Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-04-11

open barouche in the streets of Boston,
he proclaimed TO a vast assemblage Of
his sconstituents-unwilling hearers--that
they had conquered an uncongenial
cline, they had conquered the winds and
elements Of the ocean, they had con-
quered most Of the elements Of nature,
but they must yet learn to conquer their
prejudices Alexander II. Stephens
Speech
This is glowing strain. But what
was the occasion Of Daniel Websters re-
mark? remark (by the way not made
from an open baronche, but from table
in front Of the Revere House IN Y.
Independent
Stephens is right and the Independent
wrong. Having been present on the &C.
casion, we distinctly recollect all the
circumstances, and particularly that Mr..
Webster stood in the carriage Mr.. Ben
jamin r. Curtis, afterward Justice Of the
United States Supreme Court, made the
welcoming address, standing on table
in front OF the Revere. The windows of
the building were crowded with ladies,
among them Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis,
who threw bouquets into the carriage.
1t was on the 25th of April The feel
ing Of disappointment, indignation and
regret excited by Mr.. Websters 7th of
March speech, and his support of the
| compromise measures, was at its hight
Three-fourths of his political friends re-
fused to indorse his course, and the
masses received him in sulen silence
Feneuil Hall was closed to him, and be
was escorted from the depot 10 the Re-
we're House by few personal friends in
carriages. But the square around the
hotel was densely packed with people
anxiously awaiting the explanation which
Mr.. Webster was expected to give of his
seeming betrayal of his constituents,
and Misrepresentation Of the sentiments
of the State.
During Mr. Curtis speech Mr.. Webster
stood in the carriage, shading his face
from the burning sun by his hand, and
looking toward the house. At its con-
clusion he turned to the vast crowd
around his carriage and commenced his
memorable reply. All heads were bent
| forward to catch each word that fell from
| his lips, but there we're no manifestations
Of applause or disapprobation. The
| people maintained q perfectly respectful
and even reverential demeanor, during
the whole speech, and not until the close
of the magnificent peroration, spoken as
no other man could speak, was their
iciness thawed so as to greet him with q
round cheer.
This peroration, that SO well accords
at the present time with the ardent desire
of every true patriot, is as follows;
"The Union for the preservation of
which strove; the union of States for
which / strive, is not merely union OF
law, of constitution, Of compact-but
while il is that it is pnion of brotherly
regard, of fraternal feeling throughout
the whole country. do not wish that
any portion of the people of this country
shall feel held together only by the bonds
of legal corporation; bonds which some
of them may think restrain their limbs,
cramp their affections, gall and wound
them. | wish, on the contrary, that they
shall be bound together by those unseen,
soft, easy setting chains that result from
generous affections, and from a sense Of
common interest and common pride. In
short. fellow-citizens, my desire is, and
my labor is, to see that state of things
produced in which, filling all bosoms
with gratitude, all hearts with joy, illu.
minating all faces, spreading through all
ranks of people, whether rich or poor,
whether North, South, East or West,
there shall exist the balm of all our suf-
fering-the great solace of all our polit-
ical calamities-the great society of every
thing prosperous, and great, and glorious
in the future and that is the united
love of a united government.