WHEREAS, Unexpected delays have occurred in carrying such intention into effect, and it is the wish of said Cheney to provide against the defeat of said intention by any contingency incident to the uncertainty of life or otherwise; and WHEREAS, A contract has been negotiated with Thomas Ball, who is now in Europe, for furnishing said statue for the sum of $8,000, with the cost of transportation added, to be completed, if practicable, as early as November, 1885; Now, for the purpose of carrying the intention aforesaid into full effect, this contract between said Cheney, party of the first part, and George W. Nesmith, of Franklin, and John M. Hill and John H. George, both of Concord, and all in the county of Merrimack in the state of New Hampshire, parties of the second part, witnesseth : The first party, in consideration of the agreements of the second parties, herein contained, will, as soon as shall be practicable, procure and place in the hands of the second parties a bronze statue of Daniel Webster, which shall be placed upon a suitable pedestal, resting on a permanent granite foundation, in the yard of the state house in said Concord, and said statue is never to be removed from said location. After it shall be completed and erected as aforesaid, it shall be presented by said second parties to the state of Webster's birth, to the care and custody of which state it shall thus be forever committed, with such ceremonies as shall seem best adapted to perpetuate the memory and honor the patriotism of New Hampshire's greatest son and our country's foremost statesman. If there shall be any failure to carry into effect and complete all of the above agreements and intentions before the decease of said first party, it is directed and agreed that the same may then be carried into full effect and completed by said parties of the second part, at the expense of the first party or his estate. In case of the death or incapacity of any of the trustees herein named, before the completion of said statue and its erection, and the conveyance to the state as aforesaid, the surviving trustees or trustee may carry into effect this agreement; or they may, if they prefer, appoint some suitable person or persons to fill the vacancy or vacancies thus occurring, who, with such surviving trustees or trustee, may perform the agreements of the second parties herein contained. And said second parties, in consideration of the aforesaid agreements of the first party, accept the trust above specified, and on the procurement of said statue by said first party, or by his estate, and its delivery with said pedestal and said foundation to said second parties, will cause the same to be erected as above provided, and will convey the same, when so erected, to the state of New Hamp F shire, in accordance with the desire and intention of the first party, as above set forth. In witness whereof said parties have hereto interchangeably set their hands and seals this 13th day of February, 1885. At this point, the eminent American sculptor, Thomas Ball, who was at the time a resident of Florence, Italy, was commissioned by cable to model the statue, being governed as to its proportions and characteristics by the statue of Franklin in City Hall yard, Boston. The statue was to be completed and ready for shipment in season for its dedication on January 18 of the current year, which was the anniversary of Webster's birth. But finally the dedication of it was postponed to the seventeenth of June, the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, with which Webster had forever linked his name by his Bunker Hill Monument addresses. The statue was cast in Munich, so famous for its exquisite bronze castings. It was regarded as so perfect a work of art, that it was placed on exhibition in the Bavarian capital by general request. The Jovine proportions of Webster's head and form of course made the statue of him the cynosure of an admiring public gaze, as well as its exquisite workmanship. There was only one other statue in Germany at the time equally noteworthy, on account of its imposing and magnificent proportions and aspect, viz., that of the poet Goethe, at Frankfurt-on-the-Main, who had the same commanding virile beauty which characterized Webster. He, too, like Webster, struck all beholders with a thrill of admiration by his personal grandeur, so much so, that the first Napoleon on seeing him exclaimed, "You are a man!" The figure is eight feet in height and weighs two thousand pounds; it stands upon a light bronze base, the dimensions of which are thirty-two by thirty inches. Webster is arrayed in an old-style dress suit. His ample coat is closed around him by the two central buttons. It has broad lapels, and its large and rolling collar discloses a plain shirt bosom. The bottom of the vest is seen below the coat, and the trousers are full and flowing. The neck is dressed with a stock, with a broad, turned-down collar. The arms are at the sides, the thumb and index finger of the right hand being opened, with the remaining fingers partially closed. The left hand holds a manuscript partly opened. The head represents Webster in his closing years, and the features are said by those who knew him to be extremely lifelike and correct. The pose is massive and commanding, and is pronounced as unexceptionable. The head is slightly turned to the right, the face is smooth, and the expression is of the highest intellectual character. In the rear of the right leg is an irregular pile of books surmounted by manuscript. The pedestal was cut from the finest of Concord granite by the Granite Railway Company of this city; Henry E. Sheldon is agent, and Joseph H. Pearce superintendent. The plans for the pedestal were drawn by John A. Fox, the well-known Boston architect, and the work was executed under his direction. The base is a single stone about nine feet square, weighing eleven tons, and showing cut work of some six inches above ground. The plinth is six and one half feet square, four feet high, and weighs thirteen tons. It has beveled edges and a series of finely cut moldings. The die is four and one quarter feet square and five and one quarter feet high, and tapering toward the top. On the front are the words, cut in polished letters: DANIEL On the other sides are panels of fine government bronze of a light shade. On the north one the coat-of-arms of New Hampshire and the legend, BORN AT SALISBURY, NEW HAMPSHIRE, JANUARY 18, 1782. On the south tablet is the coat-of-arms of the state of Massachusetts and the inscription, BENJAMIN PIERCE CHENEY TO THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, The whole height of the base and statue is seventeen and one eighth feet, and the total cost was $12,000. The legislature, by the following resolves, authorized the governor and council to select the site for the A JOINT RESOLUTION GRANTING A TRACT OF LAND FOR THE LOCATION OF A MONUMENT OF DANIEL WEBSTER. Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General ́ Court convened: SECTION 1. That there be granted and set apart forever a tract of land not exceeding two rods square, in some convenient part of the state-house yard in Concord, to be selected by the governor and council, suitable for the permanent erection of a bronze monument of Daniel Webster, to be donated and furnished by Benjamin Pierce Cheney, Esq., of Boston. SECT. 2. That the custody and future protective care of said monument shall be assumed and forever hereafter remain and be vested in the governor and council of this state for the time being, or in a board of trustees of their appointment. [Approved August 8, 1883.] On February 11, 1886, the governor and council passed the following: Voted, That in accordance with chapter 125, laws of 1883, the plan of the location of the Webster statue submitted to the board to-day be and is hereby approved; and that a committee consisting of the governor and Councilor Kimball be appointed to prepare the site for the reception of the statue, and that the plan of the same be deposited in the office of the secretary of state. The legislature at its last session made provision for the reception and dedication of the statue. On July 8, General Gilman Marston, of Exeter, offered in the house a joint resolution providing for the appointment of a joint committee of the senate and house of representatives, with authority to make arrangements for the reception and dedication of the statue of Daniel Webster, presented to the state by Benjamin Pierce Cheney. August 28, the house judiciary committee reported the resolution, which was passed under a suspension of the rules, and subsequently the same day was passed by the senate. The following is the resolution: — JOINT RESOLUTION RELATIVE TO THE RECEPTION AND DEDICATION Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General That a joint committee, consisting of five members of the house, of which the speaker shall be one, and such as the senate may join, be appointed with authority to make proper arrangements for the 司 |