reat satisfaction afforded me by the testimony of his
intimate friend, the Rev. Dr. Lothrop, who has in eloquent and
unqualified language confirmed, and, indeed, more than confirmed, all
that others have known of it.[C] Dr. Lothrop repeated his criticism on a
prayer once offered by the chaplain of the United States Senate, in
which Mr. Webster concurred, expressing at the same time his view of the
nature and true object of prayer. This reminds me of the fact that the
last sermon which Mr. Webster ever heard was on the subject of prayer,
from the lips of the late Rev. Dr. Kirk, preached in the little
Methodist church at Duxbury, about four miles from Marshfield. This was
about six weeks before Mr. Webster's death. He was accompanied by Sir
John Crampton, the British Minister, who at that time was at Marshfield
negotiating a treaty on the fishery question, Mr. Webster then being
Secretary of State. Through the mutual friendly relations of my esteemed
friend and partner, the Hon. Seth Sprague, I had the privilege, with him
and the Rev. Dr. Kirk, of dining with Mr. Webster the next day. It
afforded an opportunity to listen to his entertaining and instructive
anecdotes, of which I will relate one only. He said: "On a certain
occasion, when President Kirkland, of Harvard University, was called
upon by one of his familiar friends, a clergyman, he inquired as to the
state of affairs in his parish; to which the clergyman replied, 'We are
troubled by a good deal of controversy.'--'Ah! and pray what may the
subject be?' inquired Dr. Kirkland. 'It is the doctrine of the final
perseverance of the saints which agitates the minds of my people,' said
the clergyman. 'Well,' said President Kirkland, 'I, too, have a
controversy among my people; but the topic is of a very different
nature. What troubles me and them most is, the final perseverance of
sinners.'"

I am sure, however, that his own statement of his Confession of Faith,
written in 1807, and published in the Boston _Courier_ about twenty-two
years since, taken together with his extraordinary plea in the famous
Girard case, and his address at Plymouth in 1820, on the subject of its
settlement by the Pilgrim fathers will be specially appreciated. The
confession is as follows:--

I believe in the existence of Almighty God, who created and
governs the whole world. I am taught this by the works of
Nature and the word of Revelation.

I believe that God exists in