Select Speeches of Daniel Webster, 1817-1845 Part 16

[2]P. 59, l. 5. 1. I give the beautiful description which Dr. Goodrich wrote to Mr. Choate in 1853. "Here the feelings, which he had thus far succeeded in keeping down, broke forth. His lips quivered; his firm cheeks trembled with emotion; his eyes were filled with tears; his voice choked, and he seemed struggling to the utmost simply to gain that mastery over himself which might save him from an unmanly burst of feeling. I will not attempt to give you the few broken words of tenderness in which he went on to speak of his attachment for the college. The whole seemed to be mingled throughout with recollections of father, mother, brother, and all the privations and trials through which he had made his way into life. Every one saw that it was wholly unpremeditated, a pressure on his heart, which sought relief in words and tears." The court-room during these two or three minutes presented an extraordinary spectacle. Chief Justice Marshall, with his tall and gaunt figure, bent over as if to catch the slightest whisper, the deep furrows of his cheek expanded with emotion, and his eyes suffused with tears; Mr. Justice Washington at his side, with his small and emaciated frame, and countenance more like marble than I ever saw on any other human being--leaning forward with an eager troubled look; and the remainder of the Court at the two extremities, pressing, as it were, toward a single point, while the audience below were wrapping themselves around in closer folds beneath the bench, to catch each look and every feature of the speaker's face. If a painter could give us the scene on canvas,--those forms and countenances, and Daniel Webster as he there stood in their midst,--it would be one of the most touching pictures in the history of eloquence. One thing it taught me, that the _pathetic_ depends not merely on the words uttered, but still more on the estimate we put upon him who utters them. There was not one among the strong-minded men of that a.s.sembly who could think it unmanly to weep, when he saw standing before him the man who had made such an argument, melted into the tenderness of a child. Mr. Webster had now recovered his composure, and, fixing his keen eye on the Chief Justice, in that deep tone with which he sometimes thrilled the heart of an audience, continued."[3] L. 10. 2. When Mr. Webster sat down, there was a stillness as of death in the court-room, and when the audience had slowly recovered itself the replies of the opposing counsel were made, but seemed weak indeed in comparison to what had just been heard. On the conclusion of the arguments, the Chief Justice announced that the Court could not agree, and that the case must be continued to the next term. During the interim, the utmost effort was used by the friends of the College, the press, and the Federalists, to bring the matter before the public, and to impress the judges with the condition of the public mind. The defence prepared to renew the contest, and able counsel was secured. At the next term, however, the Chief Justice ruled that the Acts of the Legislature were void, as they impaired the right of private contract. Of this argument Mr.

Justice Story said: "For the first hour we listened with perfect astonishment; for the second hour with perfect delight; and for the third hour with perfect conviction."

Mr. Lodge says: "From the day when it was announced, to the present time, the Doctrine of Marshall in the Dartmouth College Case has continued to exert an enormous influence."

After the trial Mr. Hopkinson wrote to the President of the College and said: "I would have an inscription over the door of your building: 'Founded by Eleazor Wheelock, Refounded by Daniel Webster.'"

Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. VIII.; Lodge's _Webster_, Ch. III.; Everett's _Memoir_, in Vol. I. of Webster's Works; Shirley's _Dartmouth College Causes; Correspondence of Webster_, Vol.

I., pp. 266-70; Magruder's _Life of John Marshall_.

_FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND_.

December, 1820.

The "Old Colony Club," formed for social intercourse in 1769, was the first to celebrate Forefathers' Day. Although the club was dissolved in 1773, the anniversary celebrations were continued until 1780; between this time and 1820, when the "Pilgrim Society" was founded, they were held with but few interruptions.

The foundation of the "Pilgrim Society" in 1820 gave a new impetus to the celebrations, and in that year Mr. Webster was chosen to give the address.

[1]P. 64, l. 17. 1. The allusion is to the painting by Sargent; it was presented by him to the Society in 1824.

[2]L. 22. 2. Cf. Collections of the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society.

[3]L. 30. 3. Cf. the report of the Pilgrim Society on the correct date of the landing of the Pilgrims. The 21st is now considered to be the date.

[4]P. 66, l. 31. 1. Cf. _Herodotus_, Ch. VI., -- 109.

[5]P. 70, l. 23. 1. Cf. "The Start from Delfshaven," by Rev. D. Van Pelt, in the _New England Magazine_, November, 1891. For a through treatment of the whole subject read Chapter II., "The Puritan Exodus" in _Beginnings of New England_, by John Fiske.

[6]P. 77, l. 13. 1. Cf. _Beginnings of New England_, by John Fiske, pp. 12-20, "The Roman Method of Nation-Making."

[7]P. 81, l. 18. 1. Cf. _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 20-49, "The English Method of Nation-Making."

[8]P. 82, l. 30. 1. Cf. Hutchinson's _History_, Vol. II., App. I.

"The men who wrote in the cabin of the _Mayflower_ the first charter of freedom, were a little band of protestants against every form of injustice and tyranny. The leaven of their principles made possible the Declaration of Independence, liberated the slaves, and founded the free Commonwealths which form the Republic of the United States."--C. M. DEPEW, Columbian oration.

[9]P. 83, l. 15. 1. Cf. _Germanic Origin of New England Towns_, H. B.

Adams.

[10]P. 108, l. 7. 1. Cf. Cicero's _Oratio pro Flacco_, -- 7.

[11]L. 29. 2. The first free public school established by law in Plymouth Colony was in 1670.

[12]P. 111, l. 17. 1. Cf. _Beginnings of New England_, p. 110, "Founding of Harvard College." Lowell's "Harvard Anniversary."

In 1647 the Colony of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay pa.s.sed the law requiring every town of one hundred families to set up a grammar school which should prepare youth for the university.

If Mr. Webster by his handling of the Dartmouth College Case founded a new school of const.i.tutional law, by the Plymouth Oration he founded a new school of oratory. This field of occasional oratory was a new and peculiar one for him. He had never before spoken upon a great historical subject demanding not only wealth of imagination, but the peculiar quality of mind and heart which unites dignity and depth of thought with ease and grace of manner. But he was equal to the task. The simplicity and beauty of the thought, the grand and inspiring manner of presentation, gave evidence of commanding genius, and gave Mr. Webster a place in the front rank of orators and stylists.

"I never saw him," says Mr. Ticknor, "when he seemed to me to be more conscious of his own powers, or to have a more true and natural enjoyment from their possession."

John Adams, who had heard Pitt and Fox, Burke and Sheridan, says: "It is the effort of a great mind, richly stored with every species of information. If there be an American who can read it without tears, I am not that American. Mr. Burke is no longer ent.i.tled to the praise--the most consummate orator of modern times. What can I say of what regards myself?

To my humble name '_Exegisti monumentum aere perennius_.' The oration ought to be read at the end of every century."

"It is doubtful," says Edward Everett, "whether any extra-professional literary effort by a public man has attained equal celebrity."

Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. IX.; Lodge's _Webster_, Ch.

IV.; De Tocqueville's _Democracy in America_, Vol. I.; Whipple's _American Literature_, "Webster as a Master of English Style"; Bancroft's _History of the United States_, Vol. I., Chs. XII., XIII., XIV.; Burke's _Orations on the American War_, edited by A. J. George; Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_.

_THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT._

June, 1825.

As early as 1776, the Ma.s.sachusetts Lodge of Masons, over which General Warren had presided, asked the Government of Ma.s.sachusetts for permission to take up his remains, which were buried on the hill the day after the battle, and bury them with the usual solemnities. The request was granted on condition that the government of the colony should be permitted to erect a monument to his memory.

The ceremonies of burial were performed, but no steps were taken to build the monument. General Warren was, at the time of his death, Grand Master of the Masonic Lodges of America, and as nothing had been done toward erecting a memorial, King Solomon's Lodge of Charlestown voted to erect a monument. The land was purchased, and a monument dedicated by the Lodge Dec. 2, 1794. It was a wooden pillar of Tuscan order, eighteen feet high, raised on a pedestal ten feet in height. The pillar was surmounted by a gilt urn. An appropriate inscription was placed on the south side of the pedestal.

The half-century from the date of the battle was at hand, and, despite a resolution of Congress and the efforts of a committee of the Legislature of Ma.s.sachusetts, no suitable monument had been erected by the people. It was then that, at the suggestion of William Tudor, the matter was taken up in earnest and an a.s.sociation was formed known as the Bunker Hill Monument a.s.sociation. Ground was broken for the monument June 7, 1825. On the morning of the 17th of June, 1825, the ceremonies of laying the corner- stone of the monument took place. It was a typical June day, and thousands flocked to see the pageant and to hear the greatest orator in the land.

The procession started from the State House at ten o'clock. The military led the van. About two hundred veterans of the Revolution rode in carriages, and among them were forty survivors of the battle. Some wore their old uniform, others various decorations of their service, and some bore the scars of honorable wounds. Following the patriots came the Monument a.s.sociation, and then the Masonic fraternity to the number of thousands. Then came the n.o.ble Frenchman, Lafayette, the admiration of all eyes. Following him were numerous societies with banners and music. The head of the procession touched Charlestown Bridge before the rear had left the State House, and the march was a continual ovation. Arriving at Breed's Hill, the Grand Master of the Masons, Lafayette, and the President of the Monument a.s.sociation laid the corner-stone, and then moved to the s.p.a.cious amphitheatre on the northern side of the hill, where the address was delivered by Mr. Webster.

[1]P. 122, l. 7. 1. An account of the voyage of the emigrants to the Maryland Colony is given by the report of Father White, written soon after the landing at St. Mary's. The original in Latin is still preserved by the Jesuits at Rome.

The _Ark_ and the _Dove_ occupy the same place of interest in the memory of the descendants of the colony as does the _Mayflower_ with us.

[2]L. 18. 2. Mr. Webster was at this time President of the Monument a.s.sociation.

[3]P. 125, l. 13. 1. Even the poetical nature of Webster would not have been equal to the conception, that within the century the number would reach sixty million.

[4]L. 16. 2. "The first railroad on the continent was constructed for the purpose of accelerating the erection of this monument."--EVERETT.

[5]P. 127, l. 15. 1. The allusion is, of course, to the ships about the Charlestown Navy Yard, which is located at the base of Breed's Hill. [6]L.

21. 2. This magnificent address to the "Venerable Men" was composed while Mr. Webster was fishing in Marshpee brook.

[7]P. 128, l. 4. 1. Milton's _Paradise Lost_, V.

[8]L. 17. 2. Cf. Bancroft's _History of the United States_, Vol. IV., p. 133. A prelude to Warren's patriotism at Bunker Hill is well ill.u.s.trated in his oration at the old South Meeting House, commemorating the Boston Ma.s.sacre; in the presence of British soldiers he said: "Our streets are again filled with armed men, our harbour is crowded with ships of war; but these cannot intimidate us; my fellow-citizens, you will maintain your rights or perish in the generous struggle."

[9]P. 130, l. 9. 1. Cf. Burke's _Orations on the American War_, edited by A. J. George.

[10]P. 131, l. 32. 1. Virgil's _Aeneid_, VI. 726. Compare Burke's use of this same quotation in his speech on American Taxation, page 13, line 13. Edited by A. J. George.

[11]P. 133, l. 9. 1. Cf. Bancroft's _History of the United States_, Vol. IV., Ch. XIV.

[12]L. 22. 2. General Lafayette had arranged his progress through the other States so that he might be present on the 17th.

[13]P. 140, l. 22. 1. Homer's _Iliad_, Book XVII.