FAITH OF THE FOUNDERS: Daniel Webster on Faith and American Prosperity
(QUICK READ) — Daniel Webster represented Massachusetts in the Senate during the crucial decades leading to the American Civil War, so he was not present during the Revolutionary War or the writing and adoption of the Constitution.
But Webster was among the chief luminaries of the second generation of American national leadership and he was a dynamic, thoughtful, and often inspiring voice on behalf of national union, constitutionalism and individual liberty. He would have been right at home had he been a member of either the Continental Congress or the Constitutional Convention.
Webster was also a man of the Bible, as he makes clear in this statement about the role of Scripture in his life and in that of the nation:
“If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.” – Daniel Webster, as cited by Mark Strand.
PREVIOUSLY ON FAITH OF THE FOUNDERS:
John Adams on the ‘Grand Scene” of the American Settlement