Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1851-03-05
LETTER FROM DANIEL WEBSTER.

AT the festival on the 22d of February,
given by the Union Safety Committee of
New York, in honor of the 10th anniver-
sary of the birth of Gen. Washington, large
number of letters were read from the lead
ing statesmen of the country, including Pre-
sident Fillmore, Mr.. Webster, Gen. Cass,
Mr.. Clay, Mr.. Dickinson, Mr.. Buchanan,
and Others. The following letter from Mr..
Webster, is the only one for which we have
room. !, was read amidst the most tremen-
dous applause. At the close of one para
graph, the whole company rose and cheered
! for several minutes -
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 1851.
Genlemen-It is a source of deep regret
to me tina, my public duties absolutely pro-
hibit me from having the pleasure of accept
| ing your invitation, in behalf Of the Union
Safety Committee, to attend public dinner
on the Twenty-second, in honor of that aus
picious day Auspicious indeed ! All good
influences, all omens Of independence, liber-
~, free government, the creation of a nation,
its pros perily, happiness, and glory, hung
over the hour when the eyes OF Washing
ton frs, opened to the light. (Applause.)
You say truly, gentlemen, that the pre-
sent moment admonlshes us to rail- in sup
port Of his principIes-,o express anew our
admiration of his character, and our graft,
tuJe for his parting lessons of patriotism and
wisdom.
You say truly, gentlemen, that the gres.
duty devolving on us is that OF regarding
the Union as the foundation of our peace
and happiness, and the constitution as The
cement Of that Union. So Washington re-
garded them so he con ured his fellow-cti
zens, in all generations, TO regard them and
whenever his farewell address to his coun-
try shall be forgotten, and its admoni,ons
rejected by the people of America. from that
time 1t will become a farewell address TO all
the bright hopes of human liberty on earth.
(Grea, cheerng.)
Gentlemen, the character Of Washington
, is among the most cherished conlempa-
lions of my life. # is fixed star in the
frmamen. of great names, shining without
twinkling or observation, with clear, steady,
benefcenl light. !, is associated and blend
: ed with all our reflections on those things
e which are near and dear 10 US. If we think
Of the independence of our Country, we
think of him whose efforts were so promi-
{ nent in achieving it; if we think of the con-
: s,itulion which is over us we think of him
= who did so much TO establish it, and whose
t administration of its powers is acknowledg
ed 10 be model for his successors.
If we think of glory in the field, Of wis
dom in the cabinet, of the pures. patriotism
of the highes, integrity, public and private
. of morals without stain, of religious feel
ings, without intolerance and without ex-
Abs spgpfhr fsst n 81 ali fGtessee
ideas. (Applause.) You do well, gentle
= men, at this interesting hour, to invoke his
example. TO spread over the land know
ledge of his principles among the rising
generation, and fervenly to pray Heaven
that the spirit which was in him may lso be
. in us.
When Washington, in behalf Of the con-
venlion, presented to the old Congress, and
to The country, that Constitution which was
the production Of their patriotic and assidu-
Gus labors, he made this most important de-
claralion :-"ln all our deliberations upon
this subject, we KEEP. steadily in our view
that which appears TO US the creates, inter-
esls Of every true American, the consolda-
tlon Of our Union, in which is involved our
prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our ma
tIonal existence. This important consider
alton seriously and deeply impressed on
our minds, led each State in the convention
to be less rigid on points Of inferior msgni-
.ude, than nigh. have been otherwise ex-
pected; and thus the Constitution, which
we now present, is the result Of spirit of
amily, and Of that mutual Difference and con-
cession which the peculiarly Of our polli-
cal situation rendered indispensable" Gap
plause.) And when his public career was
, drawing to a close, he left to his country,
!, as his last bes. gift, his most earnes, and at
fecliona,e eXortation to uphold that Union
as the main pillar of independence, and to
!, frown indignantly upon the frs. dawning Of
any attempt to dissolve il. (Applause.)
This advice is needed now, and will be
needed hereafter. But, nevertheless, there
are some among US on whom it is no in us
,ice that those frowns Of Indignation should
fall. (Cheers.) There are those who are
altogether for abandoning the Union, and
alternating one portion Of the country from
the rest. They avow their wishes, they
disclose their purposes. They open their
hearts, and in their hearts there is found no
pulsalion for that Union which makes all
Americans one people. All is but the eb-
bing and flowing Of the dark, unwholesome,
troubled curren. of secession, schism, and
separation.
notwithstanding all that we see and hear,
gentlemen, and all that we have seen and
heard for the last twelve months, some per-
sons affect to believe that the Union is not,
and has not been, in danger They treat