USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Walks & talks about historic Boston > Part 26
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In March, 1813, Perry went to Presque Isle (now Erie, Pa.) to hasten the construction of a little navy and four vessels were built there and at Buffalo, five merchant ves- sels had been fashioned into warriors. Early in July, this little fleet of nine vessels were all ready. Perry named his
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Hagship the "Lawrence," in compliment to the gallant commander of the "Chesapeake," who gave his life to his country in that memorable fight with the "Shannon."
But Perry had to wait several weeks for men and sup- plies, and chafed at this enforced idleness, while out on the lake, a British squadron under command of Commodore Barclay, was cruising, awaiting the approach of the "AAmericans." Perry was to co-operate with General Harri- son, who was in command of the American land forces, and on the 17th of August, while off Sandusky Bay, he fired his signal gun. While waiting for General Harrison, to get his troops to move, Perry cruised about the lake. For a few days he was anchored in Put-in Bay. "The 10th of September was a bright and beautiful morning: the watching sentinel on the main top of the 'Lawrence' cried 'Sail-Ho!' The 'Lawrence' at once signalled to the rest of the fleet: 'Enemy in sight! Get under way!' and the boatswain responded 'All hands up anchor Ahoy!'" Per- ry's nine vessels were the "Lawrence" 20 guns : "Niagara," 20: "Caledonia" 3: Schooners "Arid" 4, "Scorpion" 2 and two swivels, "Tigris" 1, "Porcupine" I and Sloop "Trippe" I : in all 54 carriage guns and two swivels. Barclay's fleet consisted of the "Detroit." "Queen Charlotte." "Lady Pur- cel," "Hunter," "Little Belt" and "Chippewa" carrying 64 carriage guns, 2 swivels and 4 howitzers. The fleets slow- ly approached each other and commenced firing at each other at long range, the first shot being fired by the "Scor- pion," commanded by young Champlin, then less than twenty-four years of age. As the fleets rapidly approached each other, the battle waxed fiercer and fiercer. The "Law- rence" bore the brunt of the battle with twice her force, her rigging was all shot away, her sails in shreds, her mast in splinters and her guns dismounted. Only one mast re- mained and from it proudly floated the "Stars and Stripes." All the other vessels were fighting gallantly, excepting the "Niagara," which had been lagging behind. Perry deter- mined to fly to her, renew the fight and win a victory. So strong was his faith in his success, he put on the uniform of his rank, that he might properly receive the sword of Barclay. Then taking down his pennant and his banner with the stirring words, "Don't give up the ship," he en- tered a boat and started on his perilous voyage.
He stood upright in the boat, with the pennant and ban-
Commodore Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie
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ner partially wrapped around him, a conspicuous mark for the guns of the enemy. Barclay knew that if Perry should reach the staunch "Niagara." the British would be in dan- ger. so he ordered all the big and little guns of his fleet to play upon the boat which carried the young hero. The oars were splintered, bullets traversed sides of the boat and the oarsmen were covered with spray from the round and grape shot falling in the water around them.
With his pennant floating over the "Niagara," he dashed through the British line, and in eight minutes the British flagship hauled down her colors, and all but two of the fleet surrendered. These were pursued and brought back by the gallant young Champlin. He fired the first gun in the conflict and the last one in securing the conquered ves- sels. It was a most complete victory.
Perry sat down and wrote with his pencil on the back of a letter, this famous dispatch to General Harrison : "We have met the Enemy and they are ours. Yours with great re- spect. O. H. Perry." The news of this victory carried joy to the hearts of Americans. The lakes had echoed the tri- umphs of the ocean. The name of Perry in naval annals was made immortal. The government in the name of the people, thanked him, and gave him and Eliott, each a Gold Medal, and a Silver Medal to each man who took part in the battle. The American loss was 27 killed, and 96 wounded. The British lost 200 killed and wounded and 600 made prisoners. Perry's humane conduct toward the wounded Commander of the British fleet was such that Barclay declared it was sufficient to immortalize him."
Another battle on the Lakes was fought by Commodore Macdonough on Lake Champlain. The British Naval force under Commodore Downie, consisted of the Frigate Con- fidence, one brig two sloops and twelve gunboats, and they came around Cumberland Head, with a fair wind, where they were to assist the land forces in a combined attack on the Americans. Macdonough's flagship was the "Sarato- ga," and he had also, one brig, two schooners and ten gun- boats or galleys. Macdonough, then thirty-one years of age, had skilfully prepared his forces to meet the enemy. When his vessels were cleared for action. he knelt upon the deck of the "Saratoga" "near one of her heaviest guns, and with his chief officers around him, implored the aid of the Almighty. Then the sharp naval conflict began. At
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the outset a shot from a British vessel demolished a hen coop on board the "Saratoga," when a young game cock, which the sailors had brought from the shore, released from confinement and startled by the sound of the great guns, flew upon a gun slide, and flapping his wings, crowed lustily and defiantly.
The incident was regarded by the sailors as ominous of victory and their courage was strengthened. The battle lasted two hours and twenty minutes and was won by the Americans. In his report of the fight, Macdonough wrote : "There was not a miast in either squadron that could stand to make a sail on." Our masts, yards, and sails were so shattered," wrote a British Officer, "that one looked like so many bundles of matches, and the other like so many bundles of rags." The fight was witnessed by hundreds of spectators on the Vermont shore and is said to have been a sublime sight. The British Commodore. Downie, was killed, and his remains were buried at Plattsburg. The loss of the Americans was HIO; that of the British was over two hundred. In his "History of the Naval Ex- ploits of the War of 1812," J. Fennimore Cooper, says :
"The Navy came out of the struggle with a vast in- crease in reputation. The brilliant style in which the ships had been carried into action, the steadiness and rapidity with which they handled, and the fatal accuracy of their fire, on nearly every occasion, produced a new era in naval warfare. It is not easy to say in which nation this unlooked for result created the most surprise. The ablest and wisest captain of the English fleet was ready to admit, that a new power was about to appear on the ocean and that it was not improbable that the battle for the mastery of the seas would have to be fought over again." The triumph of the American were themes for oratory, toast and song. The following ode to "The American Tar" was very popular at the close of the war :
"The Goddess of Freedom, borne down by oppression,
In Europe's famed regions no longer found rest ; She wept at the heart-rending wide desolation,
And languishing looked for relief from the West. She heard that Columbia was rearing a temple.
Where she would be worshipped in peace and in war.
Old Neptune confirmed it, cried, 'Here is a sample,'
Presenting with pride 'An American Tar.'"
Daniel Webster and his home in Boston
Mr. Webster's first residence in Boston was at 57 Mt. Vernon Street and from there he removed to Somerset Street. That site is now covered by the Suffolk County Court House, Pemberton Square. The cut represents his last home in Boston, on the corner of Summer and High Streets, as it looked in 1825. After Mr. Webster acquired national fame he sold his residence in Boston and pur- chased a country home in Marshfield and resided there until his death. When he visited Boston he stopped at either the Revere or Tremont House.
Bostonians of this generation and strangers visiting Boston, and walking down Summer Street to the South Terminal, cannot imagine that this busy mart of trade was once a quiet and aristocratic residential quarter of the city. Massive elm trees lined the street on either side, their long branches making a green arch overhead, affording a grateful shade in the hot summer days. The houses were of brick, large and stately and set well back from the side- walk, and nearly every estate had a beautiful garden. This house of Webster's gives a fair idea of the prevailing style of residence of that period.
A writer in the Boston Post says: "Owners of the houses on Summer Street supplied their guests with cider made from apples grown in their gardens. Peaches and pears were grown in profusion and the pears of Samuel T. Gardner excelled any grown today." In this house on Summer Street, Webster received the distinguished Frenchman, Marquis De Lafayette, when he visited America in 1824-25, and who came to Boston to be present at the laying of the corner stone of Bunker Hill Monument, at the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill. It was feared that Lafayette would not be present on that occasion, and there was great delight in the hearts of the people when he presented himself at the State House the day before the celebration. He was met by the Governor, members of the Legislature and City
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Officials, who gave him a heartfelt welcome and in reply to their addresses, said that "Bunker Hill had been the pole star upon which his eyes had been fixed."
While in Boston, he was the guest of Senator Lloyd in Pemberton Square. The Chief Marshal that day of the parade was General Lyman, and at the head of the proces-
Daniel Webster
sion were two hundred officers and soldiers of the Revolu- tion and forty veterans who had taken part in the battle of Bunker Hill. Some of them wore the same cartridge boxes they used on that memorable 17th of June, and one old veteran carried the same drum that he had beat in that fight. Mayor Josiah Quincy was Master of Ceremonies, and he introduced the survivors of the battle to Lafayette,
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and to that sympathetic Frenchman it must have been a memorable occasion. His carriage was drawn by six white horses. It was a long procession, for we are told that the head of the procession reached the monument before the rear had left the Common. A cane made from one of the timbers that covered the monument was presented to the gallant Frenchman, who, at the age of 19, offered his services and risked his life to help the Colonies in their fight against
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Daniel Webster's Home, Corner Summer and High Streets
oppression. Lafayette laid the cornerstone according to Masonic ritual. He occupied a front seat on the platform in the ampitheatre on the northeast side of the hill where tlie addresses were made : the survivors of the battle were behind him, and he was the last surviving Major General of the Revolutionary Army. The prayer was made by Dr. Dexter, who was in the battle, and Daniel Webster fol- lowed with one of his wonderful orations, in which he paid Lafayette the following beautiful tribute: "With what measure of devotion will you not thank God for the cir- cumstances of your extraordinary life! You are connected
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with both hemispheres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted through you from the New World to the Old, and we, who are now here, in this day of patriotism, have all of us long ago received it in charge from our fathers to cherish your name and your virtues. You see the outlines of the little redoubt thrown up through the incredible diligence of Prescott, and defended to the last extremity by his lion- hearted valor and within which, the corner stone of our monument has now taken position. You see where War- ren fell and where Parker, Gardner, McCleary, Moore and other sturdy patriots fell with him. Those who survived that day, and whose lives have been prolonged to the pres- ent hour are now around you. Behold, they now stretch forth their feeble arms to embrace you. Behold they raise their trembling voices to invoke the blessing of God on you, and yours forever."
At the banquet immediately following the addresses, Lafayette proposed his well known toast. His words were: "Bunker Hill, and that holy resistance to oppres- sion, which has already enfranchised the American hem- isphere. The anniversary toast at the jubilee of the next half century will be, to Europe freed." Daniel Webster gave Lafayette a grand reception at his Summer Street home. There were so many invited guests that a door was cut into the adjoining house of Israel Thorndike to accommodate them. "The General also attended a Re- ception at the house of Mr. R. C. Derby, and was there introduced to a lady with whom he had danced a minuet forty-seven years before." There was an arch built across Washington Street with an inscription, the last two lines of which were:
"We bow not the neck, and we bend not the knee ;
But our hearts, Lafayette, we surrender to thee."
In Medford he was the guest of Governor Brooks, and an arch over the meeting house in that town had on it these words: "General Lafayette. Welcome to our Hills and Brooks."
Webster had a fine garden in the rear of his Summer Street home, and here we love to picture him, seated in a comfortable chair in the summer twilight, surrounded by
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his family and neighbors in social conversation. From his front windows he could look over to the New South Church on Church Green, corner of Summer and Bedford Streets. Fifty years later it was torn down to give place to a mercantile block. There are many old residents who remember the Summer Street of 1850 to 1860, the old man- sions, the trees and the flowers, the square granite tower of Trinity, the Mariner's Church on the corner of Summer and Federal Streets, the site of the Brown Building, 185 Summer Street. Not a single building now remains on Summer Street of all those which Webster saw in his daily walks to and from his law office on Court Street. Only one building remains of those that were there in 1860, and that is the one occupied by the firm of C. F. Hovey & Co., which came unscathed through the terrible conflagration of 1872.
And Webster, that man of commanding presence and mighty intellect has passed on and joined the great Army of the Immortals. He had his prayer answered and did not live to see the land he loved "drenched in fraternal blood." There are still a few living who saw Webster and heard him speak. His massive frame, his deep set eyes and craggy brow, attracted immediate attention and be- spoke at once the greatness of the man. His duty as one of the Commissioners of the United States to settle the North Eastern boundary, called him to England, and he created a profound impression whenever and wherever he appeared on the streets of London.
Sydney Smith exclaimed when he first saw Webster, "Good heavens, he is a small cathedral by himself." It was common to speak of him as the "God-like Daniel," so majestic and noble was his physique and intellect. Among American orators and statesmen he stands without a peer. He stood in the highest rank as a Constitutional lawyer and won some great and notable cases.
His next great effort, after the oration on Bunker Hill was his eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, which was pro- nounced in Faneuil Hall, at the request of the City of Boston. He said in part: "No two men now live, fellow citizens, perhaps it may be doubted whether any two men have ever lived in any age, who, more than these we now commemorate, have impressed upon mankind their own sen- timents in regard to politics and government, infused their
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own opinions more deeply into the opinions of others, or given a more lasting direction to the current of human thought. Their work shall not perish with them. The tree which they assisted to plant will flourish, although they water and protect it no longer, for it has struck its roots deep, it has sent them to the very centre; no storm, but of storm to burst the orb, can overturn it; its branches spread wide; they stretch their protecting arms broader and broader, and its top is destined to reach the heavens. Marble columns may, indeed, crumble into dust, time may erase all impress from the crumbling stone, but their fame remains, for with American liberty, it rose, and with American liberty, only, can it perish. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their names live evermore." This eulogy contained the "supposed speech of John Adams," so often declaimed in the public schools. George Ticknor, who heard Webster's eulogy said: "His bearing as he stood before that vast multitude was that of absolute dignity and power."
In 1827 Webster was advanced to the United States Sen- ate. In 1830 he made his memorable reply to Senator Hayne of South Carolina, who affirmed the right of a State to nullify an Act of Congress, and Senator Hayne made a violent at- tack on Massachusetts, indulging in offensive personalities. This speech is considered as Webster's masterpiece and a de- fence of the Constitution and the integrity of the Union. "It occupied four hours and was practically extemporaneous." "It was Tuesday, January 26, 1830, a day to be hereafter for- ever memorable in Senatorial annals, that the Senate resumed the consideration of Foote's Resolution. There was never be- fore, in the city an occasion of so much excitement. To wit- ness this great intellectual contest, multitudes of strangers had, for two or three days previous, been rushing into the city, and the hotels overflowed. As early as nine of this morning, crowds poured into the Capitol in hot haste ; at twelve o'clock, the hour of meeting the Senate Chamber, its gallery, floor and even lobbies, were filled to their utmost capacity. Mr. Web- ster rose and addressed the Senate. His exordium is known by heart everywhere. As he spoke every head was inclined closer towards him, every ear turned in the direction of his voice, and that deep, sudden, mysterious silence followed. which always attends fullness of emotion. From the sea of upturned faces before him, the orator beheld his thoughts, re- flected as from a mirror. Ah, who can ever forget, that was
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present to hear, the tremendous, the awful burst of eloquence with which the orator spoke of Massachusetts: "There she is, beliold her and judge for yourselves! There is her history ; the world knows it by heart. The Past, at least. is secure. There is Boston and Concord, and Lexington and Bunker Hill and there they will remain forever! The bones of her sons, fallen in the great struggle for independence, now lie mingled with the soil of every state, from New England to Georgia; and there they will lie forever."
There was scarcely a dry eye in the Senate; all hearts were overcome. Grave judges and men grown old in dignified life turned aside their heads to conceal the evidences of their emotion.
Webster was the son of a Revolutionary soldier of the Granite State; he knew personally many of the veterans of the War for Independence ; he was their firm friend and defender on all occasions. He stirred all hearts by his fervid patriotism, and the people felt for him the same veneration as they did for the Fathers of the Republic. Whenever a day of trial came to the nation there was felt the steadying control of his gigantic arm."
James Russell Lowell tells a story of Webster which illustrates the power of his presence. "It was at a time in Massachusetts when it was proposed to break up the Whig Party. Webster came home to Faneuil Hall to pro- test, and four thousand Whigs came out to meet him. He lifted up his majestic presence before that sea of human faces, his brow charged with thunder, and said: "Gentle- men, I am a Whig; a Massachusetts Whig : a Revolution- ary Whig; a Constitutional Whig: a Faneuil Hall Whig: and if you break up the Whig party where am I to go? "And." says Lowell, "we all held our breath, thinking where he could go." "But," says Lowell, "if he had been five feet three, we should have said. "Confound you, who do you suppose cares where you go?"
Webster's two sons laid down their lives in the service of their country. Captain Edward Webster died in 1848 in the Mexican War. Colonel Fletcher Webster, commanding the 12th Massachusetts Volunteers, was killed in the second battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862.
Webster cherished the hope of being nominated by the Whigs for the Presidency in 1852, but received only 30
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votes in the Convention. Deeply disappointed he retired to his estate at Marshfield where he died October 24, 1852. His last words, "I still live," have assumed a symbolical importance.
On the northwest corner of Summer and High Streets, there is a tablet bearing this inscription
The Home of DANIEL WEBSTER.
Hon. Rufus Choate
WO
Rufus Choate's House, Olis Street
The Visit of Lafayette to America in 1824-25
The noble service rendered by the Marquis De Lafayette in the war of Independence, placed our nation under an everlasting debt of gratitude to that noble Frenchman .- "The story of the wrongs of America, and the struggle of the colonists for their rights, inflamed his young heart with a"dent sympathy and a passionate desire to help them." At the age of nineteen, he had married the daughter of the Duke de Noailles, a beautiful, accomplished, and rich maiden. He openly espoused the cause of the colonists and resolved to hasten to their support. Offering his services to the American Commissioners in Paris, he said : "Hither- to I have only cherished your cause; now I am going to support it." The young queen, Marie Antoinette, cheered him with her good wishes. King Louis expressed his dis- approbation, for he hated republicans. Lafayette's young wife bade him go, for the sympathies of her heart were in unison with his. He sailed for America in a ship fitted out at his own expense, accompanied by eleven French and Polish officers, who sought employment in the American army. Among these was the Baron DeKalb and Count Pulaski. Kosciusko had joined the patriots a year previous and was highly esteemed as an Engineer. Lafayette and his friends arrived at Georgetown, South Carolina, whence they proceeded overland to Philadelphia. He offered his services to Congress as a volunteer, in any capacity, and without pay. These terms were so different from the other foreign officers, that Congress accepted them, and on the last day of July, commissioned him a Major General in the Continental Army. As such he was introduced to Washing- ton at a dinner party in Philadelphia, when the latter "in- vited the young general to become a member of his military family, which Lafayette accepted." The young and gallant Frenchman cherished a deep and ardent affection for Wash- ington, who, in turn, loved him and treated him as a son.
In 1779 Lafayette visited France, where he performed most important services for the American cause, by induc-
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ing King Louis to order a French Army to America, under the command of Count Rochambeau, to assist the republi- cans in their struggle. He had been received in France on
The Marquis De Lafayette
his return home, early in the year, with intense enthusiasm, for his fame as a soldier was universally known. His per- sonal magnetism was wonderful. Whenever he appeared on the streets crowds followed him. When his name was
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mentioned in the theatres, it was greeted with wildest ap- plause. His persuasions at court were irresistible.
Old Count Maurepas, who was at the head of the French Ministry, said: "It is fortunate for the King that Lafayette did not take it into his head to strip Versailles of its furni- ture, to send to his dear America, as his majesty would have been unable to refuse it." The gallant service of that other Frenchman, Count Rochambeau, at Yorktown, the closing battle of the Revolution, can never be forgotten.
To accomplish that victory, the French provided thirty- seven ships of the line, and seven thousand men.
The visit of Lafayette to the land he helped to redeem, was one of the most important national events in the nine- teenth century. Lafayette, at this time, was sixty-seven years of age and travelled nearly five thousand miles, in order to lay the cornerstone of Bunker Hill Monument, on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill. Congress, by a public act, had invited him to be the nation's guest. On the 15th of August, 1824, he arrived in New York. The great heart of the country, that longed for his presence, was thrilled when the announce- ment was made known. Wherever the post coaches, in their slow circuits, carried the news, the people came to- gether, and rang out their welcome to the companion of Washington. It recalled to their memories, souvenirs of seventy-six, and crippled men through twenty-four States, going about on wooden legs or crutches, felt the tears rush unbidden to their eyes, at the mention of Lafayette's name. His companions in battle were scattered all over the bosom of the Republic, and when boys and girls and young men. who did not remember him-although they had read of what he had done,-saw these scarred relics of the great Army of Independence, thep caught the fire, and it blazed from the Atlantic to the last verge of our homes on the Western frontier.
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