[1.] P. 275, l. 9. 1. Mr. Rives.
[2.] P. 326, l. 27. 1. "The vital question went to the great popular jury. The world knows what the verdict was, and will never forget that it was largely due to the splendid eloquence of Daniel Webster when he defended the cause of nationality against the slave-holding separatists of South Carolina."-- Henry Cabot Lodge.
"Whoever," says Mr. Curtis, "would understand that theory of the Constitution of the United States which regards it as the enactment of a fundamental law must go to this speech to find the best and clearest exposition."
"Then and there," says Dr. Hudson, "it was that real battles of the Union were fought and won. For the cause had to be tried in the courts of legislative reason before it could come to trial on field of battle."
This speech is much less rhetorical than the Reply to Hayne. The subject was not a new one, nor was the condition of the public mind so feverish as in 1830; consequently the case required not so much an appeal to the emotions as to the reason. It has always been considered as the most compact, close, logical, and convincing of all Mr. Webster's speeches. The people have relied upon it from that day to this to teach them the principles of the Constitution: in it they find the origin, the history, and the purpose of our great national fabric. By this speech Webster placed himself upon the highest pinnacle of fame, and added to his title of first orator that of the greatest statesman of his time, winning the proud distinction of "Expounder, Commentator, and Defender of the Constitution." On the 12th of October, 1835, the citizens of Boston presented to Mr. Webster a massive silver vase in testimony of their gratitude for his services in defence of the Constitution against South Carolina Nullification.
It contained the following inscription:--
Presented To
Daniel Webster,
The Defender of the Constitution,
By the Citizens of Boston,
Oct. 12, 1835.
In reply to the address of presentation Mr. Webster said:--
"In one respect, Gentlemen, your present oppresses me. It assigns to me a character of which I feel I am not worthy. 'The Defender of the Constitution' is a title quite too high for me. He who shall prove himself the ablest among the able men of the country, he who shall serve it longest among those who may serve it long, he on whose labors all the stars of benignant fortune shall shed their selectest influence, will have praise enough, and reward enough, if, at the end of his political and earthly career, though that career may have been as bright as the track of the sun across the sky, the marble under which he sleeps, and that much better record, the grateful breasts of his living countrymen, shall pronounce him 'the Defender of the Constitution.' It is enough for me, Gentlemen, to be connected, in the most humble manner, with the defence and maintenance of this great wonder of modern times, and this certain wonder of all future times. It is enough for me to stand in the ranks, and only to be counted as one of its defenders."
Cf. Curtis's Life of Webster, Ch. XIX.; Lodge's Webster, Ch. VII.; Address of Dr. Hudson on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Daniel Webster, June 18, 1882.