Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1842-10-07
Term out toeMtr.
Friday, OCTOBER Z, l549.
MIR WEBSTER,s SPEECH.

MIR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH.
At very early hour on Friday last, old Fanueil
Hall, Boston, was crowded to suifocaton, and be-
fore the time appointed for the meeting, thousands
had gone away unable to procure admission At
I II o'clock A. M. Ms. WEBSTER came in, attended
by Committee of gentlemen. He was introduced
to the audience by the Mayor, in very neat and
tasciul Address, to which he replied as follows
Mr.. WEBSTER then turned to the au-
dience, and commenced Undressing the May
or J by saving that he knew not how II was,
but there was something in the echoes Of
those walls, or in the sea of upturned faces
which he saw before him, or in the genius
which always lowered over the place, fan
ming an ardent and patriotic feeling a some
thing winch excited him deeply--too deeply
for him to express. Then came the saluta-
ton from his fellow ctizens-his fellow
townsmcn gratifying indeed, yet awakening
strong emotions to which he could not give
adequate uitcrance by mere language. Bos-
ton indeed was his home-his cherished
home more than twenty-five years since
: he had come here with his family to pursue
the objects of his private and professional
life but that life had not long been eXclu-
sivey followed. For upwards of twenty
years he found himself clothed with the trust
ofthe representative Of the citizens of Bos-
ton in the national councils. Hence arose
ties and feelings of an ever-enduring nature
When the duties of public life had drawn
him from home, he still felt Boston to be the
attractive spot to which all his local feelings
tended and he now cherished no greater
earthly hope than to live in the midst of her
citizens, and partaking other fortunes wheth-
er for good or evil, with the expectation also
that they would be likewise shared by his
children.
Mr.. Webster passed from the personal al
lusions to the late negotiations with Lord
Ashburton, and expressed hope that at
least something had been done which might
be permanently useful but he could not,
with any sense Of Justice, claim all the merit.
lie had had, it was true, a bard summers
work, but then he had been used to hard
work sleepess nights he had passed. and
many hours of anxiety, but if the results
should prove beneficial to his country, he
should feel content. His duty and object
had been to dispense the clouds which threat
ened a storm between England aud Ameri-
ca. For several years class of questions
had existed, which, if they did not actually
threaten war, had no tendency to preserve
peace between the two countries.
In 1871 he was called to the office which
he now holds, by that eminent citizen, now
no more, General Harrison, with whom he
had formed an acquaintance in the Senate,
and had had opportunities of knowing him
in his own house and elsewhere. Connected
with this appointment there were, he be-
lieved circumstances which il might not be
improper for him to mention. Without
hearing one word from him (Mr. Webster)
General Harrison wrote to him, offering any
place in the cabinet, and also asking his adj
vice as to the persons who might better fill
the other places. General Harrison wished
him to take the treasury department, because
he had paid considerable attention to the
subject of finance; but it so happened that
his preference was for the office of Secreta-
ry Of state, though he knew it was place of
great responsibility; yet it was more inviting
to him than the daily drudgery of the treas
ury. He entered upon the duties of the
state department fully impressed with the
aspect of our foreign affairs the occurrences
on the northern frontier, aggravated by the
arrest of Mcleod. A year before the latter
event, Great Britain had authorized mill /
tary incursion on our frontier, to capture
steamer employed against the legal govern
ment of the British crown in Canada. A.
mong the persons engaged in the attack on
the steamer was Mcleod, who as an indiyid-
ual attracted and deserved no attention. But
his arrest and trial, as if personally RESPONSE
BILE Tor his share in the act, while acting I'M
der the orders Of his government gave rise
to grave questions and serious difficulties. -
Mr. Webster here said, that according to his
opinion, those legal proceedings were direct
ly adverse to the well-settled doctrines and
principles Of public law, and calculated not
only to arouse the Indignation of govern
ment, but of the people living under such
government 1t would be so in this country
Ii an American should be ordered to do an
act by his government, subject to be hanged .
1t he did not obey the order, and should be
seized by a foreign nation and tried as Grim
inal for that act every American would cry
out against It as an outrage. Every elevated
government would at once do so aud would |
say to such foreign government-"We are
responsible for the act committed by him
whom you have seized, and we are prepared
to meet the consequences, and not him
who has only obeyed our paramount orders"
There were to me many urgent reasons
for preierring the department of state if
what was known at Washington had been
circulated throughout the country, our ship
ping would have deprecated full one-haf. -
He then thought that the crisis approaching
might be averted by pursuing Just and
honorable policy towards the other parity
First, by admitting that the arrest of Mcleod
was wrong, and then by demanding an apol-