CH. VII.] DEATH OF DANIEL WEBSTER. large appropriations for the improvement of rivers and harbors in various sections of the country; granting aid to the state of Michigan in constructing à ship canal around the Sault St. Marie; etc. The French spoliation bill, and other measures of importance, were postponed until the next session. Before entering upon the active and earnestly contested election, the people were again called upon to mourn for the removal of the great and noble compatriot of Henry Clay. It was in the summer of 1852, that Mr. Webster left Washington, being far from well at the time, and betook himself to the retirement and repose of his farm at Marshfield. Unfortunately, he 1852. soon after met with a severe injury by being thrown from a wagon. His health continued to fail more and more perceptibly, until, on the 21st of October, his illness was seen to be very dangerous, and the sad conviction forced itself upon his friends and the whole country, that he was on his death-bed. On Sunday morning, October 24th, a little before three o'clock, his mortal career reached its close. Like the father of his country-like the illustrious patriot who, only a few months before, had preceded him to the grave-Daniel Webster was not afraid to die, for his last hours were illumined by the light which the Gospel of our Blessed Saviour has cast upon the tomb, and he was, as we believe, enabled to lay fast hold upon the consolations and hopes of the humble, penitent, and faithful Christian. Words of eulogy we need not utter. His fame is imperishable. His renown, as the greatest of American orators, 493 and among the greatest of Americar statesmen, is graven in broad characters upon the history of the United States; and we are confident, that his is a name which will grow brighter, and be loved more more and more, as years roll on, and as it becomes more plainly evident what a life-time of service he gave to the highest and best interests of our common country.* The presidential election, in November, called forth the most earnest and active efforts of both parties; sanguine hopes of success were entertained by the whigs as well as the democrats; but the result proved the strength and efficiency of the organization of the democratic party, and Franklin Pierce was elected president by an unusually large majority, whether counted by the popular or the electoral votes. Some months before Mr. Webster's death, the ministers of England and France had been directed to invite the government of the United States, to become party to a tripartite convention, in virtue of which the three pow ers should severally and collectively disclaim, now and for the future, all intention to obtain possession of 1852. the Island of Cuba, as well as to discountenance all attempts of a similar kind by any power whatever. In July, Mr. Crampton addressed a letter to Mr. Webster on the subject, urging the views of his government as to this matter; and the Comte de Sartiges, in * For an eloquent and worthy tribute to the departed statesman and patriot, see the Hon. Rufus Choate's "Discourse delivered before the Faculty, Students, and Alumni of Dartmouth College, on the 27th of July, 1853, commemorative of DANIEL WEBSTER" 4 behalf of France, entirely accorded with the sentiments of Mr. Crampton's letter. "This will, it is hoped, facilitate the adoption by the government of the United States of the project, and enable the government of the United States, by associating themselves with those of Great Britain and France in this important declaration, to secure the future tranquility of the commerce of the world in those seas, to discourage illegal enterprises against Cuba, and to draw closer the bonds of amity which bind the United States to Great Britain, as well as to France and Spain." France has, within twenty years, ac quired a vast domain on the northern coast of Africa, with a fair prospect of indefinite extension. England, within half a century, has added very extensively to her empire. These acquisitions have created no uneasiness on the part of the United States. In like manner, the United States have, within the same period, greatly increased their territory. The largest addition was that of Louisi ana, which was purchased from France. These accessions of territory have prob ably caused no uneasiness to the great European powers, as they have been brought about by the operation of natMr. Webster's failing health prevent- ural causes, and without any disturbed his giving due attention to this com- ance of the international relations of munication, and his death occurring not the principal states. They have been long after, the president asked Mr. Ed- followed, also, by a great increase of ward Everett to undertake the duties mutually beneficial commercial interof secretary of state, which he did. Uncourse between the United States and der date of the 1st of December, Mr. Europe. But the case would be differEverett addressed to the Comte de Sar-ent in reference to the transfer of Cuba tiges a long and very able letter, setting from Spain to any other European powforth the views entertained by our government in respect to this difficult and delicate topic. An extract or two from this letter may properly here be presented. er. That event could not take place without a serious derangement of the international system now existing; and it would indicate designs in reference to this hemisphere, which could not but awaken alarm in the United States. But the president has a graver objection to entering into the proposed convention. He has no wish to disguise the feeling that the compact, although equal in its terms, would be very unequal in substance. France and England, by entering into it, would disable themselves from obtaining possession of an island remote fom their seats of government, belonging to another Euro pean power, whose natural right to possess it must always be as good as their own-a distant island in another hemisphere, and one which by no ordinary or peaceful course of things could ever belong to either of them. If 1852. the present balance of power in Europe should be broken up, if Spain should become unable to maintain the island in her possession, and France and England should be engaged in a death struggle with each other, Cuba might then be the prize of the victor. Till these events all take place, the president does not see how Cuba can belong to any European power but Spain. The United States, on the other hand, would, by the proposed convention, disable themselves from making an acquisition which might take place without any disturbance of existing foreign relations, and in the natural order of things. The Island of Cuba lies at our doors. It commands the approach to the Gulf of Mexico, which washes the shores of five of our states. It bars the entrance of that great river which drains half the North American continent, and with its tributaries forms the largest system of internal water communication in the world. It keeps watch at the doorway of our intercourse with California by the Isthmus route. If an island like Cuba, belonging to the Spanish crown, guarded the entrance of the Thames and the Seine, and the United States should propose a convention like this to France and England, those powers would assuredly feel that the disability assumed by ourselves was far less serious than that which we asked them to The opinions of American assume. 495 1852. statesmen at different times, and under varying circumstances, have differed as to the desirableness of the acquisition of Cuba by the United States. Territorially and commercially it would, in our hands, be an extremely valuable possession. Under certain contingencies it might be almost essential to our safety. Still, for domestic reasons, on which, in a communication of this kind, it might not be proper to dwell, the president thinks that the incorporation of the island into the Union at the present time, although effected with the consent of Spain, would be a hazardous measure; and he would consider its acquisition by force, except in a just war with Spain, (should an event so greatly to be deprecated take place,) as a disgrace to the civilization of the age. Spain, meantime, has retained of her extensive dominions in this hemisphere, but the two Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. A respectful sympathy for the fortunes of an ancient ally and a gallant people, with whom the United States have ever maintained the most friendly relations, would, if no other reason existed, make it our duty to leave her in the undisturbed possession of this little remnant of her mighty transatlantic empire. The president desires to do so; no word or deed of his will ever question her title, or shake her possession. But can it be expected to last very long? Can it resist this mighty current in the fortunes of the world? Is it desirable that it should do so? Can it be for the interest of Spain to cling to a possession that can only be 1852. maintained by a garrison of twentyfive or thirty thousand troops, a powerful naval force, and an annual expenditure for both arms of the service of at least $12,000,000? Cuba, at this moment, costs more to Spain, than the entire naval and military establishment of the United States costs the federal government. So far from being really injured by the loss of this island, there is no doubt that, were it peacefully transferred to the United States, a prosperous commerce between Cuba and Spain, resulting from ancient associations and common language and tastes, would be far more productive than the best contrived system of colo- | nial taxation. Such, notoriously, has been the result to Great Britain of the establishment of the independence of the United States. The decline of Spain from the position which she held in the time of Charles V. is coeval with the foundation of her colonial system; while within twenty-five years, and since the loss of most of her colonies, she has entered upon a course of rapid improvement unknown since the abdication of that emperor. No administration of this government, however strong in the public confidence in other respects, could stand a day under the odium of having stipulated with the great powers of Europe, that in no future time, under no change of circumstances, by no amicable arrangement with Spain, by no act of lawful war, (should that calamity unfortunately occur,) by no consent of the inhabitants of the island, should they, like the possessions of Spain on the 1852 American continent, succeed in render. ing themselves independent, in fine, by no overruling necessity of self-preserv ation, should the United States ever make the acquisition of Cuba. For these reasons, which the president has thought it advisable, con sidering the importance of the subject, to direct me to unfold at some length, he feels constrained to decline respect fully the invitation of France and England to become parties to the proposed convention. He is persuaded, that these friendly powers will not attribute this refusal to any insensibility on his part to the advantages of the utmost harmony between the great maritime states on a subject of such importance. As little will Spain draw any unfavorable inference from this refusal; the rather, as the emphatic disclaimer of any designs against Cuba on the part of this government, contained in the present note, affords all the assurance which the president can constitutionally, or to any useful purpose, give of a practical concurrence with France and England in the wish not to disturb the possession of that island by Spain." On Monday, the 6th of December, the second session of the thirty-second Congress commenced, and President Fillmore's last annual message was sent in on the same day. In brief but clearly expressed terms, the president laid before the two Houses a statement of the condition of the country, and gave his views of the principal topics of moment, on which he felt bound to speak. With evident propriety, Mr. Fillmore acknowledged, in behalf of our country, the blessings of God's providence dur |