There is no colonialism about him.

He is in full sympathy with the Washingtonian policy of independence in our foreign relations and of complete separation from the affairs of Europe.

But the main theme and the moving spirit of this oration are most important of all.
The boy Webster preached love of country, the grandeur of American nationality, fidelity to the Constitution as the bulwark of nationality, and the necessity and the nobility of the union of the States; and that was the message which the man Webster delivered to his fellow-men.

The enduring work which Mr.Webster did in the world, and his meaning and influence in American history, are all summed up in the principles enunciated in that boyish speech at Hanover.

The statement of the great principles was improved and developed until it towered above this first expression as Mont Blanc does above the village nestled at its foot, but the essential substance never altered in the least.
Two other college orations have been preserved.