e 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Appendix to which, p. 521, will be found a paper hitherto unpublished,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. sec. 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
si