The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-23 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

BRITISH and FOREIGN REVIEW, No. XXVI
Taylor, London, 1842.
A selection from the speeches of that eminent
American lawyer and statesman, Daniel Webster,
has, it seems, been lately published at New York ;
and the Number before us of the " British and Fo-

reign Review" gives a copious and spirited notice of
this publication, together with a brief biographical
sketch of Mr. Webster, from which we learn that

he is the son of a New Hampshire farmer, and was

born in the year 1782. At the usual age, he was
sent to Dartmouth College, in Vermont, where—like
many others who have afterwards distinguished them-
selves by their intellectual powers—he was con-
sidered a very dull youth, and returning home
in disgrace, went to work in his father's woods
like an ordinary day-labourer. Two or three years;
were thus wasted, but at the end of that period a
sudden and surprising change came over the young
man. He betook himself to the study of the law ; was
at work early and late, denying himself every species
of relaxation ; and at length by dint of severe, conti-
nuous study, aided by some few fortunate accidents, he
rose into notice, and, as .a necessary consequence,
into highly profitable emplorEent. In 1812 he en-
tered Congress, where he speedily became distin-
guished by his vigorous and argumentative speeches
On the currency question. Four years afterwards he
removed to Boston, in which city his profound know-
ledge of the law enabled him to carry all before him.
He is Conservative in politics, and was leader of the
Federal party when Jackson obtained the Presi-
dency. From that time to the present he has re-
mained firm to his principles ; and though these
were for a long period unpopular, yet he never lost
his hold on the people, but was—and still is—
considered throughout the Union as the first states-
man and most eloquent orator of the republic. Du-
ring successive sessions he achieved an almost un-
paralleled reputation in Congress by his masterly
expositions of the constitution, but his great triumph
was his exposure of the Nullification doctrine in 1833,
Now that the tide has turned in favour of his party,
by the election of the late General Harrison to the
executive, he has been appointed to the high and
responsible post of Secretary of State.
" Like Mr. O'Connell," says the Reviewer, " Webster
is of Herculean strength and build. He -is dark,
with black hair, a high and broad • forehead, large
deep-set eyes that sparkle lustrously when he is ani-
mated, black overhanging eyebrows, a mouth of a kind
of sculptured strength, yet of great beauty, faultless
teeth, and a voice of extraordinary power and compass.
The tout ensemble of his personal appearance is singularly
impressive and imposing ; and his unaffected simplicity
and perfect modesty are combined with a remarkable
dignity of carriage in society. As Coleridge says of
Southey, "he possesses but is not possessed by his
genius." No man ever had his powers more completely
under command. At a moment's warning the vast stores
of his mind arc ready, and the most impromptu speech
rolls from his tongue in perfect composition. He is al-
ways logical in conversation—this is his great charac-
teristic—enchains the attention of every listener by the
driest argument, and has a inannerof the most singularly
mixed grace and power. His eloquence, when he warms,
is perfectly overpowering, and then he bursts out with a
flow of poetry, which would hardly be thought possible
from the severe cast of his mind. Miss Martineau, who
met him at a dinner-party at the British Legation at
Washington, says there is no merrier man. She describes
him as leaning back at his ease on the sofa, shaking it
with burst after burst of laughter, telling stories, crack-
ing jokes, or smoothly discoursing to the perfect felicity
of the logical part of one's constitution. Such is his pri-
vate boon companionship. Abroad, however, he is lthe
stern, plain-dressed, grave republican; and the common
man who passes him in the street thinks lie can read the
cares and responsibilities of the whole United States'
Government on his great brow."
Mr. Webster speaks but seldom in Congress ; but
when he doesi he never fails to enchain the attention
of all who hear him. His voice at first is low, and
his manner quiet but unembarrassed ; his right hand
rests upon his desk, and the left hangs by his side.
Before he has finished his first head, however, his voice
has risen so as to fill the chamber, and he has fallen
into his favourite attitude, with his left hand under his
coat-tail, and his right in full action. At this mo-
ment he seems like one under the influence of inspi-
ration ; but when his speech is concluded, he instantly
relapses into his usual dreamy, abstracted state, and none
could guess from his perfect repose of manner, how
prone he was to strong political excitement. From the
copious extracts made by the Reviewer from his
speeches, as well as from the specimens we have seen
from time to time in the New York papers, we
should say that Mr. Webster's oratory was not so
much remarkable for grace or polish, as for strong,
rough, sinewy good sense. Nothing can be more
simple, lucid, and straightforward than his style;
there is no verboseness—no hunting about for
striking forms of expression ; the speaker appears to
take the first that comes to hand, perfectly satisfied so
that it distinctly conveys his meaning. Occasionally
his language sprouts into trope and metaphor; but
instances of this rhetorical luxuriance are rare, and
by no means to be ranked among his most successful
essays. " Autobiography of Heinrich Steffens" is a
notice of a work lately published in Germany, by the
author of several admired novels, containing a series
of vi id pictures of Seandinavian life and manners.
in the course of this notice occur some inci-
dental remarks on the celebrated geographer, Malte
Brun, whose frequent and easy transfers of loyalty,"
observes the Reviewer, "admirably fitted him for the
time and place in which he lived." This quick-
witted political weathercock, who was, a Dane by
birth, commenced his career in his native • country, as
a furious democrat, and • assailant of
all, authorities.
Driven from Copenhagen, in consequence,' he sought
refuge in Paris, and there forgetting all his former
Jacobinism, he became one of the most devoted of
the myriad- worshippers of Napoleon: As the Im-
perial star declined, however, so Malte Brun's en-
thusiasm declined ; and when the Bourbons were re-
instated on the throne, he suddenly discovered that the
Emperor was a mere upstart Corsican usurper, and that
Louis was the only true and. lawful monarch. In
every other respect Brun was an amiable man, and
perhaps his political tergiversations should not be too
severely commented on, for those were the days of
turncoats and apostates, when to rat was the rule, to
be steadfast in principle the exception. Talleyrand
used to say that he had swallowed not less than four-
teen constitutional oaths in his time, and would add,
with infinite sang froid, that he had a readiness to
swallow, and a stomach to digest, at least as many
more. The " Church and the State" is argued in a
bold yet temperate spirit, and will, therefore, be sure
to displease all zealots. The high Churchmen will
find fault with its concessions—the Dissenter with its
lukewarmnesss—and both will combine to denounce
it ; but the moderates of all parties will view it with
the attention it deserves. In the review of
"Borrow's Account of the Gipsies of Spain," there are
some curious particulars respecting the social habits
of these wandering, predatory tribes. The females
are, it seems, whether married or unmarried, remark-
able for their chastity, and " would resent to the
death, any attempt on their persons. In the rare in-
stance of an unchaste gipsey, the offender is put to
death without mercy." The influence of caste .is
paramount among them, and nothing will ever in-
duce them to marry without the pale of their own
fraternity. Of course, they are accomplished thieveS,
and their skill in this respect would do no discredit to
the best educated London conveyancer. Of the few
remaining papers, . the ablest is a critical disquisition
on a " History of the Jews in Spain and Portugal."

THE :HISTORY OF SAVINGS BANKS, 4.c.
By John 7'idd Pratt, Esq. Shaw and Sons.
We have seldom met with a book containing so
much useful, well-arranged; and practical information,
as this work, just brought out by Mr. Pratt. It eves
an interesting history of Savings Banks in England,
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, with the period of the
establishment of each institution, the place where it
is held, and the number of depositors, with the total
amount, classed according to the latest official returns ;
also an appendix, containing all the
:Parliamentary.
Returns that have been printed relating to these in-
stitutions, and an account of the several Savings
_Banks in France. It is gratifying to find, according
to the author, that though some of these institutions
have been established for more than twenty-Eye
years, and at first without any limit as to amount of
investments, the Savings Banks of this country
have not been abused in the manner generally sup-
posed,
.but that they are what the Legislature origi-
nally intended them to be--places of deposit for the
sincreaserious
classes smalles
of
savingsher
Majesty'sbelo ng
iug custody
.to
thean and
industrious
subjects. It is a fine trait, also, in the character
of these useful institutions, that the whole manage-
ment, with the exception of the office of Secretary,
is not only undertaken and conducted gratuitously,
but in all cases has been, and in many instances is
now, attended with expense to the trustees and mana-
gers. We can safely recommend the work as the
most complete account, both as regards history and
details, of these useful institutions. It will be seen
from the following extract that Mr. Pratt gives the
Rev. Henry Duncan, of Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire,
the merit of originating Savings Banks
" Mr. Henry Duncan states, that early in 1810, while
he was engaged in some inquiries relative to the condi-
tion of the poor, he read a pamphlet, proposing a scheme,
ror the gradual abolition of poor-rates in England. lo
this plan the author, Mr. Bone, gave the whimsical title
of Tranquillity.' Mr. Duncan, though he considered
the scheme too complicated for general use, conceived
that one of its subordinate provisions, which proposed
the establishment of an economical bank for the savingsl
of the industrious, might be so modified as to be carried
separately into effect with great advantage. He accord-
ingly published' a paper giving au account of it, and pro-
posing that the gentlemen of Dumfriesshire should este •
blish banks for savings in ,the different parishes of the
county. His zeal was applauded, but his recominenda-
tion was neglected. Steady, however, in the pursuit of
his object, and rejoicing in the prospect of the benefit
which he anticipated from it, he resolved to bring his
plan,to the test of experiment, by .such an. establishment
in his own parish. To this he gave t,l?-4 male of The