Select Speeches of Daniel Webster, 1817-1845Webster, Daniel
General
Select Speeches of Daniel Webster, 1817-1845
Webster, Daniel
Speeches, addresses, etc., American
Of the many friends of Webster during his long political career, there
was no one more constant in his attentions, more sympathetic in his
judgments, or more helpful in his counsels than was Mr. Justice Story.
Ever since they had acted together in the Massachusetts Convention in
1820 they had maintained for each other's character and attainments the
most generous and cordial enthusiasm. The death of Mr. Story on the
10th of September, 1845, was a great affliction to Mr. Webster, and
cast a gloom over his Marshfield home, where they had passed so many
delightful hours together.
At a meeting of the Suffolk Bar held in the Circuit Court Room, on the
morning of the 12th of September, the day of the funeral, Chief Justice
Shaw having taken the chair and announced the object of the meeting,
Mr. Webster pronounced the following noble and beautiful eulogium.
The following letter of dedication to the mother of Judge Story
accompanied these remarks in the original edition:--
"BOSTON, September 15, 1845.
"Venerable Madam,--I pray you to allow me to present to you the brief
remarks which I made before the Suffolk Bar, on the 12 instant, at a
meeting occasioned by the sudden and afflicting death of your
distinguished son. I trust, dear Madam, that as you enjoyed through his
whole life constant proofs of his profound respect and ardent filial
affection, so you may yet live long to enjoy the remembrance of his
virtue and his exalted reputation.
"I am with very great regard, your obedient servant,
"DANIEL WEBSTER.
"To Madam Story."
[1]P. 358, l. 28. 1. Cf. _Life and Works of Judge Story_.
[2]P. 362, l. 10. 1. The following inscription, which Mr. Webster wrote
with his own hand a short time before his death, and which he desired
to have placed on his monument, is interesting in connection with these
closing words of the eulogy:--
"LORD, I BELIEVE; HELP THOU
MINE UNBELIEF."
Philosophical
argument, especially
that drawn from the vastness of
the Universe, in comparison with the
apparent insignificance of this globe, has some-
times shaken my reason for the faith which is in me;
but my heart has always assured and reassured me, that the
Gospel of Jesus Christ must be a Divine Reality. The
Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely human
production. This belief enters into the
very depth of my conscience.
The whole history of man
proves it.
DANIEL WEBSTER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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