la Barca on the 13th of November, condemning the expedition of Lopez and the excesses of his friends, and promising on the part of the United States Government all the satisfaction which was just under the circumstances. This appropriate act did not prevent Mr. Webster from subsequently sending a communication to Mr. Barringer, the United States minister at Madrid, asking his interposition in procuring the release of the American prisoners who were yet in durance at Havana, or were under sentence of death amid the glooms of the Spanish mines. The result of this timely and generous interference was the ultimate pardon and release of a hundred and sixty-two of the daring and reckless adventurers, who had been consigned to the penalty of death,—a penalty which they had richly deserved, as we must admit when we remember the fact that they had entered on a most detestable expedition, prepared to commit every possible excess in order to gratify all the worst passions which disgrace and deform human nature, and who only wanted the ability and the means to carry out their purposes.

Other subjects of great moment occupied the attention of the Secretary of State during the last year of his public service. Among these were the revival of the terms of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in reference to the affairs of Central America, the question of the fisheries, the Tehuantepec Treaty, and the ownership of the Lobos Islands. At this period the interest of Mr. Webster was strongly elicited in favor of the merits and fate of Louis Kossuth, the ex-Governor of Hungary, who visited the United States in December, 1851. He had addressed a letter of instruction to Mr. George P. Marsh, the United States minister at Constantinople, directing him to use all his influence to prevent the surrender of the Hungarian patriot and hero to the bloody clutches of the Austrian despot, and to per

mit his removal to the United States. That letter, and the potent influences which it set in operation, were decisive of the fate of Governor Kossuth; and all the arts, promises, and threats of the Austrian court were unavailing. Kossuth, who was really one of the most able and eminent statesmen of modern times, sailed for this country and visited various portions of the Confederacy, and was everywhere received with the consideration which he deserved. On the 7th of January, 1852, he was honored with a public dinner at Washington, tendered by a large number of the members of both Houses of Congress. Mr. Webster was present, and delivered a speech, in which he expressed his admiration for Hungarian patriotism and valor, as exhibited in the then recent struggle, and his sympathy with the fate of the Hungarian exile. He referred in eloquent terms to the interest which he had felt and uttered, many years previous, in 1824, with the similar struggles of a similar nation,—the heroic patriots of Greece; and he asserted that he was ready to maintain the same friendly relations, always and everywhere, with any people who might endeavor by similarly legitimate means to throw off the detested chains of tyranny, and assert their claim to a position among the free and sovereign nations of the earth. This was indeed a fitting and appropriate utterance with which the ablest champion of human liberty in modern times might conclude his long career; the last words which were destined ever to issue in public from his eloquent lips.

CHAPTER XII.

Approach of Mr. Webster's Last Illness-His Religious Opinions-A Summary of it-Mr. Webster's Will-New and Alarming Symptoms -Mr. Webster's Scrutiny of his Own Dissolution-His Death-His Intellectual Character-Parallel between Him and Alexander Hamilton -Mr. Webster's Skill in Agriculture-His Library-His Favorite Amusements-His Fondness for the Sea-Shore-The Admirable Proportion of his Mental Faculties-His Peculiarities as an Orator-His Great Logical Power-His Boldness and Fortitude-The Permanence and Splendor of his Fame.

WE have now reached the closing scene in the life of this remarkable man,-a scene as singular and original in its peculiarities as were the events of the preceding epochs and stages of his existence. If it be appointed unto all men once to die, there the similarity of human destiny ends; for all men die differently: the same description of the last solemn scene will not apply to any two persons of the race; and in this respect Mr. Webster's last hours, and the conclusion of his memorable career, were unique in their incidents, and in some respects without a parallel.

It was in April, 1852, that the chronic diarrhoea to which Mr. Webster had been subject for some years during the summer months assumed such alarming appearances, that he was at last compelled to leave his office at Washington and return to Marshfield, in the hope of recovery and relief by breathing the air and reviewing the scenes of that favorite spot. His hope was partially realized. Although he met with a serious accident by being thrown from his carriage during his visit, he acquired ultimately a renewal of his strength. On the 24th of May he ad