of the capstone of the monument on Bunker Hill, and listened, with
affectionate interest, to the oration which was then delivered by his
father,--an oration which, if inferior to that delivered at the laying
of the cornerstone, was nevertheless every way worthy of the man and the
occasion,--simple, massive, and splendid. A few weeks later, he sailed
from Boston for China, and watched, as he tells us, "while light and
eyesight lasted, till the summit of that monument faded, at last, from
view." Many a departing, many a returning, sailor and traveler, has
given his "last, long, lingering look" to that towering obelisk, but
none with deeper feeling than Fletcher Webster.

As secretary to Commissioner Cushing, he assisted in negotiating the
first treaty between the United States and China, which involved an
absence of eighteen months from the United States. Neither the outward
nor the homeward voyage was made in company with Mr. Cushing. Mr.
Webster left Boston, August 8, 1843, in the brig Antelope, built by
Captain R.B. Forbes, touched at Bombay, November 12, 1843, and arrived
at Canton, February 4, 1844. He returned in the ship Paul Jones, in
January, 1845, the voyage from Canton to New York being made in one
hundred and eleven days. It deserves to be stated, as illustrating the
admiration with which the merchant princes of Boston regarded Daniel
Webster, that the house of Russell and Company, which owned both the
Antelope and the Paul Jones, refused to accept any passage-money from
his son, who was entertained, not as a passenger, but as an honored
guest.

By his voyage to China and by his experiences there, Mr. Webster,
acquired, not only rich stores of curious information and a great
enlargement of his intellectual horizon, but--what is particularly to be
noted--a better appreciation of the splendid destiny of his native land.