that a sense of justice which I could not conscientiously resist, led me
on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Mr. Webster's birthday,
which was observed in this city (Boston) in 1882, under the auspices of
the Alumni of Dartmouth College, to present, substantially, the facts
and views which are now by request repeated. I may add, that I realized
more fully an obligation and an interest to give currency to them from
the fact of my former connection with Mr. Webster's Alma Mater, as one
of its Board of Trustees, and also from having made the first
contribution to the Webster professorship in that institution, which,
through the liberality of others, has since been fully endowed.

While I would not enlarge on the subject of Mr. Webster's public
services and extraordinary statesmanship already so well known
throughout this and other countries, I may briefly refer to one
especially eloquent speech of the many made by him to which it was my
privilege to listen. After the death of President Harrison, and the
accession to office of Vice-President John Tyler, all the members of the
Cabinet, except Mr. Webster, resigned. He remained as Secretary of
State, for the purpose of bringing to a successful conclusion a
perplexing controversy between Great Britain and the United States as to
the trial and release of Alexander McLeod, a British subject, then held
as a prisoner in the State of New York for participating in an attack on
the steamer "Caroline" within the waters of the United States. The
British Government avowed the act as authorized, and imperatively
demanded McLeod's release. It tasked to the utmost the extraordinary
ability of Mr. Webster, as a mutual friend informed me, to find
sufficient ground on which to comply with England's demand, and yet
maintain the dignity of the Government of the United States,
consistently with the relations between the Federal Government and that
of the State of New York. The question seemed at one time to threaten
the peaceful relations between England and America, of which the public
were not aware. Under Mr. Webster's construction of the duty and
obligations of our Government, McLeod was surrendered, and soon after
Mr. Webster resigned. Having been unjustly criticised by certain
political leaders, and his motives impugned for remaining so long in the
Cabinet, he at once sought vindication in a speech delivered in Faneuil
Hall, defining his position, in which he poured out a torre