PREFACE.

The object of the present volume is not to supersede the standardedition of Daniel Webster's Works, in six octavo volumes, edited byEdward Everett, and originally issued in the year 1851, by thepublishers of this volume of Selections. It is rather the purpose of thepresent publication to call attention anew to the genius and characterof Daniel Webster, as a lawyer, statesman, diplomatist, patriot, and,citizen, and, by republishing some of his prominent orations andspeeches of universally acknowledged excellence, to revive publicinterest in the great body of his works. In the task of selection, ithas been impossible to do full justice to his powers; for among thespeeches omitted in this collection are to be found passages ofsuperlative eloquence, maxims of political and moral wisdom which mightbe taken as mottoes for elaborate treatises on the philosophy of law andlegislation, and important facts and principles which no student ofhistory of the United States can overlook without betraying an ignoranceof the great forces which influenced the legislation of the two Housesof Congress, from the time Mr. Webster first entered public life to theday of his death.

It is to be supposed that, when Mr. Everett consented to edit the sixvolumes of his works, Mr. Webster indicated to him the orations,speeches, and diplomatic despatches which he really thought might be ofservice to the public, and that he intended them as a kind of legacy,—abequest to his countrymen.

The publishers of this volume believe that a study of Mr. Webster'smind, heart, and character, as exhibited in the selections contained inthe present volume, will inevitably direct all sympathetic readers tothe great body of Mr. Webster's works. Among the eminent men who haveinfluenced legislative assemblies in Great Britain and the UnitedStates, during the past hundred and twenty years, it is curious thatonly two have established themselves as men of the first class inEnglish and American literature. These two men are Edmund Burke andDaniel Webster; and it is only by the complete study of every thingwhich they authorized to be published under their names, that we canadequately comprehend either their position among the political forcesof their time, or their rank among the great masters of Englisheloquence and style.

CONTENTS.

DANIEL WEBSTER AS A MASTER OF ENGLISH STYLE

THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE

Argument before the Supreme Court of the United States, at Washington,on the 10th of March, 1818.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND

A Discourse delivered at Plymouth, on the 22d of December, 1820.

DEFENCE OF JUDGE JAMES PRESCOTT

The closing Appeal to the Senate of Massachusetts, in Mr. Webster's
"Argument on the Impeachment of James Prescott," April 24th, 1821.

THE REVOLUTION IN GREECE

A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States,on the 19th of January, 1824.

THE GREAT SPEECHES AND ORATIONS OF DANIEL WEBSTER