was left some time after Washington's death.--H.B. CARRINGTON.

* * * * *

THE WORDS OF WASHINGTON

BY DANIEL WEBSTER

_Delivered at the laying of the cornerstone of the new wing of the
Capitol at Washington, July 4, 1851_

Washington! Methinks I see his venerable form now before me. He is
dignified and grave; but concern and anxiety seem to soften the
lineaments of his countenance. The government over which he presides is
yet in the crisis of experiment. Not free from troubles at home, he sees
the world in commotion and arms all around him. He sees that imposing
foreign powers are half disposed to try the strength of the recently
established American Government. Mighty thoughts, mingled with fears as
well as with hopes, are struggling within him. He heads a short
procession over these then naked fields; he crosses yonder stream on a
fallen tree; he ascends to the top of this eminence, whose original oaks
of the forest stand as thick around him as if the spot had been devoted
to Druidical worship, and here he performs the appointed duty of the
day.

And now, if this vision were a reality; if Washington now were actually
amongst us, and if he could draw around him the shades of the great
public men of his own day, patriots and warriors, orators and statesmen,
and were to address us in their presence, would he not say to us: