The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1853-08-19


earnest conversation, which ran throughot
the great body of his speech. A single eli
cusstance will show you the clearness an
absorbing power Of his argument.
al observed that Judge Story, at the open
ing of the case, had prepared himself, pen !
, hand, as il to take copious minutes. Hou
after hour, saw him fixed in the same al
titude, but so far as could perceive, with no
note on his paper. The argument closed
and could not discover that he had taken
single note. Others around me remarked tn
same thing, and it was among the on dts @
Washington, that friend spoke to him o
the ia It with surprise, when the Judge re
marked: Everything was SO clear, and Sc
easy to remember, that not note seemed ne
'cessary, and, in fact, thought little or moth
ing about my notes.
"The argument ended; Mr.. Webster stoo'
! for some moments silent before the Court
while every eye was fixed intently upon him
At length, addressing the Chief Justice Mar.
shal he proceeded thus:
"This, Sir, is my case! 1t is the case, moi
merely of that humble Institution, it is the
case of every College in our land. 1t is more
1t is the case of every Eleemosynary Insttu.
tion throughout our country-of all those
great charities founded by the pety of our
ancestry to alleviate human misery, and
scatter blessings along the pathway of life.
1t is more! 1t is, in some sense, the case OF
every man among US who has property OF
which he may be stripped, for the question
is simply this: Shall our State Legislatures
be allowed to take that which 10 not their
own, to turn it from its original use and apply
it to such ends or purposes as they, in their
discretion, shall see fit! Sir, you may de-
stroy this little Institution; it is weak; it is
in your hands! know it is one of the lesser
lights in the literary horizon of our country.
You may put it OUT. But If you do SO, you
must carry through your work! You must
extingush, one after another, all those great
lights of science which, for more than
century have thrown their radiance over our
land 1t is, Sir, as have said, small col
lege. And yet there are those pho loue 1t.
Here the feelings which he had thus far sue
ceeded in keeping down, broke forth. His
lips quivered, his firm cheeks trembled with
emotion; his eyes were filled with tears, his
voice choked, and he seemed struggling to
the utmost, simply to gain that mastery over
himself which might save him from an un-
manly burst of feeling. will not attempt
to give you the few broken words of tender
ness in which he went on to speak of his at
to the College. The whole seemed
to be mingled throughout with the recollec-
tions Of father, mother, brother, and all the
trials and preventions through which he had
made his way into life. Every one saw that
it was wholly unprecedented, pressure on
his heart, which sought relief in words and
tears.
"The Courtroom during these two or three
minutes presented an extraordinary spectacle.
Chief Justice Marshall, with his tall and
gaunt figure bent over as if to catch the
slightest whisper, the deep furrows of his
cheek expanded with emotion and eyes suf-
fused with tears; Mr.. Justice Washington at
his side with his small and emaciated frame
and a countenance more like marble than l
ever saw on any other human being leaning
forward with an eager, troubled look; and the
of the Court, at the two eXtremites,
pressing, as it were, toward single point,
while the audience below were wrapping
themselves round in closer folds beneath the
bench to catch each look, and every move
nent of the speakers face. If a painter
could give us the scene on canvas--those
orms and countenances, and Daniel Webster
as he then stood in the midst, it would be one
,f the most touching pictures in the history
IF eloquence. One thing it taught me, that
he pathetic depends not merely on the words !
uttered, but still more on the estimate we put
ipon him who utters them. There was not
,ne among the strong minded men of that
who could think it unmanly to weep
when he saw standing before him the man !
who had made such an argument, melted in
% the tenderness of child. Mr.. Webster !
lad now recovered his composure, and fixing
his keen eye on the Chief Justice, said, in
hat deep tone with which he sometimes
thrilled the heart of an audience:-'Sir,
know not how others may feel" (glancing
1t the opponents of the College before him)
but for myself, when see my alma mater
like Cesar in the Senate House,
~ those who are reiterating stab upon stab
would not for this right hand have her turn
20 me and say, 'et tu quoque mi fill" And
hou, too, my son! He sat down. There was
/ death-like stiffness throughout the room for
some moments; every one seemed to be
slowly recovering himself, and coming gradu-
lily back to his ordinary range of thought and
feeling"
1t happened to me to be member of the
Senate of the United States when the treaty |
was negotiated, and ratified in secret session.
Of the general difficulties which beset our
British relations, at that moment, the COM
plexity, the irritation, of the embarrassments
Of every description, too many for the po-
puarity of Monroe, too many for the will of
Jackson, occasioned among other things, by
The relation of the State of Maine to the con-
you are all aware. But my oppor-
unity of frequent access to Mr.. Webster may
nave enabled me somewhat better to discover
with what profound convictions of these diff
what anxieties for the issue, hope g. !