June, 1825.

As early as 1776, the Massachusetts Lodge of Masons, over which General Warren had presided, asked the Government of Massachusetts for permission to take up his remains, which were buried on the hill the day after the battle, and bury them with the usual solemnities. The request was granted on condition that the government of the colony should be permitted to erect a monument to his memory.

The ceremonies of burial were performed, but no steps were taken to build the monument. General Warren was, at the time of his death, Grand Master of the Masonic Lodges of America, and as nothing had been done toward erecting a memorial, King Solomon's Lodge of Charlestown voted to erect a monument. The land was purchased, and a monument dedicated by the Lodge Dec. 2, 1794. It was a wooden pillar of Tuscan order, eighteen feet high, raised on a pedestal ten feet in height. The pillar was surmounted by a gilt urn. An appropriate inscription was placed on the south side of the pedestal.

The half-century from the date of the battle was at hand, and, despite a resolution of Congress and the efforts of a committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts, no suitable monument had been erected by the people. It was then that, at the suggestion of William Tudor, the matter was taken up in earnest and an association was formed known as the Bunker Hill Monument Association. Ground was broken for the monument June 7, 1825. On the morning of the 17th of June, 1825, the ceremonies of laying the corner- stone of the monument took place. It was a typical June day, and thousands flocked to see the pageant and to hear the greatest orator in the land.

The procession started from the State House at ten o'clock. The military led the van. About two hundred veterans of the Revolution rode in carriages, and among them were forty survivors of the battle. Some wore their old uniform, others various decorations of their service, and some bore the scars of honorable wounds. Following the patriots came the Monument Association, and then the Masonic fraternity to the number of thousands. Then came the noble Frenchman, Lafayette, the admiration of all eyes. Following him were numerous societies with banners and music. The head of the procession touched Charlestown Bridge before the rear had left the State House, and the march was a continual ovation. Arriving at Breed's Hill, the Grand Master of the Masons, Lafayette, and the President of the Monument Association laid the corner-stone, and then moved to the spacious amphitheatre on the northern side of the hill, where the address was delivered by Mr. Webster.1. P. 122, l. 7. 1. An account of the voyage of the emigrants to the Maryland Colony is given by the report of Father White, written soon after the landing at St. Mary's. The original in Latin is still preserved by the Jesuits at Rome.

The Ark and the Dove occupy the same place of interest in the memory of the descendants of the colony as does the Mayflower with us.2. L. 18. 2. Mr. Webster was at this time President of the Monument Association.3. P. 125, l. 13. 1. Even the poetical nature of Webster would not have been equal to the conception, that within the century the number would reach sixty million.4. L. 16. 2. "The first railroad on the continent was constructed for the purpose of accelerating the erection of this monument."-- Everett.5. P. 127, l. 15. 1. The allusion is, of course, to the ships about the Charlestown Navy Yard, which is located at the base of Breed's Hill.6. L. 21. 2. This magnificent address to the "Venerable Men" was composed while Mr. Webster was fishing in Marshpee brook.7. P. 128, l. 4. 1. Milton's Paradise Lost, V.8. L. 17. 2. Cf. Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. IV., p. 133. A prelude to Warren's patriotism at Bunker Hill is well illustrated in his oration at the old South Meeting House, commemorating the Boston Massacre; in the presence of British soldiers he said: "Our streets are again filled with armed men, our harbour is crowded with ships of war; but these cannot intimidate us; my fellow-citizens, you will maintain your rights or perish in the generous struggle."9. P. 130, l. 9. 1. Cf. Burke's Orations on the American War, edited by A. J. George.10. P. 131, l. 32. 1. Virgil's Aeneid, VI. 726. Compare Burke's use of this same quotation in his speech on American Taxation, page 13, line 13. Edited by A. J. George.11. P. 133, l. 9. 1. Cf. Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. IV., Ch. XIV.12. L. 22. 2. General Lafayette had arranged his progress through the other States so that he might be present on the 17th.13. P. 140, l. 22. 1. Homer's Iliad, Book XVII.14. P. 141, l. 13. 1. Cf. account of Webster's speech on the Revolution in Greece, made on the 19th of January, 1824, in Everett's Memoir, Vol. I. of Webster's Works.

Great as the Plymouth Oration was acknowledged by all to be, the Bunker Hill Address was a distinct advance upon it, both in the scope of the ideas and in the skill with which they are wrought into an organic whole. It is more compact, more picturesque, more vigorous, more finished. In this field of oratory he probably has never had any equal in the English- speaking world.

Mr. Everett said of the Address: "From such an orator as Mr. Webster, on such a platform, on such a theme, in the flower of his age, and the maturity of his faculties, discoursing upon an occasion of transcendent interest, and kindling with the enthusiasm of the day and the spot, it might well be regarded as an intellectual treat of the highest order. Happy the eyes that saw that most glorious gathering! Happy the ears that heard that heart-stirring strain!"

Lafayette wrote to Webster on the 28th of December, 1825, from La Grange, saying: "Your Bunker Hill has been translated into French, and other languages, to the very great profit of European readers."

Mr. Hillard, in his Eulogy on Webster, says: "His occasional discourses rise above the rest of their class, as the Bunker Hill Monument soars above the objects around it."

Mr. Choate, in his address to the students of Dartmouth College in 1853, in that sublime paragraph in which he reviews the history of oratory and contrasts the eloquence of despair with the eloquence of hope, says: "Let the downward age of America find its orators, and poets, and artists, to erect its spirit, or grace and soothe its dying; be it ours to go up with Webster to the rock, the monument, the capitol, and bid the distant generations hail."

Cf. Curtis's Life of Webster, Ch. XI.; Everett's Memoir, in Vol. I. of Webster's Works; Lodge's Webster, Ch. IV.; Memorial of Webster; Mr. Hillard's and Mr. Choate's Address; J. Fiske's The American Revolution.