which tells with fair completeness the story of his life as a great national statesman have been selected for those purposes. Then the unrelated residue has been used to portray the man.

In the matter of annotation the editor has attempted only to account for letters, when preceding or following letters do not do it, and to give a few brief statistics about those persons writing or written to whose reputation was local rather than national. Such explanations are only made upon the first mention of the persons in question. The sources of the letters are also indicated, except the great number printed from the New Hampshire Historical Society collection. The assumption may be made that the original is there, if not otherwise indicated. As to the accuracy of the copies, the editor has with very few exceptions personally compared the originals with the copies, which were made by experienced and trustworthy typewriters.

It is with real pleasure that the editor takes up the subject of his obligations. To have experienced the kindness that he has everywhere met in the prosecution of this work is in itself a rich reward. It seemed as if every one's enthusiasm and love for the great character of Webster went out to the humble compiler of his correspondence. In several instances the persons to whom a letter of inquiry had been sent—persons wholly unknown to the editor-wrote an urgent invitation to come, stay under their own roof, and examine their letters at leisure. If the invitation was accepted, the host received and treated the guest as royally as if he were the great "Expounder" himself. Then there has been the kindly counsel and the earnest enthusiasm for the success of the work. To Professor John Bach McMaster, of the University of Pennsylvania, I am especially indebted in that particular. From the librarian of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Rev. N. F. Carter, I have received such kind consideration, assistance and warm approval of my work that mere acknowledgment here seems trivial. Nor is the library committee of that society, Amos Hadley, Rev. C. L. Tappan, Mrs. Frances C. Stevens, to be forgotten in the expression of my gratitude. Their broad views of the demands of such a publication have given. me a latitude in the execution of this work which greatly adds to its value. For friendly aid in the matter of tracing letters, I am indebted to Mr. Albert S. Batchellor, of Littleton, N. H., who also lent his warm approbation and earnest argument in favor of permitting me to use the N. H. Historical Society collection, as did Mr. L. D. Stevens and Rev. C. L. Tappan, of that society.

Mr. Otis G. Hammond, of the New Hampshire State Library, placed every facility of that library at my disposal and manifested great personal interest in the execution of the work. Mr. Fred L. Paxson, of Philadelphia, lent me the earnest aid of a friend in the work of research. In the labor of editing I have been greatly aided by the privileges granted me at the Harvard Library and in the Pennsylvania Historical Society Library. Mr. John W. Jordan, of the latter institution, has shown especial interest in this work, and gave valuable suggestions as to the sources of letters, as well as personally soliciting the owners of letters. Mr. C. E. Bliss, of Bangor, Me., who owns one of the finest collections of Websteriana in existence, personally aided my work with his material, and gave many valuable suggestions. My obligation to the Honorable George F. Hoar is unique. Besides placing his collection of Webster letters at my disposal, he gave kindly and judicious counsel and imparted an enthusiasm to my work which nothing but his strong sympathy with Webster could give. Charles Francis Adams unreservedly furnished the Webster letters found in the Adams archives. Judge Charles R. Corning, of Concord, N. H., manifested throughout a lively interest in the work and kindly lent the letters in his hands for copying. The others to whom the reader and editor are indebted for letters loaned or copies sent are Mr. Charles Roberts, of Philadelphia; Mr. A. F. Lewis, Fryeburg, Me.; Isabel D. Bronson, Summit, N. J.; Mr. J. B. Foster, of Bangor, Me.; Mr. Horatio Gates Cilley, of Manchester, N. H.; Mr. M. D. Bisbee, librarian of Dartmouth College; Mrs. E. H. Gilman, Miss Frances E. Moulton and Mrs. Mary E. Bell, of Exeter, N. H.; Mr. Arthur G. Stevens, of Concord, N. H.; Miss Emma E. Webb, of Bangor, Me., and the Boston Athenæum. The editor has also selected a few letters of Webster's which had been published in books either very rare or to which one would not naturally refer. Such sources are indicated in the annotations./ Books which contain letters which have not been here incorporated are: "Memoir of R. C. Winthrop," Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. V., p. 278, and also the last volume issued, "Life and Writings of Jared Sparks," "Chancellor Kent's Memoirs," "Private Correspondence of Henry Clay" (13 letters), "Life and Correspondence of Rufus King," "Dickinson's Life, Letters, and Speeches," "Memoir and Correspondence of Jeremiah Mason, Cambridge, 1873"; "Scribner's Magazine," Vol. XXVI. (in the articles by Senator Hoar). These are in addi

tion to the well-known sources, such as Curtis' "Life of Daniel Webster," Lanman, Harvey and Lyman's lives of Webster; the "Private Correspondence," the "Works of D. Webster," and the official letters found in the government documents and the volume of "Diplomatic Letters of D. Webster." There are unpublished letters in the American Antiquarian Society and in the Massachusetts Historical Society libraries.

With these dry bits of information the editor takes leave of the work of collecting Webster's unpublished letters and papers. He has learned that there is much of the commonplace in the work even of a truly great man. There is abundant evidence that the massive mind of Webster needed, if it was to manifest its greatest power, the spur of a great national crisis. Webster had to feel that the fate of a nation hung upon his words, if he was to render the best that was in him. It must not be forgotten that even his great formal orations were delivered upon stirring patriotic occasions. His mind had little subtlety, and his letters have none of that ingenuity in the phrasing of trivial matters which is characteristic of the typical literary man. He was always planning some monumental work in the field of literature, but never wrought it out. He seems to have been ever absorbing and thinking, and then, when the hour came for tremendous action, his unwilling mind got under way and we get a glimpse of him hammering out a great speech in a few days or a few hours, only to relax again when the bolt is spent, and to go on in a commonplace way until he is again aroused. The chief charm of his letters is the weight which his judgments carry with them. It is terrible to be denounced by that overwhelming mind, and good to be pleasing in the sight of Jove. Sometimes he was irritable, rarely petty, but usually wholesome, magnanimous, and. with a lofty dignity. It is for Webster, the man, that one comes to the letters; the statesman, the jurist, and the orator are in the volumes which we call his works.