Everett Pepperrell Wheeler

“ No man mastered more thoroughly the fundamental principles of government and the currents of feeling which influence the destiny of nations. His oration in 1825 at the laying of the corner stone of the Bunker Hill monument contained perhaps the clearest statement to be found anywhere of the principles underlying the American War of Independence. In the following year Webster delivered his oration in commemoration of the second and third presidents of the United States—John Adams and Thomas Jefferson—who died on the 4th of July 1826 ”

“ A bill, known as the Force Bill, was introduced in the Senate, and in the debate upon it Webster had an encounter with Calhoun. His reply to Calhoun, printed as “The Constitution not a compact between sovereign States,” is one of his closest legal arguments, but somewhat overmatched by the keen logic of his adversary.
Webster’s support of President Jackson in the South Carolina trouble helped to drive Calhoun into an alliance with Clay; and Clay, whose plan of preserving the Union was by compromise, came forward with a bill for greatly reducing the tariff. ”

“ Webster, strongly opposed to yielding in this way, made a vigorous speech against the bill, but it passed and South Carolina claimed a victory. In the same year (1833) the Whig party began to take definite form under the leadership of Clay, in opposition, chiefly, to President Jackson’s bank policy, and Webster joined the ranks behind Clay with an aspiration for the presidency. He was formally nominated for that office by the Massachusetts legislature in 1835, and received the electoral vote of that state, but of that state only. ”

“ He successfully opposed a bill providing for what would have been practically an irredeemable currency, and he voted against the bill for chartering the second United States bank, although it provided for the redemption of bank notes in specie, because he objected to permitting the government to have so large a share in its management. Webster removed to Boston in June 1816. This cost him his seat in Congress after the 4th of March 1817, and for the next six years he was engaged chiefly in the practice of law in the courts of Massachusetts and before the U.S. Supreme Court. ”

“ The case came before the Supreme Court of New Hampshire in May 1817. Jeremiah Mason (1768–1848) , a lawyer of the first rank, Jeremiah Smith and Webster appeared for the college, and argued that these acts were invalid because they were not within the general scope of the legislature’s power, because they violated provisions of the state constitution and because they violated the clause of the Federal Constitution which prohibits a state from impairing the obligation of contracts but the court decided against them. ”

“ He was a member of the National House of Representatives from 1823 to 1827 and of the Senate from 1827 to 1841. Soon after returning to the House he supported in a notable speech a resolution to send a commissioner to Greece, then in insurrection. ”

“ See also J. W. Mclntyre (ed.) , Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster (18 vols., Boston, 1903) ; Fletcher Webster (ed.) , Daniel Webster's Private Correspondence (2 vols., Boston, 1857) ; H. C. Lodge, Daniel Webster (Boston, 1899) ; J. B. McMaster, Daniel Webster (New York, 1902) ; E. P. Wheeler, Daniel Webster, the Expounder of the Constitution (New York, 1905) ; S. W. McCall, Daniel Webster (Boston, 1902) ; and Norman Hapgood, Daniel Webster (Boston 1899) . (E. P. W.; X.) ”