as to claim another man's work, or load with eu.ogy an effort of his own.

This reply to Hülsemann, therefore, whatever may have been the circumstances of its composition, must now go down to future generations, as the work, the undoubted work, in every respect really affecting authorship, of Mr. Webster; and it is undeniably, in every way, though not the ablest of his performances, a production worthy of his genius. It was at once greatly celebrated. Not only by the newspapers of the day, but by several historical and authentic publications, the American public had just been put in possession of very perfect information in respect to the origin, progress, and results of the Hungarian revolution; and, on the appearance of the secretary's answer, they were well prepared to understand its arguments and its allusions, whose point would otherwise have been lost upon them. His main position, that the emperor of Austria had no right to complain of this government for being friendly to struggles similar to that by which we had established the liberty and happiness of this country, was as conclusive as it was patriotic; and his retort, that the very complaint, founded on an avowal of the American president to his own congress, of an unjustifiable interference on our part with the internal affairs of a foreign government, was itself just such an act of improper interference, though obvious enough, was of a charac ter to give infinite delight to the masses of our people; but when they read those passages, in which the secretary magnifies his native land, " in comparison with which the possessions of the house of Hapsburg are but as a patch on the earth's sur face," which, consequently, could not dream of deterring "either the government or the people of the United States from exercising, at their own discretion, the rights belonging to them as an independent nation, and of forming and expressing their own opinions, freely and at all times," their enthusiasm overpassed all ordinary bounds. The whole communication, in

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fact, though not to be compared with the secretary's letter to Lord Ashburton on impressment, and to several other of his productions, carried in it the elements of very great popular ity, and rose immediately to an extraordinary celebrity, both in this country and in Europe. It was translated into the German language; and thousands of copies of it are said to have been surreptitiously circulated even in the Austrian dominions. In this country, it is really humiliating to add, this simple communication, to which Mr. Webster could have attached no great importance, which was the production of a playful mo ment, and which cost him not half the labor of thought bestowed on some individual pages of his acknowledged masterpieces, was seized upon by superficial people, prior to the succeeding presidential nomination, as a chief reason for making him the next president of the republic! An office which had not been gained by a long life of services the most illustrious, but which could be won or offered on terms so cheap and by merit so comparatively shallow, could scarcely be coveted by any high-minded man, and would certainly be beneath the dig nity of such a citizen as Daniel Webster! A people, who could make the choice of their first magistrate rest on such a basis, on the writing of a letter, would be on a par with the nation that should suspend the same interest on the fortune of a battle, and, in either case, would not fail to meet the curse of being ruled by the most unworthy and inferior of their number!

For several years preceding these events, in consequence of the great extension of our country, the capitol at Washington had been felt by congress, and by all visitors, to be too small for the purposes of so great a nation; and, consequently, on the 30th of September, 1850, an act was passed by both houses, making provision for the enlargement of the edifice according to such plan as might receive the approval of the president. The work was to be undertaken and carried on under his direction; and, therefore, early in his administration,

Mr. Fillmore employed an architect, approved of a pla., and made every suitable preparation for commencing operations during the spring or summer of the following year. By the last of June, all things were ready for laying the corner-stone; but this pleasing ceremony was deferred that it might take place on the anniversary day of American independence, a day which could hardly receive a more suitable commemoration. The corner-stone of the original building had been laid by Washington on the 18th of September, 1793. He had been assisted by some of the most eminent men of that period; and, when Mr. Fillmore was to perform a similar duty, to make the occasion most memorable, he relied on the presence, and aid, and eloquence of Daniel Webster. After the ceremony of depositing the stone had been completed, Mr. Webster stood up before the vast assemblage, which was probably as large a body of people as had ever been seen in one place at Washington, and pronounced that oration, which, for appropriateness to the occasion, for sound political wisdom, for patriotic sentiment, and for all his characteristic felicity of expression, may well stand and go down to posterity as the last great performance of the first orator and statesman of his country. It will be read and admired while there is a country, a free country, an enlightened, patriotic, American republic, to admire anything worthy of admiration.

It was during this first year of Mr. Fillmore's administra tion, that the expedition of Lopez against Cuba came to so just and yet so sad a termination. Its ill success, however, did but little in suppressing the adventurous spirit that had inspired that movement. Cuba, if added to the Union, would not only soon constitute a southern and a slave-holding state, but it might be made, and doubtless would be made, the great slavemart of all the other slave-holding states. The object of this expedition had been to revolutionize the island as the first step towards its annexation to this republic; and Lopez, a worthless

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but bold adventurer, and a Spaniard, who held his life cheap, had been employed as the most fit person, considering his nationality and his fearlessness of character, to conduct it. He had been successful in alluring many thoughtless and equally worthless young men of this country, gathered from the corruptest portions of our great Atlantic cities, and in thus drawing together quite an army. His head-quarters, before embarking, had been made at New Orleans; but, on landing on the island, after a few slight successes, he had been cut to pieces by the troops of the colonial government. He was himself garroted, or strangled, according to an old Spanish custom; and he died with the firmness of a desperado. Fifty of his followers suffered a similar fate; and the remainder of his deluded band, except a few who were pardoned, were carried in chains to Spain to await the orders of the imperial government. This termination of things so disappointed their friends and sympathizers at home, that excessive feelings began to manifest themselves in several of our great cities, among the lower population; and, at New Orleans, the disappointment was so intense, that the rabble rushed upon the office of the Spanish consul, tore up or seriously insulted and mutilated the Spanish flag, and even fell upon the property and persons of peaceable Spanish citizens, committing outrages of a very unusual and

heinous character.

In this condition of affairs, the Spanish minister at Washington, Don Calderon de la Barca, addressed a note to Mr. Webster, dated October 14th, 1851, complaining of these outrages, and demanding immediate reparation at the hands of the fede ral government. His demand was entirely just; and Mr. Webster sent him a reply, dated the 13th of November, cordially condemning, in the name of the American government, this ill-starred and wicked expedition, and promising every possible and constitutional satisfaction for the excesses at New Orleans, which the president had power to make. This move

ment against Cuba, which was sought after for the immoral purposes before stated, could not fail to meet with the most settled and determined opposition of the secretary; and the president himself was equally resolved, shutting his eyes to all considerations of personal popularity, either at the south or north, to call into action the entire military force of the country, if necessary, to put down an enterprise so unjust in itself, so injurious to our fair name abroad, and so destructive of all sound political morality at home. There can be no doubt, in fact, that the country owes it to that high-minded administra tion, that the escutcheon of liberty was not at that time blotted with a crime, which would have dishonored and weakened us abroad, and covered the face of every worthy and well-meaning citizen with shame. It was a poor time, certainly, with Millard Fillmore as president, and with Daniel Webster in the chair of state, to undertake expeditions of attack and conquest upon the rightful possessions of our neighbors. Heaven grant that all future presidents, and all succeeding secretaries, may imitate the rectitude and justice of their example!

Immediately following this correspondence with the Spanish minister, Mr. Webster dispatched a letter to Mr. Barringer, our minister at the court of Madrid, soliciting in the most eloquent terms the release of those American prisoners, who had been captured in Cuba, and who were now under sentence of being sent to the Spanish mines. This letter is wholly charac teristic of Mr. Webster. It opens with a true history of all the facts of the case, honorably stated in their full force, and closes with an appeal to the magnanimity, and clemency, and better judgment of the Spanish government, which could not fail to convince and move either a philanthropic or a prudent mind. The court of Madrid felt the force of this appeal; and, in a short time, Mr. Webster had the happiness to learn, that a hundred and sixty-two of his unfortunate but not blameless