distinguished countrymen live only in tradition; but Daniel Webster has made up the record for himself; a record which discloses, clear as light, his political, moral and religious principles-a record containing no word which, dying, he might wish to blot' or any friend of his desireto efface. More than any living man, he has instructed the whole generation of American citizens in their political duties, and taught the young men of the country how to think clearly, reason fairly, and clothe thought in the most simple and beautiful English. He has reared his own monument. There it stands, and there it will stand forever!' The rock which was first pressed by the feet of the Pilgrims first landing on the shores of this Western Continent is destined long to be remembered; but not longer than the oration commemorating that event, delivered two hundred years after it occurred, by Daniel Webster.

"The monument which indicates the spot where the first great battle of the American Revolution was fought will stand as long as monumental granite can stand; but long after it is obliterated and scattered, the oration delivered on laying its corner-stone, and the other oration, pronounced nineteen years after, on its completion, will live to tell that such a monument was. The names of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson will be known to a distant futurity; but I believe that among the last records whieh will tell of their name will be the eulogy, of which they were the theme, pronounced by Daniel Webster. We all hope, and some of us believe, that the Constitution and Union of our country will be perpetual; but we know that the speeches and orations in defence and commendation of that Constitution and Union delivered by Daniel Webster will live as long as the English language is spoken among men. I might refer to the Capitol of the country, to every important institution, and every great name in our land among the living and the dead, for there is not one of them that has not been embalmed in his eloquence.

"In the few remaining remarks which I have to make," continued Mr. Ketchum, "allow me, sir, to speak of some of the personal characteristics of Mr. Webster, as they have fallen under my own observation. I have long been acquainted with him. From all I know, have seen and

heard, I am here, to-day, to bear testimony that Daniel Webster, as a public man, possessed the highest integrity. He always seemed to me to act under the present conviction that whatever he did would be known not only to his contemporaries, but to posterity. He was 'clear in office.' He regarded political power as power in trust; and though always willing and desirous to oblige his friends, yet he would never, directly or indirectly, violate that trust. have known him in private and domestic life. During the last twenty-five years I have received many letters from him; some of which I yet retain, and some have been destroyed at his request. I have had the pleasure of meeting him often in private circles and at the festive board, where some of our sessions were not short; but neither in his letters nor his conversation have I ever known him to express an impure thought, an immoral sentiment, or use profane language. Neither in writing nor in conversation have I ever known him to assail any man. No man, in my hearing, was ever slandered or spoken ill of by Daniel Webster. Never in my life have I known a man whose conversation was uniformly so unexceptionable in tone and edifying in character. No man ever had more tenderness of feeling than Daniel Webster. He had his enemies as malignant as any man; but there was not one of them who, if he came to him in distress, would not obtain all the relief in his power to bestow. To say that he had no weaknesses and failings would be to say that he was not human. Those failings have been published to the world, and his friends would have no reason to complain of that if they had not been exaggerated. It is due to truth and sound morality to say, in this place, that no public services, no eminent talent, can or should sanctify errors. It was one

of Mr. Webster's characteristics that he abhorred all affectation. That affectation, often seen in young men, of speaking in public upon the impulse of the moment, without previous thought and preparation, of all others he most despised. He never spoke without previous thought and laborious preparation. As was truly said by my venerable friend who just sat down, (Mr. Staples,) he was industrious to the end. When, on leaving college, he assumed the place of teacher in an academy, in an interior town of New

England, the most intelligent predicted his future eminence. After his first speech in court, in his native State, a learned judge remarked, 'I have just heard a speech from a young man who will hereafter become the first man in the country.' The predictions that were made of Daniel Webster's career were not merely that he would be a great man, but the first man.

"I have often thought that if other men could have been as diligent and assiduous as Mr. Webster, they might have equalled him in achievement. When he addressed the court, the bar, the Senate, or the people, he ever thought he had no right to speak without previous preparation. He came before the body to which he was to speak with his thoughts arrayed in their best dress. He thought this was due to men who would stand and hear him; and the result was that every thing he said was always worthy of being read; and no public man in our country has ever been so much read.

"It may be conceded (whether it was a virtue or a weakness) that Daniel Webster was ambitious. He was. He desired to attain high position, and to surpass every man who had occupied the same before him. He spared no labor or assiduity to accomplish this end. Whether he has succeeded or not, posterity must say. I will add, that it is true that he desired the highest political position in the country; that he thought he had fairly earned a claim to that position. And I solemnly believe that because that claim was denied, his days were shortened. I came here, sir, to speak of facts as they are; neither to censure nor to applaud any man or set of men whether what has been done has been well done, or what has been omitted has been well omitted, the public must decide. May I be permitted to add that, though I am no man's worshipper, I have deeply sympathized in thought, in word and in act with that desire of Mr. Webster? I have continued this sympathy with that desire to the last moment of his life. If there be honor in this, let it attach to me and mine; if disgrace, let it be visited upon me and my children."

THE OBSEQUIES OF DANIEL WEBSTER.

THE funeral of Mr. Webster, at Marshfield, on Friday, was a most imposing spectacle. The "Post" describes it as follows:

The sun had not risen before the people began to gather in vehicles of every description. The neighboring towns were besieged the night previous with strangers on their way to the funeral. Every hotel, private dwelling, barn, shed and stable for ten miles around Marshfield were occupied on Thursday night. The gathering was large beyond calculation. Every avenue leading to Marshfield was thronged with inward-bound vehicles from the time. named above until the tomb closed over the remains of the great departed. The number of carriages was so great that the avenues to the grounds in the rear of the mansion were thrown open to receive them. Two steamboats, the Mayflower and the Atlantic, entered Green Bay freighted with about fifteen hundred people. The last named did not land her passengers until near half-past two o'clock. The remains of Mr. Webster were removed from the library about nine o'clock in the morning to a position immediately in front of the mansion, beneath the spreading branches of a large and magnificent silverleafed poplar-tree. The cover of the coffin was then removed, presenting a view of the entire body. It was attired in a suit familiar to all who have ever seen Mr. Webster. The Faneuil Hall suit-the blue coat with bright buttons, white pants, white vest, white neckerchief, with wide collar turned over. The features of Mr. Webster were natural, and exhibited a marked serenity, seeming rather to be those of a pleasant sleeper than one in the arms of death. The coffin, or "metallic burial-case," is very beautiful. It is so constructed as to combine every valuable quality for deposit in the earth, and the preserva

46*

545

It

tion of remains from decomposition. It is similar in its outlines to the human form when placed in a horizontal or recumbent position. It consists of an upper and lower metallic shell, which are joined together in a horizontal line in the centre, each part being of about equal depth. These shells are more or less curvilinear, and are made exceedingly thin, yet being sufficiently strong to resist any pressure to which they may be subject while in use. The shells have each a narrow flange, which, when placed together, are bound by screws, inserted through the flanges and cemented at the point of junction with a substance which soon becomes as hard as the metal itself. The case is enamelled inside and out, and is made thoroughly airtight. The upper shell is raised-work, and ornamented in the casting with the appearance of folding drapery thrown over the body. This is covered with a rich black drapery, neatly gathered and beautifully fringed. The case was superbly decorated with chased silver ornaments, with flowers and emblems of mortality neatly inwrought. has a heavy oval glass over the face, on which is screwed a silver cover; on the breast of the upper shell is a smooth silver plate, upon which is inscribed alone the name of DANIEL WEBSTER. It has three ornamental silver handles on each side. This elegant piece of work was manufactured by Messrs. Huyler & Putnam, of New York. The entire farm, consisting of one thousand seven hundred and sixty-two acres, was thrown open to the public, as also was the mansion, both of which were inspected in every part by the vast multitude assembled. A stream of human beings passed through each room of the lower part of the mansion, entering at the eastern door and passing out the west, from the hour of ten o'clock in the morning until twelve, at the rate of two hundred and twenty-four persons every five minutes. At eleven o'clock, delegations, representing various city governments, and Whig and Democratic organizations, and literary institutions, arrived. General Franklin Pierce was present, under conduct of Peter Harvey and James E. Thayer, of Boston, and Dr. Putnam, of Roxbury. President King, of the Columbia. College; the venerable Chief Justice Jones, of New York; Governor Marcy, Judge Parker, and Judge Harris, of