The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1Webster, Daniel
History
The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1
Webster, Daniel
United States -- Politics and government -- 1815-1861
In the introductory note to the preceding Address, a brief account is
given of the origin and progress of the measures adopted for the
erection of the Bunker Hill Monument, down to the time of laying the
corner-stone, compiled from Mr. Frothingham's History of the Siege of
Boston. The same valuable work (pp. 345-352) relates the obstacles
which presented themselves to the rapid execution of the design, and
the means by which they were overcome. In this narrative, Mr.
Frothingham has done justice to the efforts and exertions of the
successive boards of direction and officers of the Association, to the
skill and disinterestedness of the architect, to the liberality of
distinguished individuals, to the public spirit of the Massachusetts
Charitable Mechanic Association, in promoting a renewed subscription,
and to the patriotic zeal of the ladies of Boston and the vicinity,
in holding a most successful fair. As it would be difficult farther
to condense the information contained in this interesting summary, we
must refer the reader to Mr. Frothingham's work for an adequate account
of the causes which delayed the completion of the monument for nearly
seventeen years, and of the resources and exertions by which the
desired end was finally attained. The last stone was raised to its
place on the morning of the 23d of July, 1842.
It was determined by the directors of the Association, that the
completion of the work should be celebrated in a manner not less
imposing than that in which the laying of the corner-stone had been
celebrated, seventeen years before. The coöperation of Mr. Webster was
again invited, and, notwithstanding the pressure of his engagements as
Secretary of State at Washington, was again patriotically yielded. Many
circumstances conspired to increase the interest of the occasion. The
completion of the monument had been long delayed, but in the interval
the subject had been kept much before the public mind. Mr. Webster's
address on the 17th of June, 1825, had obtained the widest circulation
throughout the country; passages from it had passed into household words
throughout the Union. Wherever they were repeated, they made the Bunker
Hill Monument a familiar thought with the people. Meantime, Boston and
Charlestown had doubled their population, and the multiplication of
railroads in every direction enabled a person, in almost any part of New
England, to reach the metropolis in a day. The President of the United
States and his Cabinet had accepted invitations to be present;
delegations of the descendants of New England were present from the
remotest parts of the Union; one hundred and eight surviving veterans of
the Revolution, among whom were some who were in the battle of Bunker
Hill, imparted a touching interest to the scene.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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