Show historical ADDRESS professor DI NEWall describes NEW dacial webster boyhood struggles straggles aud subsequent ano besses debater as a lawyer states inal inae parliamentarian orator later laier preter r of the constitution and ancl man uis his wonderful fund of ous Knowledge i thera are few more mare interesting characters in american history than daniel webster and felt american citizens who have hate contributed contribute il more tow toward ard makia ma kirts american history dora in a provincial village 0 of the granite state his bis boyhood was a struggle eglo with physical chyb ical weak neap and pinch ing poverty by the prompting prom pUns of that same pride which still fends bends at le least ast from land family to college webster was giyen given the advantage of a liberal education studying first at B exeter aeter academy then at dartmouth cobl logo lege where be was graduated graduate Ll in 1801 at the age of nineteen A year or two 0 of f teaching leaching to help pay his elder brothers expenses at college a year or two of studying law aud and before he was twenty five he w hii a s a member of f the boston bar alter two years practice in a village ner home he removed ved to ff V si J of hi term at 1 he 0 vi jt is wita wit within n a year looked oc up to as a leiding lc nank axer la ayer abd lom com mai Klint orator and wal wai the po me be sot soi of an all inc income ottic of a year in live five buch ability and eloquence eloquent iB a aseere were evinced in the tha case the dai Duit mouth college case the massachusetts convention the oration on the first settlement of new england sent hion him to represent massachusetts in congress t five years later he was iras sent to the U S senate from boston and from that time was known as the expounder and defender of the constitution his peeches in reply noply tol layne tion pot not a compact were the warrant for this title they haps the two greatest of his speeches on this general subject at fifty five he went abroad for the first tune time at sixty he was called to the of state at sixty three was again sent to the IT S senate from massachusetts at sixty eight he nude made the famous ath of karlh h speech which defeated his nomination for foi president of the united states and this fact though he was again called to the premier ship worked such disappointment that hat two years later he lied died broken hearted at his rural home in barshfield Marsh larsh Celd field no one it has been said ever looked upon webster in his mature manhood and failed to recognize lis his uncommon mold no man ever law him and forgot him his hia stately presence which for a 1 generation was the pride of boston and of washington caused the dray men of london to exclaim there goes beg a king sidney smith said iles hes a steam engine in breeches I 1 1 and a again ain lie he must be an imps ampol il tor fer no man can be as wise ap webster looks to be carlyle wrote to emerson lies iles a magnificent cent specimen 1 attl l might say to all the world jhb tl s is a yankee englishman As aas parliamentary arlia hercules incline to back hini him at first eight against all tho the extant world tb abe tanned complexion tha the amorphous S crag like face the dull black eyes under tho precipice of brows like dull auth anthracite tur furnaces naces only wait ill ins 1 to be blown the mastiff i mouth fi firmly closed I 1 have not traced so much silent eilent Berserk berserker ir rage that I 1 remember in any man the qualities of one of the alie greatest races appeared in the majestic countenance and looked from those splendid eyes eves there were intellect co courage urae command firmness the calmness of conscious strength the play of delicate sensibility the fire fare of burning passion the webster family though coming from england was of scotch origin and the scotch element whether impelled directly or coming from other british quarter has contributed some of the best CiU citizens to new england the scots shrewd sense his active brain his dauntless pluck and tireless persistence his stalwart patriotism his hia incorruptible honesty his fervent religion his family affection and clan loyalty have nt not buffered ered diminution on his transplanting wherever anything excellent is to be had or to be done the scotchman is on hand to have a hand in it this di disposition apo was a part ot of websters inheritance beri tance ile he was born a frontiersman when his father settled in new Hampa hampshire hire his was the only cabin for many miles toward the canadian border and there were none between ile he was a farmer too ile he knew the habits the history of the growth of every common crop tile the chemistry of plants and soils and the effects of cli raaf ile he learned the simple loyal habits of the country co fireside we knew what the farmer thought as he held the plow in spring or gathered his grain in autumn lie ile knew the fish iri the mountain brooks and the songsters song in the mount mountain pLin groves ile he always remembered his origin and was always proud of it amid the triumphs and honors of his high station lie he was often homesick for the company of his old country neighbors standing in washington the unchallenged chief of the senate travel ling in foreign lands the kingliest king liest man among kings kines his heart was in in the old new england farmhouse farm house the fong of the bobolink and the fife bird were sweeter to him than the applause ot listening senates webster was tile the foremost lawyer of his time lime ile he WAS easily first whether before the country jury or the supreme court of the united states no other man ever won such victories over the choates the masons masona the Pinck reys his legal 0 knowledge was broad deep and accurate his rea reading dinc of the character of men was shrewd and profound his inherited and cultivated common sense never forsook him at a trial no one can intelligently telli gently read his arguments at th eWhite murder trial abe dart mouth college case the goodrich robbery case and not be impressed with his marvelous power of analyzing circumstances and interpreting motives and applying law nor noria is his power of clar reasoning and cogent argument leeg astonishing webster was the greatest occasional orator this country has haa produced nothing in modern literature excels his oration at ply plymouth outa rock and his bunker hill orations me hs eulogies on adams and jefferson and on an story and mason on all of these great national occasions ca it required supreme oratorical power fitly to utter the emotions of the people their joy their sorrow their national pride webster was a great diplomat ile he conducted many difficult negotiations to a successful issue he debated with the great representatives senta tives of great nations questions of great magnitude in such a manner as to command the respect of offis his associates and secure tile llie rights of his proud count countrymen Lymen but the field of his bis greatest achievement was the senate chamber he was wag every inch an american statesman no official gown no gilded dais no ceremony no going before to herald his coming were needed to sustain his dignity and authority ilis his royal royal presence presence his splendid powers of reason his mighty eloquence sufficiently vindicated his senatorial Benat orial character here ho he taught the people of the united states in the tha simplicity of cornnor understanding tile tho prin caples of the constitution and gov eruna ent of their country here lit ho wrought brou bt for them in a style of matzley matchless strength and cauty beauty the literature of statesmanship ile he made his language langu aga the very household words of a nation tb the e library of a people the schoolbook of the citizen here lie he became the greatest orator the country has ever known and achieved a fame which will in the history of eloquence write his name beside those of burke and chatham of cicero and demosthenes here he defined define dand and exemplified ilia his ideal of eloquence we need only substitute his hia own name for that of adams in the famous eulogy and we have the beat possible characterization of websters oratory what he says of samuel dexter in the reply to hayne unquestionably tion ably the greatest speech in our language applies in almost every particular to webster himself ile he was then sir air in in the fullness of his hia knowledge and the maturity of his strength ile he had Der performed formed loom long 0 and distinguished public berice and returned to renewed pro duties ile iia had all that enlargement and expansion all the new strength and force which art an acquaintance with the more general subjects discussed in the national councils is capable of adding to professional attainments in a mind of true greatness and comprehension he was a lawyer and he was also a statesman he had studied the constitution when he filled public station that he be might defend it ile he had examined its principles that he be might maintain them more than all men or at least as much as any man he was attached to the general government and to the union of tb states his feelings and opinions dpn on i all ran in that direction A question of constitutional law too was of all subjects that one which was best suited to his talents and learning aloof from technicality and unfettered by artificial rule such a question cesti n gave opportunity for that deep beep anil n 1 clear anal analysis vaa that mighty grasp of principle which so much distinguished his higher efforts his hia very statement ement was argument his inference seemed demonstration the earnestness of his own conviction wrought conviction in others one was convinced and believed and assented because it was gratifying delightful to think feel and believe in unison with an intellect of such guan evident superiority webster needed the stimulus of a grand theme a great occasion and a mighty antagonist to awaken all his latent powers then his style was maintained at its highest excellence it was then evident evident that a splendid mind was at work prom from a steady glow his eloquence rose at times to a white heat ilis his language ranged from the simplicity of bunyan to the stateliness of dr john johnson con ile he used the tough sinewy nervous saxon axon in speaking of common every dav things for the utterance of lofty emotion tor for the expression of moro more profound meaning for a vehicle of his sublime imagination and emotional lights flights he had recourse to classic but whether using homely saxon or a more dignified latin diction webster wrote arid and spoke like a man who is thin thinking kinz of his subject and not of his style sty I 1 ile he wasted no time upon the mere garb of his thought 0 his sentences I 1 are like shafts hewn from tile I 1 gra granite clite of his own hills simple massive strong what he be said is distinguished by sturdy manliness mental power and moral force underlie every great speech and it is this plain force of inen izenhood hood this sturdy grapple with every question presented to his understanding for settlement that makes him suh a em summate master of J anglish agli 1 h bayle ile he was not a rheto rhetorician rici like everett and burke ile he had supreme contempt cou tempt for made up enthusiasm eni I 1 thusia sm and spread eagle but he usually pre prepared pored his speeches with conscientious care not hot often writing them out but thinking over and over what ho be was to say and often rehearsing it to him I 1 self while imagining ng himself facing an audin audience at home abroad laun hunting ting fishing observing 0 new nev scones scenes his mind was usually occupied with a growing oration f fr r future we 1 I urn am no inspired genius genais bo be said 1 I bring forth nothing without labor if not precisely at the time it has cost me labor at some time the story of the famous power of england E whose morning drumbeat following the sun and keeping company with the hours circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken train strain of the martial airs of england is told in textbooks of rhetoric when fishing in the iho stream at marshfield Marel ifield webster equally persuasive in bait and debate composed the famous passage on the surviving veterans of bunker hill lie he would pull out a lusty fish and shout venerable toen men you have come lown down to us from a former generation heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives that you might behold this joyous day ile he would unhook trout after trout into his basket declaiming you are now gathered to your fathers father and live to your country only in her grateful remembrance and your own bright example in his hia boat fishing for cod lie he compo ed and rehe rehearsed amed the passage of welcome to lapayette lafayette hooking a specially fine fish and pulling it above water he be exclaimed welcomed Wel comel and all hail and thrice welcome citizen of two hemispheres it seems incredible that the reply to hayne lasting more than four hours in delivery ard and sounding almost every note in in the scale of eloquence abounding in in I 1 the closest argument the a attest aptest illustration the soundest logic replete with wit irony poetry pathon pas passion sion should have been been i extemporaneous ilis his notes occupied half a sheet of paper but lie he was not unprepared ile he said he had been twenty five years composing po ing that speech ile he had nc ac customer cus tomed himself to weigh and answer all the arguments in favor of nullification and lie he awaited the stern and ina im bent Z ranjeet he baad s seemed lined ili F r oct to 16 the flow lile like roe rocks a and all that I 1 had ever read or thought or acted in literature in law or in pol politics itice seemed to unroll before we me in a glowing panorama and then it was easy if I 1 wanted a thunderbolt thunder bolt to reach out oat and take it as it went smoking by webster rarely attempted humor and when he did his performances for mAnces were too much like Mil tons frisky elephants waltzing I 1 before adam and eve to writhe i hn his lithe proboscis his best effort in this direction was in a political speech at rochester not a sober attempt attempts men of rochester I 1 am glad to see your noble city gentlemen I 1 have seen your noble water falls which I 1 am told are one hundred and fifty feet high gentlemen this is a very interesting fact fitch gentlemen ronde had her caesar her cicero a and her er brutus but rome in her p proudest dest day never had a ita waterfall derfall 0 oae e hundred and fiat fifty y feet highl highfi 1 Gentl gentlemen emeril G greece reece had her PeTi pericles cles her demosthenes and her So socrates rates but greece in her palmie pal bt days never had a waterfall one hundred and fifty feet high men of rochester go on no people ever lost their liberties who had a waterfall one hundred and fifty feet high while pathos is found in many passages of websters speeches he seldom aimed at being pathetic but when he did he be never failed to to open the fountain of feeling his celebrated apostrophe to massachusetts chu made grayl gray haired laired men weep like children and when he be closed his argument in the dartmouth college case so overpowering was the pathos of his appeal for his bis alma mater that even the stern judges of the supreme court could not lot suppress their tears there was a vein of sadness dress in his nature which colored nearly all his utterances and was visible on his severe solemn face lined and furro furrowed W ed like the side of a it ill IN here the torrent hath been whether addre addressing asing the jury the senate the court or the people webster made his hia and especially ally his opponents feel as ag ai a unde understand stand hie words speech wis wi s full fall of moral choral tender and beauty his pension wag iea trained he reserved served power 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