, the one half of what has been accomplished in forty +years? Who among you can go back to 1789, and see what this city, and +this country, too, then were; and, beholding what they now are, can be +ready to consent that the Constitution of the United States shall be +weakened,--dishonored,--_nullified_? + +Gentlemen, before I leave these pleasant recollections, I feel it an +irresistible impulse of duty to pay a tribute of respect to another +distinguished person, not, indeed, a fellow-citizen of your own, but +associated with those I have already mentioned in important labors, and +an early and indefatigable friend and advocate in the great cause of the +Constitution. I refer to MR. MADISON. I am aware, Gentlemen, that a +tribute of regard from me to him is of little importance; but if it +shall receive your approbation and sanction, it will become of value. +Mr. Madison, thanks to a kind Providence, is yet among the living, and +there is certainly no other individual living, to whom the country is so +much indebted for the blessings of the Constitution. He was one of the +commissioners who met at Annapolis, in 1786, to which meeting I have +already referred, and which, to the great credit of Virginia, had its +origin in a proceeding of that State. He was a member of the Convention +of 1787, and of that of Virginia in the following year. He was thus +intimately acquainted with the whole progress of the formation of the +Constitution, from its very first step to its final adoption. If ever +man had the means of understanding a written instrument, Mr. Madison has +the means of understanding the Constitution. If it be possible to know +what was designed by it, he can tell us. It was in this city, that, in +conjunction with Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Jay, he wrote the numbers of the +Federalist; and it was in this city that he commenced his brilliant +career under the new Constitution, having been elected into the House of +Representatives of the first Congress. The recorded votes and debates of +those times show his active and efficient agency in every important +measure of that Congress. The necessary organization of the government, +the arrangement of the departments, and especially the paramount subject +of revenue, engaged his attention, and divided his labors. + +The legislative history of the first two or three years of the +government is full of instruction. It presents, in striking light, the +evils intended to be remedied by the Constitution, and the provisions +which were deemed essential to the remedy of those evils. It exhibits +the country, in the moment of its change from a weak and ill-defined +confederacy of States, into a general, efficient, but still restrained +and limited government. It shows the first working of our peculiar +system, moved, as it then was, by master hands. + +Gentlemen, for one, I confess I like to dwell on this part of our +history. It is good for us to be here. It is good for us to study the +situation of the country at this period, to survey its difficulties, to +look at the conduct of its public men, to see how they struggled with +obstacles, real and formidable, and how gloriously they brought the +Union out of its state of depression and distress. Truly, Gentlemen, +these founders and fathers of the Constitution were great men, and +thoroughly furnished for every good work. All that reading and learning +could do; all that talent and intelligence could do; and, what perhaps +is still more, all that long experience in difficult and troubled times +and a deep and intimate practical knowledge of the condition of the +country could do,--conspired to fit them for the great business of +forming a general, but limited government, embracing common objects, +extending over all the States, and yet touching the power of the States +no further than those common objects require. I confess I love to linger +around these original fountains, and to drink deep of their waters. I +love to imbibe, in as full measure as I may, the spirit of those who +laid the foundations of the government, and so wisely and skilfully +balanced and adjusted its bearings and proportions. + +Having been afterwards, for eight years, Secretary of State, and as +long President, Mr. Madison has had an experience in the affairs of the +Constitution, certainly second to no man. More than any other man +living, and perhaps more than any other who has lived, his whole +public life has been incorporated, as it were, into the Constitution; +in the original conception and project of attempting to form it, in its +actual framing, in explaining and recommending it, by speaking and +writing, in assisting at the first organization of the government +under it, and in a long administration of its executive powers,--in +these various ways he has lived near the Constitution, and with the +power of imbibing its true spirit, and inhaling its very breath, from +its first pulsation of life. Again, therefore, I ask, If he cannot tell +us what the Constitution is, and what it means, who can? He had +retired with the respect and regard of the community, and might +naturally be supposed not willing to interfere again in matters of +political concern. He has, nevertheless, not withholden his opinions on +the vital question discussed on that occasion, which has caused this +meeting. He has stated, with an accuracy almost peculiar to himself, +and so stated as, in my opinion, to place almost beyond further +controversy, the true doctrines of the Constitution. He has stated, not +notions too loose and irregular to be called even a theory, not ideas +struck out by the feeling of present inconvenience or supposed +mal-administration, not suggestions of expediency, or evasions of +fair and straightforward construction, but elementary principles, +clear and sound distinctions, and indisputable truths. I am sure, +Gentlemen, that I speak your sentiments, as well as my own, when I +say, that, for making public so clearly and distinctly as he has done +his own opinions on these vial questions of constitutional law, Mr. +Madison has founded a new and strong claim on the gratitude of a +grateful country. You will think, with me, that, at his advanced age, +and in the enjoyment of general respect and approbation for a long +career of public services, it was an act of distinguished patriotism, +when he saw notions promulgated and maintained which he deemed unsound +and dangerous, not to hesitate to come forward and to place the +weight of his own opinion in what he deemed the right scale, come +what come might. I am sure, Gentlemen, it cannot be doubted,--the +manifestation is clear,--that the country feels deeply the force of +this new obligation.[91] + +Gentlemen, what I have said of the benefits of the Constitution to your +city might be said, with little change, in respect to every other part +of the country. Its benefits are not exclusive. What has it left undone, +which any government could do, for the whole country? In what condition +has it placed us? Where do we now stand? Are we elevated, or degraded, +by its operation? What is our condition under its influence, at the very +moment when some talk of arresting its power and breaking its unity? Do +we not feel ourselves on an eminence? Do we not challenge the respect of +the whole world? What has placed us thus high? What has given us this +just pride? What else is it, but the unrestrained and free operation of +that same Federal Constitution, which it has been proposed now to +hamper, and manacle, and nullify? Who is there among us, that, should he +find himself on any spot of the earth where human beings exist, and +where the existence of other nations is known, would not be proud to +say, I am an American? I am a countryman of Washington? I am a citizen +of that republic, which, although it has suddenly sprung up, yet there +are none on the globe who have ears to hear, and have not heard of it; +who have eyes to see, and have not read of it; who know any thing, and +yet do not know of its existence and its glory? And, Gentlemen, let me +now reverse the picture. Let me ask, who there is among us, if he were +to be found to-morrow in one of the civilized countries of Europe, and +were there to learn that this goodly form of government had been +overthrown, that the United States were no longer united, that a +death-blow had been struck upon their bond of union, that they +themselves had destroyed their chief good and their chief honor,--who is +there whose heart would not sink within him? Who is there who would not +cover his face for very shame? + +At this very moment, Gentlemen, our country is a general refuge for the +distressed and the persecuted of other nations. Whoever is in affliction +from political occurrences in his own country looks here for shelter. +Whether he be republican, flying from the oppression of thrones, or +whether he be monarch or monarchist, flying from thrones that crumble +and fall under or around him, he feels equal assurance, that, if he get +foothold on our soil, his person will be safe, and his rights will be +respected. + +And who will venture to say, that, in any government now existing in the +world, there is greater security for persons or property than in that of +the United States? We have tried these popular institutions in times of +great excitement and commotion, and they have stood, substantially, firm +and steady, while the fountains of the great political deep have been +elsewhere broken up; while thrones, resting on ages of prescription, +have tottered and fallen; and while, in other countries, the earthquake +of unrestrained popular commotion has swallowed up all law, and all +liberty, and all right together. Our government has been tried in peace, +and it has been tried in war, and has proved itself fit for both. It has +been assailed from without, and it has successfully resisted the shock; +it has been disturbed within, and it has effectually quieted the +disturbance. It can stand trial, it can stand assault, it can stand +adversity, it can stand every thing, but the marring of its own beauty, +and the weakening of its own strength. It can stand every thing but the +effects of our own rashness and our own folly. It can stand every thing +but disorganization, disunion, and nullification. + +It is a striking fact, and as true as it is striking, that at this very +moment, among all the principal civilized states of the world, _that_ +government is most secure against the danger of popular commotion which +is itself entirely popular. It seems, indeed, that the submission of +every thing to the public will, under constitutional restraints, imposed +by the people themselves, furnishes itself security that they will +desire nothing wrong. + +Certain it is, that popular, constitutional liberty, as we enjoy it, +appears, in the present state of the world, as sure and stable a basis +for government to rest upon, as any government of enlightened states can +find, or does find. Certain it is, that, in these times of so much +popular knowledge, and so much popular activity, those governments which +do not admit the people to partake in their administration, but keep +them under and beneath, sit on materials for an explosion, which may +take place at any moment, and blow them into a thousand atoms. + +Gentlemen, let any man who would degrade and enfeeble the national +Constitution, let any man who would nullify its laws, stand forth and +tell us what he would wish. What does he propose? Whatever he may be, +and whatever substitute he may hold forth, I am sure the people of this +country will decline his kind interference, and hold on by the +Constitution which they possess. Any one who would willingly destroy it, +I rejoice to know, would be looked upon with abhorrence. It is deeply +intrenched in the regards of the people. Doubtless it may be undermined +by artful and long-continued hostility; it may be imperceptibly weakened +by secret attack; it may be insidiously shorn of its powers by slow +degrees; the public vigilance may be lulled, and when it awakes, it may +find the Constitution frittered away. In these modes, or some of them, +it is possible that the union of the States may be dissolved. + +But if the general attention of the people be kept alive, if they see +the intended mischief before it is effected, they will prevent it by +their own sovereign power. They will interpose themselves between the +meditated blow and the object of their regard and attachment. Next to +the controlling authority of the people themselves, the preservation of +the government is mainly committed to those who administer it. If +conducted in wisdom, it cannot but stand strong. Its genuine, original +spirit is a patriotic, liberal, and generous spirit; a spirit of +conciliation, of moderation, of candor, and charity; a spirit of +friendship, and not a spirit of hostility toward the States; a spirit +careful not to exceed, and equally careful not to relinquish, its just +powers. While no interest can or ought to feel itself shut out from the +benefits of the Constitution, none should consider those benefits as +exclusively its own. The interests of all must be consulted, and +reconciled, and provided for, as far as possible, that all may perceive +the benefits of a united government. + +Among other things, we are to remember that new States have arisen, +possessing already an immense population, spreading and thickening over +vast regions which were a wilderness when the Constitution was adopted. +Those States are not, like New York, directly connected with maritime +commerce. They are entirely agricultural, and need markets for +consumption; and they need, too, access to those markets. It is the duty +of the government to bring the interests of these new States into the +Union, and incorporate them closely in the family compact. Gentlemen, it +is not impracticable to reconcile these various interests, and so to +administer the government as to make it useful to all. It was never +easier to administer the government than it is now. We are beset with +none, or with few, of its original difficulties; and it is a time of +great general prosperity and happiness. Shall we admit ourselves +incompetent to carry on the government, so as to be satisfactory to the +whole country? Shall we admit that there has so little descended to us +of the wisdom and prudence of our fathers? If the government could be +administered in Washington's time, when it was yet new, when the country +was heavily in debt, when foreign relations were in a threatening +condition, and when Indian wars pressed on the frontiers, can it not be +administered now? Let us not acknowledge ourselves so unequal to our +duties. + +Gentlemen, on the occasion referred to by the chair, it became necessary +to consider the judicial power, and its proper functions under the +Constitution. In every free and balanced government, this is a most +essential and important power. Indeed, I think it is a remark of Mr. +Hume, that the administration of justice seems to be the leading object +of institutions of government; that legislatures assemble, that armies +are embodied, that both war and peace are made, with a sort of ultimate +reference to the proper administration of laws, and the judicial +protection of private rights. The judicial power comes home to every +man. If the legislature passes incorrect or unjust general laws, its +members bear the evil as well as others. But judicature acts on +individuals. It touches every private right, every private interest, and +almost every private feeling. What we possess is hardly fit to be called +our own, unless we feel secure in its possession; and this security, +this feeling of perfect safety, cannot exist under a wicked, or even +under a weak and ignorant, administration of the laws. There is no +happiness, there is no liberty, there is no enjoyment of life, unless a +man can say when he rises in the morning, I shall be subject to the +decision of no unjust judge to-day. + +But, Gentlemen, the judicial department, under the Constitution of the +United States, possesses still higher duties. It is true, that it may be +called on, and is occasionally called on, to decide questions which are, +in one sense, of a political nature. The general and State governments, +both established by the people, are established for different purposes, +and with different powers. Between those powers questions may arise; and +who shall decide them? Some provision for this end is absolutely +necessary. What shall it be? This was the question before the +Convention; and various schemes were suggested. It was foreseen that the +States might inadvertently pass laws inconsistent with the Constitution +of the United States, or with acts of Congress. At least, laws might be +passed which would be charged with such inconsistency. How should these +questions be disposed of? Where shall the power of judging, in cases of +alleged interference, be lodged? One suggestion in the Convention was, +to make it an executive power, and to lodge it in the hands of the +President, by requiring all State laws to be submitted to him, that he +might negative such as he thought appeared repugnant to the general +Constitution. This idea, perhaps, may have been borrowed from the power +exercised by the crown over the laws of the Colonies. It would evidently +have been, not only an inconvenient and troublesome proceeding, but +dangerous also to the powers of the States. It was not pressed. It was +thought wiser and safer, on the whole, to require State legislatures and +State judges to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United +States, and then leave the States at liberty to pass whatever laws they +pleased, and if interference, in point of fact, should arise, to refer +the question to judicial decision. To this end, the judicial power, +under the Constitution of the United States, was made coextensive with +the legislative power. It was extended to all cases arising under the +Constitution and the laws of Congress. The judiciary became thus +possessed of the authority of deciding, in the last resort, in all cases +of alleged interference, between State laws and the Constitution and +laws of Congress. + +Gentlemen, this is the actual Constitution, this is the law of the land. +There may be those who think it unnecessary, or who would prefer a +different mode of deciding such questions. But this is the established +mode, and, till it be altered, the courts can no more decline their duty +on these occasions than on other occasions. But can any reasonable man +doubt the expediency of this provision, or suggest a better? Is it not +absolutely essential to the peace of the country that this power should +exist somewhere? Where can it exist, better than where it now does +exist? The national judiciary is the common tribunal of the whole +country. It is organized by the common authority, and its places filled +by the common agent. This is a plain and practical provision. It was +framed by no bunglers, nor by any wild theorists. And who can say that +it has failed? Who can find substantial fault with its operation or its +results? The great question is, whether we shall provide for the +peaceable decision of cases of collision. Shall they be decided by law, +or by force? Shall the decisions be decisions of peace, or decisions of +war? + +On the occasion which has given rise to this meeting, the proposition +contended for in opposition to the doctrine just stated was, that every +State, under certain supposed exigencies, and in certain supposed cases, +might decide for itself, and act for itself, and oppose its own force to +the execution of the laws. By what argument, do you imagine, Gentlemen, +was such a proposition maintained? I should call it metaphysical and +subtle; but these terms would imply at least ingenuity, and some degree +of plausibility; whereas the argument appears to me plain assumption, +mere perverse construction of plain language in the body of the +Constitution itself. As I understand it, when put forth in its revised +and most authentic shape, it is this: that the Constitution provides +that any amendments may be made to it which shall be agreed to by three +fourths of the States; there is, therefore, to be nothing in the +Constitution to which three fourths of the States have not agreed. All +this is true; but then comes this inference, namely, that, when one +State denies the constitutionality of any law of Congress, she may +arrest its execution as to herself; and keep it arrested, till the +States can all be consulted by their conventions, and three fourths of +them shall have decided that the law is constitutional. Indeed, the +inference is still stranger than this; for State conventions have no +authority to construe the Constitution, though they have authority to +amend it; therefore the argument must prove, if it prove any thing, +that, when any one State denies that any particular power is included in +the Constitution, it is to be considered as not included, and cannot be +found there till three fourths of the States agree to insert it. In +short, the result of the whole is, that, though it requires three +fourths of the States to insert any thing in the Constitution, yet any +one State can strike any thing out of it. For the power to strike out, +and the power of deciding, without appeal, upon the construction of what +is already in, are substantially and practically the same. + +And, Gentlemen, what a spectacle should we have exhibited under the +actual operation of notions like these! At the very moment when our +government was quoted, praised, and commended all over the world, when +the friends of republican liberty everywhere were gazing at it with +delight, and were in perfect admiration at the harmony of its movements, +one State steps forth, and, by the power of nullification, breaks up the +whole system, and scatters the bright chain of the Union into as many +sundered links as there are separate States! + +Seeing the true grounds of the Constitution thus attacked, I raised my +voice in its favor, I must confess with no preparation or previous +intention. I can hardly say that I embarked in the contest from a sense +of duty. It was an instantaneous impulse of inclination, not acting +against duty, I trust, but hardly waiting for its suggestions. I felt it +to be a contest for the integrity of the Constitution, and I was ready +to enter into it, not thinking, or caring, personally, how I might come +out. + +Gentlemen, I have true pleasure in saying that I trust the crisis has in +some measure passed by. The doctrines of nullification have received a +severe and stern rebuke from public opinion. The general reprobation of +the country has been cast upon them. Recent expressions of the most +numerous branch of the national legislature are decisive and imposing. +Everywhere, the general tone of public feeling is for the Constitution. +While much will be yielded--every thing, almost, but the integrity of +the Constitution, and the essential interests of the country--to the +cause of mutual harmony and mutual conciliation, no ground can be +granted, not an inch, to menace and bluster. Indeed, menace and bluster, +and the putting forth of daring, unconstitutional doctrines, are, at +this very moment, the chief obstacles to mutual harmony and satisfactory +accommodation. Men cannot well reason, and confer, and take counsel +together, about the discreet exercise of a power, with those who deny +that any such power rightfully exists, and who threaten to blow up the +whole Constitution if they cannot otherwise get rid of its operation. +It is matter of sincere gratification, Gentlemen, that the voice of this +great State has been so clear and strong, and her vote all but +unanimous, on the most interesting of these occasions, in the House of +Representatives. Certainly, such respect to the Union becomes New York. +It is consistent with her interests and her character. That singularly +prosperous State, which now is, and is likely to continue to be, the +greatest link in the chain of the Union, will ever be, I am sure, the +strongest link also. The great States which lie in her neighborhood +agreed with her fully in this matter. Pennsylvania, I believe, was loyal +to the Union, to a man; and Ohio raises her voice, like that of a lion, +against whatsoever threatens disunion and dismemberment. This harmony of +sentiment is truly gratifying. It is not to be gainsaid, that the union +of opinion in this great central mass of our population, on this +momentous point of the Constitution, augurs well for our future +prosperity and security. + +I have said, Gentlemen, what I verily believe to be true, that there is +no danger to the Union from open and avowed attacks on its essential +principles. Nothing is to be feared from those who will march up boldly +to their own propositions, and tell us that they mean to annihilate +powers exercised by Congress. But, certainly, there are dangers to the +Constitution, and we ought not to shut our eyes to them. We know the +importance of a firm and intelligent judiciary; but how shall we secure +the continuance of a firm and intelligent judiciary? Gentlemen, the +judiciary is in the appointment of the executive power. It cannot +continue or renew itself. Its vacancies are to be filled in the ordinary +modes of executive appointment. If the time shall ever come (which +Heaven avert), when men shall be placed in the supreme tribunal of the +country, who entertain opinions hostile to the just powers of the +Constitution, we shall then be visited by an evil defying all remedy. +Our case will be past surgery. From that moment the Constitution is at +an end. If they who are appointed to defend the castle shall betray it, +woe betide those within! If I live to see that day come, I shall despair +of the country. I shall be prepared to give it back to all its former +afflictions, in the days of the Confederation. I know no security +against the possibility of this evil, but an awakened public vigilance. +I know no safety, but in that state of public opinion which shall lead +it to rebuke and put down every attempt, either to gratify party by +judicial appointments, or to dilute the Constitution by creating a court +which shall construe away its provisions. If members of Congress betray +their trust, the people will find it out before they are ruined. If the +President should at any time violate his duty, his term of office is +short, and popular elections may supply a seasonable remedy. But the +judges of the Supreme Court possess, for very good reasons, an +independent tenure of office. No election reaches them. If, with this +tenure, they betray their trusts, Heaven save us! Let us hope for better +results. The past, certainly, may encourage us. Let us hope that we +shall never see the time when there shall exist such an awkward posture +of affairs, as that the government shall be found in opposition to the +Constitution, and when the guardians of the Union shall become its +betrayers. + + * * * * * + +Gentlemen, our country stands, at the present time, on commanding +ground. Older nations, with different systems of government, may be +somewhat slow to acknowledge all that justly belongs to us. But we may +feel without vanity, that America is doing her part in the great work of +improving human affairs. There are two principles, Gentlemen, strictly +and purely American, which are now likely to prevail throughout the +civilized world. Indeed, they seem the necessary result of the progress +of civilization and knowledge. These are, first, popular governments, +restrained by written constitutions; and, secondly, universal education. +Popular governments and general education, acting and reacting, mutually +producing and reproducing each other, are the mighty agencies which in +our days appear to be exciting, stimulating, and changing civilized +societies. Man, everywhere, is now found demanding a participation in +government,--and he will not be refused; and he demands knowledge as +necessary to self-government. On the basis of these two principles, +liberty and knowledge, our own American systems rest. Thus far we have +not been disappointed in their results. Our existing institutions, +raised on these foundations, have conferred on us almost unmixed +happiness. Do we hope to better our condition by change? When we shall +have nullified the present Constitution, what are we to receive in its +place? As fathers, do we wish for our children better government, or +better laws? As members of society, as lovers of our country, is there +any thing we can desire for it better than that, as ages and centuries +roll over it, it may possess the same invaluable institutions which it +now enjoys? For my part, Gentlemen, I can only say, that I desire to +thank the beneficent Author of all good for being born _where_ I was +born, and _when_ I was born; that the portion of human existence +allotted to me has been meted out to me in this goodly land, and at this +interesting period. I rejoice that I have lived to see so much +development of truth, so much progress of liberty, so much diffusion of +virtue and happiness. And, through good report and evil report, it will +be my consolation to be a citizen of a republic unequalled in the annals +of the world for the freedom of its institutions, its high prosperity, +and the prospects of good which yet lie before it. Our course, +Gentlemen, is onward, straight onward, and forward. Let us not turn to +the right hand, nor to the left. Our path is marked out for us, clear, +plain, bright, distinctly defined, like the milky way across the +heavens. If we are true to our country, in our day and generation, and +those who come after us shall be true to it also, assuredly, assuredly, +we shall elevate her to a pitch of prosperity and happiness, of honor +and power, never yet reached by any nation beneath the sun. + +Gentlemen, before I resume my seat, a highly gratifying duty remains +to be performed. In signifying your sentiments of regard, you have +kindly chosen to select as your organ for expressing them the +eminent person[92] near whom I stand. I feel, I cannot well say how +sensibly, the manner in which he has seen fit to speak on this +occasion. Gentlemen, if I may be supposed to have made any attainment +in the knowledge of constitutional law, he is among the masters in +whose schools I have been taught. You see near him a distinguished +magistrate,[93] long associated with him in judicial labors, which +have conferred lasting benefits and lasting character, not only on +the State, but on the whole country. Gentlemen, I acknowledge myself +much their debtor. While yet a youth, unknown, and with little +expectation of becoming known beyond a very limited circle, I have +passed days and nights, not of tedious, but of happy and gratified +labor, in the study of the judicature of the State of New York. I am +most happy to have this public opportunity of acknowledging the +obligation, and of repaying it as far as it can be repaid, by the poor +tribute of my profound regard, and the earnest expression of my +sincere respect. + +Gentlemen, I will no longer detain you than to propose a toast:-- + +The City of New York; herself the noblest eulogy on the Union of the +States. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [90] Address to the People of Great Britain. + + [91] The reference is to Mr. Madison's letter on the subject of + _Nullification_, in the North American Review, Vol. XXXI. p. + 537. + + [92] Chancellor Kent, the presiding officer. + + [93] Judge Spencer. + + + + +THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON.[94] + + On the 22d of February, 1832, being the centennial birthday of + GEORGE WASHINGTON, a number of gentlemen, members of Congress and + others, from different parts of the Union, united in commemorating + the occasion by a public dinner in the city of Washington. + + At the request of the Committee of Arrangements, Mr. Webster, then a + Senator from Massachusetts, occupied the chair. After the cloth was + removed, he addressed the company in the following manner: + + +I rise, Gentlemen, to propose to you the name of that great man, in +commemoration of whose birth, and in honor of whose character and +services, we are here assembled. + +I am sure that I express a sentiment common to every one present, when I +say that there is something more than ordinarily solemn and affecting in +this occasion. + +We are met to testify our regard for him whose name is intimately +blended with whatever belongs most essentially to the prosperity, the +liberty, the free institutions, and the renown of our country. That name +was of power to rally a nation, in the hour of thick-thronging public +disasters and calamities; that name shone, amid the storm of war, a +beacon light, to cheer and guide the country's friends; it flamed, too, +like a meteor, to repel her foes. That name, in the days of peace, was a +load-stone, attracting to itself a whole people's confidence, a whole +people's love, and the whole world's respect. That name, descending with +all time, spreading over the whole earth, and uttered in all the +languages belonging to the tribes and races of men, will for ever be +pronounced with affectionate gratitude by every one in whose breast +there shall arise an aspiration for human rights and human liberty. + +We perform this grateful duty, Gentlemen, at the expiration of a hundred +years from his birth, near the place, so cherished and beloved by him, +where his dust now reposes, and in the capital which bears his own +immortal name. + +All experience evinces that human sentiments are strongly influenced by +associations. The recurrence of anniversaries, or of longer periods of +time, naturally freshens the recollection, and deepens the impression, +of events with which they are historically connected. Renowned places, +also, have a power to awaken feeling, which all acknowledge. No American +can pass by the fields of Bunker Hill, Monmouth, and Camden, as if they +were ordinary spots on the earth's surface. Whoever visits them feels +the sentiment of love of country kindling anew, as if the spirit that +belonged to the transactions which have rendered these places +distinguished still hovered round, with power to move and excite all who +in future time may approach them. + +But neither of these sources of emotion equals the power with which +great moral examples affect the mind. When sublime virtues cease to be +abstractions, when they become embodied in human character, and +exemplified in human conduct, we should be false to our own nature, if +we did not indulge in the spontaneous effusions of our gratitude and our +admiration. A true lover of the virtue of patriotism delights to +contemplate its purest models; and that love of country may be well +suspected which affects to soar so high into the regions of sentiment as +to be lost and absorbed in the abstract feeling, and becomes too +elevated or too refined to glow with fervor in the commendation or the +love of individual benefactors. All this is unnatural. It is as if one +should be so enthusiastic a lover of poetry, as to care nothing for +Homer or Milton; so passionately attached to eloquence as to be +indifferent to Tully and Chatham; or such a devotee to the arts, in such +an ecstasy with the elements of beauty, proportion, and expression, as +to regard the masterpieces of Raphael and Michael Angelo with coldness +or contempt. We may be assured, Gentlemen, that he who really loves the +thing itself, loves its finest exhibitions. A true friend of his country +loves her friends and benefactors, and thinks it no degradation to +commend and commemorate them. The voluntary outpouring of the public +feeling, made to-day, from the North to the South, and from the East to +the West, proves this sentiment to be both just and natural. In the +cities and in the villages, in the public temples and in the family +circles, among all ages and sexes, gladdened voices to-day bespeak +grateful hearts and a freshened recollection of the virtues of the +Father of his Country. And it will be so, in all time to come, so long +as public virtue is itself an object of regard. The ingenuous youth of +America will hold up to themselves the bright model of Washington's +example, and study to be what they behold; they will contemplate his +character till all its virtues spread out and display themselves to +their delighted vision; as the earliest astronomers, the shepherds on +the plains of Babylon, gazed at the stars till they saw them form into +clusters and constellations, overpowering at length the eyes of the +beholders with the united blaze of a thousand lights. + +Gentlemen, we are at the point of a century from the birth of +Washington; and what a century it has been! During its course, the human +mind has seemed to proceed with a sort of geometric velocity, +accomplishing, for human intelligence and human freedom, more than had +been done in fives or tens of centuries preceding. Washington stands at +the commencement of a new era, as well as at the head of the New World. +A century from the birth of Washington has changed the world. The +country of Washington has been the theatre on which a great part of that +change has been wrought; and Washington himself a principal agent by +which it has been accomplished. His age and his country are equally full +of wonders; and of both he is the chief. + +If the poetical prediction, uttered a few years before his birth, be +true; if indeed it be designed by Providence that the grandest +exhibition of human character and human affairs shall be made on this +theatre of the Western world; if it be true that, + + "The four first acts already past, + A fifth shall close the drama of the day; + Time's noblest offspring is the last"; + +how could this imposing, swelling, final scene be appropriately opened, +how could its intense interest be adequately sustained, but by the +introduction of just such a character as our Washington? + +Washington had attained his manhood when that spark of liberty was +struck out in his own country, which has since kindled into a flame, and +shot its beams over the earth. In the flow of a century from his birth, +the world has changed in science, in arts, in the extent of commerce, in +the improvement of navigation, and in all that relates to the +civilization of man. But it is the spirit of human freedom, the new +elevation of individual man, in his moral, social, and political +character, leading the whole long train of other improvements, which has +most remarkably distinguished the era. Society, in this century, has not +made its progress, like Chinese skill, by a greater acuteness of +ingenuity in trifles; it has not merely lashed itself to an increased +speed round the old circles of thought and action; but it has assumed a +new character; it has raised itself from _beneath_ governments to a +participation _in_ governments; it has mixed moral and political objects +with the daily pursuits of individual men; and, with a freedom and +strength before altogether unknown, it has applied to these objects the +whole power of the human understanding. It has been the era, in short, +when the social principle has triumphed over the feudal principle; when +society has maintained its rights against military power, and +established, on foundations never hereafter to be shaken, its competency +to govern itself. + +It was the extraordinary fortune of Washington, that, having been +intrusted, in revolutionary times, with the supreme military command, +and having fulfilled that trust with equal renown for wisdom and for +valor, he should be placed at the head of the first government in +which an attempt was to be made on a large scale to rear the fabric of +social order on the basis of a written constitution and of a pure +representative principle. A government was to be established, +without a throne, without an aristocracy, without castes, orders, or +privileges; and this government, instead of being a democracy, existing +and acting within the walls of a single city, was to be extended over +a vast country, of different climates, interests, and habits, and of +various communions of our common Christian faith. The experiment +certainly was entirely new. A popular government of this extent, it +was evident, could be framed only by carrying into full effect the +principle of representation or of delegated power; and the world was to +see whether society could, by the strength of this principle, maintain +its own peace and good government, carry forward its own great +interests, and conduct itself to political renown and glory. By the +benignity of Providence, this experiment, so full of interest to us and +to our posterity for ever, so full of interest, indeed, to the world +in its present generation and in all its generations to come, was +suffered to commence under the guidance of Washington. Destined for this +high career, he was fitted for it by wisdom, by virtue, by patriotism, +by discretion, by whatever can inspire confidence in man toward man. +In entering on the untried scenes, early disappointment and the +premature extinction of all hope of success would have been certain, had +it not been that there did exist throughout the country, in a most +extraordinary degree, an unwavering trust in him who stood at the helm. + +I remarked, Gentlemen, that the whole world was and is interested in the +result of this experiment. And is it not so? Do we deceive ourselves, or +is it true that at this moment the career which this government is +running is among the most attractive objects to the civilized world? Do +we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at this moment that love of +liberty and that understanding of its true principles which are flying +over the whole earth, as on the wings of all the winds, are really and +truly of American origin? + +At the period of the birth of Washington, there existed in Europe no +political liberty in large communities, except in the provinces of +Holland, and except that England herself had set a great example, so far +as it went, by her glorious Revolution of 1688. Everywhere else, +despotic power was predominant, and the feudal or military principle +held the mass of mankind in hopeless bondage. One half of Europe was +crushed beneath the Bourbon sceptre, and no conception of political +liberty, no hope even of religious toleration, existed among that nation +which was America's first ally. The king was the state, the king was the +country, the king was all. There was one king, with power not derived +from his people, and too high to be questioned; and the rest were all +subjects, with no political right but obedience. All above was +intangible power, all below quiet subjection. A recent occurrence in the +French Chambers shows us how public opinion on these subjects is +changed. A minister had spoken of the "king's subjects." "There are no +subjects," exclaimed hundreds of voices at once, "in a country where the +people make the king!" + +Gentlemen, the spirit of human liberty and of free government, nurtured +and grown into strength and beauty in America, has stretched its course +into the midst of the nations. Like an emanation from Heaven, it has +gone forth, and it will not return void. It must change, it is fast +changing, the face of the earth. Our great, our high duty is to show, in +our own example, that this spirit is a spirit of health as well as a +spirit of power; that its benignity is as great as its strength; that +its efficiency to secure individual rights, social relations, and moral +order, is equal to the irresistible force with which it prostrates +principalities and powers. The world, at this moment, is regarding us +with a willing, but something of a fearful admiration. Its deep and +awful anxiety is to learn whether free states may be stable, as well as +free; whether popular power may be trusted, as well as feared; in short, +whether wise, regular, and virtuous self-government is a vision for the +contemplation of theorists, or a truth established, illustrated, and +brought into practice in the country of Washington. + +Gentlemen, for the earth which we inhabit, and the whole circle of the +sun, for all the unborn races of mankind, we seem to hold in our hands, +for their weal or woe, the fate of this experiment. If we fail, who +shall venture the repetition? If our example shall prove to be one, not +of encouragement, but of terror, not fit to be imitated, but fit only to +be shunned, where else shall the world look for free models? If this +great _Western Sun_ be struck out of the firmament, at what other +fountain shall the lamp of liberty hereafter be lighted? What other orb +shall emit a ray to glimmer, even, on the darkness of the world? + +There is no danger of our overrating or overstating the important part +which we are now acting in human affairs. It should not flatter our +personal self-respect, but it should reanimate our patriotic virtues, +and inspire us with a deeper and more solemn sense, both of our +privileges and of our duties. We cannot wish better for our country, nor +for the world, than that the same spirit which influenced Washington may +influence all who succeed him; and that the same blessing from above, +which attended his efforts, may also attend theirs. + +The principles of Washington's administration are not left doubtful. +They are to be found in the Constitution itself, in the great measures +recommended and approved by him, in his speeches to Congress, and in +that most interesting paper, his Farewell Address to the People of the +United States. The success of the government under his administration is +the highest proof of the soundness of these principles. And, after an +experience of thirty-five years, what is there which an enemy could +condemn? What is there which either his friends, or the friends of the +country, could wish to have been otherwise? I speak, of course, of great +measures and leading principles. + +In the first place, all his measures were right in their intent. He +stated the whole basis of his own great character, when he told the +country, in the homely phrase of the proverb, that honesty is the best +policy. One of the most striking things ever said of him is, that "_he +changed mankind's ideas of political greatness_."[95] To commanding +talents, and to success, the common elements of such greatness, he added +a disregard of self, a spotlessness of motive, a steady submission to +every public and private duty, which threw far into the shade the whole +crowd of vulgar great. The object of his regard was the whole country. +No part of it was enough to fill his enlarged patriotism. His love of +glory, so far as that may be supposed to have influenced him at all, +spurned every thing short of general approbation. It would have been +nothing to him, that his partisans or his favorites outnumbered, or +outvoted, or outmanaged, or outclamored, those of other leaders. He had +no favorites; he rejected all partisanship; and, acting honestly for the +universal good, he deserved, what he has so richly enjoyed, the +universal love. + +His principle it was to act right, and to trust the people for support; +his principle it was not to follow the lead of sinister and selfish +ends, nor to rely on the little arts of party delusion to obtain public +sanction for such a course. Born for his country and for the world, he +did not give up to party what was meant for mankind. The consequence is, +that his fame is as durable as his principles, as lasting as truth and +virtue themselves. While the hundreds whom party excitement, and +temporary circumstances, and casual combinations, have raised into +transient notoriety, sink again, like thin bubbles, bursting and +dissolving into the great ocean, Washington's fame is like the rock +which bounds that ocean, and at whose feet its billows are destined to +break harmlessly for ever. + +The maxims upon which Washington conducted our foreign relations +were few and simple. The first was an entire and indisputable +impartiality towards foreign states. He adhered to this rule of +public conduct, against very strong inducements to depart from it, and +when the popularity of the moment seemed to favor such a departure. In +the next place, he maintained true dignity and unsullied honor in all +communications with foreign states. It was among the high duties +devolved upon him, to introduce our new government into the circle of +civilized states and powerful nations. Not arrogant or assuming, with +no unbecoming or supercilious bearing, he yet exacted for it from all +others entire and punctilious respect. He demanded, and he obtained at +once, a standing of perfect equality for his country in the society +of nations; nor was there a prince or potentate of his day, whose +personal character carried with it, into the intercourse of other +states, a greater degree of respect and veneration. + +He regarded other nations only as they stood in political relations +to us. With their internal affairs, their political parties and +dissensions, he scrupulously abstained from all interference; and, on +the other hand, he repelled with spirit all such interference by others +with us or our concerns. His sternest rebuke, the most indignant +measure of his whole administration, was aimed against such an +attempted interference. He felt it as an attempt to wound the national +honor, and resented it accordingly. + +The reiterated admonitions in his Farewell Address show his deep fears +that foreign influence would insinuate itself into our counsels through +the channels of domestic dissension, and obtain a sympathy with our own +temporary parties. Against all such dangers, he most earnestly entreats +the country to guard itself. He appeals to its patriotism, to its +self-respect, to its own honor, to every consideration connected with +its welfare and happiness, to resist, at the very beginning, all +tendencies towards such connection of foreign interests with our own +affairs. With a tone of earnestness nowhere else found, even in his last +affectionate farewell advice to his countrymen, he says, "Against the +insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, +fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be _constantly_ +awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one +of the most baneful foes of republican government." + +Lastly, on the subject of foreign relations, Washington never forgot +that we had interests peculiar to ourselves. The primary political +concerns of Europe, he saw, did not affect us. We had nothing to do with +her balance of power, her family compacts, or her successions to +thrones. We were placed in a condition favorable to neutrality during +European wars, and to the enjoyment of all the great advantages of that +relation. "Why, then," he asks us, "why forego the advantages of so +peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? +Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, +entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, +rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?" + +Indeed, Gentlemen, Washington's Farewell Address is full of truths +important at all times, and particularly deserving consideration at the +present. With a sagacity which brought the future before him, and made +it like the present, he saw and pointed out the dangers that even at +this moment most imminently threaten us. I hardly know how a greater +service of that kind could now be done to the community, than by a +renewed and wide diffusion of that admirable paper, and an earnest +invitation to every man in the country to reperuse and consider it. Its +political maxims are invaluable; its exhortations to love of country and +to brotherly affection among citizens, touching; and the solemnity with +which it urges the observance of moral duties, and impresses the power +of religious obligation, gives to it the highest character of truly +disinterested, sincere, parental advice. + +The domestic policy of Washington found its pole-star in the avowed +objects of the Constitution itself. He sought so to administer that +Constitution, as to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure +domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the +general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. These were objects +interesting, in the highest degree, to the whole country, and his policy +embraced the whole country. + +Among his earliest and most important duties was the organization of the +government itself, the choice of his confidential advisers, and the +various appointments to office. This duty, so important and delicate, +when a whole government was to be organized, and all its offices for the +first time filled, was yet not difficult to him; for he had no sinister +ends to accomplish, no clamorous partisans to gratify, no pledges to +redeem, no object to be regarded but simply the public good. It was a +plain, straightforward matter, a mere honest choice of good men for the +public service. + +His own singleness of purpose, his disinterested patriotism, were +evinced by the selection of his first cabinet, and by the manner in +which he filled the seats of justice, and other places of high trust. He +sought for men fit for offices; not for offices which might suit men. +Above personal considerations, above local considerations, above party +considerations, he felt that he could only discharge the sacred trust +which the country had placed in his hands, by a diligent inquiry after +real merit, and a conscientious preference of virtue and talent. The +whole country was the field of his selection. He explored that whole +field, looking only for whatever it contained most worthy and +distinguished. He was, indeed, most successful, and he deserved success +for the purity of his motives, the liberality of his sentiments, and his +enlarged and manly policy. + +Washington's administration established the national credit, made +provision for the public debt, and for that patriotic army whose +interests and welfare were always so dear to him; and, by laws wisely +framed, and of admirable effect, raised the commerce and navigation of +the country, almost at once, from depression and ruin to a state of +prosperity. Nor were his eyes open to these interests alone. He viewed +with equal concern its agriculture and manufactures, and, so far as they +came within the regular exercise of the powers of this government, they +experienced regard and favor. + +It should not be omitted, even in this slight reference to the general +measures and general principles of the first President, that he saw and +felt the full value and importance of the judicial department of the +government. An upright and able administration of the laws he held to be +alike indispensable to private happiness and public liberty. The temple +of justice, in his opinion, was a sacred place, and he would profane +and pollute it who should call any to minister in it, not spotless in +character, not incorruptible in integrity, not competent by talent and +learning, not a fit object of unhesitating trust. + +Among other admonitions, Washington has left us, in his last +communication to his country, an exhortation against the excesses of +party spirit. A fire not to be quenched, he yet conjures us not to fan +and feed the flame. Undoubtedly, Gentlemen, it is the greatest danger of +our system and of our time. Undoubtedly, if that system should be +overthrown, it will be the work of excessive party spirit, acting on the +government, which is dangerous enough, or acting _in_ the government, +which is a thousand times more dangerous; for government then becomes +nothing but organized party, and, in the strange vicissitudes of human +affairs, it may come at last, perhaps, to exhibit the singular paradox +of government itself being in opposition to its own powers, at war with +the very elements of its own existence. Such cases are hopeless. As men +may be protected against murder, but cannot be guarded against suicide, +so government may be shielded from the assaults of external foes, but +nothing can save it when it chooses to lay violent hands on itself. + +Finally, Gentlemen, there was in the breast of Washington one sentiment +so deeply felt, so constantly uppermost, that no proper occasion escaped +without its utterance. From the letter which he signed in behalf of the +Convention when the Constitution was sent out to the people, to the +moment when he put his hand to that last paper in which he addressed his +countrymen, the Union,--the Union was the great object of his thoughts. +In that first letter he tells them that, to him and his brethren of the +Convention, union appears to be the greatest interest of every true +American; and in that last paper he conjures them to regard that unity +of government which constitutes them one people as the very palladium of +their prosperity and safety, and the security of liberty itself. He +regarded the union of these States less as one of our blessings, than as +the great treasure-house which contained them all. Here, in his +judgment, was the great magazine of all our means of prosperity; here, +as he thought, and as every true American still thinks, are deposited +all our animating prospects, all our solid hopes for future greatness. +He has taught us to maintain this union, not by seeking to enlarge the +powers of the government, on the one hand, nor by surrendering them, on +the other; but by an administration of them at once firm and moderate, +pursuing objects truly national, and carried on in a spirit of justice +and equity. + +The extreme solicitude for the preservation of the Union, at all times +manifested by him, shows not only the opinion he entertained of its +importance, but his clear perception of those causes which were likely +to spring up to endanger it, and which, if once they should overthrow +the present system, would leave little hope of any future beneficial +reunion. Of all the presumptions indulged by presumptuous man, that is +one of the rashest which looks for repeated and favorable opportunities +for the deliberate establishment of a united government over distinct +and widely extended communities. Such a thing has happened once in human +affairs, and but once; the event stands out as a prominent exception to +all ordinary history; and unless we suppose ourselves running into an +age of miracles, we may not expect its repetition. + +Washington, therefore, could regard, and did regard, nothing as of +paramount political interest, but the integrity of the Union itself. +With a united government, well administered, he saw that we had nothing +to fear; and without it, nothing to hope. The sentiment is just, and its +momentous truth should solemnly impress the whole country. If we might +regard our country as personated in the spirit of Washington, if we +might consider him as representing her, in her past renown, her present +prosperity, and her future career, and as in that character demanding of +us all to account for our conduct, as political men or as private +citizens, how should he answer him who has ventured to talk of disunion +and dismemberment? Or how should he answer him who dwells perpetually on +local interests, and fans every kindling flame of local prejudice? How +should he answer him who would array State against State, interest +against interest, and party against party, careless of the continuance +of that _unity of government which constitutes us one people_? + +The political prosperity which this country has attained, and which it +now enjoys, has been acquired mainly through the instrumentality of the +present government. While this agent continues, the capacity of +attaining to still higher degrees of prosperity exists also. We have, +while this lasts, a political life capable of beneficial exertion, with +power to resist or overcome misfortunes, to sustain us against the +ordinary accidents of human affairs, and to promote, by active efforts, +every public interest. But dismemberment strikes at the very being which +preserves these faculties. It would lay its rude and ruthless hand on +this great agent itself. It would sweep away, not only what we possess, +but all power of regaining lost, or acquiring new possessions. It would +leave the country, not only bereft of its prosperity and happiness, but +without limbs, or organs, or faculties, by which to exert itself +hereafter in the pursuit of that prosperity and happiness. + +Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. If +disastrous war should sweep our commerce from the ocean, another +generation may renew it; if it exhaust our treasury, future industry +may replenish it; if it desolate and lay waste our fields, still, +under a new cultivation, they will grow green again, and ripen to +future harvests. It were but a trifle even if the walls of yonder +Capitol were to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its +gorgeous decorations be all covered by the dust of the valley. All +these might be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric of +demolished government? Who shall rear again the well-proportioned +columns of constitutional liberty? Who shall frame together the +skilful architecture which unites national sovereignty with State +rights, individual security, and public prosperity? No, if these +columns fall, they will be raised not again. Like the Coliseum and +the Parthenon, they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy +immortality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them, than were +ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art; for they will be +the remnants of a more glorious edifice than Greece or Rome ever saw, +the edifice of constitutional American liberty. + +But let us hope for better things. Let us trust in that gracious Being +who has hitherto held our country as in the hollow of his hand. Let us +trust to the virtue and the intelligence of the people, and to the +efficacy of religious obligation. Let us trust to the influence of +Washington's example. Let us hope that that fear of Heaven which expels +all other fear, and that regard to duty which transcends all other +regard, may influence public men and private citizens, and lead our +country still onward in her happy career. Full of these gratifying +anticipations and hopes, let us look forward to the end of that century +which is now commenced. A hundred years hence, other disciples of +Washington will celebrate his birth, with no less of sincere admiration +than we now commemorate it. When they shall meet, as we now meet, to do +themselves and him that honor, so surely as they shall see the blue +summits of his native mountains rise in the horizon, so surely as they +shall behold the river on whose banks he lived, and on whose banks he +rests, still flowing on toward the sea, so surely may they see, as we +now see, the flag of the Union floating on the top of the Capitol; and +then, as now, may the sun in his course visit no land more free, more +happy, more lovely, than this our own country! + +Gentlemen, I propose--"THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON." + + * * * * * + +From the excellent speeches delivered by gentlemen on this interesting +occasion, we cannot refrain from selecting for this publication, though +a little out of place, the appropriate, just, and classic remarks of Mr. +Robbins. + +Mr. Webster having retired, Mr. Chambers, being in the chair, called +upon Mr. Robbins of Rhode Island; when Mr. Senator ROBBINS of that State +addressed the company as follows:-- + + * * * * * + +"GENTLEMEN,--I beg leave to offer a sentiment; but first, with your +indulgence, will offer a few remarks, not inappropriate, I hope, to the +occasion. + +"It is the peculiar good fortune of this country to have given birth to +a citizen, whose name everywhere produces a sentiment of regard for his +country itself. In other countries, whenever or wherever this is spoken +of to be praised, and with the highest praise, it is called the country +of Washington. I believe there is no people, civilized or savage, in any +place, however remote, where the name of Washington has not been heard, +and where it is not repeated with the fondest admiration. We are told, +that the Arab of the desert talks of Washington in his tent, and that +his name is familiar to the wandering Scythian. He seems, indeed, to be +the delight of human kind, as their beau ideal of human nature. 'Nil +oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes.' + +"No American, in any part of the world, but has found the regard +for himself increased by his connection with Washington, as his +fellow-countryman; and who has not felt a pride, and had occasion to +exult, in the fortunate connection? + +"Half a century and more has now passed away since he came upon the +stage, and his fame first broke upon the world; for it broke like the +blaze of day from the rising sun,--almost as sudden, and seemingly as +universal. The eventful period since that era has teemed with great men, +who have crossed the scene and passed off. Some of them have arrested +great attention, very great; still Washington retains his preeminent +place in the minds of men, still his peerless name is cherished by them +in the same freshness of delight as in the morn of its glory. + +"History will keep her record of his fame; but history is not necessary +to perpetuate it. In regions where history is not read, where letters +are unknown, it lives, and will go down from age to age, in all future +time, in their traditionary lore. + +"Who would exchange this fame, the common inheritance of our country, +for the fame of any individual which any country of any time can boast? +I would not; with my sentiments, I could not. + +"I recollect the first time I ever saw Washington: indeed, it is +impossible I should forget it, or recollect it without the liveliest +emotion. I was then a child at school. The school was dismissed, and we +were told, that General Washington was expected in town that day, on his +way to Cambridge, to take command of the American army. We, the +children, were permitted to mingle with the people, who had assembled in +mass to see him. I did see him; I riveted my eyes upon him; I could now, +were I master of the pencil, delineate with exact truth his form and +features, and every particular of his costume: so vivid are my +recollections. I can never forget the feelings his sublime presence +inspired. How often, afterwards, when I came, in my studies, to learn +them, have I repeated and applied, as expressive of that feeling, these +lines,-- + + "Quem sese ore ferens! quam forti pectore et armis! + Credo equidem, nec vana fides, genus esse Deorum." + +He did seem to me more than mortal. It is true this was young and +ignorant enthusiasm; but, though young and ignorant, it was not false; +it was enthusiasm, which my riper judgment has always recognized as +just; it was but the anticipated sentiment of the whole human kind. + +"I now beg leave to offer this sentiment:-- + +"The written legacy of Washington to his countrymen,--a code of politics +by which, and by which alone, as he believed, their union and their +liberties can be made immortal." + + * * * * * + + +FOOTNOTES + + [94] A Speech delivered at a Public Dinner in Honor of the Centennial + Birthday of Washington, on the 22d of February, 1832. + + [95] See Works of Fisher Ames, pp. 122, 123. + + + + +NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION AT WORCESTER.[96] + + +Mr. President,--I offer no apology for addressing the meeting. Holding, +by the favor of the people of this Commonwealth, an important public +situation, I deem it no less than a part of my duty, at this interesting +moment, to make known my opinions on the state of public affairs, and, +however I may have performed other duties, this, at least, it is my +purpose, on the present occasion, fully to discharge. Not intending to +comment at length on all the subjects which now attract public +attention, nor to discuss any thing in detail, I wish, nevertheless, +before an assembly so large and respectable as the present, and through +them before the whole people of the State, to lay open, without reserve, +my own sentiments, hopes, and fears respecting the state and the +prospects of our common country. + +The resolutions which have been read from the chair express the opinion, +that the public good requires an effectual change, in the administration +of the general government, both of measures and of men. In this opinion +I heartily concur. + +Mr. President, there is no citizen of the State, who, in principle and +by habitual sentiment, is less disposed than myself to general +opposition to government, or less desirous of frequent changes in its +administration. I entertain this feeling strongly, and at all times, +towards the government of the United States; because I have ever +regarded the Federal Constitution as a frame of government so peculiar, +and so delicate in its relations to the State governments, that it might +be in danger of overthrow, as well from an indiscriminate and wanton +opposition, as from a weak or a wicked administration. But a case may +arise in which the government is no longer safe in the hands to which it +has been intrusted. It may come to be a question, not so much in what +particular manner, or according to what particular political opinions, +the government shall be administered, as whether the Constitution itself +shall be preserved and maintained. Now, Sir, in my judgment, just such a +case and just such a question are at this moment before the American +people. Entertaining this sentiment, and thoroughly and entirely +convinced of its truth, I wish, as far as my humble power extends, to +produce in the people a more earnest attention to their public concerns. +With the people, and the people alone, lies any remedy for the past or +any security for the future. No delegated power is equal to the exigency +of the present crisis. No public servants, however able or faithful, +have ability to check or to stop the fearful tendency of things. It is a +case for sovereign interposition. The rescue, if it come at all, must +come from that power which no other on earth can resist. I earnestly +wish, therefore, unimportant as my own opinions may be, and entitled, as +I know they are, to no considerable regard, yet, since they are honest +and sincere, and since they respect nothing less than dangers which +appear to me to threaten the government and Constitution of the country, +I fervently wish that I could now make them known, not only to this +meeting and to this State, but to every man in the Union. I take the +hazard of the reputation of an alarmist; I cheerfully submit to the +imputation of over-excited apprehension; I discard all fear of the cry +of false prophecy, and I declare, that, in my judgment, not only the +great interests of the country, but the Constitution itself, are in +imminent peril, and that nothing can save either the one or the other +but that voice which has authority to say to the evils of misrule and +misgovernment, "Hitherto shall ye come, but no further." + +It is true, Sir, that it is the natural effect of a good constitution to +protect the people. But who shall protect the constitution? Who shall +guard the guardian? What arm but the mighty arm of the people itself is +able, in a popular government, to uphold public institutions? The +constitution itself is but the creature of the public will; and in every +crisis which threatens it, it must owe its security to the same power to +which it owes its origin. + +The appeal, therefore, is to the people; not to party nor to partisans, +not to professed politicians, not to those who have an interest in +office and place greater than their stake in the country, but to the +people, and the whole people; to those who, in regard to political +affairs, have no wish but for a good government, and who have power to +accomplish their own wishes. + + * * * * * + +Mr. President, are the principles and leading measures of the +administration hostile to the great interests of the country? + +Are they dangerous to the Constitution, and to the union of the States? + +Is there any prospect of a beneficial change of principles and measures, +without a change of men? + +Is there reasonable ground to hope for such a change of men? + +On these several questions, I desire to state my own convictions fully, +though as briefly as possible. + + * * * * * + +As government is intended to be a practical institution, if it be wisely +formed, the first and most natural test of its administration is the +effect produced by it. Let us look, then, to the actual state of our +affairs. Is it such as should follow a good administration of a good +constitution? + +Sir, we see one State openly threatening to arrest the execution of the +revenue laws of the Union, by acts of her own. This proceeding is +threatened, not by irresponsible persons, but by those who fill her +chief places of power and trust. + +In another State, free citizens of the country are imprisoned, and held +in prison, in defiance of a judgment of the Supreme Court, pronounced +for their deliverance. Immured in a dungeon, marked and patched as +subjects of penitentiary punishment, these free citizens pass their days +in counting the slow-revolving hours of their miserable, captivity, and +their nights in feverish and delusive dreams of their own homes and +their own families; while the Constitution stands adjudged to be +violated, a law of Congress is effectually repealed by the act of a +State, and a judgment of deliverance by the Supreme Court is set a +naught and contemned.[97] + +Treaties, importing the most solemn and sacred obligations, are denied +to have binding force. + +A feeling that there is great insecurity for property, and the stability +of the means of living, extensively prevails. + +The whole subject of the tariff, acted on for the moment, is at the same +moment declared not to be at rest, but liable to be again moved, and +with greater effect, just so soon as power for that purpose shall be +obtained. + +The currency of the country, hitherto safe, sound, and universally +satisfactory, is threatened with a violent change; and an embarrassment +in pecuniary affairs, equally distressing and unnecessary, hangs over +all the trading and active classes of society. + +A long-used and long-approved legislative instrument for the collection +of revenue, well secured against abuse, and always responsible to +Congress and to the laws, is denied further existence; and its place is +proposed to be supplied by a new branch of the executive department, +with a money power controlled and conducted solely by executive agency. + +The power of the VETO is exercised, not as an extraordinary, but as an +ordinary power; as a common mode of defeating acts of Congress not +acceptable to the executive. We hear, one day, that the President needs +the advice of no cabinet; that a few secretaries, or clerks, are enough +for him. The next, we are informed that the Supreme Court is but an +obstacle to the popular will, and the whole judicial department but an +encumbrance to government. And while, on one side, the judicial power is +thus derided and denounced, on the other arises the cry, "Cut down the +Senate!" and over the whole, at the same time, prevails the loud avowal, +shouted with all the lungs of conscious party strength and party +triumph, that the spoils of the enemy belong to the victors. This +condition of things, Sir, this general and obvious aspect of affairs, is +the result of three years' administration, such as the country has +experienced. + +But, not resting on this general view of results, let me inquire what +the principles and policy of the administration are, on the leading +interests of the country, subordinate to the Constitution itself. And +first, what are its principles, and what its policy, respecting the +tariff? Is this great question settled, or unsettled? And is the present +administration for, or against, the tariff? + +Sir, the question is wholly unsettled, and the principles of the +administration, according to its most recent avowal of those +principles, are adverse to the protective policy, decidedly hostile to +the whole system, root and branch; and this on permanent and alleged +constitutional grounds. + +In the first place, nothing has been done to settle the tariff question. +The anti-tariff members of Congress who voted for the late law have, +none of them, said they would adhere to it. On the contrary, they +supported it, because, as far as it went, it was reduction, and that was +what they wished; and if they obtained this degree of reduction now, it +would be easier to obtain a greater degree hereafter; and they frankly +declared, that their intent and purpose was to insist on reduction, and +to pursue reduction, unremittingly, till all duties on imports should be +brought down to one general and equal percentage, and that regulated by +the mere wants of the revenue; or, if different rates of duty should +remain on different articles, still, that the whole should be laid for +revenue, and revenue only; and that they would, to the utmost of their +power, push this course, till protection by duties, as a special object +of national policy, should be abandoned altogether in the national +councils. It is a delusion, therefore, Sir, to imagine that the present +tariff stands, safely, on conceded ground. It covers not an inch that +has not been fought for, and must not be again fought for. It stands +while its friends can protect it, and not an hour longer. + +In the next place, in that compend of executive opinion contained in the +veto message, the whole principle of the protective policy is plainly +and pointedly denounced. + +Having gone through its argument against the bank charter, as it now +exists, and as it has existed, either under the present or a former law, +for near forty years, and having added to the well-doubted logic of that +argument the still more doubtful aid of a large array of opprobrious +epithets, the message, in unveiled allusion to the protective policy of +the country, holds this language:-- + + "Most of the difficulties our government now encounters, and most of + the dangers which impend over our Union, have sprung from an + abandonment of the legitimate objects of government by our national + legislation, and the adoption of such principles as are embodied in + this act. Many of our rich men have not been content with equal + protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to make them + richer by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify their desires, + we have, in the results of our legislation, arrayed section against + section, interest against interest, and man against man, in a + fearful commotion which threatens to shake the foundations of our + Union. It is time to pause in our career, to review our principles, + and, if possible, revive that devoted patriotism and spirit of + compromise which distinguished the sages of the Revolution and the + fathers of our Union. If we cannot at once, in justice to interests + vested under improvident legislation, make our government what it + ought to be, we can at least take a stand against all new grants of + monopolies and exclusive privileges, against any prostitution of our + government to the advancement of the few at the expense of the many, + and in favor of compromise and gradual reform in our code of laws + and system of political economy." + +Here, then, we have the whole creed. Our national legislature has +abandoned the legitimate objects of government. It has adopted such +principles as are embodied in the bank charter; and these principles are +elsewhere called objectionable, odious, and unconstitutional. All this +has been done, because rich men have besought the government to render +them richer by acts of Congress. It is time to pause in our career. It +is time _to review these principles_. And if we cannot at once MAKE OUR +GOVERNMENT WHAT IT OUGHT TO BE, we can, at least, take a stand against +new grants of power and privilege. + +The plain meaning of all this is, that our protecting laws are founded +in an abandonment of the legitimate objects of government; that this is +the great source of our difficulties; that it is time to stop in our +career, to review the principles of these laws, and, as soon as we can, +MAKE OUR GOVERNMENT WHAT IT OUGHT TO BE. + +No one can question, Mr. President, that these paragraphs, from the last +official publication of the President, show that, _in his opinion, the +tariff, as a system designed for protection, is not only impolitic, but +unconstitutional also_. They are quite incapable of any other version or +interpretation. They defy all explanation, and all glosses. + +Sir, however we may differ from the principles or the policy of the +administration, it would, nevertheless, somewhat satisfy our pride of +country, if we could ascribe to it the character of consistency. It +would be grateful if we could contemplate the President of the United +States as an identical idea. But even this secondary pleasure is denied +to us. In looking to the published records of executive opinions, +sentiments favorable to protection and sentiments against protection +either come confusedly before us, at the same moment, or else follow +each other in rapid succession, like the shadows of a phantasmagoria. + +Having read an extract from the veto message, containing the statement +of _present opinions_, allow me to read another extract from the annual +message of 1830. It will be perceived, that in that message both the +clear constitutionality of the tariff laws, and their indispensable +policy, are maintained in the fullest and strongest manner. The argument +on the constitutional point is stated with more than common ability; and +the policy of the laws is affirmed in terms importing the deepest and +most settled conviction. We hear in this message nothing of improvident +legislation; nothing of the abandonment of the legitimate objects of +government; nothing of the necessity of pausing in our career and +reviewing our principles; nothing of the necessity of changing our +government, _till it shall be made what it ought to be_. But let the +message speak for itself. + + "The power to impose duties on imports originally belonged to the + several States. The right to adjust those duties with a view to the + encouragement of domestic branches of industry is so completely + incidental to that power, that it is difficult to suppose the + existence of the one without the other. The States have delegated + their whole authority over imports to the general government, + without limitation or restriction, saving the very inconsiderable + reservation relating to their inspection laws. This authority having + thus entirely passed from the States, the right to exercise it for + the purpose of protection does not exist in them; and consequently, + if it be not possessed by the general government, it must be + extinct. Our political system would thus present the anomaly of a + people stripped of the right to foster their own industry, and to + counteract the most selfish and destructive policy which might be + adopted by foreign nations. This surely cannot be the case; this + indispensable power, thus surrendered by the States, must be within + the scope of the authority on the subject expressly delegated to + Congress. + + "In this conclusion I am confirmed, as well by the opinions of + Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, who have each + repeatedly recommended the exercise of this right under the + Constitution, as by the uniform practice of Congress, the continued + acquiescence of the States, and the general understanding of the + people. + + "I am well aware that this is a subject of so much delicacy, on + account of the extended interests it involves, as to require that it + should be touched with the utmost caution; and that, while an + abandonment of the policy in which it originated, a policy coeval + with our government, pursued through successive administrations, is + neither to be expected nor desired, the people have a right to + demand, and have demanded, that it be so modified as to correct + abuses and obviate injustice." + +Mr. President, no one needs to point out inconsistencies plain and +striking as these. The message of 1830 is a well-written paper; it +proceeded, probably, from the cabinet proper. Whence the veto message of +1832 proceeded, I know not; perhaps from the cabinet improper. + +But, Sir, there is an important record of an earlier date than 1830. If, +as the President avers, we have been guilty of improvident legislation, +what act of Congress is the most striking instance of that improvidence? +Certainly it is the act of 1824. The principle of protection, repeatedly +recognized before that time, was, by that act, carried to a new and +great extent; so new and so great, that the act was considered as the +foundation of the system. That law it was which conferred on the +distinguished citizen, whose nomination for President this meeting has +received with so much enthusiasm, (Mr. Clay,) the appellation of the +"Author of the American System." Accordingly, the act of 1824 has been +the particular object of attack, in all the warfare waged against the +protective policy. If Congress ever abandoned legitimate objects of +legislation in favor of protection, it did so by that law. If any laws +now on the statute-book, or which ever were there, show, by their +character as laws of protection, that our government is not what it +ought to be, and that it ought to be altered, and, in the language of +the veto message, _made_ what it ought to be, the law of 1824 is the +very law which, more than any and more than all others, makes good that +assertion. And yet, Sir, the President of the United States, then a +Senator in Congress, voted for that law! And, though I have not recurred +to the journal, my recollection is, that, as to some of its provisions, +his support was essential to their success. It will be found, I think, +that some of its enactments, and those now most loudly complained of, +would have failed, but for his own personal support of them by his own +vote. + +After all this, it might have been hoped that there would be, in 1832, +some tolerance of opinion toward those who cannot think that +improvidence, abandonment of all the legitimate objects of legislation, +a desire to gratify the rich, who have besought Congress to make them +still richer, and the adoption of principles unequal, oppressive, and +odious, are the true characteristics to be ascribed to the system of +protection. + +But, Sir, it is but a small part of my object to show inconsistencies +in executive opinions. My main purpose is different, and tends to +more practical ends. It is, to call the attention of the meeting, and +of the people, to the principles avowed in the late message as being +the President's _present opinions_, and proofs of _his present +purposes_, and to the consequences, if they shall be maintained by +the country. These principles are there expressed in language which +needs no commentary. They go, with a point-blank aim, against the +fundamental stone of the protective system; that is to say, against +the constitutional power of Congress to establish and maintain that +system, in whole or in part. The question, therefore, of the tariff, +the question of every tariff, the question between maintaining our +agricultural and manufacturing interests where they now are, and +breaking up the entire system, and erasing every vestige of it from +the statute book, is a question materially to be affected by the pending +election. + + * * * * * + +The President has exercised his NEGATIVE power on the law for continuing +the bank charter. Here, too, he denies both the constitutionality and +the policy of an existing law of the land. It is true that the law, or a +similar one, has been in operation nearly forty years. Previous +Presidents and previous Congresses have, all along, sanctioned and +upheld it. The highest courts, and indeed all the courts, have +pronounced it constitutional. A majority of the people, greater than +exists on almost any other question, agrees with all the Presidents, all +the Congresses, and all the courts of law. Yet, against all this weight +of authority, the President puts forth his own individual opinion, and +has negatived the bill for continuing the law. Which of the members of +his administration, or whether any one of them, concur in his +sentiments, we know not. Some of them, we know, have recently advanced +precisely the opposite opinions, and in the strongest manner recommended +to Congress the continuation of the bank charter. Having himself +urgently and repeatedly called the attention of Congress to the +subject, and his Secretary of the Treasury--who, and all the other +secretaries, as the President's friends say, are but so many pens in his +hand--having, in his communication to Congress, at this very session, +insisted both on the constitutionality and necessity of the bank, the +President nevertheless saw fit to negative the bill, passed, as it had +been, by strong majorities in both Houses, and passed, without doubt or +question, in compliance with the wishes of a vast majority of the +American people. + +The question respecting the constitutional power of Congress to +establish a bank, I shall not here discuss. On that, as well as on the +general expediency of renewing the charter, my opinions have been +elsewhere expressed. They are before the public, and the experience of +every day confirms me in their truth. All that has been said of the +embarrassment and distress which will be felt from discontinuing the +bank falls far short of an adequate representation. What was prophecy +only two months ago is already history. + +In this part of the country, indeed, we experience this distress and +embarrassment in a mitigated degree. The loans of the bank are not so +highly important, or at least not so absolutely necessary, to the +present operations of our commerce; yet we ourselves have a deep +interest in the subject, as it is connected with the general currency of +the country, and with the cheapness and facility of exchange. + +The country, generally speaking, was well satisfied with the bank. Why +not let it alone? No evil had been felt from it in thirty-six years. Why +conjure up a troop of fancied mischiefs, as a pretence to put it down? +The message struggles to excite prejudices, from the circumstance that +foreigners are stockholders; and on this ground it raises a loud cry +against a moneyed aristocracy. Can any thing, Sir, be conceived more +inconsistent than this? any thing more remote from sound policy and good +statesmanship? In the United States the rate of interest is high, +compared with the rates abroad. In Holland and England, the actual value +of money is no more than three, or perhaps three and a half, per cent. +In our Atlantic States, it is as high as five or six, taking the whole +length of the seaboard; in the Northwestern States, it is eight or ten, +and in the Southwestern ten or twelve. If the introduction, then, of +foreign capital be discountenanced and discouraged, the American +moneylender may fix his own rate anywhere from five to twelve per cent. +per annum. On the other hand, if the introduction of foreign capital be +countenanced and encouraged, its effects to keep down the rate of +interest, and to bring the value of money in the United States so much +the nearer to its value in older and richer countries. Every dollar +brought from abroad, and put into the mass of active capital at home, by +so much diminishes the rate of interest; and by so much, therefore, +benefits all the active and trading classes of society, at the expense +of the American capitalist. Yet the President's invention, for such it +deserves to be called, that which is to secure us against the +possibility of being oppressed by a moneyed aristocracy, is to shut the +door and bar it safely against all introduction of foreign capital! + +Mr. President, what is it that has made England a sort of general banker +for the civilized world? Why is it that capital from all quarters of the +globe accumulates at the centre of her empire, and is thence again +distributed? Doubtless, Sir, it is because she invites it, and solicits +it. She sees the advantage of this; and no British minister ever yet did +a thing so rash, so inconsiderate, so startling, as to exhibit a +groundless feeling of dissatisfaction at the introduction or employment +of foreign capital. + +Sir, of all the classes of society, the larger stockholders of the bank +are among those least likely to suffer from its discontinuance. There +are, indeed, on the list of stockholders many charitable institutions, +many widows and orphans, holding small amounts. To these, and other +proprietors of a like character, the breaking up of the bank will, no +doubt, be seriously inconvenient. But the capitalist, he who has +invested money in the bank merely for the sake of the security and the +interest, has nothing to fear. The refusal to renew the charter will, it +is true, diminish the value of the stock; but, then, the same refusal +will create a scarcity of money; and this will reduce the price of all +other stocks; so that the stockholders in the bank, receiving, on its +dissolution, their portion respectively of its capital, will have +opportunities of new and advantageous investment. + +The truth is, Sir, the great loss, the sore embarrassment, the severe +distress, arising from this VETO, will fall on the public, and +especially on the more active and industrious portion of the public. It +will inevitably create a scarcity of money; in the Western States, it +will most materially depress the value of property; it will greatly +enhance, everywhere, the price of domestic exchange; it threatens, +everywhere, fluctuations of the currency; and it drives all our +well-settled and safe operations of revenue and finance out of their +accustomed channels. All this is to be suffered on the pretended ground +of a constitutional scruple, which no respect for the opinion of others, +no deference to legislative precedent, no decent regard to judicial +decision, no homage to public opinion, expressed and maintained for +forty years, have power to overcome. An idle apprehension of danger is +set up against the experience of almost half a century; loose and flimsy +theories are asserted against facts of general notoriety; and arguments +are urged against continuing the charter, so superficial and frivolous, +and yet so evidently addressed to those of the community who have never +had occasion to be conversant with subjects of this sort, that an +intelligent reader, who wishes to avoid imputing obliquity of motive, is +obliged to content himself with ascribing to the source of the message, +whatever and wherever that source may have been, no very distinguished +share of the endowments of intellect. + +Mr. President, as early as December, 1829, the President called the +attention of Congress to the subject of the bank, in the most earnest +manner. Look to his annual message of that date. You will find that he +then felt constrained, by an irresistible sense of duty to the various +interests concerned, not to delay beyond that moment his urgent +invitation to Congress to take up the subject. He brought forward the +same topic again, in all his subsequent annual messages; yet when +Congress _did_ act upon it, and, on the fourth of July, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED +AND THIRTY-TWO, _did_ send him a bill, he returned it with his +objections; and among these objections, he not only complained _that the +executive was not consulted on the propriety of present action_, but +affirmed also, in so many words, _that present action was deemed +premature by the executive department_. + +Let me ask, Mr. President, if it be possible that the same President, +the same chief magistrate, the same mind, could have composed these two +messages? Certainly they much more resemble the production of _two_ +minds, holding, on this point, precisely opposite opinions. The message +of December, 1829, asserts that the time had _then_ come for Congress to +consider the bank subject; the message of 1832 declares, that, even +then, the action of Congress on the same subject was _premature_; and +both these messages were sent to Congress by the President of the United +States. Sir, I leave these two messages to be compared and considered by +the people. + +Mr. President, I will here take notice of but one other suggestion of +the President, relative to the time and manner of passing the late bill. +A decent respect for the legislature of the country has hitherto been +observed by all who have had occasion to hold official intercourse with +it, and especially by all other branches of the government. The purity +of the motives of Congress, in regard to any measure, has never been +assailed from any respectable quarter. But in the veto message there is +one expression, which, as it seems to me, no American can read without +some feeling. There is an expression, evidently not casual or +accidental, but inserted with design and composed with care, which does +carry a direct imputation of the possibility of the effect of _private +interest_ and _private influence_ on the deliberations of the two Houses +of Congress. I quote the passage, and shall leave it without a single +remark:--"Whatever interest or influence, whether public or private, has +given birth to this act, it cannot be found either in the wishes or +necessities of the executive department, by which present action is +deemed premature." + + * * * * * + +Among the great interests of the country, Mr. President, there is one +which appears to me not to have attracted from the people of this +Commonwealth a degree of attention altogether equal to its magnitude. I +mean the public lands. + +If we run our eye over the map of the country, and view the regions, +almost boundless, which now constitute the public domain, and over which +an active population is rapidly spreading itself, and if we recollect +the amount of annual revenue derived from this source, we shall hardly +fail to be convinced that few branches of national interest are of more +extensive and lasting importance. So large a territory, belonging to the +public, forms a subject of national concern of a very delicate nature, +especially in popular governments. We know, in the history of other +countries, with what views and designs the public lands have been +granted. Either in the form of gifts and largesses, or in that of +reduction of prices to amounts merely nominal, or as compensation for +services, real or imagined, the public domain, in other countries and +other times, has not only been diverted from its just use and +destination, but has been the occasion, also, of introducing into the +state and into the public counsels no small portion both of distraction +and corruption. + +Happily, our own system of administering this great interest has +hitherto been both safe and successful. Nothing under the government has +been better devised than our land system; and nothing, thus far, more +beneficially conducted. But the time seems to have arrived, in the +progress of our growth and prosperity, when it has become necessary to +reflect, not on any new mode of sale, for that can hardly be improved, +but on some disposition of the proceeds such as shall be just and equal +to the whole country, and shall insure also a constant and vigilant +attention to this important subject from the people of all the States. +It is not to be denied or disguised, that sentiments have recently +sprung up, in some places, of a very extraordinary character, respecting +the ownership, the just proprietary interest, in these lands. The lands +are well known to have been obtained by the United States, either by +grants from individual States, or by treaties with foreign powers. In +both cases, and in all cases, the grants and cessions were to the United +States, for the interest of the whole Union; and the grants from +individual States contain express limitations and conditions, binding up +the whole property to the common use of all the States for ever. Yet, of +late years, an idea has been suggested, indeed seriously advanced, _that +these lands, of right, belong to the States respectively in which they +happen to lie_. This doctrine, Sir, which, I perceive, strikes this +assembly as being somewhat extravagant, is founded on an argument +derived, as is supposed, from the nature of State sovereignty. It has +been openly espoused, by candidates for office, in some of the new +States, and, indeed, has been announced in the Senate of the United +States. + +To the credit of the country, it should be stated, that, up to the +present moment, these notions have not spread widely; and they will be +repudiated, undoubtedly, by the power of general opinion, so soon as +that opinion shall be awakened and expressed. But there is another +tendency more likely, perhaps, to run to injurious excess; and that is, +a constant effort to reduce the price of land to sums almost nominal, on +the ground of facilitating settlement. The sound policy of the +government has been, uniformly, to keep the prices of the public lands +low; so low that every actual settler might easily obtain a farm; but +yet not so low as to tempt individual capitalists to buy up large +quantities to hold for speculation. The object has been to meet, at all +times, the whole actual demand, at a cheap rate; and this object has +been attained. It is obviously of the greatest importance to keep the +prices of the public lands from all influences, except the single one of +the desire of supplying the whole actual demand at a cheap rate. The +present minimum price is one dollar and a quarter per acre; and millions +of acres of land, much of it of an excellent quality, are now in the +market at this rate. Yet every year there are propositions to reduce the +price, and propositions to graduate the price; that is to say, to +provide that all lands having been offered for sale for a certain length +of time at the established rate, if not then sold, shall be offered at a +less rate; and again reduced, if not sold, to one still less. I have +myself thought, that, in some of the oldest districts, some mode might +usefully be adopted of disposing of the remainder of the unsold lands, +and closing the offices; but a universal system of graduation, lowering +prices at short intervals, and by large degrees, could have no other +effect than a general depression of price in regard to the whole mass, +and would evidently be great mismanagement of the public property. This +convention, Sir, will think it singular enough, that a reduction of +prices of the public lands should have been demanded on the ground _that +other impositions for revenue, such as the duty on tea and coffee, have +been removed_; thus considering and treating the sums received for lands +sold as a _tax_, a _burden_, an _imposition_, and a great _drain_ on the +means and the industry of the new States. A man goes from New England to +one of the Western States, buys a hundred acres of the best land in the +world for one hundred and twenty-five dollars, pays his money, and +receives an indisputable title; and immediately some one stands up in +Congress to call this operation the laying of a _tax_, the imposition of +a _burden_; and the whole of these purchases and payments, taken +together, are represented as an intolerable _drain_ on the money and the +industry of the new States. I know not, Sir, which deserves to pass for +the original, and which for the copy; but this reasoning is not unlike +that which maintains that the trading community of the West will be +exhausted and ruined by the privilege of borrowing money of the Bank of +the United States at six per cent interest; this interest being, as is +said in the veto message, a burden upon their industry, and a drain of +their currency, which no country can bear without inconvenience and +distress! + +It was in a forced connection with the reduction of duties of impost, +that the subject of the public lands was referred to the Committee of +Manufactures in the Senate, at the late session of Congress. This was a +legislative movement, calculated to throw on Mr. Clay, who was acting a +leading part on the subject of the tariff and the reduction of duties, a +new and delicate responsibility. From this responsibility, however, Mr. +Clay did not shrink. He took up the subject, and his report upon it, and +his speech delivered afterwards in defence of the report, are, in my +opinion, among the very ablest of the efforts which have distinguished +his long public life. I desire to commend their perusal to every citizen +of Massachusetts. They will show him the deep interest of all the +States, his own among the rest, in the security, and proper management, +and disposal, of the public domain. Founded on the report of the +committee, Mr. Clay introduced a bill, providing for the distribution +among all the States, according to population, of the proceeds of the +sales of the public lands for five years, first making a deduction of a +considerable percentage in favor of the new States; the sums thus +received by the States to be disposed of by them in favor of education, +internal improvement, or colonization, as each State might choose for +itself. This bill passed the Senate. It was vigorously opposed in the +House of Representatives by the main body of the friends of the +administration, and finally lost by a small majority. By the provisions +of the bill, Massachusetts would have received, as her dividend, at the +present average rate of sales, one hundred and thirty-seven thousand +dollars a year. + +I am free to confess, Sir, that I had hoped to see some unobjectionable +way of disposing of this subject, with the observance of justice towards +all the States, by the government of the United States itself, without a +distribution through the intervention of the State governments. Such a +way, however, I have not discovered. I therefore voted for the bill of +the last session. + +Mr. President, let me remind the meeting of the great extent of this +public property. + +Only twenty millions of acres have been as yet sold, from the +commencement of the government. One hundred and twenty millions, or +about that quantity, are now cleared from the Indian title, surveyed +into townships, ranges, and sections, and ready in the market for sale. +I think, Sir, the whole surface of Massachusetts embraces about six +millions of acres; so that the United States have a body of land, now +surveyed and in market, equal to twenty States, each of the size of +Massachusetts. But this is but a very small portion of the whole domain, +much the greater part being yet unsurveyed, and much, too, subject to +the original Indian title. The present income to the treasury from the +sales of land is estimated at three millions of dollars a year. The +meeting will thus see, Sir, how important a subject this is, and how +highly it becomes the country to guard this vast property against +perversion and bad management. + + * * * * * + +Mr. President, among the bills which failed, at the last session, for +want of the President's approval, was one in which this State had a +great pecuniary interest. It was the bill for the payment of interest +to the States on the funds advanced by them during the war, the +principal of which had been paid, or assumed, by the government of the +United States. Some sessions ago, a bill was introduced into the Senate +by my worthy colleague, and passed into a law, for paying a large +part of the principal sum advanced by Massachusetts for militia +expenses for defence of the country. This has been paid. The residue +of the claim is in the proper course of examination; and such parts +of it as ought to be allowed will doubtless be paid hereafter, _vetos_ +being out of the way, be it always understood. In the late bill, it +was proposed that _interest_ should be paid to the States on these +advances, in cases where it had not been already paid. It passed both +Houses. I recollect no opposition to it in the Senate nor do I +remember to have heard of any considerable objection in the House of +Representatives. The argument for it lay in its own obvious justice; a +justice too apparent, as it seems to me, to be denied by any one. I +left Congress, Sir, a day or two before its adjournment, and, +meeting some friends in this village on my way home, we exchanged +congratulations on this additional act of justice thus rendered to +Massachusetts, as well as other States. But I had hardly reached +Framingham, before I learned that our congratulations were premature. +The President's signature had been refused, and the bill was not a +law! The only reason which I have ever heard for this refusal is, +that Congress had not been in the practice of allowing interest on +claims. This is not true, as a universal rule; but if it were, might +not Congress be trusted with the maintenance of its own rules? Might +it not make exceptions to them for good cause? There is no doubt +that, in regard to old and long-neglected claims, it has been customary +not to allow interest; but the Massachusetts claim was not of this +character, nor were the claims of other States. None of them had +remained unpaid for want of presentment. The executive and legislature +of this Commonwealth have never omitted to press her demand for justice, +and her delegates in Congress have endeavored to discharge their duty +by supporting that demand. It has been already decided, in repeated +instances, as well in regard to States as to individuals, that when +money has been actually _borrowed_, for objects for which the +general government ought to provide, interest paid on such _borrowed +money_ shall be refunded by the United States. Now, Sir, would it not +be a distinction without a difference to allow interest in such a +case, and yet refuse it in another, in which the State had not borrowed +the money, and paid interest for it, but had raised it by taxation, +or, as I believe was the case with Massachusetts, by the sale of +valuable stocks, _bearing interest_? Is it not apparent, that, in her +case, as clearly as in that of a _borrowing_ State, she has actually +_lost_ the interest? Can any man maintain that between these two cases +there is any sound distinction, in law, in equity, or in morals? The +refusal to sign this bill has deprived Massachusetts and Maine of a +very large sum of money, justly due to them. It is now fifteen or +sixteen years since the money was advanced; and it was advanced for the +most necessary and praiseworthy public purposes. The interest on the +sum already refunded, and on that which may reasonably be expected to +be hereafter refunded, is not less than _five hundred thousand +dollars_. But for the President's refusal, in this unusual mode, to +give his approbation to a bill which had passed Congress almost +unanimously, these two States would already have been in the receipt of +a very considerable portion of this money, and the residue, to be +received in due season, would have been made sure to them. + +Mr. President, I do not desire to raise mere pecuniary interests to an +undue importance in political matters. I admit there are principles and +objects of paramount obligation and importance. I would not oppose the +President merely because he has refused to the State what I thought her +entitled to, in a matter of money, provided he had made known his +reasons, and they had appeared to be such as might fairly influence an +intelligent and honest mind. But in a matter of such great and direct +importance to a State, where the justice of the case is so plain, that +men agree in it who agree in hardly any thing else, where her claim +has passed Congress without considerable opposition in either House, +a refusal to approve the bill without giving the slightest reason, +the taking advantage of the rising of Congress to give it a silent +go-by, _is_ an act that may well awaken the attention of the people +in the States concerned. It _is_ an act requiring close examination. It +_is_ an act which calls loudly for justification by its author. And +now, Sir, I will close what I have to say on this particular subject by +stating, that, on the 22d of March, 1832, the President did actually +approve and sign a bill, in favor of South Carolina, by which it was +enacted that her claim _for interest upon money actually expended_ by +her for military stores during the late war should be settled and +paid; _the money so expended having been drawn by the State from a +fund upon which she was receiving interest_. This was precisely the +case of Massachusetts. + + * * * * * + +Mr. President, I now approach an inquiry of a far deeper and more +affecting interest. Are the principles and measures of the +administration dangerous to the Constitution and to the union of the +States? Sir, I believe them to be so, and I shall state the grounds of +that belief. + +In the first place, any administration is dangerous to the Constitution +and to the union of the States, which denies the essential powers of the +Constitution, and thus strips it of the capacity to do the good intended +by it. + +The principles embraced by the administration, and expressed in the veto +message, are evidently hostile to the whole system of protection by +duties of impost, _on constitutional grounds_. Here, then, is _one_ +great power struck at once out of the Constitution, and one great end of +its adoption defeated. And while this power is thus struck out of the +Constitution, it is clear that it exists nowhere else, since the +Constitution expressly takes it away from all the States. + +The veto message denies the constitutional power of creating or +continuing such an institution as our whole experience has approved, for +maintaining a sound, uniform, national currency, and for the safe +collection of revenue. Here is _another_ power, long used, and now +lopped off. And _this_ power, too, thus lopped off from the +Constitution, is evidently not within the power of any of the individual +States. No State can maintain a national currency; no State institution +can render to the revenue the services performed by a national +institution. + +The principles of the administration are hostile to internal +improvements. Here is another power, heretofore exercised in many +instances, now denied. The administration denies the power, except with +qualifications which cast an air of ridicule over the whole subject; +being founded on such distinctions as between salt water and fresh +water, places above custom-houses and places below, and others equally +extraordinary. + +Now, Sir, in all these respects, as well as in others, I think the +principles of the administration are at war with the true principles of +the Constitution; and that, by the zeal and industry which it exerts to +support its own principles, it does daily weaken the Constitution, and +does put in doubt its long continuance. The inroad of to-day opens the +way for an easier inroad to-morrow. When any one essential part is rent +away, or, what is nearer the truth, when many essential parts are rent +away, who is there to tell us _how long any other part is to remain_? + +Sir, our condition is singularly paradoxical. We have an administration +opposed to the Constitution; we have an opposition which is the main +support of the government and the laws. We have an administration +denying to the very government which it administers powers that have +been exercised for forty years; it denies the protective power, the bank +power, and the power of internal improvement. The great and leading +measures of the national legislature are all resisted by it. These, +strange as it may seem, depend on the _opposition_ for support. We have, +in truth, an opposition, without which it would be difficult for the +government to get along at all. I appeal to every member of Congress +present, (and I am happy to see many here,) to say what would now become +of the government, if all the members of the opposition were withdrawn +from Congress. For myself, I declare my own conviction that its +continuance would probably be very short. Take away the opposition from +Congress, and let us see what would probably be done, the first session. +The TARIFF would be entirely _repealed_. Every enactment having +protection by duties as its main object would be struck from the +statute-book. This would be the first thing done. Every work of internal +improvement would be stopped. This would follow, as matter of course. +The bank would go down, and a _treasury money agency_ would take its +place. The Judiciary Act of 1789 would be repealed, so that the Supreme +Court should exercise no power of revision over State decisions. And who +would resist the doctrines of NULLIFICATION? Look, Sir, to the votes of +Congress for the last three years, and you will see that each of these +things would, in all human probability, take place at the next session, +if the opposition were to be withdrawn. The Constitution is threatened, +therefore, imminently threatened, by the very fact that those intrusted +with its administration are hostile to its essential powers. + +But, Sir, in my opinion, a yet greater danger threatens the Constitution +and the government; and that is from the attempt _to extend the power of +the executive at the expense of all the other branches of the +government, and of the people themselves_. Whatever accustomed power is +denied to the Constitution, whatever accustomed power is denied to +Congress, or to the judiciary, _none is denied to the executive_. Here +there is no retrenchment; here no apprehension is felt for the liberties +of the people; here it is not thought necessary to erect barriers +against corruption. + +I begin, Sir, with the subject of removals from office for opinion's +sake, one of the most signal instances, as I think, of the attempt to +extend executive power. This has been a leading measure, a cardinal +point, in the course of the administration. It has proceeded, from the +first, on a settled proscription for political opinions; and this system +it has carried into operation to the full extent of its ability. The +President has not only filled all vacancies with his own friends, +generally those most distinguished as personal partisans, but he has +turned out political opponents, and thus created vacancies, in order +that he might fill them with his own friends. I think the number of +removals and appointments is said to be _two thousand_. While the +administration and its friends have been attempting to circumscribe and +to decry the powers belonging to other branches, it has thus seized into +its own hands a patronage most pernicious and corrupting, an authority +over men's means of living most tyrannical and odious, and a power to +punish free men for political opinions altogether intolerable. + +You will remember, Sir, that the Constitution says not one word about +the President's power of removal from office. It is a power raised +entirely by construction. It is a constructive power, introduced at +first to meet cases of extreme public necessity. It has now become +coextensive with the executive will, calling for no necessity, requiring +no exigency for its exercise; to be employed at all times, without +control, without question, without responsibility. When the question of +the President's power of removal was debated in the first Congress, +those who argued for it limited it to _extreme cases_. Cases, they said, +might arise, in which it would be _absolutely necessary_ to remove an +officer before the Senate could be assembled. An officer might become +insane; he might abscond; and from these and other supposable cases, it +was said, the public service might materially suffer if the President +could not remove the incumbent. And it was further said, that there was +little or no danger of the abuse of the power for party or personal +objects. No President, it was thought, would ever commit such an outrage +on public opinion. Mr. Madison, who thought the power ought to exist, +and to be exercised in cases of high necessity, declared, nevertheless, +that if a President should resort to the power when not required by any +public exigency, and merely for personal objects, _he would deserve to +be impeached_. By a very small majority,--I think, in the Senate, by the +casting vote of the Vice-President,--Congress decided in favor of the +existence of the power of removal, upon the grounds which I have +mentioned; granting the power in a case of clear and absolute necessity, +and denying its existence everywhere else. + +Mr. President, we should recollect that this question was discussed, and +thus decided, when Washington was in the executive chair. Men knew that +in his hands the power would not be abused; nor did they conceive it +possible that any of his successors could so far depart from his great +and bright example, as, by abuse of the power, and by carrying that +abuse to its utmost extent, to change the essential character of the +executive from that of an impartial guardian and executor of the laws +into that of the chief dispenser of party rewards. Three or four +instances of removal occurred in the first twelve years of the +government. At the commencement of Mr. Jefferson's administration, he +made several others, not without producing much dissatisfaction; so much +so, that he thought it expedient to give reasons to the people, in a +public paper, for even the limited extent to which he had exercised the +power. He rested his justification on particular circumstances and +peculiar grounds; which, whether substantial or not, showed, at least, +that he did not regard the power of removal as an ordinary power, still +less as a mere arbitrary one, to be used as he pleased, for whatever +ends he pleased, and without responsibility. As far as I remember, Sir, +after the early part of Mr. Jefferson's administration, hardly an +instance occurred for near thirty years. If there were any instances, +they were few. But at the commencement of the present administration, +the precedent of these previous cases was seized on, and a _system_, a +regular _plan of government_, a well-considered scheme for the +maintenance of party power by the patronage of office, and this +patronage to be created by general removal, was adopted, and has been +carried into full operation. Indeed, before General Jackson's +inauguration, the party put the system into practice. In the last +session of Mr. Adams's administration, the friends of General Jackson +constituted a majority in the Senate; and nominations, made by Mr. Adams +to fill vacancies which had occurred in the ordinary way, were +postponed, by this majority, beyond the 3d of March, _for the purpose, +openly avowed, of giving the nominations to General Jackson_. A +nomination for a judge of the Supreme Court, and many others of less +magnitude, were thus disposed of. + +And what did we witness, Sir, when the administration actually +commenced, in the full exercise of its authority? One universal sweep, +one undistinguishing blow, levelled against all who were not of the +successful party. No worth, public or private, no service, civil or +military, was of power to resist the relentless greediness of +proscription. Soldiers of the late war, soldiers of the Revolutionary +war, the very contemporaries of the independence of the country, all +lost their situations. No office was too high, and none too low; for +_office_ was the spoil, and "_all the spoils_," it is said, "belong to +the _victors_!" If a man holding an office necessary for his daily +support had presented himself covered with the scars of wounds received +in every battle, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, these would not have +protected him against this reckless rapacity. Nay, Sir, if Warren +himself had been among the living, and had possessed any office under +government, high or low, he would not have been suffered to hold it a +single hour, unless he could show that he had strictly complied with the +party statutes, and had put a well-marked party collar round his own +neck. Look, Sir, to the case of the late venerable Major Melville. He +was a personification of the spirit of 1776, one of the earliest to +venture in the cause of liberty. He was of the Tea Party; one of the +very first to expose himself to British power. And his whole life was +consonant with this, its beginning. Always ardent in the cause of +liberty, always a zealous friend to his country, always acting with the +party which he supposed cherished the genuine republican spirit most +fervently, always estimable and respectable in private life, he seemed +armed against this miserable petty tyranny of party as far as man could +be. But he felt its blow, and he fell. He held an office in the +custom-house, and had held it for a long course of years; and he was +deprived of it, as if unworthy to serve the country which he loved, and +for whose liberties, in the vigor of his early manhood, he had thrust +himself into the very jaws of its enemies. There was no mistake in the +matter. His character, his standing, his Revolutionary services, were +all well known; but they were known to no purpose; they weighed not one +feather against party pretensions. It cost no pains to remove him; it +cost no compunction to wring his aged heart with this retribution from +his country for his services, his zeal, and his fidelity. Sir, you will +bear witness,[98] that, when his successor was nominated to the Senate, +and the Senate were informed who had been removed to make way for that +nomination, its members were struck with horror. They had not conceived +the administration to be capable of such a thing; and yet, they said, +What can _we_ do? The man is removed; _we_ cannot recall him; we can +only act upon the nomination before us. Sir, you and I thought +otherwise; and I rejoice that we did think otherwise. We thought it our +duty to resist the nomination to fill a vacancy thus created. We thought +it our duty to oppose this proscription, when, and where, and as, we +constitutionally could. We besought the Senate to go with us, and to +take a stand before the country on this great question. We invoked them +to try the deliberate sense of the people; to trust themselves before +the tribunal of public opinion; to resist at first, to resist at last, +to resist always, the introduction of this unsocial, this mischievous, +this dangerous, this belligerent principle into the practice of the +government. + +Mr. President, as far as I know, there is no civilized country on earth, +in which, on a change of rulers, there is such an _inquisition for +spoil_ as we have witnessed in this free republic. The Inaugural Address +of 1829 spoke of a _searching operation_ of government. The most +searching operation, Sir, of the present administration, has been its +search for office and place. When, Sir, did any English minister, Whig +or Tory, ever make such an inquest? When did he ever go down to +low-water-mark, to make an ousting of tide-waiters? When did he ever +take away the daily bread of weighers, and gaugers, and measurers? When +did he ever go into the villages, to disturb the little post-offices, +the mail contracts, and every thing else in the remotest degree +connected with government? Sir, a British minister who should do this, +and should afterwards show his head in a British House of Commons, would +be received by a universal hiss. + +I have little to say of the selections made to fill vacancies thus +created. It is true, however, and it is a natural consequence of the +system which has been acted on, that, within the last three years, more +nominations have been rejected on the ground of _unfitness_, than in all +the preceding forty years of the government. And these nominations, you +know, Sir, could not have been rejected but by votes of the President's +own friends. The cases were too strong to be resisted. Even party +attachment could not stand them. In some not a third of the Senate, in +others not ten votes, and in others not a single vote, could be +obtained; and this for no particular reason known only to the Senate, +but on general grounds of the want of character and qualifications; on +grounds known to every body else, as well as to the Senate. All this, +Sir, is perfectly natural and consistent. The same party selfishness +which drives good men out of office will push bad men in. Political +proscription leads necessarily to the filling of offices with +incompetent persons, and to a consequent mal-execution of official +duties. And in my opinion, Sir, this principle of claiming a monopoly of +office by the right of conquest, unless the public shall effectually +rebuke and restrain it, will entirely change the character of our +government. It elevates party above country; it forgets the common weal +in the pursuit of personal emolument; it tends to form, it does form, we +see that it has formed, a political combination, united by no common +principles or opinions among its members, either upon the powers of the +government, or the true policy of the country; but held together simply +as an association, under the charm of a popular head, seeking to +maintain possession of the government by a _vigorous exercise of its +patronage_; and for this purpose agitating, and alarming, and +distressing social life by the exercise of a tyrannical party +proscription. Sir, if this course of things cannot be checked, good men +will grow tired of the exercise of political privileges. They will have +nothing to do with popular elections. They will see that such elections +are but a mere selfish contest for office; and they will abandon the +government to the scramble of the bold, the daring, and the desperate. + +It seems, Mr. President, to be a peculiar and singular characteristic of +the present administration, that it came into power on a cry against +abuses, _which did not exist_, and then, as soon as it was in, as if in +mockery of the perception and intelligence of the people, _it created +those very abuses_, and carried them to a great length. Thus the chief +magistrate himself, before he came into the chair, in a formal public +paper, denounced the practice of appointing members of Congress to +office. He said, that, if that practice continued, _corruption would +become the order of the day_; and, as if to fasten and nail down his own +consistency to that point, he declared that it was _due to himself to +practise what he recommended to others_. Yet, Sir, as soon as he was in +power, these fastenings gave way, the nails all flew, and the promised +_consistency_ remains a striking proof of the manner in which political +assurances are sometimes fulfilled. He has already appointed more +members of Congress to office than any of his predecessors, in the +longest period of administration. Before his time, there was no reason +to complain of these appointments. They had not been numerous under any +administration. Under this, they have been numerous, and some of them +such as may well justify complaint. + +Another striking instance of the exhibition of the same characteristics +may be found in the sentiments of the Inaugural Address, and in the +subsequent practice, on the subject of _interfering with the freedom of +elections_. The Inaugural Address declares, that it is necessary to +reform abuses which have _brought the patronage of the government into +conflict with the freedom of elections_. And what has been the +subsequent practice? Look to the newspapers; look to the published +letters of officers of the government, advising, exhorting, soliciting, +friends and partisans to greater exertions in the cause of the party; +see all done, everywhere, which patronage and power can do, to affect, +not only elections in the general government, but also in every State +government, and then say, how well _this_ promise of reforming abuses +has been kept. At what former period, under what former administration, +did public officers of the United Stales thus interfere in elections? +Certainly, Sir, never. In this respect, then, as well as in others, that +which was not true as a charge against previous administrations would +have been true, if it had assumed the form of a prophecy respecting the +acts of the present. + + * * * * * + +But there is another attempt to grasp and to wield a power over public +opinion, of a still more daring character, and far more dangerous +effects. + +In all popular governments, a FREE PRESS is the most important of all +agents and instruments. It not only expresses public opinion, but, to a +very great degree, it contributes to form that opinion. It is an engine +for good or for evil, as it may be directed; but an engine of which +nothing can resist the force. The conductors of the press, in popular +governments, occupy a place, in the social and political system, of the +very highest consequence. They wear the character of public instructors. +Their daily labors bear directly on the intelligence, the morals, the +taste, and the public spirit of the country. Not only are they +journalists, recording political occurrences, but they discuss +principles, they comment on measures, they canvass characters; they hold +a power over the reputation, the feelings, the happiness, of +individuals. The public ear is always open to their addresses, the +public sympathy easily made responsive to their sentiments. It is +indeed, Sir, a distinction of high honor, that theirs is the only +profession expressly protected and guarded by constitutional enactments. +Their employment soars so high, in its general consequences it is so +intimately connected with the public happiness, that its security is +provided for by the fundamental law. While it acts in a manner worthy of +this distinction, the press is a fountain of light, and a source of +gladdening warmth. It instructs the public mind, and animates the spirit +of patriotism. Its loud voice suppresses every thing which would raise +itself against the public liberty; and its blasting rebuke causes +incipient despotism to perish in the bud. + +But remember, Sir, that these are the attributes of a FREE press only. +And is a press that is purchased or pensioned more free than a press +that is fettered? Can the people look for truths to partial sources, +whether rendered partial through fear or through favor? Why shall not a +manacled press be trusted with the maintenance and defence of popular +rights? Because it is supposed to be under the influence of a power +which may prove greater than the love of truth. Such a press may screen +abuses in government, or be silent. It may fear to speak. And may it not +fear to speak, too, when its conductors, if they speak in any but one +way, may lose their means of livelihood? Is dependence on government for +bread no temptation to screen its abuses? Will the press always speak +the truth, when the truth, if spoken, may be the means of silencing it +for the future? Is the truth in no danger, is the watchman under no +temptation, when he can neither proclaim the approach of national evils, +nor seem to descry them, without the loss of his place? + +Mr. President, an open attempt to secure the aid and friendship of the +public press, by bestowing the emoluments of office on its active +conductors, seems to me, of every thing we have witnessed, to be the +most reprehensible. It degrades both the government and the press. +As far as its natural effect extends, it turns the palladium of +liberty into an engine of party. It brings the agency, activity, +energy, and patronage of government all to bear, with united force, on +the means of general intelligence, and on the adoption or rejection of +political opinions. It so completely perverts the true object of +government, it so entirely revolutionizes our whole system, that the +chief business of those in power is directed rather to the propagation +of opinions favorable to themselves, than to the execution of the laws. +This propagation of opinions, through the press, becomes the main +administrative duty. Some fifty or sixty editors of leading journals +have been appointed to office by the present executive. A stand has +been made against this proceeding, in the Senate, with partial +success; but, by means of appointments which do not come before the +Senate, or other means, the number has been carried to the extent I have +mentioned. Certainly, Sir, the editors of the public journals are +not to be disfranchised. Certainly they are fair candidates either for +popular elections, or a just participation in office. Certainly they +reckon in their number some of the first geniuses, the best scholars, +and the most honest and well-principled men in the country. But the +complaint is against the _system_, against the _practice_, against +the undisguised attempt to secure the favor of the press by means +addressed to its pecuniary interest, and these means, too, drawn from +the public treasury, being no other than the appointed compensations +for the performance of official duties. Sir, the press itself should +resent this. Its own character for purity and independence is at +stake. It should resist a connection rendering it obnoxious to so +many imputations. It should point to its honorable denomination in our +constitutions of government, and it should maintain the character, +there ascribed to it, of a FREE PRESS. + +There can, Sir, be no objection to the appointment of an editor to +office, if he is the fittest man. There can be no objection to +considering the services which, in that or in any other capacity, he +may have rendered his country. He may have done much to maintain her +rights against foreign aggression, and her character against insult. +He may have honored, as well as defended her; and may, therefore, be +justly regarded and selected, in the choice of faithful public agents. +But the ground of complaint is, that the aiding, by the press, of the +election of an individual, is rewarded, by that same individual, +with the gift of moneyed offices. Men are turned out of office, and +others put in, and receive salaries from the public treasury, on the +ground, either openly avowed or falsely denied, that they have rendered +service in the election of the very individual who makes this removal +and makes this appointment. Every man, Sir, must see that this is a +vital stab at the purity of the press. It not only assails its +independence, by addressing sinister motives to it, but it furnishes +from the public treasury the means of exciting these motives. It +extends the executive power over the press in a most daring manner. It +operates to give a direction to opinion, not favorable to the +government, in the aggregate; not favorable to the Constitution and +laws; not favorable to the legislature; but favorable to the executive +alone. The consequence often is, just what might be looked for, that +the portion of the press thus made fast to the executive interest +denounces Congress, denounces the judiciary, complains of the laws, +and quarrels with the Constitution. This exercise of the right of +appointment to this end is an augmentation, and a vast one, of the +executive power, singly and alone. It uses that power strongly against +all other branches of the government, and it uses it strongly, too, +for any struggle which it may be called on to make with the public +opinion of the country. Mr. President, I will quit this topic. There +is much in it, in my judgment, affecting, not only the purity and +independence of the press, but also the character and honor, the +peace and security, of the government. I leave it, in all its bearings, +to the consideration of the people. + + * * * * * + +Mr. President, among the novelties introduced into the government by the +present administration is the frequent use of the President's negative +on acts of Congress. Under former Presidents, this power has been deemed +an extraordinary one, to be exercised only in peculiar and marked cases. +It was vested in the President, doubtless, as a guard against hasty or +inconsiderate legislation, and against any act, inadvertently passed, +which might seem to encroach on the just authority of other branches of +the government. I do not recollect that, by all General Jackson's +predecessors, this power was exercised more than four or five times. Not +having recurred to the journals, I cannot, of course, be sure that I am +numerically accurate in this particular; but such is my belief. I +recollect no instance in the time of Mr. John Adams, Mr. Jefferson, or +Mr. John Quincy Adams. The only cases which occur to me are two in +General Washington's administration, two in Mr. Madison's, and one in +Mr. Monroe's. There may be some others; but we all know that it is a +power which has been very sparingly and reluctantly used, from the +beginning of the government. The cases, Sir, to which I have now +referred, were cases in which the President returned the bill with +objections. The silent veto is, I believe, the exclusive adoption of the +present administration. I think, indeed, that, some years ago, a bill, +by inadvertence or accident, failed to receive the President's +signature, and so did not become a law. But I am not aware of any +instance, before the present administration, in which the President has, +by design, omitted to sign a bill, and yet has not returned it to +Congress. But since that administration came into power, the veto, in +both kinds, has been repeatedly applied. In the case of the Maysville +Road, the Montgomery Road, and the bank, we have had the veto, _with_ +reasons. In an internal improvement bill of a former session, in a +similar bill at the late session, and in the State interest bill, we +have had the silent veto, or refusal _without_ reasons. + +Now, Sir, it is to be considered, that the President has the power of +recommending measures to Congress. Through his friends, he may and does +oppose, also, any legislative movement which he does not approve. If, in +addition to this, he may exercise a silent veto, at his pleasure, on all +the bills presented to him during the last ten days of the session; if +he may refuse assent to them all, without being called upon to assign +any reasons whatever,--it will certainly be a great practical +augmentation of his power. Any one, who looks at a volume of the +statutes, will see that a great portion of all the laws are actually +passed within the last ten days of each session. If the President is at +liberty to negative any or all of these laws, at pleasure, or rather, to +refuse to render the bills laws by approving them, and still may neglect +to return them to Congress for renewed action, he will hold a very +important control over the legislation of this country. The day of +adjournment is usually fixed some weeks in advance. This being fixed, a +little activity and perseverance may easily, in most cases, and perhaps +in all, where no alarm has been excited, postpone important pending +measures to a period within ten days of the close of the session; and +this operation subjects all such measures to the discretion of the +President, who may sign the bills or not, without being obliged to state +his reasons publicly. + +The bill for rechartering the bank would have been inevitably destroyed +by the silent veto, if its friends had not refused to fix an any term +for adjournment before the President should have had the bill in his +possession so long as to be required constitutionally to sign it, or to +send it back with his reasons for not signing it. The two houses did not +agree, and would not agree, to fix a day for adjournment, until the bill +was sent to the President; and then care was taken to fix on such a day +as should allow him the whole constitutional period. This seasonable +presentment rescued the bill from the power of the silent negative. + +This practical innovation on the mode of administering the government, +so much at variance with its general principles, and so capable of +defeating the most useful acts, deserves public consideration. Its +tendency is to disturb the harmony which ought always to exist between +Congress and the executive, and to turn that which the Constitution +intended only as an extraordinary remedy for extraordinary cases into a +common means of making executive discretion paramount to the discretion +of Congress, in the enactment of laws. + + * * * * * + +Mr. President, the executive has not only used these unaccustomed means +to prevent the passage of laws, but it has also refused to enforce the +execution of laws actually passed. An eminent instance of this is found +in the course adopted relative to the Indian intercourse law of 1802. +Upon being applied to, in behalf of the MISSIONARIES, to execute that +law, for their relief and protection, the President replied, that, _the +State of Georgia having extended her laws over the Indian territory, the +laws of Congress had thereby been superseded_. This is the substance of +his answer, as communicated through the Secretary of War. He holds, +then, that the law of the State is paramount to the law of Congress. The +Supreme Court has adjudged this act of Georgia to be void, as being +repugnant to a constitutional law of the United States. But the +President pays no more regard to this decision than to the act of +Congress itself. The missionaries remain in prison, held there by a +condemnation under a law of a State which the supreme judicial tribunal +has pronounced to be null and void. The Supreme Court have decided that +the act of Congress is constitutional; that it is a binding statute; +that it has the same force as other laws, and is as much entitled to be +obeyed and executed as other laws. The President, on the contrary, +declares that the law of Congress has been superseded by the law of the +State, and therefore he will not carry its provisions into effect. Now +we know, Sir, that the Constitution of the United States declares, that +that Constitution, and all acts of Congress passed in pursuance of it, +shall be the supreme law of the land, any thing in any State law to the +contrary notwithstanding. This would seem to be a plain case, then, in +which the law should be executed. It has been solemnly decided to be in +actual force, by the highest judicial authority; its execution is +demanded for the relief of free citizens, now suffering the pains of +unjust and unlawful imprisonment; yet the President refuses to execute +it. + +In the case of the Chicago Road, some sessions ago, the President +approved the bill, but accompanied his approval by a message, saying how +far he deemed it a proper law, and how far, therefore, it ought to be +carried into execution. + +In the case of the harbor bill of the late session, being applied to by +a member of Congress for directions for carrying parts of the law into +effect, he declined giving them, and made a distinction between such +parts of the law as he should cause to be executed, and such as he +should not; and his right to make this distinction has been openly +maintained, by those who habitually defend his measures. Indeed, Sir, +these, and other instances of liberties taken with plain statute +laws, flow naturally from the principles expressly avowed by the +President, under his own hand. In that important document, Sir, upon +which it seems to be his fate to stand or to fall before the American +people, the veto message, he holds the following language:--"Each +public officer who takes an oath to support the Constitution, swears +that he will support it as he understands it, and not as it is +understood by others." Mr. President, the general adoption of the +sentiments expressed in this sentence would dissolve our government. +It would raise every man's private opinions into a standard for his +own conduct; and there certainly is, there can be, no government, where +every man is to judge for himself of his own rights and his own +obligations. Where every one is his own arbiter, force, and not law, +is the governing power. He who may judge for himself, and decide for +himself, must execute his own decisions; and this is the law of +force. I confess, Sir, it strikes me with astonishment, that so +wild, so disorganizing, a sentiment should be uttered by a President +of the United States. I should think it must have escaped from its +author through want of reflection, or from the habit of little +reflection on such subjects, if I could suppose it possible, that, on +a question exciting so much public attention, and of so much national +importance, any such extraordinary doctrine could find its way, +through inadvertence, into a formal and solemn public act. Standing as +it does, it affirms a proposition which would effectually repeal all +constitutional and all legal obligations. The Constitution declares, +that every public officer, in the State governments as well as in the +general government, shall take an oath to support the Constitution of +the United States. This is all. Would it not have cast an air of +ridicule on the whole provision, if the Constitution had gone on to add +the words, "as he understands it"? What could come nearer to a +solemn farce, than to bind a man by oath, and still leave him to be his +own interpreter of his own obligation? Sir, those who are to execute +the laws have no more a license to construe them for themselves, than +those whose only duty is to obey them. Public officers are bound to +support the Constitution; private citizens are bound to obey it; and +there is no more indulgence granted to the public officer to support +the Constitution only _as he understands it_, than to a private citizen +to obey it only _as he understands it_; and what is true of the +Constitution, in this respect, is equally true of any law. Laws are to +be executed, and to be obeyed, not as individuals may interpret +them, but according to public, authoritative interpretation and +adjudication. The sentiment of the message would abrogate the +obligation of the whole criminal code. If every man is to judge of +the Constitution and the laws for himself, if he is to obey and +support them only as he may say he understands them, a revolution, I +think, would take place in the administration of justice; and +discussions about the law of treason, murder, and arson should be +addressed, not to the judicial bench, but to those who might stand +charged with such offences. The object of discussion should be, if we +run out this notion to its natural extent, to enlighten the culprit +himself how he ought to understand the law. + +Mr. President, how is it possible that a sentiment so wild, and so +dangerous, so encouraging to all who feel a desire to oppose the laws, +and to impair the Constitution, should have been uttered by the +President of the United States at this eventful and critical moment? Are +we not threatened with dissolution of the Union? Are we not told that +the laws of the government shall be openly and directly resisted? Is not +the whole country looking, with the utmost anxiety, to what may be the +result of these threatened courses? And at this very moment, so full of +peril to the state, the chief magistrate puts forth opinions and +sentiments as truly subversive of all government, as absolutely in +conflict with the authority of the Constitution, as the wildest theories +of nullification. Mr. President, I have very little regard for the law, +or the logic, of nullification. But there is not an individual in its +ranks, capable of putting two ideas together, who, if you will grant him +the principles of the veto message, cannot defend all that nullification +has ever threatened. + +To make this assertion good, Sir, let us see how the case stands. The +Legislature of South Carolina, it is said, will nullify the late revenue +or tariff law, because, _they say_, it is not warranted by the +Constitution of the United States, _as they understand the +Constitution_. They, as well as the President of the United States, have +sworn to support the Constitution. Both he and they have taken the same +oath, in the same words. Now, Sir, since he claims the right to +interpret the Constitution as he pleases, how can he deny the same right +to them? Is his oath less stringent than theirs? Has he a prerogative +of dispensation which they do not possess? How can he answer them, when +they tell him, that the revenue laws are unconstitutional, _as they +understand the Constitution_, and that therefore they will nullify them? +Will he reply to them, according to the doctrines of his annual message +in 1830, that _precedent_ has settled the question, if it was ever +doubtful? They will answer him in his own words in the veto message, +that, in such a case, _precedent_ is not binding. Will he say to them, +that the revenue law is a law of Congress, which must be executed until +it shall be declared void? They will answer him, that, in other cases, +he has himself refused to execute laws of Congress which had not been +declared void, but which had been, on the contrary, declared valid. Will +he urge the force of judicial decisions? They will answer, that he +himself does not admit the binding obligation of such decisions. Sir, +the President of the United States is of opinion, that an individual, +called on to execute a law, may himself judge of its constitutional +validity. Does nullification teach any thing more revolutionary than +that? The President is of opinion, that judicial interpretations of the +Constitution and the laws do not bind the consciences, and ought not to +bind the conduct, of men. Is nullification at all more disorganizing +than that? The President is of opinion, that every officer is bound to +support the Constitution only according to what ought to be, in his +private opinion, its construction. Has nullification, in its wildest +flight, ever reached to an extravagance like that? No, Sir, never. The +doctrine of nullification, in my judgment a most false, dangerous, and +revolutionary doctrine, is this; that _the State_, or _a State_, may +declare the extent of the obligations which its citizens are under to +the United States; in other words, that a State, by State laws and State +judicatures, may conclusively construe the Constitution for its own +citizens. But that every individual may construe it for himself is a +refinement on the theory of resistance to constitutional power, a +sublimation of the right of being disloyal to the Union, a free charter +for the elevation of private opinion above the authority of the +fundamental law of the state, such as was never presented to the public +view, and the public astonishment, even by nullification itself. Its +first appearance is in the veto message. Melancholy, lamentable, indeed, +Sir, is our condition, when, at a moment of serious danger and +wide-spread alarm, such sentiments are found to proceed from the chief +magistrate of the government. Sir, I cannot feel that the Constitution +is safe in such hands. I cannot feel that the present administration is +its fit and proper guardian. + +But let me ask, Sir, what evidence there is, that the President is +himself opposed to the doctrines of nullification: I do not say to the +political party which now pushes these doctrines, but to the doctrines +themselves. Has he anywhere rebuked them? Has he anywhere discouraged +them? Has his influence been exerted to inspire respect for the +Constitution, and to produce obedience to the laws? Has he followed the +bright example of his predecessors? Has he held fast by the institutions +of the country? Has he summoned the good and the wise around him? Has he +admonished the country that the Union is in danger, and called on all +the patriotic to come out in its support? Alas! Sir, we have seen +nothing, nothing, of all this. + +Mr. President, I shall not discuss the doctrine of nullification. I am +sure it can have no friends here. Gloss it and disguise it as we may, it +is a pretence incompatible with the authority of the Constitution. If +direct separation be not its only mode of operation, separation is, +nevertheless, its direct consequence. That a State may nullify a law of +the Union, and still remain in the Union; that she may have Senators and +Representatives in the government, and yet be at liberty to disobey and +resist that government; that she may partake in the common councils, and +yet not be bound by their results; that she may control a law of +Congress, so that it shall be one thing with her, while it is another +thing with the rest of the States;--all these propositions seem to me so +absolutely at war with common sense and reason, that I do not understand +how any intelligent person can yield the slightest assent to them. +Nullification, it is in vain to attempt to conceal it, is dissolution; +it is dismemberment; it is the breaking up of the Union. If it shall +practically succeed in any one State, from that moment there are +twenty-four States in the Union no longer. Now, Sir, I think it +exceedingly probable that the President may come to an open rupture with +that portion of his original party which now constitutes what is called +the Nullification party. I think it likely he will oppose the +proceedings of that party, if they shall adopt measures coming directly +in conflict with the laws of the United States. But how will he oppose? +What will be his course of remedy? Sir, I wish to call the attention of +the Convention, and of the people, earnestly to this question,--How will +the President attempt to put down nullification, if he shall attempt it +at all? + +Sir, for one, I protest in advance against such remedies as I have heard +hinted. The administration itself keeps a profound silence, but its +friends have spoken for it. We are told, Sir, that the President will +immediately employ the military force, and at once blockade Charleston! +A military remedy, a remedy by direct belligerent operation, has been +thus suggested, and nothing else has been suggested, as the intended +means of preserving the Union. Sir, there is no little reason to think, +that this suggestion is true. We cannot be altogether unmindful of the +past, and therefore we cannot be altogether unapprehensive for the +future. For one, Sir, I raise my voice beforehand against the +unauthorized employment of military power, and against superseding the +authority of the laws, by an armed force, under pretence of putting down +nullification. The President has no authority to blockade Charleston; +the President has no authority to employ military force, till he shall +be duly required so to do, by law, and by the civil authorities. His +duty is to cause the laws to be executed. His duty is to support the +civil authority. His duty is, if the laws be resisted, to employ the +military force of the country, if necessary, for their support and +execution; but to do all this in compliance only with law, and with +decisions of the tribunals. If, by any ingenious devices, those who +resist the laws escape from the reach of judicial authority, as it is +now provided to be exercised, it is entirely competent to Congress to +make such new provisions as the exigency of the case may demand. These +provisions undoubtedly would be made. With a constitutional and +efficient head of the government, with an administration really and +truly in favor of the Constitution, the country can grapple with +nullification. By the force of reason, by the progress of enlightened +opinion, by the natural, genuine patriotism of the country, and by the +steady and well-sustained operations of law, the progress of +disorganization may be successfully checked, and the Union maintained. +Let it be remembered, that, where nullification is most powerful, it is +not unopposed. Let it be remembered, that they who would break up the +Union by force have to march toward that object through thick ranks of +as brave and good men as the country can show; men strong in character, +strong in intelligence, strong in the purity of their own motives, and +ready, always ready, to sacrifice their fortunes and their lives to the +preservation of the constitutional union of the States. If we can +relieve the country from an administration which denies to the +Constitution those powers which are the breath of its life; if we can +place the government in the hands of its friends; if we can secure it +against the dangers of irregular and unlawful military force; if it can +be under the lead of an administration whose moderation, firmness, and +wisdom shall inspire confidence and command respect,--we may yet +surmount the dangers, numerous and formidable as they are, which +surround us. + +Sir, I see little prospect of overcoming these dangers without a change +of men. After all that has passed, the reflection of the present +executive will give the national sanction to sentiments and to measures +which will effectually change the government; which, in short, must +destroy the government. If the President be reflected, with concurrent +and cooeperating majorities in both houses of Congress, I do not see, +that, in four years more, all the power which is suffered to remain in +the government will not be held by the executive hand. Nullification +will proceed, or will be put down by a power as unconstitutional as +itself. The revenues will be managed by a treasury bank. The use of the +veto will be considered as sanctioned by the public voice. The Senate, +if not "cut down," will be bound down, and, the President commanding the +army and the navy, and holding all places of trust to be party property, +what will then be left, Sir, for constitutional reliance? + +Sir, we have been accustomed to venerate the judiciary, and to repose +hopes of safety on that branch of the government. But let us not deceive +ourselves. The judicial power cannot stand for a long time against the +executive power. The judges, it is true, hold their places by an +independent tenure; but they are mortal. That which is the common lot of +humanity must make it necessary to renew the benches of justice. And how +will they be filled? Doubtless, Sir, they will be filled by judges +agreeing with the President in his constitutional opinions. If the court +is felt as an obstacle, the first opportunity and every opportunity +will certainly be embraced to give it less and less the character of an +obstacle. Sir, without pursuing these suggestions, I only say that the +country must prepare itself for any change in the judicial department +such as it shall deliberately sanction in other departments. + +But, Sir, what is the prospect of change? Is there any hope that the +national sentiment will recover its accustomed tone, and restore to the +government a just and efficient administration? + +Sir, if there be something of doubt on this point, there is also +something, perhaps much, of hope. The popularity of the present +chief magistrate, springing from causes not connected with his +administration of the government, has been great. Public gratitude +for military service has remained fast to him, in defiance of many +things in his civil administration calculated to weaken its hold. At +length there are indications, not to be mistaken, of new sentiments +and new impressions. At length, a conviction of danger to important +interests, and to the security of the government, has made its +lodgement in the public mind. At length, public sentiment begins to have +its free course and to produce its just effects. I fully believe, +Sir, that a great majority of the nation desire a change in the +administration; and that it will be difficult for party organization +or party denunciation to suppress the effective utterance of that +general wish. There are unhappy differences, it is true, about the +fit person to be successor to the present incumbent in the chief +magistracy; and it is possible that this disunion may, in the end, +defeat the will of the majority. But so far as we agree together, let +us act together. Wherever our sentiments concur, let our hands +cooeperate. If we cannot at present agree who should be President, we are +at least agreed who ought not to be. I fully believe, Sir, that +gratifying intelligence is already on the wing. While we are yet +deliberating in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania is voting. This week, she +elects her members to the next Congress. I doubt not the result of +that election will show an important change in public sentiment in +that State; nor can I doubt that the great States adjoining her, +holding similar constitutional principles and having similar interests, +will feel the impulse of the same causes which affect her. The people +of the United States, by a countless majority, are attached to the +Constitution. If they shall be convinced that it is in danger, they +will come to its rescue, and will save it. It cannot bi destroyed, +even now, if THEY will undertake its guardianship and protection. + +But suppose, Sir, there was less hope than there is, would that +consideration weaken the force of our obligations? Are we at a post +which we are at liberty to desert when it becomes difficult to hold it? +May we fly at the approach of danger? Does our fidelity to the +Constitution require no more of us than to enjoy its blessings, to bask +in the prosperity which it has shed around us and our fathers? and are +we at liberty to abandon it in the hour of its peril, or to make for it +but a faint and heartless struggle, for the want of encouragement and +the want of hope? Sir, if no State come to our succor, if everywhere +else the contest should be given up, here let it be protracted to the +last moment. Here, where the first blood of the Revolution was shed, let +the last effort be made for that which is the greatest blessing obtained +by the Revolution, a free and united government. Sir, in our endeavors +to maintain our existing forms of government, we are acting not for +ourselves alone, but for the great cause of constitutional liberty all +over the globe. We are trustees holding a sacred treasure, in which all +the lovers of freedom have a stake. Not only in revolutionized France, +where there are no longer subjects, where the monarch can no longer say, +I am the state; not only in reformed England, where our principles, our +institutions, our practice of free government, are now daily quoted and +commended; but in the depths of Germany, also, and among the desolated +fields and the still smoking ashes of Poland, prayers are uttered for +the preservation of our union and happiness. We are surrounded, Sir, by +a cloud of witnesses. The gaze of the sons of liberty, everywhere, is +upon us, anxiously, intently, upon us. They may see us fall in the +struggle for our Constitution and government, but Heaven forbid that +they should see us recreant. + +At least, Sir, let the star of Massachusetts be the last which shall be +seen to fall from heaven, and to plunge into the utter darkness of +disunion. Let her shrink back, let her hold others back if she can, at +any rate, let her keep herself back, from this gulf, full at once of +fire and of blackness; yes, Sir, as far as human foresight can scan, or +human imagination fathom, full of the fire and the blood of civil war, +and of the thick darkness of general political disgrace, ignominy, and +rain. Though the worst may happen that can happen, and though she may +not be able to prevent the catastrophe, yet let her maintain her own +integrity, her own high honor, her own unwavering fidelity, so that with +respect and decency, though with a broken and a bleeding heart, she may +pay the last tribute to a glorious, departed, free Constitution. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [96] A Speech delivered at the National Republican Convention held at + Worcester, Mass., on the 12th of October, 1832, preparatory to + the Annual Elections. + + [97] See page 269, _infra_. + + [98] Hon. Nathaniel Silsbee, President of the Convention, was Mr. + Webster's colleague in the Senate at the time referred to. + + [99] A Speech delivered at a Public Dinner in Honor of the Centennial + Birthday of Washington, on the 22d of February, 1832. + + [100] Extract of a letter written by John Adams to Nathan Webb, dated + at Worcester, Massachusetts, October 12, 1755. + + "Soon after the Reformation, a few people came over into this + New World, for conscience' sake. Perhaps this apparently + trivial incident may transfer the great seat of empire into + America. It looks likely to me; for, if we can remove the + turbulent Gallics, our people, according to the exactest + computations, will, in another century, become more numerous + than England itself. Should this be the case, since we have, I + may say, all the naval stores of the nation in our hands, it + will be easy to obtain a mastery of the seas; and then the + united force of all Europe will not be able to subdue us. The + only way to keep us from setting up for ourselves is to + disunite us." + + + + +RECEPTION AT BUFFALO.[101] + + In the summer of 1833, Mr. Webster made a visit to the State of + Ohio. On his way thither, while at Buffalo, New York, he was invited + by the citizens of that place to attend a public dinner, which his + engagements, and the necessity of an early departure, compelled him + to decline. He accepted, however, an invitation to be present at the + launching of a steamboat, to which the proprietors had given the + name of DANIEL WEBSTER, and, in reply to an address from one of + them, made the following remarks:-- + + +I avail myself gladly of this opportunity of making my acknowledgments +to the proprietors of this vessel, for the honor conferred upon me by +allowing her to bear my name. Such a token of regard, had it proceeded +from my immediate friends and neighbors, could not but have excited +feelings of gratitude. It is more calculated to awaken these sentiments, +when coming from gentlemen of character and worth with whom I have not +had the pleasure of personal acquaintance, and whose motive, I may +flatter myself, is to be found in an indulgent opinion towards +well-intentioned services in a public situation. + +It gives me great pleasure, also, on the occasion of so large an +assembly of the people of Buffalo, to express to them my thanks for the +kindness and hospitality with which I have been received in this young, +but growing and interesting city. The launching of another vessel on +these inland seas is but a fresh occasion of congratulation on the rapid +growth, the great active prosperity, and the animating prospects of this +city. Eight years ago, fellow-citizens, I enjoyed the pleasure of a +short visit to this place. There was then but one steamboat on Lake +Erie; it made its passage once in ten or fifteen days only; and I +remember that persons in my own vicinity, intending to travel to the Far +West by that conveyance, wrote to their friends here to learn the day of +the commencement of the contemplated voyage. I understand that there are +now eighteen steamboats plying on the lake, all finding full employment; +and that a boat leaves Buffalo twice every day for Detroit and the ports +in Ohio. The population of Buffalo, now four times as large as it was +then, has kept pace with the augmentation of its commercial business. +This rapid progress is an indication, in a single instance, of what is +likely to be the rate of the future progress of the city. So many +circumstances incline to favor its advancement, that it is difficult to +estimate the rate by which it may hereafter proceed. It will probably +not be long before the products of the fisheries of the East, the +importations of the Atlantic frontier, the productions, mineral and +vegetable, of all the Northwestern States, and the sugars of Louisiana, +will find their way hither by inland water communication. Much of this, +indeed, has already taken place, and is of daily occurrence. Many, who +remember the competition between Buffalo and Black Rock for the site of +the city, will doubtless live to see the city spread over both. This +singular prosperity, fellow-citizens, so gratifying for the present, and +accompanied with such high hopes for the future, is due to your own +industry and enterprise, to your favored position, and to the +flourishing condition of the internal commerce of the country; and the +blessings and the riches of that internal commerce, be it ever +remembered, are the fruits of a united government, and one general, +common commercial system. + +It is not only the trade of New York, of Ohio, of New England, of +Indiana, or of Michigan, but it is a part of the great aggregate of the +trade of all the States, in which you so largely and so successfully +partake. Who does not see that the advantages here enjoyed spring from a +general government and a uniform code? Who does not see, that, if these +States had remained severed, and each had existed with a system of +imposts and commercial regulations of its own, all excluding and +repelling, rather than inviting, the intercourse of the rest, the place +could hardly have hoped to be more than a respectable frontier post? Or +can any man look to the one and to the other side of this beautiful +lake and river, and not see, in their different conditions, the plain +and manifest results of different political institutions and commercial +regulations? + +It would be pleasant, fellow-citizens, to dwell on these topics, so +worthy at all times of regard and reflection; and especially so fit to +engage attention at the present moment. But this is not the proper +moment to pursue them; and, tendering to you once more my thanks and +good wishes, I take my leave of you by expressing my hope for the +continued success of that great interest, so essential to your +happiness,--THE COMMERCE OF THE LAKES, A NEW-DISCOVERED SOURCE OF +NATIONAL PROSPERITY, AND A NEW BOND OF NATIONAL UNION. + + An address was also made to Mr. Webster in behalf of the mechanics + and manufacturers of Buffalo, to which he returned the following + reply:-- + +I need hardly say, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, that it gives me much +satisfaction to receive this mark of approbation of my public conduct +from the manufacturers and mechanics of Buffalo. Those who are the most +immediately affected by the measures of the government are naturally the +earliest to perceive their operation, and to foresee their final +results. Allow me to say, Gentlemen, that the confidence expressed by +you in my continuance in the general course which I have pursued must +rest, and may rest safely, I trust, on the history of the past. Desiring +always to avoid extremes, and to observe a prudent moderation in regard +to the protective system, I yet hold steadiness and perseverance, in +maintaining what has been established, to be essential to the public +prosperity. Nothing can be worse than that laws concerning the daily +labor and the daily bread of whole classes of the people should be +subject to frequent and violent changes. It were far better not to move +at all than to move forward and then fall back again. + +My sentiments, Gentlemen, on the tariff question, are generally +known. In my opinion, a just and a leading object in the whole system is +the encouragement and protection of American manual labor. I confess, +that every day's experience convinces me more and more of the high +propriety of regarding this object. Our government is made for all, +not for a few. Its object is to promote the greatest good of the whole; +and this ought to be kept constantly in view in its administration. +The far greater number of those who maintain the government belong +to what may be called the industrious or productive classes of the +community. With us labor is not depressed, ignorant, and unintelligent. +On the contrary, it is active, spirited, enterprising, seeking its own +rewards, and laying up for its own competence and its own support. The +motive to labor is the great stimulus to our whole society; and no +system is wise or just which does not afford this stimulus, as far as +it may. The protection of American labor against the injurious +competition of foreign labor, so far, at least, as respects general +handicraft productions, is known historically to have been one end +designed to be obtained by establishing the Constitution; and this +object, and the constitutional power to accomplish it, ought never in +any degree to be surrendered or compromised. + +Our political institutions, Gentlemen, place power in the hands of all +the people; and to make the exercise of this power, in such hands, +salutary, it is indispensable that all the people should enjoy, first, +the means of education, and, second, the reasonable certainty of +procuring a competent livelihood by industry and labor. These +institutions are neither designed for, nor suited to, a nation of +ignorant paupers. To disseminate knowledge, then, universally, and to +secure to labor and industry their just rewards, is the duty both of the +general and the State governments, each in the exercise of its +appropriate powers. To be free, the people must be intelligently free; +to be substantially independent, they must be able to secure themselves +against want, by sobriety and industry; to be safe depositaries of +political power, they must be able to comprehend and understand the +general interests of the community, and must themselves have a stake in +the welfare of that community. The interest of labor, therefore, has an +importance, in our system, beyond what belongs to it as a mere question +of political economy. It is connected with our forms of government, and +our whole social system. The activity and prosperity which at present +prevail among us, as every one must notice, are produced by the +excitement of compensating prices to labor; and it is fervently to be +hoped that no unpropitious circumstances and no unwise policy may +counteract this efficient cause of general competency and public +happiness. + +I pray you, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, to receive personally my thanks +for the manner in which you have communicated to me the sentiments of +the meeting which you represent. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [101] Remarks made to the Citizens of Buffalo, June, 1833. + + + + +RECEPTION AT PITTSBURG. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + Mr. Webster arrived at Pittsburg on the evening of the 4th of July + accompanied by a numerous cavalcade of citizens. He was immediately + waited on by a committee, with the following letter:-- + + +"TO THE HON. DANIEL WEBSTER. + +"_Pittsburg, July 4, 1833._ + +"SIR,--At a meeting of the citizens of Pittsburg, the undersigned were +appointed a committee to convey to you a cordial welcome, and an +assurance of the exalted sense which is entertained of your character +and public services. + +"The feeling is one which pervades our whole community, scorning any +narrower discrimination than that of lovers of our sacred Union, and +admirers of the highest moral and intellectual qualities, steadily and +triumphantly devoted to the noblest purposes. + +"The resolutions under which the committee act indicate no particular +form of tribute, but contain only an earnest injunction to seek the best +mode by which to manifest the universal recognition of your claim to the +admiration and gratitude of every American citizen. It will be deeply +mortifying to us, if our execution of this trust shall fail adequately +to represent the enthusiastic feeling in which it had its origin. + +"The committee will have the honor of waiting on you in person, at such +an hour as you may please to designate, with a view to ascertain how +they can best fulfil the purposes of their appointment. It will be very +gratifying if your convenience will permit you to partake of a public +dinner at any period during your stay. + +"We have the honor to be, with the highest respect, &c. + + JAMES ROSS, + BENJAMIN BAKEWELL, + CHARLES AVERY, + WILLIAM WADE, + SAMUEL PETTIGREW, + GEORGE MILTENBERGER, + ISAAC LIGHTNER, + SYLVANUS LATHROP, + JOHN ARTHURS, + ALEX. BRACKENRIDGE, + WILLIAM ROBINSON, JUN. + GEORGE A. COOK, + W. W. FETTERMAN, + SAMUEL ROSEBURGH, + WILLIAM MACKEY, + JAMES JOHNSTON, + RICHARD BIDDLE, + SAMUEL P. DARLINGTON, + MICHAEL TIERNAN, + SAMUEL FAHNESTOCK, + THOMAS BAKEWELL, + WALTER H. LOWRIE, + WILLIAM W. IRWIN, + ROBERT S. CASSAT, + CORNELIUS DARRAGH, + BENJAMIN DARLINGTON, + NEVILLE B. CRAIG, + WILSON McCANDLES, + OWEN ASHTON, + CHARLES SHALER, + THOMAS SCOTT, + CHARLES H. ISRAEL." + + To this letter Mr. Webster returned the following reply:-- + +"_Pittsburg, July 5, 1833._ + +"GENTLEMEN,--I hardly know how to express my thanks for the hospitable +and cordial welcome with which the citizens of Pittsburg are disposed to +receive me on this my first visit to their city. The terms in which you +express their sentiments, in your letter of yesterday, far transcend all +merits of mine, and can have their origin only in spontaneous kindness +and good feeling. I tender to you, Gentlemen, and to the meeting which +you represent, my warmest acknowledgments. I rejoice sincerely to find +the health of the city so satisfactory; and I reciprocate with all the +people of Pittsburg the most sincere and hearty good wishes for their +prosperity and happiness. Long may it continue what it now is, an abode +of comfort and hospitality, a refuge for the well-deserving from all +nations, a model of industry, and an honor to the country. + +"It is my purpose, Gentlemen, to stay a day or two among you, to see +such of your manufactories and public institutions as it may be in my +power to visit. I most respectfully pray leave to decline a public +dinner, but shall have great pleasure in meeting such of your +fellow-citizens as may desire it, in the most friendly and unceremonious +manner. + +"I am, Gentlemen, with very true regard, yours, + +"DANIEL WEBSTER. + +"To HON. JAMES ROSS and others, Gentlemen of the Committee." + + In deference to Mr. Webster's wishes, the idea of a formal dinner + was abandoned; but, as there was a general desire for some + collective expression of public esteem, it was determined to invite + him to meet the citizens in a spacious grove, at four o'clock on the + afternoon of the 8th. Refreshments of a plain kind were spread + around, under the charge of the committee; but the tables could + serve only as a nucleus to the multitude. His Honor the Mayor called + the company to order, and addressed them as follows:-- + +"I have to ask, Gentlemen, your attention for a few moments. + +"We are met here to mark our sense of the extraordinary merits of a +distinguished statesman and public benefactor. At his particular +request, every thing like parade or ceremonial has been waived; and, in +consequence, he has been the better enabled to receive, and to +reciprocate, the hearty and spontaneous expression of your good-will. I +am now desired to attempt, in your name, to give utterance to the +universal feeling around me. + +"Gentlemen, we are this day citizens of the _United_ States. The Union +is safe. Not a star has fallen from that proud banner around which our +affections have so long rallied. And when, with this delightful +assurance, we cast our eyes back upon the eventful history of the last +year,--when we recall the gloomy apprehensions, and perhaps hopeless +despondency, which came over us,--who, Gentlemen, can learn, without a +glow of enthusiasm, that the great champion of the Constitution, that +DANIEL WEBSTER, is now in the midst of us. To his mighty intellect, the +nation, with one voice, confided its cause,--of life or death. Shall +there be withheld from the triumphant advocate of the nation a nation's +gratitude? Ours, Gentlemen, is a government not of force, but of +opinion. The reason of the people must be satisfied before a call to +arms. The mass of our peaceful and conscientious citizens cannot, and +ought not, except in a clear case, to be urged to abandon the implements +of industry for the sword and the bayonet. This consideration it is that +imparts to intellectual preeminence in the service of truth its +incalculable value. And hence the preciousness of that admirable and +unanswerable exposition, which has put down, once and for ever, the +artful sophisms of nullification. + +"If, Gentlemen, we turn to other portions of the public history of our +distinguished guest, it will be found that his claims to grateful +acknowledgment are not less imposing. The cause of domestic industry, of +internal improvement, of education, of whatever, in short, is calculated +to render us a prosperous, united, and happy people, has found in him a +watchful and efficient advocate. Nor is it the least of his merits, that +to our gallant _Navy_ Mr. Webster has been an early, far-sighted, and +persevering friend. Our interior position cannot render us cold and +unobservant on this point, whilst the victory of Perry yet supplies to +us a proud and inspiring anniversary. And such is the wonderful chain of +mutual dependence which binds our Union, that, in the remotest corner of +the West, the exchangeable value of every product must depend on the +security with which the ocean can be traversed. + +"Gentlemen, I have detained you too long; yet I will add one word. I do +but echo the language of the throngs that have crowded round Mr. Webster +in declaring, that the frank and manly simplicity of his character and +manners has created a feeling of personal regard which no mere +intellectual ascendency could have secured. We approached him with +admiration for the achievements of his public career, never supposing +for a moment that our hearts could have aught to do in the matter; we +shall part as from a valued friend, the recollection of whose virtues +cannot pass away." + + MR. WEBSTER then addressed the assembly as follows: + + + + +RECEPTION AT PITTSBURG.[102] + + +Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen:--I rise, fellow-citizens, with unaffected +sensibility, to give you my thanks for the hospitable manner in which +you have been kind enough to receive me, on this my first visit to +Pittsburg, and to make all due acknowledgments to your worthy Mayor, for +the sentiments which he has now seen fit to express. + +Although, Gentlemen, it has been my fortune to be personally acquainted +with very few of you, I feel, at this moment, that we are not strangers. +We are fellow-countrymen, fellow-citizens, bound together by a thousand +ties of interest, of sympathy, of duty; united, I hope I may add, by +bonds of mutual regard. We are bound together, for good or for evil, in +our great political interests. I know that I am addressing Americans, +every one of whom has a true American heart in his bosom; and I feel +that I have also an American heart in my bosom. I address you, then, +Gentlemen, with the same fervent good wishes for your happiness, the +same brotherly affection, and the same feelings of regard and esteem, as +if, instead of being upon the borders of the Ohio, I stood by the +Connecticut or the Merrimack. As citizens, countrymen, and neighbors, I +give you my hearty good wishes, and thank you, over and over again, for +your abundant hospitality. + +Gentlemen, the Mayor has been pleased to advert, in terms beyond all +expectation or merit of my own, to my services in defence of the +glorious Constitution under which we live, and which makes you and me +all that we are, and all that we desire to be. He has done much more +than justice to my efforts; but he has not overstated the importance of +the occasion on which those efforts were made. + +Gentlemen, it is but a few short months since dark and portentous clouds +_did_ hang over our heavens, and _did_ shut out, as it were, the sun in +his glory. A new and perilous crisis was upon us. Dangers, novel in +their character, and fearful in their aspect, menaced both the peace of +the country and the integrity of the Constitution. For forty years our +government had gone on, I need hardly say how prosperously and +gloriously, meeting, it is true, with occasional dissatisfaction, and, +in one or two instances, with ill-concerted resistance to law. Through +all these trials it had successfully passed. But now a time had come +when the authority of law was opposed by authority of law, when the +power of the general government was resisted by the arms of State +government, and when organized military force, under all the sanctions +of State conventions and State laws, was ready to resist the collection +of the public revenues, and hurl defiance at the statutes of Congress. + +'Gentlemen, this was an alarming moment. In common with all good +citizens, I felt it to be such. A general anxiety pervaded the breasts +of all who were, at home, partaking in the prosperity, honor, and +happiness which the country had enjoyed. And how was it abroad? Why, +Gentlemen, every intelligent friend of human liberty, throughout the +world, looked with amazement at the spectacle which we exhibited. In a +day of unparalleled prosperity, after a half-century's most happy +experience of the blessings of our Union; when we had already become the +wonder of all the liberal part of the world, and the envy of the +illiberal; when the Constitution had so amply falsified the predictions +of its enemies, and more than fulfilled all the hopes of its friends; in +a time of peace, with an overflowing treasury; when both the population +and the improvement of the country had outrun the most sanguine +anticipations;--it was at this moment that we showed ourselves to the +whole civilized world as being apparently on the eve of disunion and +anarchy, at the very point of dissolving, once and for ever, that Union +which had made us so prosperous and so great. It was at this moment that +those appeared among us who seemed ready to break up the national +Constitution, and to scatter the twenty-four States into twenty-four +unconnected communities. + +Gentlemen, the President of the United States was, as it seemed to me, +at this eventful crisis, true to his duty. He comprehended and +understood the case, and met it as it was proper to meet it. While I am +as willing as others to admit that the President has, on other +occasions, rendered important services to the country, and especially on +that occasion which has given him so much military renown, I yet think +the ability and decision with which he rejected the disorganizing +doctrines of nullification create a claim, than which he has none +higher, to the gratitude of the country and the respect of posterity. +The appearance of the proclamation of the 10th of December inspired me, +I confess, with new hopes for the duration of the republic. I regarded +it as just, patriotic, able, and imperiously demanded by the condition +of the country. I would not be understood to speak of particular clauses +and phrases in the proclamation; but I regard its great and leading +doctrines as the true and only true doctrines of the Constitution. They +constitute the sole ground on which dismemberment can be resisted. +Nothing else, in my opinion, can hold us together. While these opinions +are maintained, the Union will last; when they shall be generally +rejected and abandoned, that Union will be at the mercy of a temporary +majority in any one of the States. + +I speak, Gentlemen, on this subject, without reserve. I have not +intended heretofore, and elsewhere, and do not now intend here, to stint +my commendation of the conduct of the President in regard to the +proclamation and the subsequent measures. I have differed with the +President, as all know, who know any thing of so humble an individual as +myself, on many questions of great general interest and importance. I +differ with him in respect to the constitutional power of internal +improvements; I differ with him in respect to the rechartering of the +Bank, and I dissent, especially, from the grounds and reasons on which +he refused his assent to the bill passed by Congress for that purpose. I +differ with him, also, probably, in the degree of protection which ought +to be afforded to our agriculture and manufactures, and in the manner in +which it may be proper to dispose of the public lands. But all these +differences afforded, in my judgment, not the slightest reason for +opposing him in a measure of paramount importance, and at a moment of +great public exigency. I sought to take counsel of nothing but +patriotism, to feel no impulse but that of duty, and to yield not a +lame and hesitating, but a vigorous and cordial, support to measures +which, in my conscience, I believed essential to the preservation of the +Constitution. It is true, doubtless, that if myself and others had +surrendered ourselves to a spirit of opposition, we might have +embarrassed, and probably defeated, the measures of the administration. +But in so doing, we should, in my opinion, have been false to our own +characters, false to our duty, and false to our country. It gives me the +highest satisfaction to know, that, in regard to this subject, the +general voice of the country does not disapprove my conduct. + +I ought to add, Gentlemen, that, in whatever I may have done or +attempted in this respect, I only share a common merit. A vast majority +of both houses of Congress cordially concurred in the measures. Your own +great State was seen in her just position on that occasion, and your own +immediate representatives were found among the most zealous and +efficient friends of the Union. + +Gentlemen, I hope that the result of that experiment may prove +salutary in its consequences to our government, and to the interests +of the community. I hope that the signal and decisive manifestation of +public opinion, which has, for the time at least, put down the +despotism of nullification, may produce permanent good effects. I know +full well that popular topics may be urged against the proclamation. +I know it may be said, in regard to the laws of the last session, +that, if such laws are to be maintained, Congress may pass what laws +they please, and enforce them. But may it not be said, on the other +side, that, if a State may nullify one law, she may nullify any other +law also, and, therefore, that the _principle_ strikes at the whole +power of Congress? And when it is said, that, if the power of State +interposition be denied, Congress may pass and enforce what laws it +pleases, is it meant to be contended or insisted, that the Constitution +has placed Congress under the guardianship and control of the State +legislatures? Those who argue against the power of Congress, from the +possibility of its abuse, entirely forget that, if the power of +State interposition be allowed, that power may be abused also. What is +more material, they forget the will of the people, as they have plainly +expressed it in the Constitution. They forget that _the people have +chosen_ to give Congress a power of legislation, independent of State +control. They forget that the Confederation has ceased, and that a +_Constitution_, a _government_, has taken its place. They forget that +this government is a popular government, that members of Congress are +but agents and servants of the people, chosen for short periods, +periodically removable by the people, as much subservient, as much +dependent, as willingly obedient, as any other of their agents and +servants. This dependence on the people is the security that they will +not act wrong. This is the security which the people themselves have +chosen to rely on, in addition to the guards contained in the +Constitution itself. + +I am quite aware, Gentlemen, that it is easy for those who oppose +measures deemed necessary for the execution of the laws, to raise the +cry of _consolidation_. It is easy to make charges, and to bring general +accusations. It is easy to call names. For one, I repel all such +imputations. I am no _consolidationist_. I disclaim the character +altogether, and, instead of repeating this general and vague charge, I +will be obliged to any one to show how the proclamation, or the late law +of Congress, or, indeed, any measure to which I ever gave my support, +tends, in the slightest degree, to consolidation. By consolidation is +understood a grasping at power, on behalf of the general government, not +constitutionally conferred. But the proclamation asserted no new power. +It only asserted the right in the government to carry into effect, in +the form of law, power which it had exercised for forty years. I should +oppose any grasping at new powers by Congress, as zealously as the most +zealous. I wish to preserve the Constitution as it is, without addition, +and without diminution, by one jot or tittle. For the same reason that I +would not grasp at powers not given, I would not surrender nor abandon +powers which are given. Those who have placed me in a public station +placed me there, not to alter the Constitution, but to administer it. +The power of change the people have retained to themselves. _They_ can +alter, they can modify, they can change the Constitution entirely, if +they see fit. _They_ can tread it under foot, and make another, or make +no other; but while it remains unaltered by the authority of the people, +it is our power of attorney, our letter of credit, our credentials; and +we are to follow it, and obey its injunctions, and maintain its just +powers, to the best of our abilities. I repeat, that, for one, I seek +to preserve to the Constitution those precise powers with which the +people have clothed it. While no encroachment is to be made on the +reserved rights of the people or of the States, while nothing is to be +usurped, it is equally clear that we are not at liberty to surrender, +either in fact or form, any power or principle which the Constitution +does actually contain. + +And what is the ground for this cry of consolidation? I maintain that +the measures recommended by the President, and adopted by Congress, were +measures of self-defence. Is it consolidation to execute laws? Is it +consolidation to resist the force that is threatening to upturn our +government? Is it consolidation to protect officers, in the discharge of +their duty, from courts and juries previously sworn to decide against +them? + +Gentlemen, I take occasion to remark, that, after much reflection upon +the subject, and after all that has been said about the encroachment of +the general government upon the rights of the States, I know of no one +power, exercised by the general government, which was not, when that +instrument was adopted, admitted by the immediate friends and foes of +the Constitution to have been conferred upon it by the people. I know of +no one power, now claimed or exercised, which every body did not agree, +in 1789, was conferred on the general government. On the contrary, there +are several powers, and those, too, among the most important for the +interests of the people, which were then universally allowed to be +conferred on Congress by the Constitution of the United States, and +which are now ingeniously doubted, or clamorously denied. + +Gentlemen, upon this point I shall detain you with no further remarks. +It does, however, give me the most sincere pleasure to say, that, in a +long visit through the State west of you, and the great State north of +you, as well as in a tour of some days' duration in the respectable +State to which you belong, I find but one sentiment in regard to the +conduct of the government upon this subject. I know that those who have +seen fit to intrust to me, in part, their interests in Congress, approve +of the measures recommended by the President. We see that he has taken +occasion, during the recess of Congress, to visit that part of the +country; and we know how he has been received. Nowhere have hands been +extended with more sincerity of friendship; and for one, Gentlemen, I +take occasion to say, that, having heard of his return to the seat of +government with health rather debilitated, it is among my most earnest +prayers that Providence may spare his life, and that he may go through +his administration and come out of it with as much success and glory as +any of his predecessors. + +Your worthy chief magistrate has been kind enough, Gentlemen, to express +sentiments favorable to myself, as a friend of domestic industry. +Domestic industry! How much of national power and opulence, how much of +individual comfort and respectability, that phrase implies! And with +what force does it strike us, as we stand here, at the confluence of the +two rivers whose united currents constitute the Ohio, and in the midst +of one of the most flourishing and distinguished manufacturing cities in +the Union! Many thousand miles of inland navigation, running through a +new and rapidly-improving country, stretch away below us. Internal +communications, completed or in progress, connect the city with the +Atlantic and the Lakes. A hundred steam-engines are in daily operation, +and nature has supplied the fuel which feeds their incessant flames on +the spot itself, in exhaustless abundance. Standing here, Gentlemen, in +the midst of such a population, and with such a scene around us, how +great is the import of these words, "domestic industry"! + +Next to the preservation of the government itself, there can hardly be a +more vital question, to such a community as this, than that which +regards their own employments, and the preservation of that policy which +the government has adopted and cherished for the encouragement and +protection of those employments. This is not, in a society like this, a +matter which affects the interest of a particular class, but one which +affects the interest of all classes. It runs through the whole chain of +human occupation and employment, and touches the means of living and the +comfort of all. + +Gentlemen, those of you who may have turned your attention to the +subject know, that, in the quarter of the country with which I am more +immediately connected, the people were not early or eager to urge the +government to carry the protective policy to the height which it has +reached. Candor obliges me to remind you, that, when the act of 1824 was +passed, neither he who now addresses you, nor those with whom he +usually acted on such subjects, were ready or willing to take the step +which that act proposed. They doubted its _expediency_. It passed, +however, by the great and overwhelming influence of the central States, +New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. New England acquiesced in it. She +conformed to it, as the settled policy of the country, and gave to her +capital and her labor a corresponding direction. She has now become +vitally interested in the preservation of the system. Her prosperity is +identified, not perhaps with any particular degree of protection, but +with the preservation of the principle; and she is not likely to consent +to yield the principle, under any circumstances whatever. And who would +dare to yield it? Who, standing here, and looking round on this +community and its interests, would be bold enough to touch the spring +which moves so much industry and produces so much happiness? Who would +shut up the mouths of these vast coal-pits? Who would stay the cargoes +of manufactured goods, now floating down a river, one of the noblest in +the world, and stretching through territories almost boundless in extent +and unequalled in fertility? Who would quench the fires of so many +steam-engines, or check the operations of so much well-employed labor? +Gentlemen, I cannot conceive how any subversion of that policy which has +hitherto been pursued can take place, without great public embarrassment +and great private distress. + +I have said, that I am in favor of protecting American manual labor; and +after the best reflection I can give the subject, and from the lights +which I can derive from the experience of ourselves and others, I have +come to the conclusion that such protection is just and proper; and that +to leave American labor to sustain a competition with that of the +over-peopled countries of Europe would lead to a state of things to +which the people could never submit. This is the great reason why I am +for maintaining what has been established. I see at home, I see here, I +see wherever I go, that the stimulus which has excited the existing +activity, and is producing the existing prosperity, of the country, is +nothing else than the stimulus held out to labor by compensating prices. +I think this effect is visible everywhere, from Penobscot to New +Orleans, and manifest in the condition and circumstances of the great +body of the people; for nine tenths of the whole people belong to the +laborious, industrious, and productive classes; and on these classes the +stimulus acts. We perceive that the price of labor is high, and we know +that the means of living are low; and these two truths speak volumes in +favor of the general prosperity of the country. I am aware, as has been +said already, that this high price of labor results partly from the +favorable condition of the country. Labor was high, comparatively +speaking, before the act of 1824 passed; but that fact affords no +reason, in my judgment, for endangering its security and sacrificing its +hopes, by overthrowing what has since been established for its +protection. + +Let us look, Gentlemen, to the condition of other countries, and inquire +a little into the causes, which, in some of them, produce poverty and +distress, the lamentations of which reach our own shores. I see around +me many whom I know to be emigrants from other countries. Why are they +here? Why is the native of Ireland among us? Why has he abandoned scenes +as dear to him as these hills and these rivers are to you? Is there any +other cause than this, that the burden of taxation on the one hand, and +the low reward of labor on the other, left him without the means of a +comfortable subsistence, or the power of providing for those who were +dependent upon him? Was it not on this account that he left his own +land, and sought an asylum in a country of free laws, of comparative +exemption from taxation, of boundless extent, and in which the means of +living are cheap, and the prices of labor just and adequate? And do not +these remarks apply, with more or less accuracy, to every other part of +Europe? Is it not true, that sobriety, and industry, and good character, +can do more for a man here than in any other part of the world? And is +not this truth, which is so obvious that none can deny it, founded in +this plain reason, that labor in this country earns a better reward than +anywhere else, and so gives more comfort, more individual independence, +and more elevation of character? Whatever else may benefit particular +portions of society, whatever else may assist capital, whatever else may +favor sharp-sighted commercial enterprise, professional skill, or +extraordinary individual sagacity or good fortune, be assured, +Gentlemen, that nothing can advance the mass of society in prosperity +and happiness, nothing can uphold the substantial interest and steadily +improve the general condition and character of the whole, but this one +thing, _compensating rewards to labor_. The fortunate situation of our +country tends strongly, of itself, to produce this result; the +government has adopted the policy of cooeperating with this natural +tendency of things; it has encouraged and fostered labor and industry, +by a system of discriminating duties; and the result of these combined +causes may be seen in the present circumstances of the country. + +Gentlemen, there are important considerations of another kind connected +with this subject. Our government is popular; popular in its foundation, +and popular in its exercise. The actual character of the government can +never be better than the general moral and intellectual character of the +community. It would be the wildest of human imaginations, to expect a +poor, vicious, and ignorant people to maintain a good popular +government. Education and knowledge, which, as is obvious, can be +generally attained by the people only where there are adequate rewards +to labor and industry, and some share in the public interest, some stake +in the community, would seem indispensably necessary in those who have +the power of appointing all public agents, passing all laws, and even of +making and unmaking constitutions at their pleasure. Hence the truth of +the trite maxim, that knowledge and virtue are the only foundation of +republics. But it is to be added, and to be always remembered, that +there never was, and never can be, an intelligent and virtuous people +who at the same time are a poor and idle people, badly employed and +badly paid. Who would be safe in any community, where political power is +in the hands of the many and property in the hands of the few? Indeed, +such an unnatural state of things could nowhere long exist. + +It certainly appears to me, Gentlemen, to be quite evident at this time, +and in the present condition of the world, that it is necessary to +protect the industry of this country against the pauper labor of England +and other parts of Europe. An American citizen, who has children to +maintain and children to _educate_, has an unequal chance against the +pauper of England, whose children are not to be educated, and are +probably already on the parish, and who himself is half fed and clothed +by his own labor, and half from the poor-rates, and very badly fed and +clothed after all. As I have already said, the condition of our country +of itself, without the aid of government, does much to favor American +manual labor; and it is a question of policy and justice, at all times, +what and how much government shall do in aid of natural advantages. In +regard to some branches of industry, the natural advantages are less +considerable than in regard to others; and those, therefore, more +imperiously demand the regard of government. Such are the occupations, +generally speaking, of the numerous classes of citizens in cities and +large towns; the workers in leather, brass, tin, iron, &c.; and such, +too, under most circumstances, are the employments connected with +ship-building. + +Our own experience has been a powerful, and ought to be a convincing and +long-remembered, preacher on this point. From the close of the war of +the Revolution, there came on a period of depression and distress, on +the Atlantic coast, such as the people had hardly felt during the +sharpest crisis of the war itself. Ship-owners, ship-builders, +mechanics, artisans, all were destitute of employment, and some of them +destitute of bread. British ships came freely, and British goods came +plentifully; while to American ships and American products there was +neither protection on the one side, nor the equivalent of reciprocal +free trade on the other. The cheaper labor of England supplied the +inhabitants of the Atlantic shores with every thing. Ready-made clothes, +among the rest, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, +were for sale in every city. All these things came free from any general +system of imposts. Some of the States attempted to establish their own +partial systems, but they failed. Voluntary association was resorted to, +but that failed also. A memorable instance of this mode of attempting +protection occurred in Boston. The ship-owners, seeing that British +vessels came and went freely, while their own ships were rotting at the +wharves, raised a committee to address the people, recommending to them, +in the strongest manner, not to buy or use any articles imported in +British ships. The chairman of this committee was no less distinguished +a character than the immortal John Hancock. The committee performed its +duty powerfully and eloquently. It set forth strong and persuasive +reasons why the people should not buy or use British goods imported in +British ships. The ship-owners and merchants having thus proceeded, the +mechanics of Boston took up the subject also. They answered the +merchants' committee. They agreed with them cordially, that British +goods, imported in British vessels, ought not to be bought or consumed; +but then they took the liberty of going a step farther, and of insisting +_that such goods ought not to be bought or consumed at all_. (Great +applause.) "For," said they, "Mr. Hancock, what difference does it make +to us, whether hats, shoes, boots, shirts, handkerchiefs, tin-ware, +brass-ware, cutlery, and every other article, come in British ships or +come in your ships; since, in whatever ships they come, they take away +our means of living?" + +Gentlemen, it is an historical truth, manifested in a thousand ways by +the public proceedings and public meetings of the times, that the +necessity of a general and uniform impost system, which, while it should +provide revenue to pay the public debt, and foster the commerce of the +country, should also encourage and sustain domestic manufactures, was +the leading cause in producing the present national Constitution. No +class of persons was more zealous for the new Constitution, than the +handicraftsmen, artisans, and manufacturers. There were then, it is +true, no large manufacturing establishments. There were no manufactories +in the interior, for there were no inhabitants. Here was Fort Pitt,--it +had a place on the map,--but here were no people, or only a very few. +But in the cities and towns on the Atlantic, the full importance, indeed +the absolute necessity, of a new form of government and a general system +of imposts was deeply felt. + +It so happened, Gentlemen, that at that time much was thought to depend +on Massachusetts; several States had already agreed to the Constitution; +if her convention adopted it, it was likely to go into operation. This +gave to the proceedings of that convention an intense interest, and the +country looked with trembling anxiety for the result. That result was +for a long time doubtful. The convention was known to be almost equally +divided; and down to the very day and hour of the final vote, no one +could predict, with any certainty, which side would preponderate. It was +under these circumstances, and at this crisis, that the tradesmen of the +town of Boston, in January, 1788, assembled at the Green Dragon tavern, +the place where the Whigs of the Revolution, in its early stages, had +been accustomed to assemble. They resolved, that, in their opinion, if +the Constitution should be adopted, "trade and navigation would revive +and increase, and employ and subsistence be afforded to many of their +townsmen, then suffering for the want of the necessaries of life"; and +that, on the other hand, should it be rejected, "the small remains of +commerce yet left would be annihilated; the various trades and +handicrafts dependent thereon decay; the poor be increased, and many +worthy and skilful mechanics compelled to seek employ and subsistence in +strange lands." These resolutions were carried to the Boston delegates +in the convention, and placed in the hands of Samuel Adams. That great +and distinguished friend of American liberty, it was feared, might have +doubts about the new Constitution. Naturally cautious and sagacious, it +was apprehended he might fear the practicability, or the safety, of a +general government. He received the resolutions from the hands of Paul +Revere, a brass-founder by occupation, a man of sense and character, and +of high public spirit, whom the mechanics of Boston ought never to +forget. "How many mechanics," said Mr. Adams, "were at the Green Dragon +when these resolutions were passed?" "More, Sir," was the reply, "than +the Green Dragon could hold." "And where were the rest, Mr. Revere?" "In +the streets, Sir." "And how many were in the streets?" "More, Sir, than +there are stars in the sky." This is an instance only, among many, to +prove, what is indisputably true, that the tradesmen and mechanics of +the country did look to the new Constitution for encouragement and +protection in their respective occupations. Under these circumstances, +it is not to be expected that they will abandon the principle, in its +application to their own employments, any more than in its application +to the commercial and shipping interests. They believe the power is in +the Constitution; and doubtless they mean, so far as depends on them, to +keep it there. Desirous of no extravagant measure of protection, +desirous of oppressing or burdening nobody, seeking nothing as a +substitute for honest industry and hard work, as a part of the American +family, having the same interests as other parts, they will continue +their attachment to the Union and the Constitution, and to all the great +and leading interests of the country. + +Gentlemen, your worthy Mayor has alluded to the subject of internal +improvements. Having no doubt of the power of the general government +over various objects comprehended under that name, I confess I have +felt great pleasure in forwarding them, to the extent of my ability, by +means of reasonable aid from the government. It has seemed strange to +me, that, in the progress of human knowledge and human virtue (for I +have no doubt that both are making progress), the efforts of government +should so long have been principally confined to external affairs, and +to the enactment of the general laws, without considering how much may +be done by government, which cannot be done without it, for the +improvement of the condition of the people. There are many objects, of +great value to man, which cannot be attained by unconnected individuals, +but must be attained, if at all, by association. For many of them +government seems the most natural and the most efficient association. +Voluntary association has done much, but it cannot do all. To the great +honor and advantage of your own State, she has been forward in applying +the agency of government to great objects of internal utility. But even +States cannot do every thing. There are some things which belong to all +the States; and, if done at all, must be done by all the States. At the +conclusion of the late war, it appeared to me that the time had come for +the government to turn its attention inward; to survey the condition of +the country, and particularly the vast Western country; to take a +comprehensive view of the whole; and to adopt a liberal system of +internal improvements. There are objects not naturally within the sphere +of any one State, which yet seemed of great importance, as calculated to +unite the different parts of the country, to open a better and shorter +way between the producer and consumer, to promise the highest advantage +to government itself, in any exigency. It is true, Gentlemen, that the +local theatre for such improvement is not mainly in the East. The East +is old, pretty fully peopled, and small. The West is new, vast, and +thinly peopled. Our rivers can be measured; yours cannot. We are +bounded; you are boundless. The West was, therefore, most deeply +interested in this system, though certainly not alone interested, even +in such works as had a Western locality. To clear her rivers was to open +them for the commerce of the whole country; to construct harbors, and +clear entrances to existing harbors, whether on the Gulf of Mexico or on +the Lakes, was for the advantage of that whole commerce. And if this +were not so, he is but a poor public man whose patriotism is governed +by the cardinal points; who is for or against a proposed measure, +according to its indication by compass, or as it may happen to tend +farther from, or come nearer to, his own immediate connections. And look +at the West; look at these rivers; look at the Lakes; look especially at +Lake Erie, and see what a moderate expenditure has done for the safety +of human life, and the preservation of property, in the navigation of +that lake; and done, let me add, in the face of a fixed and ardent +opposition. + +I rejoice, sincerely, Gentlemen, in the general progress of internal +improvement, and in the completion of so many objects near you, and +connected with your prosperity. Your own canal and railroad unite you +with the Atlantic. Near you is the Ohio Canal, which does so much credit +to a younger State, and with which your city will doubtless one day have +a direct connection. On the south and east approaches the Baltimore and +Ohio Railroad, a great and spirited enterprise, which I always thought +entitled to the aid of government, and a branch of which, it may be +hoped, will yet reach the head of the Ohio. + +I will only add, Gentlemen, that for what I have done in the cause of +internal improvement I claim no particular merit, having only acted with +others, and discharged, conscientiously and fairly, what I regarded as +my duty to the whole country. + +Gentlemen, the Mayor has spoken of the importance and necessity of +education. And can any one doubt, that to man, as a social and an +immortal being, as interested in the world that is, and infinitely more +concerned for that which is to be, education, that is to say, the +culture of the mind and the heart, is an object of infinite importance? +So far as we can trace the designs of Providence, the formation of the +mind and character, by instruction in knowledge, and instruction in +righteousness, is a main end of human being. Among the new impulses +which society has received, none is more gratifying than the awakened +attention to public education. That object begins to exhibit itself to +the minds of men in its just magnitude, and to possess its due share of +regard. It is but in a limited degree, and indirectly only, that the +powers of the general government have been exercised in the promotion of +this object. So far as these powers extend, I have concurred in their +exercise with great pleasure. The Western States, from the recency of +their settlement, from the great proportion of their population which +are children, and from other circumstances which must, in all new +countries, more or less curtail individual means, have appeared to me to +have peculiar claims to regard; and in all cases where I have thought +the power clear, I have most heartily concurred in measures designed for +their benefit, in this respect. And amidst all our efforts for +education, literary, moral, or religious, be it always remembered that +we leave opinion and conscience free. Heaven grant that it may be the +glory of the United States to have established two great truths, of the +highest importance to the whole human race; first, that an enlightened +community _is_ capable of self-government; and, second, that the +toleration of all sects does _not_ necessarily produce indifference to +religion. + +But I have already detained you too long. My friends, fellow-citizens, +and countrymen, I take a respectful leave of you. The time I have passed +on this side the Alleghanies has been a succession of happy days. I have +seen much to instruct and much to delight me. I return you, again and +again, my unfeigned thanks for the frankness and hospitality with which +you have made me welcome; and wherever I may go, or wherever I may be, I +pray you to believe I shall not lose the recollection of your kindness. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [102] Address delivered to the Citizens of Pittsburg, on the 8th of + July, 1833. + + + + +RECEPTION AT BANGOR.[103] + + During a visit to Maine, in the summer of 1835, on business + connected with his profession, Mr. Webster was at Bangor, where he + partook of a collation with many of the citizens of that place. + There were so many more people, however, desirous to see and hear + him than could be accommodated in the hall of the hotel, that, after + the cloth was removed, he was compelled to proceed to the balcony, + where, after thanking the company for their hospitality, and their + manifestation of regard, he addressed the assembly as follows:-- + + +Having occasion to come into the State on professional business, I have +gladly availed myself of the opportunity to visit this city, the growing +magnitude and importance of which have recently attracted such general +notice. I am happy to say, that I see around me ample proofs of the +correctness of the favorable representations which have gone abroad. +Your city, Gentlemen, has certainly experienced an extraordinary growth; +and it is a growth, I think, which there is reason to hope is not +unnatural, or greatly disproportionate to the eminent advantages of the +place. It so happened, that, at an early period of my life, I came to +this spot, attracted by that favorable position, which the slightest +glance on the map must satisfy every one that it occupies. It is near +the head of tide-water, on a river which brings to it from the sea a +volume of water equal to the demands of the largest vessels of war, and +whose branches, uniting here, from great distances above, traverse in +their course extensive tracts now covered with valuable productions of +the forest, and capable, most of them, of profitable agricultural +cultivation. But at the period I speak of, the time had not come for +the proper development and display of these advantages. Neither the +place itself, nor the country, was then ready. A long course of +commercial restrictions and embargo, and a foreign war, were yet to be +gone through, before the local advantages of such a spot could be +exhibited or enjoyed, or the country would be in a condition to create +an active demand for its main products. + +I believe some twelve or twenty houses were all that Bangor could +enumerate, when I was in it before; and I remember to have crossed the +stream which now divides your fair city on some floating logs, for the +purpose of visiting a former friend and neighbor, who had just then +settled here; a gentleman always most respectable, and now venerable for +his age and his character, whom I have great pleasure in seeing among +you to-day, in the enjoyment of health and happiness. + +It is quite obvious, Gentlemen, that while the local advantages of a +noble river, and of a large surrounding country, may be justly +considered as the original spring of the present prosperity of the city, +the current of this prosperity has, nevertheless, been put in motion, +enlarged, and impelled, by the general progress of improvement, and +growth of wealth throughout the whole country. + +At the period of my former visit, there was, of course, neither +railroad, nor steamboat, nor canal, to favor communication; nor do I +recollect that any public or stage coach came within fifty miles of the +town. + +Internal improvement (as it is comprehensively called in this country) +has been the great agent of this favorable change; and so blended are +our interests, that the general activity which exists elsewhere, +supported and stimulated by internal improvement, pervades and benefits +even those portions of the country which are locally remote from the +immediate scene of the main operations of this improvement. Whatever +promotes communication, whatsoever extends general business, whatsoever +encourages enterprise, or whatsoever advances the general wealth and +prosperity of other States, must have a plain, direct, and powerful +bearing on your own prosperity. In truth, there is no town in the Union, +whose hopes can be more directly staked on the general prosperity of the +country, than this rising city. If any thing should interrupt the +general operations of business, if commercial embarrassment, foreign +war, pecuniary derangement, domestic dissension, or any other causes, +were to arrest the general progress of the public welfare, all must see +with what a blasting and withering effect such a course must operate on +Bangor. + +Gentlemen, I have often taken occasion to say, what circumstances may +render it proper now to repeat, that, at the close of the last war, a +new era, in my judgment, had opened in the United States. A new career +then lay before us. At peace ourselves with the nations of Europe, and +those nations, too, at peace with one another, and the leading civilized +states of the world no longer allowing that carrying trade which had +been the rich harvest of our neutrality in the midst of former wars, but +all now coming forward to exercise their own rights, in sharing the +commerce and navigation of the world, it seemed to me to be very plain, +that, while our commerce was still to be fostered with the most zealous +care, yet quite a new view of things was presented to us in regard to +our internal pursuits and concerns. The works of peace, as it seemed to +me, had become our duties. A hostile exterior, a front of brass, and an +arm of iron, all necessary in the just defence of the country against +foreign aggression, naturally gave place, in a change of circumstances, +to the attitude, the objects, and the pursuits of peace. Our true +interest, as I thought, was to explore our own resources, to call forth +and encourage labor and enterprise upon internal objects, to multiply +the sources of employment and comfort at home, and to unite the country +by ties of intercourse, commerce, benefits, and prosperity, in all +parts, as well as by the ties of political association. And it appeared +to me that government itself clearly possessed the power, and was as +clearly charged with the duty of helping on, in various ways, this great +business of internal improvement. I have, therefore, steadily supported +all measures directed to that end, which appeared to me to be within the +just power of the government, and to be practicable within the limits of +reasonable expenditure. And if any one would judge how far the fostering +of this spirit has been beneficial to the country, let him compare its +state at this moment with its condition at the commencement of the late +war; and let him then say how much of all that has been added to +national wealth and national strength, and to individual prosperity and +happiness, has been the fair result of internal improvement. + +Gentlemen, it has been your pleasure to give utterance to sentiments +expressing approbation of my humble efforts, on several occasions, in +defence and maintenance of the Constitution of the country. I have +nothing to say of those efforts, except that they have been honestly +intended. The country sees no reason, I trust, to suppose that on those +occasions I have taken counsel of any thing but a deep sense of duty. I +have, on some occasions, felt myself called on to maintain my opinions, +in opposition to power, to place, to official influence, and to +overwhelming personal popularity. I have thought it my imperative duty +to put forth my most earnest efforts to maintain what I considered to be +the just powers of the government, when it appeared to me that those to +whom its administration was intrusted were countenancing doctrines +inevitably tending to its destruction. And I have, with far more +pleasure, on other occasions, supported the constituted authorities, +when I have deemed their measures to be called for by a regard to its +preservation. + +The Constitution of the United States, Gentlemen, has appeared to me to +have been formed and adopted for two grand objects. The first is the +Union of the States. It is the bond of that union, and it states and +defines its terms. Who can speak in terms warm enough and high enough of +its importance in this respect, or the admirable wisdom with which it is +formed? Or who, when he shall have stated the benefits and blessings +which it has conferred upon the States most strongly, will venture to +say that he has done it justice? For one, I am not sanguine enough to +believe that, if this bond of union were dissolved, any other tie +uniting all the States would take its place for generations to come. It +requires no common skill, it is no piece of ordinary political +journey-work, to form a system which shall hold together four-and-twenty +separate State sovereignties, the line of whose united territories runs +down all the parallels of latitude from New Brunswick to the Gulf of +Mexico, and whose connected breadth stretches from the sea far beyond +the Mississippi. Nor are all times or all occasions suited to such great +operations. It is only under the most favorable circumstances, and only +when great men are called on to meet great exigencies, only once in +centuries, that such fortunate political results are to be attained. +Whoever, therefore, undervalues this National Union, whoever depreciates +it, whoever accustoms himself to consider how the people might get on +without it, appears to me to encourage sentiments subversive of the +foundations of our prosperity. + +It is true that these twenty-four States are, more or less, different in +climate, productions, and local pursuits. There are planting States, +grain-growing States, manufacturing States, and commercial States. +But those several interests, if not identical, are not therefore +inconsistent and hostile. Far from it. They unite, on the contrary, to +promote an aggregate result of unrivalled national happiness. It is +not precisely a case in which + + "All nature's difference keeps all nature's peace"; + +but it is a case in which variety of climate and condition, and +diversities of pursuits and productions, all unite to exhibit one +harmonious, grand, and magnificent whole, to which the world may be +proudly challenged to show an equal. In my opinion, no man, in any +corner of any one of these States, can stand up and declare, that he is +less prosperous or less happy than if the general government had never +existed. Entertaining these sentiments, and feeling their force most +deeply, I regard it as the bounden duty of every good citizen, in public +and in private life, to follow the admonition of Washington, and to +cherish that Union which makes us one people. I most earnestly +deprecate, therefore, whatever occurs, in the government or out of it, +calculated to endanger the Union or disturb the basis on which it +rests. + +Another object of the Constitution I take to be such as is common to all +written constitutions of free governments; that is, to fix limits to +delegated authority, or, in other words, to impose constitutional +restraints on political power. Some, who esteem themselves republicans, +seem to think no other security for public liberty necessary than a +provision for a popular choice of rulers. If political power be +delegated power, they entertain little fear of its being abused. The +people's servants and favorites, they think, may be safely trusted. Our +fathers, certainly, were not of this school. They sought to make +assurance doubly sure, by providing, in the first place, for the +election of political agents by the people themselves, at short +intervals, and, in the next place, by prescribing constitutional +restraints on all branches of this delegated authority. It is not among +the circumstances of the times most ominous for good, that a diminished +estimate appears to be placed on those constitutional securities. A +disposition is but too prevalent to substitute personal confidence for +legal restraint; to put trust in men rather than in principles; and this +disposition being strongest, as it most obviously is, whenever party +spirit prevails to the greatest extent, it is not without reason that +fears are entertained of the existence of a spirit tending strongly to +an unlimited, if it be but an elective, government. + +Surely, Gentlemen, this government can go through no such change. Long +before that change could take place, the Constitution would be shattered +to pieces, and the Union of the States become matter of past history. To +the Union, therefore, as well as to civil liberty, to every interest +which we enjoy and value, to all that makes us proud of our country, or +which renders our country lovely in our own eyes, or dear to our own +hearts, nothing can be more repugnant, nothing more hostile, nothing +more directly destructive, than excessive, unlimited, unconstitutional +confidence in men; nothing worse, than the doctrine that official agents +may interpret the public will in their own way, in defiance of the +Constitution and the laws; or that they may set up any thing for the +declaration of that will except the Constitution and the laws +themselves; or that any public officer, high or low, should undertake to +constitute himself or to call himself _the representative of the +people_, except so far as the Constitution and the laws create and +denominate him such representative. There is no usurpation so dangerous +as that which comes in the borrowed name of the people. If from some +other authority, or other source, prerogatives be attempted to be +enforced upon the people, they naturally oppose and resist it. It is an +open enemy, and they can easily subdue it. But that which professes to +act in their own name, and by their own authority, that which calls +itself their servant, although it exercises their power without legal +right or constitutional sanction, requires something more of vigilance +to detect, and something more of stern patriotism to repress; and if it +be not seasonably both detected and repressed, then the republic is +already in the downward path of those which have gone before it. + +I hold, therefore, Gentlemen, that a strict submission, by every +branch of the government, to the limitations and restraints of the +Constitution, is of the very essence of all security for the +preservation of liberty; and that no one can be a true and intelligent +friend of that liberty, who will consent that any man in public station, +whatever he may think of the honesty of his motives, shall assume to +exercise an authority above the Constitution and the laws. Whatever +government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let it be +called what it may. + +Gentlemen, on an occasion like this, I ought not to detain you longer. +Let us hope for the best, in behalf of this great and happy country, +and of our glorious Constitution. Indeed, Gentlemen, we may well +congratulate ourselves that the country is so young, so fresh, and so +vigorous, that it can bear a great deal of bad government. It can take +an enormous load of official mismanagement on its shoulders, and yet go +ahead. Like the vessel impelled by steam, it can move forward, not +only without other than the ordinary means, but even when those means +oppose it; it can make its way in defiance of the elements, and + + "Against the wind, against the tide, + Still steady, with an upright keel." + +There are some things, however, which the country cannot stand. It +cannot stand any shock of civil liberty, or any disruption of the Union. +Should either of these happen, the vessel of the state will have no +longer either steerage or motion. She will lie on the billows helpless +and hopeless, the scorn and contempt of all the enemies of free +institutions, and an object of indescribable grief to all their +friends. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [103] Remarks made to the Citizens of Bangor, Maine, on the 25th of + August, 1835. + + + + +PRESENTATION OF A VASE. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + + A large number of the citizens of Boston being desirous to offer + to Mr. Webster some enduring testimony of their gratitude for his + services in Congress, and more especially for his defence of the + Constitution during the crisis of Nullification, a committee was + raised, in the spring of 1835, to procure a piece of plate which + should be worthy of such an object. By their direction, and more + particularly under the superintendence of one of their number, + the late Mr. George W. Brimmer, to whose taste and skill the + committee were deeply indebted for the selection of the model and + the arrangement of the devices, the beautiful vase, now well + known throughout the country as the WEBSTER VASE, was prepared + at the manufactory of Messrs. Jones, Lows, & Ball, in Boston. + After it was finished, the committee found it impossible to + withstand the wish, both of the numerous subscribers and of the + public generally, to witness the ceremonies and hear the remarks by + which its presentation might be accompanied. It was accordingly + presented to Mr. Webster in the presence of three or four + thousand spectators, assembled at the Odeon, on the evening of + the 12th of October. The Vase was placed on a pedestal covered with + the American flag, and contained on its front the following + inscription:-- + + PRESENTED TO + DANIEL WEBSTER + THE DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION, + BY THE CITIZENS OF BOSTON, + Oct. 12, 1835. + + The chairman of the committee (Mr. Z. Jellison) opened the meeting + with the following remarks:-- + +"Fellow-Citizens:--The friends of the Hon. Daniel Webster in this city, +conceiving the propriety of giving that gentleman an expression of the +high estimation in which they hold his public services, and wishing +also to tender him a testimonial of their regard for his moral worth and +social virtues, called a meeting of consultation on the subject, some +months since, at which a committee was appointed, with instructions to +procure a suitable piece of plate, to be presented to him in their +behalf, before his official duty should again require his departure +hence for the seat of government. In obedience to their instructions, +that committee have procured, from the hands of the most skilful artists +in this country, the piece of plate I now have the honor to exhibit to +you. + +"They have now called their constituents together, for the purpose of +presenting this Vase in their presence. Had the committee consulted the +wishes only of the gentleman for whom it is intended, this presentation +might, perhaps, have taken place in a more private or less imposing +manner; but, in the course they have adopted, they have been governed by +the wishes of the citizens at large. They now respectfully ask your kind +indulgence while they proceed in the discharge of this part of their +duty. + +"The committee have appointed, as their organ of communication, the Hon. +Francis C. Gray, with whom I now have the pleasure to leave the +subject." + + Mr. GRAY then rose, and spoke as follows:-- + +"Mr. Webster:--By direction of the committee, and in behalf of your +fellow-citizens, who have caused this Vase to be made, I now request +your acceptance of it. They offer it in token of their high sense of +your public character and services. But on these it were not becoming to +dwell in addressing yourself. Nor is a regard for these the only, or the +principal, motive of those for whom I speak. They offer it mainly to +evince the high estimation in which they hold the political sentiments +and principles which you have professed and maintained. There may +undoubtedly be differences of opinion among them with regard to this or +that particular measure; and a blind, indiscriminate, wholesale adhesion +to the life and opinions of any one would not be worth offering, nor +worth accepting, among freemen. We are not man-worshippers here in +Massachusetts. But the great political principles, the leading views of +policy, which you have been forward to assert and vindicate, these they +all unite to honor; and in rendering public homage to these, they feel +that they are not so much paying a compliment to you, as performing a +duty to their country. + +"In a free republic, where all men exercise political power, the +prevalence of correct views and principles on political subjects is +essential to the safety of the state. It is not enough that their truth +should be recognized. Their operation and tendency must be understood +and appreciated; they must be made familiar to the mass of the +people, become closely interwoven with their whole habits of thought +and feeling, objects of attachment to which they may cling instantly and +instinctively in all time of doubt or peril, so as not to be swept away +by any sudden flood of prejudice or passion. Hence it is the duty of +every man to embrace all fit occasions, nay, to seek fit occasions, for +declaring his adherence to such principles, and giving them the +support of his influence, however high or however humble that influence +may be. There is no justice, therefore, in the complaint often made +against the members of our legislative assemblies, that they sometimes +speak not for their audience merely, but for their constituents; +seeking not simply to affect the decision of the question then +pending, but to influence the public sentiment with regard to the +principles involved in it. This affords no ground of censure against +them, so they speak well and wisely. The practice may be abused, no +doubt; but, in itself, it is a natural, inevitable right. So it should +be in relation to all important principles in a free country. +Nothing else but the excitement, kindled by the conflict of debate, +will ever make those great principles subjects of general attention +and interest. Nothing else but the observation of their application in +practice can make them generally understood and appreciated. We all +recollect questions (and among them that on Mr. Foot's resolutions, +not likely soon to be forgotten), the vote on which was as certainly +known before the discussion as after it, and known to be unalterable +by any argument or persuasion; and yet the discussion of which was +so far from being uninteresting and unprofitable, that it was echoed +and reechoed through the land, making a deep and lasting impression +on the public mind, establishing incontrovertibly vital principles +before disputed, and thus giving new strength and stability to our +free institutions, and forming, I may almost say, an epoch in our +political history. + +"On this and similar occasions, not to dwell on your steadfast +adherence to those more general principles of civil liberty, which are +equally important in every age and country,--on such occasions the +fundamental principles peculiar to our system of government have always +had in you a decided advocate, ever ready to develop and illustrate +their nature and operation, and to enforce the obligations which they +impose. Among the most prominent peculiarities of our system is the fact +that the United States are not a confederacy of independent sovereigns, +the subjects of each of whom are responsible to him alone for their +compliance with the obligations of the compact, but that, for certain +specified purposes, they form one nation, every citizen of which is +responsible, directly, immediately, exclusively, to the whole nation for +the performance of his duties to the whole; that the Constitution is not +a treaty, nor any thing like a treaty, but a frame of government, +resting on the same foundations, and supported by the same sanctions, +as any other government, to be subverted only by the same means, by +revolution,--revolution to be brought about by the same authority which +would warrant a revolution in any government, and by none other,--to be +justified, when justifiable, by the same paramount necessity, and by +nothing less. This government is not the government of the States, but +that of the people; and it behooves the people, every one of the +people, to do his utmost to preserve it; not in form merely, but in +its full efficiency, as a practical system; to maintain the Union as it +is, in all its integrity,--the Constitution as it is, in all its +purity, and in all its strength; and when they are in danger, to hasten +to their support promptly, frankly, fearlessly, undeterred, and +unencumbered by any political combination, let who will be his +companions in the good cause, and let who will hang back from it. + +"The other great peculiarity of our political system--and on these two +hang all the liberty and hopes of America--is this: that the supreme +power or sovereignty is divided between the State and national +governments, and the portion allotted to each distributed--among +several independent departments; and this, notwithstanding the maxim of +European politicians, too hastily adopted by some of our own statesmen, +that sovereignty is, in its nature, indivisible. By sovereignty, I do +not mean, and they do not mean, the ultimate right of the people to +establish and subvert governments, the right of revolution, as it has +been called; for, thus understood, it would be absurd to inquire, as +they constantly do, where the sovereignty resides in any particular +government, since this ultimate sovereignty never can reside anywhere +but in the people themselves. It is inherent in them and inalienable, +existing equally as a right, however its exercise may be impeded, in +free and despotic governments. But by sovereignty must be understood the +supreme power of the government, the highest power which can lawfully be +exercised by any constituted authority. Now, let the politicians of +Europe say what they will of the indivisibility of this power, we know +that, among us, it is in point of fact divided; that in relation to some +objects, the supreme power is in the national government, subject to no +earthly control but that of the people, exercising their right of +revolution; and that in relation to others, it is in the State +governments, subject to the same and to no other control; and that in +each of these governments the power conferred is divided among the +legislative, executive, and judicial departments, each of which is +entirely independent in the performance of its appropriate duties. + +"This system of practical cheeks and balances, altogether peculiar +to us, is designed to operate, and does operate, for the restraint of +power and the protection of liberty. But, like every earthly good, it +brings with it its attendant evil in the danger of encroachment and +collision. To guard against these dangers is one of the most important, +most difficult, most delicate of our public duties; to see that the +national government shall not encroach upon the power of the States, +nor the States on that of the nation; that no State shall interfere +with the domestic legislation of another, nor lightly nor unjustly +suspect another of seeking to interfere with its own; but that each of +these several governments, and every department in each, shall be +strictly confined to its proper sphere; that no one shall evade any +responsibility which is imposed on him by the Constitution and the laws, +and no one assume any responsibility which is not so. + +"But by what power can this be accomplished? There is only one. Physical +force will not do it. The system of our government has been compared to +that of the heavenly bodies, which move on, orb within orb cycle within +cycle, in apparent confusion, but in real, uninterrupted, unalterable +harmony. And the harmony of our system can only be maintained by a +power, which, like that regulating their movements, is unseen, unfelt, +yet irresistible,--_Public Opinion_. + +"This is the precise circumstance which renders the prevalence of just +political views and principles peculiarly important among us, and +secures to him, who labors faithfully and successfully to promote their +diffusion, the praise of having deserved well of his country. + +"The opinions of men, however, are invariably and inevitably affected +by their interests and their feelings. This consideration opens a wide +field of duty to the American statesman, requiring him to prevent, +by every means in his power, all collisions of interest and all +exasperations of feeling; to correct and rebuke the misrepresentations +which tend to array one part of the country against another, or one +portion of society against another, as if their interests were adverse, +whereas in truth they are one; and, avoiding the paltry cunning which +plays off the different parts of the country against each other, +sacrificing the interests of the whole to this part to-day, on +condition that they shall be sacrificed to another to-morrow, by +which means they are always sacrificed, to be governed by that +liberal, enlightened, far-sighted policy, which in all questions of +expediency looks invariably and exclusively to the permanent interests +of the whole nation, considered as one,--which aims to impress on the +minds and the hearts of this people, deeply, indelibly, the great +truth, that the prosperity and the glory of the United States, their +improvement and happiness at home, their rank among the nations of +the earth, must be proportioned to the strength and cordiality of their +union, and can only be carried to their highest pitch by the universal +conviction, the deep-seated and overruling sentiment, that, for the +purposes set forth in the Constitution, we are one people, one and +indivisible; and that for us to break the bond that makes us one, and +resolve this glorious Union into its original elements, would be as +mad and as fatal as for England to go back again to her Heptarchy. + +"The statesman who is governed by these principles and this policy, +whose great object is not to win the spoils of victory, nor even its +laurels, but to fight the good fight and render faithful service to his +country, will never want opportunity to merit the public gratitude, +whatever may be his political position. If in the majority, considering +that the duration of any administration is only a day in the existence +of the government, and yet a day which must affect all that are to +follow it, he will never be tempted to swerve from these great +principles by any temporary advantage, even to the whole community, +still less by any local or partial benefit, and least of all by any +party or personal consideration. He will not make it the chief object of +government to extend and perpetuate the power of his party. He will not +regard his political opponents as enemies, over whom he has triumphed +and whom he is to despoil. He will not seek to throw off or evade the +restraints imposed by the Constitution on all power, nor will he bestow +public offices as the reward or the motive for adherence to his party or +his person. If in the minority, he will find inducement enough and +reward enough for the most strenuous exertion, in the conviction, that +an intelligent, resolute, vigilant minority is not utterly powerless in +our government, but may often control, modify, or even arrest the most +pernicious schemes of reckless rulers, and diminish, if not prevent, the +evils of misrule. He will consider also, that in political science, as +in the other moral sciences, truth must always force its way slowly +against general opposition, and that although the great principles for +which he contends should not triumph in the debate of the day, they may +yet, if ably sustained, ultimately triumph in the hearts of the people, +and come at last to rule the land; and that thenceforward, so long as +their beneficent influence shall endure, so long as they shall be +remembered upon earth, so long will his name and his praise endure who +shall have watched over them in their weakness, and struggled for them +in their adversity. + +"But I must not be tempted beyond the tone which befits the part +assigned me, which is simply to state the motives and feelings of those +for whom I speak on this occasion; and I am sure, Gentlemen, that I am +the faithful interpreter of your sentiments, when I say, that it is from +attachment to the great principles of civil liberty and constitutional +government, that you offer this token of respect to one who has always +maintained them and been governed by them; to one whom this people, +because he has been guided by those principles, and for the sake of +those principles, delight to honor; whom they honor with their +confidence, whom they honor by cherishing the memory of his past +services, and by their best hopes and wishes for the future, and whom +they will honor, let who else may shrink and falter, by their cordial +efforts to raise him to that high station for which so many patriotic +citizens, in various parts of the country, are now holding him up as a +candidate; and they will do this on the full conviction, that he will +always be true to those principles, wherever his country may call him." + + To this address Mr. WEBSTER made the following reply. + + + + +PRESENTATION OF A VASE.[104] + + +MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN:--I accept, with grateful respect, the +present which it is your pleasure to make. I value it. It bears an +expression of your regard for those political principles which I have +endeavored to maintain; and though the material were less costly, or the +workmanship less elegant, any durable evidence of your approbation could +not but give me high satisfaction. + +This approbation is the more gratifying, as it is not bestowed for +services connected with local questions, or local interests, or which +are supposed to have been peculiarly beneficial to yourselves, but for +efforts which had the interests of the whole country for their object, +and which were useful, if useful at all, to all who live under the +blessings of the Constitution and government of the United States. + +It is twelve or thirteen years, Gentlemen, since I was honored with a +seat in Congress, by the choice of the citizens of Boston. They saw fit +to repeat that choice more than once; and I embrace, with pleasure, this +opportunity of expressing to them my sincere and profound sense of +obligation for these manifestations of confidence. At a later period, +the Legislature of the State saw fit to transfer me to another +place;[105] and have again renewed the trust, under circumstances which +I have felt to impose upon me new obligations of duty, and an increased +devotion to the political welfare of the country. These twelve or +thirteen years, Gentlemen, have been years of labor, and not without +sacrifices; but both have been more than compensated by the kindness, +the good-will, and the favorable interpretation with which my discharge +of official duties has been received. In this changing world, we can +hardly say that we possess what is present, and the future is all +unknown. But the past is ours. Its acquisitions, and its enjoyments, are +safe. And among these acquisitions, among the treasures of the past most +to be cherished and preserved, I shall ever reckon the proofs of esteem +and confidence which I have received from the citizens of Boston and the +Legislature of Massachusetts. + +In one respect, Gentlemen, your present oppresses me. It overcomes me by +its tone of commendation. It assigns to me a character of which I feel I +am not worthy. "The Defender of the Constitution" is a title quite too +high for me. He who shall prove himself the ablest among the able men of +the country, he who shall serve it longest among those who may serve it +long, he on whose labors all the stars of benignant fortune shall shed +their selectest influence, will have praise enough, and reward enough, +if, at the end of his political and earthly career, though that career +may have been as bright as the track of the sun across the sky, the +marble under which he sleeps, and that much better record, the grateful +breasts of his living countrymen, shall pronounce him "the Defender of +the Constitution." It is enough for me, Gentlemen, to be connected, in +the most humble manner, with the defence and maintenance of this great +wonder of modern times, and this certain wonder of all future times. It +is enough for me to stand in the ranks, and only to be counted as one of +its defenders. + +The Constitution of the United States, I am confident, will protect the +name and the memory both of its founders and of its friends, even of its +humblest friends. It will impart to both something of its own ever +memorable and enduring distinction; I had almost said, something of its +own everlasting remembrance. Centuries hence, when the vicissitudes of +human affairs shall have broken it, if ever they shall break it, into +fragments, these very fragments, every shattered column, every displaced +foundation-stone, shall yet be sure to bring them all into recollection, +and attract to them the respect and gratitude of mankind. + +Gentlemen, it is to pay respect to this Constitution, it is to manifest +your attachment to it, your sense of its value, and your devotion to +its true principles, that you have sought this occasion. It is not to +pay an ostentatious personal compliment. If it were, it would be +unworthy both of you and of me. It is not to manifest attachment to +individuals, independent of all considerations of principles; if it +were, I should feel it my duty to tell you, friends as you are, that you +were doing that which, at this very moment, constitutes one of the most +threatening dangers to the Constitution itself. Your gift would have no +value in my eyes, this occasion would be regarded by me as an idle +pageant, if I did not know that they are both but modes, chosen by you, +to signify your attachment to the true principles of the Constitution; +your fixed purpose, so far as in you lies, to maintain those principles; +and your resolution to support public men, and stand by them, so long as +they shall support and stand by the Constitution of the country, and no +longer. + +"The Constitution of the country!" Gentlemen, often as I am called to +contemplate this subject, its importance always rises, and magnifies +itself more and more, before me. I cannot view its preservation as a +concern of narrow extent, or temporary duration. On the contrary, I see +in it a vast interest, which is to run down with the generations of men, +and to spread over a great portion of the earth with a direct, and over +the rest with an indirect, but a most powerful influence. When I speak +of it here, in this thick crowd of fellow-citizens and friends, I yet +behold, thronging about me, a much larger and more imposing crowd. I see +a united rush of the present and the future. I see all the patriotic of +our own land, and our own time. I see also the many millions of their +posterity, and I see, too, the lovers of human liberty from every part +of the earth, from beneath the oppressions of thrones, and hierarchies, +and dynasties, from amidst the darkness of ignorance, degradation, and +despotism, into which any ray of political light has penetrated; I see +all those countless multitudes gather about us, and I hear their united +and earnest voices, conjuring us, in whose charge the treasure now is, +to hold on, and hold on to the last, by that which is our own highest +enjoyment and their best hope. + +Filled with these sentiments, Gentlemen, and having through my political +life hitherto always acted under the deepest conviction of their truth +and importance, it is natural that I should have regarded the +preservation of the Constitution as the first great political object to +be secured. But I claim no exclusive merit. I should deem it, +especially, both unbecoming and unjust in me to separate myself, in this +respect, from other public servants of the people of Massachusetts. The +distinguished gentlemen who have preceded and followed me in the +representation of the city, their associates from other districts of the +State, and my late worthy and most highly esteemed colleague, are +entitled, one and all, to a full share in the public approbation. If +accidental circumstances, or a particular position, have sometimes +rendered me more prominent, equal patriotism and equal zeal have yet +made them equally deserving. It were invidious to enumerate these +fellow-laborers, or to discriminate among them. Long may they live! and +I could hardly express a better wish for the interest and honor of the +States, than that the public men who may follow them may be as +disinterested, as patriotic, and as able as they have proved +themselves. + +There have been, Gentlemen, it is true, anxious moments. That was an +anxious occasion, to which the gentleman who has addressed me in your +behalf has alluded; I mean the debate in January, 1830. It seemed to me +then that the Constitution was about to be abandoned. Threatened with +most serious dangers, it was not only not defended, but attacked, as I +thought, and weakened and wounded in its vital powers and faculties, by +those to whom the country naturally looks for its defence and +protection. It appeared to me that the Union was about to go to pieces, +before the people were at all aware of the extent of the danger. The +occasion was not sought, but forced upon us; it seemed to me momentous, +and I confess that I felt that even the little that I could do, in such +a crisis, was called for by every motive which could be addressed to a +lover of the Constitution. I took a part in the debate, therefore, with +my whole heart already in the subject, and careless for every thing in +the result, except the judgment which the people of the United States +should form upon the questions involved in the discussion. I believe +that judgment has been definitely pronounced; but nothing is due to me, +beyond the merit of having made an earnest effort to present the true +question to the people, and to invoke for it that attention from them, +which its high importance appeared to me to demand. + +The Constitution of the United States, Gentlemen, is of a peculiar +structure. Our whole system is peculiar. It is fashioned according to +no existing model, likened to no precedent, and yet founded on +principles which lie at the foundations of all free governments, +wherever such governments exist. It is a complicated system. It is +elaborate, and in some sense artificial, in its composition. We have +twenty-four State sovereignties, all exercising legislative, judicial, +and executive powers. Some of the sovereignties, or States, had long +existed, and, subject only to the restraint of the power of the parent +country, had been accustomed to the forms and to the exercise of the +powers of representative republics. Others of them are new creations, +coming into existence only under the Constitution itself; but all now +standing on an equal footing. + +The general government, under which all these States are united, is not, +as has been justly remarked by Mr. Gray, a confederation. It is much +more than a confederation. It is a popular representative government, +with all the departments, and all the functions and organs, of such a +government. But it is still a limited, a restrained, a severely-guarded +government. It exists under a written constitution, and all that human +wisdom could do is done, to define its powers and to prevent their +abuse. It is placed in what was supposed to be the safest medium between +dangerous authority on the one hand, and debility and inefficiency on +the other. I think that happy medium was found, by the exercise of the +greatest political sagacity, and the influence of the highest good +fortune. We cannot move the system either way, without the probability +of hurtful change; and as experience has taught us its safety, and its +usefulness, when left where it is, our duty is a plain one. + +It cannot be doubted that a system thus complicated must be accompanied +by more or less of danger, in every stage of its existence. It has not +the simplicity of despotism. It is not a plain column, that stands +self-poised and self-supported. Nor is it a loose, irregular, unfixed, +and undefined system of rule, which admits of constant and violent +changes, without losing its character. But it is a balanced and guarded +system; a system of checks and controls; a system in which powers are +carefully delegated, and as carefully limited; a system in which the +symmetry of the parts is designed to produce an aggregate whole, which +shall be favorable to personal liberty, favorable to public prosperity, +and favorable to national glory. And who can deny, that, by a trial of +fifty years, this American system of government has proved itself +capable of conferring all these blessings? These years have been years +of great agitation throughout the civilized world. In the course of them +the face of Europe has been completely changed. Old and corrupt +governments have been destroyed, and new ones, erected in their places, +have been destroyed too, sometimes in rapid succession. Yet, through all +the extraordinary, the most extraordinary scenes of this half-century, +the free, popular, representative government of the United States has +stood, and has afforded security for liberty, for property, and for +reputation, to all citizens. + +That it has been exposed to many dangers, that it has met critical +moments, is certain. That it is now exposed to dangers, and that a +crisis is now before it, is equally clear, in my judgment. But it has +hitherto been preserved, and vigilance and patriotism may rescue it +again. + +Our dangers, Gentlemen, are not from _without_. We have nothing to +fear from foreign powers, except those interruptions of the occupations +of life which all wars occasion. The dangers to our system, as a +system, do not spring from that quarter. On the contrary, the pressure +of foreign hostility would be most likely to unite us, and to +strengthen our union, by an augmented sense of its utility and +necessity. But our dangers are from within. I do not now speak of those +dangers which have in all ages beset republican governments, such as +luxury among the rich, the corruption of public officers, and the +general degradation of public morals. I speak only of those peculiar +dangers to which the structure of our government particularly exposes +it, in addition to all other ordinary dangers. These arise among +ourselves; they spring up at home; and the evil which they threaten is +no less than disunion, or the overthrow of the whole system. Local +feelings and local parties, a notion sometimes a sedulously cultivated +of opposite interests in different portions of the Union, evil +prophecies respecting its duration, cool calculations upon the +benefits of separation, a narrow feeling that cannot embrace all the +States as one country, an unsocial, anti-national, and half-belligerent +spirit, which sometimes betrays itself,--all these undoubtedly are +causes which affect, more or less, our prospect of holding together. +All these are unpropitious influences. + +The Constitution, again, is founded on compromise, and the most perfect +and absolute good faith, in regard to every stipulation of this kind +contained in it is indispensable to its preservation. Every attempt to +accomplish even the best purpose, every attempt to grasp that which is +regarded as an immediate good, in violation of these stipulations, is +full of danger to the whole Constitution. I need not say, also, that +possible collision between the general and the State governments always +has been, is, and ever must be, a source of danger to be strictly +watched by wise men. + +But, Gentlemen, as I have spoken of dangers now, in my judgment actually +existing, I will state at once my opinions on that point, without fear +and without reserve. I reproach no man, I accuse no man; but I speak of +things as they appear to me, and I speak of principles and practices +which I deem most alarming. I think, then, Gentlemen, that a great +practical change is going on in the Constitution, which, if not checked, +must completely alter its whole character. This change consists in the +diminution of the just powers of Congress on the one hand, and in the +vast increase of executive authority on the other. The government of the +United States, in the aggregate, or the legislative power of Congress, +seems fast losing, one after another, its accustomed powers. One by one, +they are practically struck out of the Constitution. What has become of +the power of internal improvement? Does it remain in the Constitution, +or is it erased by the repeated exercise of the President's veto, and +the acquiescence in that exercise of all who call themselves his +friends, whatever their own opinions of the Constitution may be? The +power to create a national bank, a power exercised for forty years, +approved by all Presidents, and by Congress at all times, and sanctioned +by a solemn adjudication of the Supreme Court, is it not true that party +has agreed to strike this power, too, from the Constitution, in +compliance with what has been openly called the interests of party? Nay, +more; that great power, the power of protecting domestic industry, who +can tell me whether that power is now regarded as in the Constitution, +or out of it? + +But, if it be true that the diminution of the just powers of Congress, +in these particulars, has been attempted, and attempted with more or +less success, it is still more obvious, I think, that the executive +power of the government has been dangerously increased. It is spread, +in the first place, over all that ground from which the legislative +power of Congress is driven. Congress can no longer establish a bank, +controlled by the laws of the United States, amenable to the authority, +and open, at all times, to the examination and inspection of the +legislature. It is no longer constitutional to make such a bank, for the +safe custody of the public treasure. But of the thousand State +corporations already existing, it is constitutional for the executive +government to select such as it pleases, to intrust the public money to +their keeping, without responsibility to the laws of the United States, +without the duty of exhibiting their concerns, at any time, to the +committees of Congress, and with no other guards or securities than such +as executive discretion on the one hand, and the banks themselves on the +other, may see fit to agree to. + +And so of internal improvement. It is not every thing in the nature of +public improvements which is forbidden. It is only that the selection of +objects is not with Congress. Whatever appears to the executive +discretion to be of a proper nature, or such as comes within certain not +very intelligible limits, may be tolerated. And even with respect to the +tariff itself, while as a system it is denounced as unconstitutional, it +is probable some portion of it might find favor. + +But it is not the frequent use of the power of the veto, it is not the +readiness with which men yield their own opinions, and see important +powers practically obliterated from the Constitution, in order to +subserve the interest of the party, it is not even all this which +furnishes, at the present moment, the most striking demonstration of the +increase of executive authority. It is the use of the power of +patronage; it is the universal giving and taking away of all place and +office, for reasons no way connected with the public service, or the +faithful execution of the laws; it is this which threatens with +overthrow all the true principles of the government. Patronage is +reduced to a system. It is used as the patrimony, the property of party. +Every office is a largess, a bounty, a favor; and it is expected to be +compensated by service and fealty. A numerous and well-disciplined corps +of office-holders, acting with activity and zeal, and with incredible +union of purpose, is attempting to seize on the strong posts, and to +control, effectually, the expression of the public will. As has been +said of the Turks in Europe, they are not so much mingled with us, as +encamped among us. And it is more lamentable, that the apathy which +prevails in a time of general prosperity produces, among a great +majority of the people, a disregard to the efforts and objects of this +well-trained and effective corps. But, Gentlemen, the principle is +vicious; it is destructive and ruinous; and whether it produces its work +of disunion to-day or to-morrow, it must produce it in the end. It must +destroy the balance of the government, and so destroy the government +itself. The government of the United States controls the army, the navy, +the custom-house, the post-office, the land-offices, and other great +sources of patronage. What have the States to oppose to all this? And if +the States shall see all this patronage, if they shall see every officer +under this government, in all its ramifications, united with every other +officer, and all acting steadily in a design to produce political +effect, even in State governments, is it possible not to perceive that +they will, before long, regard the whole government of the Union with +distrust and jealousy, and finally with fear and hatred? + +Among other evils, it is the tendency of this system to push party +feelings and party spirit to their utmost excess. It involves not only +opinions and principles, but the pursuits of life and the means of +living, in the contests of party. The executive himself becomes but the +mere point of concentration of party power; and when executive power is +exercised or is claimed for the supposed benefit of party, party will +approve and justify it. When did heated and exasperated party ever +complain of its leaders for seizing on new degrees of power? + +This system of government has been openly avowed. Offices of trust are +declared, from high places, to be the regular spoils of party victory; +and all that is furnished out of the public purse, as a reward for labor +in the public service, becomes thus a boon, offered to personal devotion +and partisan service. The uncontrolled power of removal is the spring +which moves all this machinery; and I verily believe the government is, +and will be, in serious danger, till some check is placed on that power. +To combine and consolidate a great party by the influence of personal +hopes, to govern by the patronage of office, to exercise the power of +removal at pleasure, in order to render that patronage effectual,--this +seems to be the sum and substance of the political systems of the times. +I am sorry to say, that the germ of this system had its first being in +the Senate. + +The policy began in the last year of Mr. Adams's administration, when +nominations made by him to fill vacancies occurring by death or +resignation were postponed, by a vote of the majority of the Senate, to +a period beyond the ensuing 4th of March; and this was done with no +other view than that of giving the patronage of these appointments to +the incoming President. The nomination of a judge of the Supreme Court, +among others, was thus disposed of. The regular action of the government +was, in this manner, deranged, and undue and unjustly obtained patronage +came to be received as among the ordinary means of government. Some of +the gentlemen who concurred in this vote have since, probably, seen +occasion to regret it. But they thereby let loose the lion of executive +prerogative, and they have not yet found out how they can drive it back +again to its cage. The debates in the Senate on these questions, in the +session of 1828-29, are not public; but I take this occasion to say, +that the minority of the Senate, as it was then constituted, including, +among others, myself and colleague, contended against this innovation +upon the Constitution, for days and for weeks; but we contended in +vain. + +The doctrine of patronage thus got a foothold in the government. A +general removal from office followed, exciting, at first, no small share +of public attention; but every exercise of the power rendered its +exercise in the next case still easier, till removal at will has become +the actual system on which the government is administered. + +It is hardly a fit occasion, Gentlemen, to go into the history of this +power of removal. It was declared to exist in the days of Washington, by +a very small majority in each house of Congress. It has been considered +as existing to the present time. But no man expected it to be used as a +mere arbitrary power; and those who maintained its existence declared, +nevertheless, that it would justly become matter of impeachment, if it +should be used for purposes such as those to which the most blind among +us must admit they have recently seen it habitually applied. I have the +highest respect for those who originally concurred in this construction +of the Constitution. But, as discreet men of the day were divided on the +question, as Madison and other distinguished names were on one side, and +Gerry and other distinguished names on the other, one may now differ +from either, without incurring the imputation of arrogance, since he +must differ from some of them. I confess my judgment would have been, +that the power of removal did not belong to the President alone; that it +was but a part of the power of appointment, since the power of +appointing one man to office implies the power of vacating that office, +by removing another out of it; and as the whole power of appointment is +granted, not to the President alone, but to the President and Senate, +the true interpretation of the Constitution would have carried the power +of removal into the same hands. I have, however, so recently expressed +my sentiments on this point in another place, that it would be improper +to pursue this line of observation further. + +In the course of the last session, Gentlemen, several bills passed the +Senate, intended to correct abuses, to restrain useless expenditure, to +curtail the discretionary authority of public officers, and to control +government patronage. The post-office bill, the custom-house bill, and +the bill respecting the tenure of office, were all of this class. None +of them, however, received the favorable consideration of the other +house. I believe, that in all these respects a reform, a real, honest +reform, is decidedly necessary to the security of the Constitution; and +while I continue in public life, I shall not halt in my endeavors to +produce it. It is time to bring back the government to its true +character as an agency for the people. It is time to declare that +offices, created for the people, are public trusts, not private spoils. +It is time to bring each and every department within its true original +limits. It is time to assent, on one hand, to the just powers of +Congress, in their full extent, and to resist, on the other, the +progress and rapid growth of executive authority. + +These, Gentlemen, are my opinions. I have spoken them frankly, and +without reserve. Under present circumstances, I should wish to avoid any +concealment, and to state my political opinions in their full length and +breadth. I desire not to stand before the country as a man of no +opinions, or of such a mixture of opposite opinions that the result has +no character at all. On the contrary, I am desirous of standing as one +who is bound to his own consistency by the frankest avowal of his +sentiments, on all important and interesting subjects. I am not partly +for the Constitution, and partly against it; I am wholly for it, for it +altogether, for it as it is, and for the exercise, when occasion +requires, of all its just powers, as they have heretofore been +exercised by Washington, and the great men who have followed him in its +administration. + +I disdain, altogether, the character of an uncommitted man. I am +committed, fully committed; committed to the full extent of all that I +am, and all that I hope, to the Constitution of the country, to its love +and reverence, to its defence and maintenance, to its warm commendation +to every American heart, and to its vindication and just praise, before +all mankind. And I am committed _against_ every thing which, in my +judgment, may weaken, endanger, or destroy it. I am committed against +the encouragement of local parties and local feelings; I am committed +against all fostering of anti-national spirit; I am committed against +the slightest infringement of the original compromise on which the +Constitution was founded; I am committed against any and every +derangement of the powers of the several departments of the government, +against any derogation from the constitutional authority of Congress, +and especially against all extension of executive power; and I am +committed against any attempt to rule the free people of this country by +the power and the patronage of the government itself. I am committed, +fully and entirely committed, against making the government the people's +master. + +These, Gentlemen, are my opinions. I have purposely avowed them with the +utmost frankness. They are not the sentiments of the moment, but the +result of much reflection, and of some experience in the affairs of the +country. I believe them to be such sentiments as are alone compatible +with the permanent prosperity of the country, or the long continuance of +its union. + +And now, Gentlemen, having thus solemnly avowed these sentiments and +these convictions, if you should find me hereafter to be false to them, +or to falter in their support, I now conjure you, by all the duty you +owe your country, by all your hopes of her prosperity and renown, by all +your love for the general cause of liberty throughout the world,--I +conjure you, that, renouncing me as a recreant, you yourselves go on, +right on, straightforward, in maintaining, with your utmost zeal and +with all your power, the true principles of the best, the happiest, the +most glorious Constitution of a free government, with which it has +pleased Providence, in any age, to bless any of the nations of the +earth. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [104] Speech delivered in the Odeon, at Boston, on Occasion of the + Presentation of a Vase by Citizens of that Place, on the 12th of + October, 1835. + + [105] The Senate of the United States. + + + + +RECEPTION AT NEW YORK. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + + At a meeting of the political friends of the Hon. Daniel Webster, + held at Euterpian Hall, in the city of New York, on Tuesday evening, + the 21st of February, 1837, Chancellor Kent was called to the chair, + and Messrs. Hiram Ketchum and Gabriel P. Dissosway were appointed + secretaries. + + The object of the meeting having been explained, the following + resolutions were, on motion, duly seconded and unanimously + adopted:-- + +"_Resolved_, That this meeting has heard with deep concern of the +intention of the Hon. Daniel Webster to resign his seat in the Senate of +the United States at the close of the present session of Congress, or +early in the next session. + +"_Resolved_, That while we regret the resignation of Mr. Webster, it +would be most unreasonable to censure the exercise of his right to seek +repose, after fourteen years of unremitted, zealous, and highly +distinguished labors in the Congress of the United States; but we +indulge the hope that the nation will, at no distant day, again profit +by his ripe experience as a statesman and his extensive knowledge of +public affairs, by his wisdom in council and eloquence in debate. + +"_Resolved_, That in the judgment of this meeting there is none among +the living or the dead who has given to the country more just or able +expositions of the Constitution of the United States; none who has +enforced, with more lucid and impassionate eloquence, the necessity and +importance of the preservation of the Union, or exhibited more zeal or +ability in defending the Constitution from the foes without the +government, and foes within it, than Daniel Webster. + +"_Resolved_, That there is no part of our widely extended country more +deeply interested in the preservation of the Union than the city of New +York; her motto should be 'Union and Liberty, now and for ever, one and +inseparable,' and her gratitude should be shown to the statesman who +first gave utterance to this sentiment. + +"_Resolved_, That David B. Ogden, Peter Stagg, Jonathan Thompson, James +Brown, Philip Hone, Samuel Stevens, Robert Smith, Joseph Tucker, Peter +Sharpe, Egbert Benson, Hugh Maxwell, Peter A. Jay, Aaron Clark, Ira B. +Wheeler, William W. Todd, Seth Grosvenor, Simeon Draper, Jr., Wm. +Aspinwall, Nathaniel Weed, Jonathan Goodhue, Caleb Bartow, Hiram +Ketchum, Gabriel P. Dissosway, Henry K. Bogert, James Kent, Wm. S. +Johnson, and John W. Leavitt, Esqrs., be a committee authorized and +empowered to receive the Hon. Daniel Webster on his return from +Washington, and make known to him, in the form of an address or +otherwise, the sentiments which this meeting, in common with the friends +of the Union and the Constitution in the city, entertain for the +services which he has performed for the country; that the committee +correspond with Mr. Webster, and ascertain the time when his arrival may +be expected, and give public notice of the same, together with the order +of proceedings which may be adopted under these resolutions. + +"_Resolved_, That these resolutions, signed by the Chairman and +Secretaries, be published when the committee shall notify the public of +the expected arrival of Mr. Webster. + +"JAMES KENT, _Chairman_. + +"HIRAM KETCHUM, GABRIEL P. DISSOSWAY, _Secretaries_." + + * * * * * + +"_New York, March 1, 1837._ + +"SIR:--It having been currently reported that you have signified your +intention to resign your seat in the Senate of the United States, a +number of the friends of the Union and the Constitution in this city +were convened on the evening of the 21st of last month, to devise +measures whereby they might signify to you the sentiments which they, in +common with all the Whigs in this city, entertain for the eminent +services you have rendered to the country. At this meeting, the Hon. +James Kent was called to the chair, and resolutions, a copy of which I +inclose you, were adopted, not only with entire unanimity, but with a +feeling of warm and hearty concurrence. On behalf of the committee +appointed under one of these resolutions, I now have the honor to +address you. It will be gratifying to the committee to learn from you at +what time you expect to arrive in this city on your return to +Massachusetts. If informed of the time of your arrival, it will afford +the committee pleasure to meet you, and, in behalf of the Whigs of New +York, to welcome you, and to offer you, in a more extended form than the +resolutions present, their views of your public services. I am +instructed by the committee to say, that, whether you shall choose to +appear among us as a public man or a private citizen, you will be warmly +greeted by every sound friend of that Constitution for which you have +been so distinguished a champion. Should your resolution to resign your +seat in the Senate be relinquished, you will, in the opinion of the +committee, impose new obligations upon the friends of the Union and the +Constitution. + +"I have the honor to be, very truly, your obedient servant, + +"D. B. OGDEN. + +"To Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, Washington." + + * * * * * + +"_Washington, March 4th, 1837._ + +"MY DEAR SIR:--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your +letter of the 1st instant, communicating the resolutions adopted at a +meeting of a number of political friends in New York. + +"The character of these resolutions, and the kindness of the sentiments +expressed in your letter, have filled me with unaffected gratitude. I +feel, at the same time, how little deserving are any political services +of mine of such commendation from such a source. To the discharge of the +duties of my public situation, sometimes both anxious and difficult, I +have devoted time and labor without reserve; and have made sacrifices of +personal and private convenience not always unimportant. These, together +with integrity of purpose and fidelity, constitute, I am conscious, my +only claim to the public regard; and for all these I find myself richly +compensated by proofs of approbation such as your communication +affords. + +"My desire to relinquish my seat in the Senate for the two years still +remaining of the term for which I was chosen, would have been carried +into execution at the close of the present session of the Senate, had +not circumstances existed which, in the judgment of others, rendered it +expedient to defer the fulfilment of that purpose for the present. + +"It is my expectation to be in New York early in the week after next; +and it will give me pleasure to meet the political friends who have +tendered me this kind and respectful attention, in any manner most +agreeable to them. + +"I pray you to accept for yourself, and the other gentlemen of the +committee, my highest regard. + +"DANIEL WEBSTER. + +"To D. B. OGDEN, Esq., New York." + + * * * * * + +"At a meeting of the committee appointed under the above resolution, +Philip Hone, Robert Smith, John W. Leavitt, Egbert Benson, Ira B. +Wheeler, Caleb Bartow, Simeon Draper, Jr., and Wm. S. Johnson, Esqrs., +were appointed a sub-committee to make arrangements for the reception of +Mr. Webster. The committee have corresponded with Mr. Webster, and +ascertained that he will leave Philadelphia on the morning of Wednesday +next. He will be met by the committee, and, on landing at Whitehall, at +about two o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, will thence be conducted by +the committee, accompanied by such other citizens as choose to join +them, to a place hereafter to be designated. In the evening, at half +past six o'clock, he will be addressed by the committee, in a public +meeting of citizens, at Niblo's Saloon. + +"D. B. OGDEN, _Chairman_." + + On the subsequent day, March 15th, the committee appointed for + that purpose met Mr. Webster at Amboy, and accompanied him to + the city, where he was met, on landing, by a very numerous + assemblage of citizens, who thronged to see the distinguished + Senator, and give him a warm welcome; after landing, he was + attended by the committee and a numerous cavalcade through Broadway, + which was crowded with the most respectable citizens, to lodgings + provided for him at the American Hotel. Here he made a short address + to the assembled citizens, and in the evening was accompanied by + the committee to Niblo's Saloon. One of the largest meetings ever + held in the city of New York assembled in the Saloon, and at half + past six o'clock was called to order by AARON CLARK; DAVID B. + OGDEN was called to the chair as President of the meeting; Robert + C. Cornell, Jonathan Goodhue, Joseph Tucker, and Nathaniel Weed + were nominated Vice-Presidents; and Joseph Hoxie and George S. + Robbins, Secretaries. + + After the meeting was organized, PHILIP HONE introduced Mr. Webster + with a few appropriate remarks, and he was received with the most + enthusiastic greetings. Mr. OGDEN then addressed him as follows:-- + +"On behalf of a committee, appointed at a meeting of a number of your +personal and political friends in this city, I have now the honor of +addressing you. + +"It has afforded the committee, and, I may add, all your political +friends, unmingled pleasure to learn that you have, at least for the +present, relinquished the intention which I know you had formed of +resigning your seat in the Senate of the United States. While expressing +their feelings upon this change in your determination, the committee +cannot avoid congratulating the country that your public services are +not yet to be lost to it and that the great champion of the Constitution +and of the Union is still to continue in the field upon which he has +earned so many laurels, and has so nobly asserted and defended the +rights and liberties of the people. + +"The effort made by you, and the honorable men with whom you have acted +in the Senate, to resist executive encroachments upon the other +departments of the government, will ever be remembered with gratitude by +the friends of American liberty. That these efforts were not more +successful, we shall long have reason to remember and regret. The +administration of General Jackson is fortunately at an end. Its effects +upon the Constitution and upon the commercial prosperity of the country +are not at an end. Without attempting to review the leading measures of +his administration, every man engaged in business in New York feels, +most sensibly, that his experiment upon the currency has produced the +evils which you foretold it would produce. It has brought distress, to +an extent never before experienced, upon the men of enterprise and of +small capital, and has put all the primary power in the hands of a few +great capitalists. + +"Upon the Senate our eyes and our hopes are fixed; we know that you and +your political friends are in a minority in that body, but we know that +in that minority are to be found great talents, great experience, great +patriotism, and we look for great and continued exertions to maintain +the Constitution, the Union, and the liberties of this people. And we +take this opportunity of expressing our entire confidence, that whatever +men can do in a minority will be done in the Senate to relieve the +country from the evils under which she is now laboring, and to save her +from being sacrificed by folly, corruption, or usurpation. + +"It gives me, Sir, pleasure to be the organ of the committee to express +to you their great respect for your talents, their deep sense of the +importance of your public services, and their gratification to learn +that you will still continue in the Senate." + + To this address Mr. WEBSTER replied in the following speech. + + + + +RECEPTION AT NEW YORK.[106] + + +MR. CHAIRMAN, AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--It would be idle in me to affect to +be indifferent to the circumstances under which I have now the honor of +addressing you. + +I find myself in the commercial metropolis of the continent, in the +midst of a vast assembly of intelligent men, drawn from all the classes, +professions, and pursuits of life. + +And you have been pleased, Gentlemen, to meet me, in this imposing +manner, and to offer me a warm and cordial welcome to your city. I thank +you. I feel the full force and importance of this manifestation of your +regard. In the highly-flattering resolutions which invited me here, in +the respectability of this vast multitude of my fellow-citizens, and in +the approbation and hearty good-will which you have here manifested, I +feel cause for profound and grateful acknowledgment. + +To every individual of this meeting, therefore, I would now most +respectfully make that acknowledgment; and with every one, as with hands +joined in mutual greeting, I reciprocate friendly salutation, respect, +and good wishes. + +But, Gentlemen, although I am well assured of your personal regard, I +cannot fail to know, that the times, the political and commercial +condition of things which exists among us, and an intelligent spirit, +awakened to new activity and a new degree of anxiety, have mainly +contributed to fill these avenues and crowd these halls. At a moment of +difficulty, and of much alarm, you come here as Whigs of New York, to +meet one whom you believe to be bound to you by common principles and +common sentiments, and pursuing, with you, a common object Gentlemen, I +am proud to admit this community of our principles, and this identity of +our objects. You are for the Constitution of the country; so am I. You +are for the Union of the States: so am I. You are for equal laws, for +the equal rights of all men, for constitutional and just restraints on +power, for the substance and not the shadowy image only of popular +institutions, for a government which has liberty for its spirit and +soul, as well as in its forms; and so am I. You feel that if, in warm +party times, the executive power is in hands distinguished for boldness, +for great success, for perseverance, and other qualities which strike +men's minds strongly, there is danger of derangement of the powers of +government, danger of a new division of those powers, in which the +executive is likely to obtain the lion's part; and danger of a state of +things in which the more popular branches of the government, instead of +being guards and sentinels against any encroachments from the executive, +seek, rather, support from its patronage, safety against the complaints +of the people in its ample and all-protecting favor, and refuge in its +power; and so I feel, and so I have felt for eight long and anxious +years. + +You believe that a very efficient and powerful cause in the production +of the evils which now fall on the industrious and commercial classes of +the community, is the derangement of the currency, the destruction of +the exchanges, and the unnatural and unnecessary _misplacement_ of the +specie of the country, by unauthorized and illegal treasury orders. So +do I believe. I predicted all this from the beginning, and from before +the beginning. I predicted it all, last spring, when that was attempted +to be done by law which was afterwards done by executive authority; and +from the moment of the exercise of that executive authority to the +present time, I have both foreseen and seen the regular progress of +things under it, from inconvenience and embarrassment, to pressure, loss +of confidence, disorder, and bankruptcies. + +Gentlemen, I mean, on this occasion, to speak my sentiments freely on +the great topics of the day. I have nothing to conceal, and shall +therefore conceal nothing. In regard to political sentiments, +purposes, or objects, there is nothing in my heart which I am ashamed +of; I shall throw it all open, therefore, to you, and to all men. +[That is right, said some one in the crowd; let us have it, with no +non-committal.] Yes, my friend, without non-committal or evasion, +without barren generalities or empty phrase, without _if_ or _but_, +without a single touch, in all I say, bearing the oracular character of +an Inaugural, I shall, on this occasion, speak my mind plainly, +freely, and independently, to men who are just as free to concur or not +to concur in my sentiments, as I am to utter them. I think you are +entitled to hear my opinions freely and frankly spoken; but I freely +acknowledge that you are still more clearly entitled to retain, and +maintain, your own opinions, however they may differ or agree with +mine. + +It is true, Gentlemen, that I have contemplated the relinquishment of my +seat in the Senate for the residue of the term, now two years, for +which I was chosen. This resolution was not taken from disgust or +discouragement, although some things have certainly happened which +might excite both those feelings. But in popular governments, men +must not suffer themselves to be permanently disgusted by occasional +exhibitions of political harlequinism, or deeply discouraged, although +their efforts to awaken the people to what they deem the dangerous +tendency of public measures be not crowned with immediate success. It +was altogether from other causes, and other considerations, that, after +an uninterrupted service of fourteen or fifteen years, I naturally +desired a respite. But those whose opinions I am bound to respect +saw objections to a present withdrawal from Congress; and I have yielded +my own strong desire to their convictions of what the public good +requires. + +Gentlemen, in speaking here on the subjects which now so much interest +the community, I wish in the outset to disclaim all personal disrespect +towards individuals. He whose character and fortune have exercised such +a decisive influence on our politics for eight years, has now retired +from public station. I pursue him with no personal reflections, no +reproaches. Between him and myself, there has always existed a +respectful personal intercourse. Moments have existed, indeed, critical +and decisive upon the general success of his administration, in which he +has been pleased to regard my aid as not altogether unimportant I now +speak of him respectfully, as a distinguished soldier, as one who, in +that character, has done the state much service; as a man, too, of +strong and decided character, of unsubdued resolution and perseverance +in whatever he undertakes. In speaking of his civil administration, I +speak without censoriousness or harsh imputation of motives; I wish him +health and happiness in his retirement; but I must still speak as I +think of his public measures, and of their general bearing and tendency, +not only on the present interests of the country, but also on the +well-being and security of the government itself. + +There are, however, some topics of a less urgent present application and +importance, upon which I wish to say a few words, before I advert to +those which are more immediately connected with the present distressed +state of things. + +My learned and highly-valued friend (Mr. Ogden) who has addressed me in +your behalf, has been kindly pleased to speak of my political career as +being marked by a freedom from local interests and prejudices, and a +devotion to liberal and comprehensive views of public policy. + +I will not say that this compliment is deserved. I will only say, that I +have earnestly endeavored to deserve it. Gentlemen, the general +government, to the extent of its power, is national. It is not +consolidated, it does not embrace all powers of government. On the +contrary, it is delegated, restrained, strictly limited. + +But what powers it does possess, it possesses for the general, not +for any partial or local good. It extends over a vast territory, +embracing now six-and-twenty States, with interests various, but not +irreconcilable, infinitely diversified, but capable of being all blended +into political harmony. + +He, however, who would produce this harmony must survey the whole field, +as if all parts were as interesting to himself as they are to others, +and with that generous, patriotic feeling, prompter and better than the +mere dictates of cool reason, which leads him to embrace the whole with +affectionate regard, as constituting, altogether, that object which he +is so much bound to respect, to defend, and to love,--his country. We +have around us, and more or less within the influence and protection of +the general government, all the great interests of agriculture, +navigation, commerce, manufactures, the fisheries, and the mechanic +arts. The duties of the government, then, certainly extend over all this +territory, and embrace all these vast interests. We have a maritime +frontier, a sea-coast, of many thousand miles; and while no one doubts +that it is the duty of government to defend this coast by suitable +military preparations, there are those who yet suppose that the powers +of government stop at this point; and that as to works of peace and +works of improvement, they are beyond our constitutional limits. I have +ever thought otherwise. Congress has a right, no doubt, to declare war, +and to provide armies and navies; and it has necessarily the right to +build fortifications and batteries, to protect the coast from the +effects of war. But Congress has authority also, and it is its duty, to +regulate commerce, and it has the whole power of collecting duties on +imports and tonnage. It must have ports and harbors, and dock-yards +also, for its navies. Very early in the history of the government, it +was decided by Congress, on the report of a highly respectable +committee, that the transfer by the States to Congress of the power of +collecting tonnage and other duties, and the grant of the authority to +regulate commerce, charged Congress, necessarily, with the duty of +maintaining such piers and wharves and light-houses, and of making such +improvements, as might have been expected to be done by the States, if +they had retained the usual means, by retaining the power of collecting +duties on imports. The States, it was admitted, had parted with this +power; and the duty of protecting and facilitating commerce by these +means had passed, along with this power, into other hands. I have never +hesitated, therefore, when the state of the treasury would admit, to +vote for reasonable appropriations, for breakwaters, light-houses, +piers, harbors, and similar public works, on any part of the whole +Atlantic coast or the Gulf of Mexico, from Maine to Louisiana. + +But how stands the inland frontier? How is it along the vast lakes and +the mighty rivers of the North and West? Do our constitutional rights +and duties terminate where the water ceases to be salt? or do they +exist, in full vigor, on the shores of these inland seas? I never could +doubt about this; and yet, Gentlemen, I remember even to have +participated in a warm debate, in the Senate, some years ago, upon the +constitutional right of Congress to make an appropriation for a pier in +the harbor of Buffalo. What! make a harbor at Buffalo, where Nature +never made any, and where therefore it was never intended any ever +should be made! Take money from the people to run out piers from the +sandy shores of Lake Erie, or deepen the channels of her shallow +rivers! Where was the constitutional authority for this? Where would +such strides of power stop? How long would the States have any powers at +all left, if their territory might be ruthlessly invaded for such +unhallowed purposes, or how long would the people have any money in +their pockets, if the government of the United States might tax them, at +pleasure, for such extravagant project as these? Piers, wharves, +harbors, and breakwaters in the Lakes! These arguments, Gentlemen, +however earnestly put forth heretofore, do not strike us with great +power, at the present day, if we stand on the shores of Lake Erie, and +see hundreds of vessels, with valuable cargoes and thousands of valuable +lives, moving on its waters, with few shelters from the storm, except +what is furnished by the havens created, or made useful, by the aid of +government. These great lakes, stretching away many thousands of miles, +not in a straight line, but with turns and deflections, as if designed +to reach, by water communication, the greatest possible number of +important points through a region of vast extent, cannot but arrest the +attention of any one who looks upon the map. They lie connected, but +variously placed; and interspersed, as if with studied variety of form +and direction, over that part of the country. They were made for man, +and admirably adapted for his use and convenience. Looking, Gentlemen, +over our whole country, comprehending in our survey the Atlantic coast, +with its thick population, its advanced agriculture, its extended +commerce, its manufactures and mechanic arts, its varieties of +communication, its wealth, and its general improvements; and looking, +then, to the interior, to the immense tracts of fresh, fertile, and +cheap lands, bounded by so many lakes, and watered by so many +magnificent rivers, let me ask if such a MAP was ever before presented +to the eye of any statesman, as the theatre for the exercise of his +wisdom and patriotism? And let me ask, too, if any man is fit to act a +part, on such a theatre, who does not comprehend the whole of it within +the scope of his policy, and embrace it all as his country? + +Again, Gentlemen, we are one in respect to the glorious Constitution +under which we live. We are all united in the great brotherhood of +American liberty. Descending from the same ancestors, bred in the same +school, taught in infancy to imbibe the same general political +sentiments, Americans all, by birth, education, and principle, what but +a narrow mind, or woful ignorance, or besotted selfishness, or prejudice +ten times blinded, can lead any of us to regard the citizens of any part +of the country as strangers and aliens? + +The solemn truth, moreover, is before us, that a common political fate +attends us all. + +Under the present Constitution, wisely and conscientiously administered, +all are safe, happy, and renowned. The measure of our country's fame may +fill all our breasts. It is fame enough for us all to partake in _her_ +glory, if we will carry her character onward to its true destiny. But if +the system is broken, its fragments must fall alike on all. Not only the +cause of American liberty, but the grand cause of liberty throughout the +whole earth, depends, in a great measure, on upholding the Constitution +and Union of these States. If shattered and destroyed, no matter by what +cause, the peculiar and cherished idea of United American Liberty will +be no more for ever. There may be free states, it is possible, when +there shall be separate states. There may be many loose, and feeble, and +hostile confederacies, where there is now one great and united +confederacy. But the noble idea of United American Liberty, of _our_ +liberty, such as our fathers established it, will be extinguished for +ever. Fragments and shattered columns of the edifice may be found +remaining; and melancholy and mournful ruins will they be. The august +temple itself will be prostrate in the dust. Gentlemen, the citizens of +this republic cannot sever their fortunes. A common fate awaits us. In +the honor of upholding, or in the disgrace of undermining the +Constitution, we shall all necessarily partake. Let us then stand by the +Constitution as it is, and by our country as it is, one, united, and +entire; let it be a truth engraven on our hearts, let it be borne on the +flag under which we rally, in every exigency, that we have ONE COUNTRY, +ONE CONSTITUTION, ONE DESTINY. + + * * * * * + +Gentlemen, of our interior administration, the public lands constitute a +highly important part. This is a subject of great interest, and it ought +to attract much more attention than it has hitherto received, especially +from the people of the Atlantic States. The public lands are public +property. They belong to the people of all the States. A vast portion +of them is composed of territories which were ceded by individual States +to the United States, after the close of the Revolutionary war, and +before the adoption of the present Constitution. The history of these +cessions, and the reasons for making them, are familiar to you. Some of +the Old Thirteen possessed large tracts of unsettled lands within their +chartered limits. The Revolution had established their title to these +lands, and as the Revolution had been brought about by the common +treasure and the common blood of all the Colonies, it was thought not +unreasonable that these unsettled lands should be transferred to the +United States, to pay the debt created by the war, and afterwards to +remain as a fund for the use of all the States. This is the well-known +origin of the title possessed by the United States to lands northwest of +the River Ohio. + +By treaties with France and Spain, Louisiana and Florida, containing +many millions of acres of public land, have been since acquired. The +cost of these acquisitions was paid, of course, by the general +government, and was thus a charge upon the whole people. The public +lands, therefore, all and singular, are national property; granted to +the United States, purchased by the United States, paid for by all the +people of the United States. + +The idea, that, when a new State is created, the public lands lying +within her territory become the property of such new State in +consequence of her sovereignty, is too preposterous for serious +refutation. Such notions have heretofore been advanced in Congress, but +nobody has sustained them. They were rejected and abandoned, although +one cannot say whether they may not be revived, in consequence of recent +propositions which have been made in the Senate. The new States are +admitted on express conditions, recognizing, to the fullest extent, the +right of the United States to the public lands within their borders; and +it is no more reasonable to contend that some indefinite idea of State +sovereignty overrides all these stipulations, and makes the lands the +property of the States, against the provisions and conditions of their +own constitution, and the Constitution of the United States, than it +would be, that a similar doctrine entitled the State of New York to the +money collected at the custom-house in this city; since it is no more +inconsistent with sovereignty that one government should hold lands, +for the purpose of sale, within the territory of another, than it is +that it should lay and collect taxes and duties within such territory. +Whatever extravagant pretensions may have been set up heretofore, there +was not, I suppose, an enlightened man in the whole West, who insisted +on any such right in the States, when the proposition to cede the lands +to the States was made, in the late session of Congress. The public +lands being, therefore the common property of all the people of all the +States, I shall never consent to give them away to particular States, or +to dispose of them otherwise than for the general good, and the general +use of the whole country. + +I felt bound, therefore, on the occasion just alluded to, to resist at +the threshold a proposition to cede the public lands to the States in +which they lie, on certain conditions. I very much regretted the +introduction of such a measure, as its effect must be, I fear, only to +agitate what was well settled, and to disturb that course of proceeding +in regard to the public lands, which forty years of experience have +shown to be so wise, and so satisfactory in its operation, both to the +people of the old States and to those of the new. + +But, Gentlemen, although the public lands are not to be given away, nor +ceded to particular States, a very liberal policy in regard to them +ought certainly to prevail. Such a policy has prevailed, and I have +steadily supported it, and shall continue to support it so long as I may +remain in public life. The main object, in regard to these lands, is +undoubtedly to settle them, so fast as the growth of our population, and +its augmentation by emigration, may enable us to settle them. + +The lands, therefore, should be sold, at a low price; and, for one, I +have never doubted the right or expediency of granting portions of the +lands themselves, or of making grants of money, for objects of internal +improvement, connected with them. + +I have always supported liberal appropriations for the purpose of +opening communications to and through these lands, by common roads, +canals, and railroads; and where lands of little value have been long in +market, and, on account of their indifferent quality are not likely to +command a common price, I know no objection to a reduction of price, as +to such lands, so that they may pass into private ownership. Nor do I +feel any objections to removing those restraints which prevent the +States from taxing the lands for five years after they are sold. But +while, in these and all other respects, I am not only reconciled to a +liberal policy, but espouse it and support it, and have constantly done +so, I still hold the national domain to be the general property of the +country, confided to the care of Congress, and which Congress is +solemnly bound to protect and preserve for the common good. + +The benefit derived from the public lands, after all, is, and must +be, in the greatest degree, enjoyed by those who buy them and settle +upon them. The original price paid to government constitutes but a small +part of their actual value. Their immediate rise in value, in the +hands of the settler, gives him competence. He exercises a power of +selection over a vast region of fertile territory, all on sale at the +same price, and that price an exceedingly low one. Selection is no +sooner made, cultivation is no sooner begun, and the first furrow +turned, than he already finds himself a man of property. These are the +advantages of Western emigrants and Western settlers; and they are +such, certainly, as no country on earth ever before afforded to her +citizens. This opportunity of purchase and settlement, this certainty +of enhanced value, these sure means of immediate competence and +ultimate wealth,--all these are the rights and the blessings of the +people of the West, and they have my hearty wishes for their full and +perfect enjoyment. + +I desire to see the public lands cultivated and occupied. I desire the +growth and prosperity of the West, and the fullest development of its +vast and extraordinary resources. I wish to bring it near to us, by +every species of useful communication. I see, not without admiration and +amazement, but yet without envy or jealousy, States of recent origin +already containing more people than Massachusetts. These people I know +to be part of ourselves; they have proceeded from the midst of us, and +we may trust that they are not likely to separate themselves, in +interest or in feeling, from their kindred, whom they have left on the +farms and around the hearths of their common fathers. + +A liberal policy, a sympathy with its interests, an enlightened and +generous feeling of participation in its prosperity, are due to the +West, and will be met, I doubt not, by a return of sentiments equally +cordial and equally patriotic. + +Gentlemen, the general question of revenue is very much connected with +this subject of the public lands, and I will therefore, in a very few +words, express my views on that point. + +The revenue involves not only the supply of the treasury with money, but +the question of protection to manufactures. On these connected subjects, +therefore, Gentlemen, as I have promised to keep nothing back, I will +state my opinions plainly, but very shortly. + +I am in favor of such a revenue as shall be equal to all the just and +reasonable wants of the government; and I am decidedly opposed to all +collection or accumulation of revenue beyond this point. An extravagant +government expenditure, and unnecessary accumulation in the treasury, +are both, of all things, to be most studiously avoided. + +I am in favor of protecting American industry and labor, not only as +employed in large manufactories, but also, and more especially, as +employed in the various mechanic arts, carried on by persons of small +capitals, and living by the earnings of their own personal industry. +Every city in the Union, and none more than this, would feel severely +the consequences of departing from the ancient and continued policy of +the government respecting this last branch of protection. If duties were +to be abolished on hats, boots, shoes, and other articles of leather, +and on the articles fabricated of brass, tin, and iron, and on +ready-made clothes, carriages, furniture, and many similar articles, +thousands of persons would be immediately thrown out of employment in +this city, and in other parts of the Union. Protection, in this respect, +of our own labor against the cheaper, ill-paid, half-fed, and pauper +labor of Europe, is, in my opinion, a duty which the country owes to its +own citizens. I am, therefore, decidedly, for protecting our own +industry and our own labor. + +In the next place, Gentlemen, I am of opinion, that, with no more than +usual skill in the application of the well-tried principles of +discriminating and specific duties, all the branches of national +industry may be protected, without imposing such duties on imports as +shall overcharge the treasury. + +And as to the revenues arising from the sales of the public lands, I am +of opinion that they ought to be set apart for the use of the States. +The States need the money. The government of the United States does not +need it. Many of the States have contracted large debts for objects of +internal improvement; and others of them have important objects which +they would wish to accomplish. The lands were originally granted for the +use of the several States; and now that their proceeds are not necessary +for the purposes of the general government, I am of opinion that they +should go to the States, and to the people of the States, upon an equal +principle. Set apart, then, the proceeds of the public lands for the use +of the States; supply the treasury from duties on imports; apply to +these duties a just and careful discrimination, in favor of articles +produced at home by our own labor, and thus support, to a fair extent, +our own manufactures. These, Gentlemen, appear to me to be the general +outlines of that policy which the present condition of the country +requires us to adopt. + + * * * * * + +Gentlemen, proposing to express opinions on the principal subjects of +interest at the present moment, it is impossible to overlook the +delicate question which has arisen from events which have happened in +the late Mexican province of Texas. The independence of that province +has now been recognized by the government of the United States. Congress +gave the President the means, to be used when he saw fit, of opening a +diplomatic intercourse with its government, and the late President +immediately made use of those means. + +I saw no objection, under the circumstances, to voting an appropriation +to be used when the President should think the proper time had come; and +he deemed, very promptly, it is true, that the time had already arrived. +Certainly, Gentlemen, the history of Texas is not a little wonderful. A +very few people, in a very short time, have established a government for +themselves, against the authority of the parent state; and this +government, it is generally supposed, there is little probability, at +the present moment, of the parent state being able to overturn. + +This government is, in form, a copy of our own. It is an American +constitution, substantially after the great American model. We all, +therefore, must wish it success; and there is no one who will more +heartily rejoice than I shall, to see an independent community, +intelligent, industrious, and friendly towards us, springing up, and +rising into happiness, distinction, and power, upon our own principles +of liberty and government. + +But it cannot be disguised, Gentlemen, that a desire, or an intention, +is already manifested to annex Texas to the United States. On a subject +of such mighty magnitude as this, and at a moment when the public +attention is drawn to it, I should feel myself wanting in candor, if I +did not express my opinion; since all must suppose that, on such a +question, it is impossible that I should be without some opinion. + +I say then, Gentlemen, in all frankness, that I see objections, I think +insurmountable objections, to the annexation of Texas to the United +States. When the Constitution was formed, it is not probable that either +its framers or the people ever looked to the admission of any States +into the Union, except such as then already existed, and such as should +be formed out of territories then already belonging to the United +States. Fifteen years after the adoption of the Constitution, however, +the case of Louisiana arose. Louisiana was obtained by treaty with +France, who had recently obtained it from Spain; but the object of this +acquisition, certainly, was not mere extension of territory. Other great +political interests were connected with it. Spain, while she possessed +Louisiana, had held the mouths of the great rivers which rise in the +Western States, and flow into the Gulf of Mexico. She had disputed our +use of these rivers already, and with a powerful nation in possession of +these outlets to the sea, it is obvious that the commerce of all the +West was in danger of perpetual vexation. The command of these rivers to +the sea was, therefore, the great object aimed at in the acquisition of +Louisiana. But that acquisition necessarily brought territory along with +it, and three States now exist, formed out of that ancient province. + +A similar policy, and a similar necessity, though perhaps not entirely +so urgent, led to the acquisition of Florida. + +Now, no such necessity, no such policy, requires the annexation of +Texas. The accession of Texas to our territory is not necessary to the +full and complete enjoyment of all which we already possess. Her case, +therefore, stands upon a footing entirely different from that of +Louisiana and Florida. There being no necessity for extending the limits +of the Union in that direction, we ought, I think, for numerous and +powerful reasons, to be content with our present boundaries. + +Gentlemen, we all see that, by whomsoever possessed, Texas is likely to +be a slave-holding country; and I frankly avow my entire unwillingness +to do any thing that shall extend the slavery of the African race on +this continent, or add other slave-holding States to the Union. When I +say that I regard slavery in itself as a great moral, social, and +political evil, I only use language which has been adopted by +distinguished men, themselves citizens of slave-holding States. I shall +do nothing, therefore, to favor or encourage its further extension. We +have slavery already amongst us. The Constitution found it in the Union; +it recognized it, and gave it solemn guaranties. To the full extent of +these guaranties we are all bound, in honor, in justice, and by the +Constitution. All the stipulations contained in the Constitution in +favor of the slave-holding States which are already in the Union ought +to be fulfilled, and, so far as depends on me, shall be fulfilled, in +the fullness of their spirit and to the exactness of their letter. +Slavery, as it exists in the States, is beyond the reach of Congress. It +is a concern of the States themselves; they have never submitted it to +Congress, and Congress has no rightful power over it. I shall concur, +therefore, in no act, no measure, no menace, no indication of purpose, +which shall interfere or threaten to interfere with the exclusive +authority of the several States over the subject of slavery as it exists +within their respective limits. All this appears to me to be matter of +plain and imperative duty. + +But when we come to speak of admitting new States, the subject assumes +an entirely different aspect. Our rights and our duties are then both +different. + +The free States, and all the States, are then at liberty to accept or to +reject. When it is proposed to bring new members into this political +partnership, the old members have a right to say on what terms such new +partners are to come in, and what they are to bring along with them. In +my opinion, the people of the United States will not consent to bring +into the Union a new, vastly extensive, and slave-holding country, large +enough for half a dozen or a dozen States. In my opinion, they ought not +to consent to it. Indeed, I am altogether at a loss to conceive what +possible benefit any part of this country can expect to derive from such +annexation. Any benefit to any part is at least doubtful and uncertain; +the objections are obvious, plain, and strong. On the general question +of slavery, a great portion of the community is already strongly +excited. The subject has not only attracted attention as a question of +politics, but it has struck a far deeper-toned chord. It has arrested +the religious feeling of the country; it has taken strong hold on the +consciences of men. He is a rash man, indeed, and little conversant with +human nature, and especially has he a very erroneous estimate of the +character of the people of this country, who supposes that a feeling of +this kind is to be trifled with or despised. It will assuredly cause +itself to be respected. It may be reasoned with, it may be made willing, +I believe it is entirely willing, to fulfil all existing engagements and +all existing duties, to uphold and defend the Constitution as it is +established, with whatever regrets about some provisions which it does +actually contain. But to coerce it into silence, to endeavor to restrain +its free expression, to seek to compress and confine it, warm as it is, +and more heated as such endeavors would inevitably render it,--should +this be attempted, I know nothing, even in the Constitution or in the +Union itself, which would not be endangered by the explosion which might +follow. + +I see, therefore, no political necessity for the annexation of Texas to +the Union; no advantages to be derived from it; and objections to it of +a strong, and, in my judgment, decisive character. + +I believe it to be for the interest and happiness of the whole Union to +remain as it is, without diminution and without addition. + + * * * * * + +Gentleman, I pass to other subjects. The rapid advancement of the +executive authority is a topic which has already been alluded to. + +I believe there is serious cause of alarm from this source. I believe +the power of the executive has increased, is increasing, and ought +now to be brought back within its ancient constitutional limits. I +have nothing to do with the motives which have led to those acts, +which I believe to have transcended the boundaries of the Constitution. +Good motives may always be assumed, as bad motives may always be +imputed. Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption +of power; but they cannot justify it, even if we were sure that they +existed. It is hardly too strong to say, that the Constitution was +made to guard the people against the dangers of good intention, +real or pretended. When bad intentions are boldly avowed, the people +will promptly take care of themselves. On the other hand, they will +always be asked why they should resist or question that exercise of +power which is so fair in its object, so plausible and patriotic in +appearance, and which has the public good alone confessedly in view? +Human beings, we may be assured, will generally exercise power when +they can get it; and they will exercise it most undoubtedly, in +popular governments, under pretences of public safety or high public +interest. It may be very possible that good intentions do really +sometimes exist when constitutional restraints are disregarded. There +are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who +mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to +govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters. +They think there need be but little restraint upon themselves. Their +notion of the public interest is apt to be quite closely connected +with their own exercise of authority. They may not, indeed, always +understand their own motives. The love of power may sink too deep in +their own hearts even for their own scrutiny, and may pass with +themselves for mere patriotism and benevolence. + +A character has been drawn of a very eminent citizen of Massachusetts, +of the last age, which, though I think it does not entirely belong to +him, yet very well describes a certain class of public men. It was said +of this distinguished son of Massachusetts, that in matters of politics +and government he cherished the most kind and benevolent feelings +towards the whole earth. He earnestly desired to see all nations well +governed; and to bring about this happy result, he wished that the +United States might govern the rest of the world; that Massachusetts +might govern the United States; that Boston might govern Massachusetts; +and as for himself, his own humble ambition would be satisfied by +governing the little town of Boston. + + * * * * * + +I do not intend, Gentlemen, to commit so unreasonable a trespass on your +patience as to discuss all those cases in which I think executive power +has been unreasonably extended. I shall only allude to some of them, +and, as being earliest in the order of time, and hardly second to any +other in importance, I mention the practice of removal from all +offices, high and low, for opinion's sake, and on the avowed ground of +giving patronage to the President; that is to say, of giving him the +power of influencing men's political opinions and political conduct, by +hopes and by fears addressed directly to their pecuniary interests. The +great battle on this point was fought, and was lost, in the Senate of +the United States, in the last session of Congress under Mr. Adams's +administration. After General Jackson was known to be elected, and +before his term of office began, many important offices became vacant, +by the usual causes of death and resignation. Mr. Adams, of course, +nominated persons to fill these vacant offices. But a majority of the +Senate was composed of the friends of General Jackson; and, instead of +acting on these nominations, and filling the vacant offices with +ordinary promptitude, the nominations were postponed to a day beyond the +4th of March, for the purpose, openly avowed, of giving the patronage of +the appointments to the President who was then coming into office. When +the new President entered on his office, he withdrew these nominations, +and sent in nominations of his own friends in their places. I was of +opinion then, and am of opinion now, that that decision of the Senate +went far to unfix the proper balance of the government. It conferred on +the President the power of rewards for party purposes, or personal +purposes, without limit or control. It sanctioned, manifestly and +plainly, that exercise of power which Mr. Madison had said would deserve +impeachment; and it completely defeated one great object, which we are +told the framers of the Constitution contemplated, in the manner of +forming the Senate; that is, that the Senate might be a body not +changing with the election of a President, and therefore likely to be +able to hold over him some check or restraint in regard to bringing his +own friends and partisans into power with him, and thus rewarding their +services to him at the public expense. + +The debates in the Senate, on these questions, were long continued and +earnest. They were of course in secret session, but the opinions of +those members who opposed this course have all been proved true by the +result. The contest was severe and ardent, as much so as any that I have +ever partaken in; and I have seen some service in that sort of warfare. + +Gentlemen, when I look back to that eventful moment, when I remember who +those were who upheld this claim for executive power, with so much zeal +and devotion, as well as with such great and splendid abilities, and +when I look round now, and inquire what has become of these gentlemen, +where they have found themselves at last, under the power which they +thus helped to establish, what has become now of all their respect, +trust, confidence, and attachment, how many of them, indeed, have not +escaped from being broken and crushed under the weight of the wheels of +that engine which they themselves set in motion. I feel that an edifying +lesson may be read by those who, in the freshness and fullness of party +zeal, are ready to confer the most dangerous power, in the hope that +they and their friends may bask in its sunshine, while enemies only +shall be withered by its frown. + +I will not go into the mention of names. I will give no enumeration of +persons; but I ask you to turn your minds back, and recollect who the +distinguished men were who supported, in the Senate, General Jackson's +administration for the first two years; and I will ask you what you +suppose they think now of that power and that discretion which they so +freely confided to executive hands. What do they think of the whole +career of that administration, the commencement of which, and indeed the +existence of which, owed so much to their own great exertions? + + * * * * * + +In addition to the establishment of this power of unlimited and +causeless removal, another doctrine has been put forth, more vague, it +is true, but altogether unconstitutional, and tending to like dangerous +results. In some loose, indefinite, and unknown sense, the President has +been called the _representative of the whole American people_. He has +called himself so repeatedly, and been so denominated by his friends a +thousand times. Acts, for which no specific authority has been found +either in the Constitution or the laws, have been justified on the +ground that the President is the representative of the whole American +people. Certainly, this is not constitutional language. Certainly, the +Constitution nowhere calls the President the universal representative of +the people. The constitutional representatives of the people are in the +House of Representatives, exercising powers of legislation. The +President is an executive officer, appointed in a particular manner, and +clothed with prescribed and limited powers. It may be thought to be of +no great consequence, that the President should call himself, or that +others should call him, the sole representative of all the people, +although he has no such appellation or character in the Constitution. +But, in these matters, words are things. If he is the people's +representative, and as such may exercise power, without any other grant, +what is the limit to that power? And what may not an unlimited +representative of the people do? When the Constitution expressly creates +representatives, as members of Congress, it regulates, defines, and +limits their authority. But if the executive chief magistrate, merely +because he is the executive chief magistrate, may assume to himself +another character, and call himself the representative of the whole +people, what is to limit or restrain this representative power in his +hands? + +I fear, Gentlemen, that if these pretensions should be continued and +justified, we might have many instances of summary political logic, such +as I once heard in the House of Representatives. A gentleman, not now +living, wished very much to vote for the establishment of a Bank of the +United States, but he had always stoutly denied the constitutional power +of Congress to create such a bank. The country, however, was in a state +of great financial distress, from which such an institution, it was +hoped, might help to extricate it; and this consideration led the worthy +member to review his opinions with care and deliberation. Happily, on +such careful and deliberate review, he altered his former judgment. He +came, satisfactorily, to the conclusion that Congress might incorporate +a bank. The argument which brought his mind to this result was short, +and so plain and obvious, that he wondered how he should so long have +overlooked it. The power, he said, to create a bank, was either given to +Congress, or it was not given. Very well. If it was given, Congress of +course could exercise it; if it was not given, the people still retained +it, and in that case, Congress, as the representatives of the people, +might, upon an emergency, make free to use it. + +Arguments and conclusions in substance like these, Gentlemen, will not +be wanting, if men of great popularity, commanding characters, sustained +by powerful parties, _and full of good intentions towards the public_, +may be permitted to call themselves the universal representatives of the +people. + +But, Gentlemen, it is the _currency_, the currency of the country,--it +is this great subject, so interesting, so vital, to all classes of the +community, which has been destined to feel the most violent assaults of +executive power. The consequences are around us and upon us. Not +unforeseen, not unforetold, here they come, bringing distress for the +present, and fear and alarm for the future. If it be denied that the +present condition of things has arisen from the President's interference +with the revenue, the first answer is, that, when he did interfere, just +such consequences were predicted. It was then said, and repeated, and +pressed upon the public attention, that that interference must +necessarily produce derangement, embarrassment, loss of confidence, and +commercial distress. I pray you, Gentlemen, to recur to the debates of +1832, 1833, and 1834, and then to decide whose opinions have proved to +be correct. When the treasury experiment was first announced, who +supported, and who opposed it? Who warned the country against it? Who +were they who endeavored to stay the violence of party, to arrest the +hand of executive authority, and to convince the people that this +experiment was delusive; that its object was merely to increase +executive power, and that its effect, sooner or later, must be injurious +and ruinous? Gentlemen, it is fair to bring the opinions of political +men to the test of experience. It is just to judge of them by their +measures, and their opposition to measures; and for myself, and those +political friends with whom I have acted, on this subject of the +currency, I am ready to abide the test. + +But before the subject of the currency, and its present most +embarrassing state, is discussed, I invite your attention, Gentlemen, to +the history of executive proceedings connected with it. I propose to +state to you a series of facts; not to argue upon them, not to _mystify_ +them, nor to draw any unjust inference from them; but merely to state +the case, in the plainest manner, as I understand it. And I wish, +Gentlemen, that, in order to be able to do this in the best and most +convincing manner, I had the ability of my learned friend, (Mr. Ogden,) +whom you have all so often heard, and who usually states his case in +such a manner that, when stated, it is already very well argued. + +Let us see, Gentlemen, what the train of occurrences has been in regard +to our revenue and finances; and when these occurrences are stated, I +leave to every man the right to decide for himself whether our present +difficulties have or have not arisen from attempts to extend the +executive authority. In giving this detail, I shall be compelled to +speak of the late Bank of the United States; but I shall speak of it +historically only. My opinion of its utility, and of the extraordinary +ability and success with which its affairs were conducted for many years +before the termination of its charter, is well known. I have often +expressed it, and I have not altered it. But at present I speak of the +bank only as it makes a necessary part in the history of events which I +wish now to recapitulate. + +Mr. Adams commenced his administration in March, 1825. He had been +elected by the House of Representatives, and began his career as +President under a powerful opposition. From the very first day, he +was warmly, even violently, opposed in all his measures; and this +opposition, as we all know, continued without abatement, either in +force or asperity, through his whole term of four years. Gentlemen, I +am not about to say whether this opposition was well or ill founded, +just or unjust. I only state the fact as connected with other facts. +The Bank of the United States, during these four years of Mr. Adams's +administration, was in full operation. It was performing the fiscal +duties enjoined on it by its charter; it had established numerous +offices, was maintaining a large circulation, and transacting a vast +business in exchange. Its character, conduct, and manner of +administration were all well known to the whole country. + +Now there are two or three things worthy of especial notice. One is, +that during the whole of this heated political controversy, from +1825 to 1829, the party which was endeavoring to produce a change of +administration in the general government brought no charge of political +interference against the Bank of the United States. If any thing, it +was rather a favorite with that party generally. Certainly, the party, +as a party, did not ascribe to it undue attachment to other parties, +or to the then existing administration. Another important fact is, +that, during the whole of the same period, those who had espoused the +cause of General Jackson, and who sought to bring about a revolution +under his name, did not propose the destruction of the bank, or its +discontinuance, as one of the objects which were to be accomplished +by the intended revolution. They did not tell the country that the bank +was unconstitutional; they did not declare it unnecessary; they did not +propose to get along without it, when they should come into power +themselves. If individuals entertained any such purposes, they kept them +much to themselves. The party, as a party, avowed none such. A third +fact, worthy of all notice, is, that during this period there was no +complaint about the state of the currency, either by the country +generally or by the party then in opposition. + +In March, 1829, General Jackson was inaugurated as President. He came +into power on professions of reform. He announced reform of all abuses +to be the great and leading object of his future administration; and in +his inaugural address he pointed out the main subjects of this reform. +But the bank was not one of them. It was not said by him that the bank +was unconstitutional. It was not said that it was unnecessary or +useless. It was not said that it had failed to do all that had been +hoped or expected from it in regard to the currency. + +In March, 1829, then, the bank stood well, very well, with the new +administration. It was regarded, so far as appears, as entirely +constitutional, free from political or party taint, and highly useful. +It had as yet found no place in the catalogue of abuses to be reformed. + +But, Gentlemen, nine months wrought a wonderful change. New lights broke +forth before these months had rolled away; and the President, in his +message to Congress in December, 1829, held a very unaccustomed language +and manifested very unexpected purposes. + +Although the bank had then five or six years of its charter unexpired, +he yet called the attention of Congress very pointedly to the subject, +and declared,-- + +1. That the constitutionality of the bank was well doubted by many; + +2. That its utility or expediency was also well doubted; + +3. That all must admit that it had failed to establish or maintain a +sound and uniform currency; and + +4. That the true bank for the use of the government of the United States +would be a bank which should be founded on the revenues and credit of +the government itself. + +These propositions appeared to me, at the time, as very extraordinary, +and the last one as very startling. A bank founded on the revenue and +credit of the government, and managed and administered by the executive, +was a conception which I had supposed no man holding the chief executive +power in his own hands would venture to put forth. + +But the question now is, what had wrought this great change of feeling +and of purpose in regard to the bank. What events had occurred between +March and December that should have caused the bank, so constitutional, +so useful, so peaceful, and so safe an institution, in the first of +these months, to start up into the character of a monster, and become so +horrid and dangerous, in the last? + +Gentlemen, let us see what the events were which had intervened. General +Jackson was elected in December, 1828. His term was to begin in March, +1829. A session of Congress took place, therefore, between his election +and the commencement of his administration. + +Now, Gentlemen, the truth is, that during this session, and a little +before the commencement of the new administration, a disposition was +manifested by political men to interfere with the management of the +bank. Members of Congress undertook to nominate or recommend individuals +as directors in the branches, or offices, of the bank. They were kind +enough, sometimes, to make out whole lists, or tickets, and to send them +to Philadelphia, containing the names of those whose appointments would +be satisfactory to General Jackson's friends. Portions of the +correspondence on these subjects have been published in some of the +voluminous reports and other documents connected with the bank, but +perhaps have not been generally heeded or noticed. At first, the bank +merely declined, as gently as possible, complying with these and similar +requests. But like applications began to show themselves from many +quarters, and a very marked case arose as early as June, 1829. Certain +members of the Legislature of New Hampshire applied for a change in the +presidency of the branch which was established in that State. A member +of the Senate of the United States wrote both to the president of the +bank and to the Secretary of the Treasury, strongly recommending a +change, and in his letter to the Secretary hinting very distinctly at +political considerations as the ground of the movement. Other officers +in the service of the government took an interest in the matter, and +urged a change; and the Secretary himself wrote to the bank, suggesting +and recommending it. The time had come, then, for the bank to take its +position. It did take it; and, in my judgment, if it had not acted as it +did act, not only would those who had the care of it have been most +highly censurable, but a claim would have been yielded to, entirely +inconsistent with a government of laws, and subversive of the very +foundations of republicanism. + +A long correspondence between the Secretary of the Treasury and the +president of the bank ensued. The directors determined that they +would not surrender either their rights or their duties to the +control or supervision of the executive government. They said they had +never appointed directors of their branches on political grounds, and +they would not remove them on such grounds. They had avoided politics. +They had sought for men of business, capacity, fidelity, and experience +in the management of pecuniary concerns. They owed duties, they said, +to the government, which they meant to perform, faithfully and +impartially, under all administrations; and they owed duties to the +stockholders of the bank, which required them to disregard political +considerations in their appointments. This correspondence ran along +into the fall of the year, and finally terminated in a stern and +unanimous declaration, made by the directors, and transmitted to the +Secretary of the Treasury, that the bank would continue to be +independently administered, and that the directors once for all refused +to submit to the supervision of the executive authority, in any of +its branches, in the appointment of local directors and agents. This +resolution decided the character of the future. Hostility towards the +bank, thenceforward, became the settled policy of the government; and +the message of December, 1829, was the clear announcement of that +policy. If the bank had appointed those directors, thus recommended by +members of Congress; if it had submitted all its appointments to the +supervision of the treasury; if it had removed the president of the +New Hampshire branch; if it had, in all things, showed itself a +complying, political, party machine, instead of an independent +institution;--if it had done this, I leave all men to judge whether such +an entire change of opinion, as to its constitutionality, its utility, +and its good effects on the currency, would have happened between +March and December. + +From the moment in which the bank asserted its independence of treasury +control, and its elevation above mere party purposes, down to the end of +its charter, and down even to the present day, it has been the subject +to which the selectest phrases of party denunciation have been +plentifully applied. + +But Congress manifested no disposition to establish a treasury bank. +On the contrary, it was satisfied, and so was the country, most +unquestionably, with the bank then existing. In the summer of 1832, +Congress passed an act for continuing the charter of the bank, by +strong majorities in both houses. In the House of Representatives, I +think, two thirds of the members voted for the bill. The President +gave it his negative; and as there were not two thirds of the +Senate, though a large majority were for it, the bill failed to become +a law. + +But it was not enough that a continuance of the charter of the bank was +thus refused. It had the deposit of the public money, and this it was +entitled to by law, for the few years which yet remained of its +chartered term. But this it was determined it should not continue to +enjoy. At the commencement of the session of 1832-33, a grave and sober +doubt was expressed by the Secretary of the Treasury, in his official +communication, whether the public moneys were safe in the custody of the +bank! I confess, Gentlemen, when I look back to this suggestion, thus +officially made, so serious in its import, so unjust, if not well +founded, and so greatly injurious to the credit of the bank, and +injurious, indeed, to the credit of the whole country, I cannot but +wonder that any man of intelligence and character should have been +willing to make it. I read in it, however, the first lines of another +chapter. I saw an attempt was now to be made to remove the deposits of +the public money from the bank, and such an attempt was made that very +session. But Congress was not to be prevailed upon to accomplish the end +by its own authority. It was well ascertained that neither house would +consent to it. The House of Representatives, indeed, at the heel of the +session, decided against the proposition by a very large majority. + +The legislative authority having been thus invoked, and invoked in vain, +it was resolved to stretch farther the long arm of executive power, and +by that arm to reach and strike the victim. It so happened that I was in +this city in May, 1833, and here learned, from a very authentic source, +that the deposits would be removed by the President's order; and in +June, as afterwards appeared, that order was given. + +Now it is obvious, Gentlemen, that thus far the changes in our financial +and fiscal system were effected, not by Congress, but by the executive; +not by law, but by the will and the power of the President. Congress +would have continued the charter of the bank; but the President +negatived the bill. Congress was of opinion that the deposits ought not +to be removed; but the President removed them. Nor was this all. The +public moneys being withdrawn from the custody which the law had +provided, by executive power alone, that same power selected the places +for their future keeping. Particular banks, existing under State +charters, were chosen. With these especial and particular arrangements +were made, and the public moneys were deposited in their vaults. +Henceforward these selected banks were to operate on the revenue and +credit of the government; and thus the original scheme, promulgated in +the annual message of December, 1829, was substantially carried into +effect. Here were banks chosen by the treasury; all the arrangements +with them made by the treasury; a set of duties to be performed by them +to the treasury prescribed; and these banks were to hold the whole +proceeds of the public revenue. In all this, Congress had neither part +nor lot. No law had caused the removal of the deposits; no law had +authorized the selection of deposit State banks; no law had prescribed +the terms on which the revenues should be placed in such banks. From the +beginning of the chapter to the end, it was all executive edict. And +now, Gentlemen, I ask if it be not most remarkable, that, in a country +professing to be under a government of laws, such great and important +changes in one of its most essential and vital interests should be +brought about without any change of law, without any enactment of the +legislature whatever? Is such a power trusted to the executive of any +government in which the executive is separated, by clear and +well-defined lines, from the legislative department? The currency of the +country stands on the same general ground as the commerce of the +country. Both are intimately connected, and both are subjects of legal, +not of executive, regulation. + +It is worthy of notice, that the writers of the Federalist, in +discussing the powers which the Constitution conferred on the President, +made it matter of commendation, that it withdraws this subject +altogether from his grasp. "He can prescribe no rules," say they, +"concerning the commerce or _currency_ of the country." And so we have +been all taught to think, under all former administrations. But we have +now seen that the President, and the President alone, does prescribe the +rule concerning the currency. He makes it, and he alters it. He makes +one rule for one branch of the revenue, and another rule for another. He +makes one rule for the citizen of one State, and another for the citizen +of another State. This, it is certain, is one part of the treasury order +of July last. + +But at last Congress interfered, and undertook to regulate the deposits +of the public moneys. It passed the law of July, 1836, placing the +subject under legal control, restraining the power of the executive, +subjecting the banks to liabilities and duties, on the one hand, and +securing them against executive favoritism, on the other. But this law +contained another important provision; which was, that all the money in +the treasury, beyond what was necessary for the current expenditures of +the government, should be deposited with the States. This measure passed +both houses by very unusual majorities, yet it hardly escaped a veto. It +obtained only a cold assent, a slow, reluctant, and hesitating approval; +and an early moment was seized to array against it a long list of +objections. But the law passed. The money in the treasury beyond the sum +of five millions was to go to the States. It has so gone, and the +treasury for the present is relieved from the burden of a surplus. But +now observe other coincidences. In the annual message of December, 1835, +the President quoted the fact of the rapidly increasing sale of the +public lands as proof of high national prosperity. He alluded to that +subject, certainly with much satisfaction, and apparently in something +of the tone of exultation. There was nothing said about monopoly, not a +word about speculation, not a word about over-issues of paper, to pay +for the lands. All was prosperous, all was full of evidence of a wise +administration of government, all was joy and triumph. + +But the idea of a deposit or distribution of the surplus money with the +people suddenly damped this effervescing happiness. The color of the +rose was gone, and every thing now looked gloomy and black. Now no more +felicitation or congratulation, on account of the rapid sales of the +public lands; no more of this most decisive proof of national prosperity +and happiness. The executive Muse takes up a melancholy strain. She +sings of monopolies, of speculation, of worthless paper, of loss both of +land and money, of the multiplication of banks, and the danger of paper +issues; and the end of the canto, the catastrophe, is, that lands shall +no longer be sold but for gold and silver alone. The object of all this +is clear enough. It was to diminish the income from the public lands. No +desire for such a diminution had been manifested, so long as the money +was supposed to be likely to remain in the treasury. But a growing +conviction that some other disposition must be made of the surplus, +awakened attention to the means of preventing that surplus. + +Toward the close of the last session, Gentlemen, a proposition was +brought forward in Congress for such an alteration of the law as should +admit payment for public lands to be made in nothing but gold and +silver. The mover voted for his own proposition; but I do not recollect +that any other member concurred in the vote. The proposition was +rejected at once; but, as in other cases, that which Congress refused to +do, the executive power did. Ten days after Congress adjourned, having +had this matter before it, and having refused to act upon it by making +any alteration in the existing laws, a treasury order was issued, +commanding that very thing to be done which Congress had been requested +and had refused to do. Just as in the case of the removal of the +deposits, the executive power acted in this case also against the known, +well understood, and recently expressed will of the representatives of +the people. There never has been a moment when the legislative will +would have sanctioned the object of that order; probably never a moment +in which any twenty individual members of Congress would have concurred +in it. The act was done without the assent of Congress, and against the +well-known opinion of Congress. That act altered the law of the land, or +purported to alter it, against the well-known will of the law-making +power. + +For one, I confess I see no authority whatever in the Constitution, or +in any law, for this treasury order. Those who have undertaken to +maintain it have placed it on grounds, not only different, but +inconsistent and contradictory. The reason which one gives, another +rejects; one confutes what another argues. With one it is the joint +resolution of 1816 which gave the authority; with another, it is the law +of 1820; with a third, it is the general superintending power of the +President; and this last argument, since it resolves itself into mere +power, without stopping to point out the sources of that power, is not +only the shortest, but in truth the most just. He is the most sensible, +as well as the most candid reasoner, in my opinion, who places this +treasury order on the ground of the pleasure of the executive, and stops +there. I regard the joint resolution of 1816 as mandatory; as +prescribing a legal rule; as putting this subject, in which all have so +deep an interest, beyond the caprice, or the arbitrary pleasure, or the +discretion, of the Secretary of the Treasury. I believe there is not the +slightest legal authority, either in that officer or in the President, +to make a distinction, and to say that paper may be received for debts +at the custom-house, but that gold and silver only shall be received at +the land offices. And now for the sequel. + +At the commencement of the last session, as you know, Gentlemen, a +resolution was brought forward in the Senate for annulling and +abrogating this order, by Mr. Ewing, of Ohio, a gentleman of much +intelligence, of sound principles, of vigorous and energetic character, +whose loss from the service of the country I regard as a public +misfortune. The Whig members all supported this resolution, and all the +members, I believe, with the exception of some five or six, were very +anxious in some way to get rid of the treasury order. But Mr. Ewing's +resolution was too direct. It was deemed a pointed and ungracious attack +on executive polity. It must therefore be softened, modified, qualified, +made to sound less harsh to the ears of men in power, and to assume a +plausible, polished, inoffensive character. It was accordingly put into +the plastic hands of friends of the executive to be moulded and +fashioned, so that it might have the effect of ridding the country of +the obnoxious order, and yet not appear to question executive +infallibility. All this did not answer. The late President is not a man +to be satisfied with soft words; and he saw in the measure, even as it +passed the two houses, a substantial repeal of the order. He is a man of +boldness and decision; and he respects boldness and decision in others. +If you are his friend, he expects no flinching; and if you are his +adversary, he respects you none the less for carrying your opposition to +the full limits of honorable warfare. Gentlemen, I most sincerely regret +the course of the President in regard to this bill, and certainly most +highly disapprove it. But I do not suffer the mortification of having +attempted to disguise and garnish it, in order to make it acceptable, +and of still finding it thrown back in my face. All that was obtained by +this ingenious, diplomatic, and over-courteous mode of enacting a law, +was a response from the President and the Attorney-General, that the +bill in question was obscure, ill penned, and not easy to be understood. +The bill, therefore, was neither approved nor negatived. If it had been +approved, the treasury order would have been annulled, though in a +clumsy and objectionable manner. If it had been negatived, and returned +to Congress, no doubt it would have been passed by two thirds of both +houses, and in that way have become a law, and abrogated the order. But +it was not approved, it was not returned; it was retained. It had passed +the Senate in season; it had been sent to the House in season; but there +it was suffered to lie so long without being called up, that it was +completely in the power of the President when it finally passed that +body; since he is not obliged to return bills which he does not approve, +if not presented to him ten days before the end of the session. The bill +was lost, therefore, and the treasury order remains in force. Here again +the representatives of the people, in both houses of Congress, by +majorities almost unprecedented, endeavored to abolish this obnoxious +order. On hardly any subject, indeed, has opinion been so unanimous, +either in or out of Congress. Yet the order remains. + +And now, Gentlemen, I ask you, and I ask all men who have not +voluntarily surrendered all power and all right of thinking for +themselves, whether, from 1832 to the present moment, the executive +authority has not effectually superseded the power of Congress, thwarted +the will of the representatives of the people, and even of the people +themselves, and taken the whole subject of the currency into its own +grasp? In 1832, Congress desired to continue the bank of the United +States, and a majority of the people desired it also; but the President +opposed it, and his will prevailed. In 1833, Congress refused to remove +the deposits; the President resolved upon it, however, and his will +prevailed. Congress has never been willing to make a bank founded on the +money and credit of the government, and administered, of course, by +executive hands; but this was the President's object, and he attained +it, in a great measure, by the treasury selection of deposit banks. In +this particular, therefore, to a great extent, his will prevailed. In +1836, Congress refused to confine the receipts for public lands to gold +and silver; but the President willed it, and his will prevailed. In +1837, both houses of Congress, by more than two thirds, passed a bill +for restoring the former state of things by annulling the treasury +order; but the President willed, notwithstanding, that the order should +remain in force, and his will again prevailed. I repeat the question, +therefore, and I would put it earnestly to every intelligent man, to +every lover of our constitutional liberty, are we under the dominion of +the law? or has the effectual government of the country, at least in all +that regards the great interest of the currency, been in a single hand? + + * * * * * + +Gentlemen, I have done with the narrative of events and measures. I have +done with the history of these successive steps, in the progress of +executive power, towards a complete control over the revenue and the +currency. The result is now all before us. These pretended reforms, +these extraordinary exercises of power from an extraordinary zeal for +the good of the people, what have they brought us to? + +In 1829, the currency was declared to be _neither sound nor uniform_; a +proposition, in my judgment, altogether at variance with the fact, +because I do not believe there ever was a country of equal extent, in +which paper formed any part of the circulation, that possessed a +currency so sound, so uniform, so convenient, and so perfect in all +respects, as the currency of this country, at the moment of the delivery +of that message, in 1829. + +But how is it now? Where has the improvement brought it? What has reform +done? What has the great cry for hard money accomplished? Is the +currency _uniform_ now? Is money in New Orleans now as good, or nearly +so, as money in New York? Are exchanges at par, or only at the same low +rates as in 1829 and other years? Every one here knows that all the +benefits of this experiment are but injury and oppression; all this +reform, but aggravated distress. + +And as to the _soundness_ of the currency, how does that stand? Are the +causes of alarm less now than in 1829? Is there less bank paper in +circulation? Is there less fear of a general catastrophe? Is property +more secure, or industry more certain of its reward? We all know, +Gentlemen, that, during all this pretended warfare against all banks, +banks have vastly increased. Millions upon millions of bank paper have +been added to the circulation. Everywhere, and nowhere so much as where +the present administration and its measures have been most zealously +supported, banks have multiplied under State authority, since the decree +was made that the Bank of the United States should be suffered to +expire. Look at Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, Virginia, and other +States. Do we not see that banking capital and bank paper are enormously +increasing? The opposition to banks, therefore, so much professed, +whether it be real or whether it be but pretended, has not restrained +either their number or their issues of paper. Both have vastly +increased. + +And now a word or two, Gentlemen, upon this hard-money scheme, and the +fancies and the delusions to which it has given birth. Gentlemen, this +is a subject of delicacy, and one which it is difficult to treat with +sufficient caution, in a popular and occasional address like this. I +profess to be a _bullionist_, in the usual and accepted sense of that +word. I am for a solid specie basis for our circulation, and for specie +as a part of the circulation, so far as it may be practicable and +convenient. I am for giving no value to paper, merely as paper. I abhor +paper; that is to say, irredeemable paper, paper that may not be +converted into gold or silver at the will of the holder. But while I +hold to all this, I believe, also, that an exclusive gold and silver +circulation is an utter impossibility in the present state of this +country and of the world. We shall none of us ever see it; and it is +credulity and folly, in my opinion, to act under any such hope or +expectation. The States will make banks, and these will issue paper; and +the longer the government of the United States neglects its duty in +regard to measures for regulating the currency, the greater will be the +amount of bank paper overspreading the country. Of this I entertain not +a particle of doubt. + +While I thus hold to the absolute and indispensable necessity of gold +and silver, as the foundation of our circulation, I yet think nothing +more absurd and preposterous, than unnatural and strained efforts to +import specie. There is but so much specie in the world, and its amount +cannot be greatly or suddenly increased. Indeed, there are reasons for +supposing that its amount has recently diminished, by the quantity used +in manufactures, and by the diminished products of the mines. The +existing amount of specie, however, must support the paper circulations, +and the systems of currency, not of the United States only, but of other +nations also. One of its great uses is to pass from country to country, +for the purpose of settling occasional balances in commercial +transactions. It always finds its way, naturally and easily, to places +where it is needed for these uses. But to take extraordinary pains to +bring it where the course of trade does not bring it, where the state of +debt and credit does not require it to be, and then to endeavor, by +unnecessary and injurious regulations, treasury orders, accumulations at +the mint, and other contrivances, there to retain it, is a course of +policy bordering, as it appears to me, on political insanity. It is +boasted that we have seventy-five or eighty millions of specie now in +the country. But what more senseless, what more absurd, than this boast, +if there is a balance against us abroad, of which payment is desired +sooner than remittances of our own products are likely to make that +payment? What more miserable than to boast of having that which is not +ours, which belongs to others, and which the convenience of others, and +our own convenience also, require that they should possess? If Boston +were in debt to New York, would it be wise in Boston, instead of paying +its debt, to contrive all possible means of obtaining specie from the +New York banks, and hoarding it at home? And yet this, as I think, would +be precisely as sensible as the course which the government of the +United States at present pursues. We have, beyond all doubt, a great +amount of specie in the country, but it does not answer its accustomed +end, it does not perform its proper duty. It neither goes abroad to +settle balances against us, and thereby quiet those who have demands +upon us; nor is it so disposed of at home as to sustain the circulation +to the extent which the circumstances of the times require. A great part +of it is in the Western banks, in the land offices, on the roads +through the wilderness, on the passages over the Lakes, from the land +offices to the deposit banks, and from the deposit banks back to the +land offices. Another portion is in the hands of buyers and sellers of +specie; of men in the West, who sell land-office money to the new +settlers for a high premium. Another portion, again, is kept in private +hands, to be used when circumstances shall tempt to the purchase of +lands. And, Gentlemen, I am inclined to think, so loud has been the cry +about hard money, and so sweeping the denunciation of all paper, that +private holding, or hoarding, prevails to some extent in different parts +of the country. These eighty millions of specie, therefore, really do us +little good. We are weaker in our circulation, I have no doubt, our +credit is feebler, money is scarcer with us, at this moment, than if +twenty millions of this specie were shipped to Europe, and general +confidence thereby restored. + +Gentlemen, I will not say that some degree of pressure might not have +come upon us, if the treasury order had not issued. I will not say +that there has not been over-trading, and over-production, and a too +great expansion of bank circulation. This may all be so, and the +last-mentioned evil, it was easy to foresee, was likely to happen when +the United States discontinued their own bank. But what I do say is, +that, acting upon the state of things as it actually existed, and is +now actually existing, the treasury order has been, and now is, +productive of great distress. It acts upon a state of things which gives +extraordinary force to its stroke, and extraordinary point to its +sting. It arrests specie, when the free use and circulation of specie +are most important; it cripples the banks, at a moment when the banks +more than ever need all their means. It makes the merchant unable to +remit, when remittance is necessary for his own credit, and for the +general adjustment of commercial balances. I am not now discussing +the general question, whether prices must not come down, and adjust +themselves anew to the amount of bullion existing in Europe and America. +I am dealing only with the measures of our own government on the +subject of the currency, and I insist that these measures have been +most unfortunate, and most ruinous in their effects on the ordinary +means of our circulation at home, and on our ability of remittance +abroad. + +Their effects, too, on domestic exchanges, by deranging and misplacing +the specie which is in the country, are most disastrous. Let him who has +lent an ear to all these promises of a more uniform currency see how he +can now sell his draft on New Orleans or Mobile. Let the Northern +manufacturers and mechanics, those who have sold the products of their +labor to the South, and heretofore realized the prices with little loss +of exchange, let them try present facilities. Let them see what reform +of the currency has done for them. Let them inquire whether, in this +respect, their condition is better or worse than it was five or six +years ago. + +Gentlemen, I hold this disturbance of the measure of value, and the +means of payment and exchange, this derangement, and, if I may so say, +this violation of the currency, to be one of the most unpardonable of +political faults. He who tampers with the currency robs labor of its +bread. He panders, indeed, to greedy capital, which is keen-sighted, +and may shift for itself; but he beggars labor, which is honest, +unsuspecting, and too busy with the present to calculate for the +future. The prosperity of the working classes lives, moves, and has +its being in established credit, and a steady medium of payment. All +sudden changes destroy it. Honest industry never comes in for any +part of the spoils in that scramble which takes place when the +currency of a country is disordered. Did wild schemes and projects +ever benefit the industrious? Did irredeemable bank paper ever enrich +the laborious? Did violent fluctuations ever do good to him who +depends on his daily labor for his daily bread? Certainly never. All +these things may gratify greediness for sudden gain, or the rashness +of daring speculation; but they can bring nothing but injury and +distress to the homes of patient industry and honest labor. Who are +they that profit by the present state of things? They are not the +many, but the few. They are speculators, brokers, dealers in money, +and lenders of money at exorbitant interest. Small capitalists are +crushed, and, their means being dispersed, as usual, in various parts of +the country, and this miserable policy having destroyed exchanges, they +have no longer either money or credit. And all classes of labor +partake, and must partake, in the same calamity. And what consolation +for all this is it, that the public lands are paid for in specie? +that, whatever embarrassment and distress pervade the country, the +Western wilderness is thickly sprinkled over with eagles and dollars? +that gold goes weekly from Milwaukie and Chicago to Detroit, and back +again from Detroit to Milwaukie and Chicago, and performs similar +feats of egress and regress in many other instances, in the Western +States? It is remarkable enough, that, with all this sacrifice of +general convenience, with all this sky-rending clamor for government +payments in specie, government, after all, never gets a dollar. So far +as I know, the United States have not now a single specie dollar in the +world. If they have, where is it? The gold and silver collected at the +land-offices is sent to the deposit banks; it is there placed to the +credit of the government, and thereby becomes the property of the +bank. The whole revenue of the government, therefore, after all, +consists in mere bank credits; that very sort of security which the +friends of the administration have so much denounced. + +Remember, Gentlemen, in the midst of this deafening din against all +banks, that, if it shall create such a panic as shall shut up the banks, +it will shut up the treasury of the United States also. + +Gentlemen, I would not willingly be a prophet of ill. I most devoutly +wish to see a better state of things; and I believe the repeal of the +treasury order would tend very much to bring about that better state of +things. And I am of opinion, that, sooner or later, the order will be +repealed. I think it must be repealed. I think the East, West, North, +and South will demand its repeal. But, Gentlemen, I feel it my duty to +say, that, if I should be disappointed in this expectation, I see no +immediate relief to the distresses of the community. I greatly fear, +even, that the worst is not yet.[107] I look for severer distresses; for +extreme difficulties in exchange, for far greater inconveniences in +remittance, and for a sudden fall in prices. Our condition is one which +is not to be tampered with, and the repeal of the treasury order, being +something which government can do, and which will do good, the public +voice is right in demanding that repeal. It is true, if repealed now, +the relief will come late. Nevertheless its repeal or abrogation is a +thing to be insisted on, and pursued, till it shall be accomplished. +This executive control over the currency, this power of discriminating, +by treasury order, between one man's debt and another man's debt, is a +thing not to be endured in a free country; and it should be the +constant, persisting demand of all true Whigs, "Rescind the illegal +treasury order, restore the rule of the law, place all branches of the +revenue on the same grounds, make men's rights equal, and leave the +government of the country where the Constitution leaves it, in the hands +of the representatives of the people in Congress." This point should +never be surrendered or compromised. Whatever is established, let it be +equal, and let it be legal. Let men know, to-day, what money may be +required of them to-morrow. Let the role be open and public, on the +pages of the statute-book, not a secret, in the executive breast. + +Gentlemen, in the session which has now just closed, I have done my +utmost to effect a direct and immediate repeal of the treasury order. + +I have voted for a bill anticipating the payment of the French and +Neapolitan indemnities by an advance from the treasury. + +I have voted with great satisfaction for the restoration of duties on +goods destroyed in the great conflagration in this city. + +I have voted for a deposit with the States of the surplus which may be +in the treasury at the end of the year. All these measures have failed; +and it is for you, and for our fellow-citizens throughout the country, +to decide whether the public interest would, or would not, have been +promoted by their success. + +But I find, Gentlemen, that I am committing an unpardonable trespass on +your indulgent patience. I will pursue these remarks no further. And yet +I cannot persuade myself to take leave of you without reminding you, +with the utmost deference and respect, of the important part assigned to +you in the political concerns of your country, and of the great +influence of your opinions, your example, and your efforts upon the +general prosperity and happiness. + +Whigs of New York! Patriotic citizens of this great metropolis! Lovers +of constitutional liberty, bound by interest and by affection to the +institutions of your country, Americans in heart and in principle!--you +are ready, I am sure, to fulfil all the duties imposed upon you by your +situation, and demanded of you by your country. You have a central +position; your city is the point from which intelligence emanates, and +spreads in all directions over the whole land. Every hour carries +reports of your sentiments and opinions to the verge of the Union. You +cannot escape the responsibility which circumstances have thrown upon +you. You must live and act, on a broad and conspicuous theatre, either +for good or for evil to your country. You cannot shrink from your public +duties; you cannot obscure yourselves, nor bury your talent. In the +common welfare, in the common prosperity, in the common glory of +Americans, you have a stake of value not to be calculated. You have an +interest in the preservation of the Union, of the Constitution, and of +the true principles of the government, which no man can estimate. You +act for yourselves, and for the generations that are to come after you; +and those who ages hence shall bear your names, and partake your blood, +will feel, in their political and social condition, the consequences of +the manner in which you discharge your political duties. + +Having fulfilled, then, on your part and on mine, though feebly and +imperfectly on mine, the offices of kindness and mutual regard required +by this occasion, shall we not use it to a higher and nobler purpose? +Shall we not, by this friendly meeting, refresh our patriotism, rekindle +our love of constitutional liberty, and strengthen our resolutions of +public duty? Shall we not, in all honesty and sincerity, with pure and +disinterested love of country, as Americans, looking back to the renown +of our ancestors, and looking forward to the interests of our posterity, +here, to-night, pledge our mutual faith to hold on to the last to our +professed principles, to the doctrines of true liberty, and to the +Constitution of the country, let who will prove true, or who will prove +recreant? Whigs of New York! I meet you in advance, and give you my +pledge for my own performance of these duties, without qualification and +without reserve. Whether in public life or in private life, in the +Capitol or at home, I mean never to desert them. I mean never to forget +that I have a country, to which I am bound by a thousand ties; and the +stone which is to lie on the ground that shall cover me, shall not bear +the name of a son ungrateful to his native land. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [106] A Speech delivered at Niblo's Saloon, in New York, on the 15th of + March, 1837. + + [107] On the 10th of June following the delivery of this speech, all the + banks in the city of New York, by common consent, suspended the + payment of their notes in specie. On the next day, the same step + was taken by the banks of Boston and the vicinity, and the + example was followed by all the banks south of New York, as they + received intelligence of the suspension of specie payments in + that city. On the 15th of June, (just three months from the day + this speech was delivered,) President Van Buren issued his + proclamation calling an extra session of Congress for the first + Monday of September. + + + + +RECEPTION AT WHEELING.[108] + + The following toast having been proposed,--"Our distinguished + guest,--his manly and untiring, though unsuccessful, efforts to + sustain the supremacy of the Constitution and the laws against the + encroachments of executive power, and to avert the catastrophe that + now impends over the country, have given him a new claim to the + gratitude of his countrymen, and added a new lustre to that fame + which was already imperishably identified with the history of our + institutions,"--Mr. Webster rose and responded, in substance, as + follows. + + +MR. CHAIRMAN AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--I cannot be indifferent to the +manifestations of regard with which I have been greeted by you, nor can +I suffer any show of delicacy to prevent me from expressing my thanks +for your kindness. + +I travel, Gentlemen, for the purpose of seeing the country, and of +seeing what constitutes the important part of every country, the people. +I find everywhere much to excite, and much to gratify admiration; and +the pleasure I experience is only diminished by remembering the +unparalleled state of distress which I have left behind me, and by the +apprehension, rather than the feeling, of severe evils, which I find to +exist wherever I go. + +I cannot enable those who have not witnessed it to comprehend the full +extent of the suffering in the Eastern cities. It was painful, indeed, +to behold it. So many bankruptcies among great and small dealers, so +much property sacrificed, so many industrious men altogether broken up +in their business, so many families reduced from competence to want, so +many hopes crushed, so many happy prospects for ever clouded, and such +fearful looking for still greater calamities,--all united form such a +mass of evil as I had never expected to see, except as the result of +war, a pestilence, or some other external calamity. + +I have no wish, in the present state of things, nor should I have, +indeed, if the state of things were different, to obtrude the expression +of my political sentiments on such of my fellow-citizens as I may happen +to meet; nor, on the other hand, have I any motive for concealing them, +or suppressing their expression, whenever others desire that I should +make them known. Indeed, on the great topics that now engage public +attention, I hope I may flatter myself that my opinions are already +known. + +Recent evils have not at all surprised me, except that they have come +sooner and faster than I had anticipated. But, though not surprised, I +am afflicted; I feel any thing but pleasure in this early fulfilment of +my own predictions. Much injury is done, which the wisest future +counsels can never repair, and much more that can never be remedied but +by such counsels and by the lapse of time. From 1832 to the present +moment, I have foreseen this result. I may safely say I have foreseen +it, because I have foretold and proclaimed its approach in every +important discussion and debate in the public body of which I am a +member. In 1832, I happened to meet with a citizen of Wheeling, now +present, who has this day reminded me of what I then anticipated, as the +result of the measures which the administration appeared to be adopting +in regard to the currency. In the summer of the next year, 1833, I was +here, and suggested to friends what I knew to be resolved upon by the +executive, namely, the removal of the deposits of the public funds from +the Bank of the United States, which was announced two months +afterwards. That was the avowed and declared commencement of the +"experiment." You know, Gentlemen, the obloquy then and since cast upon +those of us who opposed this "experiment." You know that we have been +called bank agents, bank advocates, bank hirelings. You know that it has +been a thousand times said, that the experiment worked admirably, that +nothing could do better, that it was the highest possible evidence of +the political wisdom and sagacity of its contrivers, and that none +opposed it or doubted its efficiency but the wicked or the stupid. Well, +Gentlemen, here is the end, if this _is_ the end, of this notable +"experiment." Its singular wisdom has come to this; its fine workings +have wrought out an almost general bankruptcy. + +Its lofty promises, its grandeur, its flashes, that threw other men's +sense and understanding back into the shade, where are they now? Here is +the "fine of fines and the recovery of recoveries." Its panics, its +scoffs, its jeers, its jests, its gibes at all former experience,--its +cry of "a new policy," which was so much to delight and astonish +mankind,--to this conclusion has it come at last. + + "But yesterday, it might + Have stood against the world; now lies it there, + And none so poor to do it reverence!" + +It is with no feelings of boasting or triumph, it is with no +disposition to arrogate superior wisdom or discernment, but it is with +mortification, with humiliation, with unaffected grief and affliction, +that I contemplate the condition of difficulty and distress to which +this country, so vigorous, so great, so enterprising, and so rich in +internal wealth, has been brought by the policy of her government. + +We learn to-day that most of the Eastern banks have stopped payment, the +deposit banks as well as others. The experiment has exploded. That +bubble, which so many of us have all along regarded as the offspring of +conceit, presumption, and political quackery, has burst. A general +suspension of payment must be the result; a result which has come even +sooner than was predicted. Where is now that better currency that was +promised? Where is that specie circulation? Where are those rivers of +gold and silver, which were to fill the treasury of the government as +well as the pockets of the people? Has the government a single hard +dollar? Has the treasury any thing in the world but credit and deposits +in banks that have already suspended payment? How are public creditors +now to be paid in specie? How are the deposits, which the law requires +to be made with the States on the 1st of July, now to be made? We must +go back to the beginning, and take a new start. Every step in our +financial banking system, since 1832, has been a false step; it has been +a step which has conducted us farther and farther from the path of +safety. + +The discontinuance of the national bank, the illegal removal of the +deposits, the accumulation of the public revenue in banks selected by +the executive, and for a long time subject to no legal regulation or +restraint, and finally the unauthorized and illegal treasury order, have +brought us where we are. The destruction of the national bank was the +signal for the creation of an unprecedented number of new State banks, +often with nominal capitals, out of all proportion to the business of +the quarters where they were established. These banks, lying under no +restraint from the general government or any of its institutions, issued +paper money corresponding to their own sense of their immediate +interests and hopes of gain. The deposit with the State banks of the +whole public revenue, then accumulated to a vast amount, and making this +deposit without any legal restraint or control whatever, increased both +the power and disposition of these banks for extensive issues. In this +way the government seems to have administered every possible provocation +to the banks to induce them to extend their circulation. It uniformly, +zealously, and successfully opposed the land bill, a most useful +measure, by which accumulation in the treasury would have been +prevented; and, as if it desired and sought this accumulation, it +finally resisted, with all its power, the deposit among the States. It +is urged as a reason for the present overthrow, that an extraordinary +spirit of speculation has gone abroad, and has been manifested +particularly and strongly in the endeavor to purchase the public lands; +but has not every act of the government directly encouraged this spirit? +It accumulated revenue which it did not need, all of which is left in +the deposit banks. The banks had money to lend, and there were enough +who were ready to borrow, for the purpose of purchasing the public lands +at government prices. The public treasury was thus made the great and +efficient means of effecting those purchases which have since been so +much denounced as extravagant speculation and extensive monopoly. These +purchasers borrowed the public money; they used the public money to buy +the public property; they speculated on the strength of the public +money; and while all this was going on, and every man saw it, the +administration resisted, to the utmost of its power, every attempt to +withdraw this money from the banks and from the hands of those +speculators, and distribute it among the people to whom it belonged. + +If, then, there has been over-trading, the government has encouraged +it; if there have been rash speculations in the public lands, the +government has furnished the means out of the treasury. These +unprecedented sales of the public domain were boasted of as proofs of a +happy state of things, and of a wise administration of the government, +down to the moment when Congress, in opposition to executive wishes, +passed the distribution law, thus withdrawing the surplus revenue from +the deposit banks. The success of that measure compelled a change in the +executive policy, as the accumulation of a vast amount of money in the +treasury was no longer desirable. This is the most favorable motive to +which I can ascribe the treasury order of July. It is now said that that +order was issued for the purpose of enforcing a strict execution of the +law which forbids the allowance of credits upon purchases of the public +lands; but there was no such credit allowed before; not an hour was +given beyond the time of sale. In this respect, the order produces no +difference whatever. Its only effect is to require an immediate payment +in specie, whereas, before, an immediate payment in the bills of +specie-paying banks was demanded. There is no more credit in the one +case than in the other; and the government gets just as much specie in +one case as in the other; for no sooner is the specie, which the +purchaser is compelled to procure, often at great charge, paid to the +receiver, than it is sent to the deposit banks, and the government has +credit for it on the books of the bank; but the specie itself is again +sold by the bank, or disposed of as it sees fit. It is evident that the +government gets nothing by all this, though the purchasers of small +tracts are put to great trouble and expense. No one gains any thing but +the banks and the brokers. It is, moreover, most true that the art of +man could not have devised a plan more effectually to give to the large +purchasers or speculators a decided preference and advantage over small +purchasers, who bought for actual settlement, than the treasury order of +July, 1836. The stoppage of the banks, however, has now placed the +actual settler in a still more unfortunate situation. How is he to +obtain money to pay for his quarter-section? He must travel three or +four times as many miles for it as he has dollars to pay, even if he +should be able to obtain it at the end of that journey. + +I will not say that other causes, at home and abroad, have not had an +agency in bringing about the present derangement. I know that +credits have been used beyond all former example. It is probable the +spirit of trade has been too highly excited, and that the pursuit of +business may have been pressed too fast and too far. All this I am +ready to admit. But instead of doing any thing to abate this tendency, +the government has been the prime instrument of fostering and +encouraging it. It has parted voluntarily, and by advice, with all +control over the actual currency of the country. It has given a free +and full scope to the spirit of banking; it has aided the spirit of +speculation with the public treasures; and it has done all this, in the +midst of loud-sounding promises of an exclusive specie medium, and a +professed detestation of all banking institutions. + +It is vain, therefore, to say that the present state of affairs is +owing, not to the acts of government, but to other causes, over which +government could exercise no control. Much of it _is_ owing to the +course of the national government; and what is not so, is owing to +causes the operation of which government was bound in duty to use all +its legal powers to control. + +Is there an intelligent man in the community, at this moment, who +believes that, if the Bank of the United States had been continued, if +the deposits had not been removed, if the specie circular had not been +issued, the financial affairs of the country would have been in as bad a +state as they now are? When certain consequences are repeatedly depicted +and foretold from particular causes, when the manner in which these +consequences will be produced is precisely pointed out beforehand, and +when the consequences come in the manner foretold, who will stand up and +declare, that, notwithstanding all this, there is no connection between +the cause and the consequence, and that all these effects are +attributable to some other causes, nobody knows what? + +No doubt but we shall hear every cause but the true one assigned for the +present distress. It will be laid to the opposition in and out of +Congress; it will be laid to the bank; it will be laid to the merchants; +it will be laid to the manufacturers; it will be laid to the tariff; it +will be laid to the north star, or to the malign influence of the last +comet, whose tail swept near or across the orbit of our earth, before we +shall be allowed to ascribe it to its just, main causes, a tampering +with the currency, and an attempt to stretch executive power over a +subject not constitutionally within its reach. + +We have heard, Gentlemen, of the suspension of some of the Eastern banks +only; but I fear the same course must be adopted by all the banks +throughout the country. The United States Bank, now a mere State +institution, with no public deposits, no aid from government, but, on +the contrary, long an object of bitter persecution by it, was, at our +last advices, still firm. But can we expect of that bank to make +sacrifices to continue specie payment? If it continue to do so now that +the deposit banks have stopped, the government, if possible, will draw +from it its last dollar, in order to keep up a pretence of making its +own payments in specie. I shall be glad if this institution find it +prudent and proper to hold out;[109] but as it owes no more duty to the +government than any other bank, and, of course, much less than the +deposit banks, I cannot see any ground for demanding from it efforts and +sacrifices to favor the government, which those holding the public +money, and owing duty to the government, are unwilling or unable to +make. Nor do I see how the New England banks can stand alone in the +general crash. I believe those in Massachusetts are very sound and +entirely solvent; I have every confidence in their ability to pay and I +shall rejoice if, amidst the present wreck, we find them able to +withstand the storm. At the same time, I confess I shall not be +disappointed, if they, seeing no public object to be attained +proportioned to the private loss, and individual sacrifice and ruin, +which must result from resorting to the means necessary to enable them +to hold out, should not be distinguished from their Southern and Western +neighbors. + +I believe, Gentlemen, the "experiment" must go through. I believe every +part and portion of our country will have a satisfactory taste of the +"better currency." I believe we shall be blest again with the currency +of 1812, _when money was the only uncurrent species of property_. We +have, amidst all the distress that surrounds us, men in and out of +power, who condemn a national bank in every form, maintain the efficacy +and efficiency of State banks for domestic exchange, and, amidst all the +sufferings and terrors of the "experiment," cry out, that they are +establishing "a better currency." The "experiment,"--the experiment upon +what? The experiment of one man upon the happiness, the well-being, +and, I may almost say, upon the lives, of twelve millions of human +beings,--an "experiment" that found us in health, that found us with the +best currency on the face of the earth, the same from the North to the +South, from Boston to St. Louis, equalling silver or gold in any part of +our Union, and possessing the unlimited confidence of foreign countries, +and which leaves us crushed, ruined, without means at home, and without +credit abroad. + +This word "experiment" appears likely to get into no enviable notoriety. +It may probably be held, in future, to signify any thing which is too +excruciating to be borne, like a pang of the rheumatism or an +extraordinary twinge of the gout. Indeed, from the experience we now +have, we may judge that the bad eminence of the Inquisition itself may +be superseded by it, and if one shall be hereafter stretched upon the +rack, or broken on the wheel, it may be said, while all his bones are +cracking, all his muscles snapping, all his veins are pouring, that he +is only passing into a better state through the delightful process of an +"experiment." + +Gentlemen, you will naturally ask, Where is this to end, and what is +to be the remedy? These are questions of momentous importance; but +probably the proper moment has not come for considering this. We are yet +in the midst of the whirlwind. Every man's thoughts are turned to his +own immediate preservation. When the blast is over, and we have +breathing-time the country must take this subject, this all-important +subject of relief for the present and security for the future, into +its most serious consideration. It will, undoubtedly, first engage +the attention and wisdom of Congress. It will call on public men, +intrusted with public affairs, to lay aside party and private +preferences and prejudices, and unite in the great work of redeeming +the country from this state of disaster and disgrace. All that I mean +at present to say is, that the government of the United States stands +chargeable, in my opinion, with a gross dereliction from duty, in +leaving the currency of the country entirely at the mercy of others, +without seeking to exercise over it any control whatever. The _means_ of +exercising this control rest in the wisdom of Congress, but the duty I +hold to be imperative. It is a power that cannot be yielded to others +with safety to itself or to them. It might as well give up to the +States the power of making peace or war, and leave the twenty-six +independent sovereignties to select their own foes, raise their own +troops, and conclude their own terms of peace. It might as well leave +the States to impose their own duties and regulate their own terms and +treaties of commerce, as to give up control over the currency in which +all are interested. + +The present government has been in operation forty-eight years. During +forty of these forty-eight years we have had a national institution +performing the duties of a fiscal agent to the government, and +exercising a most useful control over the domestic exchanges and over +the currency of the country. The first institution was chartered on the +ground that such an institution was _necessary_ to the safe and +economical administration of the treasury department in the collection +and disbursement of its revenue. The experience of the new government +had clearly proved this necessity. At that time, however, there were +those who doubted the power of Congress, under the provisions of the +Constitution, to incorporate a bank; but a majority of both houses were +of a different opinion. President Washington sanctioned the measure, and +among those who entertained doubts on the subject, the statesmen of most +weight and consideration in the Union, and whose opinions were entitled +to the highest respect, yielded to the opinion of Congress and the +country, and considered it a settled question. Among those who first +doubted of the power of the government to establish a national bank, was +one whose name should never be mentioned without respect, one for whom I +can say I feel as high a veneration as one man can or ought to feel for +another, one who was intimately associated with all the provisions of +the Constitution,--Mr. Madison. Yet, when Congress had decided on the +measure, by large majorities, when the President had approved it, when +the judicial tribunals had sanctioned it, when public opinion had +deliberately and decidedly confirmed it, _he_ looked on the subject as +definitely and finally settled. The reasoners of our day think +otherwise. No decision, no public sanction, no judgment of the +tribunals, is allowed to weigh against their respect for their own +opinions. They rush to the argument as to that of a new question, +despising all lights but that of their own unclouded sagacity, and +careless alike of the venerable living and of the mighty dead. They +poise this important question upon some small points of their own +slender logic, and decide it on the strength of their own unintelligible +metaphysics. It never enters into all their thoughts that this is a +question to be judged of on broad, comprehensive, and practical grounds; +still less does it occur to them that an exposition of the Constitution, +contemporaneous with its earliest existence, acted on for nearly half a +century, in which the original framers and government officers of the +highest note concurred, ought to have any weight in their decision, or +inspire them with the least doubt of the accuracy and soundness of their +own opinions. They soar so high in the regions of self-respect as to be +far beyond the reach of all such considerations. + +For sound views upon the subject of a national bank, I would commend +you, Gentlemen, to the messages of Mr. Madison, and to his letter on the +subject. They are the views of a truly great man and a statesman. + +As the first Bank of the United States had its origin in necessity, so +had the second; and, although there was something of misfortune, and +certainly something of mismanagement, in its early career, no candid and +intelligent man can, for a moment, doubt or deny its usefulness, or that +it fully accomplished the object for which it was created. Exchanges, +during all the later years of its existence, were easily effected, and a +currency the most uniform of any in the world existed throughout the +country. The opponents of these institutions did not deny that general +prosperity and a happy state of things existed at the time they were in +operation, but contended that equal prosperity would exist without them, +while specie would take the place of their issues as a circulating +medium. How have their words been verified? Both in the case of the +first bank and that of the last, a general suspension of specie payments +has happened in about a year from the time they were suffered to expire, +and a universal confusion and distrust prevailed. The charter of the +first bank expired in 1811, and all the State banks, south of New +England, stopped payment in 1812. The charter of the late bank expired +in March, 1836, and in May, 1837, a like distrust, and a like suspension +of the State banks, have taken place. + +The same results, we may readily suppose, are attributable to the same +causes, and we must look to the experience and wisdom of the people and +of Congress to apply the requisite remedy. I will not say the only +remedy is a national bank; but I will say that, in my opinion the only +sure remedy for the evils that now prey upon us is the assumption, by +the delegates of the people in the national government, of some lawful +control over the finances of the nation, and a power of regulating its +currency. + + * * * * * + +Gentlemen, allow me again to express my thanks for the kindness you have +shown me this day, and in conclusion to assure you, that, though a +representative in the federal government of but a small section, when +compared with the vast territory that acknowledges allegiance to that +government, I shall never forget that I am acting for the whole country, +and, so far as I am capable, will pledge myself impartially to use every +exertion for that country's welfare. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [108] A Speech delivered on the 17th of May, 1837, at a Public Dinner + given to Mr. Webster by the Citizens of Wheeling, Virginia. + + [109] The mail of that day brought advice of its suspension. See the + note on page 378. + + + + +RECEPTION AT MADISON. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + The following account of Mr. Webster's visit to Madison, Indiana, is + taken from the "Republican Banner," of the 7th of June, 1837. + + +"DANIEL WEBSTER visited our town on Thursday last. Notice had been given +the day previous of the probable time of his arrival. At the hour +designated, crowds of citizens from the town and country thronged the +quay. A gun from the Ben Franklin, as she swept gracefully round the +point, gave notice of his approach, and was answered by a gun from the +shore. Gun followed gun in quick succession, from boat and shore, and +the last of the old national salute was echoing from hill and glen as +the Franklin reached the wharf. Mr. Webster was immediately waited on by +the committee appointed to receive him, and, attended by them, a +committee of invitation from Cincinnati, and several gentlemen from +Louisville, he landed amidst the cheers and acclamations of the +assembled multitude. He was seated in an elegant barouche, supported by +Governor Hendricks and John King, Esq., and, with the different +committees, and a large procession of citizens in barouches, on +horseback, and on foot, formed under the direction of Messrs. Wharton +and Payne of the committee of arrangements, marshals of the day, +proceeded to the place appointed for his reception, an arbor erected at +the north end of the market-house, fronting the large area formed by the +intersection of Main and Main Cross Streets and the public square, and +tastefully decorated with shrubbery, evergreens, and wreaths of flowers. +In the background appeared portraits of Washington and Lafayette, the +Declaration of Independence, and several other appropriate badges and +emblems, while in front a flag floated proudly on the breeze, bearing +for its motto the ever-memorable sentiment with which he concluded his +immortal speech in defence of the Constitution, 'LIBERTY AND UNION, NOW +AND FOR EVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE.' When the procession arrived, Mr. +Webster ascended the stand in the arbor, supported by Governor Hendricks +and the committee of arrangements, when he was appropriately and +eloquently addressed by J. G. Marshall, Esq., on behalf of the citizens, +to which he responded in a speech of an hour's length." + + The following correspondence preceded Mr. Webster's visit. + +"_Louisville, May 30, 1837._ + +"HON. DANIEL WEBSTER:-- + +"Sir,--Your fellow-citizens of the town of Madison, Indiana, deeply +impressed with a sense of the obligations which they and all the true +lovers of constitutional liberty, and friends to our happy and glorious +Union, owe you for the many prominent services rendered by you to their +beloved, though now much agitated and injured country, having appointed +the undersigned a committee through whom to tender you their salutations +and the hospitalities of their town, desire us earnestly to request you +to partake of a public dinner, or such other expression of the high +estimation in which they hold you as may be most acceptable, at such +time as you may designate. + +"Entertaining the hope that you may find it convenient to comply with +this request of our constituents and ourselves, we beg leave, with +sentiments of the most profound respect and regard, to subscribe +ourselves, + + "Your fellow-citizens, + + W. LYLE, + W. J. MCCLURE, + WM. F. COLLUM, + A. W. PITCHER, + JAS. E. LEWIS, + D. L. MCCLURE, + } _Committee_." + + * * * * * + +ANSWER. + +_Louisville, May 30, 1837._ + +"GENTLEMEN,--I feel much honored by the communication which I have +received from you, expressing the friendly sentiments of my +fellow-citizens of Madison, and desiring that I should pay them a +visit. + +"Although so kind an invitation, meeting me at so great a distance, was +altogether unlooked for, I had yet determined not to pass so interesting +a point on the Ohio without making some short stay at it. I shall leave +this place on Thursday morning, and will stop at Madison, and shall be +most happy to see any of its citizens who may desire to meet me. I must +pray to be excused from a formal public dinner, as well from a regard to +the time which it will be in my power to pass with you, as from a +general wish, whenever it is practicable, to avoid every thing like +ceremony or show in my intercourse with my fellow-citizens. + +"You truly observe, Gentlemen, that the country at the present moment is +agitated. I think, too, that you are right in saying it is injured; that +is, I think public measures of a very injurious character and tendency +have been unfortunately adopted. But our case is not one that leads us +to much despondency. The country, the happy and glorious country in +which you and I live, is great, free, and full of resources; and, in the +main, an intelligent and patriotic spirit pervades the community. These +will bring all things right. Whatsoever has been injudiciously or rashly +done may be corrected by wiser counsels. Nothing can, for any great +length of time, depress the great interests of the people of the United +States, if wisdom and honest good-sense shall prevail in their public +measures. Our present point of suffering is the _currency_. In my +opinion, this is an interest with the preservation of which Congress is +charged, solemnly and deeply charged. A uniform currency was one of the +great objects of the Union. If we fail to maintain it, we so far fail of +what was intended by the national Constitution. Let us strive to avert +this reproach from that government and that Union, which make us, in so +many respects, ONE PEOPLE! Be assured, that to the attainment of this +end every power and faculty of my mind shall be directed; and may +Providence so prosper us, that no one shall be able to say, that in any +thing this glorious union of the States has come short of fulfilling +either its own duties or the just expectations of the people. + +"With sentiments of true regard, Gentlemen, I am your much obliged +friend and fellow-citizen, + +"DANIEL WEBSTER. + + "To W. LYLE, + W. J. MCCLURE, + WM. F. COLLUM, + A. W. PITCHER, + JAMES E. LEWIS, + D. L. MCCLURE, + } _Committee_." + + The address of Mr. Marshall, above alluded to, was as follows:-- + +"SIR,--The people now assembled around you, through me, the humble organ +of their selection, do most sincerely and cordially welcome you to +Madison. In extending to you the most liberal hospitality, they do no +more, however, than they would be inclined to do towards the humblest +citizen of our common country. But this public and formal manifestation +of the feeling of regard which they entertain for you is intended to do +more than inform you of the simple fact that here you can find food and +shelter, and partake with them of the pleasures of the social circle. If +this were all, it might be communicated in a manner more acceptable, by +extending to you the hand of friendship and kindly pointing you to the +family board; but by this public parade, this assembling of the people +around you, it is intended to give you that consolation, (most grateful +and cheering to every true American heart,) _the people's_ approbation +of your acts as a public servant. This is done, not with that abject +feeling which characterizes the homage of subjects, but with that nobler +feeling which prompts freemen to honor and esteem those who have been +their country's benefactors. Prompted by such feeling, the patriots of +the Revolution delighted to honor the _father of our country_. He led +his armies to victory, and thus wrested the liberties of his countrymen +from the grasp of a tyrant; and may we not from like impulses manifest +gratitude towards those who, by the power of their intellects, have +effectually rebuked erroneous principles, which were evidently +undermining and endangering the very existence of our beloved Union? +Yes, Sir, our country has now nothing to fear from external violence. It +is a danger which the whole country can see on its first approach, and +every arm will be nerved at once to repel it; it can be met at the point +of the bayonet, and millions would now, as in days that are past, be +ready to shed their blood in defence of their country. But, Sir, in +_those_ who artfully excite the passions and prejudices of the people, +and, by presenting to them the most plausible pretexts (for their own +selfish purposes), lead them thoughtlessly to abandon the sacred +principles upon which our government is founded, and to reject the +measures which can alone promote the prosperity of the country,--in such +we meet an enemy against whom the most daring bravery of the soldier is +totally unavailing. + +"The injury which is inflicted is not at first felt; time is required to +develop it; and when developed, the closest investigation may be +necessary to trace it to its cause; this the people may not be able to +accomplish. This enemy to the country can only be discerned by the keen +eye of the statesman, and met and conquered by the power of his +intellect. And he who is successful in thus defending his country may +well be held in grateful remembrance by his fellow-citizens. It is for +such reasons, Sir, that we have presented to you these testimonials of +our approbation. Though personally a stranger to us, your public +character, your masterly efforts in defence of the Constitution, the +services you have rendered the West, and the principles and measures +which you have so ably advocated, are known and approved, and I hope +will ever be remembered by us. And although some of your efforts have +proved for the time unsuccessful, it is to be hoped they would now have +a different effect. When the old and established measures of any +government have been abandoned for new ones, simply as an _experiment_, +and when that experiment, if it does not produce, is, to say the least, +immediately followed by, ruin and distress in every part of the country, +may we not hope that men will at least calmly and dispassionately hear +and weigh the reasons why a different policy should be adopted? But if +the people's representatives cannot be convinced of the error into which +they have been led, it is high time the people themselves should awake +from their slumbers. A dark cloud hangs over the land, so thick, so +dark, a ray of hope can hardly penetrate it. But shall the people gird +on their armor and march to battle? No, Sir; it is a battle which they +must fight through the ballot-box; and perhaps they do not know against +what to direct their effort; they are almost in a state of despondency, +ready to conclude that they are driven to the verge of ruin by a kind of +irresistible destiny. The cause of the evil can be discovered only by +investigation; and to their public men they must look for information +and for wisdom to direct them. But, Sir, it is not our object to relate +to you our grievances, or recount the past services which you have +rendered your country. We wish to cheer you on to increased efforts in +urging the measures you have heretofore so zealously and ably advocated. +May your success be equal to your efforts, and may happiness and +prosperity attend you through life." + + + + +RECEPTION AT MADISON.[110] + + +If, fellow-citizens, I can make myself heard by this numerous assembly, +speaking, as I do, in the open air, I will return to you my heartfelt +thanks for the kindness you have shown me. I come among you a stranger. +On the day before yesterday I placed my foot, for the first time, on the +soil of the great and growing State of Indiana. Although I have lived on +terms of great intimacy and friendship with several Western gentlemen, +members of Congress, among whom is your estimable townsman near me, +(Governor Hendricks,) I have never before had an opportunity of seeing +and forming an acquaintance for myself with my fellow-citizens of this +section of the Union. I travel for this purpose. I confess that I regard +with astonishment the evidences of intelligence, enterprise, and +refinement everywhere exhibited around me, when I think of the short +time that has elapsed since the spot where I stand was a howling +wilderness. Since I entered public life, this State was unknown as a +political government. All the country west of the Alleghanies and +northwest of the Ohio constituted but one Territory, entitled to a +single delegate in the counsels of the nation, having the right to +speak, but not to vote. Since then, the States of Ohio, Indiana, +Illinois, Michigan, and the long strip of country known as the Territory +of Wisconsin, have been carved out of it. Indiana, which numbers but +twenty years since the commencement of her political existence, contains +a population of six hundred thousand, equal to the population of +Massachusetts, a State of two hundred years' duration. In age she is an +infant; in strength and resources a giant. Her appearance indicates the +full vigor of maturity, while, measured by her years, she is yet in the +cradle. + +Although I reside in a part of the country most remote from you, +although I have seen you spring into existence and advance with rapid +strides in the march of prosperity and power, until your population has +equalled that of my own State, which you far surpass in fertility of +soil and mildness of climate; yet these things have excited in me no +feelings of dislike, or jealousy, or envy. On the contrary, I have +witnessed them with pride and pleasure, when I saw in them the growth of +a member of our common country; and with feelings warmer than pride, +when I recollect that there are those among you who are bone of my bone +and flesh of my flesh, who inherit my name and share my blood. When they +came to me for my advice, before leaving their hearths and homes, I did +not oppose their desires or suggest difficulties in their paths. I told +them, "Go and join your destinies with those of the hardy pioneers of +the West, share their hardships, and partake their fortunes; go, and God +speed you; only carry with you your own good principles, and whether the +sun rises on you, or sets on you, let it warm American hearts in your +bosoms." + +Though, as I observed, I live in a part of the country most remote from +you, fellow-citizens, I have been no inattentive observer of your +history and progress. I have heard of the reports made in your +legislature, and the acts passed in pursuance thereof. I have traced on +the map of your State the routes marked out for extensive turnpikes, +railroads, and canals. I have read with pleasure the acts providing for +their establishment and completion. I do not pretend to offer you my +advice; it would perhaps be presumptuous; but you will permit me to say, +that, as far as I have examined them, they are conceived in wisdom, and +evince great political skill and foresight. You have commenced at the +right point. To open the means of communication, by which man may, when +he wishes, see the face of his friend, should be the first work of every +government. We may theorize and speculate about it as we please,--we may +understand all the metaphysics of politics; but if men are confined to +the narrow spot they inhabit, because they have not the means of +travelling when they please, they must go back to a state of barbarism. +Social intercourse is the corner-stone of good government. The nation +that provides no means for the improvement of its communications, has +not taken the first step in civilization. Go on, then, as you have +begun; prosecute your works with energy and perseverance; be not daunted +by imaginary difficulties, be not deterred by exaggerated calculations +of their cost. Go on; open your wilderness to the sun; turn up the soil; +and in the wide-spread and highly-cultivated fields, the smiling +villages, and the busy towns that will spring up from the bosom of the +desert, you will reap a rich reward for your investment and industry. + +Another of the paramount objects of government, to which I rejoice to +see that you have turned your attention, is education. I speak not of +college education, nor of academy education, though they are of great +importance; I speak of free-school education, common-school education. + +Among the luminaries in the sky of New England, the burning lights which +throw intelligence and happiness on her people, the first and most +brilliant is her system of common schools. I congratulate myself that my +first speech on entering public life was in their behalf. Education, to +accomplish the ends of good government, should be universally diffused. +Open the doors of the school-house to all the children in the land. Let +no man have the excuse of poverty for not educating his own offspring. +Place the means of education within his reach, and if they remain in +ignorance, be it his own reproach. If one object of the expenditure of +your revenue be protection against crime, you could not devise a better +or cheaper means of obtaining it. Other nations spend their money in +providing means for its detection and punishment, but it is the +principle of our government to provide for its never occurring. The one +acts by _coercion_, the other by _prevention_. On the diffusion of +education among the people rest the preservation and perpetuation of our +free institutions. I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign +foe. The prospect of a war with any powerful nation is too remote to be +a matter of calculation. Besides, there is no nation on earth powerful +enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at +all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to +the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and +negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that +they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and +fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be +made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own +undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant; give them the +means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy. + +The gentleman who has just addressed me in such flattering, but +unmerited terms, has been pleased to make kind mention of my devotion to +the Constitution, and my humble efforts in its support. I claim no merit +on that account. It results from my sense of its surpassing excellences, +which must strike every man who attentively and impartially examines it. +I regard it as the work of the purest patriots and wisest statesmen that +ever existed, aided by the smiles of a benignant Providence; for when we +regard it as a system of government growing out of the discordant +opinions and conflicting interests of thirteen independent States, it +almost appears a Divine interposition in our behalf. I have always, with +the utmost zeal and the moderate abilities I possess, striven to prevent +its infraction in the slightest particular. I believed, if that bond of +union were broken, we should never again be a united people. Where, +among all the political thinkers, the constitution-makers and the +constitution-menders of the day, could we find a man to make us another? +Who would even venture to propose a reunion? Where would be the +starting-point, and what the plan? I do not expect miracles to follow +each other. No plan could be proposed that would be adopted; the hand +that destroys the Constitution rends our Union asunder for ever. + +My friend has been pleased to remember, in his address, my humble +support of the constitutional right of Congress to improve the +navigation of our great internal rivers, and to construct roads through +the different States. It is well known that few persons entertain +stronger opinions on this subject than myself. Believing that the great +object of the Union is to secure the general safety and promote the +general welfare, and that the Constitution was designed to point out the +means of accomplishing these ends, I have always been in favor of such +measures as I deemed for the general benefit, under the restrictions and +limitations prescribed by the Constitution itself. I supported them with +my voice, and my vote, not because they were for the benefit of the +West, but because they were for the benefit of the whole country. That +they are local in their advantages, as well as in their construction, is +an objection that has been and will be urged against every measure of +the kind. In a country so widely extended as ours, so diversified in its +interests and in the character of its people, it is impossible that the +operation of any measure should affect all alike. Each has its own +peculiar interest, whose advancement it seeks; we have the sea-coast, +and you the noble river that flows at your feet. So it must ever be. Go +to the smallest government in the world, the republic of San Marino, in +Italy, possessing a territory of but ten miles square, and you will find +its citizens, separated but by a few miles, having some interests which, +on account of local situation, are separate and distinct. There is not +on the face of the earth a plain, five miles in extent, whose +inhabitants are all the same in their pursuits and pleasures. Some will +live on a creek, others near a hill, which, when any measure is proposed +for the general benefit, will give rise to jarring claims and opposing +interests. In such cases, it has always appeared to me that the point to +be examined was, whether the principle was general. If the principle +were general, although the application might be partial, I cheerfully +and zealously gave it my support. When an objection has been made to an +appropriation for clearing the snags out of the Ohio River, I have +answered it with the question, "Would you not vote for an appropriation +to clear the Atlantic Ocean of snags, were the navigation of your coast +thus obstructed? The people of the West contribute their portion of the +revenue to fortify your sea-coast, and erect piers, and harbors, and +light-houses, from which they derive a remote benefit, and why not +contribute yours to improve the navigation of a river whose commerce +enriches the whole country?" + +It may be expected, fellow-citizens, that I should say something on a +topic which agitates and distracts the public mind, I mean the +deranged state of the currency, and the general stagnation of business. +In giving my opinions on this topic, I wish it to be distinctly +understood, that I force them on no man. I am an independent man, +speaking to independent men. I think for myself; you, of course, enjoy +and exercise the same right. I cheerfully concede to every one the +liberty of differing with me in sentiment, readily granting that he +has as good chance of being right as myself, perhaps a better. But I +have some respect for my character as a public man. The present +state of things has grown out of a series of measures, to which I have +been in uniform opposition. In speaking of their consequences, I am +doing but justice to myself in showing them in justification of my +conduct. I am performing a duty to my fellow-citizens, who have a +right to know the opinions of every public man. The present state of +things is unparalleled in the annals of our country. The general +suspension of specie payments by the banks, beginning I know not +where, and ending I know not where, but comprehending the whole +country, has produced wide-spread ruin and confusion through the +land. To you the scene is one as yet of apprehension; to us, of deep +distress. You cannot understand, my fellow-citizens, nor can I describe +it so as to enable you to understand, the embarrassment and suffering +which are depressing the spirit and crushing the energies of the people +of the sea-girt States of the East. You are agriculturists, you +produce what you consume, and always have the means of living within +your reach. We depend on others for their agricultural productions; +we live by manufactures and commerce, of which credit is the +lifeblood. The destruction of credit is the destruction of our means +of living. The man who cannot fulfil his daily engagements, or with +whom others fail to fulfil theirs, must suffer for his daily bread. +And who are those who suffer? Not the rich, for they can generally take +care of themselves. Capital is ingenious and far-sighted, ready in +resources and fertile in expedients to shelter itself from impending +storms. Shut it out from one source of increase, and it will find +other avenues of profitable investment. It is the industrious, working +part of the community, men whose hands have grown hard by holding the +plough and pulling the oar, men who depend on their daily labor and +their daily pay, who, when the operations of trade and commerce are +checked and palsied, have no prospect for themselves and their families +but beggary and starvation,--it is these who suffer. All this has +been attributed to causes as different as can be imagined; over-trading, +over-buying, over-selling, over-speculating, over-production, terms +which I acknowledge I do not very well understand. I am at a loss to +conceive how a nation can become poor by over-production, producing +more than she can sell or consume. I do not see where there has been +over-trading, except in public lands; for when every thing else was +up to such an enormous price, and the public land tied down to one +dollar and a quarter an acre, who would not have bought it if he could? + +These causes could not have produced all those consequences which have +occasioned such general lamentation. They must have proceeded from some +other source. And I now request you, my fellow-citizens, to bear +witness, that here, in this good city, on the banks of the Ohio, on the +first day of June, 1837, beneath the bright sun that is shining upon us, +I declare my conscientious conviction that they have proceeded from the +measures of the general government in relation to the currency. I make +this declaration in no spirit of enmity to its authors; I follow no man +with rebukes or reproaches. To reprobate the past will not alleviate the +evils of the present. It is the duty of every good citizen to contribute +his strength, however feeble, to diminish the burden under which a +people groans. To apply the remedy successfully, however, we must first +ascertain the causes, character, and extent of the evil. + +Let us go back, then, to its origin. Forty-eight years have elapsed +since the adoption of our Constitution. For forty years of that time we +had a national bank. Its establishment originated in the imperious +obligation imposed on every government to furnish its people with a +circulating medium for their commerce. No matter how rich the citizen +may be in flocks and herds, in houses and lands, if his government does +not furnish him a medium of exchange, commerce must be confined to the +petty barter suggested by mutual wants and necessities, as they exist in +savage life. The history of all commercial countries shows that the +precious metals can constitute but a small part of this circulating +medium. The extension of commerce creates a system of credit; the +transmission of money from one part of the country to the other gives +birth to the business of exchange. To keep the value of this medium and +the rates of exchange equal and certain, was imperiously required by the +necessities of the times when the bank was established. Under the old +confederacy, each of the thirteen States established and regulated its +own money, which passed for its full value within the State, and was +useless the moment it crossed the State border. The little State of +Rhode Island, for instance, (I hope no son of hers present will take +offence at what I say,) so small that an Indiana man might almost cover +her territory with his hand, was crowded with banks. A man might have +been rich at Providence, but before he could travel to Boston, forty +miles distant, he would starve for want of money to pay for his +breakfast. + +Had this state of things continued, some of the provisions of the +Constitution would have been of no force or virtue. Of what value to +Congress would have been the right to levy taxes, imposts, and duties, +and to regulate commerce among different States, and of what effect or +consequence the prohibition on the different States of levying and +collecting imposts, if each and every one of them had possessed the +right of paying her taxes and duties in a currency of her own, which +would not pass one hundred miles, perhaps, from the bank whence it was +issued? The creation of a national bank presented the surest means of +remedying these evils, and accomplishing one of the principal objects of +the Constitution, the establishment and maintenance of a currency whose +value would be uniform in every part of the country. During the forty +years it existed, under the two charters, we had no general suspension +of specie payments, as at present. We got along well with it, and I am +one of those who are disposed to let _well_ alone. I am content to +travel along the good old turnpike on which I have journeyed before with +comfort and expedition, without turning aside to try a new track. I must +confess that I do not possess that soaring self-respect, that lofty +confidence in my own political sagacity and foresight, which would +induce me to set aside the experience of forty years, and risk the ruin +of the country for the sake of an _experiment_. To this is all the +distress of the country attributable. This has caused such powerful +invasions of bank paper, like sudden and succeeding flights of birds of +prey and passage, and the rapid disappearance of specie at its approach. +You all know that bank-notes have been almost as plenty as the leaves of +the forest in the summer. But of what value are they to the holder, if +he is compelled to pay his debts in specie? And who can be expected to +pay his debts in this way, when the government has withdrawn the specie +from circulation? + +You have not yet felt the evil in its full extent. It is mostly in +prospect, and you are watching its approach. While you are endeavoring +to guard against it, strive to prevent its future recurrence. As you +would hunt down, with hound and horn, the wolf who is making nightly +havoc of your flocks and herds, pursue and keep down those who would +make havoc in your business and property by experiments on our +currency. + +Although the country has bowed beneath the pressure, I do not fear that +it will be broken down and prostrated in the dust. Depress them as it +may, the energy and industry of the people will enable them to rise +again. We have for a long time carried a load of bad government on our +shoulders, and we are still able to bear up under it. But I do not see +that, for that reason, we should be willing and eager to carry it. I do +not see why it should prevent us from wishing to lessen it as much as +possible, if not to throw it off altogether, when we know that we can +get along so much easier and faster without it. While we are exerting +ourselves with renewed industry and economy to recover from its +blighting effects, while we plough the land and plough the sea, let us +hasten the return of things to their proper state, by such political +measures as will best accomplish the desired end. Let us inform our +public servants of our wishes, and pursue such a course as will compel +them to obey us. + +In conclusion, my fellow-citizens, I return you my thanks for the +patience and attention with which you have listened to me, and pray the +beneficent Giver of all good, that he may keep you under the shadow of +his wing, and continue to bless you with peace and prosperity. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [110] A Speech delivered at Madison, in the State of Indiana, on the + first of June 1837, on Occasion of a Public Reception by the + Citizens of that Place. + + + + +PUBLIC DINNER IN FANEUIL HALL. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + On the return of Mr. Webster from the session in which he had + particularly signalized himself by the delivery of his masterly + speeches on the sub-treasury bill, and in reply to Mr. Calhoun + (contained in a subsequent volume of this collection), a large + number of his fellow-citizens of Boston could not be restrained from + manifesting their sense of his extraordinary efforts, in exhibiting + the true character of the odious sub-treasury project, and in + procuring its ultimate rejection by Congress. He was accordingly + invited to meet them at a public dinner, on the 24th of July, 1838. + More than fifteen hundred persons attended it, every ticket having + been eagerly taken as soon as issued. Every portion of the Hall, + floor and galleries, was filled. The Governor of the Commonwealth + (Hon. Edward Everett) presided at the table, and the spirit of the + occasion and of the company may be gathered from the following + remarks with which he introduced Mr. Webster to the assembly: + + +"And now, fellow-citizens," said he, "I rise to discharge the most +pleasing part of my duty, which I fear you will think I have too long +postponed; the duty which devolves on me, as the organ of your feelings +toward our distinguished guest, the senior Senator of the Commonwealth. +And yet, fellow-citizens, I appeal to you, that I have approached this +duty through the succession of ideas which most naturally conducts our +minds and hearts to the grateful topic. I have proposed to you, Our +country and its prosperity. Who among the great men, his contemporaries, +has more widely surveyed and comprehended the various interests of all +its parts? I have proposed, The Union of the States. What public man is +there living, whose political course has been more steadily consecrated +to its perpetuity? I have proposed to you, The Constitution. And who of +our statesmen, from the time of its framers, has more profoundly +investigated, more clearly expounded, more powerfully vindicated and +sustained it? But these topics I may pass over. They are matters which +have been long familiar to you; they need not any comment from me. + +"The events of the last year, and of the last session of Congress, and +the present state of the country, invite our attention more particularly +to the recent efforts of our distinguished guest on the subject of THE +CURRENCY. I know not but some persons may think that undue importance +has been attached to the questions which have divided parties on this +subject; that these questions are not so vital to liberty as they have +been represented. But such an opinion would be erroneous. Undoubtedly +there are countries, not free ones, in which money questions, as +connected with the government, are of minor consequence. In China, in +Turkey, in Persia, I presume they are very little discussed. In these +countries the great question is, whether a man's head at night will be +found in the same pleasing and convenient proximity to his shoulders +that it was in the morning; and this is a kind of previous question, +which, if decided against him, cuts off all others. Under those +arbitrary governments of Europe, where the prince takes what he pleases, +and when he pleases, it is of very little moment where he deposits it, +on its way from the pockets of the people to his own. But it was +remarked by Edmund Burke, more than seventy years ago, that in England, +(and _a fortiori_ in the United States, that is, under constitutional +governments,) the great struggles for liberty had been almost always +money questions, and on this ground he excused the Americans for the +stand they took in opposition to a paltry tax. But, most certainly, the +money question, as it has been agitated among us, is vastly more +important, more intimately connected with constitutional liberty, than +that which brought on the Revolution. The question with our fathers was +one of a small tax; ours, of the entire currency. Theirs concerned three +pence per pound on tea, illegally levied; ours, the entire currency +illegally disposed of, the entire medium of circulation deranged, and +for a period annihilated, the whole business of the country, in all its +great branches, brought under the control of the treasury. The noble +stand, therefore, taken by our distinguished Senator in this controversy +has been upon points which concern the dearest interests of the people, +and the elemental principles of the government. + +"In fact, I know not that a policy can be imagined more at war with +the true character of the government, than that which he has been +called to combat. The past and present administrations, relying too +confidently on the popular delusions which brought them into office, +have systematically defeated one of the great original objects for +which the Union was framed, that of a uniform medium of commerce. Nor +has the manner of their policy been less objectionable than its +design. They have crowded experiment upon experiment, with the fatal +recklessness of the rash engineer who urges the fires in his furnaces +till some noble steamer bursts in an awful explosion.[111] Our Senators +and Representatives, and their associates, could they have forgotten +that a revered Constitution and a beloved country were the chief +victims, might well have folded their arms, and left the authors of +the calamity to extricate themselves, as best they might, from the +ruin. But not thus have they understood their duty; and we have seen +them with admiration, in the last days of the session, gallantly +putting out in the life-boat of the Constitution, with an eye of +fire at the top, and an arm of iron at the helm, to cruise about on the +boiling waters, and pick up all that is left undestroyed. When I have +seen the adherents of the administration rejecting, so far as they +ventured, the salutary measures proposed or supported by our +distinguished guest and his associates, for the restoration of the +currency and the reestablishment of the public credit, and clinging to +all that events have spared of their discredited measures, they have +seemed to me to resemble the sun-stricken victims of a moody madness, +who, instead of thankfully embracing the proffered relief, would +prefer to float about on the weltering waters, clinging to the broken +planks and the shivered splinters of their exploded policy, sure as +they are, at the very best, if they reach solid ground, to do so +beneath the overwhelming surge of popular indignation. + +"I should take up a great deal more time than belongs to me, did I +attempt even to sketch the distinguished services of our friend and +guest in this constitutional warfare. They are impressed on your +memories, and on your hearts. In the thickest of the conflict, his +plume, like that of Henry the Fourth of France, discerned from afar, has +pointed out the spot where, to use his own language, 'the blows fall +thickest and hardest'; and there he has been found, with the banner of +the Union above his head, and the flaming cimeter of the Constitution in +his hand. If the public mind has been thoroughly awakened to the +inconsistency of the government policy with the genius of our +institutions, if, to the experience we have all had of the pernicious +operation of this policy, there has been added a clear understanding of +the false principles, as well of constitutional law as of political +economy, on which it rests, how much of this is not fairly to be +ascribed to the efforts of our distinguished guest, efforts never +stinted in or out of Congress, repeated in every form which can persuade +the judgment or influence the conduct of men, never less than cogent, +eloquent, irrefutable, but in the last session of Congress, perhaps more +than ever before, grand, masterly, and overwhelming. It has indeed been +a rare, I had almost said a sublime spectacle, to see him, unsupported +by a majority in either house, opposed by the entire influence of the +government, denounced by the administration press from one end of the +Union to the other, yet carrying resolution after resolution against the +administration, carrying them alike against the old guard and the new +recruits, and, notwithstanding their abrupt and ill-compacted alliance, +compelling them, in spite of themselves, to afford some relief to the +country. + +"These are the services, fellow-citizens, for which you this day +tender your thanks to your distinguished guest. These are the +services for which, Sir, on behalf of my fellow-citizens, I thank you; +for which they thank you themselves. Behold, Sir, how they rise to +pay you a manly homage.[112] The armies of Napoleon could not coerce it; +the wealth of the Indies could not buy it; but it is freely, joyously +paid, by fifteen hundred freemen, to the man of their affections. They +thank you for having stood by them in these dark times,--at all times. +They thank you, because they think they are beginning to feel the fruit +of your exertions in the daily round of their pursuits. They ascribe it +in no small degree to you, that the iron grasp of the government +policy has been relaxed; that its bolts and chains, relics of a +barbarous age, have been shivered as soon as forged, and before they +were riveted on the necks of the people. They thank you for having +stood by the Constitution, in which their all of human hope for +themselves and their children is enshrined. They thank you as one of +themselves; and because they know that your affections are with the +people from which you sprung. They thank you because you have at all +times shown, that, as the Whig blood of the Revolution circles in your +veins, the Whig principles of the Revolution are imprinted on your +heart. They thank you for the entire manliness of your course; that +you have never joined the treacherous cry of the 'hatred of the poor +against the rich,'--a cry raised by artful men, who think to flatter the +people, while in reality they are waging war against the people's +business, the people's prosperity, and the people's Constitution. +They are willing that this day's offering should be remembered, when +all this mighty multitude shall have passed from the stage. When +that day shall have arrived, history will have written your name on +one of her brightest pages; fame will have encircled your bust with +her greenest laurels; but neither history nor fame will have paid you a +truer, heartier tribute, than that which now, beneath the arches of +this venerable hall, in the approving presence of these images of our +canonized fathers, is tendered you by this great company of your +fellow-citizens. + +"I give you, Gentlemen,-- + +"DANIEL WEBSTER,--the statesman and the man; whose name is engraven +alike on the pillars of the Constitution and the hearts of his +fellow-citizens. He is worthy of that place in the councils of the +nation which he fills in the affections of the people." + + Mr. Webster then rose, amidst enthusiastic cheering, and addressed + the meeting in the following speech. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [111] The disaster of the Pulaski occurred about the time of the + delivery of these remarks. + + [112] The entire audience rose at this moment. + + + + +PUBLIC DINNER IN FANEUIL HALL.[113] + + +GENTLEMEN:--I shall be happy indeed, if the state of my health and the +condition of my voice shall enable me to express, in a few words, my +deep and heartfelt gratitude for this expression of your approbation. If +public life has its cares and its trials, it has occasionally its +consolations also. Among these, one of the greatest, and the chief, is +the approbation of those whom we have honestly endeavored to serve. This +cup of consolation you have now administered,--full, crowned, abundantly +overflowing. + +It is my chief desire at this time, in a few spontaneous and +affectionate words, to render you the thanks of a grateful heart. When I +lately received your invitation in New York, nothing was farther from my +thoughts or expectations, than that I should meet such an assembly as I +now behold in Boston. + +But I was willing to believe that it was not meant merely as a +compliment, which it was expected would be declined, but that it was in +truth your wish, at the close of the labors of a long session of +Congress, that I should meet you in this place, that we might mingle our +mutual congratulations, and that we might enjoy together one happy, +social hour. + +The president of this assembly has spoken of the late session as having +been not only long, but arduous; and, in some respects, it does deserve +to be so regarded. I may indeed say, that, in an experience of twenty +years of public life, I have never yet encountered labors or anxieties +such as this session brought with it. + +With a short intermission in the autumn, so short as not to allow the +more distant members to visit their homes, we have been in continual +session from the early part of September to the 9th of July, a period of +ten months.[114] On our part, during this whole time, we have been +contending in minorities against majorities; majorities, indeed, not to +be relied on for all measures, as the event has proved, but still +acknowledged and avowed majorities, professing general attachment and +support to the measures, and to the men, of the administration. My own +object, and that of those with whom I have had the honor to act, has +been steady and uniform. That object was, to resist new theories, new +schemes, new and dangerous projects, until time could be gained for +their consideration by the people. This was our great purpose, and its +accomplishment required no slight effort. It was the commencement of a +new Congress. The organization of the two houses showed clear and +decisive administration majorities. The administration itself was new, +and had come into its fresh power with something of the popularity of +that which preceded it. It was no child's play, therefore, to resist, +successfully, its leading measures, for so long a period as should allow +time for an effectual appeal to the people, pressed, as those measures +were, with the utmost zeal and assiduity. + +The president of the day has alluded in a very flattering manner to my +own exertions and efforts, made at different times, in connection with +the leading topics. But I claim no particular merit for myself. In what +I have done, I have only acted with others. I have acted, especially, +with my most estimable, able, and excellent colleague,[115] and with +the experienced and distinguished men who form the delegation of +Massachusetts in the House of Representatives, a delegation of which +any State might be justly proud. We have acted together, as men +holding, in almost all cases, common opinions, and laboring for a +common end. It gives me great pleasure to have the honor of seeing so +many of the Representatives of the State in Congress here to-day; but I +must not be prevented, even by their presence, from bearing my humble +but hearty testimony to the fidelity and ability with which they have, +in this arduous struggle, performed their public duties. The crisis has, +indeed, demanded the efforts of all; and we of Massachusetts, while we +hope we have done our duty, have done it only in concurrence with +other Whigs, whose zeal, ability, and exertions can never be too much +commended. + +This is not an occasion in which it is fit or practicable to discuss +very minutely, and at length, the questions which have been chiefly +agitated during this long and laborious session of Congress. Yet, so +important is the great and general question, which, for the last twelve +or fifteen months, has been presented to the consideration of the +legislature, that I deem it proper, on this, as on all occasions, to +state, at the risk of some repetition, perhaps, what is the nature of +that important question, and briefly to advert to some of the +circumstances in which it had its origin. + +Whatever subordinate questions may have been raised touching a +sub-treasury, or a constitutional treasury, or a treasury in one, or in +another, or in yet a third form, I take the question, the plain, the +paramount, the practical question, to be this; namely, whether it be +among the powers and the duties of Congress to take any further care of +the national currency than to regulate the coinage of gold and silver. +That question lies at the foundation of all. Other questions, however +multiplied or varied, have but grown out of that. + +If government is bound to take care that there is a good currency for +all the country, then, of course, it will have a good currency for +itself, and need take no especial pains to provide for itself any thing +peculiar. But if, on the other hand, government is at liberty to abandon +the general currency to its fate, without concern and without remorse, +then, from necessity, it must take care of itself; amidst the general +wreck of currency and credit, it must have places of resort and a system +of shelter; it must have a currency of its own, and modes of payment and +disbursement peculiar to itself. It must burrow and hide itself in +sub-treasury vaults. Scorning credit, and having trust in nobody, it +must grasp metallic money, and act as if nothing represented, or could +represent, property, which could not be counted, paid piece by piece, or +weighed in the scales, and made to ring upon the table; or it must +resort to special deposits in banks, even in those banks whose conduct +has been so loudly denounced as flagitious and criminal, treacherous to +the government, and fraudulent towards the people. All these schemes and +contrivances are but the consequences of the general doctrine which the +administration has advanced, and attempted to recommend to the country; +that is, that Congress has nothing to do with the currency, beyond the +mere matter of coinage, except to provide for itself. How such a notion +should come to be entertained, at this day, may well be a matter of +wonder for the wise; since it is a truth capable of the clearest +demonstration, that, from the first day of the existence of the +Constitution, from the moment when a practical administration of +government drew a first breath under its provisions, the superintendence +and care over the currency of the country have been admitted to be among +the clear and unquestioned powers and duties of Congress. This was the +opinion in Washington's time, and his administration acted upon it, +vigorously and successfully. And in Mr. Madison's time, when the +peculiar circumstances of the country again brought up the subject, and +gave it new importance, it was held to be the exclusive, or at least the +paramount and unquestioned, right of Congress to take care of the +currency; to restore it when depreciated; to see that there was a sound, +convertible paper circulation, suited to the circumstances of the +country, and having equal value, and the same credit, in all parts of +it. This was Mr. Madison's judgment. He acted upon it; and both houses +of Congress concurred with him. But if we now quote Mr. Madison's +sentiments, we get no reply at all from the friends of the government +system. We may read his messages of 1815 and 1816 as often as we please. +No man answers them, and yet the party of the administration, professing +to belong to Mr. Madison's political school, acts upon directly opposite +principles. + +Now, what has brought about this state of things? What has caused this +attempt, now made, at the end of half a century, to change a great +principle of administration, and to surrender a most important power of +the government? Gentlemen, it has been a crisis of party, not of the +country, which has given birth to these new sentiments. The tortuous +windings of party policy have conducted us, and nothing else could well +have conducted us, to such a point. Nothing but party pledges, nothing +but courses of political conduct entered upon for party purposes, and +pursued from necessary regard to personal and party consistency, could +so far have pushed the government out of its clear and well-trodden path +of constitutional duty. From General Washington's presidency to the last +hour of the late President's, both the government and the country have +supposed Congress to be clothed with the general duty of protecting the +currency, either as an inference from the coinage power or from the +obvious and incontestable truth, that the regulation of the currency is +naturally and plainly a branch of the commercial power. General Jackson +himself was behind no one of his predecessors in asserting this power, +and in acknowledging the corresponding duty. We all know that his very +first complaint against the late Bank of the United States was, that it +had not fulfilled the expectation of the country, by furnishing for the +use of the people a sound and uniform currency. There were many persons, +certainly, who did not agree with him in his opinions respecting the +bank and the effects of its agency on the country; but it was expressly +on the ground of this alleged failure of the bank, that he undertook +what was called the great reform. There are those, again, who think that +of this attempted reform he made a very poor and sorry business; but +still the truth is, that he undertook this reform for the very purpose +professed and avowed, that he might fulfil better than it had yet been +fulfilled the duty of government in furnishing the people with a good +currency. The President thought that the currency, in 1832 and 1833, was +not good enough; that the people had a right to expect a better; and to +meet this expectation, he began what he himself called his experiment. +He said the currency was not so sound, and so uniform, as it was the +duty of government to make it; and he therefore undertook to give us a +currency more sound and more uniform. And now, Gentlemen, let us recur +shortly to what followed; for there we shall find the origin of the +present constitutional notions and dogmas. Let us see what has changed +the Constitution in this particular. + +In 1833, the public deposits were removed, by an act of the President +himself, from the Bank of the United States, and placed in certain State +banks, under regulations prescribed by the executive alone. This was the +experiment. The utmost confidence, indeed, an arrogant and intolerant +confidence, was entertained and expressed of its success; and all who +doubted were regarded as blind bigots to a national bank. When the +experiment was put into operation, it was proclaimed that its success +was found to be complete. Down to the very close of General Jackson's +administration, we heard of nothing but the wonderful success of the +experiment. It was declared, from the highest official sources, that the +State banks, used as banks of deposit, had not only shown themselves +perfectly competent to fulfil the duties of fiscal agents to government, +but also that they had sustained the currency, and facilitated the great +business of internal exchanges, with the most singular and gratifying +success, and better than the same thing had been done before. In all +this glow and fervor of self-commendation, the late administration went +out of office, having bequeathed the experiment, with all its blushing +honors and rising glories, to its successor. But a frost, a nipping +frost, was at hand. Two months after General Jackson had retired, the +banks suspended specie payments, deposit banks and all; a universal +embarrassment smote down the business and industry of the country; the +treasury was left without a dollar, and the brilliant glory of the +experiment disappeared in gloom and thick darkness! And now, Gentlemen, +came the change of sentiments, now came the new reading of the +Constitution. A national bank had already been declared by the party to +be unconstitutional, the State bank system had failed, and what more +could be done? What other plan was to be devised? How could the duty of +government over the currency be now performed? The administration had +decried a national bank, and it now felt bound to denounce all State +institutions; and what, therefore, could it do? The whole party had laid +out its entire strength, in an effort to render the late Bank of the +United States, and any bank of the United States, unpopular and odious. +It had pronounced all such institutions to be dangerous, anti-republican +and monarchical. It had, especially, declared a national bank to be +plainly and clearly unconstitutional. Now, Gentlemen, I have nothing to +say of the diffidence and modesty of men, who without hesitation or +blushing, set up their own favorite opinions on a question of this kind +against the judgment of the government and the judgment of the country, +maintained for fifty years. I will only remark, that, if we were to find +men acting thus in their own affairs, if we should find them disposing +of their own interests, or making arrangements for their own property, +in contempt of rules which they knew the legislative and the judicial +authorities had all sanctioned for half a century, we should be very +likely to think them out of their heads. Yet this ground had been taken +against the late bank, and against all national banks; and it could not +be surrendered without apparent and gross inconsistency. What, then, I +ask again, was the administration to do? You may say, it should have +retracted its error, it should have seen the necessity of a national +institution, and yielded to the general judgment of the country. + +But that would have required an effort of candor and magnanimity, of +which all men are not capable. Besides, there were open, solemn, public +pledges in the way. This commitment of the party against a national +bank, and the disastrous results of its experiment on the State +institutions, brought the party into a difficulty, from which it seemed +to have no escape, but in shifting off, altogether, the duty of taking +care of the currency. I was at Wheeling, in Virginia, in May of last +year, when the banks suspended payment; and, at the risk of some +imputation of bad taste, I will refer to observations of mine made then, +to the citizens of that town, and published, in regard to the questions +which that event would necessarily bring before the country.[116] I saw +at once that we were at the commencement of a new era, and that a +controversy must arise, which would greatly excite the community. + +No sooner had the State banks suspended specie payments, and among the +rest those which were depositories of the government, than a cry of +fraud and treachery was raised against them, with no better reason, +perhaps, than existed for that loud, and boisterous, and boastful +confidence, with which the late administration had spoken of their +capacity of usefulness, and had assured the country that its experiment +could not fail. But whether the suspension by the banks was a matter of +necessity with them, or not, the administration, after it had happened, +seeing itself now shut out from the use of all banks by its own declared +opinions and the results of its own policy, and seeing no means at hand +for making another attempt at reforming the currency, turned a short +corner, and in all due form denied that the government had any duty of +the kind to discharge. From the time of the veto of the bank charter, in +1832, the administration had been like a man who had voluntarily +deserted a safe bottom, on deep waters, and, having in vain sought to +support himself by laying hold on one and another piece of floating +timber, chooses rather to go down than to seek safety in returning to +what he has abandoned. + +Seeing that it had deprived itself of the common means of regulating +the currency, it now denied its obligation to do so; declared it had +nothing to do with the currency beyond coinage; that it would take +care of the revenues of the government, and as for the rest, the people +must look out for themselves. This decision thus evidently grew out of +party necessity. Having deprived themselves of the ordinary and +constitutional means of performing their duty, they sought to avoid +the responsibility by declaring that there was no such duty to +perform. They have looked further into the Constitution, and examined it +by daylight and by moonlight, and cannot find any such duty or +obligation. Though General Jackson saw it very plainly, during the +whole course of his presidency, it has now vanished, and the new +commentators can nowhere discern a vestige of it. The present +administration, indeed, stood pledged to tread in the steps of its +predecessor; but here was one footprint which it could not, or would +not, occupy, or one stride too long for it to take. The message, I had +almost said the fatal message, communicated to Congress in September, +contained a formal disavowal, by the administration, of all power +under the Constitution to regulate the general actual currency of the +country. + +The President says, in that message, that if he refrains from suggesting +to Congress any specific plan for regulating the exchanges, relieving +mercantile embarrassments, or interfering with the ordinary operations +of foreign or domestic commerce, it is from the conviction that such +measures are not within the constitutional provision of government. + +How all this could be said, when the Constitution expressly gives to +Congress the power to regulate commerce, both foreign and domestic, I +cannot conceive. But the Constitution was not to be trifled with, and +the people are not to be trifled with. The country, I believe, by a +great majority, is of opinion that this duty _does belong_ to +government, and ought to be exercised. All the new expounders have not +been able to erase this general power over commerce, and all that +belongs to commerce. Their fate, in this respect, is like that of him in +ancient story. While endeavoring to tear up and rend asunder the +Constitution, its strong fibres have recoiled, and caught them in the +cleft. They experience + + "Milo's fearful end, + Wedged in the timber which they strove to rend." + +Gentlemen, this constitutional power can never be surrendered. We may as +well give up the whole commercial power at once, and throw every thing +connected with it back upon the States. If Congress surrender the power, +to whom shall it pass, or where shall it be lodged? Shall it be left to +six-and-twenty different legislatures? To eight hundred or a thousand +unconnected State banks? No, Gentlemen, to allow that authority to be +surrendered would be to abandon the vessel of state, without pilot or +helm, and to suffer her to roll, darkling, down the current of her +fate. + +For the sake of avoiding all misapprehensions on this most important +subject, I wish to state my own opinion, clearly, and in few words. I +have never said, that it is an indispensable duty in Congress, under all +circumstances, to establish a national bank. No such duty, certainly, is +created by the Constitution, in express terms. I did not say _what +particular measures_ are enjoined by the Constitution, in this respect. +Congress has its discretion, and is left to its own judgment, as to the +means most proper to be employed. But I say the general duty does +exist. + +I maintain that Congress is bound to take care, by some proper means, to +secure a good currency for the people; and that, while this duty remains +unperformed, one great object of the Constitution is not attained. If we +are to have as many different currencies as there are States, and these +currencies are to be liable to perpetual fluctuation, it would be folly +to say that we had reached that security and uniformity in commercial +regulation, which we know it was the purpose of the Constitution to +establish. + +The banks may all resume specie payments to-morrow,--I hope they will; +but how much will this resumption accomplish? It will doubtless afford +good local currencies; but will it give the country any proper and safe +paper currency, of equal and universal value? Certainly it cannot, and +will not. Will it bring back, for any length of time, exchanges to the +state they were in when there was a national currency in existence? +Certainly, in my opinion, it will not. We may heap gold bags upon gold +bags, we may create what securities, in the constitution of local banks, +we please, but we cannot give to any such bank a character that shall +insure the receipt of its notes, with equal readiness, everywhere +throughout the valley of the Mississippi, and from the shores of the +Gulf of Mexico to the St. Lawrence. Nothing can accomplish this, but an +institution which is national in its character. The people desire to +see, in their currency, the marks of this nationality. They like to see +the spread eagle, and where they see that they have confidence. + +Who, if he will look at the present state of things, is not wise +enough to see that there is much and deep cause for fear in regard +to the future, unless the government will take the subject of +currency under its own control, as it ought to do. For one, I think I +see trouble ahead, and I look for effectual prevention and remedy +only to a just exercise of the powers of Congress. I look not without +apprehension upon the creation of numerous and powerful State +institutions, full of competition and rivalry, and under no common +control. I look for other and often-repeated expansions of paper +circulation, inflations of trade, and general excess; and then, again, +for other violent ebbings of the swollen flood, ending in other +suspensions. I see no steadiness, no security, till the government of +the United States shall fulfil its constitutional duty. I shall be +disappointed, certainly, if, for any length of time, the benefits of a +sound and uniform convertible paper currency can be enjoyed, while the +whole subject is left to six-and-twenty States, and to eight hundred +local banks, all anxious for the use of money and the use of credit in +the highest degree. + +As I have already said, these sub-treasury schemes are but contrivances +for getting away from a disagreeable duty. And, after all, there are +scarcely any two of the friends of the administration who can agree +upon the same sub-treasury scheme. Each has a plan of his own. One man +requires that all banks shall be discarded, and nothing but gold and +silver shall be received for revenue. Another will exclaim, "That won't +do; that's not my thunder." Another would prohibit all the small notes, +and another would banish all the large ones. Another is for a special +deposit scheme; for making the banks sub-treasuries and depositories; +for making sub-treasuries of the broken, rotten, treacherous banks; for +taking bank-notes, tying them up with red strings, depositing them in +the vaults, and paying them out again. + +It has been the proposition of the administration to separate the money +of the government from the money of the people; to secure a good medium +of payments, for the use of the treasury, in collecting and disbursing +revenue, and to take no care of the general circulation of the country. +This is the sum of its policy. Looking upon this whole scheme but as an +abandonment of clear constitutional obligation, I have opposed it, in +every form in which it has been presented. My object, as I have already +said, and that of those with whom I acted, has been, to prevent the +sanction of all or any of these new projects, by authority of law, until +another Congress should be elected, which might express the will of the +people formed after the present state of things arose. In this object we +have succeeded. If we have done little positive good, we have at least +prevented the introduction and establishment of new theories and new +contrivances, and we have preserved the Constitution, in this respect, +entire. No surrender or abandonment of important powers is, as yet, +indorsed on the parchment of that instrument. No new clause is appended +to it, making its provisions a mere _non obstante_ to executive +discretion. It has been snatched from the furnace. From this furnace of +party contention, heated seven times hotter than it has been wont to be +heated, the Constitution has been rescued, and we may hold it up to the +people this day, and tell them that even the smell of the fire is not +upon it. + +But now, Gentlemen, a stronger arm must be put forth. A mightier +guardianship must now interfere. Time has been gained for public +discussion and consideration, and the great result is now with the +people. That they will ultimately decide right, I have the fullest +confidence. Party attachment and party patronage, it is true, may do +much to delay the results of general opinion, but they cannot long +resist the convictions of a whole people. It is most certain that, up to +the present hour, this new policy has been most unfavorably received. +State after State has fallen off from the ranks of the administration, +on account of its promulgation, and of the persevering attempt to raise +upon it a system of legal, practical administration. The message of +September completed the list of causes necessary to produce a popular +revolution in sentiment in Maine, Ohio, New Jersey, and New York. Since +the proposition was renewed, at the late session, we have witnessed a +similar revolution in Connecticut and Louisiana, and very important +changes, perhaps equivalent to revolutions, in the strength of parties +in other States. There is little reason to doubt, if all the electors of +the country could be polled to-day, that a great and decisive majority +would be found against all this strange policy. Yet, Gentlemen, I do not +consider the question, by any means, as decided. The policy is not +abandoned. It is to be persisted in. Its friends look for a reaction in +public opinion. I think I understand their hopes and expectations. They +rely on this _reaction_. Every thing is to be accomplished by +_reaction_. A month ago, this reaction was looked for to show itself in +Louisiana. Altogether disappointed in that quarter, the friends of the +policy now stretch their hopes to the other extremity of the Union, and +look for it in Maine. In my opinion, Gentlemen, there can be no reaction +which can reconcile the people of this country to the policy at present +pursued. + +There must, in my opinion, be a change. If the administration will not +change its course, it must be changed itself. But I repeat, that the +decision now lies with the people; and in that decision, when it shall +be fairly pronounced, I shall cheerfully acquiesce. We ought to address +ourselves, on this great and vital question, to the whole people, to the +candid and intelligent of all parties. We should exhibit its magnitude, +its essential consequence to the Constitution, and its infinite +superiority to all ordinary strifes of party. We may well and truly say, +that it is a new question; that the great mass of the people, of any +party, is not committed on it; and it is our duty to invoke all true +patriots, all who wish for the well-being of the government and the +country, to resist these experiments upon the Constitution, and this +wild and strange departure from our hitherto approved and successful +policy. + +At the same time, Gentlemen, while we thus invoke aid from all quarters, +we must not suffer ourselves to be deceived. We must yield to no +expedients, to no schemes and projects unknown to the Constitution, and +alien to our own history and our habits. We are to be saved, if saved at +all, _in_ the Constitution, not _out_ of it. None can aid us, none can +aid the country, by any thing in the nature of mere political project, +nor can any _devices_ supply the place of regular constitutional +administration. It was to prevent, or to remedy, such a state of things +as now exists, that the Constitution was formed and adopted. The time +when there is a disordered currency, and a distracted commerce, is the +very time when its agency is required; and I hope those who wish for a +restoration of general prosperity will look steadily to the light which +the Constitution sheds on the path of duty. + +As to you and me, fellow-citizens, our course is not doubtful. However +others may decide, we hold on to the Constitution, and to all its +powers, as they have been authentically expounded, and practically and +successfully experienced, for a long period. Our interests, our habits, +our affections, all bind us to the principles of our Union as our +leading and guiding star. + +Gentlemen, I cannot resume my seat without again expressing my sense of +gratitude for your generous appreciation of my services. I have the +pleasure to know that this festival originated with the Boston +mechanics, a body always distinguished, always honored, always +patriotic, from the first dawn of the Revolution to the present time. +Who is here, whose father has not told him--there are some here old +enough to know it themselves--that they were Boston mechanics whose +blood reddened State Street on the memorable 5th of March. And as the +tendencies of the Revolution went forward, and times grew more and more +critical, it was the Boston mechanics who composed, to a great extent, +the crowds which frequented the old Whig head-quarters in Union Street; +which assembled, as occasion required patriots to come together, in the +Old South; or filled to suffocation this immortal Cradle of American +Liberty. + +When Independence was achieved, their course was alike intelligent, +wise, and patriotic. They saw, as quick and as fully as any men in the +country, the infirmities of the old Confederation, and discerned the +means by which they might be remedied. From the first, they were ardent +and zealous friends of the present Constitution. They saw the necessity +of united councils, and common regulations, for all the States, in +matters of trade and commerce. They saw, what indeed is obvious enough, +that their interest was completely involved with that of the mercantile +class, and other classes; and that nothing but one general, uniform +system of commerce, trade, and imports could possibly give to the +business and industry of the country vigor and prosperity. When the +convention for acting on the Constitution sat in this city, and the +result of its deliberations was doubtful, the mechanics assembled at the +Green Dragon tavern, and passed the most firm and spirited resolutions +in favor of the Constitution; and when these resolutions were presented +to the Boston delegation, by a committee of which Colonel Revere was +chairman, they were asked by one of the members, how many mechanics were +at the meeting; to which Colonel Revere answered, "More than there are +stars in heaven." With statesmanlike sagacity, they foresaw the +advantages of a united government. They celebrated, therefore, the +adoption of the Constitution by rejoicings and festivals, such, perhaps, +as have not since been witnessed. Emblematic representations, long +processions of all the trades, and whatever else might contribute to the +joyous demonstration of gratified patriotism, distinguished the +occasion. Gentlemen, I can say with great truth, that an occasion +intended to manifest respect to me could have originated nowhere with +more satisfaction to myself than with the mechanics of Boston. + +I am bound to make my acknowledgments to other classes of citizens who +assemble here to join with the mechanics in the purpose of this meeting. +I see with pleasure the successors and followers of the Mathers, of +Clarke, and of Cooper; and I am gratified, also, by the presence of +those of my own profession, in whose immediate presence and society so +great a portion of my life has been passed. It is natural that I should +value highly this proof of their regard. We have walked the same paths, +we have listened to the same oracles, we have been guided together by +the lights of Dana, and Parsons, and Sewall, and Parker, not to mention +living names, not unknown or unhonored either at home or abroad. As I +honor the profession, so I honor and respect its worthy members, as +defenders of truth, as supporters of law and liberty, as men who ever +act on steady principles of honor and justice, and from whom no one, +with a right cause, is turned away, though he may come clothed in rags. + +Mingling in this vast assembly, I perceive, Gentlemen, many citizens who +bear an appellation which is honored, and which deserves to be honored, +wherever a spirit of enlightened liberality, humanity, and charity finds +regard and approbation among men, I mean the appellation of Boston +merchants. In a succession of generations, they have contributed +uniformly to great objects of public interest and advantage. They have +founded institutions of learning, of piety, and of charity. They have +explored the field of human misfortune and calamity; they have sought +out the causes of vice, and want, and ignorance, and have sought them +only that they might be removed and extirpated. They have poured out +like water the wealth acquired by their industry and honorable +enterprise, to relieve the necessities of poverty, administer comfort to +the wretched, soothe the ravings of distressed insanity, open the eyes +of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, and shed the light of +knowledge, and the reforming influences of religion where ignorance and +crime have abounded. How am I to commend, not only single acts of +benevolence, but whole lives of benevolence, such as this? May He reward +them,--may that Almighty Being reward them, in whose irreversible +judgment, in that day which is to come, the merit even of the widow's +mite shall outweigh the advantages of all the pomp and grandeur of the +world! + +Gentlemen, citizens of Boston, I have been in the midst of you for +twenty years. It is nearly sixteen years since, quite unexpectedly to +myself, you saw fit to require public service at my hands and to place +me in the national legislature. If, in that long period, you have found +in my public conduct something to be approved, and more to be forgiven +than to be reprehended, and if we meet here to-day better friends for so +many years of acquaintance and mutual confidence, I may well esteem +myself happy in the enjoyment of a high reward. + +I offer you again, fellow-citizens, my grateful acknowledgments, and +all my sincere and cordial good wishes; and I propose to you as a +toast:-- + +"The City of Boston: May it continue to be the head-quarters of good +principles, till the blood of the Revolutionary patriots shall have run +through a thousand generations!" + + +FOOTNOTES + + [113] Speech delivered at a Public Dinner in Faneuil Hall, given by the + Citizens of Boston to Mr. Webster, at the Close of the Session + of Congress, on the 24th of July, 1838. + + [114] An extra session of Congress had been called by President Van + Buren, in September, 1837, in consequence of the general + suspension of specie payments by the banks. + + [115] Hon. John Davis. + + [116] See the Speech above, page 383. + + + + +ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.[117] + + In the spring of 1839, Mr. Webster went for a short time to England. + He went in no public capacity, but his reputation had preceded him, + and he was received with every mark of the most distinguished + consideration. He was present at several public festivals, and his + addresses appear to have made a deep impression on those who heard + them. The following is the only one, however, which was reported at + any length. It was delivered at the first Triennial Celebration of + the Royal Agricultural Society, held at Oxford, on the 18th of July. + Three thousand persons were at table. Earl Spencer presided, and, in + introducing Mr. Webster, said they had "already drunk the health of + a foreign minister who was present, but they had the honor and + advantage of having among them other foreigners, not employed in any + public capacity, who had come among them for the purpose of seeing a + meeting of English farmers, such as he believed never had been + witnessed before, but which he hoped might often be seen again. + Among these foreigners was one gentleman, of a most distinguished + character, from the United States of America, that great country, + whose people we were obliged legally to call foreigners, but who + were still our brethren in blood. It was most gratifying to him that + such a man was present at that meeting, that he might know what the + farmers of England really were, and be able to report to his + fellow-citizens the manner in which they were united, from every + class, in promoting their peaceful and most important objects." He + gave,-- + + "The health of Mr. Webster, and other distinguished strangers." + + The toast was received with much applause. + + +MR. WEBSTER said the notice which the noble Earl at the head of the +table had been kind enough to take of him, and the friendly sentiments +which he had seen fit to express towards the country to which he +belonged, demanded his most cordial acknowledgments. He should therefore +begin by saying how much he was gratified in having it in his power to +pass one day among the proprietors, the cultivators, the farmers, of Old +England; that England of which he had been reading and conversing all +his life, and now for once had the pleasure of visiting. + +I would say, in the next place, continued Mr. Webster, if I could say, +how much I have been pleased and gratified with one portion of the +exhibition for which we are indebted to the formation of the Royal +Agricultural Society, and that is, the assemblage of so large a number +of the farmers of England. When persons connected with some pursuit, of +whatever description, assemble in such numbers, I cannot look on them +but with respect and regard; but I freely confess that I am more than +ordinarily moved on all such occasions, when I see before me, on either +continent, a great assemblage of those whose interests, whose hopes, +whose objects and pursuits in life, are connected with the cultivation +of the soil. + +Whatever else may tend to enrich and beautify society, that which feeds +and clothes comfortably the great mass of mankind should always be +regarded as the great foundation of national prosperity. I need not say +that the agriculture of England is instructive to all the world; as a +science, it is here better understood; as an art, it is here better +practised; as a great interest, it is here as highly esteemed as in any +other part of the globe. + +The importance of agriculture to a nation is obvious to every man; but +it, perhaps, does not strike every mind so suddenly, although certainly +it is equally true, that the annual produce of English agriculture is a +great concern to the whole civilized world. The civilized and commercial +states are so connected, their interests are so blended, that it is a +matter of notoriety, that the fear or the prospect of a short crop in +England deranges and agitates the business transactions and commercial +speculations of the whole trading world. + +It is natural that this should be the case in those nations which look +to the occurrence of a short crop in England as an occasion which may +enable them to dispose profitably of their own surplus produce. But the +fact goes much farther, for when such an event occurs in the English +capital,--the centre of commercial speculations, where the price of +commodities is settled and arranged for the whole world, where the +exchanges between nations are conducted and concluded,--its consequences +are felt everywhere, as no one knows better than the noble Earl who +occupies the chair. Should there be a frost in England fifteen days +later than usual in the spring, should there be an unseasonable drought, +or ten cold and wet days, instead of ten warm and dry ones, when the +harvest is reaped, every exchange in Europe and America is more or less +affected by the result. + +I will not pursue these remarks. [Loud cries of "Go on! Go on!"] I must, +however, say, that I entertain not the slightest doubt of the great +advantage to the interest of agriculture which must result from the +formation and operation of this society. Is it not obvious to the most +common observer, that those who cultivate the soil have not the same +conveniences, opportunities, and facilities of daily intercourse and +comparison of opinions, as the commercial and manufacturing interests? +Those who are associated in the pursuits of commerce and manufactures +naturally congregate together in cities; they have immediate means of +frequent communication. Their sympathies, feelings, and opinions are +instantaneously circulated, like electricity, through the whole body. + +But how is it with the cultivators of the soil? Separated, spread +over a thousand fields, each attentive to his own acres, they have +only occasional opportunities of communicating with each other. If +among commercial men chambers of commerce, and other institutions of +that character,--if among the trades guilds are found expedient, how +much more necessary and advisable to have some such institutions as +this society, which, at least annually, shall bring together the +representatives of the great agricultural interest! + +In many parts of the country to which I belong, there are societies +upon a similar principle, which have been found very advantageous. +As with you, they offer rewards for specimens of fine animals, and for +implements of husbandry supposed to excel those which have been known +before. They turn their attention to every thing designed to facilitate +the operations of the farmer, and improve his stock, and interest in the +country. Among other means of improving agriculture, they have +imported largely from the best breeds of animals known in England. I am +sure that a gentleman who has to-day deservedly obtained many prizes +for stock will not be displeased to learn that I have seen, along the +rich pastures of the Ohio and its tributary streams, animals raised +from those which had been furnished by his farms in Yorkshire and +Northumberland. + +But, apart from this subject, I beg leave to make a short response to +the very kind sentiments, which went near to my heart, as uttered by the +noble Earl at the head of the table. + +The noble chairman was pleased to speak of the people of the United +States as kindred in blood with the people of England. I am an American. +I was born on that great continent and I am wedded to the fortunes of my +country, for weal or for woe. There is no other region of the earth +which I can call my country. But I know, and I am proud to know, what +blood flows in these veins. + +I am happy to stand here to-day, and to remember, that, although my +ancestors, for several generations, lie buried beneath the soil of the +western continent, yet there has been a time when my ancestors and your +ancestors toiled in the same cities and villages, cultivated adjacent +fields, and worked together to build up that great structure of civil +polity which has made England what England is. + +When I was about to embark for this country, some friends asked me what +I was going to England for. To be sure, Gentlemen, I came for no object +of business, public or private; but I told them I was coming to see the +elder branch of the family. I told them I was coming to see my distant +relations, my kith and kin of the old Saxon race. + +With regard to whatsoever is important to the peace of the world, its +prosperity, the progress of knowledge and of just opinions, the +diffusion of the sacred light of Christianity, I know nothing more +important to the promotion of those best interests of humanity, and the +cause of the general peace, amity, and concord, than the good feeling +subsisting between the Englishmen on this side of the Atlantic, and the +descendants of Englishmen on the other. + +Some little clouds have overhung our horizon,--I trust they will soon +pass away. I am sure that the age we live in does not expect that +England and America are to have controversies carried to the extreme, +upon any occasion not of the last importance to national interests and +honor. + +We live in an age when nations, as well as individuals, are subject to a +moral responsibility. Neither governments nor people--thank God for +it!--can now trifle with the general sense of the civilized world; and I +am sure that the civilized world would hold your country and my country +to a very strict account, if, without very plain and apparent reason, +deeply affecting the independence and great interests of the nation, any +controversy between them should have other than an amicable issue. + +I will venture to say that each country has intelligence enough to +understand all that belongs to its just rights, and is not deficient in +means to maintain them; and if any controversy between England and +America were to be pushed to the extreme of force, neither party would +or could have any signal advantage over the other, except what it could +find in the justice of its cause and the approbation of the world. + +With respect to the occasion which has called us together, I beg to +repeat the gratification which I have felt in passing a day in such a +company, and to conclude with the most fervent expression of my wish for +the prosperity and usefulness of the Agricultural Society of England. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [117] Address at the Triennial Celebration of the Royal Agricultural + Society of England, at Oxford on the 18th of July, 1839. + + + + +THE AGRICULTURE OF ENGLAND.[118] + + Mr. Webster has at all periods of life cherished a strong attachment + to agricultural pursuits. Of late years, when not obliged to be at + Washington, in the discharge of his public duties, he has resided + wholly on his farm at Marshfield, Massachusetts. The condition of + the agriculture of England was one of the objects which most + received his attention, during his short visit to that country in + 1839. On his return to the United States in January, 1840, a strong + desire was entertained by his friends to meet him on some public + occasion, and a wish was expressed, particularly by many members of + the Legislature of Massachusetts, who were in the habit of holding + occasional meetings for the discussion of agricultural subjects, to + learn the result of his observations on the present state of English + agriculture. These wishes were communicated to Mr. Webster, and an + early day was appointed for a meeting, at which the following + remarks were made by him. + + +MR. CHAIRMAN, I would observe in the outset of these remarks, that I +regard agriculture as the leading interest of society; and as having, in +all its relations, a direct and intimate bearing upon human comfort and +the national prosperity. I have been familiar with its operations in my +youth; and I have always looked upon the subject with a lively and deep +interest. I do not esteem myself to be particularly qualified to judge +of the subject in all its various aspects and departments; and I neither +myself regard, nor would I have others regard, my opinions as +authoritative. But the subject has been one of careful observation to +me, both in public and private life; and my visit to Europe, at a season +of the year particularly favorable for this purpose, has given me the +opportunity of seeing its improved husbandry, and as far as it may be +interesting, or can have a bearing upon the subject of the evening's +discussion, the agriculture of Massachusetts, I will, as the meeting +appear to expect, say a few words upon what has attracted my notice. + +How far, in a question of this kind, the example of other countries is +to be followed, is an inquiry worthy of much consideration. The example +of a foreign country may be too closely followed. It will furnish a safe +rule of imitation only as far as the circumstances of the one country +correspond with those of the other. + +The great objects of agriculture, and the great agricultural products of +England and of Massachusetts, are much the same. Neither country +produces olives, nor rice, nor cotton, nor the sugar-cane. Bread, meat, +and clothing are the main productions of both. But, although the great +productions are mainly the same, there are many diversities of condition +and circumstances, and various modes of culture. + +The primary elements which enter into the consideration of the +agriculture of a country are four,--climate, soil, price of land, and +price of labor. In any comparison, therefore, of the agriculture of +England with that of Massachusetts, these elements are to be taken +particularly into view. + +The climate of England differs essentially from that of this country. +England is on the western side of the eastern, and we on the eastern +side of the western continent. The climate of all countries is +materially affected by their respective situations in relation to the +ocean. The winds which prevail most, both in this country and in +England, are from the west. It is known that the wind blows, in our +latitude, from some point west to some point east, on an average of +years, nearly or quite three days out of four. These facts are familiar. +The consequences resulting from them are, that our winters are colder +and our summers much hotter than in England. Our latitude is about that +of Oporto, yet the temperature is very different. On these accounts, +therefore, the maturing of the crops in England, and the power of using +these crops, creates a material difference between its agriculture and +ours. It may be supposed that our climate must resemble that of China in +the same latitudes; and this fact may have an essential bearing upon +that branch of agriculture which it is proposed to introduce among us, +the production of silk. + +The second point of difference between the two countries lies in the +soil. The soil of England is mainly argillaceous, a soft and unctuous +loam upon a substratum of clay. This may be considered as the +predominant characteristic in the parts which I visited. The soil in +some of the southern counties of England is thinner; some of it is what +we should call stony; much of it is a free, gravelly soil, with some +small part which, with us, would be called sandy. Through a great extent +of country, this soil rests on a deep bed of chalk. Ours is a granite +soil. There is granite in Great Britain; but this species of soil +prevails in Scotland, a part of the country which more resembles our +own. We may have some lands as good as any in England. Our alluvial +soils on Connecticut River, and in some other parts of the country, are +equal to any lands; but these have not, ordinarily, a wide extent of +clay subsoil. The soil of Massachusetts is harder, more granitic, less +abounding in clay, and altogether more stony, than the soil of England. +The surface of Massachusetts is more uneven, more broken with mountain +ridges, more diversified with hill and dale, and more abundant in +streams of water, than that of England. + +The price of land in that county, another important element in +agricultural calculations, differs greatly from the price of land with +us. It is three times as high as in Massachusetts, at least. + +On the other hand, the price of agricultural labor is much higher in +Massachusetts than in England. The price of labor varies considerably in +different parts of England; but it may be set down as twice as dear with +us here. + +These are the general remarks which have suggested themselves to me in +regard to the state of things abroad. Now, have we any thing to learn +from them? Is there any thing in the condition of England applicable to +us, or in regard to which the agriculture of England may be of use to +Massachusetts and other countries? + +The subject of agriculture, in England, has strongly attracted the +attention and inquiries of men of science. They have studied +particularly the nature of the soil. More than twenty years ago, Sir +Humphrey Davy undertook to treat the subject of the application of +chemical knowledge to agriculture in the analysis of soils and manures. +The same attention has been continued to the subject; and the +extraordinary discoveries and advances in chemical science, since his +time, are likely to operate greatly to the advantage of agriculture. The +best results may be expected from them. These inquiries are now +prosecuted in France with great enthusiasm and success. We may hope for +like beneficial results here from the application of science to the same +objects. + +But although the circumstances of climate and situation, and nature of +the soil, form permanent distinctions which cannot be changed, yet there +are other differences, resulting from different modes of culture, and +different forms of applying labor; and it is to these differences that +our attention should be particularly directed. Here, there is much to +learn. English cultivation is more scientific, more systematic, and more +exact, a great deal, than ours. This is partly the result of necessity. +A vast population is to be supported on comparatively a small surface. +Lands are dear, rents are high, and hands, as well as mouths, are +numerous. Careful and skillful cultivation is the natural result of this +state of things. An English farmer looks not merely to the present +year's crop. He considers what will be the condition of the land when +that crop is off; and what it will be fit for the next year. He studies +to use his land so as not to abuse it. On the contrary, his aim is to +get crop after crop, while still the land shall be growing better and +better. If he should content himself with raising from the soil a large +crop this year, and then leave it neglected and exhausted, he would +starve. It is upon this fundamental idea of constant production without +exhaustion, that the system of English cultivation, and, indeed, of all +good cultivation, is founded. England is not original in this. Flanders, +and perhaps Italy, have been her teachers. This system is carried out in +practice by a well-considered rotation of crops. The form or manner of +this rotation, in a given case, is determined very much by the value of +the soil, and partly by the local demand for particular products. But +some rotation, some succession, some variation in the annual productions +of the same land, is essential. No tenant could obtain a lease, or, if +he should, could pay his rent and maintain his family, who should wholly +disregard this. White crops (wheat, barley, rye, oats, &c.) are not to +follow one another. Our maize, or Indian corn, must be considered a +white crop; although, from the quantity of stalk and leaf which it +produces, and which are such excellent food for cattle, it is less +exhausting than some other white crops; or, to speak more properly, it +makes greater returns to the land. The cultivation of maize has not, +however, been carried to any extent in England. Green crops are turnips, +potatoes, beets, vetches, or tares (which are usually eaten while +growing, by cattle and sheep, or cut for green food), and clover. Buck +or beech wheat, and winter oats,--thought to be a very useful +product,--are regarded also as green crops, when eaten on the land; and +so, indeed, may any crop be considered, which is used in this way. But +the turnip is the great green crop of England. Its cultivation has +wrought such changes, in fifty years, that it may be said to have +revolutionized English agriculture. + +Before that time, when lands became exhausted by the repetition of +grain crops, they were left, as it was termed, fallow; that is, were +not cultivated at all, but left to recruit themselves as they might. +This occurred as often as every fourth year, so that one quarter of +the arable land was always out of cultivation, and yielded nothing. +Turnips are now substituted in the place of these naked fallows; and +now land in turnips is considered as fallow. What is the philosophy of +this? The raising of crops, even of any, the most favorable crop, does +not, in itself, enrich, but in some degree exhausts, the land. The +exhaustion of the land, however, as experience and observation have +fully demonstrated, takes place mainly when the seeds of a plant are +allowed to perfect themselves. The turnip is a biennial plant. It +does not perfect its seed before it is consumed. + +There is another circumstance in respect to the turnip plant which +deserves consideration. Plants, it is well understood, derive a large +portion of their nutriment from the air. The leaves of plants are their +lungs. The leaves of turnips expose a wide surface to the atmosphere, +and derive, therefore, much of their subsistence and nutriment from +these sources. The broad leaves of the turnips likewise shade the +ground, preserve its moisture, and prevent, in some measure, its +exhaustion by the sun and air. + +The turnips have a further and ultimate use. Meat and clothing come from +animals. The more animals are sustained upon a farm, the more meat and +the more clothing. These things bear, of course, a proportion to the +number of bullocks, sheep, swine, and poultry which are maintained. The +great inquiry, then, is, What kind of crops will least exhaust the land +in their cultivation, and furnish, at the same time, support to the +largest number of animals? + +A very large amount of land, in England, is cultivated in turnips. +Fields of turnips of three, four, and even five hundred acres, are +sometimes seen, though the common fields are much less; and it may be +observed here, that, in the richest and best cultivated parts of +England, enclosures of ten, fifteen, twenty, or thirty acres seemed more +common. Since the introduction of the turnip culture, bullocks and sheep +have trebled in number. Turnips, for the reasons given, are not great +exhausters of the soil; and they furnish abundant food for animals. Let +us suppose that one bushel of oats or barley may be raised at the same +cost as ten bushels of turnips, and will go as far in support of stock. +The great difference in the two crops is to be found in the farmer's +barn-yard. Here is the test of their comparative value. This is the +secret of the great advantages which follow from their cultivation. The +value of manure in agriculture is well appreciated. M'Queen states the +extraordinary fact, that the value of the animal manure annually applied +to the crops in England, at current prices, surpasses in value the whole +amount of its foreign commerce. There is no doubt that it greatly +exceeds it. The turnip crop returns a vast amount of nutritive matter to +the soil. The farmer, then, from his green crops, and by a regular +system of rotation, finds green fodder for his cattle and wheat for the +market. + +Among the lighter English soils is that of the county of Norfolk, a +county, however, which I had not the pleasure of visiting. Its soil, I +understand, is light, a little inclined to sand, or light loam. Such +soils are not unfavorable to roots. Here is the place of the remarkable +cultivation and distinguished improvements of that eminent cultivator, +Mr. Coke, now Earl of Leicester. In these lands, as I was told, a common +rotation is turnips, barley, clover, wheat. These lands resemble much of +the land in our county of Plymouth, and the sandy lands to be found in +the vicinity of the Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers. The cultivation of +green crops in New England deserves attention. There is no incapacity in +our soil, and there are no circumstances unfavorable to their +production. What would be the best kind of succulent vegetables to be +cultivated, whether turnips or carrots, I am not prepared to say. But +no attempts, within my knowledge, have been made among us of a +systematic agriculture; and until we enter upon some regular rotation of +crops, and our husbandry becomes more systematic, no distinguished +success can be looked for. As to our soil, as has been remarked, there +is no inherent incapacity for the production of any of the common crops. +We can raise wheat in Massachusetts. The average crop in England is +twenty-six bushels to the acre. From my own farm, where the soil is +comparatively thin and poor, I have obtained this summer seventy-six +bushels of wheat upon three acres of land. It is not, therefore, any +want of capability in the soil; but the improvement and success of our +husbandry must depend upon a succession of crops adapted to the +circumstances of our soil, climate, and peculiar condition. + +In England, a large portion of the turnip crop is consumed on the land +where it grows. The sheep are fed out of doors all winter; and I saw +many large flocks, in the aggregate thousands and even millions of +sheep, which were never housed. This was matter of surprise, especially +considering the wetness of the climate; and these sheep are often +exposed in fields where a dry spot cannot be found for them to lie down +upon. Sheep are often folded in England by wattled fences, or hurdles +temporarily erected in different parts of the field, and removed from +place to place, as the portions of the crop thus fenced off are +consumed. In some cases they are folded, and the turnips dug and carried +to them. In such cases, they are always fed upon lands which are +intended the next year to be, as far as practicable, brought under +cultivation. I have seen many laborers in fields, employed in drawing +the turnips, splitting them, and scattering them over the land, for the +use of the sheep, which is considered better, often, than to leave the +sheep to dig for themselves. These laborers are so employed all winter, +and if the ground should become frozen, the turnips are taken up with a +bar. Together with the turnips, it is thought important that sheep +should have a small quantity of other food. Chopped hay, sometimes a +little oil-cake, or oats, is usually given. This is called _trough_ +food, as it is eaten in troughs, standing about in the field. In so +moist a climate as that of England, some land is so wet that, in the +farmer's phrase, it will not _carry sheep_; that is, it is quite too +wet for sheep to lie out upon it. In such cases, the turnips must be +_carried_, that is, removed from the field, and fed out elsewhere. The +last season was uncommonly wet, and for that reason, perhaps, I could +not so well judge; but it appeared to me that it would be an improvement +in English husbandry, to furnish for sheep, oftener than is done, not +only a tolerably dry ground to lie on, but some sort of shelter against +the cold rains of winter. The turnips, doubtless, are more completely +consumed, when dug, split, and fed out. The Swedish turnip, I have +little doubt, is best suited to cold climates. It is scarcely injured by +being frozen in the ground in the winter, as it will thaw again, and be +still good, in spring. In Scotland, in the Lothians, where cultivation +is equal to that in any part of England, it is more the practice than +farther south to house turnips, or draw them, and cover them from frost. +I have been greatly pleased with Scotch farming, and as the climate and +soil of Scotland more resemble the soil and climate of Massachusetts +than those of England do, I hope the farmers of Massachusetts will +acquaint themselves, as well as they can, with Scotch husbandry. I had +the pleasure of passing some time in Scotland, with persons engaged in +these pursuits, and acknowledge myself much instructed by what I learned +from them, and saw in their company. The great extent of the use of +turnips and other green crops in Scotland is evidence that such crops +cannot be altogether unsuited to Massachusetts. + +Among the subjects which of late years have engaged much of the +attention of agriculturists in England, few are more important than that +of tile draining. This most efficient and successful mode of draining +is getting into very extensive use. Much of the soil of England, as +I have already stated, rests on a clayey and retentive subsoil. +Excessive wetness is prejudicial and destructive to the crops. +Marginal drains, or drains on the outside of the fields, do not +produce the desired results. These tile-drains have effected most +important improvements. The tile itself is made of clay, baked like +bricks; it is about one foot in length, four inches in width, three +fourths of an inch in thickness, and it stands from six to eight +inches in height, being hemispherical, or like the half of a cylinder, +with its sides elongated. It somewhat resembles the Dutch tiles which +are seen on the roofs of the old houses in Albany and New York. A +ditch is sunk, eighteen or twenty inches in depth, and these drains +are multiplied over a field, sometimes at a distance of only seven +yards apart. The ditch or drain being dug, these tiles are laid down, +with the hollow side at bottom, on the smooth clay, or any other firm +subsoil, the sides placed near to each other, some little straw thrown +over the joints to prevent the admission of dirt, and the whole covered +up. This is not so expensive a mode of draining as might be supposed. +The ditch or drain need only be narrow, and tiles are of much cheaper +transportation than stone would be. But the result is so important as +well to justify the expense. It is estimated that this thorough +draining adds often twenty per cent. to the production of the wheat +crop. A beautiful example came under my observation in Nottinghamshire, +not long before I left England. A gentleman was showing me his grounds +for next year's crop of wheat. On one side of the lane, where the land +had been drained, the wheat was already up and growing luxuriantly; on +the other, where the land was subject to no other disadvantage than +that it had not been drained, it was still too wet to be sowed at +all. It may be thought singular enough, but it is doubtless true, that, +on stiff, clayey lands, thorough draining is as useful in dry, hot +summers as in cold and wet summers; for such land, if a wet winter +or spring be suddenly followed by hot and dry weather, is apt to become +hard and baked, so that the roots of plants cannot enter it. Thorough +draining, by giving an opportunity to the water on the surface to be +constantly escaping, corrects this evil. Draining can never be +needed to so great an extent in Massachusetts as in England and +Scotland, from the different nature of the soil; but we have yet +quantities of low meadow lands, producing wild, harsh, sour grasses, +or producing nothing, which, there is little doubt, might be rendered +most profitable hay-fields, by being well drained. When we understand +better the importance of concentrating labor, instead of scattering +it,--when we shall come to estimate duly the superior profit of "a +little farm, well tilled," over a great farm, half cultivated and half +manured, overrun with weeds, and scourged with exhausting crops,--we +shall then fill our barns, and double the winter fodder for our cattle +and sheep by the products of these waste meadows. + +There is in England another mode of improvement, most important, +instances of which I have seen, and one of which I regard as the most +beautiful agricultural improvement which has ever come under my +observation. I mean irrigation, or the making of what are called _water +meadows_. I first saw them in Wiltshire, and was much struck with them, +not having before understood, from reading or conversation, exactly what +they were. But I afterwards had an opportunity of examining a most +signal and successful example of this mode of improvement, on the +estates of the Duke of Portland, in the North of England, on the borders +of Sherwood forest. Indeed, it was part of the old forest known by that +name. Sherwood forest, at least in its present state, is not like the +pine forests of Maine, the heavy, hard wood forests of the unredeemed +lands of New Hampshire and Vermont, or the still heavier timbered lands +of the West. It embraces a large extent of country, with various soils, +some of them thin and light, with beautiful and venerable oaks, of +unknown age, much open ground between them and underneath their +wide-spread branches, and this covered with heather, lichens, and fern. +Sherwood forest, indeed, is not less interesting for the natural beauty +which charms the eye, than for its venerable antiquity and historical +associations. But in many parts the soil is far enough from being rich. +Upon the borders of this forest are the water meadows of which I am +speaking. A little river runs through the forest in this part, at the +bottom of a valley with sides moderately sloping, and of considerable +extent, between the river at the bottom and the common level of the +surrounding country above. This little river, before reaching the place, +runs through a small town, and gathers, doubtless, some refuse matter in +its course. From this river, the water is taken at the upper end of the +valley, conducted along the edge, or bank, in a canal or carrier, and +from this carrier, at proper times, suffered to flow out very gently, +spreading over and irrigating the whole surface, trickling and shining, +when I saw it, (and it was then November,) among the light-green of the +new-springing grass, and collected below in another canal, from which it +is again let out, to flow in like manner over land lying still farther +down towards the bottom of the valley. Ten years ago, this land, for +production, was worth little or nothing. I was told that some of it had +been let, for no more than a shilling an acre. It has not been manured, +and yet is now most extensively productive. It is not flooded; the water +does not stand upon it; it flows gently over, and is applied several +times in a year to each part, say in March, May, July, and October. In +November, when I saw it, the farmers were taking off the third crop of +hay cut this season, and that crop was certainly not less than two tons +to the acre. This last crop is mostly used as green food for cattle. +When I speak of the number of tons, I mean tons of dried hay. After this +crop was off, sheep were to be put on it, to have lambs at Christmas, so +as to come into market in March, a time of year when they command a high +price. Upon taking off the sheep in March, the land would be watered. +The process of watering lasts two or three days, or perhaps eight or ten +days, according to circumstances, and is repeated after the taking off +of each successive crop. Although this water has no doubt considerable +sediment in it, yet the general fact shows how important water itself is +to the growth of plants, and how far, even, it may supply the place of +other sources of sustenance. Now we in Massachusetts have a more uneven +surface, more valleys with sloping sides, by many times more streams, +and such a climate that our farms suffer much oftener from drought than +farms in England. May we not learn something useful, therefore, from +such examples of irrigation in that country? + +With respect to implements of husbandry, I am of opinion that the +English, upon the whole, have no advantage over us. Their wagons and +carts are no better; their ploughs, I thought, not better anywhere, and +in some counties far inferior, because unnecessarily heavy. The subsoil +plough, for which we have little use, is esteemed a useful invention, +and the mole plough, which I have seen in operation, and the use of +which is to make an underground drain, without disturbing the surface, +is an ingenious contrivance, likely to be useful in clay soils, free +from stone and gravel, but which can be little used in Massachusetts. In +general, the English utensils of husbandry seemed to me unnecessarily +cumbrous and heavy. The ploughs, especially, require a great strength of +draught. But as drill husbandry is extensively practised in England, and +very little with us, the various implements, or machines, for +drill-sowing in that country quite surpass all we have. I do not +remember to have seen the horse-rake used in England, although I saw in +operation implements for spreading hay from the swath to dry, or rather, +perhaps, for turning it, drawn by horses. + +There are other matters connected with English agriculture, upon which I +might say a word or two. Crops are cultivated in England, of which we +know little. The common English field bean, a small brown bean, growing +not on a clinging vine, like some varieties of the taller bean, runs in +what is called with us the bush form, like our common white bean, upon a +slight, upright stalk, two or two and a half feet high, and producing +from twenty to forty bushels to the acre. It is valuable as food for +animals, especially for horses. This bean does not grow well in thin +soils, or what is called a hot bottom. A strong, stiff, clayey land, +well manured, suits it best. Vetches, or tares, a sort of pea, are very +much cultivated in England, although almost unknown here, and are there +either eaten green, by sheep, on the land, or cut and carried for green +food. + +The raising of sheep in England is an immense interest. England probably +clips fifty millions of fleeces this year, lambs under a year old not +being shorn. The average yield may be six or seven pounds to a fleece. +There are two principal classes of sheep in England, the long-wooled and +the short-wooled. Among these are many varieties, but this is the +general division or classification. The Leicester and the South Down +belong, respectively, to these several families. The common clip of the +former may be estimated from seven to eight pounds; and of the last, +from three to three and a half, or four. I mention these particulars +only as estimates; and much more accurate information may doubtless be +obtained from many writers. In New England, we are just beginning to +estimate rightly the importance of raising sheep. England has seen it +much earlier, and is pursuing it with far more zeal and perseverance. +Our climate, as already observed, differs from that of England; but the +great inquiry, applicable in equal force to both countries, is, How can +we manage our land in order to produce the largest crops, while, at the +same time, we keep up the condition of the land, and place it, if +possible, in a course of gradual improvement? The success of farming +must depend, in a considerable degree, upon the animals produced and +supported on the farm. The farmer may calculate, in respect to animals, +upon two grounds of profit, the natural growth of the animal, and the +weight obtained by fattening. The skilful farmer, therefore, expects, +where he gains one pound in the fattening of his animal, to gain an +equal amount in the growth. The early maturity of stock is consequently +a point of much importance. + +Oxen are rarely reared in England for the yoke. In Devonshire and +Cornwall, ox teams are employed; but in travelling one thousand miles in +England, I saw only one ox team, and in that case they were driven one +before the other, and in harnesses similar to those of horses. Bullocks +are raised for the market. It is highly desirable, therefore, both in +respect to neat cattle and sheep, that their growth should be rapid, and +their fattening properties favorable, that they may be early disposed +of, and the expense of production proportionably lessened. + +Is it practicable, on the soil and in the climate of Massachusetts, to +pursue a succession of crops? I cannot question it; and I have entire +confidence in the improvements to our husbandry, and the other great +advantages, which would accrue from judicious rotation of products. The +capacities of the soil of Massachusetts are undoubted. One hundred +bushels of corn to an acre have been repeatedly produced, and other +crops in like abundance. But this will not effect the proper ends of a +judicious and profitable agriculture, unless we can so manage our +husbandry that, by a judicious and proper succession of the crops, land +will not only be restored after an exhausting crop, but gradually +enriched by cultivation. It is of the highest importance that our +farmers should increase their power of sustaining live stock, that they +may obtain in that way the means of improving their farms. + +The breed of cattle in England is greatly improved, and still improving. +I have seen some of the best stocks, and many individual animals from +others, and think them admirable. The short-horned cattle brought to +this country are often very good specimens. I have seen the flocks from +which some of them have been selected, and they are certainly among the +best in England. But in every selection of stock, we are to regard our +own climate, and our own circumstances. We raise oxen for work, as well +as for beef; and I am of opinion that the Devonshire stock furnishes +excellent animals for our use We have suffered that old stock, brought +hither by our ancestors, to run down, and be deteriorated. It has been +kept up and greatly improved in England, and we may now usefully import +from it. The Devonshire ox is a hardy animal, of size and make suited to +the plough, and though certainly not the largest for beef, yet generally +very well fattened. I think quite well, also, of the Ayrshire cows. They +are good milkers, and, being a hardy race, are on that account well +suited to a cold climate and to the coarse and sometimes scanty +pasturage of New England. After all, I think there can be no doubt that +the improved breed of short horns are the finest cattle in the world, +and should be preferred wherever plenty of good fodder and some mildness +of climate invite them. They are well fitted to the Western States, +where there is an overflowing abundance, both of winter and summer +fodder, and where, as in England, bullocks are raised for beef only. I +have no doubt, also, that they might be advantageously raised in the +rich valleys of the Connecticut, and perhaps in some other favored parts +of the State. But for myself, as a farmer on the thin lands of Plymouth +County, and on the bleak shores of the sea, I do not feel that I could +give to animals of this breed that entertainment which their merit +deserves. + +As to sheep, the Leicesters are like the short-horned cattle. They must +be kept well; they should always be fat; and, pressed by good keeping to +early maturity, they are found very profitable. "Feed well," was the +maxim of the great Roman farmer, Cato; and that short sentence comprises +much of all that belongs to the profitable economy of live stock. The +South Downs are a good breed, both for wool and mutton. They crop the +grass that grows on the thin soils, over beds of chalk, in Wiltshire, +Hampshire, and Dorsetshire. They ought not to scorn the pastures of New +England. + +When we turn our thoughts to the condition of England, we must perceive +of what immense importance is every, even the smallest, degree of +improvement in its agricultural productions. Suppose that, by some new +discovery, or some improved mode of culture, only one per cent. could be +added to the annual results of English cultivation; this, of itself, +would materially affect the comfortable subsistence of millions of human +beings. It is often said that England is a garden. This is a strong +metaphor. There is poor land and some poor cultivation in England. All +people are not equally industrious, careful, and skillful. But, on the +whole, England is a prodigy of agricultural wealth. Flanders may +possibly surpass it. I have not seen Flanders; but England quite +surpasses, in this respect, whatever I have seen. In associations for +the improvement of agriculture we have been earlier than England. But +such associations now exist there. I had the pleasure of attending the +first meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and I found +it a very pleasant and interesting occasion. Persons of the highest +distinction for rank, talents, and wealth were present, all zealously +engaged in efforts for the promotion of the agricultural interest. No +man in England is so high as to be independent of the success of this +great interest; no man so low as not to be affected by its prosperity or +its decline. The same is true, eminently and emphatically true, with us. +Agriculture feeds us; to a great degree it clothes us; without it we +could not have manufactures, and we should not have commerce. These all +stand together, but they stand together like pillars in a cluster, the +largest in the centre, and that largest is agriculture. Let us remember, +too, that we live in a country of small farms and freehold tenements; a +country in which men cultivate with their own hands their own fee-simple +acres, drawing not only their subsistence, but also their spirit of +independence and manly freedom, from the ground they plough. They are at +once its owners, its cultivators, and its defenders. And, whatever else +may be undervalued or overlooked, let us never forget that the +cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. Man may be +civilized, in some degree, without great progress in manufactures and +with little commerce with his distant neighbors. But without the +cultivation of the earth, he is, in all countries, a savage. Until he +gives up the chase, and fixes himself in some place and seeks a living +from the earth, he is a roaming barbarian. When tillage begins, other +arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human +civilization. + + +FOOTNOTES + + [118] Remarks on the Agriculture of England, made at a Meeting of the + Legislature of Massachusetts, and others interested in + Agriculture, held at the State-House in Boston, on the Evening + of the 13th of January, 1840. + + +END OF VOLUME FIRST. + + + + +Transcriber Notes + + +Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_. + +Typographical inconsistencies have been changed. + +The following significant changes were made to the original text: + +Page 3: No footnote for marker (INTRODUCTORY NOTE.*) + +Footnote 99: Footnote marker missing + +Footnote 100: Footnote marker missing + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1, by +Daniel Webster + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORKS OF DANIEL WEBSTER *** + +***** This file should be named 36843.txt or 36843.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/8/4/36843/ + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Bryan Ness, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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