Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-20

establishment Of liberty to all men with
out distinction of color as well as the per-
petuatton OF the Union. In centuries to
come. II the statues in the gallery escape
the leveling hand of time, and future gen.
erations look upon the likeness of Webster
and ask who he was and what he did,
there shall come the undylng eulogium. He
was the great expounder and defender of
the American Constitution. There Is no
military halo around his mighty head, no
names of battles tell his fame. but he set
forth and explained In living and burning
words, as no other did or could. tho i'm
mortal principles Of American government,
to defend which navies were built, armies
raised and our great military heroes 1ought
and bled and gave up their lives.
OF Gen. Stark.
OF Gen. Stark Mr.. Chandler said that he
was New Hampshire's great fighter In the
war of the revolution. More than any
other commander he rejoiced in the fierce
ness Of actual conflict on the battlefield.
As a leader of men in battle he had few
EQUALS and almost no superiors In history.
Fortunate, thrice fortunate. was the I'M
mortal Stark that he was able to exercise
his unsurpassed faculty to command anu
to exhibit his extreme personal Vaior py
leading the New Hampshire troops at
Bunker Hill by heading Washington's per-
sonal advance at Trenton, and by planning
and winning, as the chief commander, the
decisive victory of Bennington.
'FOrtundto also Is ANcW
she is able to place in the national gallery
the statue Of a military hero, whose ser
vices in arms contributed so much 10
American Independence, and whose mem,
DRY is so deserving of perpetuauoh IN I'll
patriotic hearts"
Senator Lodge.
Senator Lodge said of Stark that he
sprang from that sturdy stock which
brought to the north of Ireland the blood
of the Scotch Covenanters and OF Crom-
wells Ironsides. New Hampshire today
places his statue in the National Capitol,
but the American people will always think
of John Stark, not In the cold repose CT
bronze or marble but as he led the van
through snow and sleet and darkness when
Washington saved the revolution at Tren-
ton, or still more as he was when black
ened with powder he charges with his men
upon the British lines at Bennington"
OF Webster, Mr.. Lodge said that his great
fame belongs to Massachusetts. the state
which he served and hOnored. and which
loved and honored him for SO many years.
The disappointment and regret OF his last
days came from the fact that he had fall
ed to gain the one great office which he
felt should have been his. webster Is too
great man to treat with the contempt
which Is implied by mere eulogy. and the
consequent implication that he was fault
less. He had serious imperfections and
grave moral defects. History recognizes
and judges both" Speaking of Websters
change Of attitude on the slavery question.
Mr.. Lodge said that the passion for the
presidency and the longing for southern
support played an important part therein
cannot be doubted But 1t is narrow and
unjust to think that this meaner influence
was the only one. Then as always, the
dominant motive with Webster was his
love for the Union. He did more to create
the national sentiment In the years before
the war than any other man, and II was
this national sentiment that he expressed
sci nat oil uyht ch 10 "A a
stirred the hearts Of the northern people
when war came, and which drove forward
the bayonets of the national armies on
many a stricken field. Webster's devotion
to the Union was as heartfelt as 1t was
fervent He not only believed In 1t as a
patriot, but 1T was part Of his very nature
He had mo allegiance in his politics." and
like one of Lowelrs pioneers, The had en-
pire in his brains"
Senator Mitchell.
The speech of Mr.. Mitchell Of Oregon
WEE a eulogy Of the great Webster. Dur
ing the course of his remarks he said:
webster was a human prodigy, a unique
intellectual entity. He lowered above his
fellows In his lines Of superiority, like Ma
poleon in France, Bismarck in Germany
Gladstone of England, in their respective
traits of greatness The light of his mar
velous mind did not shine eccentric, like
a comets blaze but clear and steady like
the sun in his splendor. when 1t shines
serenely bright.
That he was endowed by nature with
rare gifts. all will agree: that he was q
patriot in the grandest and Hottest sense Of
that term, none will deny. That as a
logtcian, statesman, orator, he ranked in
ferior to none among the logicians. states
men and orators. not only Of the times in
which he lived, but of any period, but was
superior to many, there are few to dispute.
ITO Webster more than to any other
American Is due the credit Of infusing into
the American mind and crystallizing IN
the American conscience a correct inter-
probation OF the Constitution.
THE inspiration of his matchless speech
es in support of the integrity of the Con-
stitution and the Union and in opposition
to vicious construction of the funda-
mental law sought by some to be engraft-
ed on that great instrument Infused pa
triotism into the minds and hearts Of a
million men and prompted them to the
rescue, when thirty years or more later
that integrity was assailed by force of
arms"
Senator Davis.
The corner stone Of this Capitol, said
Senator Davis. was laid on the fourth day
Of July, 1851, and Daniel Webster was the
ora tor OF the event. 1t was most Appro-
pirate that he who, for a generation, had
builded upon the foundations Of the Con-
stitution such Cycopi8n architecture Of in
tellectual power should speak the words of
dedication of this marble pile and the Con-
stitution which it symbolzes to the love
of the people and the protection of AL
mighty God.
And now, after the lapse Of more than
forty years, the mother state which held
him in her granite cradle has proudly set
up in this place the image of her wondrous
son. 1t was not needed, yet ii was fitting
to be done. Some men, and Of them was
Webster, cannot be expressed by monu-
ments.
The time of that ceremony was a trou-
bled one. The future was black with por-
tents. Compromises had been repealed, and
substituted compromises were proving to
be mere vanishing makeshifts. The earth
was tremulous with two vast agitaIions.
They were conflicting and destructive The
north was slowly moving with reluctant
yet ominous power. The south. in posses
sion of safeguards which could not save.
knew this fact, and was in the first throes
of that convulsion which at last opened
the chasm of dsunion by war.
In the midst of such agitation this was
one of Webster's last public utterances.
and in IL he pleaded with passionate earn
estness for the supremacy of the Constitu-
ton and the preservation of the Union.
At the bar, in the Senate. In the cabinet,
Daniel Webster built up and expanded the
Constitution beyond any man of his time
or any party Of men. Yet it has been said
of him that he was not constructive
statesman, that he originated few meas
ures, drafted few statutes. and that he was
a mere demonstration. Exactly the con-
trarv Is the fact He was the most con-