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  ANDOVER ADDRESS

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HIS P OLITICLAL COURSE

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 SECRETARY OF STATE.

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  PROF. STUART, OF ANDOVER.

 A ‘ ESSEXCOUNTY :

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. all events, then,

T what, their value excites, and no particular

MR. WEBSTER

   
   

ANDOVER ADDRESS.
NUMBER I.

THE writer of the remarks which follow was present at the mass meeting in An
heard the address which is designated by the inscription above.
cisrns in the public journals on the performance in question.
for substance in opinion, while from others he feels himself
respect to those criticisms, (if they may be so called
party violence and ranconr, he has little or nothing to say; as they are not founded on any
sober inquiry into the merits of VV'ebster’s performance, much less on any aesthetical
principles of judgment and decision, they do not demand, for the present purposes of the
writer of these remarks, any distinctive notice or recognition._ _In what way, indeed, will
any thinking and judicious man undertake to refute mere railing accusations? Will he
make use of argument‘? No argiiment, nor even demonstration, would have any weight
with the authors of such accusations. Their decisions proceed merely from violence of
feeling and party bitterness. How can this be controlled by argumentative criticism? The
truth is, that the greater a man’s merits are who isropposed to their views, and the more
distinguished his perfbrmance is, the more do they rail, and the more severe is their sentence
of condemnation. It would be a hopeless task to oppose candid reasoning and fair arguw
merit to criticisms of this cast. One could only “revile again” in return for reviling, an
undertaking in which, on grounds of propriety, decency, self‘-respect, and peace-able demea-
nor, the writer of these remarks can never consent to engage. '

In some journals, however, conducted in general with decorum and regard to the proprie-~
ties of social intercourse and private feeling, there seems to be an inclination quite manifest
to put Mr. Webster’s Andover Address below his former efi“orts of a similar nature, “in the
ppliny days of Whig exertions. and Whig triumphs which preceded the election of General

arris9,n.” No controversy with the writers of these criticisms is_desigr_ierI onthe present
occasion. But as they have taken the liberty freely to express their opinion, it may be law-
ful, in a “land of libert ,” to express another opinion somewhat different from theirs. The
ultimate appeal must of course be tothat part of the public, who have both the power of
a critical judgment and the candor which is necessary to form it correctly. To
e writer of the following remarkswill most cheerfully submit. ‘ T
t the writer in the present case has no connection
or with any canvassin for political office. He
never sought or held any office whatever, of a political nature, w ich it was in the power of
the government or of the people to bestow. He never expects to seek or receive one. . At
his remarks are not prompted by the hopes of promotion, or of the einolu-
ments which flow from it. ‘ And as to the journals which, when embarked in“ any particular
course, are reluctant to swerve from it, the present writer has no other interest inithein than
favoritism toward the course whic T

entitled to his sincere ap robation .
without farther pre ace, proceed to make
convenience "sake, and to avoid
e remainder of his communication. T *

dover, and
He has seen various criti-
With some of these he agrees
obliged widely to dissent. In
), which exhibit merely the feelings of

J

theni tli ,
It may not be improper to state here, the
whatever, either. with the public journals,

them pursues. Some of them he regards as
“Having thus declared who he is not, he may,
some reimairlis,‘ premising only that he shell, for
employ the frat .pe_i-son instead of the third, in th
It was my lot, has I have already .-l:iinted,.to b
And a greed lone fitjtrulyl Was. iNotwithstandin T
severe cold which‘ sank the thermometer iiearl

y to fr’e*ezin"g"' point at mid-day, the yeomanry

av.-

h any ante of ‘

formality,

a present at the great meeting. in Andover. -, T
g the inc1e?mien—cy. of thieiweathier, I mean the i

4

0

from the neighborhood poured in to listen to. the Address. There were, moreover, nearly a
thousand persons from Boston and Salem, of whom were many leading characters among the
Whigs. But notwithstanding the coldness of the weather, there were some propitious cir-
cumstances attending the day. The sunshone brightly, and the air was serene; and this
state of things continued until theexercises were nearly through. 

The procession that was formed, the splendid escort by the New England Guards,‘of Bosu
ton, the magnificent brass band led by Kendall, the throng of joyous and applauding specta-
tors of both sexes-—-these and the like things have all been so fully detailed in the journals,

, that nothing more need now be said respecting them. The place of assembling has been
A partially, but not fully, described. . It is difficult indeed to do it justice. One must imagine
a plat of ground, shaped like an immense bowl, the bottom of which is a large flat, and the it

sides of which rise very gradually and with a gentle slope to the height of some 50 or 60
feet. This area. would contain within itself at least fourteen or fifteen thousand persons, all
ofiwhom could be brought perfectly within the sound of a well toned voice. On one side
of this peculiar amphitheatre, if we may so call it, a stage was erected capable of holding
some severity or eighty persons, furnished‘ with two long tables for reporters, which were
entirely occupied. This latter class of gentlemen, as I was told, were from Boston, New
york, Albany, Lowell, and some other parts of Massachusetts not named. The position of
the stage was peculiar. It was placed about one third of the way up the ascent of the am»
phitheatre, on the northwest side of" it; and back of it was a thick forest of evergreens on

the ascending ground, which contributed greatlyto the quiet of the place, and formed a ram»

part against the northwind and the cold. There was, moreover, to a sensitive mind, some-
thing of awe in this dense -overshadowing forest. It extended itself, however, only from the

northwest to the northeast side of the area in question. Never was a place better adapted”.

to publicspeaking. I cannot doubt, in the least, that any man, who is able to use his voice
with skill and power, might make at least 15,000 persons in this place hear every word which
he would utter. A _
So much for the procession and the place. A few words, now, as to the distinguished
speaker, who was to address the great assembly convened on this occasion. ’
He came to Andover on the ‘day preceding the Address. The friends who visited him in
the evening found him laboring under; a most Violent catarrhal complaint, which arose from

a preceding. snow storm, followed by avery damp andcold atmosphere. Mr. himself, 

and his friends also, nearly despaired of his being able to address the meeting on the fol-
lowing day. A peaceful night, however, in a. good degree restored his usual tone of health,

a and the next morning he found himself, as he said, “ not unwilling to say a few common-

place and dull thingsto his friends, if they wished him to make the effort.”

The procession was long in forming, on account of the distance from which great numbers
had to come. It was mid-day before they reached the ground where the Address was to be
made. A Mr. W., on account of the somewhat delicate state of his health, at this time, waited
atthe house of a friend until the procession had begun their march. He met them at a

_ moderate distance from the station. A friend, who was near him at the time when his eye
first caught a glance of the long and deep array of freemen in the procession, said to him : r

“ You thoughtithat you were to address only a small gathering of people from this and the
neighboring towns; look back and see how many guests are come to the feast to—day.” He
cast back his eye; but the end of the procession could not be seen, it being hidden by a ris-

tins‘ £.‘roun'd,'at the distance of nearly one~third of a mile. On the way to the speaking station,

when  W. had mounted the rising ground which surrounds the amphitheatre, he could
now look back and see,l_at last, the whole ofthe,procession. It was some eight or ten deep,
and extended to alrnoist half a mile. Besides .lZl1€S_B were a large number of persons already
assembled on therground, and these were afterward joined by many new corners. The whole
_nu:mber has “been variously; estimated in the journals; much, I should think, at least by many
of jthem, according to the tenor of their , wishes, rather than of their judgment. I e have
seen inanylarge asserriblies in the course of my life, and I venture, after some pains-taking,
to form a judgment, and after conferringwith others accustomed to form oiielon such occa-‘T-r
sions, to say that there could not be less thanbetween five and six thousand people. ‘ I have
heard and read of their being 1,500, 1,800, 2,000, 2,500, 3,000, etc.. ; all the result of inexpe-
rience in judging, or of displeasure at the occasion. ‘ 0 i 

‘ When Mr.  ii 3 t casta glance at this minensetrain, this solid phalanx of the freeman
of Old Essex and her friends, his eye kindled, and his face glowed. with an emotion that was
indicative of good to come for those who were to hear him. A friend who was near him,

thought he saw the tear of emotion start in his eye; hewas sure it did in his own. When ‘

oMr. W.hacl reached the position spoken of above, narne’l‘y,the elevated side of theamphi-T-
theatre, and could by looking back see the wholejof the proc_ession,moving,alongjwithia
gravity, a stillness, and ‘a, sobriety of demeanor which could scarcelyrbe surpassed hiya jgreat

5

assembly convening for public worship, that friend said to Mr. Webster: Look back now,

andseerliow it will fare with the “commonuplace and dull things that you threatened us
with saying.” The look evidently brought up his whole soul into his countenance. (Den
noticing this, that friend added, “Now then I am certain that something will be done to-
day.‘ I am sure this will bring out some of the very recesses of your intellectual interior.”
Mr..W. made no answer; but it was easy to believe that the prediction of that friend, would
be verified. Mr. W. however, after a. few moments, merely expressed his gratification, in
delicate terms, at the stillness, the perfect order, the deep earnestness, of those who were to
be his auditors. .

The station was reached in a few minutes, and the exercises commenced after at short
delay. I shall spend no time in repeating details already given in the public journals. I aim
more at the interior history of the occasion, than its exterior. There was, from the moment
the attention of this great meeting was formally invited, the most solemn and profound still-
ness, through the whole of the exercises, with the exception of occasional applauses. It was

an affecting sight, when it was announced that the blessing of Heaven was to be invoked, W

to see such a vast assemblage uncover their heads, "without an exception, and stand in a pos-
ture of reverence that could not be exceeded in any church, on the most solemn occasion.
There was not a whisper or a movement. With the arch of heaven for the dome of their temple,
with the glorious noonday sun in all his radiance looking down upon them, and surrounded by

the dark ever-green forest, and the high rampart of hills thrown up by the hand of Omnipm

otence, this rnighty mass of the‘yeomanry of Essex, unsurpassed in true dignity and worthof
character by any other like assembly on the face of the earth, bowed and worshipped with
an awe that cannot be adequately described, before the God of the whole earth, in whose
hands are the destinies of rulers and people, and before whom all nations are as nothing and
vanity, and are counted as the dust of the balance. r

The various exercises which followed have alrcacly been described in the papers. Justice,
however, has not, as it seems to me, been done to the Hon. Mr. Pliillips, of Salem, for his
preamble and resolutions. They were the fruit of much researcli, and told some important
truths in respect to the structure and design of our i-Iltate Government, wliiclr the commu~
nity seem of late to have lost sip,-lit; of. l y "

But I hasten to the chief speaker. He bogtiii in a moderate tone, as he always does in
his great speeches. He gradually warmed and rose as the occasion, the niut1..er of’ his dis-
course, and the feelings of the assembly before him demandccl. In this he showed his usual
tact. Nothing can be more incongruous than a highly animated and glowing address from a
speaker, to an assembly which is perfectly cool and grave; specially when they have come
together, not to pour out their pent-up or indi,o;uant feelings on any moving occasion, but to
be instructed, and thus to be persuaded to pert'orm their duty. It  zi.ltop;c1:l1er ixicongi-uotie
when a speaker rises, in presence of a great assembly, and is all on fire and liiirstirug with
zeal, while his audience do not yet know what there is to set him on fire, and see no reason
why they should burn with him. Mr. W. makes no such mistakes. ‘

Such a listening concoursel have never seen, on a merely civil or social occasion. In
particular, from themoment when Mr. W. lietrari, until he closed, there was nothing but the
most fixed and; eager attention aniong his audience. Indeed, it made one’s heart beat l'rigl'i,

to look on that vast and solemn iasseinbly, as they stood before the speaker. There was a

sea of upturned faces; a seaiunrutlied except by the rriiglity impetus of the speaker in occa-
sional passages. But when this ocean of human aspects was a,e;it.ntod, (and this was on no
light occasion,) it resounded like the mighty deep that lifts its voice on l"xirrli, amid the buti'et-
ings r of the storm. It was the shout of ireemen, firmly resolved to defend their precious
rights and their invaluable privileges to the latest breath; a. shout which made the lrills to
echo and re-echo its lofty note, and which mounted to the arcliof heaven above. It was
the response of thousands, to whomthe principles of civil and religious liberty and of eternal
right and justice are very clear, and who could not but exult, when they heard them lucidly
explained and nobly defended. * T r l y t i Q T l i

There was one circumstance, in particular, which ixnparted peculiar interest-to the scene.

. Every person present knew that the approbation, whenever and however expressed, was the

unbotight and unsolicited approbation of men who judgecl for tliemselves. There were no

clap-trapsrprovided for the occasion; no hirelings stationed here and there to give thewatch
wordto a; mob, to throw up their caps into the air, and strain their lungs to the highest pitch

in hallooing. Whenever hurrairig or clapping‘ of hands took place, it proceeded from no one
particular quarter first, and then merely spread itself gradually out, but it was simultaiieous,
and thus showed that it resulted from the homogeneous andluniversal feeling of the audience.
It is true that-the tokens of applause in question were lessfrequent thantuwsuolly take place

inmost city meetings. But there was good reason for this. r'l7lie"l,sirrnple 3_voozr':anry of that
country are no't,,rtrainresd, and are not accustomed, to noise and adulatzom and they lwereytrthe r l

,.; .

6

mass of the audience;_ while the friends present from the cities in the neighborhood, were
almost without exception of a class who think little of huzzas, and care still less to have
their friends overloaded with them. Besides all this, the audience were too intent upon
drinking in instruction, often to interrupt the flow of it. They showed more interest in their
facesand in their demeanor, than could be shown by all the shouts or the clapping that
could have been exhibited. It was a kind of testimony which no man could fail to read,
none could mistake. And when the bursts of applause did come, it was, as has been inti-
mated, mere spontaneous feeling that occasioned them. There was no plan on the part of
the stpeaker to call them out, and none on the part of any of his hearers to regulate their
num er. a r

The speaker said nothing but What his subjects demanded, nor in any way which was not
entirely consistent with pure rhetorical taste. It is impossible but that the unalterable fixed»
ness of look upon him, which continued down to the last word that he uttered, must have
given him greater satisfaction than any clapping of hands or hurrahs. I do not say that
these should be altogether suppressed in meetings of such a nature as the one in question‘
they may have their uses when soberly and judiciously employed; but as they arelrnorei
generally managed of late years, any man of real Weight and dignity of character must look
upon them with emotions bordering upon contempt.

If any one will turn to the report of Mr. W.’s speech as printed in the Commercial, which
I believe is the only full and complete one in all its parts, he may see that the audience of
Mr.  seldom missed in their judgment, where applause iwas manifested. One case of
particular delicacy of feeling I noticed, which is worth recording. The day, as I have said,
though clear, was severely cold for the season. Mr. W. had taken off both his surtout and
hat, when he prepared to make his address. Being admonished by some friend near him, as
I believe, that it was dangerous to speak so long with his head uncovered, he after some
time resumed his hat, with a simple parenthetic sentence in the way of apology. In an
instant there was a wide and universal, although not boisterous, testimony of approbation
from his audience, telling him at once, and fully, that in these circumstances it argued no
want of respect to them that he addressed them with his head covered.

There are passages in his Address, where one might be strongly tempted to testify aloud
his approbation, but which passed without such a mode of approval. I -noticed it at the
time. ‘But’ nothing was easier than to account for it. The simple truth is, that the assembly
was too deeply interested in what was said, and too intent upon what they expected would be
said, to interfere often with the current of the discourse, or interrupt their own fixed attention.
And well did they judge, in my humble opinion Any man of sense would rather be heard
with respectful attention and silence, than to hear either clapping or hurrahs. The great agi-
tator of Ireland, as I observe, not only has regular hurrahs at the end of paragraphs and sen»
tences, but often at the end of single clauses, and sometimes of single words. If his reported
speeches are true copies, it seems to make very little diiference what is said, or how it is said;
for at certain places his audiences must stop and hurrah, until they get out of breath and cool
down their burning patriotism a little, and then they let their “ deliverer ” go on. Not so a
New England audience; and above all, not so with Daniel Webster as speaker before them.

Enough of this. But I must add that when, at the close of his discourse, Mr. W. came to
speak of himself, and the ofiicial course which he had pursued, there was such a thunder of
applause, so often repeated and so long continued, as left no possibility of misapprehending
the feelings of the audience. One was tempted to think that they had lost their sobriety,
were it not that they immediately relapsed into their former frame, as soon as the exercises
were closed; for they marched to the place of refreshment with the same order and quietness
as they had come to the station.

There was some excellent speaking at the dinner table; in particular Mr. King, the Rep-
resentative elect to Congress from the South Essex district, addressed the large concourse
there, with great animation; General Dearborn, also, who was displaced last winter from his
office, because he had lent some state arms to the conservatives of Rhode Island, made a
very eloquent speech on the subject of lending these arms, and of their subsequent sale by
order of the last winter’s Legislature. But the severity of the cold forced me from the place,
just before he concluded.‘

On review of this whole occasion, I count it one of those periods of a man’s life which

cannot often recur, but which leave behind them deep and lasting impressions. Every thing.

was sober, grave and decorous ; unless, indeed, some one should say that the occasional play
of -wit in some of the toasts, and the speeches after them, might infringe upon this. But on
such an occasion there is doubtless some latitude to be given to the play of the imagination

' and the fancy, in order to enliven an audience that had been fixed, so long as this had been, by

most earnest and devoted attention. More than two hours, or rather nearly three, including
all the previous exercises, hadthey been in this attitude. At all events, neither the toasts

- They did not think it would be courteous and respectful to Mr. W.,

'7

nor the addresses that followed them were inspired by wine. The whole entertainment was
conducted strictly upon temperance principles. . _

On the whole, the scene, the demeanor of the assembly, the peculiarity of the place, the
character of the audience, the deep silver trumpet tone of the orator of the day, his gestures,
his looks, his words--«they made an impression never to be eradicated or forgotten. . p

I crave pardon for-_ being so prolix on this part of my subject. I am only reiterating the
language and the feelings of the thousands -who were present.

But I have matters of more serious import in view; and I hasten to them without a Word of

reface.

P A respectable Whig journal, in reporting only a part of Mr. W.’s speech, remarks, that
“the speech has none of that fire, that vigor, that deep-toned, heart-born eloquence, which,
in the glorious campaign of 1839-40, were wont to mark the efforts of Mr. W. in the fur-
therance of the good cause, and to stir all true ‘Whig hearts like the sound of a trumpet.”
The writer goes on to speak of the “restraint” which manifests itself in the speech, as “con-
trasting With the frank, open and noble manner of former speeches on public matters.”

This, or something like to this, has been said in a few other Whig journals; but, so far as
I know, only in a few. I take the general impression to be that, take it all in all, the Ando-
ver address is one of the best and most useful and important of all Mr. ‘Wis speeches.

I can ive some specific reasons for differing from the_ opinion of the journal above men-
tioned. 1: must certainly be admitted that different occasions call for addresses of different
character. The perfection of any address consists, in its being wholly appropriate to the oc-
casion which called it forth. N ow what was the nature of the call in the present instance?
The state election in Massachusetts was indeed pending, yet the committee who invited Mr.
W. expressly say to him, that they do not invite him to address them for the purpose of aiding
their town, district, or state election. They ask him to discuss topics of um'cer.9aZ interest to
the country—--the topics in dispute between the two great parties that divide the nation.
They ask him to discuss these, in such a way as will be adapted to arrest the attention of
both parties‘, and cast light on the subject discussed, of which both may avail themselves.
situated as he now is, to
invite him to come and prepare a mere local party banquet. He certainly would not have
come for such a purpose. He could not do it without a degree of degradation.

How, then, has Mr. W. executed the task which he was invited to perform? There is but
one answer to be made to this question... He. has donejust what the committee invited him
to do. He has given his views onthe most impontalnta toicrs which «divide , the or opinions and
feelings of the country, and given them in a manner that will not soon be forgotten. Is
there one word in all that he has said, which is uttered ad captcmduin '33 Is there any invidié

ii ous, sarcastic, vilifying remark in the whole speech, against such as differ from him in politi-

‘ . What wassaid longrago by a writ

of those men who believe that the minds of his

cal opinion? Not one. Mr. W. is one
persuaded by argument and reason, and not by

fellow citizens are to be convinced and
reproaches, and sarcasms, and hard names. 

.His political opponents may say what they please of his speech; but one may challenge
them to produce from all their ranks, in the North or South,a single great speech onthe
topics in question, which has not more of party feeling and severity in it than the Andover
Address. I am aware thatsome of the Whigs like it the less on this very account; but I
am not aware that there is any good measure of candor, or magnanimity, or true policy, in
such a feeling. . . W ' a
. Nothing can be more unjust in criticism than to complain of. Mr. W., that he had not all
the excitement and tire of Harrison times, on the present occasion. First of all, we are not
in the midst of Harrison times. We have fallen, alas! upon very different times. As, Mr.
W. was not invited to make any local or state elections his particular object, so there was
none of the excitement that belongs to a heated
or demanded of him. It would have been aside from good taste for him to exhibit it. No
general election, for the whole country is yet fairly upon the topic. It was not for Mr. W. to
anticipate this. Nothing could be said, at this juncture, which was particular and personal,
that would not have been misinterpreted and perverted.» Mr. W. has been too long in public
life, to commit himself in this manner. ‘

. fl ‘

‘e best manualof rhetoric from the time when it waswritten down to the present hour, is
St1l.l5true.~ ,Dg'fict"le est propric commuwio: dicere, i. e. “ it is difficult to speak in an interesting
manner Ongtopicsrwith which everybody, is acquainted.” N 0 one is ignorant of the fact that,
for the last seven or eight years, the topics on which Mr. W. spoke at Andover have been
515035595, frem thejlclitysenate chamber down to the bar-room caucus. Speakers in Con-
gress IIWB dlsmissecl and repeated, and repeated and discussed, until the whole matter has

11011 only been~wom.; 2 scald-bare, but reduced to shreds.. Soyhas it been in all the state legis-

political canvass to be "expected from him, »

er, whose short poem on the laws of criticism has been .

is
'> .

8

latures, caucuses, county meetings, town _meetings, and tavern or other small meetings.
Every newspaper, from the stately metropolitan down to the lowest radical ofi"-shoot-—--the ten
dollar papers and the cent-a-piece papers-—~have harped on the ‘subjects that Mr. W. has i can-
vassed, until they have become tiresome, even to the most V10l€‘I1l‘. sticklers for party mea-
sures. Wliat hope was therefor Mr. W., in such a case i’ The committee invited him to a
task difficult indeed, and one which but few political men would be willing to undertake.

How then has he performed this task? Just as the committee hoped and expected; and
just as the public, who knew him, expected. He has taken hold of’ the subjects with giant
grasp. He has presented all that IS essential and important, in the smallest compass possible,
and in a manner so lucid that the most simple reader can understand him. He has brought
the much controverted subjects, indeed, into so narrow a compass as to throw them "all upon
one canvass, sketched out there by his skilful hand. He has made for the country a manual
of political economy-~«-a text book which will go down to future generations, so far as the
topics in question are concerned. N 0 man can refute the substance of what he has said.
Any one may rail at it, or he may scoff at it, if he is degraded and foolish enough to do so;
but to refine his reasoning---the whole political world may be challenged to do it.

What propriety is there, then, in the criticism which complains that there is not the glow
or warmth of‘ Harrison speeches 3’ Mr. W. was asked for didactics; he has given themiwith
a witness. He has touched the common, trite, and absolutely worn—out topics with his magic
wand, and they have started up before us in a new, simple, and beautiful costume. Every

body who reads with candor wonders that such simple things could not be said before... It _

brings fresh to one’s mind another admirable saying of‘ that great master of the true princi~
ples of rhetoric, whose words I have quoted above, but whom I must again quote, because I
can say nothing so appropriate as he has said : at

E2: note Afictum carinen seqnar, ut sibi quivis
Sparct idem; sudct mult_uni,_ frustraque laboret _
Ausus idem; tanturn series juncturaque pollet.

That is: “H One may compose a poem on a trite subject, in such a way that every body will
feel hirnself able to accomplish the same thing; yet should they pattemptit, after much severe
efibrt, they will find thatrrtheyihaveilabored in vain: so much do nice arrangement and due
connectien of ‘things wavail.” Never‘ was this? «more I eoiaaplietiel;y».vieritrieid . than in the present
instance.‘ Tire simplicity which is so remarkable in Mr. W.’s discourse, is the genuine fruit
of a master-mind, which first strongly and.f'ully grasps a subject, then divests it of all that is
extraneous, separates fiipm it (all tlipt IE uri(11nipo}11*tanf1_:,dand lastly holds it up to view so that all
its constituent parts wi stan in tie roa _ ig t o ay. . l i

It is always the worl<‘of' a master mind to find the simple and constituent elementsof
things, that were to all appearance and to complain minds intricate and perplexed. This is
clearly one of‘ the CllStlI’l0'ulSl]lI10' prerorratives o r. VV.’s mind. ‘

Why now, I repeat th: questiian, shciilld any one say, in the way of undervaluing Mr. W.’s
address that it has not all the fire of arrison times? If it had I answer it would have
been inhppropriate to the occasion.“ ‘What if‘ a critic on Cicero shbuld now rise up and say:
"V-‘ The orations for the poet .A_rch1as and 111 defence of Milo are but tame _and_1ns1p1d per-
formances; for they are destitute of‘ that fire and energy Wl’11Cl1 appear 111 h1S invectives
against Catalina and Marc Antony?” Or what if‘ one should say that “ Demosthenes may
justly _be taxed with a failure, because his oration for Phormio, or -against Spudias, IS not to

be compared, as to fire and energy, with his Oration for the Crown, or his Philippics E’ ” ‘One -

might surely, and with much propriety, reply, that different occasions call for different kinds
of‘ oratory. i The highest evidence of the first order of oratoripal talent is, that a speaker
always says that whicli is appropriate to the occasion, and in the manner that the nature of’
the pcaserequires. it i i l i

It isbeyond a doubt that Mr. W.’s eloquence is prevailingly of the Demosthenian order. ‘

He nevertseeks to make a display. He never steps aside to cull at gaudy flower for the sake

of ornament. He Wlll scarcely ever admit it even when proffered. He never strains his

imaginative-n in search of novel, and seerninglyornate, and striking forms of‘ expression. He H

exhibits simplicity without homeliness, neatness without affectation, strength without rough-c
ness. There is a living power in the tenor of his thoughts,which, while its pulse beats deep
and high, communicates the energy. of‘ its movements to all within its reach; HMr. W.“s
power lies mainly, as every discriminating hearer or reader must perceive, inrhis deep, log1-
cal, orderly, simple," and energetic vein of thought; indeed his is truly the eloqn.ence_of'
thought. Yet not in such a sense as if‘ words, or the choice of words, were i a matter of‘ in-
difference to him. Nothing canibe Further from reality than this; for his diction is altogether
congruous with his course of thought,.and seems to come . forth as easily and naturally as

water flows along a. descent. Often, in the course of his address, was Iiremindediiof the

9

remark of Milton--—a. remark equally discriminating and just--namely, that when a hearty
lover of truth, anxious to comrnunicate it to others, would speak, “his words, like so many
nimble and airy servitors, trip about him at command, and in well ordered files, as he would
wish, fall aptly into the1r_own places.”._ Even under the disadvantage of mere stenographic
representation, the scrutiny of the critic will discover few cases indeed in Mr. W.’s dis-
courses, where the diction could be altered for the better. And as to words coming. at the
biclcling of Mr. W., never had a master more complete, absolute, and uncontrollabledominion,
than this orator has over “ his nimble and airy servitors.” . t

It would be easy to refer to several of Mr. W.’s speeches, where he has shown that he
can rival the manner of _Cicero, as well as that of Demosthenes. It is undoubtedly true, that
an imagination which kmdles so easily as his, and a mind so instinct and fraught with poetic
imagery and conception, could achieve any thing in the way of ornamented discourse which
it might be desirable to achieve. But his chastened taste does not permit indulgence in this
way, when he engages in forensic and didactic speaking.

His Bunker Hill Addresses show how easily he can depart from his more usual argurnen.
tative and didactic manner---delightful in their kind——-Parian marble chiselled into Corinthian

columns-while his argumentative discourses are of the solid granite, wrought in the chaste 

and severe simplicity and grandeur of the Ionic order. And what shall we say of the man
who can erect a structure of either shape and material, with equal ease and skill? We
have such a one in the Defender of the Constitution of our country.

It would be superfluous fbr me to recapitulate here the substance of Mr. VVebster’s Address.
It is in every body’s hands, and all can read and judge for themselves. But it may be proper
merely to notice that the order of the topics which he has discussed, is that which the feel»-
ings of his audience and of the country made the most natural and apposite. First, the cur-
rency, as the means of trade and commerce, in which every man, rich and poor, is interested;
then comes the great and intensely interesting subject of tariff, or, in other words, thesubject
of patronising and encouraging the manufactures of our country. How great this is, may
be judged of in some measure by the products of 1840, a year far inferior as to the quantity
of them to 1843. But of thelast named year I have no estimate on which I can rely.

In 1840, however, the amount of our productions by manufacture was but a little short of
TWO HUNDRED AND ronrr MILLIONS on normaas. , The exact sum, as estimated in the
best possible manner, was :fi;239,836,224. If such a vast sum stands as the equivalent of our
manufactured productions, what must be  amount of the capital embarked by the manufac-

” hi hi‘         V   - 
certain, that but for the tariifa large proportion of this capital Won d be entirely inactive and
worthless. . European labor-——from four pence to a shilling a day---must enable the manufac-
turers there to undersell us here, until such time as our machinery, which is every year im-
proving, and superse-ding more and more the need of numerous operatives, and the quantity
and quality of our raw material,.shall become sorcomplete, that we can not only sell as cheap
asQEurope, but even undersell them, and go to foreign markets with our productions. Already
has the process commenced; and let the tariff be on ten years longer, and it will extend to
nearly all the most important articles produced by our manufacturers. . i p

But my pfesentvihusiness is not to argue the point. Mr. W. ‘has rendered it needless. .I
merely. advert to the happy dexterity with which Mr. W. has interwoven documents with his
speech, whichshow that tariif is no novelty under our Government. The opinions and views
of Dr. Franklin, and of the leading men in Boston, so far back as 1787, are fully given.
Mutatis mntandis, the very same things could be now said, and with still greater power. In
fact Mr. VV." has so said them. i it i r

The subjects of the public lands and of repudiation remain. The first topic is briefly
handled, as, on this occasion, was absolutely necessary. - In respect to g the second, Mr.iW.

H1

tures in buildings and machinery? It alrnbst

   

    

° WI

  

 

 

. has brought forward a most -admirable address of Congress to the States, immediately after

the peace in 1783, on the subject of paying their debts. He believes, and has expressed
himself in strong and undoubting terms, that our public faith and credit will be yet redeemed.
At, all events, we shall surelyjbecome a hissing and by—word among all nations if they be not.
I have seen several gentlemen, lately returned from the continent of Europe and from,_Eng.-
land. Nothing seems to be talked of there, now, in respect to America, but repudiation, and
Lynch-law, and slavery. This is the sombre tri-colored flag that floats, in their view, over
all our country- Time was, whenrAmericans, all over the continent of Europe, were received
with openjarms, and with more 'cordiality than the men of anyother nation. But now an
American is pointed at with the finger of scorn, as he passes along the streets, and he may
deem himself lucky if the mob do nothoot at and pursue him. , Such are thetremendons retri
butions of dishonesty, of violated public faith, of outra ed law and justice, and of an avarice
and a selfishness which stopat no bounds ,marked out. y heaven or»earth.. ” p 
. I is high time that this state of ' things should" be .changed. . A general conviction of the

10

truth of Mr. W.’s positions would change the whole in three months, and cleanse and redeem
our deeply stainedcharacter. The importance of the topics, then, which he has discussed,
no one will call in question. ' p

l : It remains to notice the concluding paragraphs of the Andover address, and then I have
done. But these involve so many circumstances of interest, and are of so much importance to
the country, as well as to Mr. Webster individually, thatl shall not ventureeven to touch upon
them in the present communication. I must reserve them for another apportunity; and should
that present itself, I believe “I may venture to say that I have some communications to make,
which will more than atone for the prolixity of the preceding remarks. I have facts to state,
respecting what Mr. Webster has accomplished for the country, during and before the time
when he took ofice in the Cabinet, some of which are but partially, if at all, known to the
country. A correct knowledge of these must, as it seems to me, in some respects have an
important influence on the present state of public opinion. I shall, however, if I find it possi-
ble, occupy less room than I have now done; and I hope, at all events, to excite a higher .in-
terest in the reader’s mind, than I can reasonbly suppose myself to have excited by the pre-
ceding communication. CIVIS.

NUMBER II.

The sketch which I am about to make of our political affairs, and of Mr. Webster’s con-
nection with them, during and since 1838, must necessarily be brief and rapid. It would
amount to a little volume, should. I go minutely into the detail.

The perpetually occurring and harrassing difliculties on the frontiers of Maine, during the
year 1838, are fresh in the recollection of all. We were not only in danger of a bitter and
bloody war, but one might actually say that a beginning had been made. The question had
been long, and, as it was thought, ably discussed between England and our government, as to

the alright of the case ; and both parties believed themselvesrto be in possession of that right. .

That England, as well as we, was sincere in this baelieia‘, there  no od‘ r?o«om,,for rational

“doubt.

In the session of‘ Congress of‘ 1838-9, Mr. W. made his great speech in favor of the claims
of Maine and Massachusetts to the disputed territory. This diffused general conviction over
the United States; but Great Britain was not yet satisfied. Matters were evidently hasten-
ing to a. fearful crisis; and, in View of this, the great majority in Congress were in favor of a

special mission to England. Massachusetts and Maine, without much distinction of party,

wished most earnestly that Mr. W. should be nominated by Mr. Van Buren to go on this
mission. i There would have been a general, if not a universal, approbation of such a
measure. I I I

From a variety of reasons, some of which will present themselves to every discerning
reader, Mr. Van Buren declined to make the nomination. Instead of following the advice
of Congress, as plainly manifested by the vote of both houses, in making the necessary appro-

' priation, Mr. V-anrBuren directed  Stevenson to consult England on the subject; and, as
I was to be expected, England, that 13 to say Lord Palmerston, saw no use in a special mission.

So the matter remained in the hands of the two officials, Lord Palmerston and Mr. Stevenson.

The result is known to every body. These negotiators left off where they began. The
country was on the very eve of a war, and was only waiting for a first blow to be struck.

,In this state of things, Mr. W.’s friends? thought that he ought to go to England as a pri-
vate individual, if not as a-special Minister. Moved by their advice, and not without hopes,
perhaps, that something might be done for the welfare of his country, he did go in May of
 ‘When he arrived in London, Parliament was in session, and the whole world, as
Englishmen say, was in London. At this period, and in order to prevent any diversity of
feeling with respect to the approaching presidential election, M1-..W., in a letter to a respected
friend in New York, made known that he declined any nomination as a candidate for the
ofice of the chief magistracy. I I * I I - I I v 

Finding all theinfluentia.land leading circles of the English nation in London, Mr. W.

rhadof course ready access to them, and was able to converse at large with them on the
. drfiiculties that existed between the two nations. Being a private man, all conversed with

him fireely, and he found almost every where a ready and listening ear. He stayed through
“most ofthe summer, until the Parliament broke .up,rin the city of London- Herelhersawi

men of hvothlhouses of Parliament, and of all classes,*from the highest down to the humblest ,'

station. His 7efi'ort was, as opportunity oifered, to enlighten their minds as to the true state

11

of the great and controverted question, and as to the real and paramount interests of both
countries. Light would, as he very reasonably believed, produce conviction that peace was
exceedingly desirable to both. i l _ p

« He found such to be the case. And what is somewhat remarkable and quite different from
What most persons in this country would suspect, he found that the C'onservattivc part of Pan-
llament, and of the English _1n general, were much more open to conviction, and easy of
access in respect to the pending questions, than the Whig party. He found them far more
ready to fall in with suggest1ons,_which appealed to good feeling and magnanimity. ‘

Among others specially deserving notice here, Mr. W. visited, and had long conversations
with, Lord Ashburton, afterward special ambassador to this country. He was invited, also,
to a conference at his oifice, by the Marquis of‘ Normanby, then Secretary of’ State.

Of the impression made on the minds of the English by Mr. W-I need not say much.
His countrymen know" too well to need information, that Mr. W. could, and did, easily satisfy
the leading men in England that he was “ not a whit behind the very chiefest ” of them. A
saying of Lord Brougham, characteristic of himself’ as well as of Mfr. W., is current in Eng-
land, and partially here, via: That “ he (Mr. ,W.) was a steam-engine in breeches.” I men-
tion this, not for the sake of’ flattery, but only to show the impression made upon men of the
highest circle in England, by the conversation of Mr. Webster. ,

But Mr. W’s. intercouse with public men was not confined to London. When Parliament
broke up, he visited the nobility, some of the bishops, and many gentlemen in the country.
His visit to the Archbishop of‘ York, as I have heard him mention it, deserves particular no-
tice, as indicating how little even the best informed Englishmen knew about some important
particulars involved inthe disputed questions. Mr. W. found him a venerable old man, of
more than 80 years, above the stature of most men, erect as in youth, and a deeply interested
politician, while all his mental powers were in full and vigorous exercise. The Archbishop
expressed his feelings with someiwarmth, against the neglect of’ the American Government
in respect to preventing the outbreaks continually occurring on the frontiers. He said it
was our imperious duty to establish a cordon of‘ troops, in order to watch over them and
restrain them. , And how long does your Grace think this cordon must be? said Mr. Web»
ster. Oh, it must extend some distance, he replied, but note very rent one; although I
have not particularly examined. T will tell you, then, said Mr. W.; t e distance is as great
as from your palace to Constantinople, and thence back again to Vienna. The Archbishop
lifted up both hands in astonishment. p Mr. W. assured him that taking Maine, New Hamp-
shire, Vermont and New York into the  s. . Y e  it,) what

 

M '1, «;»n~,.:,r M

he had said was literally true. It was easy for his   T r  n o_ i ‘' oops along
the whole of such a frontier was out of all question, and even if it were established, itwo-uld
prove to be nugatory. ‘ ‘
Suflice it to say that Mr. W. spent four or five months in London and other parts of Eng-
land, among people of all classes. Late in the autumn of 1839, he returned to this country.
It became soon apparent that Harrison was ‘fast gaining ground, and Mr. W.embarked' in
canvassing for him with all his might. In the mean time he was advertised by friends in
England, that the hopes of the leadin men there, of‘ bringing about a peace, were greatly
increased by the prospect of General arrison’s election. They had tried the Van Buren

administration, and done all thatthey had felt able to do, and had brought about nothing.

The question with that administration was, as they supposed, how will English matters bear
on our re—election; not what would contribute most for the peace, the happiness, and the

interests of the two nations. From Gen. Harrison and the Cabinet which he would select,

they had strong hopes of measures that would lead to pacification. , l ,
In November of 1840, Gen. I~Iarrison’s election was secured. M From him Mr. W. received

an immediate offer of any place in the Cabinet which he would choose, as is known from his

own statement. He chose, of course, in view of what he had‘ seen in iEnglan‘d, and 

the hope of completing what may be said to have be un, the cflice of Secretary q)",oS‘tatc. _

. ,Mr.  was sworn into ofiice immediately after ” arrison’s inauguration. In the mean-

timea. most unfbrtunate event had occurred, which threatened to defeat" all Mr. W.’s past

}efi'orts and frustrate his hopes. This was the arrest of'_McLeod, in February of 1841, just

before the new administration came into office. Hewas thrown into prison for a. capital
loifencej; and the magistrate who had at first bailed him, wasforced by the mob to retract the
bail and thrust him into close confinement. What was more unfortunate still, the Governor
of New York claimed him as a New York state" prisoner, and insisted on his beingtried by

ptheloourt of that state. And all this, it will be remembered, when McLeod was in realit
charged with doing nothing more than obeying the command of his superior oflicer. t r

Woluldlrbeilhavrdt to say that the Governor of that state did it this for popular effect; but it is
equally difiioult to suppose that such a.‘ lawyer, and civilian, and jurist, as he confessedly is,
could be ignorant of a principle so plain, as that an inferior oflicerwis bound, on penalty of

12

death, to obey his superior; that thesuperior alone is responsible for the acts which that
inferior does; or, in case he merely obeys his Government, that the Government is respon-
sible to the nation injured by those acts. I

1 In fact this ‘principle was so plain, so obvious, so universally acknowledged, that all Eng-
land, without exception, was lighted up into a blaze as soon as thenews of McLeod’s im-
prisonment reached it. Three days afu-:-r Mr. Webster was sworn into office, he received a
communication from Mr. Fox, the lilnglisli Minister, informing him that unless McLeod was
liberated, a rupture between the two countries was inevitable. I » I

~ In this fearful state of affairs, Mr. VV. sat down and wrote his celebrated letter tothe
English Ministry on the subject of McLeod’s imprisonment and impending trial. His design
was to show,'that whilehe fully recognized the correctness of the principle maintained by
England, it was impossible, from the nature of our State and General Governments, for the
latter to interfere where a process, oflawa was commenced in the former. On this letter every
thing depended. Had not Mr. W. ‘succeeded in satisfying the EnglishVMinistry that the
United‘States, as such, had done and would do all that was possible in the case, for render-

ing justice to McLeod as an individual, a war forthwith was the inevitable consequence. It .

is not perhaps generally known, but is a fact, that Mr. Fox had received positiveorders, that
unless McLeod was shortly set at liberty, he should demand his passports, and leave the
country. But this was not all. Whenever it came to this, he was commissioned to advertise
the Governor of the Canadas and the admirals on the Halifax and West India stations, that
active aggressions, such as a state of war demanded, were to be forthwith made by each of
them, with all the vigor and alacrity that were possible.

Mr. W.’s letter brought the English Ministry and people to a stand. They saw, at once,
that they could not reasonably demand of our General Government to violate state privileges
and institutions. They saw that the General Government had done, and was willing to do,
all that was possible and lawful. This calmed the raging elements. And they truly needed
to be calmed, for all the people of England, from the sovereign on the throne to the beggar
on the dunghill, were not only of one opinion in this matter, but of one heart and soul as to
making war on us, should it become necessary by any punishment of McLeod. '

So much for this rnasterpiece of argument on the part of Mr. W'ebster—-one of the greatest
services ever done to the country, and which no man in it could probably have done as well
as he--and thus much for the state; of things which followed the publication of that letter.

In the meantime, at Mr. W.’s suggestion, the President had ‘nominated Mr. Everett to the
place of ambassador in England, in the month of May, 1841. Congress, it will be remem-

bered, sat through the summer of that year into September. Mr. E., on account of difiiculties I

made by some of the Southern gentlemen, was not confirmed until late in the summer session.

In the interim, before letters could reach him, Mr. Everett had gone to Rome.

He did not reach England until December of 184]. Mr. "Webster did not expect that any

‘thing definite and final would or could be done, until McLeod’s trial was through, and Mr.

E. hadtaken his place at the British Court.

Shortly after Mr. E.’s arrival, he wrote to Mr. Welister, and informed him that the British '

Ministry were pacifically inclined. It should be recalled here, that in May of this year,
(1841) the Melbourne Ministry had gone out, and that of the C'orzservui2'.'ve.9 had been estab-
lished. , All this seemed auspicious for our country. It proved to be so. Mr. E. found that
Lord Aberdeen, the new Secretary of State,» had determined to nominate Lord .ds72burton for
the American‘Mission, and for the very reason, that he found him favorably inclined to Amer-
ica, and also believed, as he had reason to do, that Lord A. would be very acceptable there.
Thisiwas just what Mr. W. had all along expected. Lord A. would not have consented to
go on such admission, had he not been pursuaded, from the conferences which he had already
held with Mr. W., that he and thelatter gentleman might bring about a pacification. This
too was Mr. Webster’s confident hope and expectation. And it was this which was the main

inducement to hold his place in the Cabinet, when the other members of it resigned.

The unpleasant and disastrous occurrence of resignation took place in September, 1841,

1 just before the close of the long session of Congress. A minute discussion of it, in this place,
i would not be congruous with my design, or important to it. Disastrous to the country it cer-

tainly was, to lose such men from the Cabinet. Yet I never have seen any good reason seri-

Mouslyto blame the" resigning members. Irlow was it possible, after such a dereliction of honor

as was manifest from employing them, and Mr. Sergeant and Mr. Berrien, to make peace be-

, tween the Presidentand an offended and abused Legislature, and then disregarding and null-

iifying, by aeeto the very terms of pacification which he had assented to or prescribed-——how
was it possible that they should not take urnbrage at the acts of the ‘Executive? * 
I t ,No wonder that Mr. Sergeant resigned his place. I No wonder that such men as Messrs.

,iCritte;ndengia.nd Ewing, and Bell, and Badger, and Granger, resigned their places. , At lleast

13  

it is no wonder to me; for down to this very hour, I have never been able to look on their
course with any other lfeelin than that of decided approbation. v I v"

But I shall be asked how can speakand feel thus, and yet be satisfied with Mr. W. for
remaining in the Cabinet. _Without any difficulty,I answer; and if I have not given reasons
enough already to justify him, the sequel, as I think, will supply any deficiency. , ,

First of all, then, when the rupture had taken place, and it was plain that the Whig party
were irreconcilable toward the President, Mr. W. consulted the Massachusetts delegation, as
to the course which they would advise him to pursue. VVith two exceptions,vand these were
gentlemen of liigh standing and character, they were all agreed that Mr. W. ought to stay in"
the Cabinet. The two gentlemen in question at first doubted; afterward they gave an opin-
ionvugainst remaining. Among those who advised Mr. W. to remain was the venerable
John Q. Adams. Mr. Clay was also consulted, through the medium of a friend. ,He gave
his opinion, that Mr. W. ought to remain until a treaty with England could be made; and
after this, he thought Mr. VV. should retire. A good reason why he did not follow both parts
of this advice will, as I think, be given in the sequel. If Mr.  judged wrongly, then, on this
occasion, he did it in common with some of the wisest, the most experienced, and most judi-
cious men of this country. I i i

In the next place, as Mr. W. states in his letter of Sept. 13, 1841, to Messrs. Gales dz Seaton,
the editors of the National Intelligencer, there had been no disagreement as to the business
of his Department, between the President and himselfi There was every prospect of being
able to adjust the differences with England, because Mr. Everett was now confirmed, and
there was a change in the English Ministry. Mr. W. had no serious doubts, he could have
noneafterall that he had heard and seen and said in England, thatif Lord Ashburton should
be nominated on a special embassy to America, the desired object could be accomplished.
Is there a man in all the country, who will now say that it was not best for Mr. W. to remain
longer in the Cabinet? I do indeed believe that few if any such can be found.

But there are some particulars, in regard to this matter, that need further discussion. The
letter of Mr. W. to which I have just referred contains two reasons for remaining in the Cab-
inet; perhaps I may say three, although Mr. W. has reckoned them otherwise. The first is the
harmonyiof opinion between himand the President, as to our foreign relations. The second
is, that he has confidence that the President will yet co-operate with the Legislature in some
plan to aid the revenue and the financial operations. The third is, that in case of residua-
tion, the President ought to have reas.qnab_J.e, '
to fill the places vacated. I‘ ‘I   l   ‘ _, ., l

I have always regretted, and do still regret, that this last reason was given- ‘In itself; and
‘applied to any ordinary case, it contains a truth to which all may readily subscribe. v But in
this case, after having confidentially employed his Cabinet to allay the storm which his veto
had raised, and acceded to or proposed‘ means of conciliation, what could he expect from men
of high and honorable feelings, except that they would resign forthwith, in case he a sin put
his veto on the very measures agreed upon? I have never thought, and never can elieve,
as I have already said, that the Cabinet did wrong in resigning forthwith. , But still I believe
it would have beenrnuch better for the country, if they had patiently borne itall, and kept
their places until they were forced from them. In this last case the outrage would have been
such that no disunion or disagreement among the ‘Whig party would ever have taken place.

Mr. W. undoubtedly foresaw this; indeed he adverts to the absolute necessity of continued
agreement among the Whi s, in the letter just mentioned. The misfortune of the case was,
that in this same letter he as spoken of “reasonable notice” in such a way that the implica-
tion seems to be, that in his judgment his colleagues had not dealt reasonably with the Presi-

   

dent, and so that there was reason to impute blame to them.

In such a state of exasperated feeling, now, as existed a.t that period, it was impossible not
to ‘apprehend that such a construction would be put upon Mr. Webster’s letter---impossible,‘ I
mean, fora bystander, who was cool and personally unconeerned, and had time to cast about
him as to probable consequences. The sequel showed that there was good reason to appre-
hend -such consequences. Mr. W. himself’ was soon aware of them in . their full ex-
tent. . But he supposed that the letter in question might be interpreted by another addressed
to  Ketchum, Esq., of New York, and dated two days earlier, which is fuller’, and, on some

it points, more explicit. In that he speaks, and no doubt withgreata sincerity, of the deep regret

which the resignation of'..his collea ues had occasioned him. a He also adverts, in the letter to
Mr. to the agreernentbetwieen irnself and the President in regard to our-foreign rela-

, tions; to the necessityof continued union among the Whig party, and to the probability of

still agreeintg on some measures of importance in respect to the finances. One other idea is
also d1st1rlcV yqbrotuglit to view, one which weighed much in his mind, and doubtless contrib-

at he might have time to select ofhers
      , - V

utied not a~littl4efltoward the decision which he had made to remain in the Cabinet, viz: that .
f‘f’‘he,haid not beenfablfe to see in what manner the resignation of the—Ca‘binet was likelyeither

to remove or mitigate the evils in question.” For this opinion he had substantial reason.

14

inasmuch as nothing can be more certain than that the resignation of the Cabinet aggravated
all the evils pressing upon us. . -  t I
But the apprehension of this, at that time, could come only from a kind of cool and deliberate
foresight; and of itself, moreover, it would not of course outweigh all the reasons which the
other Cabinet members might have for resigning. Patience, long suffering, perhaps some
might say lofty magnanirnity, might have induced the resigning members to view the subject
in the same light. But there was a high and chivalrous feeling among them, which I must
ever admire and applaud, despite of all prudential reasoning- The majority of the Whi.gs,

at that time, went along with it. It is not strancreg therefore, that they had some feeling, and I

in many cases strong, feeling, on account of bin W.’s implied censure of the course of the
resigning members ‘of the Cabinet. I say implied, for there is not any thing in his letters
which contains an attackupon his colleagues, although they have been so construed. Still
the veryfactthat he did notresign seems to imply that he regarded their course aswrong.
Yet even this position must be modified. He did think that they, on the whole, had judged
erroneously, and therefore he could not partake in the movement. Nor can there now be a
shadow of doubt that their resignation divided the Whig party. If they had remained, the
President, to get rid of them, must have forced them from their places, and then he would no
have had a Whig partizan left in the whole country; and our matters would have been in a
very different state from that in which they now are. Mr. W. was politically and pruden-
tially right, looking at and judging from the consequences resulting from the act of his col-
leagues ; they were justified only by the laws of chivalric honor, and by their disgust at the
treachery which had been practiced upon them.

But it is of no avail to make calculations now. The thing has been done. Mr. W. has
written the two letters in question, and remained for two years in the Cabinet. The conse-
quences of his remaining are yet to be more fully unfolded in the sequel. But as yet the
point before us has not been discussed in its full extent.

It is certainly a matter of regret to Mr. W.’s best friends, and probably to himself, that
his two letters were, amidst the hurry of perplexing business and the pressure of momentous

concerns, so written that they were the occasion of such an interpretation as was put upon I

them. It is not strange, that amid such pressures, and affected perhaps in some degree by
the bitter remarks and suspicions of many warm Whigs---bitter remarks, because he still re—-
tained hisplace, and suspicions, moreover, that he was about to quit the ranks of the Whigs--—
it is not strange, Iisay, that Mr. W. wrote as he  5 He» I ctould not consentto act against
his own judgment in the matter, merely to gratify party wishes. He felt, too, that his inde-
pendence of character and opinion had been infringed upon, by the constructions put upon
his conduct. He thought it was enough to give what he deemed valid reasons for holding
his place, without naming all the reasons which he had, and which operated most of all in
bringing him to the decision which he had made. If he misjudged in this case--.--and I am
inclined to believe that he didm-it was not from any of the motives which have been attributed
to him by some of the exasperated Whig presses. I have said, and say again, he was right
in a civil and prudential point of view; he was right as a. wary statesman and a calculator of
foresight. But he overlooked too much the state of feeling that was then predominant, and
was not careful enough to steer clear of all the unlucky interpretations that might be put
upon histwo letters. I or I . j i
, .Mr. 'W., if he can bear with this judgment as to his course--and I apprehend he has marr-
nanimity enoughto do so—-may stillfeel that while the writer of these remarks can never go
_otherwise than admire the noble and chivalrous feelings of his colleagues, and avow that in
his view. they are worthy of all honor, this same writer is entirely satisfied that he did right,
nay, that with the exception of the mere shape given to his two letters, he acted with a mag-
nanimity and forbearance which have few precedents and no superiors in our political history.
If the reader is surprised at this avowal, after all that I have said, I mustremind. him in
this place of the condition in which Mr. W. was placed. . The story of his efforts in ‘Eng-j
land, and the account of his confident and as the sequel shows well grounded expectations
in regard to the English embassy, and the temper of the British Cabinet, exhibited, after all,
the fundamental reason of Mr. ,W.’s continuance in office. But how could he assign the
true reasons, and all of them, to the public at this period? How could he come forward at
a time when there was so strong aninclination to blame him, or suspecthim; or indeed how
could he come forward even at any time; and say that he had, by his personal , efforts and
influence in England, prepared the way for a treaty with that countryion honorable grounds?

To recount his own labors, or even-to advertto them, would have been called ‘boasting, and
‘‘ assuming to himself an importance greater than that of any other man in the country. 

W. is among the last of men voluntarily to subject himself to such can imputation as this.
Come what might, he could not and would not avow any uch .,ree1iags. He did not even
tell the President himself the story that in all good faith and ptruthihe might have told. , And

15

what man is there in all the country, who will not approve of the modesty and the magnan-
imity which such a coursedisplayed? “ g  t it _ l W t v T T  3 ' '

It was, beyond all question, one of the sorest misfortunes at this period, in respect to Mr.
W., that he was bound to lceepszlencc as to the very things which most of all influenced him
in the course that he pursued. He gave otherreasons, and not bad ones, whether they are
prudentially or civilly considered. But those reasons were misinterpreted, and did not
satisfy. What then must he or could he do? Should he leave the Cabinet, at all events, in

order to maintain his place in the Whig ranks ii’ He asked this question of himself and ‘of

others, many times. He looked at it on every side. He came at last, (and who willnot
rejoice that he did 3) to the conclusion that the peace and welfare of his country,which
the now felt quite assured might be made secure, had higher demands on him than any party
whatever. He could not tell the world the main reasons why he believed so, without sub»
je-cting himself to the imputation of assumption and vanity. It was out of the question to do
this. It were better to suffer, and even to lose caste, than to let two countries engage in a
war, that would cost many millions of treasure and shed rivers of blood; and which, after
all,would end just where it began. He decided to remain. The sequel has shown that he
was entirely correct in the expectations which he had formed. What more is needed for
complete justification, in respect to his decision? a . p v p l

v The public may rest assured that this account of the matter in question may be relied
upon. It is no conjecture of political speculation or of partizan feeling in favor of Mr.
Webster. The writer of these remarks was once among those who doubted whether Mr.
Webster had decided right, when he remained in the Cabinet. He does not feel that he can
any longer doubt. He hopes and trusts that others may come to sympathise with him.

And now what shall candor say to the course of ‘this distinguished statesman in this whole
matter it Mr. W. decided to remain in the Cabinet, at the hazard of losing many, perhaps
most, of his best friends; of losing his place as a leader in the Whig party; of sacrificing,
in all probability, the confidence and affection of the Whigs in respect to any place of im-
portance which they might otherwise be disposed to assign him; in a word, at the hazard of
his political character, influence, and consideration. He decided with all this hazard dis-
tinctly in view. He decided, most of all, for reasons which he could, neither then nor now,
give to the public, with his own voice or pen. His country was most distinctly before his
mind, and upon 1t——--his countrypabouthtojjplun as into a bitter and bloody war, the end of
mously determined to bear all that was said, or could be said, so orig as hismotiv-es‘were
not half understood and could not be explained, rather than give up the hope of serving his
country. And truly, if ever‘ a statesman was placed in a condition‘ of tremendous trial--if
there ever was one that passed through the furnace seven times heated-.-i—Mr. W. has a claim
to be regarded as such a man. i t t T v ‘

Such is the simple and truthful account of this whole matter. It may be gainsayed; but
I know that it cannot be overthrown, because it is founded in fact.

One glance at the treaty with England, before I have done with this part of Mr. W.’s
oflicial course. a b

By the treaty of Ghent, which terminated our last war with England, the boundary ques-
tion was to be settled by arbitrafion. The matter was referred to the King of Holland. He
made a decision; but the United States appealed from it, and Great Britain eventually gave
it up. But still, by the terms of the treaty, arbitration must be continued until the matter
was decided. What was now: to be gained by it? Neither party had any disposition to re-
peat the experiment; neither believed that any thing important was to be gained by it. The
afihir seemed allbut desperate. ‘ t T  '  i

 

 l H’ ll‘; V ‘,".vs:«}~M.‘

Will

But this was not the whole of the diificulty. Maine and Massachusettsghad claimsto t be’

satisfied, whichwerel of great interest to them. Most fully and earnestly did they believe in
the justice of those claims, and insist on their being satisfied. * In the other states also,
there were many who thought with them, at least theoretically; but still the other states relt

jcoimlparatively only a. moderateinterest in the question. There were some who even deemed”

 and wrong to occasion any dispute, between England and our country, in respect

, teach a matter.

ow’ could ‘such, confusion and contrari-ety be reduced to order, amdiall parties be satisfied?
tltfiwasonegof the most perplexing and difficult -questionsthat statesmen ever have to meddle
with. rNothing but the previous speech of Mr. W. on the claims of Maine‘ and Massachu-

V‘ setts, could havegiven to the ‘great mass of people in those two states,,confider.:celthat he

i ; could: and weul=d- adjust the matterto general satisfaction. i

be done that was

i In Marchi18d.2;§.fLord Ashburton arrived inlthis country{ And although he and Mr. 

might have 3h°1't1Y "agreed on .. the preliminaries of atreaty, nothing «coal

eifectual and vvsatisfaotory, without the special cloncurrencelof. Maine and Massaclmsetts.

16

How much negotiation and effort it cost thesecretary of State to get this accomplihed,
never has been fully known, and indeed could not all, without some violation of‘ confidence,
be told. Suffice it to say, that no one thing ever done by him as Secretary cost him more
severe effort and solicitude than this. I hazard nothing in saying that, in all probability, no
other man in our country could have brought it about so effectually as he did.

After all the preparatory efforts-—after united delegations of Maine and Massachusetts had
been appointed, and abundant labor bestowed in order to satisfy them---the treaty was at last
made and concluded in August, 1842. The whole country at once breathed freer. The
lapprobation of’ it was as universal as could be expected, and it remains so down to the present

our. 1 t

. Yet satisfaction on account of‘ deliverance from war seems hitherto to have been the pre-
dominant ground for approbation. The positive good of the treaty, in other respects, has
never yet received the estimate that is due to it. can only glance at some of the leading
and most important particulars. . p '
,_ (1.) All the navigable streams on our borders were, by the old treaty, divided so that the
line of separation ran in the middle of them, one half belonging to one country and the other
half‘ to the other. Of course it would not unfrequently happen, that where the channel runs
upon our side or half, England was barred out from the navigation; and so vice versa. By
the recent treaty, THE wnonn of the navigable waters are free to both countries. The im-
measurable importance to both countries of this ernendation of the old treaty is evident.
Yet England was reluctant at first to yield this point; and it cost not a little effort to accom-
plish the object that we desired. a t t , i

(2.) As matters formerly were, an offender in either country might escape into the other,
and he was safe from all molestation. By the new treaty, extradition has been fully agreed
upon. The meaning of this is, that when a person commits an offence in one country and
flies to the other, he can he demanded, and must be delivered up to be tried where the
offence was committed." The incalculable importance of this with respect to the preserva~
tion of peace, and order, and kind feeling, between the two countries, must be plain to every
thinking man. It is the same arrangement which exists between our states respectively, as
to offences committed in them. i A t

i (3.) The great question of the  qfsearch, which had occasioned one war, and bid fair
to occasion another, was in a good measure, at least for soane e to uornendised of'. Our
squadron on the African coast is now a good and sufficient reason for permitting American
vessels, trading there, to pass without a British search. I am informed by an officer in the
African Colonization Society, that the thing works practically well there, notwithstanding
some difficulties in the case, which, it was feared, might occur. At all events Great Britain
has so long taken and maintained her ground there, in respect to this matter, that it could not
be disposed of‘ in any better way for the present, than it has been. Time and farther experi-
ence alone can fully settle this question. ,

Let any impartial man, now, closely examine and study this treaty, and say if‘ any thing
could be devised more honorable to both nations, yea, more advantageous to both? a Are not
the complete navigations of the border waters, and the extradition of offenders, equally im_—
portant to both? . Is it not as important that our Government, the first of all to declare against
the slave—t1-ade, should see to the execution of its own purposes, as that England should? Do
wenot give and enjoy the same rights asto merchant vessels? And Maine and Massachu-
isetts—--are they not satisfied that Great Britain has agreed. to pay them, in her liberality, “a
price much greater for their lands than they could obtain in any other way i’ I repeat it, it is
or. treaty equally honorable and wvantgeous to both parties. Neither has any reason for
regretmnothing to lessen the satisfaction which results from it. And so the mass of sensible

. men in both countriesactually view the matter.

, This is not only well but highly important. Treaties, where one party.ha.s made at good
bargain, as the phrase is, in other words, where one party has greatly the ,advantage,so that
the whole affair is really onerous to the other, such treaties are never kept long. Some pre-
tence for a quarrel will speedily arise, as a matter of’ course, and then war, or a new negotia-
tion, must take place. Let every lover of peace and of his country duly weigh these matters,
and then say, if he can, how much better all is, in the present state of things, than spending
unnumbered millions of money, shedding, rivers of blood, embittering the feelings, for many

_ years to come, of two great nations, related to each other as mother and daughter, and then

leaving off‘ the contest just where they began, would have been to those concerned, or to the
world at large. a  : t ‘ 1 t , .

A Butlet us return more immediately to Mr. Wiebster. .. It is a question which will be asked,
anditi:one,;that I will not try to shun, did.Mr. W. remain stedfast to his  principles -during

 he continuedrin the Cabinet? ‘ p r A r  _  w i or  
Unhesi? iglgy I answer, yes ; he was always, and invariably, the same lthatnhe, had beean.

17

Did he waver about the fiscal measures designed to relieve the country  ‘ Ninth in the least.
We have his public and solemn assurance that he gaverhis advice against the vetos of the

President. There was some ’hazard in this, considering how exasperated the President was,
last Mr. W.rnight thereby sacrifice his good will and confidence. Yet with Mr.‘ W. itwas ~

a‘ matter of principle and conscience, not to give any opinion that would compromise what he
deemed to be the tree interests of’ h1S_ _coun_try. He_d_1d not. i'1‘he President would have been
better pleased if Mr. W. had gone with him; but 1n consideration of the consistencywvhich
Mr. W. owed to himse1f',he overlooked his unwelcome advice. Has Mr. W.’ ever changed,
his opinion respecting any of these great measures," in relation to the circulatingmedium of
the country---in regard_to, itsjfiscal concerns? -The speech designated at the headlof this
article fully answers this question. I I " y p I , t

Where then is Mr. W.’s apostacy or indifferencye, in respect to the great measures of the
Whig party? No Where, not _a trace of them can be found. Will it be said that hisindlfw
ference was shown by his declining to leave the Cabinet ?. We have seen that he hadfother
entirely difierent, and abundantly sufficient reasons, for declining to quit his place. ‘Will it
be said that we can find ground for accusation in the tenor of his etters of Sept. 11 and Se t.
13,1841? -. If any one deems this so, I must respectfully solicit him to consider the con i-
tion in which Mr. W. was then placed. On the one hand, he knew, and none but he, what
preparation-work had been done“ in England, and what the feelings of’ the then British Cabinet

were towardlhirni and his country. On the other, nothing could be done, unless the President

remained so far satisfied with him as to give him his confidence, and thus aid, instead of im-

peidingythe inegotiation hoped for and expected. How could he come out, then, andsa 
openly, in his letters, what he thought of the veto, or what of the Presidents consistency? t‘

was impossible, unless he, with his eyes open, should consent to sacrifice the greater for the

lesser good. He ~ was bound in adarnantine chains. The temper of the President would
-brookrno oppositionto his desperate measures. Mr. W. then was forced to confine himself

I to private advice, or give up the hope‘ of serving his country in the manner that he had antici-. _

pated- ifledecidecl“, therefore, to preferlhis country’s good to his own reputationflwith the
moriestrenuous: of the ‘Whig party. Is there a man in all the country that does notnow

thank him for it? And if so, why should any burning ‘desire be still felt, in the bosoms of‘

e Whi cause? .

   

    
 

some, to place him on the list of apostates   up ;
lathe whole, I would now Ibo“  "lei   y A
genuousness, whether there ever was a statesman placed in more trying circumstances. I

 ans 

ask whether he could have said more than he didsay, without risking “every uthirm-” as to .
the objects he ha.Cl‘i11,V1BW. I do not say that,on thelwho1e,it‘would not have been e wiser yo

part to make no public communication relative to holding his place. But the pressure was

immense, and absolutely intolerable. And iii, he“ must say any thing‘: how much more could,

he saythan he has said“? To justify his colleagues, publicly, would becertain to ofi'end the

President. ‘Not that therlatter wished to retain them. But still, he did not wish to have thern .
resign, and give such reasons as they did. For Mr. W. then openly to justify these reasons, j

would deprive himof all opportunity to serve the country in the way that he expected. _-
Besides, it was Mr. .W.’st deliberate judgment that resignation would disunite, weaken, and
discomfit the Whig party, and therefore ought to be forborne. His judgment on this point

hastib-sen shown by sad experience to be correct, whatever feeling his two letters may have .
excitedav ; ;Sha1l.we blame him for not saying that he concurred in the views of his colleag'u;es,. 
when he did not, andtlcould not? At least every generous minded man, -who can appreciate 1

the dreadfully tr-yin‘ circumstances in which he was placed,‘wi1l answer in the negative.

. But the Fanewil ~ i all ~ peach?-r--that speech which cooled so many of Mr. W.’s “ardent friendsw , by

what have you to say to that it What apology can be made ‘for it?

all ansvver, then, in the first place, that no one has yet shown, or can'show,i that by far the ,
greater portion of that speech is {not sound policy and good Wliig principle. This must be I
conceded. r In fact “there are only rtwjp pointsinit, or perhaps three so far asjIfknow,‘vvhich_ 
have’ ever given Mr. W.’s‘ friends any particular umbrage. aFirst,¢ ;r. W. virtually blamed

. ther,:iVVihigvlvp.arty that they did not unite in some of the fiscal ‘pIans«1trhich‘l followed those,th£_tt" 

wese. vetoed. I am aware that this could hardly fail to give some offence. But is not’'*the , j

viewfvehichrhe gavel or thissubject substantially correct and just?  Has not the country Sill? ,1

fared beyond; c.omputatio>n in consequence of not having a general and sure icirculating me? 

, diurna  $Merchants h,av.e,tatl last, Found out in deed a way for doing their 3oWn business, “inasl-fife

much as..»the'government resfiasreld toraidlthem; and theyrwill alfvraysi do ,s.o,iat..last,',"ii‘ the ‘gov? pt
ernment _w1ll only let them alone and not interfere with th_e,rn."i  Biut;ithey"may sufifer.Land,‘have' I
suered mcalcu*%» ly before this coald be a“ccompli'shed.,» at The simple; truth I s"e’éms”to be that .

M.‘

 

there  inure). A P,
measure-svprthati. :PiiFOPTOSBwdr; yet "I do not wonder, I rneverrhavé vfVfon.dered,p, that.,rth]is,fl..j,;
done, ai'ter; such rvtreatmfent as Congress had‘ reeteived earn the Presi  Yet “ what 



   

 

mum.

wreseentment than of “ju“dgment*anid soun-d ‘disdretioniiniregectiiuifiall the   e

W“
H

I8

said_at_Fan,euil Hall on.tliis.,point, I doubt not was wholly. true. But I have ever regrett~e'd,,
still, that it was saidat that time and place. His auditors were not yet prepared to be told
allthetrutli. ,_ .  l p p ,_ _ _ ,_  ._ ~ _

_ His second offence was, they _expr_ession of his disapprobation, that a_. nomination of Presi-
dent had‘ beenmade in a large, caucus, by a kind of acclamation. This could not fail to give
offence,at thetime, to those.who had belonged to the caucus. Yet such has been, at last,

-the convictionof the public in relation to" this subject, that they have virtually repealed the

doings of that caucus,and. agreed to submitthe. question to the general delegation of Whigs,
who are tor assemble at Baltimore. Is not this saying somethingwin favor of  W.’s saga-
city, and discrimination? It seems like it. Indeed« he was clearly in the right. ‘But still,
considering the excited state of feeling, it would perhaps have been better to say this at an-
other time, and in another way. 1' i I ' ‘V p ,

. A third oifence is, the manner in which he spoke of the tariff; from .1832 to 1840----that is,
theidescendinglscale of it- It will be remembered that heopposed this strongly, at the time
when it was agitated; and he has thought badly of it ever since, on account of its deleterious
influence on the manufactures-of our country. What he said in respect to this matter was
conceded by Congress to be virtually true, in the establishment of a new tarifil That some

have interpreted his speech as designed to give Mr. Clay a thrust under the fifth rib is, I

must believe, more to be attributed totheir suspicion than to Mr. W.’s desricrn. It is not the
manner of this gentleman to give the stabs of an assassin. When, where, how, has he ever
done it? 1 - I I i
i Let me make the appeal now to every man of candor in the community, and ask him,---after
all the suspicions that had been thrown out respecting Mr. W., in some of the violent Whig
papers; after all the obloquy even which some of them had heaped upon him; after the
doubts and fears which some of his warm friends had for a while more or less admitted; and
being conscious at the same time of his steadfast adherence to the principles always advo-
cated by him, and that he had sacrificed himself‘, if indeed he was, or was to be, sacrificed on
the altar of his country’s good-—~—must not Mr. W., after all this, be eithermore or less than
human, if he did not feel any degree of excitement? This -led him to say things respecting
certainnieasures,» that are now confessed to betrue; but which as lare; portion of his audi-
ence were not then prepared -tporelishr      
there a generous spirit in all our country that will not overlook a matter like this, in circum-
staiioesso excessively trying? _ r; is I i is -X  r to   ~  I I i
‘Let us now look, fora moment, at other things which   had to do, before he left the

  

  
 

somewhat longer than Mr. Clayoriginally advised him to do.  I i ._ _ p ,
KNQ one will ition theXimniensityVof labor wh'cli the treaty with England cost. I ‘But

this was far from ‘being, all the b,urd.en that was called to sustain.

Cabinet. ‘We shall see reasonenough, as I think,xtoi justify him for protracring his stay I

. . ,Eranc_e had is ently taken,rpossess1on, very unexpectedly to Europe, and to this.couiit_ry, of r
 Marquesas Islands. r Itgmay easilyVrbe,-llconceived how Great" Britain, with her spirit of

colonizing, ,,ai:i,d..tl1,e;i:rig,.hts which she claims in relation to this subject, would feel. No
sqon,er,was.thisl ‘cloned y; Fran;ce,_than. she cast her eye upon the S3.I1(lWlCll, Islands, as a kind
of atlleast some show of right in this case---Great Britain had the right

 so3,.eailleld+—discovery.by the famous Captain Cook. , She had always felt that ;al
kinid,iiof""guardian relation over these islands belonged“ to her, although she had, not practised .,

,ac‘tivei ‘exercise of guardianship. , Yet no sooner had the French settled down in the

M’arque~s3as',_.than,she,devisedlapplaxi tomake a similar, descent upon the Sandwich‘ Islands. l

N,ot..to'.subjiigateithem., it may «be, by war; not "to enforce her. guardian power against the

will of the people; but to persuade. thern to chgooseher as a protector and a guardian. Lord '

Paulet lwasinconsiderately entruisted_,w»ith anlexpledition to the islands. TIllS+1‘8.Sll iandigno—

, rant manager made his debut there i_n-tl,iestyle'that he had been familiar with, not improba-‘

bly,  cock-pfit',and the arena of; pugilism. . we r Not knowing the difierence between prudent
management aiidlcock-turkey ifierceness,3he-r dashed. upon the poor .isl'an«der's, to their utter

astonishment a11Cl(‘:,OI1flJlSl0Il., Yethowcame he to dash there? , And since he hasdonelit, it

has-hebeen rfe"primanded,and__ ,dismissed from the service? Not a. word of all this; I “He

meant to do.:right.; he lmeantrtop show a ,zeal for the interest of British subjects; »he.meant to I v
s]:-11‘;E.a,d, thet~error._iof the British powerlthe world __around.’.’ I All this, and more i like to it, has ”

been;'said,_in':and' out of , Parliament; iWhat does all this sh'7ow_? It rshows‘ 1hatPaulet, Cap-=5

taii‘j‘_’i\.B<ilfiadiI~as,he was,iwentito_.._» e Sandwich Islands on an errand: which-prwiouldl coverin

-wps , . ,,

pariah  Q?
oi?’  l

insithat lieirhad committed. a»  I  l i

«V

i’ "(lei fgnlof Great -«Britain been forsorne.‘time,aware.i-.\.Of.icourse,.'wheniii 

the,aInbi,assaidnr_, of the King of . these islands nae tuplwashington he was ready -at “oncerf to 3-

acknow1?.edge,,,;,"1,v,. _ 1;ind,epe,ndencie, rand the supremacy. of three is1_a.ndsf.@~~  Forthwit-ihil‘ hi, “wrote ‘to. l l
the British  telling tliem what we had“ ‘Cd‘\"0‘fl)e,_  e; statedmtd Lord Afibsrera 

19'»

‘“deen=~tlratrifii'rer-sixthsl or3a11I the ships whichgo -I to Hawaii rare Ifroml AmerieaI,  “that the? I

United States had in a great measure’ civilized and ChristianizedI, the whole IIIpopulIation, and
werestilll expending many thousands of dollars every year, in order to complete‘ this object.

, Of Icourse, he added, if :-there were any claims on the part of j‘ustiIce and I.I equity‘,_t'o'I the ,
guardianship of the Sandwich Islands, those claims belonged to us. III-le ,a.ppe-aledt tothe . I

magnanimity of the British"Cabinet, therefore, in relation tothis matter, andlslolicllitedltherntto
follow our example, in acknowledging the independence. of the islands. He closepdwby .stIat-t»
ing,vthat under all the circumstances, he did not see how this country could stand still and
see the “Sandwich Islands taken possession of by another; a ' It I t t

The magnanimity of England is not often appealed to in vain._ Lord Aberdeen {saw at
once the prredicamentin which England would be placed, in the eyes of Europe, and of this
country. The result issknown. ' Ships were despatched“ forthwith to tear down British flags,

and hoist that "of Kamehameha, which is now waving over all the country. -IWIe trust it will

continue to wave,lso long as our country does its duty.’ I ‘ t t

. Nor was this all. Our ambassador at‘ the Court of St. James interposed’. his good offices,
in accordance with the wishes of‘ Mr. W., and through the medium of the Queen of Bel-
gium, the daughterof‘ Louis Philippe, to whom the Sandwich Island ambassadors were intro-

duced, an acknowledgement of independence was readily obtained from the King of France-

I But there was another, and a delicate matter between our country and Spain, which came
upon Mr. WI.’sIhands. In her wretched condition, Spain became unable, and of‘ course re-

luctantto pay the remainder of Ir monies due in the matter of . indemnification. Mr. W. cona I
ferred, with the*Spanish ambassador. The latter acknowledged the claim, but’*stateIdIthe.
utter irnpossibilityiiof Isatisf'yingit.vI Mr.‘ W. at length, ilnformzed ‘him of certain thingsdone .:
for the welfare. of his country, (which cannot by reason of propriety anddelicafcy be detailed
here) IthatI gave us peculiar claims upon Spain. These were generously acknowledged, and

provision was eventually made forthe interest of the sum stilldue. : This has been punc- I

tually paid. .  I I II I I I V

In the midst of all these matters our Chinese relations came to be things of high interest
and importance. Great Britain had virtually made the conquest of China, and imposed her
own terms of peace. She had opened for her trade four other places besides Canton, almost as
large as that city. Wliat should America do at such a crisis P Must we remain with liberty

to trade only in Canton, and let our goods  only in British bottoms, to other places ?-—--or
n e

should we stand upon our own footing, an njoy our own rights, witholuit any interposing

I power 3‘ I

Of‘ this there could be no question. Mr. W. at once recommended the President to lay

C before the houses, of Congress the project of a Chinese mission. He did so. It was carried

I where his honest political convictions carried him; and that was, toreturnto.

almost without a division. Mr. Cushing was at this time a great favorite with the President.
His ability to do the duty of ambassador to China was not to be questioned. Mr. W. ac»-
ceded to his appointment. The next step was, to furnish him with instructions. It took
some two months to accomplish this. Never was any portion of Mr. VV.’s life more labori-
ously spent, than in preparing. to furnish them. The difficulty of getting adequate informa-
tion was almost insuperable, in consequence of foreigners having always been excluded from
the country. At length Mr. W. achieved the work, so far as it could be done, and the in-
structions were dated the 8th of May, .1843. V ' I
Tmvr ivnnr nu‘ was run news on MR. W.’s nnsxsrmrron pr res Canxrrnr. I
Now why, let me ask, did" Mr. W. resign the first day, yea, hour, that all these great mat-
ters were off his hands? Why did he resign at all? If he had left the Whig ranks, if’ he
had ceased to sympathise with this party, why did he not continue in office? The only answer
is the one that he has given; and this is, that “he is a Whig, a Massachusetts Whig, a
Faneuil Hall Whig.” The great services for his country were now done. He had thrown
himself into the breach, at the peril even of political life, at the peril of his character and
influence as a statesman, and had saved his country from war, and established all her foreign

relations. ’ Even the affair of Mexico is not to be forgotten---a very troublesome affair, but ‘

easily disposed of by him. All was nowfpeace, and was likely to be so. He might go then] It I
,1

Massachusetts .Whi s, from which indeed some had excluded him, but without good reason,
and against all true iberality and generosity of feeling. I I C It I it I ”

e Iranlts of l I

And now it is tirneto close this coup d’¢m'l of Mr. Webster’s administration. j , How could I

I do an I my justice to him, or to others, in a shorter compass than I have taken 2?: I v I i

I ma e thelappeal now to all that is callIed candor, and ,,jus.ticeI,-.IIand I Iliberality,I and truth, I I
I and magnanimity, whether this IdistinguiIsl1Iedl, statesman has IbIe~en pir-pvperiyi treated. I ask

I whether the violent,Whig papIers,,some of which are .:stil1,'hint.ing" trte1_r suspicions, if not I 

venting their ohloquyI,Iare to be ‘any 1ongerfuph7el»dV and justifiediu the course whichthei

I , pursue. ’ Thereis no man in the country, there pnefver hasbeen,  .~ia.s done it sIo.mu7c V

20

‘important ?diplomzitic: service, during; the llsenre len  of.'i*;tim’e,,rtliat"Mr:i  riviss-Slecretafyt of ‘

,State.~ There. is none, to say the oleastgmore ,. able to do it.  then» shoiu1di”he:~bei.. a.b”use*dr

l for not ;.hev»ingflp1a.yted . the part of anobstreperous Whigyat at time‘ wshen,,;,,«sI1el?t ,a. ’pa.!rt would‘

them’ that we can eii"ord to cast any of them away.

have defeated ‘GVGIY thing ~'t_ha.t hefhas done ?! ¢I.aSk“ for at ra.tiona.l,i,.consider'ate,vAcandid, gen-=‘
erous..ansW,er to these questions. ' i * r l   v

s It ~~t_irne that the tcotnmunity were possessed of"? just and proper.inforIna.tion, in 
these things. .1 have la1d- before them a. true account of therrr. It 115 tune that Mr. 

some moreiample justice done to his character and-his, labors. t Nothing but a pa-.infu1=fsensei

of the injustice done him has drawnthese remarks from me; injustice, not designed at all, j

on the rpertfofiiimost, but done for want t of adequate information. I hope it is not too late to
lieve this whole matter r1g_ht‘ed*1_n‘ the eyes of the ttcom_rI1_un}ty:' l At leastl sha.11,be:deep1y
aflected on account of the 11'1_]U.St1C8 and folly of party spirit, if it cannot be. .  f i ~

' o

«I cannot conclude without openly avowing that -I have no e1ec.tioneeringt_objecm lnrview, .
I disclaim and abyure them. Simple J,l1St1C€.‘ 1s all I; ask for,,1n present tctrcumstences. I \

have not iengaged in this e 036, I must also say, by any procurement, request, or iefibrt what-

 ever, of Mr... ,Webster. ‘ ~ either directly nor indirect1y,ha.s he excited me, or tempted me, to T

eke; it.; Wh rteverinay come of my efibrts, or iliowever they maybe estimated, no respronw

sibility attaches to him. i

  now stands, indeed, a. simple freeman, unchanged, lunboul ht, freely, fully, ta Whig it

i of ~Ma;ssechusretts. He is a privetecitizen only; and he never will e any thing more; until‘

there is a general conviction that will dohim some ju;stice,.if, not exhibit some generosity. 9,

He asks for no remuneration. He wishes; for no oilice. W‘ But he does believe, and must

naturally cherish the hope, that sooner or later some Justice willsbe done him. He does not

even ask for this. But has he not at right to expect it? ; I can only as.dd,tha.t in my view,
our country. is bound inthis case to do _]lJ.StlC€-‘. The; sooner the better» Such. men as Mr.

ere not. to befifound every day; and at all events our country does not so abound with up

i crvrs.‘ r

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