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.

In reply to Judge Wayne's handsome allusion to the argument made by me before the Supreme Court, in the suit instituted by Thomas Gibbons, to try the exclusive right of the heirs of Fulton to the exclusive navigation by steam of all the waters within the State of New York, I would observe, that it has been my fortune in the courts of law, as well as in the halls of Congress, to take frequent parts in the discussion of constitutional questions of this character. The case referred to by Judge Wayne is one of them. It is true, that, in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden, I declined to argue the cause on any other ground than that of the great commercial question presented by it, the then novel question of the constitutional authority of Congress exclusively to regulate commerce in all its forms, on all the navigable waters of the United States, their bays, rivers, and harbors, without any monopoly, restraint, or interference created by State legislation.

Other grounds

That question I regarded as all-important. might have been sufficient for the disposal of this particular cause, but they were of no public or permanent importance. If that great point had then been waived or evaded, it is not easy now to see what inferences unfavorable to the just authority of Congress might have been drawn.

But my agency in this and similar questions before the Supreme Court has been but subordinate; the decision has rested with the court itself. No higher judicial tribunal exists than the Supreme Court of the United States, distinguished alike for the wisdom of its decisions and the eminent qualities of the judges who compose it, both in their private and public capacities. It is the expounder of fundamental principles of government; it is the appointed umpire on questions of the profoundest interest and most enduring consequences between conflicting

sovereignties. The American people, if they are wise, will ever cherish it as their most valuable possession, since its duration will be coexistent with that of the Constitution, of which it is the sole interpreter. The decisions of this tribunal have in general commanded public respect and inspired public confidence. Great talents and great learning have adorned its bench. Some of its judgments on questions of great magnitude have manifested unsurpassed ability. Let us hope that its future may resemble its past, and that the same learning and dignity, the same integrity and firmness, which have characterized its decisions in times past, may also distinguish them in times to come.

I beg, Sir, leave also to acknowledge the kindness with which you have noticed the manner in which I have discharged the duties of the Department of State. I held that office but for a short period; during that period, however, the question of the Northeastern Boundary was definitively settled, and an opportunity was afforded for considering and discussing other objects of great interest, which had remained unsettled, and which had become attended with no small difficulty. That opportunity was embraced. I am happy to think that good has been done, and to learn from you that the conduct of that negotiation received the approbation of the citizens of Savannah. There was as much, perhaps, in the favorable circumstances of the occasion, as in any ability manifested in the conduct of the negotiation.

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 call? 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.

Others may value this union of confederated Statcs 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 Southern 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 new blessings to be derived from it. It lessens labor, 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 individual 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 improvements, 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 southwestern 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 harbor 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.