years of intimate connection with him, when he said he knew "no north,
no south, no east, no west, but sacred maintenance of the common bond
and true devotion to the common brotherhood." Never, sir, in the past
history of our country, never, I add, in its future destiny, however
bright it may be, did or will a man of higher and purer patriotism, a
man more devoted to the common weal of his country, hold the helm of
our great ship of State, than that same New Englander, Franklin
Pierce. [Applause.]

I have heard the resolutions read and approved by this meeting; heard
the address of your candidate for Governor; and these added to the
address of my old and intimate friend, Gen. Cushing, bear to me fresh
testimony, which I shall be happy to carry away with me, that the
democracy, in the language of your own glorious Webster, "still
lives," lives not as his great spirit did, when it hung 'twixt life
and death, like a star upon the horizon's verge, but lives like the
germ that is shooting upward, like the sapling that is growing to a
mighty tree, the branches of which will spread over the commonwealth,
and may redeem and restore Massachusetts to her once glorious place in
the Union.

As I look around me and see this venerable hall thus thronged, it
reminds me of another meeting, when it was found too small to contain
the assembly--that great meeting which assembled here, when the people
were called upon to decide what should be done in relation to the
tea-tax. Faneuil Hall, on that occasion, was found too small, and the
people went to the Old South Church, which still stands--a monument of
your early history. And I hope the day will soon come when many
Democratic meetings in Boston will be too large for Faneuil Hall!
[Applause.] I am welcomed to this hall, so venerable for its