ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.
A Discourse in Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, on the 2d of August, 1826.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
On the 4th of July, 1826, John Adams, at Quincy, and Thomas Jefferson, at Monticello, died within a few hours of each other, each conscious of the day that was his last on earth. This extraordinary coincidence, which, it has been well said, is unparalleled in history, produced a most profound impression throughout the country. Commemorative services were everywhere held. In Boston the municipal authorities requested Mr. Webster to pronounce a public discourse on the lives and services of these great leaders of the Revolution. In compliance with this request, the eulogy which is so well known, and the text of which is given in the succeeding pages, was delivered August 2, 1826. The weather was fine, and the crowd to hear the great orator was immense. It was the first time that Faneuil Hall had been draped in mourning. Settees had been placed over the whole area of the hall and the large platform was occupied by many of the most distinguished men in New England. The doors were closed when the procession entered, and every part of the hall and galleries was filled. This was a mistake, for the crowd on the outside became so noisy and riotous that Mr, Webster ordered that the doors should be opened. After the first rush everything was quiet, and the order during the rest of the performance was perfect.
Mr. Webster spoke in an orator's gown and wore small clothes. He was in the perfection of his manly beauty and strength; his form filled out to its finest proportions, and his bearing, as he stood before the vast multitude, was that of absolute dignity and power. His manuscript lay on a small table near him, but he was not once seen to refer to it. His manner of speaking was deliberate and commanding. "When became to the passage," says one of the audience,'-on eloquence, and to the words, 'It is action, noble, sublime, godlike action,' he stamped his foot repeatedly on the stage, his form seemed to dilate, and he stood, as that whole audience saw and felt, the personification of what he so perfectly described. I never heard him when his manner was so grand and appropriate."
This address, which, in its peculiar strain, as a funeral oration, has never been surpassed in the annals of English oratory. Portions of it
