o » ^ 0-^ '^ -*!^ •^^ (V fi » " "• ♦ Q^ % * * f * «? 'o . * * ,G^ 1^ ^ ■ : i 1 Vv * T • O, ^_ w^" ^.K o • * o, *'T7V* ,^ '^ 0-.^ -^o " >" ..^'•- '^ ^0^ ^°^ % o •- '-^o^ i' i i» ^>* <"»• L*'* ^^. <^ ft V » » • o^ ^ ••'♦ ^> o, *.Trr» .'V V ..- '^^^''' o .-^q. * -ay c» * "^^^^^ oTT'*^^^^^ ^b,. **Trr.* ^0 \0 "7*. : A q. l." <*^ c> *i. 0^ ♦L'.^'* *> '^^4^ « A EULOGY, UPON THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 07 DANIEL WEBSTER, \/ BY LEEOY POPE, Jr., Esq. DELIVERED AT MEMPHIS. TEMN,. On the 28tli Feb., 1853. ^eh)f)i{i^, Jew.: EAGLE AND ENQUIRER STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 1853. ■■ CORRESPONDENCE. Memphis, March 8, 1853, LaaoT PoPB, Esq., Sir: — Wo heard with much interest and delight, the very chaste and eloquent Eulogy pronounced by you upon the life and character of Danikl Webster, at Odd-Fellows' Hall on the 28th ultimo; and we are assured that we express the wish of your large audience, and the public generally, as well as our own, in asking you to furnish a copy for publication. H. G. SMITH, T. H. ALLEN, W. B. MILLER, WM. A. BLYTHE, WM. C. CARR, J. WICKERSHAM, JAS. A. CARNES, WM. T. AVERY, JOS. R. WILLIAMS. Memphis, March 9, 1853. Gentlemen: — In obedience to your highly flattering request, I herewith enclose a copy of the Eulogy delivered by me on the 28th ult. It is proper to state that some passages have been added, which were omitted in the delivery, and also a few illustrative quotations from the speeches of Mr. Webster. With sentiments of high respect, Your obedient servant, LEROY POPE, JR. .Messrs. H. G. Smith, Thos. H. Allen, W. B. Miller, and others, Committee, &.c. OBmssBfamsaa am EULOGY.; The mind naturally delights in the contemplation of sublime objects. We love to gaze upon Niagara, as it heaves its ponderous mass of waters upwards to the sun, until the glittering arch breaks in varied splendor to the eye ; or, while hanging over its awful depths, the soul is stirred by the echoes of the Almighty's voice, in its ever- lasting thunder: None can stand under the shadow of Mont Blanc, crowned with its diadem of unfading snow, and watch the lances of light as they quiver upon its summit, in dazzling and ever shifting pomp, and not feel all the kind- ling sublimities of the scene: While musing on the shore of ocean, and the eye can find no limit to its expanse, imagijiiE.- tion exults in the boundless swell of its magnificence: So thus, in the presence of a superior intellect, the heart is lifted up with ennobling inspirations, each conception is vivified and enlarged, 4 ays of immortality burst and flame around us, and the whole man bows to the majesty of the intellectual God ! We have assembled, fellow-citizens, to-night, to trace the career of one of those mighty intellects of the nation, which, by the eloquent flow of its thought, and the m-ajestic sway of its reason, has thrilled and moved present genera- tions, and which is destined to rouse, inflame, exalt, and animate ali the generations of men which are to come after ps. IV • It is proper to state, that the intervention of Courts, find the indisposition of the writer, by which he was confined to the house over a month, prevented the delivery of this eulogy at the time originally proposed -— about the 8th of January. EULOGY ON WEBSTER I In its annual round, we have just greeted another birth- day of Washington — of the man of whom it was said by him, upon whose tomb we have come to cast our garlands of tributary woe : " While hundreds, whom party excite- ment, and temporary cii'cumstances, and casual combina- tions, have raised into transient notoriety, sink again like thin bubbles, bursting and dissolving into the great ocean, Wash- ington's fame is like the rock that bounds that ocean, and at whose feet its billows are destined to break harmlessly for- ever ! " And whose name and fame deserve more to be asso- ciated with the memories of that day than those of the ora- tor, who has transmitted to us and to our posterity the les- sons ot the Father of his Country, in language as immortal as his own immaculate glor5^* Let a more hallowed recollection gather around us now ! For all that is mortal of the eloquent eulogist has passed forever from among us! On the 24th of October, 1852, early in the morning of God's holiest day — that sublime day when the heart of the universe is stilled with repose — wdth an intellect still bright and unclouded — his soul attuned to immortal har- mony by the melodies of poetry f — peaceful, gentle, and hopeful — with the grandeur of his country, the tenderest afiections of his household, the mild but tearful eye of friendship, around him — sublimely grand, serenely beauti- ful — the Orator, the Statesman, the Patriot, sunk beneath the dark ocean of Eternity, " Like a ship that goes down at sea. When Heaven is all tranquillity ! " How difficult to realize the death of a truly great man ! How many electric chords of thought must be snapped asunder ! How many links of patriotic association must be broken up forever ! One short month passes away, and the Cabinet of the nation assembles, but the great Diplomatist, _ to catch the accents of whose wisdom, Kings are bending I from their thrones, is not there ! The Senate House is full, but the "choice and master spirit" of oratory is not there ! • The delivery of tins address on the niE;ht of the 2'2d of February, as at last intended, was prevented by the unfavorable state of the weather. The allusion to the character of Washington is thus accounted for. t It will be remembered that, In his last ho'ars, portions of Gray's Elegy were read to Mr. Webster. -J.y«»..-lUA.!HffM-.^-.U..«.— ...—vil^...:.— ,.»-..— ..— ^ iiiiiii m i Miii"™"-'"'"'" BY LEROY POPE, ESa. 5 The grave answers, he is not there ! O, never more shall those eyes gaze upon your country's flag, or dart their fierce Uo-htnin2fs, upon those who would " blot out one star or erase one stripe from its folds. " Can that mighty heart be still, for whose high and holy aspiration for freedom a world was too narrow ! Never more shall we hear that voice, which moved the multitude to and fro like a sea when lashed by the wild breath of the tempest ! Shall the Promethean spark never again be rekindled ! Yes, yes, genius never dies ! The breath of the eternal God is in it! Roll back, ye dark shad- ows from the tomb ! Through the hollow chambers of death breaks the light of immortality ! I hear a voice saying " I STILL LIVE !" Yes, if ever the cloud should gather upon yon bright sun in his course, and cast its portentous gloom over the capitol of your country, and the fiends of discord, in their hellish fury, should smite your Eagle from his holiest altar, and trample the images of glory in the dust, if, then, some noble-hearted patriot, his breast swelling with high m.em- ories of the past, should tear your flag from the grasp of sac- rilegious hands, and bear it bravely up, " to float over the sea, and over the land, in all its original lustre" — upon its stream- ing folds shall be written, " I still live ! " If ever the slum- bering dead should start to life upon the rock of Salamis, or the breath of Leonidas wake the Spartan three hundred, and Marathon rekindle her fires around the Persian's tent, — if, through the gloom of dead empires and vanished glory, the star of Liberty should rise, and light up the shores of the Mediterranean with the spirit of ancient valor — or blaze upon the hill of the Acropolis — from the re-awakened earth, reeling beneath the red tide of battle, mingled with the cries of bleed- ing martyrs, and the shouts of struggling patriots, shall be heard that voice, " I still lr^e ! " The means which have been employed, the influences which have operated in the production of remarkable men, constitute, perhaps, the most interesting and instructive por- tion of their history. In the language of a distinguished English writer, " we love to dwell on every circumstance of splendid preparation which contributes to fit the great man for the scene of his glory. We delight to watch, fold by fold, the bracing on of his Vulcanian panoply, and observe with 6 EULOGY ON WEBSTER : pleased anxiety the leading forth of that chariot, which, borne on irresistible wheels, and drawn by steeds of immortal race, is to crush the necks of the mighty, and sweep away the ser- ried strength of armies." On the 18th day of January, 1782, at Salisbury, New Hampshire, near the close of the grandest epoch in our his- tory, Daniel Webster was born. Mr. Webster was singu- larly fortunate in being descended from parents who were both eminently distinguished for moral and intellectual endowments. His mother, to unusual beauty of person, and to all the gentler virtues of her sex, united a strength and decision of purpose, a high Roman cast of character, which, while it lent dignity, elevation, and grace to a comparatively humble sphere of life, was well fitted to give tone and direc- tion to the mind of her gifted son. The first lessons of piety were instilled by this admirable mother. One of the first gifts to the studious boy was the sacred volume from her ven- erated hand. And perhaps it would be no idle speculation to suppose that then was awakened that sentiment of rever- ence which, in after life, kindled into one of the noblest defences of the whole system of Christianity, ever uttered in the temple of justice,, i*H;he Girard will case. In view of the pious influences so often exerted by the female in every stage of our existence, I have sometimes thought that the heart of woman was the depositary of the religious faith of the earth. In childhood, ere yet our lips are warm with the soft breathings of intelligence, she teaches us our first prayer: In youth, she sets the seal of reverence upon the brow ; in all the walks of manhood she guards us with her purit}' and love: She beautifies and adorns by her presence every scene of human enjoyment; and the same gen- tle hand which decorates the social temple with the Corinthian graces of polished life, twines the Amaranthine wreath around the holy altars of God. Though our brows may be blackened with the thunder scars of guilt, and the alienated eye of man may plunge us into the darkest dungeons of despair, from the throne of beauty, from the most splendid pinnacle of fortune, woman stoops to soothe us with the voice of love and conso- lation, to lift ua uj), prostrate and broken hearted, once more into the sunlight of hope. Her virtue is a perpetual shield immaMaatTgi. J mi»^i..)» EY LEEOY POPE, ESQ, to US upon earth, and sho opens the gates of Paradise ta ua hereafter. Clear practical ability, massive common sense, tlic noblest physical proportions, and a stern grandeur of spirit, were combined in the person and mental constitution of Ebenezer Webster, the father of our illustrious countryman. Though destitute of the advantages of liberal education, nature had qualified him for heroic struggles. He was born for the great- est duties which the discipline of adversity exacts, for the sternest self-sacrifice that poverty imposes upon her rugged children. His character was like a plain column of granite dug from his own New Hampshire hills, which, by its upright- ness, its elevation, and its solidity, might serve as a guide and a landmark of primitive beauty and glory to its neighborhood.* In early life Ebenezer Webster enlisted as a common sol- dier in the old French war of '56. By his gallantry and good conduct, before the close of the war, he rose to the rank of captain. He " with all his kith and kin," were conspicuous for their opposition to the policy of the British government towards her American colonies, signed the pledge of the old Continental Congress, embarking life and fortune, on the result of the war. Mr. Webster, in his late historical dis- course, in allusion to this fact, says : " This is sufficient emblazonry for my arms, enough of Heraldry for me." But Ebenezer Webster was not a man to be satisfied with the passive remonstrance of words and parchments, while the fires of revolutionary strife were blazing around him: He raised a company, testified his patriotism on many battle fields, and continued in active service throughout the war. Subsequently to the revolution he was elected a delegate to the State Convention which assembled at Concord, for the purpose of deliberating upon the adoption of the Federal Constitution. Though, at first, he, and his neighbors, were opposed to some features of the Constitution, upon hearing the discussions at Exeter, where the Convention first met, ke was convinced of the policy and necessity of its adoption, and by his commanding influence carried his whole neighbor- hood to its support. A speech made by him in the Conven- tion is fortunately preserved : • I am partly indebted to Mr. Webster for this idea. ?rrTi TtarTiT . ''y''-^^-'""^"-'"-^'''"'^"-'='"'*^'"-'''°™ EULOGY ON WEBSTER : "Gentlemen: I have listened to the arg^uments for and'aorainst the Constitution. I am convinced such a government as that Constitution will establish if adopted — a government acting directly on the people of the States — is necessary for the common defense and the general welfare. It is the only government which will enable us to pay ofl" the national debt — the debt which we owe for the Revolution, and which we are bound in honor fully and fairly to discharge. Besides, I have followed the lead of Washington through seven years of war, and I have never been misled. His name is subscribed to this Constitution: he will not mislead us now. I shall vote for its adoption." Short as this speech is it might be mistaken forj^one of his great son's. It has the directness, force, and clearness of the same intellectual family ; and^manifests an unbounded hom- age for the name and virtues of Washington, which, in its hereditary passage, the more eloquent son caught up and clothed in a robe of ethereal splendor. At a later period of his history Ebenezer Webster filled, with credit and ability, the office of State Senator, and for some years served as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and had the good fortune to hear, in that capacity, the first speech of the future orator of his house. But it was in the sphere of domestic life that he exhibited those interesting traits of character which lie, I believe, at the foundation of all solid public utility, and patriotic service. Deficient himself in education he was resolved that one of his sons, at least, should enjoy its inestimable benefits. A letter of Mr. Webster, written some few years since, indicates most happily what were the views and feelings of the father on this subject : "Of a hot day in July — it must have been one of the last years of Wash- ington's administration — I was making hay with my father, just where I now see a remaining elm tree, about the middle of the afternoon. The Hon. Abiel Foster, M. C, who lived in Canterbury, six miles off, called at the house, and came into the field to see my fatlier. He was a worthy man, college learned, and had been a minister, but was not a person of any considerable natural powers. My father was his friend and supporter. He talked a while in the field and went on his way. When he was gone, my father called me to him, and we sat down beneath the elm, on a hay-cock. He said, 'My son, that is a worthy man; he is a member of Congress; he goes to Philadelphia and gets six dollars a day, while I toil here. It is because he had an education, which I never had. If I had had his early education, I should have been in Philadelphia in his place. I came near it as it was; but I missed it, and now I must work here.' 'My dear father,' I BV LEROY POPE, ESa. said I, 'you shall not work; brother and I will work for you, and wear our hands out, and you shall rest; and I remember to have cried, and I cry now at the recollection. *My child,' said he, 'it is of no importance tome; I now live but for my children; I could not give your elder brother the advantages of knowledge, but I can do something for you; Exert yourself, improve your opportunities — learn, learn; and when I am gone, you will not need to go through the hardships which I have undergone, and which have made me an old man before my time.' "The next May he took me to Exeter, to the Phillips Exeter Academy — placed me under the tuition of its excellent preceptor. Dr. Benjamin Abbott, still living. "My father died in April, 1806. I neither left him nor forsook him. My opening an office at Boscawen was that I might be near him. I closed his eyes in this very house. He died at sixty-seven years of age, after a life of exertion, toil, and exposure — a private soldier, an officer, a legislator, a judge — every thing that a man could be, to whom learning never had dis- closed her 'ample page.' "My first speech at the bar was made when he was on the bench; he never heard me a second time. "He had in him what I recollect to have been the character of some of the old Puritans. He was deeply religious, but not sour; on the contrary, good humored, facetious, showing, even in his age, with a contagious lau"-h teeth all as white as alabaster; gentle, soft, playful, and yet having a heart in him that he seemed to have borrowed from a lion. He could frown; a frown it. was; but cheerfulness, good humor, and smiles composed his moat usual aspect." How touchingly beautiful is all this ! The father was wor- thy of the son ; the son was worthy of the father. The wise, fond parent held the noble child up to the glorious sun of freedom, and the rays of knowledge streamed down upon his breast, and kindled the soul of an orator who, in the maturity of his power, should rise " Above all Greek, above all Roman fame !" And the praises of that father shall be sung through resound- ing ages, wherever the majestic hymn celebrates the genius of the immortal boy. I cannot quit this part of my subject, without bringing to mind a reflection of the eloquent Dr. Channing : " The noblest influence on earth," he remarks, " is that exerted on character ; and he, who puts forth this, does a great work, no matter how narrow or obscure his sphere. The father and mother of an unnoticed family, who, in their seclusion, awaken the mind of one child to the idea and love 10 EULOGY ON Webster; of perfect goodness, who awaken in him a strength of will to repel all temptation, and who send him out prepared to profit by the conflicts of life, surpass in influence a Napoleon breaking the world to his sway." Let us trace this Republi- can boy to the scene of his Senatorial triumphs in 1830 ; Idt i us behold the tide of Nullification rolled up to the door of vour National citadel — all the elements of internal strife met in mad conflict — let us place before us the transcendent I orator, baring his arm in the storm and the lightning, sway- : ino- the waves with irresistible influence, and driving them back, never to visit with their recoil the noblest fabric of human rights ever devised by the wisdom of man, then let us ask ourselves, if the preservation of this Union is not worth all the conquests of a Napoleon: And is it not a theme of proud congratulation, that there is not a boy now within the reach of my voice, I care not hov/ humble his lot may be, who may not, under auspicious parental influences, if God has given him genius, stand up, iu after life, the peer of the brightest intellectual spirits that adorn the courts and parliaments ofe ai'th? Mr. Webster, after having enjoyed such facilities of edu- cation as were then common in his father's neighborhood, entered Dartmouth College in 1797, and graduated at that institution in 1801. Such were the ardor and diligence with which he prosecuted his college studies, that it was thought by many he would obtain the valedictory — the highest honor bestowed on graduates. In this, however, he and his friends were disappointed, and the distinction was conferred upon a head much less illustrioua in the future annals of Dartmouth, and the world. Incensed and mortified, perhaps, by this un- expected blight upon his ambitious hopes, he deliberately tore up his Diploma in the presence of his classmates, exclaiming, " My industry may make me a great man, but this miserable parchment cannot." He was admitted to the Bar at Boston in 1805, his distin- guished friend and counsellor, Mr. Gore, placing him upon this prominent stage of life with the most sanguine predic- tions of his future eminence. His professional career was commenced at Boscawen, near his father's residence, and prosecuted, successively, afterwards at Portsmouth and Boston. 'tj««iw.iimi M.. i uinm.ii!iJ.nu .'i'Li>iin.uiMiiJW!rr M BY LEROY POPE, ESQ. H But, however Rplendid the professional career to which Mr. Webster was destined, and no name now ranks higher in the annals of American jurisprudence, it was impossible for a mind of such large and comprehensive grasp, of such vigor and amplitude of thought, depth of knowledge, abun- dance and variety of illustrative resource, rare argumentative skill ; all its faculties so finely balanced, and harmoniously proportioned — warmed too and inspired by a broad national- ity of spirit — to expend its powers in the comparatively nar- row and technical field »f forensic disputation. Through the pressing solicitation of his friends he became a candidate for Congress, in 1812, and was elected a member from New Hampshire, and took his seat at the extra session, called in May, 1813. Mr. Webster entered public life with- out any previous political training in local State service. He had, however, won a 'high reputation at home by the strong and earnest ability manifested by him in the popular discussions of the time. Though one of the youngest mem- bers of the House of Representatives, that pre-eminently national statesman, and consummate judge of human nature, Henry Clay, then Speaker of the House, placed him, at once, on the committee of Foreign Relations, one of the most important committees known to that body. On the 10th of June, 1813, Mr. Webster made his first speech, upon certain resolutions, previously introduced by him, calling for information relative to the repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees. Elaborate research, the widest range of historical illustration, fullness and completeness of detail, precision, clearness and force, in the treatment of the various topics connected with the subject, severe simplicity of style, relieved occasionally by earnest and impassioned passages of oratory, and an elevated tone of patriotism, w'ere the distinguishing characteristics of this first eflbrt of our Parliamentary speaker. It took the House captive, and awakened the astonishment and admiration of all who heard it. The great mind of Chief Justice Marshall was struck with the unusual display of ability j,nd political information in so young a man, and yielded itself up to the most sanguine prognostics of his future greatness. In a letter to Judge Story, written shortly after hearing this speech, he said : — 12 EULOGY ON WEBSTER I *' Mr. Webster is destined to become one of the very first statesmen in America, and perhaps the very first." About the same time, that eminently sound patriot and honest man, Wm. Lowndes, of South Carolina, declared : — " The North had not his equal, nor the South his superior." Mr. Webster was not in Congress at the time of the decla- ration of the last war with Great Britain: But no public man of our day has encountered so much malignant misrep- resentation and foul calumny, as to his conduct and opin- ions connected with the prosecution of that war. In com- mon with the large mass of the Northern people he was opposed to the embargo and restrictive system of Mr. Jeffer- son, and in this Mr. Calhoun concurred with him fully. It is not improbable that Mr. Webster participated, to some extent, in the general feeling of prejudice and hostility to the war, wdiich prevailed at the North at its commencement, resulting from the extreme sensibility of the great commer- cial interests, already seriously disturbed by the policy of our government, and still more fatally involved in the issuesj of the contest. But while in Congress he displayed, in his gen- eral course, the lofty spirit of a patriot, and was a most stren- uous advocate of the increase of the Navy. Our brilliant naval victories soon after proved his profound sagacity in relying mainly on this arm of ^our national defence, in a con- test with that great maritime power, of which her poets boasted, as said by him, " Her march was o'er the mountain wave, Her home was on the deep." The charter of the old Bank of the United States having expired in 1811, the subject of a National Bank was brought before Congress in the sessions of 1815-16. In the discussion of this question Mr. Webster exhibited that thor- ough knowledge of the relations of currency and exchange, that depth of financial skill, and those profound constitu- tional views, which, in the popular harangues and the mem- orable Senatorial debates of a later day, were matured into those magnificent displays of fiscal and commercial wisdom which have never been surpassed, and which have been equalled only by the masterly genius of Alexander Hamilton. It is not to be expected on an occasion like this, that I phould go into a minute exposition of Mr. Webster's political BY LEROY POPE, ESQ. 13 views : By doing so I should entrench upon the graver province of the historian and the biographer, exhaust your patience, and swell this address to the size of a volume. In December, 1820, Mr. Webster delivered at Plymouth his first grand historical discourse. It has been his peculiar fortune to associate his fame with nearly every sacred spot, consecrated memory, or hallowed name in American history: J^s his genius bends over Plymouth rock, gazes out upon the sea, walks among the tombs of the mighty dead, or com- munes in the councils of the wise of old, with its Homeric fire, it makes a sublime "prose epic" of nearly all the heroic annals of the past. It was in 1824, that the Greek revolution drew forth one of those stately and model orations, where the minds of the statesman, the philosopher, and the historian unite to light up a fire on the shrines of human glory, which shall spread its illumination throughout the earth. With the breath of an oracular God he thus summons the nations to the bar of Public O pinion' : " Moral causes come into consideration, in proportion as the progress of knowledge is advanced ; and the public opinion of the civilized world is rapidly gaining an ascendency over mere brutal force. It may be si- lenced by military power, but it cannot be conquered. It is elastic, irre- pressible, and invulnerable to the weapons of ordinary warfare. It is that impassable, inextinguishable enemy of mere violence and arbitrary rule, which, like Milton's angels, ' Vital in every part, Cannot, but by annihilating, die.' Unless this be propitiated or satisfied, it is in vain for power to talk either of triumphs or repose. No matter what fields are desolated, what fort- resses surrendered, what armies subdued, or what provinces overrun, there is an enemy that still exists to check the glory of these triumphs. It fol- lows the conqueror back to the very scene of his ovations ; it calls upon him to take notice that the world, though silent, is yet indignant ; it shows him that the sceptre of his victory is a barren sceptre ; that it shall confer neither joy nor honor, but shall moulder to dry ashes in his grasp. In the midst of his exultation, it pierces his ear with the cry of injured justice ; it denounces against him the indignation of an enlightened and civilized age; it turns to bitterness the cup of his rejoicing, and wounds him with the sting which belongs to the consciousness of having outraged the opinion of mankind." But it was in 1830 that Mr. Webster's genius rose to a height of oratorical grandeur, which fixed it forever upon a EULOGY ON WEBSTER SSBBSDBSaK! national pinnacle, turned all eyes towards it in the perilous exigencies of the country, gave to it the imposing splendor of a judicial oracle, and won for him the illustrious title of the "Defender of the Constitution." It is now twenty-three years since Nullification began to shed its disastrous light upon the councils of the nation: As the eye stretches back through this interval of less than a quarter of a century, what amazing progress does this glori- ous land of ours exhibit ! What giant developments of the genius and power of art ! Thought speeding upon wires, traversing continents, with the swiftness of the lightning's wing ! What triumphs of civilization, w^hat moral elevation, what abundance of physical enjoyment ! Wliat unparal- leled mineral and agricultural resources ! What rapid en- largement of territory, what vast increase of commercial power ! How are the channels of intercommunication multi- plied ! The heels of the iron horse are daily ringing from city to city, from river to river ; with his fiery breath he is breaking through the ribs of the mountains ; and he will not stop until his gigantic foot treads upon the shores of the Pacific. During this period of time your men of science, your orators and statesmen, your artists, your poets and prose wTiters have written their names upon the loftiest pil- lars of fame's temple. What a spectacle do you present to the world ! Look upon your flag ! Thirty-one stars are now shedding their illumination upon two oceans ; beneath its protecting folds more than twenty millions of freemen are kneeling at one common altar, kindled, inflamed, animated by one great sentiment of equal, civil, political, and religious privileges ! And how does the future magnify in prospect ! Awed, dazzled, overwhelmed, imagination sinks beneath the weight of its inconceivable grandeur ! What a gift then, what a genius, what apou-er is that, which has saved all these things from the night of perpetual gloom and annihilation ! And who can say that we do not owe their preservation to the more than Roman patriot, whose eloquent tongue is hushed forever in the silence of the grave ! O, I could stand here and almost weep over the ingratitude of my country, the debasement and infatuation of party, when I am told, in BY LEROY POPE, KSa. 15 cold and sneering derision, that such a man should not be, or could not be. President of the United States. It will be remembered by those who are familiar with the period to which I am now referring, that it was not until sometime after the debate on Foote's resolution, and after his breach with John C. Calhoun, and when South Carolina was bristled all over with the Legislative decrees and State ordinances, in open defiance of the Federal Government, that Gen. Jackson came to the rescue of the country; but when he did come, he came to some purpose, for he was no half way man. The first great blow to nullification was given by the single arm of Webster. In the remarkable debate of 1830, the gallant South Caro- linian, Gen. Hayne, had every advantage of position. He was a prominent friend of Gen. Jackson's administration, then flushed with the recent conquests of party : He was sus- tained and encouraged in his assaults upon New England, and her great representative, by a very powerful combina- tion of talent, consisting of Calhoun, Benton, Forsyth, Grun- dy, and others. Mr. Webster was identified with a then unpopular political minority. The speech of Gen. Hayne, delivered on the 21st., of January, displayed considerable ability. It was full of bold and vehement declamation, pour- ino- out accusation after accusation against New England men and measures ; the Hartford Convention, the vitupera- tive eftusions of a rabid press, and a still more rabid pulpit, in opposition to the war with Great Britain, were held up, in bold relief, to the unmeasured scorn and indignation of all patriotic minds. The Southern wing of the administration were charmed and elated beyond all power of expression with the boldness and imputed success of the onslaught. Nothing was heard but the exulting tones of triumph. The Senate chamber, the streets and alleys of Washington rung with such panegyrics upon the victorious champion of the j South, that a Yankee v\'as hardly to b6 seen upon Pennsyl- vania Avenue. But it was not long before these tones of exultation were swept, as before the breath of a whirlwind, from the minds of men. The reply came, and the magnifi- cent 9omposure with which the Northern Achilles received rUTTTTTTt 1(5 EULOGY ON WEBSTER the tremendous battery which had been let loose upon him, is evinced in the very first paragraph of his speech : " Mr. Presidemt : 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 lat- itude, and ascertain how fur the elements have driven him from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence, and before we float farther, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjec- ture where we now are. I ask for the reading of the resolution." The resolution was read. Then followed that glorious philippic, which, for felicity and dexterity of retort — its pas- sages of personal sarcasm — for vigor of reasoning, dignity and elevation of tone, for the force and purity of its style, its magnificent apostrophes, and the intense glow of its patriot- ism, may be regarded as the finest Parliamentary effort that ever fell from human lips. In saying this I may offend the shades of Demosthenes, Cicero, Chatham, Burke, and Fox : But there stands the speech, and there it will stand as long as genius has a votary, or liberty an advocate upon the face of the globe. Since the delivery of that speech nullification has never been able to hold up its head out of the State of South Carolina ; and there it was kept alive by the splendid genius, and the resistless force of the personal character of John C. Calhoun. I cannot pretend to trace Mr. V/ebster through every stage of his Parliamentary career. Living in the midst of the most intense political excitements, he was connected with every great and leading question of his time: A National Bank, the Currency, the Tariff, Internal Improvenients, Com- merce, our Foreign Relations, every phase of constitutional power, involving the relations of the States and the General Government, and the different departments of the latter, have, each and all, been the subjects of popular and Parlia- mentary discussion : And to these various topics he always brought a mind of the highest elevation of patriotic senti- ment, unbounded range of vision, and of inexhaustible depth, variety, and resource. The second most remarkable era of Mr. Webster's public life was the 7th of March, 1850. It is an idea of Boling- broke's, that some men appear to be marked out by a pecu- liar designation of Providence, to accomplish the great pur- BY LEROY POPE, ESQ. 17 poses, the noblest ends of government and society. Not in vain are the highest powers of the human intellect bestowed ; not in vain do we find a moral courage which conquers all selfish infirmity, laughs at external danger, beats down ad- versary after adversary, until it rises to the sublimest tri- umphs of genius, virtue and patriotism. Webster and Clay seem to have been chosen instruments in the hands of God to guard this Union in all its purity, strength, and glory. We all remember the disturbing questions growing out of the large accession of foreign territory — the result of the Mexican war. Slavery, and its kindred and collateral topics, had roused every malignant demon of faction, North and South. Extreme and disorganizing doctrines were advoca- ted at opposite points of tlie country : Fire eating secession- ists, and abolition disunionists, losing all sense of past glory, all veneration for the great names of history, and furiously contemning the restraints of the constitution, were ready to tear down our national temple, and erect upon its ruins a Northern or Southern confederacy — a fabric without one ele- ment of strength, beauty, or durability — the morbid creation of their own heated and diabolical fancies. It was then, that Webster and Clay, while the storm of fanaticism was beating upon one end of the Capitcl, and the lightnings of discord streaming in at the other, flaming around pillar and altar, laid their hands upon the ark of the constitution, and rising above the perishable glory of a day, with a godlike serenity, lifting their voices above the roar of faction, silenced the tempest, and quenched the wrath of the thunderbolt! On the 25th of January, 1850, Mr. Clay introduced a series of resolutions connected with slavery and the acquisition of new territory — commonly known as the Compromise resolu- tions. It was in the progress of the discussion on these sub- jects, that the speech of the 7th of March was delivered: As we dwell upon its deep and thrilling tones, its fervent aspirations, its profound philosophical and historical research, it sounds like the last solemn anthem for the Union and the Constitution, from the grandest intellectual organ ever heard in the Legislative Halls of our country : "And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the possibility or util- ity of secession, instead of dwelling in those caverns of darkness, instead ! ■illplMlMMMMMi 18 EULOGY ON WEBSTER: of groping- with tliose ideas so full of all that is horrid and horrible, let us come out into the light of day ; let us enjoy the fresh air of Liberty and Union ; let us cherish those hopes which belong- to us ; let us devote our- selves to those great objects that are fit for our consideration and our action ; let us raise onr conceptions to the magnitude and the importance of the duties that devolve upon us ; let our comprehension be as broad as the country for which we act, our aspirations as high as its certain des- tiny ; let us not be pigmies in a case that calls for men. Never did there- devolve on any generation of men higher trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preservation of this Constitution, and the harmony and peace of all who are destined "to live under it. Let us make our generation one of the strongest and brightest links in that golden chain which is destined, I fondly beheve, to grapple the people of all the States to this Constitution for ages to come. We have a great, popular, constitutional government, guarded by law and by judicature, and defended by the affections of the whole people. No monarchical throne presses these States together, no iron chain of military power encircles them ; they live and stand under a government popular in its form, representative in its character, founded upon principles of equality, and so constructed, we hope, as to last for ever. In all its history it has been beneficent ; it has trodden down no man's liberty ; it has crushed no State. Its daily respiration is liberty and patriotism ; its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, courage, and hon- orable love of glory and renown. Large before, the country now, has by recent events, become vastly larger. This republic now extends, with a vast breadth, across the whole continent. The two great seas of the world wash the one and the other shore. We realize, on a mighty scale, the beautiful description of the ornamental border of the buckler of Achilles : " 'Now the broad shield complete, the artist crowned With hi3 last hand, and poured the ocean round ; In living silver seemed the wavei to roll, And heat the buckler's ver^e, and bound the whole.' " This was the crowning glory of Mr. Webster's Senatorial labors. It was on the 4th of July, 1851, that Mr. Webster delivered an address at the laying of the corner stone of the new wing of the Capitol. It was a striking characteristic of his mind, that it seemed to adapt itself with perfect readiness, and the highest felicity, to whatever subject or occasion it was called upon to celebrate. No man could draw more vividly a grand national or Iilstoiical picture. For this reason, as before sta- ted, his name is inseparably connected with the most memo- rable scenes, and brightest eras of American glory. Wliile gazing upon the Capitol of the nation, with its new and BY LEROY POPE, ESQ. 10 expanding proportions, the bosom of the orator swells with the loftiest emotions of pride, gratitude and joy. He calls to liis aid the majestic genius of Washington, and seems to be standing in his very presence, while, with pro])hetic vision, he anticipates and hivokes the choicest blessings of Heaven upon his country's destiny. The pillared marble, as it rises up and glows in the light of his sublinie auguries, Avill carry the noble memories cf the scene down to the latest posterity. When w^e turn to the Diplomatic career of Mr. Webster, we are struck with an exhibition of mental power, so rare and extraordinary, that it would seem as if nature, and the discipline of public life, had intended him for that peculiar sphere of action, and none other. Those great and perplex- ing questions which, for more than half a century, had defied " e^ery expedient of Diplomacy," and driven England and the United S'ates to the perilous edge of a hostile arbitra- ment, under the auspices of his unrivalled tact and sagacity — and the unmatched force and eloquence of his pen — were brought to a conclusion so fortunate as to command the applause and approbation of the master minds of both coun- tries. It is worthy of remark, that Mr. Webster carried into the discussion of all points of international law a heart emphati- cally American. In no instance, in my opinion, has he made a concession, or yielded a doctrine, which would blemish the honor, or retard and embarrass the just and enlightened dif- fusion of American principles throughout the world. The results of these long-pending, and more recent international controversies, show the incalculable importance of placing men of the very first order of ability in responsible public stations. There can be no doubt, that the satisfactory ad- justment of the Xorth Eastern boundary question was owing-, in an eminent degree, to the unbounded respect and admira- tion, felt in England, for the genius and public character of Mr. Webster. Lord Ashburton, the special minister and negotiator to the United States, told Mr. Everett, that he should have despaired of an advantageous settlement but for his confidence in the upright and honorable character of the American Secretary. sii'jgiimjssammmoBaBsaai 20 EULOGY ON WEBSTER The letters to M. de Bocanegra, and the Chevalier Ilulse- mann, for force and beauty of style, and as expositions of well defined American policy, will remain as models of perpetual reference and authority, in regulating our intercourse with Foreign nations. It is now beyond question that Mr. Web- ster's pen infused into the English Government a larger and more liberal tone on the subjects of the " Right of Search," and the impressment of British seamen. In delineating the general character of Mr. Webster's elo- quence, the first thing that strikes the mind is its strong and massive foundation — its weight and solidity of thought. Amplitude of information, comprehension of view, une- qualled precision, gigantic powers of reasoning, an imagina- tion that could embellish a subject with the grandest image- ry, or throw over it a majestic robe of light, yet ordinarily chastised by the severest taste — a style simple, pure, vigor- ous — transparent as the atmosphere — and made up of words perfectly adjusted to their places — conspired to form a noble and harmonious mental structure. Reading, says Lord Ba- con, makes a full man. Webster's mind was full to over- flowing. He was not only one of the finest orators, but, in a political sense, he was the best informed man in America. No man was more deeply read in the constitution ; no man was so thoroughly acquainted with every department of American history. He had conversed with the mighty spirits of Washington, Adams, Hancock, Otis, Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson, until their great thoughts, their familiar speech flowed through every vein of his intellectual system. It never could be said of him, matcriem superahat opus — that the workmanship was finer than the material — the thought overlaid by the brilliancy of its covering. No impet- uosity of imagination, no flight of rhetoric, could ever divert or seduce him from " the thing to be proved, the deed to be done : " The fundamental principle, the great fact, the philosophical conclusion, were always there, giving weight and direction to his genius, in every variety of its manifesta- tion." To find his equal or his superior we must go back to Edmund Burke. In comprehensiveness of [intellect ; in the eye that [sweeps in the direct, the collateral, and the remote; in the possession of all knowledge which affects the opera- BY LEROY POPE, ESQ. tions of government, they were two ol' the greatest men that ever lived. In invention and imagination, Burke was the superior ; in compact, massive, continuous, and perfectly sus- tained power of argumentation, Webster had no equal in Parliamentary history. In his great moments, the hand of Titan was visible in every link of the voluminoiis chain of his logic ; and as he wound it around his subject or his adver- sary, the latter found no refuge save in retreat or death. In fertility of thought, in exhaustless resource, in depth of polit- ical wisdom, in richness of imagination, in copiousness, vari- ety, and flexibility of style, Burke was the greatest master of prose composition that England has produced. * A late English writer, in speaking of Calhoun and Web- ster, says the chain of argumentation of the former was to Webster's as shining tissues of attenuated glass to the large, close-twisted, glittering strands of steel, with which the " Ex- pounder of the Constitution," supported hnnself and bound his antagonists. In this comparison some injustice is proba- bly done to Mr. Calhoun. In illustrating the difference be- tween the two, the genius of Calhoun may be said to resem- ble a burning glass, which draws the light of the sun to a point, producing, if I may so speak, intensity without breadth of ray ; while the genius of Webster was like the sun him- self, combining strong heat with the widest diffusion of light — the utmost magnificence of effulgence, f An acute English critic said, the eloquence of Chatham made men act, the eloquence of Burke made them think; Clay was the Chatham of the American Senate, and W^eb- ster the Burke, with this difference, that Webster excelled * When I say Ent^land has produced, — I mean her public institutions — her Parliament and political associations ; Burke, as is well known, was a native of Ireland. His genius was not only an honor to his own country, but to the whole human race. So intense and unbounded is my admiration for him, that I am always disposed to look favorably upon Irish genius and Irish character. t I do not wish this comparison to be taken too literally , as I might be under- stood as underrating the genius of Mr. Calhoun. The figure is used to illustrate the peculiar characteristics of the two men — concentration and intensity being Ihe distinguishing: features of the mind of the former, and breadth and compre- hension of that of the latter. Calhoun's intellect was unquestionably one of the most remarkable of the age : Let him who doubts this for one moment, read his great speech, delivered in 1833, in support of the resolutions introduced by him on the subject of State and Federal powers. It is probably the most splendid exhibition of analytical power to be found in Parliamentary annals. It required the powerful, masterly, and luminous argument of Webster, in reply, to break its grasp upon the public mind. 22 EULOGY ON WEBSTER : Burke in the physical attributes of the orator, had more Par- liamentary tact, was less discursive, and produced more direct, immediate, practical effect. Mr. Webster's eloquence was original ; it was all his own. Enriched as his mind was with Ancient and Modern lore, his oratory every where bore the unmistakable stamp of its ori- gin ; the soul of the American patriot burned and flashed through every line and syllable of it. No man, says Doctor Johnson, was ever great by imitation. The truth is, every man of genius individualizes his art: " Le style est I'homme " — "the style is the man." When the learned writer, just mentioned, was asked whether Edmund Burke resembled TuUius Cicero, " No, Sir," was the repl}', " he resembled Edmund Burke." Chatham, Burke, Fox, Pitt, Sheridan, Grattan, and Curran, were the most brilliant and extraor- dinary men of their time ; and yet they were all unlike in the respective character of their eloquence : and in the splendid triumvirate of our own country, how quickly do we recognize the flashing blade of Clay, the keen seimetar of Calhoun, or the ponderous battle-axe of Webster. Perhaps it would be no injustice to others to apply to Mr. Webster the observation made w'th regard to Edmund Burke — "He was the most eloquent man of his time, and his wisdom was greater than his eloquence. " Surely no man in our country has left behind such treasures of political knowledge. Lord Lyttleton has said, if it were possible for all past vestiges of man's nature to be destroj^ed, and no monument of his passions were left, save what w^as to be found in the writings of Shakspeare, from these alone we might infer what man was.* So, if this Republic were struck from the map of nations, and no other trace of its political existence could be found, it would not be extravagant to say, that the whole scope and policy of American institutions, the theory and structure of our government, the very soul of American Liberty, might be learned from the writings of Daniel Webster. I speak here in a general philosophical sense, and without reference to particular local doctrines. •I flo not pretend to give Lord Lyttlefon's phraseo!op;y in this idea, as it is long since I read the '•Dialogues of tiie Dead/' in which it occurs. 1 believe the thought is substantially represented. JH..iJIUlltll l!Y LEROY POPK, ESQ. 23 Mr. Webster had Ibrined the most elevated conceptions of the duty and office of a Statesman. He scorned the arts of the Demagogue: He never plead the cause of a faction: He spoke for his Country, for Liberty, for mankind, as if the weight of the whole American character rested upon his tongue. In debate he rose uniformly above the earthly contact of partisan strife, and vulgar passion: He resembled the bird of Jove in one of his noblest flights; when he was surrounded by an atmosphere so pure, that nothing but the sunlight of Heaven could fall upon his glittering wings. There is one grand feature in Mr. V\^ebster's public life which manifested itself in every form of expression, admoni- tion, and stirring and powerful appeal to his countrymen; and for which, if for nothing else, his name should be written, in letters of living light, upon every monument of national enterprize and glory — upon every radiant banner of American freedom; and that is, his profound, passionate, intense and inextinguishable love for the Union. The Union, with all "its gorgeous ensigns," was the first great vision of his manhood, the last magnificent dream of his declining years: Not more surely did the jealous Othello cherish the honor of his wife, not more surely was power dear to the soul of a Csesar or a Cromwell, not more surely did the "pride, pomp^ and circumstance of war" dazzle the eyes of a Napoleon, or the blaze of the battle field carry a bewildering joy to a Scott or a Jackson, than did the grandeur and perpetuation of this Union inflame with high hope and rapturous exultation the noble heart of Webster. With this theme his genius always rises to its proudest elevation: Other misfortunes may be borne or their effects overcome. If disas- trous 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 re-construct the fabric of demolished government] Who shall rear again the well-propor- tioned columns of Constitutional liberty] Who shall frame together the skilful architecture which unites national sovereignty with State rights, individual security, and public prosperity] No, Gentlemen, if these columns fall they will be raised not again. Like the Coloseum and the r^Tsr^rrr^ .^^.^ T,».^.-.. i I iii ii i i iiiii i B iii ii i m ii m ill II — 24 EULOGY ON WEBSTER : 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 Ameiican liberty.* Mr. Webster was endowed with a moral courage which seemed to rise and meet the most extraordinary emergencies which could test the force of public character. He wanted, perhaps, the prompt and impetuous daring of Henry Clay: But in constitutional and moral intrepidit}^, Clay was surpassed by no man that ever lived. Though followed for more than a quarter of a century by a "hunt of obloquy," as fierce and malignant as ever fell to the lot of a statesman, his spirit never quailed, or faltered, or was jostled, for one moment, from the elevated path of duty and patriotism. He was like one of those huge oaks of the forest, which, for more than seventy winters, had mocked at the thunder and defied the tempest : Though all the Avinds of Heaven may have howled around it, and the lightnings streamed and flashed through its branches, yet, when the storm passed away, it rose in unbroken majesty, and towering magnificence to the sun. The genius of Mr. Webster passed through the perilous gloom which surrounded it in 1850, and reappeared with renovated lustre, bringing to mind the noble lines of Milton : " So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, And yet anon repairs his droopmg head, And tricks his beams, and, with new spanglpd ore, Flames in the forehead of the morning sky." There is one point of view in which the speeches and wri- tings of Mr. Webster deserve the special regard of society and public men ; and that is, the sentiment of reverence which every where pervades them. Not a line can be found i in which he sneers at, or ridicules, or trifles with the great truths of Christianity. His mind had drunk deeply at the sublimcst fountains of human wisdom, and though his genius may have been clouded with errors and infirmities, it has left the everlasting record of its belief, and invoked, with its dying breath, the atoning blood of a Saviour. It is right and proper, on occasions like this, that we should avail ourselves •Speech delivered at Washington, in 1833, on the Centennial Birthda}^of Wash- ington. _.i.iiuii.ji.i... .iiLi«i.j««ji. -,«• -...■'■i' ni.nj ..ji.- m.iL.-..M.-.;.j.i-ii.i-Mm..- ii..jiw!T5irtr^ ■■.«..mi«>. .m.»^.-»»— 1» BY LEROY POPE, ESQ. 25 of the testimonies of remarkable men, to the truth, and beauty, and excellency of a Christian system. It is delight- ful to contemplate the last hour of such a man as Clay, which, like an unsullied mirror, reflected not only the glori- ous form of his country's freedom, but the beauteous image of the cross of Christ. I stand not here, in a spirit of affec- tation, to read a moral lecture, for temporary effect. It is my firm conviction, that the whole fabric of government, of law, and of morals, must rest upon the solid rock of eternal truth. It is to be deplored that we so often find in profes- sional and public men a sneering levity, and contemptuous scepticism: Come up to this tomb and let us see if we can- not find the evidence and inspiration of a Deity : Let us survey this majestically formed intellect; let us trace it through all its stages of progressive power, sublimity, and splendor — penetrating the depths of human passion, unfold- ing the springs of government, reading the past, anticipating the future, wielding the whole thunder of the Forum, extract- ing philosophy from the pages of universal knowledge, then rising " from nature up to nature's God," soaring to the far- thest star, calling world after world around it, until it wheels in circles of eternal light, and tell me, can this " capability and God-like reason " be the offspring of blind chance ! Pause then, pause, infatuated mortal, who would roll up the billows of scepticism between God and his creation. If then man be formed in the image of a celestial Ruler, and all government must, at last, be resolved iiito an expres- sion of the Divine will, where should the highest duties and responsibilities of religion rest, if not in the minds of those who control the destinies of the world. When the mighty man of earth can say, with a holy and sublime consciousness of his rectitude, " I fear God, I have no other fear ! " then, indeed, is he fitted for the most exalted offices of a patriot. In looking back upon this long and illustrious political career, we are struck with the vast intellectual proportions which go to form the mind of a great statesman. The genius of such a man is the noblest gift of God to the world — the pride and ornament of the human race. Brilliant as are the achievements of the laurel-crowned hero, they dwin- dle away before the majesty of that intellectual sceptre BBg^LII»|l|.WBIIMI«IIHU IILIUII IIPIBlilUIL II II IliUMIIMWI M] I .IIWIMI IIMBmilllLI liU [■■mWBWW^ —imuM .IJI..JI.L.IL1L ,.MI>JJJi.iy-l.)»Wl'Ji','.tW'J-J.IAM.IJ.>MJ' ■ll'l.','JiJL)i.- ..',..,'. !JiiAML.mjiU..I'J."..H.^.lULIM 2G EULOGY ON ^VEDSTER : which holds a perpetual sway over the interests of society, and the progress of nations. The victories of Csesar, though the marvels of their time, have ceased to influence the policy of States, but the Forum is still eloquent with the language of Cicero : Phillip of Macedon vanquished Greece, but the genius of Demosthenes, for more than two thousand years, has subjugated the lettered world. The fame of JMarlbo- rough is felt only in its incitements to military ambition, but the mind of Burke continues to illuminate the cabinets of Kings, and the altars of constitutional freedom. The histo- rian tells of the battles of Washington, but the ship of State is now moving in the light of his civil wisdom. In turning to the private life of Mr. Webster, there is much that we can dwell upon with unmixed satisfaction — affectionate respect, and grateful veneration. There was a time when it was thought, that there was more of an isolated sublimity, of cold and austere majesty, than of grace, tender- ness, and beauty in his social character. The hand of the recent biographer has wholly dispelled the fallacy of this impression. He was a man of pure, simple, and republican tastes. His heart was noble, magnificently generous, and warmly inspired by all those sweet, gentle, and beautiful affections which cluster around the domestic altar. His let- ters to his old schoolmasters, and to his earlier friends, are full of the most touching reminiscences, and enchanting sim- plicity, and show that all the cares and honors of public life could not blot out the grateful, the tender, the unsophistica- ted affections of the boy. Filial love was the ornament of his childhood, the crowning grace of his manhood. Nature had lavished its noblest graces upon the person of Mr. Webster. When we gazed upon his stalwart and well proportioned figure, his broad, imperial forehead, his deep, dark eye, fraught with lightning, his majestic mien, and then turned to the monuments which his genius had scattered along his country's pathway, it would seem as if there had been a contest between the physical and intellectual man which should have the ascendency, whether the gem or its framework were the finest of God's workmanship. Had this remarkable man, you will say, none of the ordi- nary frailties of humanity? There were doubtless vices, 3IBES BY LEROY POPE, ESQ. 27 and poUtical delinquencies, which a stern moralist might hold up to public chastisement, to the just reprobation of his countrymen ; but rather than seek to separate these from the virtues by which they were surrounded, I choose to adopt the eloquent language of Boudaloue, employed in reference to the Grand Conde : " There is not a luminary in the heavens, which does not sometimes suffer an eclipse : and the sun, which is the most splendid of them, sulTers the greatest and most remarkable: two circumstances in these particularly deserve our consid- eration ; one, that, in these eclipses, the sun suffers no sub- stantial loss of light, and preserves his regular course ; the other, that during the time of the eclipse, the universe con- templates it with most interest, and watches its variations with most attention. The prince, whom we lament, had his eclipses, it would be idle to attempt concealing them ; they were as visible as his glory : but he never lost the principle of rectitude which ruled his heart : * * * Thus the eclipse was temporary, and the golden flood remain unim- paired." Let us believe too, in oi^r illustrious countryman, the obscuration was temporary, while the "golden flood" of his genius and his virtues remained unimpaired to the world. What incentives to usefulness, to honor, to a noble and generous ambition, does such a life present to the young men of our country. Let us follow this New Hampshire boy, trudging through the snow drifts of winter, with an eye every where eager and restless for knowledge ; let us trace him to the little shop, spending his last quarter of a dollar, in the purchase of a cotton handkerchief, upon which was written the constitution of his country ; let us stand by him while he is poring over it at night, perhaps by an imperfect light, in his obscure dwelling; let us accompany him a little further on, and see him leaning upon his father's bosom, to adopt Mr. Everett's idea, with a heart bursting with gratitude, because he was about to bestow upon him the advantages of College education ; — and are not these scenes as full of high, and holy, and encouraging inspirations, as that other one, in after life, when the voice of the Senator shook the pillars of your temple in driving out the foes of the constitution ? Here then is your model : — V. Remember — Resemble — Persevere ! " 1^. u ....... . ...— . ■ n,.,„ .,.,„U.U .LWILM/- ^W-r....l.,.l.!.......,Ui. L«J.>..J-.i,.,..»..».F.^.F.^« iMMji»J<^»]m-Mjmmufcnmiiiii..uLiji.ii.iij»Bq 28 EULOGY ON WEBSTER : If you have not his genius, gather up his knowledge, emu- late his industry, press forward upon his indefatigable wing ; fix your minds, with the eagle-eyed Statesman, upon the shining cliffs of fame : '' Who, that surveys this span of earth we press, — This speck of life in time's fjreat wilderness, This narrow isthmus 'twixt two boundless seas, The past, the future, two eternities ! — Would sully the bright spot, or leave it bare, When he might build him a proud temple there, A name, that long shall hallow all its space, And be each purer soul's high resting place?" Fellow citizens : Whatever may be the fate of this great Republic, the renown of the orator is secure : Greece fell, Demosthenes still lives ! Should it be my country's doom to fall a prey to the furies of intestine faction, and all the em- blems of her beauty and her grandeur should lie scattered in the dust ; should she live only in the song of the Poet, the speculations of the Philosopher, or in the grand lamentations of the Historian, and the Orator ; — if ever, in after-times, some fond pilgrim of Liberty should visit these shores; — while standing at the base of Bunker Hill Monument, should visions of past glory crowd upon his imagination, and the " first great martyr,"* start from the dust, and wipe from his brow the blood of revolutionary sacrifice, and the sainted forms of heroes should gather around him, and would veil from their eyes the sight of the '• broken and dishonored frag- ments of a once glorious Union," — as that monument peered upward in the serene Heavens, and the light of imperisha- ble memories played around its summit, there should be written the name of Daniel Webster, bright, vivid, gleaming in evcrlastintr honor ! ! o > » ♦' ■»' ^ ^ ^j^ « «• ^^ y <^^ ,0' > A <:•• "-^^^^/ V^^\^^ %.*^-*/ ^^.' « 4 '-n m 1 O 'V*. 4 ^-^O* ^^°<<. ■ / 1 , o o