The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-08 00:00:00

DEATiIOF MR. WEBSTER.

The American Union has sustained a heavy loss
in the death of Daniel Webster. Though he had
reached the age of seventy, he still occupied so large
a space in the attention of his countrymen, and so
prominent a position in the service of the Republic,
that his demise will be felt throughout the Union as
a public calamity. The newspapers are filled with
expressions of grief, and at all the towns which the
sad news had reached meetings had been held and
measures adopted to evince the sorrow which such a
loss had inspired.
On the previous Tuesday not the slightest danger
bad been apprehended from Mr. Webster's illness,
which was disease of the bowels, accompanied by
dropsical affection of the stomach, and his physicians
anticipated that he would be able to resume the duties
of his office in a few days, but on that afternoon the
disorder unexpectedly assumed a more menacing
aspect, and he gradually grew worse and worse. He
was fully sensible of his approaching end, but looked
forward to it with magnanimous resignation, and
among all the sorrow-stricken friends, relatives, and
admirers who surrounded his couch, and with whom he
conversed freely, be was the most placid, serene, and un-
affected. Nor in this last scene and preparation for
eternity was the great man unmindful of his duties to
his family, his household, and his country. On
Thursday forenoon he received his mail as usual, and
gave the directions for answers to his letters, many of
which were sent to the post-office at Boston by ex-
press the same evening. To his workmen on his farm
he also gave directions as to their operations for the
day, and in the course of the evening he proceeded to
complete various matters of business which he con-
ceived to be of importance. On Thursday evening he
executed his last will and testament, which had been
previously prepared, and to the details of which he
gave particular attention. Oa Friday afternoon he
had the people employed in his family and upon his
farm called in, and, after giving them much earnest
advice upon matters temporal and spiritual, bade them
a last farewell.

On receiving the announcement of his approaching
end, he requested that the female members of his
family might be called i❑ ; and to each, calling them
individually by name, he addressed a few words of
farewell and religious consolation. Next he had
called in the male members of his family, and the per-
sonal friends who had been with him for the last few
days. Addressing each by name, he referred to his
past relations with', them respectively, and, one
by one, bade them an affectionate farewell.
He now had Mr. Peter Harvey called in and
said to him " Harvey, I am not so sick but
that I know you ; I am well enough to know you
I am well enough to love you, and well enough to
call down the richest of Heaven's blessings upon you
and yours. Harvey, don't leave me till lam dead—
don't leave Marshfield till lam a dead man." Then,
as if speaking to himself, he said, " On the 24th of
October all that is mortal of Daniel Webster will be
no more." He now prayed in his natural usual voice
—strong, full, and clear—ending with, " Heavenly
Father, forgive my sins, and receive me to Thyself,
through Christ Jesus."

Conversing with great exactness, he seemed to be
anxious to be able to mark to himself the final period
of his dissolution. He was told that it might occur
in one, two, or three hours, but that the time could
not be definitely calculated. " Then," said he, "I
suppose I must lie here quietly till it comes." Dr
Jeffries offered him something which he hoped might
give him ease. The dying statesman remarked—
" Something more, Doctor—more. I want restora-
tion." Between 10 and 11 o'clock he repeated some-
what indistinctly the words, " Poet, poetry—Gray,
Gray." Mr Fletcher Webster repeated the first
line of the elegy, " The curfew tolls the knell of
parting day." "That's it, that's it," said Mr Web-
ster, and the book was brought, and some stanzas
read to him, which seemed to give him pleasure.
From 12 o'clock till 2 there was much restless-
ness, but not much suffering ; the physicians were
quito confident that there was no actual pain.
A faintness occurred, which led him to think that his
death was at hand. While in this condition some ex-
pressions fell from him indicating the hope that his
mind would remain to him completely to the last. lie
spoke of the difficulty of the process of dying, when
Dr. Jeffries repeated the verse, "Though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear
no evil, for Thou art with me ; Thy rod and Thy
staff, they comfort me." Mr. Webster said immedi-
ately, " The fact, the fact ! That is what I want ! Thy
rod—Thy rod ! Thy staff—Thy staff!" These were
his last words, and he died at 22 minutes before three
o'clock on Sunday morning in perfect tranquillity.
We abridge from the New York Herald of the 26th
ult. the following sketch of his parentage and early
life, which will be read with interest :
" The father of Daniel Webster, Ebenezer Webster,
wa,: a Nmarkable man, six feet in height, and of com-
manding appearance. In early life he entered the mili-
tary service of the colonies as a common soldier, and
served in the war with tho French, under Sir Jeffrey
Amherst and Wolfe, in the invasion of Canada. He
rose to the rank of captain before the and of the
war,
arluvdiO having obtained a grant of land for
his OP, settled is the town of Salisbury, which