Page 170.
The question has often been asked, whether the anonymous speech against
the Declaration of Independence, and the speech in support of it
ascribed to John Adams in the preceding Discourse, are a portion of the
debates which actually took place in 1776 in the Continental Congress.
Not only has this inquiry been propounded in the public papers, but
several letters on the subject have been addressed to Mr. Webster and
his friends. For this reason, it may be proper to state, that those
speeches were composed by Mr. Webster, after the manner of the ancient
historians, as embodying in an impressive form the arguments relied upon
by the friends and opponents of the measure, respectively. They of
course represent the speeches that were actually made on both sides, but
no report of the debates of this period has been preserved, and the
orator on the present occasion had no aid in framing these addresses,
but what was furnished by general tradition and the known line of
argument pursued by the speakers and writers of that day for and against
the measure of Independence. The first sentence of the speech ascribed
to Mr. Adams was of course suggested by the parting scene with Jonathan
Sewall, as described by Mr. Adams himself, in the Preface to the Letters
of Novanglus and Massachusettensis.
So much interest has been taken in this subject, that it has been
thought proper, by way of settling the question in the most authentic
manner, to give publicity to the following answer, written by Mr.
Webster to one of the letters of inquiry above alluded to.
"_Washington, 22 January, 1846._
"Dear Sir:--
"I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th
instant. Its contents hardly surprise me, as I have received very many
similar communications.
"Your inquiry is easily answered. The Congress of the Revolution sat
with closed doors. Its proceedings were made known to the public from
time to time, by printing its journal; but the debates were not
published. So far as I know, there is not existing, in print or
manuscript, the speech, or any part or fragment of the speech, delivered
by Mr. Adams on the question of the Declaration of Independence. We only
know, from the testimony of his auditors, that he spoke with remarkable
ability and characteristic earnestness.
"The day after the Declaration was made, Mr. Adams, in writing to a
friend,[14] declared the event to be one that 'ought to be commemorated,
as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.
It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games,
sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this
continent to the other, from this time forward, for evermore.'
"And on the day of his death, hearing the noise of bells and cannon, he
asked the occasion. On being reminded that it was 'Independent day,' he
replied, 'Independence for ever!' These expressions were introduced into
the speech _supposed_ to have been made by him. For the rest I must be
answerable. The speech was written by me, in my house in Boston, the day
before the delivery of the Discourse in Faneuil Hall; a poor substitute,
I am sure it would appear to be, if we could now see the speech actually
made by Mr. Adams on that transcendently important occasion.
"I am, respectfully,
"Your obedient servant,
"DANIEL WEBSTER."
[Footnote 1: Hon. Josiah Quincy.]
[Footnote 2: Nearly all that was known of this celebrated argument, at
the time the present Discourse was delivered, was derived from the
recollections of John Adams, as preserved in Minot's History of
Massachusetts, Vol. II. p. 91. See Life and Works of John Adams, Vol.
II. p. 124, published in the course of the past year (1850), in the
Appendix to which, p. 521, will be found a paper hitherto unpublished,
containing notes of the argument of Otis, "which seem to be the
foundation of the sketch published by Minot." Tudor's Life of James
Otis, p. 61.]
[Footnote 3: See Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. II. p. 150, Vol.
III. p. 447, and North American Review, Vol. LXXI. p. 430.]
[Footnote 4: Cicero de Officiis, Lib. I. § 43.]
[Footnote 5: A fac-simile of this ever-memorable state paper, as drafted
by Mr. Jefferson, with the interlineations alluded to in the text, is
contained in Mr. Jefferson's Writings, Vol. I. p. 146. See, also, in
reference to the history of the Declaration, the Life and Works of John
Adams, Vol. II. p. 512 _et seq._]
[Footnote 6: This question, of the power of Parliament over the
Colonies, was discussed, with singular ability, by Governor Hutchinson
on the one side, and the House of Representatives of Massachusetts on
the other, in 1773. The argument of the House is in the form of an
answer to the Governor's Message, and was reported by Mr. Samuel Adams,
Mr. Hancock, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Bowers, Mr. Hobson, Mr. Foster, Mr.
Phillips, and Mr. Thayer. As the power of the Parliament had been
acknowledged, so far at least as to affect us by laws of trade, it was
not easy to settle the line of distinction. It was thought, however, to
be very clear, that the charters of the Colonies had exempted them from
the general legislation of the British Parliament. See Massachusetts
State Papers, p. 351. The important assistance rendered by John Adams in
the preparation of the answer of the House to the Message of the
Governor may be learned from the Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. II.
p. 311 _et seq._]
[Footnote 7: The official copy of the Declaration, as engrossed and
signed by the members of Congress, is framed and preserved in the Hall
over the Patent-Office at Washington.]
[Footnote 8: See Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. II. p. 417 _et
seq._]
[Footnote 9: On the authorship of this speech, see Note at the end of
the Discourse.]
[Footnote 10: In this Convention he served as chairman of the committee
for preparing the draft of a Constitution.]
[Footnote 11: Upon the organization of this body, 15th November, 1820,
John Adams was elected its President; an office which the infirmities of
age compelled him to decline. For the interesting proceedings of the
Convention on this occasion, the address of Chief Justice Parker, and
the reply of Mr. Adams, see Journal of Debates and Proceedings in the
Convention of Delegates chosen to revise the Constitution of
Massachusetts, p. 8 _et seq._]
[Footnote 12: For an account of Mr. Webster's last interview with Mr.
Adams, see March's Reminiscences of Congress, p. 62.]
[Footnote 13: Mr. Jefferson himself considered his services in
establishing the University of Virginia as among the most important
rendered by him to the country. In Mr. Wirt's Eulogy, it is stated that
a private memorandum was found among his papers, containing the
following inscription to be placed on his monument.--"Here was buried
Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the
Statutes of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the
University of Virginia." Eulogies on Adams and Jefferson, p. 426.]
[Footnote 14: See Letters of John Adams to his Wife, Vol. I. p. 128,
note.]