INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

THE annual election in the autumn of 1843 was conducted with great spirit in Massachusetts. Large conventions came together in several of the counties of the Commonwealth. Among them, that which met at Andover on the 9th of November, composed of delegates from all the towns in Essex County, and attended by many persons from the neighboring parts of the State, was one of the largest and most animated. The presence of Mr. Webster had been requested by special invitation from a committee of the citizens of Andover, immediately charged with the arrangements for the day. He was accompanied by a large number of personal and political friends from Boston. The place of meeting was a sequestered dell of a circular form, partly surrounded and sheltered by the native forest, about a quarter of a mile from the village, where a platform had been erected in front of the amphitheatrical slope, which furnished accommodation to a very large audience.

The meeting was called to order by Hon. Stephen C. Phillips of Salem, on whose motion William Stevens, Esq., of Andover, was chosen to preside over the Convention. After a few appropriate remarks from the chair introducing the business of the day, Mr. Phillips addressed the Convention at considerable length and with great ability, and concluded by moving a series of resolutions, setting forth with much power the principles of the Whig party and the objects to be effected at the coming election. The concluding resolution was in the following

terms:

"Resolved, That while regarding ourselves as especially engaged in the defence of the Constitution, we welcome on this occasion the muchdesired presence of the great Defender; that we submit to his hands the responsible task of repelling all open or insidious attacks upon this palladium of our rights; and that we shall rejoice once more to hear from his lips the counsels of wisdom and the exhortations of patriotism.'

After the enthusiastic cheering had subsided with which this resolu

tion had been received, Mr. Webster was introduced to the meeting and delivered the following speech. The Rev. Professor Stuart, of the Theological Seminary at Andover, having taken an active part in all the arrangements of the day, the pamphlet edition of the Speech was dedicated to him by Mr. Webster in the following letter.*

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Boston, November 13, 1843.

"MY DEAR SIR, - At the suggestion of friends, I have looked over the printed reports of my remarks at Andover, for the purpose of publica tion, in a pamphlet, with some of the papers and extracts which I read, or to which I referred, put into an Appendix.

"I doubt, my dear Sir, whether, at this season of the year, and under the circumstances, I should have gone to Andover to address a large collection of people, if a disposition to comply with your own personal wishes, so kindly expressed, had not formed a large part of the induce

ment.

"Will you allow me now, as a manifestation of my esteem and regard, to present the pamphlet in this public manner to you; and to avail myself of the opportunity for expressing the gratification which I feel in knowing, not only your intelligent and warm regard for the maintenance of the institutions of the country, but also, that amidst the duties of your chair, and the labor which you are known to bestow on the deeper studies belonging to your profession, you still find time to acquaint yourself extensively with its great and leading interests.

"DANIEL WEBSTER.

"TO REV. PROFESSOR MOSES STUART, Andover.”

The topics of this speech, and Mr. Webster's political course generally, were made the subject of two very able letters written by Professor Stuart and published about this time in a pamphlet form.

CONVENTION AT ANDOVER.*

It is not without considerable reluctance, fellow-citizens, that I present myself before this meeting to-day. It had been my purpose to abstain, for the time to come, from all public addresses before such vast assemblages. The invitation, however, came from sources which I so much respect, and appeared to urge my attendance with so much earnestness, that it was not in my yielding nature to withhold my consent. And that consent I cannot regret, when I look around me and before me, and see such a collection from Andover, from all parts of this county, and from the adjacent counties.

Gentlemen, I concur most zealously in the hope of the election of George N. Briggs and John Reed to the offices of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth, and am ready to perform any duty towards the accomplishment of what we all desire. I do not propose, on this occasion, any extended discussion of State politics; but I may say, generally, that I wish to see Massachusetts restored to what she has been, and characteristically is. In the proceedings of last year, I have seen much that does not belong to Massachusetts; much that has no flavor, no relish, of the Old Bay State about it. Gentlemen, I entertain not a particle of doubt that the good sense and good feelings of the people, when once aroused, and they are now aroused, — will accomplish all that patriotism can desire, to this end. The proof of this I see, not in a noisy and vaporing spirit among the people, but in the deep earnestness and sobriety with which sensible and patriotic men are preparing for the performance of their duty, as electors, at the present crisis.

An Address delivered at a Convention of the Whigs of Essex County, Massachusetts, held at Andover, on the 9th of November, 1843.

Gentlemen, the Andover Committee have desired me to address this assembly on a number of vastly important topics. It is quite impossible that I should enter far into so broad a field; I shall confine myself, in the remarks I have to make, to some of the subjects suggested by them.

They desire that I should express my sentiments upon the respective duties of the national and State governments; upon the duties of the general government to farmers, merchants, and manufacturers; upon the importance, the necessity, of a sacred observance of public faith; upon the currency and its relations, and the utility and importance of a universal medium of payment.

In reference to the discussion of these topics, I am embarrassed by the fact, that I have little new to say of any of them. By the favor of the people, I have been a good deal in public life, and upon these subjects my opinions are well known. They are unchanged. And I avail myself of this occasion, not so much to announce any new doctrines held by me, as to refer to sentiments long entertained, and often expressed.

The general government, all agree, is vested with certain powers, and held to certain duties. It is its duty to defend the country from foreign invasion, to provide armies and equip navies; the treaty-making power is confided to it; the superintendence of the foreign relations, and the maintenance of the country's honor in foreign States, belong to it. This all acknowledge. But upon its domestic duties there has grown up a difference of opinion of great breadth, leading to diverse conclusions on the one side and the other.

Upon these duties it is my intention briefly to say something, and it is my wish that all remarks made upon the subject may be taken in that spirit of conciliation and candor from which they proceed. I wish to persuade others of their correctness. I know we have a common destiny; that the good of the whole country embraces the good of all its parts; and I desire that at all times, by free and candid discussion and consideration, the differences of opinion which men entertain on these topics may be reconciled, and that all may approach, and finally stand upon, the same ground.

A contest has agitated the country for years upon the true extent of the powers of Congress in two particulars;

1. As to its authority over the currency;

2. As to its power to encourage domestic industry by discrimination in laying duties on articles of manufacture imported from abroad.

And first, as to the currency. All agree that Congress possesses the power to regulate commerce, for that provision is found in the Constitution in terms; and that it has the power to coin money, for those words are also found in the Constitution. But there is a wide difference of opinion as to what duties are or are not fairly inferable from these grants of power. In regard to this matter, which has so long divided the country, and which will continue to agitate it till it shall be effectually settled, I must begin by a reference to some general principles and leading facts.

Congress possesses the commercial power, that is, the power of regulating commerce, and the power of coining money; and it may issue its own bills of credit. No State can either coin money, regulate commerce, or emit its own bills of credit. But, right or wrong, banking corporations are established under State authority, and issue bills; and these bills form, in fact, the mass of the circulating medium of the country. And now, since the use of these bills has become almost, if not wholly, universal, the question arises, On what government devolves the power of regulating the paper currency? Now, Gentlemen, in my opinion, which I have entertained for many years, the general government is bound to take care of the currency of the country; I think that it has a duty beyond merely coining money and fixing its value; that the power to regulate commerce gives Congress authority over that great instrument and means of commerce, the actual circulating medium of the country; and that if paper is to take the place of coin, Congress is bound to see. that it is safe paper, and such as is not likely to defraud and oppress the people, to become base in character, or run to excess. On these topics my opinions have been frequently expressed, and are well known.*

As I have observed already, Gentlemen, I have very little

In the original pamphlet edition of this speech, large extracts were here made from speeches in the Senate of the 28th of September, 1837, and the 12th of March, 1838, which will be found in a subsequent volume of this collection; and from the speech in Faneuil Hall, of the 24th of July, 1838, in Volume p. 417.

I.