Select Speeches of Daniel Webster, 1817-1845 Part 19

Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Chs. XIX.-XXIII.; Lodge's _Webster_, Ch. VII.; _Works of Daniel Webster_, Vols. III., IV.; _Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster_, Vol. II., p. 83.

_MR. JUSTICE STORY_.

September, 1845.

Of the many friends of Webster during his long political career, there was no one more constant in his attentions, more sympathetic in his judgments, or more helpful in his counsels than was Mr. Justice Story. Ever since they had acted together in the Ma.s.sachusetts Convention in 1820 they had maintained for each other's character and attainments the most generous and cordial enthusiasm. The death of Mr. Story on the 10th of September, 1845, was a great affliction to Mr. Webster, and cast a gloom over his Marshfield home, where they had pa.s.sed so many delightful hours together.

At a meeting of the Suffolk Bar held in the Circuit Court Room, on the morning of the 12th of September, the day of the funeral, Chief Justice Shaw having taken the chair and announced the object of the meeting, Mr.

Webster p.r.o.nounced the following n.o.ble and beautiful eulogium.

The following letter of dedication to the mother of Judge Story accompanied these remarks in the original edition:--

"BOSTON, September 15, 1845.

"Venerable Madam,--I pray you to allow me to present to you the brief remarks which I made before the Suffolk Bar, on the 12 instant, at a meeting occasioned by the sudden and afflicting death of your distinguished son. I trust, dear Madam, that as you enjoyed through his whole life constant proofs of his profound respect and ardent filial affection, so you may yet live long to enjoy the remembrance of his virtue and his exalted reputation.

"I am with very great regard, your obedient servant,

"DANIEL WEBSTER.

"To Madam Story."

[1]P. 358, l. 28. 1. Cf. _Life and Works of Judge Story_.

[2]P. 362, l. 10. 1. The following inscription, which Mr. Webster wrote with his own hand a short time before his death, and which he desired to have placed on his monument, is interesting in connection with these closing words of the eulogy:--

"LORD, I BELIEVE; HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF."

Philosophical argument, especially that drawn from the vastness of the Universe, in comparison with the apparent insignificance of this globe, has some- times shaken my reason for the faith which is in me; but my heart has always a.s.sured and rea.s.sured me, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be a Divine Reality. The Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely human production. This belief enters into the very depth of my conscience.

The whole history of man proves it.

DANIEL WEBSTER.

When he wrote the above, he said to a friend: "If I get well and write a book on Christianity, about which we have talked, we can attend more fully to this matter; but if I should be taken away suddenly, I do not wish to leave any duty of this kind unperformed. I want to leave somewhere a declaration of my belief in Christianity."

It was not Mr. Webster's custom to make a parade of his religious beliefs; he was simple, sincere, and unaffected in his religious life. That he was a lover and student of our English Bible, no one familiar with his thought and style needs to be told. Mr. Choate, in speaking of Webster's models in the matter of style, mentions Cicero, Virgil, our English Bible, Shakespeare, Addison, and Burke.

For the latest estimates of Webster's work the student should consult the following:

The Proceedings of the Webster Centennial, Dartmouth College (1902).

Address of Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge at the unveiling of the Webster Memorial in Was.h.i.+ngton, in the volume _The Fighting Frigate_ and other essays.

John B. McMaster's Life of Daniel Webster.