an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The topics alluded to in the address just delivered are of great and permanent importance. At their head stands that of the Union of the States, and the Constitution. To such parts of the address as are complimentary to myself, I can of course, beyond the expression of my thanks, make no reply. What most becomes me, certainly, in this respect, is a grateful and respectful silence.

Allow me to say, that no more than justice is done me, in ascribing to me a steady adhesion to the Union of the States, upon the principles and according to the provisions of the Constitution.

I have made this present tour, which has proved so delightful to me while enjoying it, and which will leave so many pleasant reminiscences to dwell upon after my return, for the purpose of visiting those younger sisters of the family of the Old Thirteen whom I had not before known. I heartily rejoice that I have done so, for the reception which has welcomed me has proved that we of the North and the South are still brethren in feeling, and members of the same great political family, bound together by the articles of agreement in our glorious Constitution. He must be a presump

tuous man indeed, who would venture to think that he could suggest any new features of improvement or in any way improve our present form of united government. By its provisions and compromises I stand, as I have ever stood, and woe to the meddling politicians who would assail them in the hope of getting surer and safer guaranties for State rights and State institutions. In itself it is already complete and perfect; any change could only result in marring the harmony of its separate parts. The Constitution was the result of concessions and compromises. It gave to the general government certain specific rights and duties, and it left to the States the free exercise of their own appropriate rights, and the unrestricted enjoyment of their own laws and the control of their own social institutions. It has stood the test of experience, and proved itself capable, under a wise administration, of carrying forward the prosperity of the

country. Our duty is to be content with the Constitution as it is, to resist all changes from whatever quarter, to preserve its original spirit and original purpose, and to commend it, as it is, to the care of those who are to come after us.

You have alluded, Sir, to the spot where we stand, and the monument which rises before us. It reminds us, indeed, of the days of the Revolution, when State called upon State for aid in the cause of independence. What citizen of Massachusetts can forget the noble response of Georgia to her Georgia was then far distant; the wonder-working agency of the telegraph, that annihilates space, was then undreamed of, and long and weary miles of wilderness intervened between the oldest and the youngest of the original Thirteen. But the call was heard and answered. The blood of New England, in her turn, was freely poured out upon Southern soil, and her sons stood shoulder to shoulder with those of Georgia in the common cause. Sons and grandsons of those patriots, whom I now address! Georgians! shall we not cherish the recollection of those common sufferings and common dangers, and make them the incentives towards establishing a more perfect harmony between their descendants ? Those whom the dangers and perils of war could not sever, peace should not separate.

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Others may value this union of confederated States as a convenience, or an arrangement or a compromise of interests; but I desire to see an attachment to the Union existing among the people, not as a deduction of political economy, nor as a result of philosophical reasoning, but cherished as a heartfelt sentiment. I wish to see that attachment extended from one extremity of this confederacy to the other, not by telegraphic communications alone, but through the medium of American sympathies acting upon the American heart. Massachusetts, it is true, cannot vie with Georgia in fertility of soil, abundance of resources, or the boundless facilities of internal improvement, which will render her, at no distant day, one of the mightiest of our confederated States. Seven States like Massachusetts might be carved out of Georgia, and yet abundant room be left for the formation of another State. The natural products of Massachusetts (as a South

ern statesman once said) are granite and ice. Many of these stately buildings that tower above me are, I doubt not, indebted to Massachusetts for the granite upon which they are reared. Your lines of railroads, even now stretching almost to the foot of your mountain ranges, beds of entire granite, will soon deprive her of that privilege; but our hyperborean winters will long give us the monopoly of the other article of export, and if we are not destined to be your "hewers of wood and drawers of water,” we shall at least be your "hewers of ice and coolers of water."

Never before was I so forcibly impressed with the mighty influence of that great modern discovery, steam power, as an engine of improvement, as when, during my journey hither, I witnessed the passage of the long train of cars through the dense and gloomy pine forests of your interior, self-moved by an inner power which gave no visible signs of its existence and left no trace behind it, cleaving those solitudes as a bird cuts the air, but urged by a power that could know no weariness and whose energies never flagged. It was a most impressive lesson of the might of man in removing natural impediments from his path of progressive improvement.

Knowing, as I do, the rapid march of improvement in your State, that you have already upwards of seven hundred miles of railroad completed, and much more projected, I cannot but reflect upon the great destinies open to the people of Georgia if they will but improve the opportunities within their power.

This mighty agent, steam, is the handmaid of improvements almost beyond contemplation. Each day develops It lessens labor, it

new blessings to be derived from it. economizes time, it gives the poor man leisure and ability to travel, it joins together the most remote regions, and brings their inhabitants face to face, establishing a harmony of interest and feeling between them. It limits all distinctions. The poor and the rich, the prince and the peasant, enjoy now equal facilities of travel, and can procure the same comforts and luxuries from distant points, and, when they travel, they sit side by side in the same rail car. The in

dividual is sinking, and the mass rising up in the majesty of a common manhood. For a long time after the discovery and use of this potent agent, it was thought only applicable to navigation, and this prejudice retarded the march of im provements, which it might have expedited. For a long series of years a communication between the waters of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, through the peninsula of Florida, has been thought desirable; but this prejudice prevented it, as a canal was considered necessary for that purpose. But railroads are now taking the place of canals, and the completion of a south-western railroad from Savannah to Pensacola is only needed to make those two cities respectively the most prosperous in the South, uniting as it would the best seaport on the Southern Atlantic coast, with almost the only good harhor on the Mexican Gulf.

Five and twenty years ago, from my place in Congress, I pressed this matter, but the times were not ripe for it then. Now it may be and ought to be carried out, and I pledge to this assembly all the aid and influence that I possess in carrying it into execution, as of infinite value to Georgia and the entire Union.

With a graceful and impressive farewell to the audience who had honored him with their presence and approbation, Mr. Webster, amidst tumultuous applause, concluded his eloquent address, of which our meagre sketch is but the faint reflection.

FESTIVAL OF THE SONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

THE Festival was holden on the 7th of November, 1849, in the large hall of the Fitchburg Railway Company, in Boston. Mr. Webster officiated as president of the day. About fifteen hundred persons took part in the festival.

Mr. Webster addressed the meeting.

RESIDENTS of Boston and its vicinity, native born of New Hampshire! we meet here to-day in honor of our native State, to commemorate and record our grateful affection for her; to acknowledge the obligation which we all feel for her care and nurture in our early days. Coming into this,

another State, we have not brought away with us all our affections, or all our attachments.

We have invited to meet us many distinguished citizens of New Hampshire. They have answered our invitation, and have come in numbers. It may be considered properly the duty of the place I occupy to bid them, one and all, welcome. Welcome, ye of New Hampshire origin, from every part and quarter of our native State! If you come from the pleasant valleys of the Connecticut and Merrimack, welcome! Are you from the sea shore and the lakes of Strafford? welcome! Come ye from the Monadnock and the sides of the Crystal Hills? welcome! welcome! WELCOME!

Gentlemen, all the world admits that identity of local origin is a tie of connection and sympathy, especially if it be strengthened by early association, by the meeting with one another in the school house, and in the society of early life. In the morning of life, the heart opens all its sympathies to those around it, and receives impressions which are deep and lasting. We have migrated from one State to another. Our migration has not, indeed, been far. Nor have we come among strangers; nor have we had a new tongue to learn, new principles to imbibe, new courses of life to pursue; but, nevertheless, we have changed our allegiance; we have changed our citizenship; we have changed our social relations. New Hampshire men once in all these respects, we have ceased to be New Hampshire men now in every thing but grateful remembrance and affection for the past.

To-day we meet, to resume, for the time, the feelings which belong to us, as citizens of New Hampshire; to put on the New Hampshire character, and see how well it may fit us here, in the metropolis of the State to which we have come. Gentlemen, our lot is propitious; singularly, remarkably propitious. We are the native sons of one State, we are the adopted children of another, and we are proud of both. We desire not to forget whence we came, and Heaven forbid that we should forget where we are. We have met, I say, to commemorate our native State. We value it according to its merits, which we believe high and honorable. We value it for what Nature has