The republic., 1851-04-15
From Tie Richmond (Va.) Republican.
DnuteI yVebster and has AdvcrsarIes

The journey of Mr.. Webster to the North
has had the effect of drawing forth new mani
festations of regard from his friends, and new
exhibitions of aversion from the enemies of the
country This aversion has been exhibited in
manner eminently characteristic of the men
tai and moral pigmies by whom it is entertained,
and, but for its concentrated malignity. would
be purely ludcrous. 1t seems that Mr.. Web
ster, on his way to Marshfeld, suffered from
temporary indisposition at Philadelphia, from
which, however, he has SO completely recov-
cred, that, on his arrival in New York the edi-
tors of the Commercial .adrertiser say that they
'have not for many years seen him in better
health and spirits, or when his counte-
nance and eye were more Indicative of in
tellectual activity and power" But the slight
sickness at Philadelphia was not to be passed
over SO readily by Free -soiers and their news
papers. 1t is their custom to dwell upon the
supposed aches and pains of Daniel Webster,
with an intensity of vigilance which is not TO
be baffied; they examine his nose with lively
interest for the signs of catarrh, and, should he
happen to place his hand upon the lower button
of his waistcoat, they vow, with broad grin Of
delight, that he has the cholera. They watch
his cheek with protracted interest for the symp-
toms of fever, and when he clears his throat for
lusty expectoratlon, as any man naturally
might who has Free -soiler in his neighbor-
hood, they swear that it is the death-rattle.
He is now represented by those persons as
ssuery iou" from ''dysentery," and, on the
whole, but wreck of his former self
Not long after the great speech in which the
New England statesman so n0bly faced the
whirlwind of northern fanaticism, and success
fully defed tornado which would have over
whelmed whole squadron of smaller vessels,
he was travelling northward, and the same sto-
ry was gotten up of the prostration of his ply
sical powers. A correspondent of a New York
paper (the Tribune, we think) happened to be
gliding along in the same train of cars, and he
communicated to the New York journal that
he had been travelling with ''the remains of
Daniel Webster" But these vermin are too
eager for their prey. The carcass Of the
northern giant, which is all of him that they
are capable of assailing, is not yet ready for
them. Since that libellous attack was penned,
the ''remains of Daniel Webster" have ex-
hibited themselves in various ways quite
inconsistent with the idea of modification
and death. They have been seen in the
forefront of the battles of the Union, bear
ing in one hand its flag of stars, and, with
the other, beating back the hosts Of traitors who
have endeavOred to refd and dishonor that flag;
they have been heard at immense assemblagss
| Of the people, in an eloquence as grand and
graceful in its vigor of thought and purity Of
rhetoric, as that of his meridian of manhood;
an eloquence which was distinguished by the
serene wisdom Of age, and which yet had
caught from the shrine of patriotism fire as
fervid as the ardent impulses of youth; an
eloquence which exhibited blended calmness
and lustre like that of the setting sun, ilumi-
mating with softened and beautiful light the
most rugged objects of the landscape, and maxi
ing even the envious clouds tributary to its
power and glory. The "remains Of Daniel
Webster ~ Why, since the period at which
this willing wrote, Chevalier Hu!semann Of
Austria has travelled in company" with those
remains We wonder what he thought of the
strength of the dead mans arm. All Europe
is at this moment ringing with admiration of
that powerful rebuke of Austria, and that noble
vindication of oppressed humanity and of the
dignity of this great country, which issued
from the master intellect of this country and of
this age. Kossuth, in his most spirit-stirring
appeal to Hungary, and Dembinski, in the most
furious charge Of his hussars, never produced
such thrill of hope in free bosoms, and such a
chill of fear beneath royal crowns, as the letter
of the great American to Hulsemann. Never
has the hand of the departed penned scroll
which awakened such anxiety in the breasts of
monarchs, except when mysterious fingers from
the other world wrote upon the walls of Bel
shazzar's palace, "God hath numbered thy
kingdom, and finished it." What must Web
ster have been in his life, when few words
from his sepulchre can shake christendom to
its centre!
In former times, and not very long ago,
these Free-soilers proclaimed Webster the
Godlike." They exhibited an idolatrous
alteration of his every word and act. They
had reason, and so had all New England, to
revere and love him. That section might well
be consoled for the failure of its sons often to
reach the Presidency by the production Of such
a man. What was mere official station COM
pared with that royalty of intellect with which
nature had invested Daniel Webster2 How
insignificant the spectacle Of hereditary mon
archy by the side of this obscure son of a
plain farmer forcing his way without the
aid of friends or fortune to the very pin
nacle of human fame. What deep cause had
New England for gratitude and affection! 1t
was his mighty arm which had sustained the
"wooden walls" of her commerce, and reared
the foundations of those manufactures which
have converted sterile and rocky region into a
land flowing with milk and honey. In what
rapturous terms were they wont to dwell upon
his varied powers and accomplishments. Web
ster, the Statesman; Webster, the Scholar /;
Webster, the Lawyer; Webster, the Orator
Webster, the Wit-and, above all, Webster,
the great MORAL HERO! Yes, if there was
one quality more than another for which they
admired the godlike Daniel, it was his super
| human MORAL COURAGE. Intense as was
their pride and delight when he thundered
over the arena of debate, bearing down with
the mere momentum of his advance the most
| stalwart adversaries, they admired him still
more when he threw himself in front of an iron
willed executive in his assaults upon the
Constitution, and declared that, {" though the
enemy were battering down the walls of the
Capitol" he would not save it by consenting to
an Infringement of the sacred organic law Of
| the land. Then it was that their transports
knew no bounds. Language proved too poor to
express their admiration Of the colossal mind
and sublime patriotism of this great American.