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

LITERATURE.
BRITISH and FOREIGN REVIEW, So._ XXVI

Taylor, London, 1842: L --
A selection from the speeches of that eminent spar
American lawyer and statesman Daniel Webster., ta„l".'_....'
has, it seems, been lately published at New Yorks , ,19,1,
and the Number before us of the " British and Fo4a:' Es.
reign Review" gives a copious and spirited notice-ol'
this publication, together with a brief biographical •-i'a,,
sketch. of Mr. Webster, from which we learn thae 4,11 11
he is the son of a New Hampshire fanner, and waS ,T
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, ho
rose into -notice, and, as a ' necessary consequence, ,
into highly profitable employment. 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
in
reoced.to Boston, in which city his profound know' ~.0
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, *1
were for a long period unpopular, yet he never lost' .'s
his hold - on the people, but was—and still is-- ,'q
considered throughout the Union as the first states- . -c
man and most eloquent orator of the republic. Dui'
ring successive sessions he 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 180, '
Now that the tide has turned in favour of his partYl 1,.e:
by. the election of the late General Harrison to the, ,-o,!
executive, he has been appointed to the high Ana 41
responsible post of Secretary of State. . 'iii}
" 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 sin,-
-mated, black overhanging eyebrows, a mouth of akin(' '..-
, of sculptured strength, yet of great beauty. faultless
teeth, and a voice of extraordinary power and conspassii;
The -tout ensemble. of his personal appearance is singular',
impressive and imposing ; and his unaffected simpli.
and perfect modesty. are combined with a remarksl, •
dignity of carriage in ".society,. As Coleridge says ?,
Southey, " lie possesses but is -not possessed by has
genius." No man ever had his powers more completely
under command. At a moment's warning the vast stores
of his mind are 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 thEg
driest argument, and has a manner of the most singularll
mixed grace and power. His eloquence, when he warms,
is perfectly overpowering, and then he bursts out with 0
flow of poetry, which would hardly be thought possible
from the severe cast of his mind. Miss Martineau, vvbc:
met him at a dinner-party at the British Legation s'
Washington, says there is no merrier man. She describesa
him as leaning back at his ease on the sofa, shaking,'
with burst after burst of laughter, telling stories, creek
ing jokes, or smoothly discoursing to the perfect felicii7
of the logical part of one's constitution. Such is his pry
rate boon companionship. Abroad, however, he is 'lithe
• stern, plain-dressed, grave republican; and the coniro3
man who passes him in the street thinks he can read the,
cares and responsibilities of the whole United States
Government on his great brow." -
Mr. Webster speaks but seldom in Congress ; but - it
when he does! he never fails to enchain the attentiona
.1:
of all who hear him. His voice at first is low, Os :01
'his manner quiet but unembarrassed ; his right hay". ~0),
rests upon his desk, and the left hangs by his side. -."
Before he has finished his first head, however, his voice :'.r.,':
has risen so as to fill the chamber, and he has fallen .
into his favourite attitude, with his left hand under "'lf
• coat-tail, and his right in full action. At this in°' .
ment he seems like one under the influence of insP,'" . i
ration ; but when his speech is concluded, he instantly , • '
relapses into his usual dreamy, abstracted state, and n°'.4
could guess from his perfect repose of manner, he es;
prone he was to strong political excitement. _From tn.: I
copious. extracts made by the Reviewer from n'''9:oi4
. speeches, as well as from the specimens we have so,
. . from time to ,time in the IN ew York papers, I`.r,,t
should say" that Mr. Webster's oratory was net ''''''l"
much remarkable for grace or polish, as' for strong',
rough, sinewy good sense. Nothing can be more:
~
simple, lucid, and straightforward than his style;.01;11
there is no.-, verboseness—no- hunting about ti./1,0
striking forms of expression.; the speaker appeart'4
take the first that comes to hand, perfectly. satisfied ''' if
that it distinctly conveys his meaning.. Pecasienli:.4
his language sprouts into trope and. metaphor ; .sIPA se
instances of this rhetorical luxuriance are-rareil°
by no means to be ranked among his most success*?
essays. -"Autobiography of Heinrich Steffens j. ;,01
notice of a work lately published in -GerthlthY;Xtr.,",
author of several admired novels, containing a -serl!',o44
of vivid pictures of . Scandinavian life. and maatoS,
,li'
In the . course of this notice occur ' some ,r-ifqi,.. IF
dental remarks on the celebrated geographer; Rl' 9,
Brun, whose frequent and easy transfers of lova* ''bS
observes the Reviewer, "admirably fitted hina'fort ,"'
time and place in which he lived:" This quiet",
• witted political weathercock, who .was a Dane '7; :-
birth, commenced his career in his native COutitTV, 3 ,'. '
a furious democrat, and assailant of all authoriti; •,...,;;;
Driven from Copenhagen, in consequence, he sengal.' if;
refuge in Paris, and there forgetting all his forla'd •
• Jacobiniam, he became one of the most devoted
the myriad worshippers of Napoleon. As the lay
perial star declined, however, so Malte Brun's en,
thusiasm declined ; and when the Bourbens were tee
instated on the throne, he suddenly discovered that !.`'.t
• Emperor was a mere upstart Corsican usurper, and t
Louis was the only true and lawful monarch. .1-1,1 ,
' every other respect Brun was an amiable man, 31,,,,,
perhaps his-political tergiversations should not be tyc:f .
severely commented on, for those were the days t„,,
turncoats and apostates, when to rat was the rule, j .
b 3 steadfast in principle the exception. Talleyrsar
used to say that he had swallowed not less than fo'3,
teen constitutional oaths in his time, and would ou,t()
~,,,
with infinite' sang froid, that he had a readiness v ."...
swallow, and a stomach to digest, at least as ITT%
more. The " Church and the State" is argued 'nil
~
bold yet temperate spirit, and will, therefore, be suii ;..
''
to displease all zealots. The high Churchmen '.ts.;.
find fault with-its concessions---the Dissenter with'o,--: ,
lukevvarmnesss—and both. will combine to deneuatcf,
it ; but the moderates of all parties will view it I°oi
the attention it deserves. In the 'review. to
"Borrow's Account of the Gipsies of Spain," there.
its
some curious particulars respecting the social hub es
of these wandering, predatory tribes. The fein!,l„
are, it seems, whether married or unmarried, remsl,o
able for their chastity, and " would resent to 1;1,
death, any attempt on their persons. In the rare tis
stance of an unchaste gipsey, the offender is Pt'„ is
death without mercy.' The influence of ess")n-
paramount among them, and nothing will ever,4o
duce them to marry without the pale of their es.
fraternity. Of course, they are accomplished the to
and their skill in this respect would do no discre"'iss
the best educated London conveyancer. Of thf itioa
remaining papers, the ablest is a critical disqu'',l;
on a " History of the Jews in Spain and Portog
THE .HIS7'ORY OF SAVINGS BANX•7, 4c., •
By John Tidd Pratt, Esq. Shaw and Soo: , its
We have seldom met with a book continua :ice,
much useful, well-arranged, and practical infortni'Lices
as this work, just brought out by Mr. Pratt. It foci,
an interesting history of Savings Banks in ,It
the
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, with the period °l,erei!
establishment of each institution, the. place .'" tots'
is held, and the number of depositors, with tlsed., ;
amount, classed according to the latest official rettl-;./
also an appendix, containing all the ParliatuLet:, la"
Returns that have been printed relating to tiLiipbrs
stitutions, and an account of the several °"ittiog
Banks in France. It is gratifying to find, ace° tioo
to the author, that though some of these institu fse
have been established for more than tWent.i;t of
years, and at first without any limit as to ara° iitsi
investments, the Savings Banks of this roe-
have not been abused in the manner genera 'orig''' I -
posed, but that they are what the Legislature.° _tw
nally • intended them to be—places of d
custody and increase of small savings..ojese,s,"
ing to the industrious classes of her i',ooeter.:;:: .
subjects. It is a fine trait, also, in the eu_nor ,
-of these useful institutions, that the whole_eirreursy,,f,lis,
ment, with the exception of the office of '.-.001),',-0',41,
is not only undertaken and conducted gr.3"Lices 15
but in all cases has been, and in many insw--sna-
nd 1-1- he
now, attended with expense to the trustees a_..ii ,g t 3
gers. -We can- safely recommend the I.Lv,°_,.lory alt;
most complete account, both as regards n?'''
eposit
bfeiroor
.;00,
he tee
details, of these useful institutions. It "-ill „.;,;ea
, prat
~,..6,-,hillss
from the following extract that Alr
Rev. Henry Duncan, of Ruthwell, Dun
it
the merit of originating Savings Banks :-- it; tO, '''.h.r.
" Mr. Henry _Duncan states, that early 1110 the cep e.
he was engaged in some inquiries relative t.,710. 3 oheTo
tion of the poor, lie read a pamphlet, prellVii,land• foe
for the gradual abolition of poor-rates in ''-',,ratsic-1001, .
this plan the author, Mr. Bone, gave the 1"j
CO nSI '''.:'
of "franquillity.' Mr. Duncan, though use, co/woli
the scheme too complicated for general ,_h pr0P47,,.5:
. _ ,vnie sot e.,1 •'l,
that one of its subordinate provisions,
I, for the
carriew 4 ‘ 1
the establishment of an economical hank tc, he ,0.--,,,,0f -
of the industrious,"might be so modified as 00 eu:'-..10.'' 4
separately into effect with great advantageic it, of Lt,..
~ .
ingly published a paper giving an account,reo' ,bould_rther, a,r,istf
posing that the gentlemen of Dumfriessiwarishes uentii---:0
blish banks for savings in the different. ps
receetrovit 0f.44,
county. His zeal was applauded, but 91,, the P beriefiv'p
tion was neglected. Steady, however,e'it'd thbering big '.
his object, and rejoicing in the Prloeiged Oblishine°
which he anticipated from it, he rt
an ests of The
plan to the test of experiment, bY- such
A, narac
in his own parish, To this he eve "