Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1856-04-11
nlisfrIIanforls ArtifIe5.
From the Home Journal.
DANIEL WEBSTER.

DANIEL WEBSTER.
Ina merely literary point of view, this,
perhaps, may be said of Mr.. Webster
that he is the only powerful and fervid
orator, since the glorious days of Greece,
whose style is so disciplined, that any OF
/ his great public harangues might be used
as models of composition. His language
/ is beautifully pure, and his combinations
of it exhibit more knowledge Of the
genius, spirit, and classic vigor Of the
/ English tongue, than it has entered the
mind Of any professor of rhetoric to ap-
prehend. As the most impetuous sweeps
of passion in him are pervaded, and IN
formed, and guided by intellect, so the
most earnest struggles Of intellect seem
TO be Gained and made gentle in their
vehemence, by a more essential rational
| ity of taste. That imperious mind, which
seems fit to defy the universe, is ever
subordinate, by kind Of fascination, to
The perfect law of grace. In the highest
of his intellectual fights-and who can
follow the winged rush of that eagle
mind ?-in the widest Of his mental ran
ges-and who shall measure their extent?
he is ever moving with the severest
tone Of beauty. No one would think Of
saying that Mr.. Webster's speeches are
thrown off with ease and cost him but
little effort; they are clearly the result of
the intensest stress Of mental energy {:
vet the manner is never discomposed;
the decency and propriety of the display
never interfered with he is always
/ greater than his genius; you see the
depth, but not the tumult' of the mind.
Whether, with extended arm, he stran-
giles the "TeluctdnteS drdconeS" of his ad-
veIsary, or, with every faculty called
home, concentrates the light and heat Of
his being in developing into principles
those great sentiments and great instincts
which are his inspiration; in all, the ora
tor stands forth with the majesty and
chastened grace of Pericles himself. In
the fercest of encounters with the dead
lest of foes, the mind which is enraged is
never perturbed; the style, which leaps
ike the fire Of heaven, is never disox-
dered. As in Guides picture of St. Mi
chael piercing the dragon, while the
gnarled muscles of the arms and hands
attest the utmost strain of the strength
the countenance remains placid, serene
and undisturbed. In this great quality
of mental dignity, Mr.. Webster's speech
es have become more and more eminent.
| The glow and l9strc which set his earlier
speeches a-blaze with splendor, is in hi.
later discourses rarely set forth; but they
have gained more in the increase of dig
nifty than they have parted with in the
diminution Of briIliancy. We regard hi.
late speech before the merchants o
Philadelphia as one Of the most weighty
and admirable Of the intellectual effort:
Of his life. The range Of profound and
piercing wisdom; the exquisite and fault.
less taste; but, above all, the august and
indefectible dignity that are illustrated
from the beginning 10 the end Of tha
great display Of matured and finished
r strength, leave US in mingled wonder ant
reverence. There Is one sentence there
which seems TO Us almost 10 reach tn,
intellectual sublime; and while it stir
b! within US the depths of sympathy an
admiration, we could heartily wish tina
the young men Of America would in
hale the almost supra-mortaI spirit whic
1t breathes il would not with any Idol
atrous admiration regard the Constitu
ton of the United States, nor any othe
work Of man; but this side Of idolatry
l hold it in profound respect. l believ
that no human working on such a sub
ject, no human ability exerted for sue
p an end, has ever produced so much har
piness, or holds out now so many million
OF people the prospect, through such
succession Of ages and ages, of so muc
happiness, as the Constitution Of the Tn
ted States. Wewho are here for on
generation-for a single life-and vet !
our several stations and relations in Sc
ciety intrusted in some degree with il
, protection and support, what does it d.
volve, what duty does it not devolve upo
US" In the name Of distant ages an
a remote posterity, we hail the author
this and similar orations, as Webster tn
O.ympian.
:; Butwe leave a subject which we hay
incidentally touched, sincerely diselain