Daniel Webster (b. 1782, d. 1852) was born in Salisbury, N.H.  He spent a few months of his boyhood at Phillips Academy, Exeter, but fitted for college under Rev. Samuel Wood, of Boscawen, N.H.  He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801.  He taught school several terms, during and after his college course.  In 1805, he was admitted to the bar in Boston, and practiced law in New Hampshire for the succeeding eleven years.  In 1812, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.  In 1816, he removed to Boston, and in 1827 was elected to the United States Senate, which position he held for twelve years.  In 1841, he was appointed Secretary of State.  He returned to the Senate in 1845.  In 1850, he was reappointed Secretary of State and continued in office until his death.  He died at his residence, in Marshfield, Mass.  Mr. Webster’s fame rests chiefly on his state papers and speeches.  As a speaker he was dignified and stately, using clear, pure English.  During all his life he took great interest in agriculture, and was very fond of outdoor sports.

1.  Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote.  It is true, indeed, that, in the beginning, we aimed not at independence.  But

   “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.”

The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and blinded to her own interest, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp.  We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours.  Why then should we defer the declaration?  Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or security to his own life and his own honor!  Are not you, sir, who sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable colleague, near you, are you not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance?  Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws?

2.  If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, or to give up, the war?  Do we mean to submit, and consent that we shall be ground to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust?  I know we do not mean to submit.  We never shall submit!  Do we intend to violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that plighting, before God, of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him forth to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of the times, we promised to adhere to him in every extremity with our fortunes and our lives?  I know there is not a man here, who would not rather see a general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground.  For myself, having twelve months ago, in this place, moved you that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or to be raised, for the defense of American liberty; may my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support I give him.