* * * * *
This letter to William Sullivan refers to the famous Dartmouth College
case, the judgment in which, as the result of Webster's argument, made
safe the endowment of every incorporated institution of learning and
charity in the country. It was doubtless sent by Mr. Sullivan to Mrs.
Webster for her inspection, as appears by the following note written by
Sullivan in the margin: "Dear Madam, In a letter which I have seen, it
is said, 'In the College cause, Webster shone like the sun; and Holmes
like a sunfish.'"
"WASHINGTON, March 13, Friday,
2 o'clock.
"DEAR SIR,—The Court has announced its intention to rise tomorrow, &
will hear no argument except in the cause now before them, which is No.
79.
"The Pastora will not be reached. I am exceedingly sorry for this, but
could not help it. I insisted to the last & the Chief Justice was obliged
to tell me it was _impossible_—& then I gave it up.
"The College case is argued—not decided—There is a difference of
opinion on the bench, & some of the Judges have not come to a conclusion
in their own minds. So it is to be continued. I shall depart, on the
rising of the Court, & make the best of my way home.
"Yrs
D. WEBSTER."
* * * * *
The following letter to Mr. Brewer is interesting as showing Mr. Webster's
interest in questions relating to the currency. It is well known that
he himself thought that the department of activity in which he was most
capable to render service to the country was that of finance, and that
he would have liked very well to have taken the Treasury instead of the
Department of State in Harrison's administration:
"BOSTON, Aug. 25, 1837.
"MY DEAR SIR,—I am very much obliged to you for your trouble in procuring
& sending me the plan of Mr. Wood's House. I enclose the amount of the
Architect's charge.
Like yourself, I look forward with much concern to the ensuing session of
Congress. That there has been a considerable change, in public opinion,
is certain; that this may produce a corresponding effect, in some degree,
on the deliberations of Congress, is to be hoped; but whether the change
has proceeded so far, as to justify the expectation that the Country
is now ready to renounce, entirely, the folly of "Experiments" on the
currency, & to return to the former well approved system of finance &
currency, may admit of doubt. To the friends of the right cause, however,
there remains nothing but a steady, honest, patriotic adherence to sound
policy & the true interests of the Country.
"I am, Dr Sir,
with regard & esteem
Yr ob serv.
DAN'L WEBSTER.
"MR. BREWER."
* * * * *
Some very zealous persons were impatient of Mr. Webster's hesitation and
irresolution long before the time of the anti-slavery struggle. My Uncle
Jeremiah Evarts, a man whom many people think quite the intellectual
equal of his son, the famous advocate, threw himself with all his zeal
into the defence of the Cherokee Indians when they were removed from
their homes in Georgia by the Legislature of that State, in spite of
the judgment of the Supreme Court, which was set at defiance. Mr. Evarts
said, "There is One who knows how to execute His judgments." That prophecy
had a terrible fulfilment in the region about Missionary Ridge, named,
I suppose, for the mission to those Indians maintained by the board
of which Mr. Evarts was secretary, which during the Civil War was, as
Horace Maynard told me, drenched with blood and honeycombed with graves.
Mr. Evarts gave his life to the cause of these oppressed people. His
death was caused by over-exertion in their defence. He always claimed
to have Mr. Webster's promise of earnest support; and whether he were
right or not, no such promise was ever kept. But I have in my possession
a considerable number of bound volumes of pamphlets which belonged to
Mr. Webster, including many presentation copies from their authors who
were among his famous cotemporaries. One of them is a copy of Jeremiah
Evarts's "William Penn," written by him in the cause of the Cherokee
Indians, which was very famous in its day. On the title-page, written
in pencil but still quite legible, in Daniel Webster's handwriting, are
the words: "When Greece uttered her voice and stretched forth her hand
for aid your hearts were moved, your kindling sympathies went out. Will
you be deaf to the no less piteous Indian cry?" This single sentence
shows, I suppose, that Mr. Webster was thinking of a speech to be made
in the Senate in the cause of the Indians, and also what, as we have
said, was his usual method of preparation, that he intended to compose
a few sentences in a complete form, the rest of the speech being, so
far as composition was concerned, extempore.
[Illustration]
* * * * *
The following is from Aaron Burr, containing little in itself, other
than the autograph, and the fact that it in all probability relates to
the case of which Mr. Todd tells the story in his delightful paper in
the "Green Bag," as follows:
"The late Judge Tenney, of Maine, told me that Mr. Webster, when at
Portsmouth, heard one of Mr. Mason's students say that the 'old man' had
been much puzzled over a particular law difficulty, but had settled it.
Mr. Webster inquired what it was, and what was Mr. Mason's solution, and
did not forget it. A few years after, in New York, Aaron Burr, one of
the ablest lawyers of his time, applied to Mr. Webster for his opinion
on this very question, and was surprised to hear his ready answer, that
of Mr. Mason."
The tone of hostility in the following letter from Benton is not
explained, so far as I know, by any occurrence which history has
preserved. If it implied a threat of a challenge, undoubtedly Mr. Webster
bore himself on the occasion as became a Senator from Massachusetts,
as he did in dealing with the fiery-hearted John Randolph, and as Henry
Wilson afterward did in dealing with Preston S. Brooks:
"SENATE CHAMBER, Jan'y 4th 1832.
"SIR,—I take leave to invite your attention to a published letter which
Col. Davis will show you, and to say, that he will receive the answer,
if any, which you may think the occasion calls for.
"Yr. obt. servant
"THOMAS H. BENTON.
"HON. MR. WEBSTER."
* * * * *
Among the books in my possession belonging to Daniel Webster is a copy
of Granger's Biographical Dictionary, in three volumes. It contains Mr.
Webster's book-plate, with the motto, "Vera Pro Gratis." On the fly-leaf
Mr. Webster has written:
"Mr. Granger died, April 15, 1776, while administering the sacrament,
of an apoplectic fit.
More happy end what saint e'er knew!
To whom like mercy shown!
His Saviour's death in rapturous view,
And unperceived his own.
_Vide_ Annual Register for 1776.