clipper ships, the Defender, Amos Lawrence, and Abbott Lawrence, which remind us that a number of Boston ships bore the names of her distinguished citizens. There were the Thomas H. Perkins, Rufus Choate, Starr King, Edward Everett, R. B. Forbes, Enoch Train, John E. Thayer, George Peabody, Samuel Appleton, Robert G. Winthrop, Russell Sturgis, and perhaps others now forgotten. There were already a ship, a barque, two brigs, and two schooners named the Daniel Webster, besides several steamboats and tugs and a pilot-boat; hence, the owners of ships who were desirous of honoring the great statesman were obliged to adopt some other means of expressing their admiration, and since Webster was known as the Defender of the Constitution and also as the Expounder of that document, there were two ships named the Defender and the Expounder. Some one suggested that the latter ship might, perhaps, have been named in honor of Yankee Sullivan, a noted prize-fighter then retired from the ring.
The Defender was 1413 tons register, and carried a splendid full-length figurehead of Daniel Webster. She was owned by D. S. Kendall and H. P. Plympton, of Boston, and was commanded by Captain Isaac Beauchamp.
My object in drawing attention to this vessel is to mention a notable gathering at Mr. McKay's house on the day of her launch, July 27, 1855. The leading merchants of Boston and their families were his guests on that occasion, and speeches were made by the Hon. Edward Everett, ex-Mayor, the Hon. Benjamin Seaver, and Enoch Train. In the course
