infinite satisfaction, but to the astonishment of all the world beside, that only eleven Massachusetts sailors had been impressed. Never shall I forget the appeal that had been made to the sympathies of the South in behalf of the "thousands of impressed Americans" who had been torn from their families and friends and "immured in the floating dungeons of Britain." The most touching pictures were drawn of the hard condition of the American sailor, "treated like a slave,"-forced to fight the battles of his enemy,-"lashed to the mast, to be shot at like a dog." But, Sir, the very moment we had taken up arms in their defence, it was discovered that all these were mere "fictions of the brain"; and that the whole number in the State of Massachusetts was but eleven; and that even these had been "taken by mistake." Wonderful discovery! The Secretary of State had collected authentic lists of no less than six thousand

impressed Americans. Lord Castlereagh himself acknowledged sixteen hundred. Calculations on the basis of the number found on board of the Guerriere, the Macedonian, the Fava, and other British ships, captured by the skill and gallantry of those heroes whose achievements are the treasured monuments of their country's glory,- fixed the number at seven thousand; and yet, it seems, Massachusetts has lost but eleven! Eleven Massachusetts sailors taken by mistake! A cause of

war indeed! Their ships too, the capture of which had threatened "universal bankruptcy": it was discovered that Great Britain was their friend and protector; where she had taken one, she had protected twenty." Then was the discovery made that subserviency to France, hostility to commerce, "a determination on the part of the South and West to break down the Eastern States," and especially as reported by a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature-"to force the sons of commerce to populate the wilderness were the true causes of the war. But let us look a little farther into the conduct of the peace party of New England at that important crisis. Whatever difference of opinion might have existed as to the causes of the war, the country had a right to expect that, when once involved in the contest, all America would have cordially united in its support. Sir, the war effected in its progress a union of all parties at the South. But not so in New England; there, great efforts were made to stir up the minds of the people to oppose it. Nothing was left undone to embarrass the financial operations of the Government, to prevent the enlistment of troops, to keep back the men and money of New England from the service of the Union to force the President from his seat. Yes, Sir, "the Island of Elba, or a halter!" were the alternatives they presented to the excellent and venerable

James Madison. Sir, the war was further opposed by openly carrying on illicit trade with the enemy, by permitting that enemy to establish herself on the very soil of Massachusetts, and by opening a free trade between Great Britain and America, with a separate custom-house-yes, Sir, those who cannot endure the thought that we should insist on a free trade in time of profound peace could, without scruple, claim and exercise the right of carrying on a free trade with the enemy in a time of war-and finally, by getting up the renowned

Hartford Convention," and preparing the way for an open resistance to the Government and a separation of the States. Sir, if I am asked for the proof of these things, I fearlessly appeal to contemporary history, to the public documents of the country, to the recorded opinion and acts of public assemblies, to the declaration and acknowledgments, since made, of the Executive and Legislature of Massachusetts herself.

DANIEL WEBSTER

Daniel Webster was born in New Hampshire, January 18, 1782. His education as a boy was scanty, but he managed to enter and graduate from Dartmouth College, receiving his degree in 1801. He then studied law, and began practice in Boscawen, but soon removed to Portsmouth. In 1813 he was elected to Congress as a Federalist, but his career was hardly successful at its beginning, and in 1816 he abandoned politics for the time and removed to Boston, where he soon gained prominence as a lawyer of marked ability. His speech at Plymouth in 1820, on the 200th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, gave birth to his reputation as an orator, and this was finally confirmed by his address at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument. In 1823 Webster was elected to Congress as Representative for Massachusetts, and he at once took rank as the leading speaker of the House. In 1827 Webster was chosen as United States Senator, and in that position, except when in the Cabinet during Tyler's administration, he remained until his death. His most famous political battle was that with Hayne, when Webster skilfully chose his own ground of combat, drew his opponent thereto, and then proceeded to utterly defeat him. His long combat with Calhoun, extending over a period of seventeen years, was also a feature of his services in Congress. He was Secretary of State from 1841 to 1843. He died in 1852.

Webster was undoubtedly the greatest of American orators. His style was somewhat ponderous and his humor elephantine; but in command of language, in force of argument, in cogency of reasoning, and in skill of finding the weak point in the opposition he stands unequalled. He had the happy faculty of invariably making use of the right word, so that the substitution of any other would seem awkward