nd with fidelity and zeal which nothing shall extinguish,
call on the PEOPLE to come to its rescue.

[Footnote 1: Mr. Rives.]

PUBLIC DINNER AT NEW YORK.

A SPEECH DELIVERED AT A PUBLIC DINNER GIVEN BY A LARGE NUMBER OF
CITIZENS OF NEW YORK, IN HONOR OF MR. WEBSTER, ON MARCH 10TH, 1831.

[In February, 1831, several distinguished gentlemen of the city of New
York, in behalf of themselves and a large number of other citizens,
invited Mr. Webster to a public dinner, as a mark of their respect for
the value and success of his efforts, in the preceding session of
Congress, in defence of the Constitution of the United States. His
speech in reply to Mr. Hayne (contained in an earlier part of this
volume), which, by that time, had been circulated and read through the
country to a greater extent than any speech ever before delivered in
Congress, was the particular effort which led to this invitation.

The dinner took place at the City Hotel, on the 10th of March, and was
attended by a very large assembly.

Chancellor Kent presided, and, in proposing to the company the health of
their guest, made the following remarks:--

"New England has been long fruitful in great men, the necessary
consequence of the admirable discipline of her institutions; and we
are this day honored with the presence of one of those cherished
objects of her attachment and pride, who has an undoubted and
peculiar title to our regard. It is a plain truth, that he who
defends the constitution of his country by his wisdom in council is
entitled to share her gratitude with those who protect it by valor
in the field. Peace has its victories as well as war. We all
recollect a late memorable occasion, when the exalted talents and
enlightened patriotism of the gentleman to whom I have alluded were
exerted in the support of our national Union and the sound
interpretation of its charter.

"If there be any one political precept pre-eminent above all others
and acknowledged by all, it is that which dictates the absolute
necessity of a union of the States under one government, and that
government clothed with those attributes and powers with which the
existing Constitution has invested it. We are indebted, under
Providence, to the operation and influence of the powers of that
Constitution for our national honor abroad and for unexampled
prosperity at hom