Boston, April 31, 1850.
MY DEAR SIR,—I cannot well say how much pleasure it gave me to see a
name, so much venerated and beloved by me as yours is, on the letter recently
received by me from friends in Boston and its vicinity, approving the general
object and character of my
speech in the Senate, of the seventh of March. I know the conscientiousness
with which you act on such occasions, and therefore value your favorable
sentiments the more highly.
Is it not time, my dear Sir, that the path of Christian duty, in relation
to great and permanent questions of government, and to the obligations which
men are under to support the
constitution and the fundamental principles of the government under which
they live, should be clearly pointed out? I am afraid we are falling into loose
habits of thinking upon such subjects; and I could wish that your health and
strength would allow you to communicate your own thoughts to the public.
We have established over us a much better form of government than may ordinarily
be expected in the allotments of Providence to men; and it appears to me that
the consciences of all well-meaning and enlightened individuals, should rather
be called upon to uphold this form of government, than to weaken and undermine
it by imputing to it objections, ill considered and ill founded, dangerous to
the stability of all government, and not unfrequently the offspring of
overheated imaginations.
Allow me to conclude, my dear Sir, by offering you my highest respects,
and my affectionate good wishes for your health and happiness.
D. WEBSTER.
SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of
Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 367
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