Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1867-09-13
Daniel Webster.
A New Estimate Of his Character.


Mr. parton, the biographer, has fur
nished to the North Amcyicd,a RcUie,o
a.piquant article on Daniel Webster
which tells some wholes ome truths,
Webster's leading trait, Mr.. Parton as
serts, was his enormous physical mag
netism. His presence overwhelmed
criticism. His Intimacy fascinated It.
Fidgety men were Quietedh by his ma
jestic calm. Women were spell bound
by it. ,Itgave the public n sense of re-
pose. When he passed up or down
State street, with an arm behind his
back, business was brought to stand
still. Webster was never a student.
He absorbed knowledge. but did not
work for 1t. In Latin, he was excelled
by some of his own class. Greek lie
never enjoyed. For mathematics, he
had not the slightest taste. At college
he was only ON omnivorous reader. He
barely passed muster in the recitation
room as student. His whole college
life shows that he was formed to use
the product of other mems toll, not to
time, he was all innocent young man.
His wild oats were not sown lin the days
of his youth. He was always under
the influence of others. Nature made
him not to lead, but to fOllow. In the
early flush and vigor of his life, he gave
a thousand evidences Of a good heart
and of virtuous habits, but not one Of a
superior understanding. The total abb
sence of the skeptical spirit betrayed
his want of boldness and originality.
In a period of transition, no young man
of o truly eminent intellect accepts his
fathers creeds without first calling
them In question. But no new light
ever illumined the mind of Daniel
Webster. As soon as he came of age
he joined the Congregational church.
The eandor of his Judgment was im-
paired by religious predujice. In this
respect, he never lost his narrowness
and ignorance. In tic time of his
celebrity he preferred the Episcopal, as
the most genteel religion. His political
prcjudices were equally strong. He
was of slow growth. His powers did
not reach their full ldevelopnicnt,till he
was nearly fifty years of age. He had
no practical wisdom. From the year
1892 till the end of his life he was suf-
fering the process of moral and mental
deterioration. His material part gained
upon his spiritual. He had an eaor-
NOUS capacity for physical enjoyment,
and became great hunter, fisherman
and farmer, lover of good wine and
good dinners, and most jovial COM
panion. But his mind was fed chiefly
upon past acquisitions. There is moth
ing in his later efforts which shows any
intellectual advance. He never brows-
ed I'm forests before untrodden, or fed i'm
pastures new. For the last ten years
Of his life, though he spent many thou
sand dollars on his library, he had al
most ceased to be an intellectual being
His pecuniary habits domoralized him.
"He was not one of those who find la
the happiness and prosperity of their
country, and I'm the esteem of their fell
low-citizens, their own sufficient and
abundant reward for serving her. He
pined for something lower, smaller
something personal and vulgar. He
had no religion---not the least tincture
of It; and he seemed at last, In his
dealings with individuals, to have no
conscience. What he called his religion
had no effect whatever upon the con-
duct of his life; IL made him go to
church,, talk piously, puff the clergy,
and 'patronize Proyidence'--no more.
He was one of those who fell before the
seductions of his place. He would ac-
'cept retaining fees, and never look into
the bundles of papers which accom-
panied them, I'm which were inclosed
the hopes and the future ofanxious
households. He would receive gifts OF
money, and toss into the waste paper
basket the list of givers, without hav-
ing glanced at Its contents; thus de-
fpuding them Of the only recompense
In his power TO grant, aud the only one
they wished. n~Mr.~ Parton gives the
following description Of the element OF
the vast which formed such an cxtraor-
binary feature IN Daniel Webster's
composition: u1 fs4s
this eminent and gifted man, we are
of his magnitude. He was as we have
said, very large person. His brain
was within n little Of being one third
larger than the average, and il was one
of the largest ON record. His bodily
frame, I'm all its parts, was on majes-
tic scale, and his presence was immense.
He liked large things---mountains
elms, great oaks, mighty bulls and OK
Ell, wide fields. the ocean, the Union,
aud all things of magnitude. He liked
great Rome far better that refined
Greece, and revcled IA, the immense
things Of literature, such as ssparadise
Lost" and the Book of job, Burke,
DIR. johnson, and the "Sixth Book OF
Eneid.n Homer he never cared much
for--nor,, indeed, anything Greek. He
hated, he loathed the act of writing.
Billiards, .ten-pins, chess, draugllts,
whist, be never relished, though fond
to excess of outdoor pleasures, like
hunting, fishing, yachting. He liked
to be alone with great natnre--alone in
the giant woods or on the resounding
sea--alone all day with his gun, his dog,
and his thoughts-alone.i In the morn
ing, before any one was astir but him
self, looking out upon ...ale sea and the
glorious sunshine. What . delicious
picture Of this large, healthy son OF
Earth Mr.. Lanman gives us, where he
describes his coming into his bedroom
ut sunrise, and startling him out OF a
deep sleep. by shouting, Awake, slug
gard and look upon this glorious scene,
for the sky and the ocean are enveloped
In fames!" He was akin to all large.
slow things In nature A herd Of fine
cattle gave him q keen, an inexhaustl-
q horse he had no horse enthusiasm.
In England he chiefly enjoyed these
five things: the Tower Of London,
Westminister Abbey, Smithfeld Cattle
Market, English farming, aud Sir
Robert Peel. Sir Robert Peel he
thought was "head and shoulders above
any other man. he had ever met. He
grately excelled, too, IN describing i'm
mense things. IN speaking Of the
pyramitls, he asked, "Who can inform
US by what now .unknown machines
mass was TINS agg gregated to mass, and
.qlaPfy piled on QUARRY. till solid gran
its seemed to cover the earth and reach
the skies?" His peculiar love of the
Union Of these States was partly due,
perhaps, to, this habit of his mind OF
dwelling with hcomplacency on vastness.
He felt that he wanted and required a
continent to live in; his mind would
have gasped for breath in New Hamp-
shire. - -, ..t4<.sz.