poken of, that there was a day--I think it was
June 15--when, in every year vegetation was at about the same
condition of forwardness, whether the spring were early or
late. A gentleman who was in the room said: "You have the
cool breezes of the sea at Marshfield?" "There, as at other
sea places," replied Mr. Webster. When he rose to go, he
said: "I have the honor to be a member of the Young Men's
Whig Club of Boston. I must be in my place in the ranks."

I heard him also in Faneuil Hall, in the autumn of 1844,
after the elections in Maine and Pennsylvania and in the
South had made certain the defeat of Mr. Clay. I remember
little that he said, except from reading the speech since.
What chiefly impressed the audience was the quotation from
Milton, so well known now:

What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield,
And what is else not be overcome.

I also saw Mr. Webster at the inauguration of Edward Everett
as President of Harvard, April 30, 1846. It was perhaps the
proudest period of Webster's life. It was also, perhaps,
the greatest day of the life of Edward Everett. Webster had
been Everett's great over-shadower. Gov. Everett would have
been, but for him, the chief public man and the orator of
Massachusetts at that time. He had returned from the Court
of St. James crowned with new laurels, and had been called
to succeed Josiah Quincy as the head of the University. By
a simple but impressive inaugural ceremony the Governor had
just invested Mr. Everett with his office, and delivered to
him the keys and the charter. Everett was stepping forward
to deliver his inaugural address when Webster, who had come
out from Boston a little late, came in upon the stage by a
side door. President and orator and occasion were all forgotten.
The whole assembly rose to greet him. It seemed as if the
cheering and the clapping of hands and the waving of handkerchiefs
would never leave off. The tears gushed down the cheeks of
women and young men and old. Everything was forgotten but
the one magnificent personality. When the din had subsided
somewhat, Mr. Everett, with his never-failing readiness and
grace, said: "I would I might anticipate a little the function
of my office, and saying--_Expectatur oratio in vernacula_--
call upon my illustrious friend who has just entered upon
the stage to speak for me.