research less remarkable than his natural talents; his study of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Case must have been most laborious and most profound; he spoke for four hours on two successive days. The subject was magnificent-the Boundary Line of rival states; involving public and private rights, vested interests, family and local attachments, individual feelings, all these were to be preserved or sacrificed; and, above all, fame and honour were at stake, and he who was sustaining the heat and burthen of the day, he must be either signally vanquished or signally triumphant. The Supreme Court was crowded, the Senate and the House being absolutely deserted. Judge M'Lean presided on the Bench, listening with profound attention and graceful benignity. Mr. Webster sat near Mr. Choat, with rivetted on the speaker, and his fine countenance expressing the most eager interest, and the highest admiration. I was near them all, in my favourite seat on the left hand of the Judges, and close to the desk at

eyes

* In this cause, the efforts of Mr. Choat obtained their deserved success. It is much to be regretted that this speech has not been preserved.

which Mr. Webster was seated. It is next to impossible that I should ever again behold such a scene. I cannot say what interested me the most. The important subject, its learned and enthusiastic advocate, the benignant Judge, or the generous Webster, hanging with delighted ear upon accents of his gifted friend. Never, certainly, had I been before in so high a presence; and never shall I forget the impressions left upon my mind by these three wondrous men.

the

Mr. Webster, unless when greatly occupied by business, always acknowledged me in Court, and seemed amused with my frequent attendance there; he once complimented me on my good taste and devotion to the Law. At the Astor House he dined with me, and, for about two hours, I enjoyed the undivided privilege of his society; these are things for an Englishwoman to remember, and to tell of, with complacency. Mr. Webster is sixtyfour or five, but looks seven years younger; society he is convivial; it is said that he can work with the severest application, and prepare for any occasion with wonderful precision and rapidity. Many traits of his profound mind, his attainments,

the character of his eloquence, his zeal in maintaining the purity of the Constitution, his love of peace, remind me forcibly of what I have heard and read of the Charles James Fox, of England.

EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH OF MR. WEBSTER, IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,

On the Resolution of Mr. Foote, respecting the Sale, &c. of Public Lands-January, 1830.

The resolution was introduced on the 29th of December, 1829, as follows:

66 'Resolved,―That the committee on Public Lands be instructed to inquire and report the quantity of public lands remaining unsold within each State and Territory. And whether it be expedient to limit, for a certain period, the sales of the public lands to such lands only as have heretofore been offered for sale, and are now subject to entry at the minimum price. And, also, whether the offices of Surveyor General, and some of the land offices, may not be abolished without detriment to the

public interest; or whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten the sales, and extend more rapidly the surveys of the public lands.”

On the 18th of January, Mr. Benton of Missouri addressed the Senate; and on the 19th, Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, proceeded in the debate and spoke at considerable length. After he had concluded, Mr. Webster rose to reply, but gave way, on the motion of Mr. Benton for an adjourn

ment.

On the 20th, Mr. Webster took the floor, and after some introductory remarks, spoke as follows: In the first place, sir, the honourable gentleman* spoke of the whole course and policy of the government, towards those who have purchased and settled the public lands; and seemed to think this policy wrong. He held it to have been, from the first, hard and rigorous; he was of opinion that the United States had acted towards those who had subdued the western wilderness, in the spirit of a stepmother; that the public domain had been improperly regarded as a source of revenue; and that we had rigidly compelled payment for that

* Mr. Hayne.

He said

which ought to have been given away. we ought to have followed the analogy of other governments, which had acted on a much more liberal system than ours, in planting colonies. He dwelt, particularly, upon the settlement of America by colonies from Europe; and reminded us, that their governments had not exacted from those colonists payment for the soil; with them, he said, it had been thought that the conquest of the wilderness was, itself, an equivalent for the soil, and he lamented that we had not followed that example, and pursued the same liberal course towards our own emigrants to the West.

Now, sir, I deny altogether that there has been anything harsh or severe in the policy of the government towards the new states of the West. On the contrary, I maintain that it has uniformly pursued towards those states a liberal and enlightened system, such as its own duty allowed and required, and such as their interest and welfare demanded. The government has been no stepmother to the new states. She has not been careless of their interests, nor deaf to their requests; but from the first moment, when the territories

S